Garbage dates.....

Some of you may wonder... where does all the "stuff" come from that becomes Second Chance Art & Accessories? This is a question with many answers, but one of them may very well be the garbage date.

I made up this term to describe Sunday & Monday nights (pre-garbage day evenings in my neighborhood), when I convince my husband to drive me around in his truck looking for goodies on people's curbs. Usually these end when my husband says "I'm tired" with an annoyed look on his face.

Yes, I have no shame. I must admit, we've come across some pretty good finds. Since I live in an older neighborhood, it seems there is always someone renovating, and therefore, throwing away perfectly good windows, doors, & other architectural salvage.

Here's some pictures from our garbage date last night. Specifically, a few pieces that "made the cut": a top from an old door with beautiful divided glass panes (this will surely make a lovely coffee table top, or wall art piece), and a 70's era chair that I intend to steal the caning from (I have another period footstool that needs new caning!).


Here's a few other items that unfortunately, did not make the cut. I thought they were a little funny, so I took some pictures.


Apparently, they don't believe in Santa anymore at this house.


I'm all for great, second-hand furniture. Especially if I can reupholster or slipcover it into something fantastic. However, I think this one is beyond my capabilities!

Who looks at the stamp anyway?

I've just sent out my first mailing to provide previous customers with my show schedule for this year. My Mom was a huge help with this - she does mountains of busy work for me to help support Second Chance Art & Accessories, and claims it is "fun." I think I won the Mom lottery or something.

Anyway, we looked online to see if there were any cool stamps to use when sending out my mailings. My options seemed a little slim for post card stamps..... of course, really cool 1 & 2 cent stamps were available - but how would I fit 26 of these on my postcards? Soooo..... we decided to have these cool "second chance art & accessories" stamps printed. Here's a picture of what we used on the stamp. If you got the post card, I hope you thought it was cool!


Yesterday Second Chance Art & Accessories participated in Fair Diddley, in Woodstock, IL. Despite the cold (we could see our breath at one point) and rain (2 hours or so), we found the town square charming & the festival organizers & other participants very friendly. Overall - it was a good experience! If you came to visit the booth, thanks for stopping by! In the picture below, you can see my sister in the mirror, which I know she's not going to like. Heh heh...


It's on to Arlington Heights in 2 weeks (Arlington Heights Promenade of Art - Amdur Productions), where I will have a booth next to my Aunt, Alice Greko - who is also an artist! It should be a fun experience as long as the weather cooperates.

Two weeks and counting

Okay, it's been a while since I've posted on the blog. For shame! This blogging thing definitely does not come naturally to me. I've always wondered why people would want to have others essentially read their "diary." However, now I realize this provides an interesting perspective into Second Chance Art & Accessories - & I do enjoy sharing this information for those interested.

I'm now less than 2 weeks away from my first art/craft show - Fair Diddley in Woodstock, IL. I'm looking forward to this show - though it's only one day - so hopefully the weather will cooperate! I've never done this show before, so we'll see how it goes.

Pictured is a pile of door casings - I'm in the process of converting them into cool coat racks. Here I've just brought them over to my Dad's workshop so he can chop off the sides of them to make them symmetrical. This is always nerve-racking for him, since most things I bring over come with a fair share of hidden nails - which are known to reek havoc on nice new saw blades. I think he now has designated "Amy's junk" sawblades - after we destroyed a few of them. (sorry Dad!)