Seasonal Artwork and other things on deck...

Hi Everyone -

here's what I've been up to lately -

Getting ready for the Frankfort Fall Festival, over Labor Day weekend! I invaded my parents' house today, to mooch some slave labor help from my Dad, who helps me get a lot of my artwork buttoned up. Here's a few pictures of things we finished today:

This is an old casement window (above) with vintage privacy glass in a "starburst" sort of pattern. I've refinished the frame, which is quite chunky & cool. A great conversation piece for your mantle at Christmas! Windows with this type of glass are difficult to find.. I do have few more on deck though, hopefully I can get them done shortly. This design was inspired by the glass - I thought it looked a little like frost on a cold morning. (BTW, 1843 is when A Christmas Carol was written by Dickens)

Here is one of three windows that I've painted to resemble a street sign, for your Halloween decor! (Fans of classic horror movies rejoice - hopefully all these places are familiar to you!) This window was inspired by the original finish on the frame - upon sanding, I discovered black, green, and a violet-blue color. In my opinion, a great combo for Halloween!

Okay, here's another picture of a Second Chance Art & Accessories classic design - again, demonstrating my technical prowess.... ha! Actually, I do know how to rotate pictures, but I did not catch this one before I uploaded it. And... my DSL uploading speed is much slower than my downloading speed - so I know it would take me another 15 minutes to get it straightened out. Anyway, consider it a little extra exercise for your neck...

Okay, this picture is of some of the loot I picked up at the Sandwich Antiques market this past weekend. By the way, if you like antique & flea markets, this one is worth checking out. Who wouldn't want to visit a town named Sandwich? Lucky for me, it's only about an hour drive northwest. In the pile are some great doors with potential coatrack-sized panels, and some 6 pane windows with old wavy glass.

Here's the pile of loot on my lawn. After returning from a flea market, I always spread it out to take inventory of what I found (for accounting purposes, etc). My neighbors must think I'm nuts! (we share a driveway, so this pile is very close to them also).

Anyway... On a personal note, I start teaching classes at JJC next wednesday (yes, I am actually a registered dietitian! This semester I just have one class, making more time for artwork). My husband & I also bought a house recently to fix up for ourselves. We will be moving once we get a little more work done in the house... not too far from where we live now though. Minooka, IL - heard of it?

thanks for stopping in - hope to see you at the booth at the Frankfort Fall Festival (august 30-31, sept 1 - booth #520-521!) take care - Amy :)

Gold Coast Art Fest

Hi Everyone! Hope all is well.... Second Chance Art & Accessories was at the Gold Coast Art Fest this past weekend - the weather & the crowds were great! Here's a few pictures from the weekend...

My sign, painted on a portion of an old door (shocking, I know!)... I just love the leathery texture of the old varnish!

Here's a booth shot before the show started.

Another booth shot....
Here's our "office" behind the tent...

Husband pretending to sleep... probably so he doesn't have to talk to me... does anyone else have this problem?

This sideways picture is the husband actually sleeping. I'm a little worried he might tip off the chair, but that would be pretty funny, wouldn't it? Of course, I tried to rotate this one - but decided to leave it to demonstrate my awesome technical skills. Ha!

Here's our feet - My Mom & I... for some reason, I haven't posted many feet photos this year. Last year, I had many of these. I'll have to resume the tradition.

Beautiful flowers in a planter outside the "Flair House" - which was behind my booth...

Okay... because I'm fascinated by small dogs that are truly just companions, I asked permission to photograph a few. I loooove dogs, but mine are sort of "utility dogs." In my mind, this means they have a purpose other than companionship (ie. running partner, newspaper fetcher, etc.)

This cutie above has his own doggie sunglasses!

Talk about relaxing... this dog remained in this position the entire time I talked with the owner.

I cannot imagine either of my dogs riding in a backpack. This priviledge must be reserved for those less than 10 lbs....

This little guy is just plain cute.

Alright, here's my own cuties sunbathing on our back steps. Polly (aka "the bacon") looks relaxed as usual. Olive, the scruffy one, is about to get all of her hair clipped off due to her owner (that's me) neglecting to brush out her matted fur. Shame on me! Spending too much time making art again....

Here they are again, sitting on the landing as I make them "Staaaaaay." They love to rush down into the basement, trampling all in their path. Polly looks like some sort of ghost, as usual. I have a very difficult time capturing her yellowish-brown eyes. She always comes out evil-looking. Olive really does look a little evil due to her mottled eye color (both are combos of blue & brown - she looks, and is, a little crazy!)

Anyway... enough rambling for now. Thanks so much for stopping by the booth this past weekend! The next show for Second Chance Art & Accessories is the Frankfort Fall Festival over Labor Day weekend, so I'll be getting ready with some new seasonal artwork. Take care - Amy :)

Is it psychic in here, or is it just my mom?

Recently, while helping Amy prepare some frames for future use as Second Chance Art, her mom, Carol, made an interesting discovery. Not only did she find something valuable tucked inside a flea market find, but she kind of knew it was there before she found it.

Here she describes the experience in an e-mail:

"Yesterday I spent the day at Aimer's helping scrape windows and clean mirrors. I worked on her dining room table. She worked in the garage. While we were eating lunch I said I daydreamed about taking one of her mirrors apart and finding money taped to the back side of the mirror.

"An hour later, I slid the back off one of those perfume trays she makes into 'Powder Room' signs. There was an envelope. I held my breath for a second. I turned it over and could see through the small see-through window that there was money in it.

"I put everything back and went to the back door and called to (Amy) in the garage if she could come in for a minute. Then I hurried down to the basement and asked Derek (Mr. Second Chance Art) if he could come up for a minute. In the kitchen I told her that my daydream had come true. Then I showed them the tray, took off the back, turned over the envelope and took out the money.

"There were four ten-dollar bills and a five. They were from the 1950's and 60's. The envelope said JL Hudson Co, Detroit. I used to babysit for the JL Hudson family when I was in high school. They were the owners of Hudson's, but came from Detroit on weekends to their "get-away" house a short ways from my Oxford house.

"It was so fun to find the money. We decided that Amy should use it to buy a new dress for the Gold Coast Show."

The money


The envelope




Carol, with Amy in Amy's new house.