Thanks North Shore!

Hi Everyone! Here's some pictures from the North Shore Art Fest this past weekend, in Skokie, IL. It was definitely a hot weekend - but thanks to the kind staff of Amdur Productions who delivered periodic ice cold bottled water to the artists, we did not melt.

Here's some booth shots:

This photo was taken pretty early, right before the show opened.....

In the next 2 weeks, I'll be producing as much new stuff as possible for the Gold Coast Art Fest, August 8-10th. Hope you can stop by & visit the booth! thanks - Amy

Production Frenzy

Hi Everyone! I can't believe it's almost August - this summer has definitely flown by! The picture above - is something you might commonly see in my living room this summer. It's a "pile" of almost finished art, waiting on deck for the next assembly party.

Notice I'm using that word "party" again - in my ever-continuing effort to convince my volunteer helpers (aka family) that we are having fun putting things together. (some family may agree with me more than others).

Anyway.... every few weeks I've been schlepping almost finished art over to my parents, where I enlist my folks to help me put on all the finishing touches. Most of these touches involve a table saw, windex, scraping & cleaning glass, etc. Not exactly the glamorous part of the artwork, but necessary to build my finished products. I am so grateful I have family to help me with these things as I grow my business. I have also adventured into the world of hiring help (for sanding, cleaning & taping, etc) - which has allowed me to get a lot more done. But I must say, my family's help has been invaluable!

Coming up for Second Chance Art: North Shore Festival of Art, at Westfield Old Orchard Mall in Skokie - July 26, 27 (10am-5pm); Gold Coast Art Fair (Yes, I just found out I've got a booth!) Chicago, IL - August 8-10.

thanks for stopping by! :) Amy

Oak Brook photos

Happy July 4th!

Hi Everyone - Hope all had a great July 4th weekend. I'm in full "production" mode, which means I'm trying to create as much finished art as possible before my show this weekend, at Oak Brook Center. Here's a couple of new items I'm excited about:

This piece is for a bath or powder room. I've mounted some cool old faucet handles for hanging towels, along with vintage label holders - so you know whose towel is whose!

This is a close up of the hose nozzle we've mounted onto a garden-themed piece of art. The nozzle is being used as a hook to hold a mason jar for a flower bouquet or tealight.

No- this piece isn't finished yet! This is the latest installment of "potentials" I picked up at the West Michigan Antique mall over the weekend, on our way back from a family trip. Lucky me, we had just eaten lunch & the cubs game was on the radio- making my hubby happy to sit in the car & wait for a very long time, while I picked through the huge antique mall. This piece know sits waiting in my storage room.

Here is a funny pic of a car we were following up to Michigan. There was a cute little Boston terrier sticking it's head out the window, with jowls flapping in the wind. Once it crawled back inside, I thought the silouette was funny! Looks like a bat....

Hope all is well... thanks for checking in! If you've got time, stop by my booth at Oak Brook Center this weekend (sat-sun, july 12-13). My booth is right across from the Land of Nod store. Take care! Amy :)

Sandwhich Antiques Market

Hi Everyone -

After checking out the local Marley, IL flea market this past saturday, I dragged my hubby to the Sandwich Antiques market on sunday, June 22. I know I have some date conflicts in the future for both Kane County Flea Market & Sandwich Antiques Market - so I figured I'd better stock up on more finds while I can! Here's a peak at some future Second Chance Art:

Cool old hose nozzles - I think they'll make great peg-type hooks for something.... Here's a "lovely" chandelier - needs a little help at the moment, but I can picture this one cleaned up & working....
Here's the back of our truck, with about half of what we picked up removed. I did get a few interesting windows with great old privacy glass. Only time will tell what they'll become.....
It's the bin pull army! Actually, I'm thinking I'll save these for a future kitchen renovation that my hubby & I are planning. Lucky me, I found about 20 matching bin pulls of 2 different styles. Hopefully my dogs won't want to sit there & lick these. (they have a penchant for licking cold metal objects.....I don't get it).

Thanks for stopping by! Take care - :) Amy

Flea marketing

Amy combed the Marley Church flea market Saturday morning, snapping up treasures like a bag 'o door knobs, a squoval-shaped mirror and a bench. And some old feed bags.






Some items that did not make the cut for Second Chance:

Thanks Wells Street!

Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by my booth at the Wells Street Art Festival this past weekend. We had a great show! It will take a couple of days for the dust to settle - as I'm updating my website, going through paperwork, unloading my trailer, etc. Then I'll be gearing up for my next show - July 12-13 at Oak Brook Center.

By the way... the last post was from my sister "moviegirl." She did not identify herself, but she's a terrific writer - a professional one I must add. She probably wants to remain anonymous, but I wanted to reveal her as the mystery writer. Sorry Jan!

We did take a break last night for a quick "garbage date" ( see my previous posts!). Here's what we found - an interesting chair that needs a little love. Here's a picture of it in the back of our truck. The second photo is of my hubby (aka chairhead) carrying it down to our basement. He said the chair smelled like "a grandma's house" - which we've determined to be a mixture of smoke, mustiness, chicken soup, and maybe a little pet hair? This will probably be a longer term project for me, but I thought the chair had a great 30's-40's art deco-y feel to it.

To convince my hubby to go on a garbage date, I usually have to include some sort of coffee or ice cream. We opted for ice cream this time - at Walt's - one of our favorites. Their sign is very retro, as is the menu, which I couldn't resist taking a picture of. Here's the slush flavors - anyone heard of "pompagranite?"

thanks for stopping by - bye for now - Amy :)

Wells Street Art Fair: Day 1

Mr. Second Chance finally gets to eat some sahsage. Mmm.





From time to time, random people took over the Second Chance chairs. At one point, as I sat in one and saved the other two with my bag, a man carrying a half-full bottle of Guiness offered to buy them AND me for $3,000.
"Only $3,000?" I asked.
"Well, that's just for the chairs," he said.

The girls (Carol, left, and Amy, right) take a very short break in the booth.

Wells Street Art Festival - here we come!

Hi Everyone -

Second Chance Art & Accessories is currently getting ready to exhibit at the Wells Street Art Festival in Chicago this weekend. This is a new show for Second Chance, so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully the schlepping will be easier than past shows, now that we are the proud owner of a 6'x 12' trailer.

I've posted some pictures of a few newer art pieces, so new that they have yet to make the website (hopefully soon!). Here's a small preview of what you might find at the show this weekend -

This is a smaller piece, backed with a vintage tea towel (ivory & red stripe). The quirky hardware is still attached to this window - it must have been a storm window, because there are spring loaded fasteners on either side!

Pictured above is a re-worked version of a previous design, complete with 5 vintage hooks, which remind me of an old schoolhouse. It's backed with ivory & rust colored damask pattern fabric.

This one is great for a kitchen, especially if you like to bake! Backed with a vintage flour sack, it has sort of a 40's-50's feel. The backing is ivory & faded blue.

Here's a great design if you love coffee - backed with a section from a real coffee bean sack (it still smelled like coffee when I assembled it - perhaps an added bonus!)

Here's a quirky chalkboard - made from an old cabinet door. I've attached some hardware (doorknob escutcheon plate & clothespin) at the bottom for holding chalk & an eraser. It can be hung vertically or horizontally - take your pick!

Okay, now I'm departing from the art business side of my life... if you've read my past posts, you know I like to garden. Here's a few more blooms I took pictures of recently .....

This rose is called "Henry Kelsey" - I think it's a Canadian Explorer series rose. This makes sense to me, as I hardly do anything to it, & it comes right back each year, with tons of blooms.

Here's my "climbing Blaze" rose - this is the first great year for it, as last year my border collie decided it needed to be relocated. I looked out the window one day (april 2007) & saw a giant hole where it used to be, and the bush itself had been dragged to the middle of the yard. Hm.... maybe the dog knew it needed a better location, because it does great here!

This rose is a "Zephrine Drouin" climer. It surprized me a little, I didn't actually think it would flower much this year!

Thanks for stopping by the blog.... if you're in the area, come visit the Second Chance Art & Accessories booth at the Wells Street Art Festival June 14 & 15 (10am-dusk each day). We're booth #276-278. Or stop by another show this year, check out my schedule page at http://www.secondchanceart.net/ take care - Amy :)

Trailerrific!

Okay, here I go again on the made up words. But what can I say? I'm now the proud owner of a 6' x 12' trailer, which will hopefully save us lots of effort in the packing / unpacking / hauling / schlepping of Second Chance Art & Accessories to art shows. My husband & I bought it today at a place called "Gene Funk's Morris Trailer Sales". They were very no-nonsense & upfront about pricing & all the paperwork. I don't think I saw Gene Funk though, at least no one there looked like a "Gene Funk".

These other pictures are from my backyard. It's finally flower season, so those like me who love to garden are now happy to be deadheading & doing garden chores. I don't claim to have a green thumb - I think any success I have is due to the fact that I live in an old house, with equally old dirt! (I guess all dirt is old, right?) I think plants like to grow more in well rotted soil than newer-construction topsoil, right?




Here's the great tobacco tin I bought not too long ago - filled with roses, as promised! The roses in the tin are carefree beauty (shrub - pink), red double knock-out, and 1 lone Mister Lincoln hybrid tea.
Red double knock-out (above) almost looks fluorescent!

Mister Lincoln hybrid tea is the perfect long stem traditional red rose. A little particular, but definitely worth it in my book.








Above, this is a Terese Bugnet old shrub rose. Looks great covered with pink roses, but these don't do that well cut in a vase. I've still got a few that haven't bloomed... a blaze climber, graham thomas, a "eureka" floribunda rose - so hopefully more pictures in the future, and lots of cut flowers for my booth displays this summer!

Okay, enough gardening! I'm gearing up for my first show (Wells Street Art Festival) over June 13-14th. My Mom & I hit the Kane County Flea Market one more time last weekend (I can't go again until at least october due to show scheduling, etc). I picked up a couple really unique windows, a mirror, some great ornate old frames, and some terrific old fabrics (tablecloths, etc) to use for unique window art backgrounds. Hope to see you at a show this summer! Check out my "schedule" page on my website for more info. http://www.secondchanceart.net/ thanks! Amy