That about sums up the past week around here!
It’s birthday week – my oldest son’s was last week and my youngest son’s birthday is in a few days. My oldest wanted to a sleep over party and we combined it with a trip to the movies for the opening of Frankenweenie (3D). What a clever movie…..disturbing in some ways too. The little dog Sparky was awfully cute, but worrying about him losing his life twice in one movie was a bit much for a softie like me. It is possible to cry in a Disney movie.
Next up a few of us in the Northern VA area showed our support for the Northern VA Bead Society (NVBS), and attended the show held nearby in Annandale. It isn’t often that those of us in the area see one another outside of BeadFest and artBLISS, as everyone’s lives get so busy. But we need to change that! Julie Anne, Jeanette, Kathleen, Vicki (incidentally, Vicki started her jewelry blog recently – please go give her a warm welcome!) and I attended the show and a few of us took a class too. Unfortunately we just missed Sandi. The NVBS offered mini, 90-minute classes and we took a polymer clay bead shape class with Katrina Marsh Sarlin.
Julie Anne shopping for beads – she found some beautiful lampwork.
Kathleen and Vicki making polymer clay beads
After class, my family got on the road for a quick overnight trip. I don’t think all schools are closed on Columbus Day, but luckily my kid’s schools were. We headed to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley area of VA. There are a few incredible antique malls right off I-81 ….absolutely worth the trip. One of our favorite stops is Duke’s in Lexington. There is so much to see right in the parking lot before even heading in. And how many antique shops are open 365 days a year, 9 to 6?? I love taking pictures outside – in fact, I shared a few old car photos in this post when I introduced PicMonkey. That has to be one of my most frequently hit blog posts – people end up at sweet bead studio.com when they are searching “Monkey Picnic” or “Picnic Monkey”…. It goes to show how key word searches work!
Lots of beautiful rust
I didn’t take too many pictures while antiquing, but wanted to snap a few of the pie safes I saw. I am always on the lookout for them, who knows why. I’m drawn to primitive furniture, and in this case, I happen to like the kind of food that used to be stored in them!
A very common style, with diamond and circle punched tins
I really liked this one, with the paisley design. I believe the knobs are replacements.
