I Tried, I Really Did!

I tried to keep up my blog.  I have ideas, I think...this would make a great blog post, etc.  But I just can't seem to keep it up. 

I do however seem to be able to post pictures from my booth to my Pinterest page and I've started a Facebook page for Elizabeth Ann's.  These are just so much easier to me.

Soooo....

I'm asking you to follow me on

PINTEREST

Elizabeth Bottchen

 

(I have a board dedicated just to my booth Elizabeth Ann's and I put pictures up each time I bring in new merchandise.)

 

Also please "LIKE"

Elizabeth Ann's Facebook Page

(by "liking" Elizabeth Ann's page when I make a new post it will pop up on your facebook.)

I also put pictures here of the new merchandise coming into Elizabeth Ann's.  I will be sharing BLOGS I think you will like, things I find on PINTEREST that I think might interest others, BEFORE and AFTERS, and maybe a story or two about what's happening in the world of Elizabeth Ann. 

 

Thank you!

I hope to see you on PINTEREST and/or FACEBOOK!!

 

Joyfully,

Elizabeth Ann



 

 

 

 

 

 

~LEtTeRS~

In one of my favorites places to shop for Elizabeth Ann's,

I found the sweetest man selling these letters.

He used them years ago when he owned a store.

They were nice and neat in a large card catalog.

In alphabetical order.

With a tab marking where each letter began.

I moved them into a long basket so I could

sell the card catalog.

Then I dropped the basket.

~klutz~

Oh Well!

MB wants these made into a banner like the one below.  She already has a place picked out in her apartment for it.

You can tell which letters he used the most. 

Some of them are still clear and some have yellowed from being in the weather. 

But I like it that way.

I've been having fun making banners.

My niece Erin will be headed to

the University of Alabama this fall. 

ROLL TIDE!!!

(Oh hey, I need to make a ROLL TIDE banner)

My sister Penny made the cake.

So I made her a BAMA LIFE banner.

She and her suite mates want to put it in the living room area of their dorm suite. 

 I'll be making a few more banners.

R O L L   T I D E

W A R   E A G L E

boy that's a hard one for this Bama fan.  :-)

Plus what ever else I can come up with.

I'm also going to put several of the letters in my booth to be sold individually so people can make their own creations.

What would say?

Joyfully,

Elizabeth Ann

Just Browsing

I'm taking you back to my booth so you can browse around. 

Maybe you'll see something you like.

When I was trying to decide what colors to paint this china cabinet I kept thinking about a beach cottage.  So I chose ASCP Duck Egg and Old Ochre. 

Here's the before. 

I felt like the pediment wasn't going to add to the beachy cottage look so I took it off.

I had so much fun adding all the ocean elements. 

There's silver plate shrimp forks, vintage sailing belay pins, driftwood, and of course seashells and starfish.  On the top I used the ladder from my niece and nephews old play set (I thought it looked like an old boat ladder). The books are Naval navigation charts and the crab picture is by an artist in Wetumpka.

I have to confess that the dining table and server are driving me crazy.  They are American Drew cherry, but I think I'm going to have to paint them.

On our last beach trip I bought a box of 12 vintage cameras.

Love buying in bulk!

The cameras range in age.

This one is from the 1920's.  I know it's not in the best condition but it still has a great look.

This is the youngest of the bunch. 

It's a 1971 Polaroid!

Complete with the add on flash, that took the little square cube.

(remember those...please say yes)

There's even a box of film in the case!

OK, I'll be quiet for a second and let you look in peace.

Thanks for coming in.  If you are ever in Pelham, AL be sure to stop by Encore.  Hopefully I'll be there cause I would love to meet you.

Joyfully,

Elizabeth Ann

DOORS, SHUTTERS and BED SPRINGS

What do these things have in common?

They create the walls for

Elizabeth Ann’s
my booth at Encore Resales in Pelham

I've been wanting to add more definition to my booth for a long time. Because to me, there needs to be something to make your eye "stop" between each space. 

So Mr. EA and I spent several hours one evening
creating a new look for Elizabeth Ann's. 

He had sooooo much fun....just ask him!!

The white china cabinet and some of the shutters have been my back wall from the beginning. We just added another pair to each side.  The new ones are portable so I can move them around as needed. 

 My booth is at the beginning of an aisle as you enter the LARGE room at the back of the store.  So I decided to leave the front open.  Sometimes it will be set up as an entrance or sometimes, like now, I'll put a low piece here.
 

I love these old doors as my corners, they're moveable too.

 

(updated 5/26/12:  the bedsprings sold today)

What do you think of the bed springs? 

I saw them leaning against an old building and I immediatly thought DISPLAY!

(but these are for sale) 

So I went inside to see if they were for sale. 

They were, along with the rest of the bed. darn!

But the price was right and the rails were the old button style metal rails.
Something that is VERY difficult to find.

I sold those to a friend of mine that's been looking for some and I have plans to use the headboard and footboard for something at home. (I hope to show you that in a few weeks.)

 

Come back next time and I'll take you inside so you can browse around and take a closer look at a few things.  I've also got some pictures ready for another post about this banner and some others I've made.

Joyfully,

Elizabeth Ann



Meet Esmeralda

I normally don't name the furniture I paint, but I just felt this chest of drawers needed one. 

   Esmeralda, after the gypsy in the Hunch Back of Notre Dame, seemed to fit.

When my picker showed me this piece I hesitated and thought for a long time before telling him I would buy it.  Because the waterfall style isn't really my favorite,  I almost told him no. 

But the carved pieces and the curved top drawers won me over.

The original pulls were stunning. 

They already had red in them and the metal had started to get that beautiful blue green patina, which I helped along a little.  Unfortunately only four of them were usable so the other drawers have mismatched pulls and knobs.  But that just adds to her gypsyness.

My poor forlorn piece of furniture stayed in the storage unit while I waited for inspiration.  I knew it needed something different.  Then I saw this while cruising through Annie Sloan's facebook page. The artist is Kathy Ayers and she does incredible work.  I also love the way she stages her photos. 
  

Since I didn't get before pictures you'll have to trust me when I say FORLORN. 
But a good cleaning
a lot of sanding
(to smooth out peeling veneer)
some Provence, Emperor's Silk and Old Ochre ASCP
brought her back to life. 

I'm joining these parties:
Restored It Wednesday
Transformation Thursday
Furniture Feature Friday

Joyfully,

Elizabeth Ann

Happy Birthday My Darling

Today is my Scotty's birthday! 
This wonderful man has been part of my life for 34 years and this June I will be married to him for 32 of them.

I love his kindness.
I love his patience.
(He has to be to stay married to me.)
I love who I am when I'm with him. 

Dog the Bounty Hunter and his "BOUNTY"  ( Mr. EA's idea)

I love his sense of humor.

I love that he still likes to play in the water.

I LOVE his blue eyes and his gray hair.

I even love that he's a police officer.

Even though it gets scary sometimes.

On the phone with one of the gazillion people that called and texted him today.

Here's how he wanted to spend his birthday. 

Oh the sacrifices I make for that man! ;-)

He started out at the pool because we knew this was coming.  But to quote Mr. EA, "a rainy day at the beach is still better than a normal day at home".

We will move out here tomorrow.

I wanted to leave you with one more picture.  When we are at the gulf it is a habit of ours to go out onto the balcony just before we go to bed.  This is what greeted us last night!  Probably left over from the SUPER MOON.

Happy birthday my Scotty, I love you!

Elizabeth Ann

Just Piddling

Piddling around is one of my favorite ways to spend the day. My grandma used to say she was just piddling or puttering around when you asked her what she had been doing. 

According the dictionary on my phone piddling means to

spend time in a wasteful, trifling, or ineffective way.

I disagree with that definition.  To me piddling means you get to leisurely do something you want to do without any pressure to get something accomplished or finished by a certain time.  We all need days like that occasionally!

A few days ago I spent the day on my deck just piddling.  I had purchased a few wire vine plants and wanted to put them in pots so I could take them to my booth at Encore.  Granted I did have a goal in mind but I did it at my own pace.

While sitting in a rocking chair on one of my many "breaks" I remembered MB telling me about INSTAGRAM. 

So I downloaded the app to my phone and started playing around. 

Instagram is kind of a combination of PINTEREST and FACEBOOK. 

It's pictures you and the people you follow have taken.

I wanted to take pictures of the plants I had just potted.

Which of course led me to creating vignettes.  I didn't even clean the winter crud off most of the stuff.

This is my favorite!

Not a bad way to spend a few hours wouldn't you say?

All the plants and the cherub are headed to my booth. 

I'll be keeping the watering cans and the iron pieces.

You can follow me on INSTAGRAM  if you'd like.

I go by  elizabeth_anns

Joyfully,

Elizabeth Ann