What a find …

A couple of months ago I was contacted through Etsy by a women to see if I would be interested in taking part in an environmental fair in September. I have not participated in any type of art or craft fair in over five years. I have wanted to do a show but because of my little angels I have not had the time to get enough inventory together to do anything but Etsy.
My plan after Abigail starts kindergarten next year is to throw myself into my art full time. And along with building my online presence and placing art in local galleries I want to travel the east coast and do a couple of art fairs. I would love to travel to New England or down south to sell my art. Since beginning to sell my art online I have sold more items to people who live below the Mason-Dixon Line than anywhere else. Maybe somewhere very deep, deep inside me I have a little southern bell. If I told my husband that he would just laugh at me.

So back to the environmental fair, I have decided that it would be a great show to get my feet wet. It is only four hours, 12 to 4 which are great hours, the set up time is not at 6 in the morning which is a plus, it is Free, and it seems like a great event to go out and share my art. Since I have decided to definitely do the fair I have been racking my brain to come up with a fabulous but easy, unique but easy, eye catching but easy way to display my art and be able to set it up by myself.

I came up with the idea to display my cards and some of my paintings in vintage suitcases. My thought was I could safely transport the art in the suitcases and then when I got to the show I could pop them open and quickly arrange the cards in a nice display. I had found some vibrant and funky suitcases on Etsy and the prices were reasonable but when you factored in the shipping they were a little to steep. On Monday the kids and I had a bunch of running to do so I decided to stop at Goodwill and the Salvation Army to see if they had any vintage suitcases. The first stop was Goodwill that is where I found the cute green suitcase with the pretty green ribbon inside. It was marked $3.99, I thought that was a great price. The suitcase is a fabulous green; it is very clean and pretty on the inside. Next was the Salvation Army. The first suitcase I found was another green one. It was in great shape and it was only $2.99. Then I spotted this huge white suitcase on the top rack. I thought it would be perfect to hang banners in or display paintings. I stood on my tip toes and pulled it down, it was really heavy. When I opened it I had a big surprise, stuffed in the big suitcase was two smaller ones. A little blue one and one of the fabulous flowered ones I had been searching for. None of the suitcases were marked with a price. When I went to check out the store manager gave me all three for $6.99, I was so excited what a find. The flowered suitcase is a little weathered but it is perfect for a display piece at a show. So for $13.97 I found five fabulous suitcases to be part of my show display.

Along with the suitcases I have also found some great pieces to use in my display including, a beautiful old table, sides from a baby crib, old fence, ironing boards, and an old dresser that I am going to paint a flamingo pink! I have a month to get some amazing pieces completed and I am excited about the ideas I have. If all goes well I am hoping to do a couple of small shows before the holidays.

Oh, before I go I also wanted to show another fun find. I purchased these pretty pictures at Goodwill for only .97 cents.

Also I am joining Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingie Thursday. There are always some wonderful vintage finds over on her site and today a recipe for Pink Cake! http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/
Have a great week!