it's a beautiful fall day, let's go to the flea market!

I get so much feedback on my blog when i go to the flea market. i hear from you that your flea markets are non existent, sparse, lame, too expensive or plundered. so i think vicariously, it is fun to see what i find at my flea markets. not being a Jersey native, i often complain about living in this state, but i have to secretly confess, that if i were to move out of NJ, i would miss my flea markets! so come along with me today as we go to my favorite junky flea market, Collingswood. to visually get a picture of Collingswood, I like to quote my friend, Steve, a vendor, who told me that he only likes to sell at Collingswood in complete desperation or (you'll love this), when he needs to "flush the toilet". it's kind of gritty, dirty and has some seriously interesting characters. it took me awhile to get comfortable coming here. i made my husband go with me for the longest time as the men tended to creep me out. Now that i am getting to know some of them and am a more recognizable face, i will go alone and not have a thought about it. sit back and enjoy as i decided to post individual pictures in stead of the collage format.
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here's some of the things i look at every time i drive to the flea market.



this lovely row of trees. it has been fun to watch them grow and change with the seasons.
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one of many corn fields in my area. they are drying up now, their summer jobs of supplying delicious "jersey corn" to us has come to an end. for now they will feed the birds until the first frost comes.

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our local fresh farmer's market; a dying breed.
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the Canadian geese flying around. they are noisy and annoying; yet when you see them flying like this in their vast numbers, honking away, it takes my breath away. i wonder if they are psyched to be heading to a warmer climate or what?

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the infamous sign for Collingswood. this is the new and improved sign. not sure the image of the gentleman got any better. he looks like a cross between farmer john an an alien with a potatoe face.

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let's talk about "flea market attire" during winter hours. it is COLD and WINDY at Collingswood! got your checklist?



here's my stay warm uniform: sensible shoes, warm socks and leg warmers, check!
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cute shopping cart to hold wares, check! got this one at Marshall's for $19.99. (give up the notion that you can carry it all, because you never know what you will find and it helps prevent constants trips back and forth to the car. (record set this summer of making my husband cart stuff to the car - 6 times!)
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warm pair of gloves, check! the hands don't work well doling out cash when they are frozen!

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cool hat, very long scarf to wrap around neck and face, over sized sunglasses, chapstick and cute coat (from Daffy's, NYC!) under coat, yet another lightweight zippered nylon jacket, check! (attitude byob!) also, carry a purse that you can wear across your chest -easier access to the $ and keeps your hand free.
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CAST OF CHARACTERS:



get to know your vendors, check! this is Phillip - he knows i like working with costume jewelry, so he'll bring out stuff for me to see. he also plays Irish music and tells really bad jokes, but we love him. there is a hierarchy to these guys selling at the flea market. Phillip is on the higher end of the spectrum and i love going through his stuff. other characters a bit lower on the chain include: Dependable Don, Vinnie & John, Vic and a few of the other junk guys that i haven't quite wanted to ask their names yet (but jeff and i have nicknames for)!

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Collingswood wares

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LOVE these!
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Oh, look who i spy? it's Joanna (Summerhouse girls from Country Living Fair and one of her sons). Naively i think maybe her mom, Kathe, isn't there and i ask, "where is your mom?"
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Oh there she is! she immediately pulls out a cool find, which she knows i will appreciate (we are kindred souls) - old doll body parts!
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down what i call, "Junk Alley" - Dependable Don's terrority..... this is a "digger's delight". be prepared to scrounge through disgusting boxes which are sometimes really wet from sitting out in the rain. (gross). sometimes he has a helper named "Mikey" who jeff and i have nicknamed, "Kid Rock" (strong resemblance!). recently i found that Kid and i both collect Fedora hats. who knew we'd have so much in common. sadly, Kid was off today because a pic of it him would have been cool with his rockin 80's glasses and stringy, long, blonde hair!
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as seen around Collingswood - an oversized Gumby doll - i got that "look" from the vendor when i asked her if i could take this picture.... 'nuf said about her!

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remember my empty shopping cart when i began? well, i scored big in Dependable Don's section with a bunch of vintage Christmas stuff (and some vintage Easter) i love that stuff and am buying it all up. what for? not sure yet! wait tell i tell you what he charged me for all that stuff.
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this was what i got from Phillip
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loot of vintage Christmas, Easter and super cool vintage, NEVER USED cosmetic case - wait for it, wait for it, wait for it - $5! (and i didn't even post all the pictures!)
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and how about these? are they absolutely the bomb? vintage dance/costume attire for a little girl -so sweet. the detail and materials used are unbelievable. how much were these beauties? now don't be mad, but i took them from the FREE table.

some inspirtation for you today

one of my pictures from Port Townsend

halloween pics

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I had to work on Halloween at the shoppe in Pt. Pleasant where i sell my jewelry; so i decided to dress up. just enough to be fun, yet comfortable. i found a red satin dress at a thrift store in Portland when i was out shopping with Pam and Amy. i paired that with some black and white striped socks and then wore a hair piece that i braide d. I was calling myself Friday, from The Addams Family, but then someone pointed out to me that her name was Wednesday. So then i became, Friday, Wednesday's cousin. it was fun - i got to hand out candy to lots of children and voted the box of candy to be the best costume.

how cute is she?

last day of Journalfest

in the morning, on our lunch break and after classes on the last day, jen and i did a lot of driving around and taking even more pictures! we drove around town, went down to the lighthouse, and down to the marina. that is what is fun about spending time with someone who enjoys the same things as i do. Jen doesn't mind braking for odd photo opportunities or smiling for the millionth time, she's always willing to take my photo, or do my shadow pics with me. she's also always got her camera clicking about as much as mine is!

Journalfest cont'd

my first class at Journalfest was with one of my favorite artist/teacher, Anahata. she is such a sweetheart and her classes are so inspiring. our class was pretty quiet, with everyone working diligently and seriously in their journals (well, except keli and i!) i really love the look of her work and so of course, i just had a great time in her class.

my second class was with Stephanie Lee. we made soldered journals with paper mache pages and i really loved it (i keep saying that!) but she is another artist that i enjoy taking her classes as i get so much out of them and it is right up my alley.

it's funny, because after all the traveling i did this last month and a half (country living fair, artnsoul, art-is-you and finally journalfest), i was a little tired and second guessing myself about going to Journalfest, spending the money, feeling tired. i kind of thought, i really don't feel like going. but i know i was just tired. so fast forward to my time there and i am so glad i went. i got to reconnect with Jen, see old friends (keli) and run into new facebook friends and laugh when we didn't recognized each other, but sort of recognized each other, but didn't get it right away (Julie!). i enjoyed running into artists and friends at the grocery store late at night and feeling like, "these people get me" and enjoy silly laughs over silly things. i enjoyed embarrassing myself by not recognizing Traci and Marilyn Huskamp because traci was wearing the most awesome hat and coat and it just threw me and me, being a dork, saying"now tell me your names again" because honestly,my mind went BLANK! then to find out it was traci, was embarrassing! but you know what? these things happen and i'm ok with that. (please accept my apologies traci and see you guys at CHA and i promise i will recognize you right off!) i loved earning nicknames from my friends (Jane, calling me "The Ambassador" and keli & jen nicknaming, "julie, the cruise director" since i sort of just took over all the plans! so what is my point? it was great to reconnect on a level of me just being me (not a teacher, not trying to make money) but just relaxing and being the silly, gypsy girl that i am. it was a great time for recharging.
jen and i would get up early every morning and go out driving around Port Townsend taking photos and i got some AMAZING shots of the sun rising over the water. that kind of stuff makes me quite happy and i like to do it wherever i travel; seeing the backbones of an area; versus the token tourist view.

it was also super cool to get to have some great conversations with Tracy Moore about photography, in particular, about Lomography cameras. he's going to start blogging about them in detail, so if you are into them, keep an eye out. Although, she was a constant busy bee, i also got to connect with Teesha Moore, who is the brainchild behind Artfest/Fiberfest/Play/Journalfest. i am grateful for the few minutes i got her attention! she is an amazing artist and woman and we are all grateful to her vision of Artfest. She's just posted some incredible journaling videos on you tube on how to journal, how to create a journal, how to paint the pages, how to collage and more. if you have the time, go to her blog and see them. worth all the time you spend watching them! i've seen her journals up close and they are beyond spectacular.

my last class was with karen michel. she does altered imagery and mixed media work. she currently has a cool book out called "The green guide for artists". it is available on Amazon.com. my book is currently on its way to me. it's got great recipes for earth friendly paints and projects. anyway, jen was in the class with me and we spent a relaxing day learning various ways to alter our photos. it was the perfect way to end the retreat, with Karen being a very low key, laid back, sweet voiced and generous teacher.
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the above collage was photos taken around Fort Worden during Journalfest, lunch breaks, vendor night and any other opportunity we had to take photos!