Happy Easter From The Charlotte ICA Show

Wishing you all a very happy Easter from Rory and Lee Ann, at the Charlotte ICA Show.

Easter Egg Shortage-Ut Oh

It's about 6:30 am here in Charlotte, and today is the first official day of the ICA Show.  Yesterday was a setup day for most vendors.  Lee Ann and I came down a day early and most of the work was done, so we spent most of yesterday greeting some of the early buyers that showed up. 

I wish I had more Easter eggs.  I had no idea they would be such a hot item.  I am nearly sold out, and the show has not officially opened to the general public yet.  It was a little bit of a egg feeding frenzy yesterday.

Lee Ann and I talked over dinner last night and decided that next year I will need to make several hundred of these little guys. 

We are "eggspecting" a huge crowd today, so I better sign off and get going.  I will post more later tonight and promise some fun  pictures.


Rory

The $32,000.00 Hat Rack

Yep!, That's right!  You can buy this combination hat rack and umbrella stand for only $32k.  Just one of the many fine pieces of furniture at the ICA show in Charlotte today.  I really loved this one.  It was made by special comission.  It is one of a kind and was handmade in America in the tradition of Black Forest pieces being made in Europe during the 1850s.  The immense elk antlers are real.  Each antler tip is capped with a carved wooden acorn.  The elk head is hand carved from wood.  The whole thing is over 7ft high.  It is a genuine showstopper.  Thought you all might want to see what a $32,000.00 hat rack looked like.

Rory

We Made It To The ICA Antique Show!

Well, it's almost 8pm and I am at the hotel.  Wow, a reallly long couple of days.  Lee Ann and I spent yesterday preparing last minute items for the show.  I managed to put together a couple of chalkboards made from antique picture frames.  I also did the faux finish on the vintage jewelery cabinet, that I am posting a tutorial on.   We did not get a chance to upholster it, but it seemed too nice not to bring it.  I will be posting pictures of it tomorrow. Tomorrow should be an interesting day.  This particular show features an early buyer viewing option.  Buyers can, for an elevated ticket price,  come to the show a day earlier than the general admission public to scope out the show.  We do not expect a ton of customer traffic tomorrow, but the word is that the ones that do show up are often serious buyers, who are there for a reason.  Many times these customers include interior deigners and their clients, who are armed with color swatches, fabric samples, and checkbooks. 

We finally finished loading the 2 trucks last night around 11pm.  Then we were up at 4:30am to throw our luggage and computer in with us and head off  to Charlotte!

We started unloading about 10am.  After working all day long trying to set up, we are still not completely done, but close enough to earn dinner at Denny's. 



There are a lot of stories, or maybe urban legends about clients spending obscene amounts of money at these shows.  I heard one such story a few months ago in Atlanta.  It was about a woman who walked into the show on the very last day with her interior designer and checkbook in hand.  Many of the antique dealers who were showing there had already packed up their trucks to go home.  This woman ended up spending roughly $40,000.00 in about 30 minutes from the dealers who decided to stick around the last few hours of the show.  You just never know what is going to happen.  Tomorrow could easily be a day like that.  Personally I would be tickled if I sold a few picture frames, and maybe a chalkboard.  I will let you all know tomorrow night how it went and will post some pictures.Time to get some rest.


 Rory

International Collectibles and Antique Show-Spring Classic Announcement

It's official.  We will be setting up a booth at The International Collectibles and Antiques Show Spring Classic, located in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Show dates are  March 31-April 4th.  It is one of the biggest shows of it's kind in the country and we are proud to be a part of it.  Tents are having to be set up to accomadate the huge number of vendors that will be attending.  Our booth will right square in the middle of the huge circus tent ( tent #2), spaces 18 and 19.  Lee Ann and I would love for you to stop by and meet us, if you can make it. 




Here is a pic of our booth from  last month's show.

This will be a show where we are pulling out all the stops.  We will be bringing a nice selection of our handmade candlesticks this time.

Lots of our window mirrors and antique picture frames.  Here is one of our latest.

And we will be bringing more furniture and pretty much  more of everything.  So much more, that we are bringing a second truck.  The booth should be packed.  Gotta love it!  Lee Ann and I really hope to see you there.

Here is the link for show directions and information.    http://www.icashow.com/





More on this great show later.  Rory

Back From The March ICA Show

Well here we are, back from the International Collectibles and Antiques Show in Charlotte, North Carolina.  The weather was great, and we had a good crowd.  By the reaction we had to our booth, we felt it was a big hit.  We are already making plans for the next ICA Show in Charlotte.  It will be held over Easter weekend and is often referred to as "The Extavaganza" or "The Classic".  The Classic draws huge crowds and literally thousands of vendors.  I will post more about this show in the future, but be sure to make plans to attend if at all possible.

I wanted to sahre with you a pic of the wonderful booth that was directly across from us.  It featured reclaimed and vintage mirrors, furniture, and lamps, that had been nicely faux finished in old world styles.  Kevin also features live plants in his booth, which I think is a terrific touch.  Having such a nice booth across from us this trip was a real plus.  It didn't hurt either that Kevin is such a nice guy.  He does not yet have a blog, but he does Charlotte on a regular basis, as well as the Scott's Show in Atlanta.  Say hello if you see him

Here is an item that caught my attention at the show.  It was in the outdoor are of the Antique Village.  It was a couple of feet tall and was apparently carved from an old tree stump. 

I also liked this old railroad luggage cart.  The chippy pink color was amazing and it didn't take long for this one to sell.  These old carts are pretty hot items right now.  People often use them for coffee tables and as accent pieces.  You see them pretty frequently in some of the interior design blogs.  What made this one so special was the incredible color and texture.

All in all, it was a pretty fun show.  We even had some bloggers stop by and say hello from Grover Woodworks.  http://groverwoodworks.blogspot.com/   Grover and his family are super nice, and his little boy Josh is about as cute and polite a little guy as a kid can get.  Grover showed me one of his hand-turned pens he made on his lathe.  Really impressive work.  Be sure to visit his blog.

Saturday at The March ICA Show!

Beautiful weather here at the show.  We expect a huge crowd today.  Here are a few photos of our booth.  As you can tell, we have quite a few antique picture frames and mirrors.  It is sort of our specialty.  I take these old frames and repair them, then I faux finish them in a variety of colors.  Right now seafoam greens seem to be pretty hot sellers.
Here is a pic of a beautiful little vanity that Lee Ann and I tackled together.  It dates to about 1915 and has the original hardware.  We did a faux finish of distressed powder blue and white, with a soft white glaze.  We wanted this piece to be "over-the-top",  so Lee Ann upholstered the drawers with white satin. Inside the drawer padding she added dried french lavender.  Then she covered the seat in gray natural rabbit fur, from an old fur coat we recycled.  We displayed this vanity with some vintage jewlery and a tiara or two so that passer-bys could try on some of it and see themselves in the vanity mirror.  Watching people try on the tiara is pretty fun stuff.  We often ask them to do their best princess wave when they have the tiara on!  Check back later for more pictures.

-Rory-

March International Collectibles and Antiques Show - We Made It!

Today is the first day of the Charlotte show and I am posting directly from our booth.  I have not had time to make the rounds yet to visit the other dealers, but I wanted to post a picture of some of the things that we brought this trip.  Shown here is a table we faux finished in shades of turquoise.  The response to it has been terrific!  Everyone that sees it has a different take on what kind of decor style that it fits into.  Some people have called this look "Swedish".  Others have called it "Country French".  And yet others have called it "Beach".  What ever you call it,  it has been a real showstopper today.  We did this finish by doing a base coat of silver over english oak.  We followed the silver with coats of blue and green.  Then we applied streaks of shellac to add more depth of color.  After we achieved the colors we wanted, the entire table was coated with polyurethane to add some lustre and terrific durability.  On top of the table are candlesticks that I hand turned from scratch on a lathe and faux finished.  The bolster pillows on the chair were made from a vintage fox fur coat that we saved from being tossed out.  Inside the pillow stuffing is dried french lavender.  More from the show tomorrrow!

Loading The Truck For The International Collectibles and Antiques Show!

Today is a busy day for us.  Lee Ann and I are making preparations for our booths at the ICA show in Charlotte, North Carolina this weekend.  Tomorrow is a travel and set-up day and we are always wiped out by the time we are done, so I may not be posting tomorrow.  But, I will be trying to post all 3 days of the show, Fri, Sat, and Sun. I will be showing pictures of our booth, our latest projects, some of the unique items at the show, and perhaps a few pictures of my favorite vendors there.  This is a terrific show with hundreds of booths featuring vintage jewlery, handmade quilts, fabulous furniture, oil paintings, bronze statuary and more, more, more.  If you are in the area this weekend we would love for you to come by our booth and meet us.  We will be set up in the "A" building (the main building), in spaces F-24 and F-25.  Here is the link to the show for further information and directions   http://www.icashow.com/   Plan on spending the day.  This is a large show that includes 3 main buildings and an antique village that you don't want to miss.  Hope to see you there!  -Rory-

Antique Show Announcement - International Collectibles and Antiques Show

It is official. Lee Ann and I will be setting up 2 booths at the International Collectibles and Antiques Show in Charlotte, North Carolina being held March 4th-7th. We will be bringing lots of our restored antiques as well as some handcrafted items, all of which will be for sale. We would like everyone to come out and meet us and see our "greentiques". If you have never been to this show it will be a real delight for you. There are literally hundreds of vendors there who specialize in antiques and hand crafted items of all kinds. Here is where you can find quilts, furniture, paintings, silver, jewelry, picture frames, pillows, vintage clothing, tools and memorabilia. It is one of the largest shows of it's kind in the country and is one you should not miss. I intend on blogging directly from the show and posting a few pictures while the show is going on. I may even do a couple of feature posts on some of the vendors that are there as well.

For show directions and information please visit http://www.icashow.com/

If you would like to meet Lee Ann and we will be set up in Building A (the main building) in spaces F-24 and F25, which are located at the end of row F near the rear of the building. We would love to see you.