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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Friday, February 2, 2018

The Tacoma Home and Garden Show Part 3

Although plants were not the main focus of the Tacoma Home and Garden Show, there was still much to love about this event.  Yes, there are a lot of  home improvement-related displays but this year, the hot tubs seemed to occupy less  floor space and I even considered buying a couple "My Pillows." 

The Vintage market consists of all local vendors and this year they really brought their A game.  I was especially taken  with the vintage wedding themed display by The Urban Gardener



I seriously considered buying two of these floral baskets.  I remember two like these that lived in the turn-of-the century church I attended as a lad back in the Victorian era.  They were usually pressed into service for weddings and funerals.  Fortunately, The Urban Gardener is not far from my house and maybe they didn't sell.





A clever touch!

Speaking of local vintage treasures, thews two plaster ornaments came from the interior of the local Scottish Rite Masonic Temple whose demolition I showed in posts earlier this year.  Second Use, the salvage company displaying these also had, on display pictures of the wood floors and beams being salvaged from the building.  They reported that all the wood had been sold for reuse locally.


This lady may have come home with me.  Thanks, Kristi, for the chocolate kisses you added to the bag.




Brandy's Attic had this piano bar on display.  

Mr. Big Mouth


I remember doing research using one of these. For anyone too young to identify it, this is a card catalog or rather the piece of furniture housing the actual 3x5 cards.  Think of it as an old-fashioned google home page.

 Once a paper was hand written in pencil on paper and edited several times, this device was used to create a typewritten copy.  I never owned my own electric typewriter.  In high school, I went to my eldest sister's house to use hers and in college, a housemate had a machine very much like this one with the cartridge that could be changed between ribbon and correction tape.  No erasing!  Would wonders never cease.



These macrame beads made me laugh out loud.  Did you also do Macrame in the 70's?  If not,  how did you hang your plants?


 I'm very sorry that I don't remember the creator of these adorable and very shiny snow people made using antique bottles.

New to the Pacific Northwest this year is The Rose Gardener. Owner Wendy Tilley has moved here from Atlanta and her husband, Ryan, will be following her as soon as he's finished installing the rose garden at the President Carter Library. She'll also have a space at the Northwest Flower and Garden Orgy (as my friend Alison has named it) next week. There were lots of useful items that are also available online.

These lightweight pots are covered with the same Vinyl wrap that they use on vehicles. 



Bionic gloves.


Barnel pruners made in Portland, OR.  These felt wonderful.

Rusty Birds are always coming up with fun new designs

and finding creative ways to use existing ones. 



These rusty spheres can be opened to allow each half to be planted and then rejoined to make green spheres.  Every garden needs a few succulent balls, right?





It was a delight to see Marcus Harper GlassWorks at the Tacoma show.  I'd first seen his work at Sorticulture.  Marcus is a marvelously talented glass fuser who has my admiration for pushing fusing in fun new directions. 





Katie Dean's colorful linoleum block prints are all so wonderful that it was hard to choose a favorite.  Fortunately, one can buy them as cards and mat and frame a whole wall full.

Urbansoule's "Ultra modern livingwares"  made me stop in my tracks.   Check out more great stuff on their website!




As Tim Wistrom's  site says, "People may not know his name but they know his paintings."   If you've been in this area for a while, you'll probably recognize some of Mr. Wistrom's surrealistic, often northwest-themed work.  For me, seeing his work at the show was like unexpectedly meeting an old friend.  This one was new to me.


Happy weekend all!

16 comments:

  1. I always loved those flower baskets and have thought about buying them once or twice in the past. Though I don't think they would work as well in my current decor as they might have in my Victorian era. And the wedding display is brilliant. Hope they sold some of those sets. They all looked great.

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  2. The vintage market is the consolation prize for not having enough plants in the show; there is so much to love here... Tim Wistrom shows his art in many street fairs in Seattle, and is very whimsical. I love looking at his work.
    "This lady MAY have come home with me?" I'm betting she did, and the only question remaining is: did Mr. Big Mouth came along too so they can yell at each other from across the greenhouse?

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    1. I loved Mr. Big Mouth but didn't see a price and didn't want to bother anyone. He also looked like he wouldn't make it in the greenhouse. You know me too well, the laughing lady did come home with me.

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  3. Oh, I love the laughing red-haired lady! I also loved the piano bar and thought it was very clever. I bought some of those macrame beads, two frogs and an owl. I have no clue what I'll do with them, but not macrame. I missed some of the stuff you photographed, the Urban Soule booth for one. Love those hanging leaves. And the fused glass skulls and shells are pretty cool too. There were so many people hanging around the Reuse booth I couldn't even get into it.

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  4. AWWWW! Thanks for stopping and photographing my booth! You (and anyone else) are always welcome to stop by my studio in Seattle (Burien) and see what I'm working on and what I have available!

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    1. I really like your creations and meant to circle back there before I left but the show was closing for the night. Would love to come to your studio and see what you're working on and have available!

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    2. I may take you up on that offer too! I'd love to see what you're working on.

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    3. I would love to have you all over to my studio! lets plan on March or April, I'm having a hand surgery on Feb 16th so I'll be one hand down for a bit, but after I'm not a mummy will be perfect! Send me an email at info@urbansoule.com and we can talk dates!

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  5. What a range of goods! Your laughing lady looks so familiar but the closest I could come was Kathy Lee Gifford.

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  6. This show is a cross between a Flea Market and an Art Show. What a fun time it would have been to cruise through all of this merchandise. The laughing lady is lucky to be able to go home with you. She will have plenty of company.

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  7. Thanks for the look at the Urban Soule booth. She and I converse on Instagram a lot, nice to get another perspective on her creations. Those macrame beads were so inexpensive! Owls are hot you know, and macrame is cool again! So where will your laughing lady live?

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    1. I loved Urban Soule's stuff! The wall pieces reminded me of you. The laughing lady is in the kitchen at the moment. There are holes in her ears for earrings and she really needs some sort of fabulous necklace. She'll live in the greenhouse or maybe outside for the summer.

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    2. It was so nice to meet you at the Flower and Garden Show Lori!

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  8. Wow. Lots of cool stuff. How am I going to resist buying stuff next week? I may have to limit myself and make a contest out of it: which one thing is my favorite?

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  9. Could happily display that laughing bust in our house!

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  10. My son would have been excited by that electric typewriter. He considers them cooler than vinyl records.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.