Featured Artist on the Backroads - Needles and Kims

Today I am starting a new feature, where I will be featuring artists and craftspeople from the backroads of Kentucky. My first wonderful find is Kim of Needles and Kims an amazing shop on Etsy. Kim, who now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, originally hails from Eastern Kentucky, an area rich in its history of artists and craftspeople. This heritage is evident in Kim's work.
Kim's shop motto is “Stitching New Beginnings from the Past”. Of course, as I am a big fan of both vintage and upcycling, especially when it produces such wonderful new items, I love this shop.
Kim specializes in purses, cuff bracelets, and accessories for the home from repurposed wool (sometimes cashmere) sweaters, which she has felted. She then embellishes her creations with vintage buttons, repurposed jewelry, needle felting, and more. Below are a few of her wonderful creations.

Turquoise and pink embroidered cuff

retro purse made from vintage needlepoint


20 circles needle felted table runner

Hope this small sampling of her fun creations sends you straight to her shop, because there's lots more.

Just show me the Bourbon

While my sister was visiting from Arizona last week, we meandered along the backroads on over to Bardstown Kentucky. Now I'm sure most of ya' ll know Bardstown as being the wonderful little town where you can visit My Old Kentucky Home and watch The Stephen Foster Story.


And of course they are wonderful and I highly recommend that you visit them, but there is another mighty draw coming out of that quaint little town.
"What could that be ?" you ask. Why the state drink of course.....BOURBON!!!



What better place to sample the finest Kentucky bourbons than the Old Talbott Tavern and its famous bourbon bar. (Well, I'm not actually sure how famous it is, but in my mind it should be).
Unfortunately, my Mom had that look on her face that said 9:30 in the morning was too early for such shenanigans.


My sister of course tried to sneak in anyway, but there is no getting by Mom ...



and well we all know what happens to anyone who defies their mama.

For those of you who are lucky enough to sample the fine wares...


(The big old turkey in the window will give you an idea of just how fine they are).......



and are able to have a taste or two, Old Dobbins, AKA the designated driver is waiting to convey you back to your lodgings.



As for me, as I drove out of town, I wistfully eyed the big warehouse where I know all the good stuff is stored. (Note the heavy duty barbed wire fence.)




Mama said that Sunday was not a good day to post this story, but well Mama doesn't do much readin' on the internet.

This is dedicated to my late father, who loved fine Kentucky bourbon. Happy Father's Day.
Laura

The Brass Menagerie

Today's title is a takeoff on that wonderful play by another famous southerner (okay. I'm not famous, but I am a southerner) Tennessee Williams. His play "The Glass Menagerie" revolved around a girl, Laura, (hmmmm I believe there is another Laura in this story) who is obsessed with glass animals. Although, I am not obsessed, exactly, I do become quite territorial when a box of fine specimens is spotted at an estate auction and woe to the person who bids against me. If I were a witch (which once again I am not) I would have given them the evil eye. Oh, I did give them the evil eye. But, all is well that ends well, and when the bidding was over I was the owner of a wonderful "flat" of small brass treasures. I feel sure you will agree.


Aren't they adorable? And look, some of them are even trinket boxes.

Of course they will soon be appearing in my shop so that someone else can give them the appropriate love.

Happy Saturday,
Laura

A Box of Treasures

Everybody loves a box of treasures. I know I do. There is just something so exciting about finding an old box and seeing what is hidden inside. For kids it can be old marbles, or comics, or just some crayons and paper. Many adults dream of finding a box full of jewels or gold coins. For me, it is opening it to find some old vintage treasures. That is why I am always so excited when I find a dusty old box at an auction, estate sale, or yard sale. This past week I was not disappointed. When I came across this dirty old box at the local auction, I couldn't wait to see what was inside.




I certainly was not disappointed. A box of beautiful vintage silver.



WOW! Can't wait to start putting these beauties in my shop this week. There is just something so elegant about setting a table with an eclectic mix of old silver and china.

You call this a fryin' pan?

When I was out on the backroads of Kentucky this weekend I came across this great enamel paella pan from the late 1960s to early 1970s. From the looks of it, it was never used. I can just imagine some young bride, back in the day, proudly opening her wedding gifts and exclaiming "what in tarnation is this? It's not flat enough for bacon and its not deep enough for chicken. Bubba, set this thing back in the cupboard."

I bet this wonderful pan was stuck in the back of that old country cupboard and left there until it was brought out for the big yard sale this weekend. I of course tried not to appear overly enthusiastic as I plucked it off the table from amongst the plastic floral arrangements and being the shrewd negotiator that I am (0kay I paid her what she asked for it) tried not to dance a jig on the way back to my overly stuffed van. Well take a look. You have to agree it's a pretty fine pan.




Hope you all had as much fun as I did this weekend.
Laura

The Blowup Purple Jesus

Okay, I figured that would get your attention. More on that in a minute.

Yesterday I took my first official ramble down the backroads to a little town in Kentucky called Nicholasville. It's really only a hop, skip, and a jump (as we sophisticated Kentuckians like to say) from Lexington, but like most back roads in Kentucky, it's a pretty drive. It was kind of rainy and I found through trial and error that it's best to slow down when trying to take advantage of the best photo opps. Also there really wasn't a whole lot of interesting things to take pictures of unless you like cows and horses, and they were quite a ways off the road. In other words, it wasn't quite as impressive as the time I spotted the purple blow up Jesus in someone's front yard.

Now I know what you're thinking. That girl has sipped a few too many mint juleps, and although that may be true on occasion, I really wasn't hallucinating. In fact when I tell this story, which like most of my stories I like to tell often, I have to call up my daughter Katy, who most people believe, to verify it. (She has such a sweet honest face, and unlike the rest of us she doesn't lie)

(Katy)

I would turn to my sister Elaine, who lives right here, but nobody believes anything she says.
Anyway, it was few years ago at Easter and we were taking a leisurely Sunday drive through the mountains of Eastern Kentucky when I spotted it residing in the front yard of a lovely mobile home. There is was in all its glory. A perfectly wonderful life size blowup purple Jesus.
"Stop the car" I shrieked. "Did you see that? Please tell me someone in this car has a camera." Of course not. We never have a camera at the most important occasions in our lives. So we just sat there gazing at it in awe. I mean really how often are you going to see something as wonderful as that. So as we continued on our drive, we knew we would have to carry the memory in our hearts and pass it on down to the younguns, just like an urban, or in this case, rural legend.

Well even though I didn't get any scenic pictures this time, I did score some great thrifty finds and thought you might like a sneak peak at some of them.




You all come back and ramble with me again soon.
Laura

Another New Start - Just Rambling

Okay, I know I've gone this route before, but in truth I have really been trying to find my way with my blog. I never quite figured out what I wanted to do with it. Did I want it to advertise my business? Well that is pretty darned boring. Did I want to give decorating tips? YAWN!!! My children are grown so I can't talk about the cute things they do, although they are both still pretty cute. My grandkids live over 300 miles away, so I can't give daily updates on them. HMMM!!!

When I posted my last entry a couple of weeks ago, I think I finally was getting a glimpse into what I really want to write about. I love travelling around the backroads of Kentucky looking for new finds for my shops , enjoying the beautiful sights of my state, and talking to the diverse people who live in this state. There are always stories and interesting artists to share, so that is what I am going to do.

So I hope you will come along for the ride with me down the back roads of Kentucky and follow some of my ramblings.

Laura