Busy, busy, busy...

I just wanted to post the latest photos of the booth.  It's so full now, I don't think I can put anything else in.  My newest addition is this 1940s corner cabinet.  It provides much needed display space, until it sells, that is.

Here is the latest photo of the booth...

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!

Joe's Creations

So Joe, my husband, has started making some really cool stuff with old wood.  His intention was to sell this bench/coffee table but I love it too much to let him.  Can you blame me?!

It looks like a perfect place to rest my feet or to set a glass of wine on a nice day out on the porch, sitting next to my husband of course.  I love it!

Snowmen

I love anything "snowman".  I found these cute little felt snowmen a few years ago at a shop in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  They have pearly buttons, ribbon scarves, thimble hats and needle noses.  Their eyes and mouths are stitched in white.  Aren't they cute?!!!

Bridges

I love old bridges.  It seems that every time I come upon one that I love, all I have is my iPhone camera.  Surprisingly though, my iPhone camera takes really great photos.

I took this photo a couple of years ago in Oklahoma on a dirt road in a community called Gypsy.  There was a detour because a bridge on the main (paved) road was out.  There were several bridges out there but this one caught my eye.  It was a grey day and the river was red from clay.  It is untouched and I love the colors.

I took the next photo yesterday outside of the community of Willow Creek, Montana.  This bridge was long and rickety and just a really cool old bridge.  We drove over it slowly with the windows rolled down so our son could hear it creak and moan.  He was a little nervous.  :-)

The next photo isn't of a bridge.  It's an old tunnel in a hillside in southern Oklahoma.  It's on a dirt road just north of the Texas/Oklahoma border by the Red River.  I didn't realize tunnels existed in Oklahoma and was surprised when we drove upon it.



I'm sure I'll post more photos of bridges and tunnels as we explore Montana.  Love, Eva.

New Stuff

I'm starting to love when the phone rings.  Yesterday, it was the antique mall calling to say I had sold a table.  The manager there, Brenda, knew I had something to replace sold furniture with so she called.  I'm glad she did or I would have had a huge blank spot.  I decided to give up a really cool old kitchen cabinet with a cutting board.  It looks really great.  It pulls more farm style into the booth, which is a look I love.  I went to the booth today to play and to talk to my new creative friend, Jamie who works there twice a week and loves shabby chic style too.  I love the way the booth is evolving.  Love, Eva.

Birds

Anyone who knows me knows that I love birds...bluebirds and cardinals especially.  My grandmother did too.  My house and antique booth are full of bird photos, figurines, bird cages, etc. 

My grandmother was a quilter.  She had a really large square loom hanging from hooks on the ceiling in one of her bedrooms.  She would lower the loom to table height and quilt by hand for hours.  When I was there visiting, I got to help her.  She didn't care if my stitches weren't perfect.  She never critiqued (and never complained about anything, for that matter).  One of my favorite quilts of hers was a quilt where every other square contained a hand-embroidered bird.  She made that quilt the year I was born.  My Mom had the quilt for many years and I always loved it. 

A couple of years ago my Mom told me that she wanted me to have the quilt!  I couldn't believe it!  I was so happy, I cried.  I'm so afraid of messing it up that I have it stored in a box all safe and sound between two other blankets.  I have cats and a dog and I would be sick if one of them scratched on it or threw up a hairball. 

I've decided to pull it out today to show you how beautiful it is.  She was so talented.  As I am trying to take pictures, one of my cats is batting at the birds!

Love, Eva

Ella Violet Antiques - The Beginning

My name is Eva.  Ella Violet was the name I had planned to give my daughter so that my Grandma Violet could have a namesake.  I had a boy's name chosen too and that's the one we used.  I had planned to have a second child but that was not to be. 

My grandmother, Violet Williams was an incredible woman.  She was the oldest daughter of 13 children.   She had 9 children of her own.  By the time I was born, she was in her early sixties.  Still, she had the energy to run and play with her 33 grandchildren and countless great-grandchildren.  She grew her own vegetables, apples and canned them all.  She sewed, quilted and read the bible every night.  She welcomed everyone into her home and tried to feed them.  I loved her dearly.  She passed away in 2008 at the age of 99, seven months shy of her 100th birthday.  I think about her every day.  I loved my Grandpa Paul very much too and he was an amazing man in his own right but this blog is not called Ella Paul.  :-)

I have dabbled in antiques/vintage/shabby chic for years now.  I've decorated my own homes over and over just for fun.  I've had antique booths in Oklahoma and Texas.  They were harder and harder to keep up with between work and raising my little guy so I eventually had to give them up. 

A couple of months ago my husband, son and I decided to sell our house, leave Texas behind and make a crazy move to Montana right before winter.  Maybe it was because we both turned 40 this year but we wanted a different life, away from the hustle and bustle of a major metroplex.  We wanted to be surrounded by beauty, milder summers and outdoor recreation opportunities.  I had worked in Montana 10 years before for a summer but my husband and son had never been, so they are the brave ones. 

So, here I was, in Montana without a full-time job for the first time in years.  I had decided I wanted to spend more time with our 8-year-old son.  I'm so glad I did it.  I'm really enjoying it, but it left me with a lot of free time on my hands.  I needed something to do.  I decided to open a booth here in Bozeman in a local antique mall.  I opened Ella Violet Antiques a week ago after repainting it from a "blah" color the week before.  I haven't sold much...yet.  Interestingly enough, Shabby Chic style hasn't necessarily caught on in our neck of the woods.  I have the only Shabby Chic booth in the entire antique mall.  I have faith though.  Love, Eva.