How Did I Become the Candle Lady?...and What is Up for 2015?

Pottin' Shed soy candle hand poured at The Junk Ranch

It seems like I've become known now as the "candle lady" around these parts. I do love making them, burning them, and sharing them with friends and family.

Me in 1990 I believe sitting on an early floorcloth design

As I logged into my Facebook page this morning to post something about...yep, candles...I noticed that I had hit 2800 LIKES. Not bad for a neglected page, but it also hit me that all the new members knew was that I am a candle maker. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but...

For a while I've been feeling a little lost. I'm currently stretched so thin I am not really sure what it is that I DO anymore.

When I started this little junk business in 2009, I got into it in a big way if you will remember. I wanted to make a change from being a floorcloth designer and artist for over 20 years...I wanted to fly by the seat of my pants and do something different every day...and I have. The junk biz has evolved and changed over the years. Bigger some years than others or not at all at times...like now.

2nd Annual Spring Country Marketplace here at the ranch

I've had occasional sales on my own, hosted vendor sales here on the farm with friends and business acquaintances, added a vintage rental option to my shop, had many antique booths , and sold things on Ebay, Etsy and Craigslist. I even hosted a junk workshop and filled my little studio up with wall to wall people resulting in really cool and innovative functional art pieces. I think I may have even inspired a handful of my girlfriends to start their own junk businesses!

Junk Camp 101

My sweet studio and shop

My shop's candle corner

But for the last year, for the most part, I've just made soy candles. Lots of candles. I never intended to do this, but it happened. Sometimes it bothers me, knowing that I'm capable of much more, but yet I do this....well, it doesn't bother me too much...but, 

I have made candles because: 

#1 I enjoy it and I personally burn candles daily

#2 I give them as gifts and donations. 

#3 I have great customers that continue to buy them

#4 That's all I can manage to do right now that remotely looks like the Junk Ranch is still alive.

Once upon a tine, I had wayyy to much stuff. This is only the front half of the shop a couple years ago

I love to style merchandise and photos!

Not many people remember, or maybe never knew, but before I became an artist I was an interior designer. After getting my degree, I worked for several years in High Point working in showrooms and with residential clients. When I became a mom, we decided that I should be a work at home mom and my floorcloth business was started. I had a few design jobs during my art career, but nothing major. There wasn't time. I had a great 20+ year run designing and hand painting floorcloths for clients all over the US. In 2009, I decided to switch gears and try to do more interior design as the handmade/vintage industry was beginning to boom. It was a natural transition, considering we have lived this way in our own home for nearly 30 years. 

A peek at some of the old pick wick boards in our daughter's cottage

I love design and color and space planning. I'm finally getting my fill these days while working on our daughter's house; a small little 70 year old cottage near my parents' home. Working on her house has inspired me to work on our own as well. The cobbler's kids have no shoes...and parts of our home looks like it did at the turn of the century. 

Did I mention pet portraits?...did that too

Being a shop keeper, booth vendor, candle maker, wife, mama, caretaker for 4 dogs and 2 cats and 2 horses, vegetable gardener, herb gardener and house keeper has completely frazzled me!...and now we have Erin's house renovation to finish.

Being a one-woman show is no longer important to me. Having it all has left me missing my favorite things in life:

*spending time with my family and friends...

* sketching and painting...

*decorating our own house...and enjoying relaxing there

  *riding my horse...

*actually, using all of the vegetables and herbs I grow

....and lots more if I continue to peck...

What I'm getting to is...I'm about to move on to the next big thing. ME. 

I'm doing it without guilt. I'm doing it without permission or validation from anyone else. I'm just doing it. I will continue to make and sell a few candles. We will finish the renovation and we will have a nice holiday season.

The new blog will be more concise and clean...and more the ME I am today...or the one I'm at least striving to be. We are re-learning (is that a real word?) to live simply here in our little corner of the world and I am excited to share on a more personal level the things I love and what I do on a daily basis. Not that it's all that exciting, but it should be somewhat more interesting...tutuorials, DIY, gardening, home keeping, animal keeping...you know, just life here on the farm, but with the same cowgirl spirit that started this blog in the first place. 

So, for now, until the end of the year...I am the candle lady. In 2015 I am just Angie.  See you soon!

UPDATE: This is my last post here...continue on to The JunkRanch  to the new website.

Our Vendor List for Country Marketplace

I am getting very excited about our sale in May.  Last year, I was actually a little afraid that no one would show up to buy anything. I started with a handful of my closest friends as vendors, did a little marketing and hoped for the best. It worked and we had a good turnout. Whew! 

This year we have a bigger vendor list. I learned a lot from last year and am working hard to make this another good event. 

Here is our vendor list:  

Crane Farms - Winston Salem

Crane Farms on Facebook

Crane Farms Blog

Cabin Creek Antiques - Lexington

Cabin Creek on Facebook

 Goat Feathers - Winston Salem

Goat Feathers on Facebook

Stressed Out Furniture -Linwood

Stressed Out Furniture on Facebook

Loriginals - Thomasville

The Brown Eyed Suzy - Salisbury

The Brown Eyed Suzy on Etsy

Hennessee Home - Winston Salem

Hennessee Home on Facebook

The Blackbird Box - Lexington

The Blackbird Box on Facebook

Vickie's Jewel Box-Lexington

Vickie's Jewel Box Auction Site on Facebook

Ranch Dressing - Thomasville

Ranch Dressing on Facebook

Website

....and two more on deck from last year if they can clear their schedules.

....and one more good friend if she can get a day or two to finish some projects

And...we have Sweet Scoops and Beyond...to serve up hotdogs, ice cream, tea and lemonade on Saturday!

So, it's looking to be another good sale here at the ranch! Ya'll mark your calendars and plan to come!

See you then!

All Under One Roof

View from the stairs of my little shop, Ranch Dressing Handmade & Vintage

 On the last day of January I began rearranging, stuffing, stacking, and layering all of my inventory. All of it!...under one roof. It's been a long time since I have been able to focus (my word of the year) like this and it feels good!

Down the center

 I closed my booth in Lexington and moved two truck loads back home. It was bittersweet as I've already told some of you that have been in. I had such high hopes, but I was really just spreading myself too thin.

Kitchen Wares

In retrospect, and from all the good comments from people coming in here the last few weeks, I don't know why I ever ventured away from my own shop in the first place. It is so easy here and it was always so stressful and really hard keeping one or more booths while I attempted to keep things going here. I'm happy to say that now I'm focusing...there's my word again...I'm moving right along and things are falling into place. For the last two weeks, I've had new customers coming from my Facebook campaign and I've also managed to get my studio organized enough to start planning for some workshops.

Back Corner

As you can see the shop is brimming with stuff  and that I don't need to be looking for anything else to go in here to sell...but I'm planning on having our vendor sale again this May and I will need extra things to go under the shed. I'm already on the hunt for those things!...and for vendors...I'm planning to send out information to potential vendors in March so if you may be interested get me your contact info.

I've even taken in the stairwell going up to my studio

 If you haven't entered our contest yet for the $100 shopping spree here at the ranch, you still have time. You can get all the information here on the blog from this link...CONTEST

And also, our February edition of our newsletter went out today. You can view if from this link...NEWSLETTER. If you'd like to have it sent directly to your inbox each month along with an occasional announcement or two please sign up at the bottom of the newsletter.

The other back corner of Ranch Dressing

Thanks so much for supporting our small business and too, for shopping local. It's not only fun to get out and off the beaten path once in a while, it's the right thing to do! Thank you!

Feeling Lucky??

We want to beef up our biz in February and thank you in return for being great and supporting small businesses like ours. See below for your opportunity to win a $100 shopping spree here at Ranch Dressing.

1) If you already follow my blog leave a comment for me telling me you'd LOVE to win, for ONE ENTRY.

2) New followers will receive ONE ENTRY.

3) Refer a friend to follow our blog and receive TWO ENTRIES for each friend. (Have them tell me you sent them.)

4) If you have a facebook account you can gain more entries the same way...www.facebook.com/TheJunkRanch

5) If you are local visit the shop. If it's your first visit you will receive TWO ENTRIES. No purchase necessary. For every $10 you spend you will  receive THREE ENTRIES.

Even if you don't win this time we always punch your appreciation card for every $25 you spend with us. When you have 5 punches you will get 20% off your next purchase. We love our friends and want you to love shopping here!

The contest begins today Feb. 1 and ends Thursday, Feb 28. We will put all the entries in a hat and randomly choose one lucky "Rancher". The winner will be announced March 1, 2013.

...Long distance Ranchers are eligible...you will be able to choose from our photo albums on Facebook...you do  NOT need an account to see our page...facebook.com/TheJunkRanch

Good luck and best wishes to you all!!

Breathing Again...

I guess it's true that I thrive on change...I hate it in some ways, but that's the only constant I seem to have in my life these days! 

Somehow, I've managed in the last week to empty two antique booths and set up a new one, with pieces to spare and add to my shop here at the ranch. All in all everything worked out great and I hardly remember how I got all these bruises!

Needless to say, now I need to focus on working in the studio all winter and produce a nice body of work to start adding to all of the cool vintage finds I have for sale. The marketplace at the Purple Pig Emporium has been described as Etsy and Pinterest...it's that inspiring! 

Today, I'm making soy candles in two heavenly scents, Pecan Pie and Pumpkin Souffle. I make the biggest mess doing it but love how it makes the shop smell wonderful for days without even burning them.

For the sake of every one's time today I'm going to show a few photos of my spaces and a few more of the PPE. I hope you will make the drive out here to the shop or down to Lexington to the Purple Pig soon!

The shop this fall...still have my husbands birthday greeting on the chalkboard

Just the sweetest chair sitting inside the door

Always my favorite corner of the shop with all the vintage kitchen wares

The coolest vintage necklace from the large estate we first opened our business with

Blue transferware and old silver and glass are a favorite combination of mine

I began taking orders this week for hand painted pet and house portrait ornaments...I will just have to say, Facebook  rocks!

The following photos are courtesy Purple Pig Emporium...you can see lots more from their Facebook Page or even more in person....

Looking down on the first floor at the Purple Pig

This is actually my sister's booth...LORIGINALS

I love these cute pieces in the vignette in front of my booth....see me back there? 

Some retro kitchen wares from my booth...LOVE THEM!

The back wall of my booth just before it was finished...

The Barbecue Festival in Lexington is this Saturday and approximately 140,000 people will be in town so I'm off to the studio to hopefully be very productive today. Have a great one!

~Angie

Junk Baby has a New Sister

Assemblage Art Doll 

Meet Dream Baby....Junk Baby's new sister. Remember Junk Baby?

Junk Baby

She was my very first art doll...not that I have much experience yet with this fascinating art form...Dream Baby is only my second.

Unlike Junk Baby, Dream Baby is not a swinger...for some reason, my son is extremely creeped out by the swinging doll. Dream Baby is mounted on an old trophy base...in fact, her feminine shaped body is formed by using the trophy itself upside down.

To be honest, he is creeped out by this one as well. I don't get it! To me, she's as sweet as can be...but of course, I am partial...she's my Dream Baby.

Her little skirt is part of an oil lamp and a clock gear elevates her a bit and also connects her to a spool base. She has lots of special embellishments to give her the character that her name suggests.

Dream Baby will live in the shop with Junk Baby until they are adopted out to new families. How wonderful if they could both go together. 

This weekend they both will go with me to Art with the Alpacas show and sale in Asheboro. If you'd like to see us there you can find more information by clicking this link LARK ARTISTS

Just my two cents on a Monday afternoon...now off to put hay in the barn before it rains.