Wow, what fun you had and what great stuff.
The little birdbath is my fave. What a nice addition to the fairy house you are planning. And I love the terradactyl too!
Its nice to have traditions with friends isn't it. You've put me in mind to start a couple more.
kathy

Luna The stuff you found is indeed great finds. The chair and teapot, I like. And of course I'm drooling over the ladybugs. Isn't fun to find thing like this?

Kat

Looks like your shopping trip was a success for sure! Love all of your finds especially the birds. I have that same birdbath! And the pterodactyl is just too funny...my daughter used to have loads of dinosaurs...many of them made their own noises. We have them packed away in the attic for future grandchildren! Thanks for sharing your finds with us!

YOu are tooo funny!!! My fav is the little bird bath. I don't think I'd have passed that one up, either - even it it meant we would have to skip dinner!

But the Terry Dack Til is the BEST!!!! And that you know how to spell that word.... I am IMPRESSED!!! HAHAHAHA

Please take a pick for us of you weird balcony 'chandeliers'! (with Terry on display, tooo!) I love stuff like that and it sounds like you have one of the most fun balconies EVER!!!

I mean... take a 'pic'.... not pick ugh typos

I also forgot to post these pictures...

We went to this cute little art gallery in Madison.
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You can see some of the neat metal stuff they had in front. Here are some more of the metal pieces (plus a plug for Garver ... whoever he/she is but who is probably a Democrat since that is all that gets elected in Madison, WI).
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These big metal birds are made from old cars. Probably the original paint job too. They were over $100 so needless to say none came home with us. But I did ask my Bob what would cut car metal ... just in case. he-he

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Bob and I are totally shameless. lol This art gallery had an opening and was offering free food. Bob had 3 plates and I had 1. My friend who was with us didn't have the gall to take any food. At least we didn't drink any of the wine or champagne! he-he But this was my favorite piece of all. It didn't have a price tag on it but some similar sculptures a fraction of the size were $75. This didn't come home with me either!
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I had my Bob do a little reconnaissance at the art gallery. They were selling these cool things on what looked like a conduit pipe. Some had a glass ball or finial on top with wires coming out of that with marbles wrapped in them. This one was just wires coming out of the pipe with marbles wrapped in the wires. I told Bob to get a picture with his secret agent cell phone to see how it was done. These were some nice garden junk things that we could make.

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You can see the one behind this one with the gold crackled ball on top of the pipe. The rusty things were butterflies with flat marbles glued to their wings.

Now I just have to look for an old decrepit car to cut up ...

I really like the last photo of the wires and marbles. It almost looks like coat hanger wire? I have a bunch of copper wire that I might try that with. Sounds like you all had a great time on your outing. I probably would have had a glass of wine with my plate. See, your not the only shameless one! LOL

Donna in Florida

I go to openings and eat and drink. The point is for people to see the stuff and talk about it and hopefully buy. They never know what will lead to a sale. Who knows, you're posting pics here is good publicity and could get them a sale! Sooo don't feel guilty!
Thanks for sharing the pics and ideas. What a good trip you had!
kathy

well, I am just wishing I had found the chair and the lady bug and the birds and and and. But it is too far from CA. Oh well. Glad you had a great time....how was the gourd class. You know that may be the man who does a lost of huge wire sculptures and they show up on edge of highway and a lot of it is political.

no not political...for art...for the building

Here is a link that might be useful: Vote Yes

no not political...for art...for the building

Here is a link that might be useful: Vote Yes

WOW, luna...you really did good!!! Looks like you got alot for your money! I luv the frosted glass bird, the chair, the star (I have some of those for Christmas decor)...everything looks like GJ that you'll have fun with!!! And the Madison art gallery is awesome! Thanks for sharing! Jeanne S.

Dear LLF: Ms Kathy.... WOOOOWZZZZZERRRRRSSSSSSSSS! ! ! !
Now that is some shopping ! ! ! GRRRREAT JOB !
Hope you really enjoyed the Class 2 ! ! ! I know you
loooooooooove that gourd stuff !!!!!

Thanks for sharing the pics...
glad that you and your friends and The Bobster had fun!!!
Glad that you 2 are both feeling better !
God Bless !
SusieSunshine

You sure hit the jackpot, Luna. The birds are all wonderful. You got so many neat things, but the cast iron ladybug may be my favorite. And I am so coveting the moon sculpture in front of that shop.

hugs, Karen

Here are some pictures of the gourds at the gourd festival and the class. I'll show you the ugly one first (mine)....

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The gourd I picked had an opening that was slanted. I wanted it to look like a cracked egg with little lizards crawling out (ok, I'm a little macabre!). The lizard pattern was from a Native American kit. I would like to paint the lizards a couple of shades of green and then stain the rest of the gourd so it looks natural.

Here are some of the instructor's sample gourds:

For this one, she used a doilie to create the pattern. It was my favorite.
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This is another simple but pretty one she did.
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Here is one with similar Native American designs to the one I did.
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Now here were some awesome sculpted gourds for sale at the festival. I was afraid to even look at the price!

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OMGOSH!! Those gourds are AMAZING!!! I will have to grow gourds next year. And I like your gourd. I think your lizards are cool!

Glad you enjoyed your trip. I like your gourd the best. The opening is very unique. Did you do the lizards free hand? They're very cute. My fav though is the tea pot (who'd a guess?) I hope your Mom enjoys the chair as much as I did.
Vickie

The Madison area has many great& unique shops on this order....fun to go thru. Sounds like a fun weekend in a great city!!!

Glad you got away on a mini vacation with Bob & friend! Recharges the body & then to have such great fun shopping for all these neat things is icing on cake. Gourds are so different & beautiful. I have 2 big ones unpainted from TS, will never look that good tho but gives me inspiration! Love the cute chair!!Jan

Here is how I did the lizards ... the instructor had a bunch of patterns. You can see some of them in the 4th gourd picture down. She had us trace the pattern onto Glad brand Press N Seal and then cut it out. We stuck the Press N Seal to the gourd and burned right through it. Unfortunately, I didn't have the right tip for my burner to do detail work and had to make do with the wrong tip. Ack!

Did I say I wanted to make a scarecrow like this one?

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I bought a "head" gourd to match that one. Now all I need is a branch and make a necklace from a little gourd.