Recap of The Backwood's Marketplace

Gypsy Farm Girl + Rooster Tails = The Gypsy Rooster! 

Meet our funky Gypsy Rooster mascot, created from a late night sewing spree and lots of fabric scraps! He welcomed guest at one entrance into our booth at the recent Backwood's Marketplace. 

The weather was absolutely gorgeous for this show! We were able to set up early and didn't have to worry about the wind or rain disrupting our plans and for that we are thankful.

This show, we added live plants and some scrap art. I collected the seeds (bundt pans and door knobs), planted the ideas with Jeff, and he fertilized (welded) them and all of a sudden these fun flowers sprung up the day before market! I love how they turned out and they got lots of comments, although some thought it was a waste of a good bundt pan and others said "who would have thought of that?" Ummm, me! :)

I had this bike, that we named the flower peddler and promised a video of me riding it Sunday morning, before the market opened. 

Here's one of the video's of me riding down the dirt road at market! (There's also a live video available on facebook of us walking through our booth and a final bike ride, before it went off to its new home.) Apparently, everyone was worried about me crashing, but I didn't! :)

Since the market, I have been adding lots of new inventory to my shop, so if you couldn't make it out to the market, I can ship to you!

Here's a partial view inside my tent.

The gazebo was part of the property and we were ask to include it within our layout and include some decor around it for picture taking. 

The market coincided with the history gathering and I had some of my vintage church paintings available.

Angea's Farmhouse sign. I had fun creating these truck and camper tin signs / wall hangings from scrap tin. I love my cutting tool that I found to cut the metal. (The truck sold. but the glampers are available.)

Miss Gussie - she loves going to markets and letting everyone peek inside her. She loves all their sweet comments and the super excited squeals from a few!

Looking out from the camper door.

 Almost all of the tin bird flew away to new homes!

Here's a view of all our space! We kind of had a lot of stuff, between the two of us!

 A great big THANK YOU to everyone who came junkin' with us! We appreciate everybody who stopped by our booth to shop and visit. We love getting to see all of you! Also, thank you to the Blackstone Family for letting us be apart of this market. If you were unable to attend, but see something you like or something you wished you had got while you were there, please check in my shop as I am adding new inventory or send me a message. (clothing hasn't been added yet, but hopefully this week I can get it photographed and listed.)

Not all who wander are lost... happy trails till our paths cross again. 

Things we love...

We only make and collect the things we love! As the final days of preparation for the Backwood's Marketplace are underway, we've got lots of things to finish up and tag, before we start loading the trailers. We are drawn to the things we love and make us happy and hope you will love them too. If not, well I guess I'll just have to bring them home and keep them in my yard. 

This time, we have added some plants to our area. Angea and I picked up a truck load last week and now we keep saying "oh, this would look good here... I need that chandelier...and those chairs..."

Can you feel my pain?!? I mean these chippy chairs and gorgeous plants look right at home in my yard! I'm thinking we should have got more plants, because we want to keep half of them. We may be like BlueBell Ice Cream - eat (plant) all we can and sell the rest!

I mean this succulent chandy fits perfectly under my tree. For years I've dreamed about having trees large enough to hang things from them and its finally happening. Bird cages, chandeliers, and lanterns can hang from our trees in the yard. 

But I must remember we are Flower Peddlers and must share our pretties with all of you! That is why we've been junkin' and collecting things for months. This old bike is one of our recent finds. I even found an original bike basket that attaches to the back of it, so it will hold several plants! 

I've been having fun using my new cutting tool to cut out fun shapes and repurposing random items into yard art! Jeff even let me use his riveter, so I have been able to attach the pieces together. 

Tin campers, truck, wings, birds all created from reclaimed items. 

Some buckets that we found at a farm estate sale. - Some will have plants in them! 

See - I love the chandeliers hanging from the trees! Now, do understand why I say it's going to be hard to load some of these items? 

These items are already loaded in the camper, so they will be there! 

Angea and I will have an Americana and Texas themed section of our area with flags, wreaths, cemetery pieces, art work, baskets arrangements and the such. 

Rustic frames made from reclaimed lumber and vintage lace will hold old photos or documents. The wood camef rom my Granddaddy's old barn

Sunshine is always Welcome and this wreath is cheerful yellow! We will have wreaths in an assortment of colors and styles. 

Roots and Wings... more things I love and hope you will too. 

So the details: 

~Backwood's Marketplace 

~April 8-9 Saturday 10:00 till the last customer leaves. Sunday 1:00 to 4 ish

~Beautiful spring weather forecast for a wonderful weekend! 

~That's us on the poster, with our booth from last spring. ( And when I say "booth" I mean camper and two tents with stuff spilling out everywhere!) We've got lots more items this time, so come see for yourself what all we will have! 

~What you won't find - mass produced items being pulled out of a box from foreign countries. All items are handmade or repurposed by all the artist and creators. 

~FREE parking and admittance! Bring a chair and enjoy a day in the country! 

From Ms. Carla Blackstone about the Market -

The Backwood's Marketplace is a group of artists, designers, crafters, and collectors who come together twice a year to sell their work at the old Blackstone Ridge Homestead. They have been juried to maintain the quality of the show and their work reflects this. The marketplace is not what you expect to find at a common craft show, it is so much more. Each one of the group sets up large areas in a themed atmosphere. It almost looks like an outdoor mini-mall. The theme for this marketplace is "yester-year in the backwoods."

A group of western Upshur County family and community researchers set up in front of the research room. They have books of old documents, pictures, and family histories for you to go through. If you have deep roots in this area, you will want to bring a chair and spend awhile visiting with this group. The Outlaws, a cowboy group, will be at the old homestead from 1-4 on Saturday afternoon for "conversations" about this area and picture takin'.

The concession area is always a great area to sit and enjoy the "country atmosphere", while enjoying some great food.

The marketplace will be open 'til dark or after (until the last customer leaves). The old homestead is so pretty and cool in the late afternoon.

This FREE event is made possible by Blackstone Ridge Small Engine Center L.L.C. It is located at 9553 FM 49, nine miles west of Gilmer, Texas. 

We love being a part of this group and being able to take part in something like this that is only a few miles from our home. (Less than 10 minutes through the backroads!) We do hope you can come out and say hi! 

I'm For the Birds

If you've listened to Miranda Lambert's newest album  The Weight of These Wings, on repeat like I have, you've probably heard the song 'For The Birds'. I've decided it fits me pretty well and has inspired a spring line up of items, that you'll find at the Backwood's Marketplace April 8-9 and available online after the market.  

I'm against the days
When the skies stay bummer-grey
And the cake just tastes okay, okay
Well I guess I'm anti-yuck
Against the stuff that sucks
Pulls the life out of your soul 
And shuts it down

(Yes, yes, yes...bummer-grey skies are so depressing - I'm definitely solar powered by the sun and who wants just okay cake? I've never been a big fan of the color grey and I think its because of bummer-grey skies. I try to avoid the stuff that shuts down my creative soul, which is one reason I listen to music while working and not the television.)



I'm against the doc
Letting good tomatoes rot
Being someone that you're not, when you're not
Well I guess I'm anti-hate
Cause that ain't what it takes
It's love that makes this crazy world go round

(Be yourself and this world is way too full of hate right now.)

I'm for the sun, I'm for the breeze
Old dogs sleeping at your feet
I'm for the girls with the curls and the curves
I'm for questions
I'm for freedom
Celebrating every season

(YES, on all accounts - I just wish I has some curls!)

For the bees and the trees and the dirt
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)


I'm against the notion
Of drinking with cheap potion
And causing big commotion
You know son
I guess I'm anti-confrontation
I'd rather have a conversation
About nothing in particular at all

(I prefer the drama free, no confrontation, discussion about nothing  in particular at all...)

I'm against them feelings
The once that get revealing
Slamming hearts right in the ceilings
You feel me
And I guess I'm anti-tears
I'd rather sip an ice cold beer
Listen to some country music until dawn

(I'll sip on ice cold tea...)

'Cause I'm for the sun, I'm for the breeze
Old dogs sleeping at your feet
I'm for the girls with the curls and the curves
I'm for questions
I'm for freedom
Celebrating every season
For the trees and the bees and the dirt
I'm for feathers
I'm for wings
I'm for Tweedle-deedle-dee-dee-dee

For what it's worth
For what it's worth

I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)
I'm for the birds (I'm for the birds)

Tweedle-deedle-dee-dee-dee



Take a listen to For The Birds audio from YouTube

Since the album came out and I've fell in love with this song, I've been finding bird related items on all our junkin' trips, so it all just seems meant to be. We will have a collection of wings, bird cages, bird houses, art work, tin birds, etc at the Backwood's Marketplace along with a lot of other items and our spring garden center!