Rust is a Must!

Of course it is... Rust is a must! A new collection of must-have rustic treasures and tees have hit the websites recently!

I love all things

• tattered
• shabby
• cracked
• chippy
• old
• worn
• rusty
• weathered
• vintage

Yes, yes, yes! We do love all these things on the list above and decided to create a t shirt with this design! At first we had the white shirt below, but honestly I seldom wear white, so I added the graphic to the silver tee above. I figured I can't be the only one, so there's options now. I've also done it on a turquoise baseball tee, as someone's request and loved how it looked on it as well!

In case you missed our recent announcements, we have also added a NEW website: www.RustandRomance.com 

Our etsy shop, gypsyfarmgirl.etsy.com is still up and running and the items have been listed on each site, so you can shop wherever you prefer. If you are on Facebook, you can shop directly from our page as well! 

 Speaking of rusty, weathered and worn things... we've created some door wreath alternatives with old wheels and garden rakes

And because we can't let old barn tin go to waste, just because granddaddy's old hay barn came down in jagged and torn pieces, we made tin birds with keys for wings and bottle cap eyes. This is the first time the tin birds have been listed online. I've made the birds on yard stakes before, but the shipping cost was outrageous for a big box, so we just sold those in person at our events. The last time we made birds, we decided some would be on wire hangers, so they can easily be shipped and you can hang them anywhere you want to! With two sizes, I'm calling them the "mama birds" and "baby birds!" 

 I had random shapes left after cutting the birds out and decided to make butterflies, using keys for antenna and a spindle for the body. These have had some identity crisis as they've been called butterflies, dragonflies, and even bumble bees... I'll let you decide what they are!

 Now even though we love rust, sometimes we need a little sparkle! These new stainless steel water bottles have the glitter effect with vintage style graphics. We never leave home, without taking water or tea with us. With it being summer time, I often need more than one cup, so these water bottles are great to take a refill. When we were at our show last week, I filled my big tumbler with ice tea and took two bottles of water in my bag. I love that they are stainless steel and reusable. There is a very limited quantity of these, so grab them now!

2015 Best Nine on Instagram

Everyone on Instagram was doing it, so I had to join in the #2015BestNine! No, I wouldn't jump off a bridge if all my friends did, but this was not life threatening, so I had too! 

2015bestnine.com takes your top 9 most liked pictures on Instagram and forms a collage of them. It seems like all my Instagram peeps like dream catchers, turquoise, Miss Gussie the Glamper, sweet baby calves and rustic gardening as much as I do! 

Thanks for all the love this year! If you're not already following on Instagram, what's the hold up?!? It's my favorite place to hang out! Find me @gypsyfarmgirl or the link above. 

I'm having fun looking back at 2015 and dreaming about the new year to come! What wild and crazy dreams do you have for 2016?

Fall in Love

Fall - its one of my favorite times of year! Pretty colors and slightly cooler weather is always welcome. Add my love for pumpkins, mums, scarecrows, and county fairs and its makes for a happy season. It also means it was time for a yard and gazebo makeover! I moved around some of my junk and added a few bronze and burgundy mums and went with white pumpkins this year. 

My little red rusty wagon has a load of pretty fall goodies. The creeping jenny, coleus and dianthus were already in the wagon, they just got moved around and some new companions. 

We got this old, folding wooden chair from an estate sale a couple weeks ago and it was begging to show off some fall favorites!

Mr. Scarecrow has been helping with some modeling jobs! Here he is sporting a turquoise burlap boutonniere. 

Here's a step back to see all the gazebo. For any of you new visitors, almost everything you see is rescued and repurposed, including the gazebo! We pulled it from a trash ditch several years ago. Of course, all my metal buckets, containers, the wagon, doors, bicycle and chair are second hand as well. Its true what they say: One mans trash is another mans treasure! 

This little scarecrows greets us with a Howdy! 

I've made a couple pumpkin wreaths and Mr Scarecrow helped display them as well . 

The pumpkin wreath above has sold, although the one below will be available at our Yamboree booth in just a couple weeks. 

I think autumn weddings have the prettiest wedding colors! I love the burnt orange, golden yellows, and shades of brown and the decorating ideas are so plentiful this time of year. 

A customer recently ordered the fall bridesmaid bouquet and boutonnieres to match her bridal bouquet she had ordered previously.

So, what are your favorite things about fall? The only thing I don't like about fall, is that winter follows it. If we could only skip the cold winter and go right back to spring...

A One Woman Show?

  A Facebook fan posed a question on a bouquet picture today - "Do you do all the work yourself?" 

My response - "I'm a one woman show. I'm the designer, maker, photographer, and computer person." 

Although I should point out, I do occasionally get some help from the mister! You know, the lifting, some building, IT/computer networking (he makes sure the internet connections are working), occasionally shipping and receiving and he's got the brains to figure out how something works or why it's not.

I got a helping hand, twisting the wire,  when I was working on this chandelier. 

He pulls me out of the mud, when I get the feed truck stuck and fixes the tractor when I break something! 

So I guess I should say we are a team, 

although, he doesn't make or design any of the flower bouquets. 

He does help work on the mechanical elements of my sewing machine, 

but he doesn't paint! That's my department for sure! 

He keeps the internet running and printers connected, but I handle all my own social media, email, blog maintenance / design, etsy shop work and the such. So if you ask a question, you get a response from me. 

Customer service, inventory management (shopping), design and production all point my direction.    

I do all of my own photography as well, except for the occasional time I hand Jeff the camera and tell him to snap a picture for me. I see individuals and businesses that take pictures off the internet and post them as their own, without giving credit, misleading viewers to think they did the work. That makes me mad! My pictures may not be the best and honestly, most of these were taken with my phone, but they are my work! Occasional I repost or share customer's pictures or repost inspirational pictures, but credit is given to the source. Simply, "saw this on Pinterest, fb, love this idea,  yada, yada" would be better than claiming someone else's work as your own. Whew, sorry, I got on a rant there! 

So, yes, I do most of the work behind GypsyFarmGirl, but I've got a great guy that helps me out behind the scenes, 

who broke all the rules here! (Don't try this at home!) 

I certainly couldn't do everything I do without him! Sometimes I wonder how I did everything I do now, plus work a 9 hour a day job in town. I really don't know how I did it all! 

 

Roots and Wings Collection - Now Available!

The day has finally came - the Roots and Wings Collection is NOW available! 

Have a great Friday! Go shopping, Camping season is here, and you know you want your camper looking all glamorous. Also, think Mother's Day gifts, graduation presents, or just shop for yourself, that's ok too! Have a Happy Weekend Y'all! 

What if I fall? Oh my darling, what if you FLY? -e.h.