Canton tales...

My buddy, Lisa, and I left for Canton in the wee hours. It's about an hour and a half from the Dallas area. We arrived at 8:00 just as the vendors began to stir. What a sight!! Endless stalls heaped, stacked and piled with wonders! We rolled our granny carts along and began the hunt. I had made a list of items I'd hoped to find... about 10 things, all for making art. As we started out on our quest I said, with my list in hand, "Okay, here's what I'm looking for. I'm putting it out there and I expect to be led to these things." Some of my items were a bit obscure, certainly not sure things to find even at the world's largest flea market. Even if everything I wanted was there, I could not be certain I'd find it in the sea of stuff.
All day we scrounged and dug. I am proud to say I stayed pretty close to my resolve to be focused and look for items to create with. A few things were irresistible and came home as personal treasures, but mostly I found wonderful supplies.
As the day (a most extraordinarily warm and beautiful day for November) wound down I realized that all but one item on my list had been found. I mentioned this to Lisa and we marveled at my good luck. Literally in the next breath we rounded a corner and there was the last item... vintage wallpaper!! Amazing! I do wish I'd added world peace and happiness to my list, but I was astonished nonetheless.

Vintage wallpaper border from Nebrask, purchased from a sweet Amish lady.

A bit of the ephemera I could not resist. This is my greatest weakness and looking for it so time consuming. I mostly bought lots of stuff that seemed interesting at a glance. My instincts led me to the right things. No junk, all delightful paper treasures!

$1.00 birds... these I must keep.

Kitschy Christmas!!! Hard to find cheap as the dealers certainly know how popular these items are... but on a back row found some super deals!

Pastel ornaments and a sweet pink divided dish.

Oh, such wonders~ rusty keys and junky jewels!

Bottles everywhere... the grubbier the better! Bliss!

So, the thing I really needed could not be found... TIME! oh, well... I will dig some up from somewhere. I am off to create and sort and share some of my finds. Keep an eye on my Etsy.

Dutch dolls, dominoes, a huge jar of game pieces, wooden shoes, saints, a dance card, cigar bands...