Did you know there are more antiques and collectibles stores per square mile in the state of New Hampshire than in any other state?  Along with a plethora of consignment stores a visit to New Hampshire is a wonderful treasure hunting adventure.

A few minutes past the Massachusettes border as you drive from Nashua into Amherst NH you’ll find yourself on a grand journey across what is part of “the Antiques Trail”.

Usually we (my mom & I) start at the 101-A Antique & Collectible’s Center located right off 101A just over the border of Merrimack, NH going into Amherst.

It’s a two story establishment with rows and rows of gorgeous vintage and antique booths at the main floor and loads of gorgeous furniture etc. downstairs.

The next stop is another deceptively small shoppe called “This Olde Stuff.

It looks small from the street but This Olde Stuff is a good size Antiques Mall.  Parking and the entrance is to the rear of the building where you’ll find a whole other “wing’ of available goodies.  The dealers here tend to keep the stock fresh so that you’ll always find a unique little treasure tucked within the loads of goodies.  It’s a “crawl around” store so wear comfortable clothing cause you’ll definitely want to get on the ground to pull things tucked out of bottom shelves.  We found an entire replacement set of dishes that way.  It’s also a “vintage jewelry” mecca with some of the most gorgeous pieces handsomely displayed.  The staff is exceptionally helpful and friendly and the hunting is always fantastic!

Back on the highway we’ll take the next right at the lights and tucked around the corner is a yellow building with a chinese food restaurant, a consignment shop and at the very end a cute little co-operative called “Martha Mae’s”

Martha Mae’s is on the right of 2nd Chance Consignment.  It’s more like a little vintage consignment store with antique-y things in it.  It’s a tiny shoppe with loads of tiny treasures.  There are only a few booths, which are not really booths but small closets.  You’ll find some great deals here.  As you can see from the photo the store is jam packed to overflowing.

Further down the road, past the Wal-Mart, the underpass, the Shaw’s shopping plaza & right before the Milford Oval is another gorgeous 2 1/2 story shop called Golden Opportunities.  If you’re driving from Amherst into Milford it’s on the right across the street from a run down shopping plaza.

The old home feel is quaint.  You’ll enter into the foyer and walk past a small section of booths with jewelry.  Up a small flight of stairs you’ll find a gorgeous selection of furniture pieces.  Towards the back you’ll find the entrance to the basement where you locate the stash of goodies perfect for fix ups and re-purposing.

And I saved the best for last. The Antiques at the Mayfair is a gorgeous 2 story multi room shoppe with hundreds of awesome finds on any given day.  Unlike the others it’s not located on 101A.  Rather you have to back up a little and get onto Rte 101 going towards Bedford/Manchester.  There are very few businesses on Rte 101.  Instead it’s fairly scenic with loads of trees and old farm houses.  A restaurant here and there.  More trees, more trees, and more trees.  Then out of nowhere a little plaza emerges on the left side of the street.  It’s facade looks like you driven into Switzerland.  There are several buildings/cottages with the very last one primarily the Antiques at the Mayfair store.  (Right next door is Enchanted Lace.)

The prices are excellent here and if you see anything you like snap it up right away.  I saw a vintage typewriter for $25 and decided to hold off on picking it up right away.  It was gone before I finished perusing the store.  I should have known.

Of all the stores this is by far the most fun.  The entrance is actually on the top floor in the center of the building.  If it’s your first time the basement can be confusing as rooms open up into closets that open up into rooms that open into other rooms and don’t forget to check out the stuff stashed beneath the stairs.

When you get to Antiques at the Mayfair ask one of the members behind the counter for the map to the Antiques Trail. There are a lot of other shops along 101A that we haven’t been to yet so I didn’t mention them here. If you’re up to it you can visit them on your return trip.

So if you’re up for something to do this weekend take a trip along “the Antiques Trail” on Saturday.  Then on Sunday visit the Hollis Flea Market.  Happy Shopping!

I received the most pleasant surprise yesterday afternoon when
Terri G. of

http://www.terrisbloomingideas.blogspot.com/

informed me she had awarded my site a Kreativ Blogger Award.

You can imagine being somewhat new to the Art Blogging world I was thrilled & honored.  Especially as you consider the gorgeous layout and workmanship of her site & art.  If you’ve never stopped by please do you’ll absolutely enjoy it!

Terri, thank you!

Here are the award rules:

List 7 things You Love & Pass the Award onto 7 Blogs that you love.

Be sure to tag them and let them know they have won!
You can copy the picture of the award above and put it on your sideboard
Letting everyone know…..you are KREATIV!

Seven Things I Love

1. Christ Jesus My Lord and Beautiful Saviour
2. My Sometimes Nutty as Squirrels but Always Loving Family
3. the amazing nature of friendship
4. singing worship songs to the 1 Person Who Matters
5. being around superbly optimistic people
6. expressing my heart through art
7. helping others enjoy life

My 7 Wonderfully Kreativ Bloggers are…

1. http://www.dudadaze.blogspot.com/
2. http://thevintagemoth.blogspot.com/
3. http://www.krishubick.blogspot.com/
4. http://memoriesandtreasures.blogspot.com/
5. http://buttonfloozies.blogspot.com/
6. http://dubuhdudesigns.typepad.com/
7. http://www.mosshill.blogs.com/

My copy of Somerset Studio’s Marie magazine arrived.
And inside I found…

my Marie Antoinette Choker Necklace

Of course the photographer and model did a far better job making the piece look great.  I was beyond pleased.  And Kudos to Amanda Crabtree who did an exceptional job of taking my long-winded babble and making a concise article for you to enjoy.   The additional artwork within the pages of the magazine are also simply stunning.

Inside the tiny soldered frame there is a small collage print of Marie Antoinette asking a simple question “cake?”.

As the story goes… upon hearing the French people had no bread to eat Marie Antoinette, the lavishly dressed Queen of France, proclaimed “let them eat cake”.

While the quote did not originate with her, French Revolutionist used the excessive spending and extravagant lifestyle of her youth to convince the people that Antoinette the woman/mother was anti-France.  Tried for treason she was found guilty and executed by beheading.

But to those who knew her…  Marie was a gracious and giving woman.  Her generosity included adopting children, building homes for those in need, supporting the cause of the unwed mother, widow and blind.  As a mother she doted over her children getting personally involved in their education, which was uncommon.

The choker is a mixture of different metals, pearls & wire.  It’s finished with a faux vintage rose drop.  And closes with an ornate lobster clasp.

The choker style was used to represent her beheading.  The rose “as she was often seen” representing her fall from grace.  The piece created with pearls, silver and gold colors represent the beauty that is Marie Antoinette.

For more information about Marie Antoinette including a gorgeous array of artwork visit Marie-Antoinette.org and Wikipedia’s articles on the infamous Queen of France.

Remember you can pick up your copy of Marie at Barnes & Nobles, most craft stores such as Michael’s & ACMoore and other booksellers on April 1st.

Memories…of the times we used to share…(are those the right lyrics).

Everyone has to cut their teeth on something.  And these pieces were some of my first attempts at collage, altered art and “assemblage” work.   I made Paper Bag Albums, tags, atc’s, & 4×4′s and just crammed them full of what not’s.

It always bewildered me when I finished a piece and there was actually a coherent meaning (to me at least) in them.  Like the Altered Bingo card.  I didn’t even think about putting all those elements together.  I worked on making it “pretty” first then realized the B2 Dance B2 Fly thingy going on there.  As a matter of fact some of the “elements” were put there to cover up a tear here or a paint splatter there, or just to fill space.  I titled the piece “To Dance is to Fly”.

I spent most of my time working on Paper Bag Albums.  Mostly because they were the only type of scrapbooking I could afford at the time.  I’d purchase the largest stack of paper you could find, make a few “kits” and albums and sell them on eBay to cover the costs.  I really loved making this album and was so happy the woman who purchased it loved it too.  I still remember who this album went to- Brenda P.

What was amazing is the papers and the drawings are from 2 totally unrelated companies.  I believe the papers are DCWV and the images are from Tina Wenke’s Walk in the Garden graphics set over at PCCrafter.com I forgot how fun it was to make gorgeous one of a kind tag sets.  It’s especially worth it when you know they’ll be treasured.

Odd.  It seems from reviewing these old photos I’m a “Pastel Diva”.  I like that blue/green color (Bingo Card above) too.  But I find it harder to really pull off art in those colors.  I have to work at it.  But I’m getting better.

I can remember all the stores I had to scour to find the mix of letters and all the little trinket supplies for these scrapbooks.   Once they went on sale I’d buy everything I could get my hands on.  And then I’d have too much (another reason I created kits and books for resale).  At that time I had no idea Antiques and 2nd hand stores had so many treasures in them.  If it was vintage I got it on eBay.

How times have changed.  The scrapbook store I used to frequent has since closed it doors.  There’s now a Micheal’s Arts & Crafts Store a block away from where it used to be.  Just a few doors down and across the street is one of my favorite Antique Stores “This Olde Stuff”.  Go a little ways further and there’s a little strip mall that holds another tiny antiques store and a 2nd hand Consignment shop.  Back it up a little and there’s another brand new Antiques & Collectibles store 2 stories full.

I try to make my rounds once a week.  Stuff is always new there.  And if you don’t snap it up quick it won’t likely be there the next week.  It’s funny in a ha ha way, when I was little I always wondered what mom thought was so fascinating about those little stores I mispronounced as Anti-Q’s  (You don’t even want to know how I tried to pronounce hors d’oeuvres). Why on earth did she want someone else’s old dusty junk?  Now, I know…  You can blame this acquired knowledge on Sally Jean Alexander and Somerset Studio if you want.  I do it all the time.  (Anna Corba’s has to take some of the responsibility too).

And somewhere along the long I took a little trip to fairy-ville. I didn’t stay there too long.  I just like the liberty to play with silly light carnival colors and glitter.  Who can resist?

I guess I was remembering back to my childhood when one of my favorite book series was “The Little’s”.   Little birds in little birdhouses.  Little people tags holding together little snippets of vintage-y fabrics, with little clothespins.

And I guess I’m a little in the mood to experiment with new things.

I haven’t attempted a Paper Bag Album in over a year-perhaps more.  Not an ATC or small 4×4.  Not even a notecard.  Who knows what’ll come of all this nostalgia….