I just realized that I haven't posted on my website since we opened the shop at our property outside of Walsenburg, Colorado.  We weren't sure how much of the upper area of Ron's shop would be used, but as we started bringing in the antiques  and collectibles from their storage areas we discovered that the entire 1600 sf would be filled.  In fact, not all of the items I have for sale are there.  The area turned out to be better than expected and I even found a place for my painting endeavors, a bright sunny studio area.  We have a room devoted to cowboy and original art, a room just for Ron's toys and lots of display cabinets.  I have had some people stop, since Ron has put my Open and Antiques flags on our golf cart with a stand up sign out by the highway, but I still have not advertised locally or with other antique dealers outside our area.  I anticipate advertising this spring, when we have more traffic on the highway.  I will state here that if the golf cart is out, we are open for anyone to stop by.  Plus, you can contact me through Facebook to visit.

I guess my timetable for getting my new area completed was a bit off!! Looks like it's been a year, but progress has been made.  Enough so that we should be able to get "things" moved in by the end of this month.  Electrical is done, walls and ceiling are in and we have the materials for the floor ready to go. My sign was put up today and it looks good from the road.  During this past year my husband and I have indulged some more in our love of auctions, unfortunately, so we have had to expand the area allotted to me.  We have acquired an extensive local original art collection and I will be able to have a gallery with their work, as well as my originals.

I also want to promote the work of a friend from (hate to say it!) many years ago in high school. Sandy Plumb is an artist who has just started selling her jewelry and art work on Etsy and I would like everyone to check out her work.  Beautiful, if I say so myself!  You can see her work at www.UniqYouShop.Etsy.com.

My hope is to keep adding more to my website throughout the summer.  I'll just have to see how busy we get!!  Here are more of the items we keep finding.  The hard part is to get Ron to let loose of the ones he likes.  I haven't been working much on my silks or jewelry.  I need to get rid of some before I make more!!

The second floor of Ron's shop is almost completed, with just the electrical and final walls to be installed.  My hope is that I will have enough room to display the majority of the antiques and collectibles that we can't seem to stop accumulating. We will have periodic yard sales, living estate sales and be open for dealers when requested.  I've posted some pictures of our latest finds.

My work with the fused glass jewelry started just this Thanksgiving when a friend who works with jewelry as a profession showed me how the glass was fused.  I was immediately excited about the process and purchased the supplies that I needed. This is another craft where you can lose track of time and never really know how a piece will turn out. The experimenting is the fun part.  This picture shows how much "fun" I've had since Thanksgiving.

I started hand painting silk about 2 years ago, when I wanted to have something different to sell at craft and art shows.  I had done felted knit purses, beaded jewelry and chain maille jewelry, but I had not seen any of the silks at local shows.  I found that I enjoyed the work and was always a little surprised at how things turned out.  Often what I thought of as a mistake, others would like.  I have had no formal training, just tutorial videos and tutorial books, but I found several techniques that I liked and have been mostly pleased with the results.

I first came up with the name "Before My Time"  when I applied to the city of West Chili, NY to sell antiques out of my home.  I was working full time as a contractor for Eastman Kodak in Rochester, NY, but my weekends were spent with my husband at auctions and flea markets.  Needless to say, we found a few interesting items. In fact, we found so many that my finished basement became a showroom!  This was in the early '90's and at a time when Roseville was plentiful and reasonably priced.  And, since I had moved from Maine, I really had a lot of primitives.  We were in a large Cape Cod, but it was full of antique furniture and smalls.  Something had to go!!