Summer travels

Well, the summer is quickly coming to an end. It has been a great
one. Jenn and I have been away on our summer vacations,
traveling around the country with family and friends and loving every minute of it!

Since I just got back from my most recent trip, I wanted to share the two best spots that I know about....one an old find and the other a new one. (Jenn will write a separate note telling you about her finds too.)


While I was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, we made our annual stop in the charming town of Boulder Junction, near the spot where my family and I go in the summer, Manitowish Waters. One of our most favorite shopping stops is.....Camp Edna's Mercantile... a wonderful store filled with upscale Northwoods themed hand-crafted furnishings, artwork, linens, lighting, tableware, jewelry, clothing and accessories. They have an entire house there just packed with goodies and displayed in the most creative settings.


In addition to their rustic homegoods, they have terrific wines and cheeses, sweets, and other imported delicacies you don't often find in the northern lake areas. Please go visit them if you are in the area ... you will not be disappointed! The folks that run the place are very friendly and helpful.

(<>Camp Edna's Mercantile)





A friendly gal shopping at the Mercantile mentioned that I should venture out to check out a hidden antique shop called Perennial Antiques located far off the beaten path in Harshaw at 8096 Fawn Lake Road, not far from Minocqua.
She also mentioned they had antique wicker and hickory furniture and a collection of authentic totem poles for sale. I got my map and headed down there.

















These are just a few of the quaint sites that you will see as you enter the property nestled deep in the woods that is known as Perennial Antiques.



After driving a little over an hour, I came upon the painted screen door entry sign for Perennial Antiques. (The days and hours of operation are limited, so make sure you call ahead or go online for hours.) A long wooded driveway with matching rusted bikes on entry gates open up to frame the way to several barns and cottages that make up this fantastic rustic compound.


I thought I had died and gone to heaven! (It has always been a desire of mine to one day own a simple lakeside cottage and if I ever do..... THIS is the place where I will go to furnish it!)

Owner Mary (shown in the pink shirt) has the most clever eye for displaying her items. She has everything from old canoes and carved totem poles to Native American Indian blankets, vintage wicker sets, pine tables and chairs, camp-style artwork and linens, garden ornamentation, architectural salvage and more. A true feast for the eyes!

The owner, Mary Adams-Pflieger is a sweet friendly woman with a keen artistic sense of display. She pulls things together in a way where you just want to buy EVERYthing she has!


www.perennialantiques-wi.com

Perennial Antiques can be reached by phone at 715.277.3043

Please tell Mary that Blue Cardinal sent you!

Save the Date!

An antique market is coming to Highwood, Illinois on June 26th and 27! Saturday from Noon to Dusk and Sunday from 10am-4pm. Info and ticket information can be found at randolphstreetmarket.com. It is going to be right by Anna's (at Green Bay & Highwood Avenue) which is blue cardinal's home base. Grab your friends and come check it out! Other dates this summer are July 17 & 18; August 21 & 22 and September 18 & 19. 

Oh, the places you'll go!

There are so many wonderful travel-related items that one can collect.

When I first met Jenn, I was awestruck at the amount of old globes she had collected through the years. Not only are the oceans of blue colors fantastic, but the vast array of shapes and sizes, and decorative bases make each one a unique sculpture. Have you seen vintage black globes or globe lamps or globe-shaped radios?

Globes are great. Here is a wonderful use of an old broken globe, re-purposed as two bowls.

(This photo is from Katywhumpus.blogspot.com) How clever to decoupage the inside of each bowl with more colorful vintage maps. Notice the clear glass marbles used on the base to keep the bowls from tipping. Brilliant!

I like to collect travel items too, but my passion is for old leather trunks and suitcases that have been covered in colorful graphic stickers from the places that the owner had traveled. I have two in my "new" collection that I cannot part with, but wanted to share with you.

I love the fact that every single label must have held many great memories for that traveler. Doesn't it make you wonder who they were and how wonderful it must have been to live a life where they were able to afford a vacation in far away places? Especially during a time when only books or radio shows told the stories of distant lands .... a time when the touch of a computer button or TV knob was never even imagined?

That great Dr. Suess book's story lines keep creeping into my mind .... "oh, the places you'll go and the people you'll meet ..." Looking at these tattered suitcases can help but trigger one's imagination. You could write a lovely novel based on a sticker covered suitcase, couldn't you?

Old maps are great too and the bigger the better. Outdated ones are especially interesting to see what they used to call things..... like "Persia" for instance. Vintage classroom maps that pull down from canisters are among our favorites to find. When we opened the shop last march, Jenn had several for sale that looked a lot like these roll down versions shown below.

Here is a chest that is covered with maps.... from the recent Wisteria catalog. I am hoping to find an old chest and do just that with Mod Podge....stay tuned for that in an upcoming "Before and After" blog post! (One more thing to add to the "to do" list of projects.....)

Do you collect something travel related --- like maybe old postcards, maps, luggage or travel diaries? Tell us about what you love! We'd love to hear about them.

The Toaster Man

This past weekend, Alison and I were at the Grayslake Antique Market where we met Rick Rhodes and his amazing collection of Toasters. Rick is the self-titled Midwest Toaster Authority! He has an amazing collection. You have never seen chrome so shiny.

Rick gave us both a great lesson and history on some classic models. The Toast-o-Lator was particularily fascinating as it "walks" toast through from one side and drops it out the other--perfectly browned. Rick has a loaf of bread handy in his booth and gladly plugs in any model you may want to see and pops in some bread. In just a few minutes... toast! Alison has been searching for a "new" toaster and looked over many different models. After narrowing down her choices, she ultimately chose the Pop-Down model seen here:

Isn't it fabulous! You put toast in on top and it comes out below perfectly browned as you can see in the photo. Rick's toaster obsession began after reading an article in the newspaper about an old toaster and deciding that an old toaster would be a great gift for a retiring brother-in-law. Well, as we antique lovers all know, one toaster turned into ten, which then turned into twenty and so on, and now he is the Midwest Toaster Authority! If you or any one you know is looking for a toaster contact Rick. He will be glad to help you out!

Rick and Alison

Vacation Time!

We are off to sunnier and (potentially) warmer climates and we won't be blogging much next week. We hope to come back rested, relaxed and with a few new treasures to share. Until then... happy hunting!

My mother, myself?

Clockwise photos: old hotel/restaurant silverplate items, vintage grey rubber glove molds, a perpetual calendar stick from the 60's, and two old ice cream parlor counter stools.




















Today is my dear sweet mother Pat's 77th birthday, so it just seemed appropriate to write a little "Ode to My Mom".

If you don't know her, my mother is a woman of amazing talent and vast knowledge on many subjects, but particularly the history of American antiques and furniture. Being raised in Pennsylvania, she is and always will be a die-hard collector of east coast primitives and early American furnishings.

My love of old things is a sentimental one because I was raised by this charismatic and dynamic woman who loves and covets antiques, as did her mother before her. With each item they collected they had wonderful historical "stories" to go with them. You couldn't help but learn to love old things too. It was the way my sisters and I were raised. It's all we knew!
For them it was all about finding them, trading them and selling them. When I was in my teens, they shared an antique business together. I have fond memories of sitting with either or both of them at countless country and city auctions waiting for the pieces that they had their "eyes" on to come up.

Vintage tin toys

To this day, though my grandmother has passed, there is not a month that goes by that my mother isn't attending some great sale or auction --- homemade piece of pie in one hand and an auction paddle in the other! She tells us she is only going to look , but we all know better than this.

Where this story is leading is to tell you how very different my mom's and my tastes are these days. You see, I love all things that are vintage and quirky, utilitarian, or graphic and unusual .... but my mom is very much a traditionalist. She collects things that are elegant, yet understated, leaning on the primitive colonial side. Early American pieces with heavy English, Welsh or Dutch roots make her heart skip a beat. The Windsor chair is the end-all for her, and if a primitive antique is hand-painted----all the better.

So maybe you can see why she will see a piece I have bought and she will say ..."why on earth would you want that? "


With that in mind, here are some of the things I have recently found while those very words were ringing in my ears!

Happy 77th, Mom!
Love you~ Alison


Old 1950's diner stool
(to be recovered soon!)

Kid Stuff

We have an area of the shop that is just so much fun. It can be found full of globes, tin toys, maps, games, school supplies and industrial storage and that is only naming a few of the fun finds. We just recently reorganized and here are a few photos:

We hung that green shelf on the wall... wouldn't that make a great headboard for a kids room?! The soldiers on the shelf are old targets. Can you tell that we love globes? I just can't get enough of them. I think I may have some type of globe or map in every room of my house. If you love globes as well, where do you have them?

The Sandbox

I found this sandbox while out shopping one afternoon.

It is from the 1940s or 1950s I think. It has wood sides and a metal bottom. The seats are wood too. The paint is all original and the seats have toy soldiers across them. The metal is in such great shape... no rusting at all! This was obviously kept in a covered location ... maybe even indoors? I can't imagine that this ever saw the Chicago winter. Well I was thinking what could I do with this and I decided to turn it into a bookshelf. I can just imagine it in a little boys room. I added the shelf in the middle with help from my handy hubby and then put a wire across the back to hang it. Here what it looks like now hanging on a wall in our shop:

Here is another picture:

What do you think? Tell us what you have repurposed lately??

Friday Find

Well another weekend is here. While you are out antiquing this weekend stop in to Borders, the convenience store or your favorite independent bookstore and pick up a copy of this:

It is jam packed full of great inspiration!!!!! Sit down with your cup of tea and devour every word. I know I have read through every detail once and can't wait to go back and do it again. Tell us what you thought was the most inspiring article...I know I am ready to head to Canton, Texas to the incredible Trade Days--the oldest, consecutive flea market in the country. What about you?

Welcome to our new blog!

Well, the day has finally come ... the Blue Cardinal blog is official!

We are so excited to share this new phase of our business adventure with all of you. As many of you may know, last March my business partner, Jenn, and I opened a small antique booth located within a larger antique store (called Anna's Mostly Mahogany) on the northshore of Chicago in the small town of Highwood, Illinois.

Since then, we have been in hot pursuit of great items to put into our booth. We have had so much fun shopping, searching, traveling, and collecting unusual and interesting things to put into it. With many road trips, minivan rentals and cheap hotel rooms behind us ... I think we can honestly say we have earned the title as the midwest's newest "Picker Chicks"!!! (If you have not seen the History Channel's new series ... "American Pickers"... you need to TiVo that for sure.)

It only seemed natural to take the next step which was to add a blog to the mix ... and here we ARE. Jenn has been working for months (literally --- many sleepless nights included) with our super-talented blog designer (Katie Runnels) to create this amazing site to share with all our family and friends --- and customers.

The two of them have done a tremendous job to put this beautiful, creative, clever, and informative blog together. Watching it evolve through the processes has been interesting for sure. Isn't technology amazing? I know Jenn is terribly humble so I wanted to be sure to give her a giant pat on the back and the enormous amount of credit she deserves!!! GREAT JOB, JENN! You did it!

We hope you enjoy this ever-changing place where we will share and post our latest finds and projects. We get inspired by so many fantastic blogs online and appreciate all the talented people out there who ... like us are trying to make the world a little lovelier, a little more special ... one found treasure at a time.

You will soon see how much we LOVE to collect and to possess collections of things we love. Truthfully, I have noticed how happy our husbands have been to see that not everything we find now is for our own homes. Sure, we are probably borderline hoarders (hate that word) ... but at least we have a purpose now, right? (As for me ... it's all my mom's fault. :)

So ... if you are ever in the Chicagoland area ... please be sure to stop by our little shop, Blue Cardinal. You can find directions to Anna's here. The shop changes weekly as new items come in from our weekly excursions.

We also have a few items listed on Etsy and hope to fill our online shop with lots of fun and quirky vintage items that we love and hope you will too.

Thanks for stopping by and please check back with us often as we share the bounties from our unending pursuits of the perfect find. Give us your feedback ... we would LOVE to hear from you.