New Art Show and a New Window

I have a new art show every month here at Blackbird Attic. The opening is always the second Saturday of each month, from 6-9pm. On this night, Beacon becomes it's liveliest self, with lots of events (and free wine!) all down Main street. If you've never been to Beacon, this is the day to visit. Beacon Arts and Beacon Citizen are good sources to find out what's going on, but you pretty much just need to start at one end and walk your way down to the other. The middle gets a little iffy, but definitely make your way to the east end and you will be paid off with the majority of galleries, antiques, an awesome art covered building and a waterfall!

I could talk forever about how awesome Beacon is and is becoming,
but let's talk about my shop again ; ).

 

So tomorrow, the opening of Julianna Swaney's 'Secret Messages' art show is happening. You can RSVP and get more details here, but basically around 6:30pm I line a table with goodies like wine and cupcakes and along with that, you get to enjoy a little art viewing and a little shopping! I hope to see you; but either way here is a teaser of her work!

Also, how awesome is my intern Ngoc? She is both talented in the tedious side of a consignment shop and the fun-crafty-artistic side. I finally decided on a window theme and she is the perfect person for the job..  Here's a little preview of what's to come:

Halloween at Blackbird Attic

We spooked it up a bit here at Blackbird. It didn't take too much effort, just a bunch of black spiderwebs and some crafts I found at Michaels! Halloween is here now and I really should have a new window planned already...ahhh...

Anyway, my Halloween festivities this year have been comprised of a bunch of scary movie nights, but I haven't really dressed up. I attempted to be beetle juice last night and it just did not work very well, haha. That's what I get for waiting till the last minute. Tonight I will be handing out candy to cute kids and indulging myself with some "special" cider. What are you all doing?

More photos here.

Spring Windows

We changed the windows up very simply and affordably for the spring. The hanging birdhouses were $1 each at Joannes. The moss and speckled eggs are from Joannes as well. The baskets were a few dollars at Goodwill, and other than that the birds are made from cardboard/paint and the cut out paper and clouds are made from scrapbook paper from Michaels. I get a lot of inspiration for windows from Anthropologie, but these ones were just kind of thrown together and I really like the simple yet intriguing effect of them. They look better in person, so come see!

Blackbird Attic Holiday 2010 Windows

Finally got around to getting some window shots this past weekend. Still need to take some night ones, but you get the gist. That snow took us awhile to get right, but I am really happy with it! Luckily I have a boyfriend that comes from a family of perfectionist present wrappers.. and perfectionist pretty much everything (which can be both good and bad!). The fireplace is made out of cardboard, spray-paint, and masking tape. We tried to do the "real" fire thing with a fan and light but it wasn't working out as hoped. Anyway, our house is lacking any sort of decoration but we're going to try and get some things up this week. I love my Christmas decorations, I do.













You can see all the shots on Blackbird Attic's facebook.

A Little Backstory..

So I figured I should give a little back story to what Blackbird Attic is! In the late winter I was given the opportunity to take over a store location. The racks and everything in the store were to be mine. Sounded like a pretty great deal as I had some savings and it was my dream to own a boutique. The transition wasn't as simple as hoped, but the store did become mine and I worked/am still working to make it into Blackbird Attic.

The basic concept is that it's a consignment boutique. If you don't know what consignment is, it essentially means that people bring me items and they get a percentage of the sale. My idea was to carry previously owned clothing/ accessories/ etc as well as some handmade items. I've started to add in handmade items, but at this point it's primarily clothing - new and vintage. The vintage part has picked up recently as I've been really seeking it out and dedicated 2 racks to vintage clothing only.

Above is a window display from the spring, pretty soon after I opened. The flowers are made from recycled plastic bottles and spray paint. The mannequins have child drawn cat faces because I did a kitten adoption event to support the local Community Cat Coalition ; ). I guess that pic was taken after I took down the paper grass, birds, clouds, etc. It was pretty cute!




Here is a shot of my friend scaring children away ... but besides that, it's a window that was done by The Ladies Auxiliary for Beacon's annual Windows on Main. They did a really great job but it kind of made people think I sold antiques/furniture (a lot of places in Beacon do).

Basically it's been a process making Blackbird Attic into exactly what I want it to be, but it's a fun project at that! I'll have to get a shot of the windows at the moment.. They aren't completely done, but my boyfriend put his handy work into them.