Egads and little fish-hooks!

What the heck!

What are we doing here? Well, I guess creating a blog. Been holding out but suppose its now the time to bite the ol' bullet and begin. Never done it before, but verbosity is a strong suit so here goes! And starting out with "Egads and little fish-hooks!" seems like a good attention-getting start.

After gathering our courage, plus encouragement from Karrie and Karla at Summer Kitchen Interiors... we're jumping in! Here we go!!!

First of all, a little introduction. Who are we? And where are we? And what do we do?

"We" are a shop called Ivy's Vine. We are also a mini "boutique" inside Ivy's Vine called "Beadyize". We are located in Northwest Ohio, about 20 min SE of Toledo and the Northcoast (of Lake Erie) in the historic village of Genoa. More specifically, our shop is located in the historic downtown district on Main St. and in the largest commercial building... the IOOF Building (circa 1902), which we share with two other businesses: Innovations Portrait Studio next door, and Dance Tek upstairs.

But most importantly, what are we all about?

Ivy's Vine is a retail shop featuring antique and vintage items such as furniture, collectibles, housewares (crystal, glass, pottery, china, jewelry, teacups, etc.), and about anything else either antique or vintage that interests us. We also feature new local artisan-made items such as pine-needle baskets, replicas of Victorian-era handcrafts, framed photographs of local landmarks... all from talented artists who live in our area.

99.999% of our inventory is unique... one-of-a-kind... we don't have another 6 in the back room.... We like it that way. We don't go "to market" to purchase our inventory. Believe it or not, most of it just comes to us! "In the back door, out the front!" is a favorite motto. Another is "Creative minds are rarely tidy." More about that one later.

Beadyize, our latest venture in "boutique" form (located inside Ivy's Vine), is vintage beads and vintage jewelry-making components such as charms, pendants, dangles, clasps, connectors...along with new beads and components. We started up Beadyize last summer and are still "tooling up". We spent most of last summer cleaning and sorting beads! We are getting ready to start classes soon. (Watch this space for more info about that!)

Meanwhile, the weather outside has been frightful this month. January in NW Ohio usually is. Hopefully, the worst is now behind us. At least we've noticed the days are getting longer. That's always encouraging.

So while the days lengthen, we want to do something "different"... something "artsy"... something "creative". And we want to give something to our good customers and friends... those we've met, and those we haven't yet had the privilege of meeting yet! Here's what we're planning: We're having a "Make-it and Take-it" with a twist... stop by and make two free Victorian Valentine cards (easy! we'll show you how!) but instead of taking them both, leave one behind, which we will then deliver to area seniors/assisted living residents/shut-ins.

And while you're here, you can find out about upcoming Beadyize classes and perhaps score the perfect gift for Great Aunt Mabel's upcoming birthday!

So... egads and little fish-hooks... we're happy to be here... finally! And pleased as punch to have you read this. Stay tuned. Plenty more where this came from. Hope you'll be back. Meanwhile, we'll learn how to post photos... cya next time!