Last weekend was the yearly Rock & Shop Market, hosted by the multi-talented Michelle Smith and other local artists. I have been wanting to attend since I moved to Raleigh 3 years ago and I’ve always been out of town or otherwise not available. The market features a large number of juried artists and artisans from the Southeast (many local to Durham and Raleigh), bands, a fashion show, and some delish local beer. My kind of event. Stoked that I got to go this year and I had a hard time NOT buying everything in sight.

The website of the event has a listing of all the artists, and check out the Facebook page for photos and highlights!

Anyway, this isn’t an ad for Rock & Shop, I just want to share my loot + some of my fav mostly local artists.

Almost as soon as I walked in, I spotted Amanda from Wit & Whistle, who not only has a fantastic blog, but also one of my all-time favorite paper goods shops. She has a great post up about the market and showcasing the super cute setup. I snagged a couple gems (not shown in photos – one of them might be coming to you! Yes, you!) and thanked her for being awesome. She sent me some creative business tips a while back and is in general a super nice person. And has great hair. <end girl crush>

Here’s a peek at the jotter and one of the cards I snagged, which reads “Be honest, this is much more exciting than getting an email.” SO TRUE. Amanda’s things are hand-illustrated which I admire. Illustration is one of those enviable talents that it’s really hard to “develop” if you don’t have the knack.

I’m glad she shares with the world!

Those earrings I snagged are from Lauren Amos Designs. She had SUPER cute things and I had a difficult time choosing. Not pictured are bigger pair of cobalt blue rose studs. 3 for $20. What a deal.

To the right up there you can peek at probably one of my favorite finds – Another F*ing Everything. [Website possibly NSFW - fair warning on vulgarity for you sensitive people.] The two gals behind this shop are geniuses and have tote bags, thank you notes, note cards, and other goodies with the naughty message “Another F*ing <Item>”. You’re welcome. I snagged the British version and a F*ing version of the thank you notes, for my pals who dislike thank you notes. So great.

That handsome face is that of the famed Ryan Gosling, hand-illustrated by Near Modern Disaster (Etsy Shop!), and the most perfect greeting ever: I miss your face. Simple messages are my favorite. They have some super cheeky cards that I love and once again had a hard time choosing.

I’m so happy to have finally made it to the market this year and look forward to attending next year or MAYBE even being lucky enough to be a seller. We will see!

Did you attend? Who are your favorite local artists? See you in the comments! 

Check out my post this week on Southwest Raleigh featuring a little interview with Sara (name twins!), the owner and chief cupcake baker at The Cupcake Shoppe.

Look how delish this cupcake looks. It’s the s’more version, yellow cake with marshmallow icing and oreo cookie crumbs on top. I KNOW.

And yes, it was delicious.

Anyway, you can find Sara and her cupcakes at 104 Glenwood Ave in downtown Raleigh, or check out some yummy and drool-worthy pics on the website: thecupcakeshopperaleigh.com. Sara is also on Twitter @bakeshopgirl.

And of course keep up with awesome things happening in and around Raleigh at Southwest Raleigh or @southwestral.  More small business spotlights on the way!

Do you have a small business in Southwest Raleigh? Do you want your favorite small business to be featured? Hit me up to get an interview going and get your favorites featured. 

Except this time around, this acquisition was completely on purpose. Also I’m not sure it would qualify as a “true” antique, but it is in my mind an excellent vintage find for an excellent price.

Every day, Apartment Therapy posts a compilation of good Craig’s List finds for each region of the country – Eastern, Southern, Western, and Midwest, and someone goes through the lists of major cities in those regions and posts links to the best finds of the day. [Some may remember that I did this for a brief time for my own region when AT only posted finds in the major cities they cover].

Recently, there have been some awesome items for sale in Raleigh that made the list, among them a very attractive mid-century rocker. I clicked through to the page to see this awesome rocker and really loved it despite the $275 price tag – and was rewarded with a link to a Picasa web album FULL of other great mid-century pieces for sale. I browsed the album sort of looking for another living room chair of some kind. Something that would be comfortable, but not too big or bulky to compete with my other pieces.

And I found this:

And promptly fell in love. It looked perfect. Though advertised as a desk chair in the album, I thought it would be a perfect addition to my living room seating without taking up too much space or clashing with other chairs and whatnot.

I negotiated with the seller, Debbie, and was able to score this beauty for $60 instead of $80. I was proud and excited. Some may argue that this isn’t really that good of a deal for an old desk chair, but let’s consider these brand-name options of a similar mid-century modern style:

1. This Kennedy Chair from Thrive Home Furnishings starts at $899 – down from $1,399!

It has similar lines, styling, and classic thin MMC slim limbs. And yes, it’s a little shinier than mine, but I think we all know my solution for that: D.I.Y.

2. Jen’s Chair from Design Within Reach (a name which always makes me laugh because these designs are definitely not within my reach) is currently on sale for $935, down from the original price of $1,100. No. Big. Deal.

3. And this Chieftains Chair also from Design Within Reach, though ridiculously fancy and, I have to admit, funky looking, also has similar lines and takes the modern styling to a whole new level. This is not something I would ever want in my home, but I just wanted to demonstrate that some people pay $13,900 for a chair. I know.

So. I was happy with the $60 “deal” that I got. Plus, Debbie offered free delivery to my apartment when she learned I drove a go-cart that is useless for moving furniture. Then I was even happier. Thank you Debbie!

My new chair is now sitting happy in my living room, waiting to get some love. I’m thinking a solid grey tweed or a big graphic black and white pattern. We’ll see.

So let’s have this be a lesson for everyone. Almost everything has potential and only needs a little bit of love. As long as you are willing to put in some work, you can make a $60 chair look like a $300 chair. Or at least you can make it NOT look cheap haha. And if you ever need some tips, you know who to ask!

Anyone else get really excited to score a good deal on Craig’s List? Who’s dying to get that $13,000 space chair? Crickets? Though I think I might have spied something similar on a Mad Men set. Kind of cool.