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Running a Business

buying & selling antiques

Shop Lucketts – Deal Alert

Shop Lucketts has another special deal this month for my readers.  It’s this beautiful tall candle holder that usually retails for $45 and is now $35!   Here’s what Suzanne and Amy have to say about this piece and why they selected it… “You’ve all asked us for more decorative and table top pieces, and this new item is quite a beauty!  Our candle stand features delicate metal flowers surrounding a tall glass candle cover.  We love this item because of its height and we’ve found these are a go-to item at our Design House whenever we need to add height to our console table decor or create interesting tablescapes.  A great tablescape needs texture and variety in height to keep your interest.  This piece does just the trick, and a candle can be added for gorgeous light during dinner.   I can just imagine how beautiful these would be as

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buying & selling antiques

Milk Paint at Lucketts!

On Thursday, I drove down to Lucketts with Faith and my husband and we worked on getting my space in the lobby looking great and filled with milk paint.  I’ve been in the lobby for a couple of months, but it’s been hard for me to get settled there.  With the milk paint finally in transit from Canada, I asked two design gurus, Suzanne and Amy of Design House fame, to help me with the layout of the space.  Suzanne traded a slim, glass topped shirt counter for my HUGE hardware counter and she also loaned me the hutch on the back wall.  Soooooo much better.   I’m  selling the two tall bookcases, so the back wall can be a spot for furniture pieces.  I’m hoping to figure out how to maximize that little nook and fill it with cozy furnishings and accessories and hang some of my hand painted

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Furniture Feature Friday – Excuses & a Link Party

I didn’t have the time to pick favorites today because…   …I was moving all of my Milk Paint into my space at Lucketts.  I was so busy trying to get it all done that I didn’t get to have a teary moment until I looked at this picture.  God has really blessed this endeavor.  Wow. …and I’m late because… I was working on the new MMS Milk Paint website!  I still have a lot of work to do to get all of the information posted and all of the retailers listed, but it’s a great start! …and I didn’t turn in my book report because my dog ate it. Here are the rules for our furniture get-together… 1.) Your post has to be about furniture. Please, please, please…just furniture. If you find your link has been deleted, it’s not because I’m mean, it’s because your post was not about

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buying & selling antiques

doing something, a counter swap & a sale

The blog world is wonderful, but there are downsides.  One of those that I’ve been ignoring for a long time is sites that steal content from bloggers.  I’m not talking about the people who use a picture or highlight a favorite project, but people who rip off entire posts and either claim them as their own or “collect all of your favorite blogs in one place.”  Those sites might seem convenient for readers, but it is theft.  Can you imagine if I gathered all of my favorite magazine articles, cut the pages out, scanned them, put together my own magazine and then made money from ads and subscriptions claiming I’m offering this great service of “collecting all of your favorite magazine articles in one magazine”?   Well, that is what is happening to bloggers.  We work hard to create our content and then it’s swiped automatically from our feeds and published without our knowledge

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Miscellaneus

there are limits…

If you’re a risk -taker, a work-horse, a dream-chaser or a go-getter, you know that it can be tough to find your limits.  You always feel like you can do more and it’ll all work out.  Some can, but I think most people who fit into that category think they can and then they get burned out.  There have been times in the four years I’ve been doing business when I’ve been burnt out, but it’s always just been for a week or two and then I’m ready to roll again.  I’m not feeling burnt out now, but I don’t want to get to that point.   I L-O-V-E what I’m doing.  I love this blog.  I love my business.  I love the opportunities I’ve gotten from it.  But there are limits and I haven’t been very good at setting them.  A few months ago, my gallbladder crapped out on

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buying & selling antiques

Shop Lucketts – August Special

I wanted to share the latest Shop Lucketts special for August…   …it’s this galvanized tray with rope handles.  Here’s what the design gurus at Lucketts have to say about it… “We love this tray because it evokes a sense of relaxed simplicity — it’s not trying to be beautiful, it just is.  The beautiful galvanized metal texture with rope handles is utilitarian, but start decorating with this beauty, and it makes everything around it come to life.  At our Design House, we have used this tray on coffee tables to group books and decorative accessories, and it’s been the perfect size at parties to help serve drinks and hors d’oeuvres.  One of our newest and most favorite finds from our summer buying trip!”         This tray usually retails for $45, but they’re offering it at more than 20% off for $35 for my readers.  Snap it

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Miscellaneus

I needed Faith

I had a little idea a few months ago. It was just an idea to have milk paint colors I loved in cute packaging.  I kicked that idea over to Homestead House Paint Co. and they thought it sounded like a good idea.  Well, I announced this little idea on my blog and it has exploded!  We’re about to launch the paint line with 80 retailers around the US and a few in Canada and one in the UK.  Plus we have about 150 potential retailers who have sent inquiries.  All of this is awesome and terrifying and overwhelming and exciting and it’s finally pushed me to hire someone to help me.  (It’s about time, I know!) Meet Faith, my new Business Manager…   How perfect is it that her name is Faith?  If you aren’t aware, Miss Mustard Seed is a reference to a verse in the Bible about

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buying & selling antiques

Shop Lucketts {in your jammies]

If you’ve even popped in on my blog once or twice before, you’ve probably read something about Lucketts…about me going there or selling out of there or getting ready for Lucketts or loving Lucketts or all of the above.  If you aren’t aware, Lucketts is only the most amazing antique store in the world.  Well, in my opinion (and I think a few other people feel that well also.) For those who are far away and feel taunted by my frequent posts about the place that is near and dear to my heart, well, the talented and lovely ladies behind The Lucketts Store have come up with a way for you to Shop Lucketts from the comfort of your home…in your jammies.  (You know, you could show up at Lucketts in your jammies and that would be okay, too, if that’s your thing.)   Anyway, here’s the whole idea behind

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I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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May 20th, 2026 at 1pm EST

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