for the love of junkin’…

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one thing i’ve learned in life is to make time to do more of what makes you happy…

truth be told, i love to junk!  i love everything about it: the thrill of the hunt, the inspiration of finding new ideas, and the hopes of discovering hidden treasures.  throughout my travels i’m always on the lookout for an opportunity to go junkin’ whether it’s at a flea market, antique store, or even a local yard sale – junk is junk and i love it.  one of my favorite places as many of you know is a show called “junk bonanza” held several times throughout the year.  i discovered this event a few years back while teaching at scrapfest in minneapolis and had the opportunity to go – my junkin’ life was forever changed…

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this past week following a teaching event in boston we made plans to meet up with paula and richele in minneapolis to hit junk bonanza for the day (did i mention it’s even better to junk with friends?).  we headed out in the morning with early bird tickets in hand ready for adventure.  what i love about junk bonanza is that it’s literally filled with so many different vendors selling so many different kinds of things.  from furniture to architectural salvage, suitcases to home decor, vintage ephemera to found objects – it’s all displayed beautifully.  one of my favorite finds this trip was a cool vintage hardware cabinet full of little drawers ready to be a new fixture in my studio…

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we all had plenty of time to find wonderful things thanks to mario who made continuous trips to the van to unload our junk so we never had to miss a minute of shopping.  on the way back to the hotel, we made a stop at sam’s club to pick up some bubble wrap, plastic wrap, and boxes (mario being the shipping aficionado had everything under control).  we unloaded the van onto two luggage carts and made our way to the elevator but the carts were so so full that richele could barely fit in the elevator (that was certainly good for a laugh).  we sorted through everything, decided what could fit in the suitcases, and for the larger things mario worked his box making magic and had everything wrapped and ready to ship home from the hotel…

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now we’re home and i’m patiently waiting for the new cabinet to get here so i can fill it all up.  in the meantime i get to unpack and find new homes for everything (i love doing that) – until next time junk bonanza…t!m

Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101