Just 3 More Days Until The Vintage Marketplace!!!

Denise is sewing seat cushions for this great vintage iron outdoor set

The sun was out bright and eary this morning and so were we!!! Only 3 more days until the big Chateau de Fleurs Vintage Marketplace - Denise is hard at work - she's going to have some really fun pieces.  This looks like it's going to be a really great 2 day show with over 30 amazing & talented artists! We always look forward to seeing sweet familiar faces, meeting new people and showing our reinvented treasures - we can't wait!



The gold chair is great & there's a pair of the
pink french panels, they're over 7 ft tall!



Big, fun birdcage & there's a peek of one of her assembled birdacages on the sewing table

 

 







I love these victorian birdcages!



...so sweet...it's as if she's looking out her window...



...we're in love with birdsnest!



Lots of fun stuff, Denise is worknig on new handpainted furniture & she has a new mannequin in the "works" (that's a clue!)...see everyone in a few days! - Ashley

It was a Thrift Store Thursday...

Denise and I decided to make a quick trip out to the local thrift stores this morning to look for any treasures we can transform for the upcoming Chateau de Fleurs Vintage Marketplace next Friday & Saturday, June 3rd &4th.  We found some fun things...tomorrow I think we will have a Frantic Friday reworking and putting last minute touches on some neat pieces we are taking to the show - watch for photos- I'll post some next week!

If anyone's in the Los Angeles area this Memorial Weekend, the Long Beach Antique Flea Market is having a Super Sunday Sale this Sunday, May 29, we're in space H-141.

Design Idea: Whimsical Paper Figures

    

The strings from 2 Lipton teabags are her legs that come out of the cup and into her shoes

Going through Denise's art books last summer I loved looking through a book titled Fanciful Paper Projects by Sandra Evertson, published in 2005. This book is full of really fun ways to create pieces incorporating trims and vintage papers. I had no idea paper figures were so popular with artists! Artists trade them and sell them on sites like etsy, in not only copy format but digital format as well.  In this book, my favorite figure has arms and legs made out playing cards. I wanted to try creating my own similar design and remembered a unique deck of cards I had with different images on each card.  It was fun trying out bits and pieces to make different hats, cuffs, and shoes ( I decided on images of dominoes) It took me awhile to figure out how to attach the parts that I wanted to be able to pose, and then glue down all the rest. 

This one paper figure led to a two week paper doll addiction. It was addicting trying out different papers, ribbons and whatnots.  I would find a face I liked, but it wouldn't fit any of the bodies I was working on, so I would have to create a whole new body.  I liked folding sheets of old music paper accordion style and using them at the neck or as a skirt. I tried to find different images to use as legs and arms,  a vintage ruler is the set of legs on this figure on the right.  I made a simple torso silhouette as my body pattern and used it with each figure in different papers. They turned out to be quite tall measuring anywhere from 5" to 9", they kept growing as I kept adding things to them. Making these did remind me of traditional paper dolls, but with an eclectic twist.

I like using profile faces

I made some figure's arms and knees move and other's wrists, necks and ankles move. At the craft stores they have all kinds of great fasteners in all shapes and sizes, I prefer the simple, small, tarnished metal ones.  During my two week addiction I managed to create 14 figures. To display them in our booth I tied some onto vintage silverware - old serving spoons and knives with ornate handles, this way they could stick into an arrangement or vase. I think these would look great framed, tied onto a gift, placed in an arrangement, hanging in a birdcage and more. They're fun to try and the materials are basically things everyone has in their craft room - papers, ribbons, buttons, old postcards, brads, metal embellishments, really just about anything will work and look great! My girls saw me working on these and sat down one Saturday and made their own figures-very sweet! -Ashley




Her head is the key that turns to reveal
what she keeps close to her heart...

 

.. her songbird...
Her arms are images of antique spoons and
her skirt is an actual postcard from 1910





  

   





The Rewards of California Weather.....

Why we love California weather....the flowers are forever in bloom and now that spring is here the photos speak for themselves.....  

My Granddaugher Isabella took this photo of the rose "Marina".

She gets her gift of photography from her mom, Ashley, who takes all our photos and posts them on our blog.  They both seem to have the eye for taking the right shot.

This climbing rose was on clearance for $1.00!!  In two years it has reached the top of the second floor.  Don't overlook those clearance plants...sometimes all they need is someone to believe in them, take good care of them and encourage them to reach their full potential.  Wait a minute....am I talking about darling kids or roses? (smile)

Home Sweet Home....there's a bird's nest in the birdcage in the jasmine.....but I put it there and have had no renters to move in yet...

The jasmine really burst with unbelievable blooms this year.  As you pass through the garden gate the 
fragrance wraps all around you.  You just have to stop and enjoy that beautiful smell for several seconds before you can move forward.  It's no wonder jasmine is used in so many home products and perfumes.  It is one of my favorite fragrances.

 
This wall is still a work in progress.  The ivy was planted about two years ago and is just now reaching the top of the six foot wall.  Ivy is so easy to propogate and it spreads like crazy. Lots of trimming involved to keep it groomed. The lattice arches are from Lowe's, the wooden flower boxes and geraniums are from Home Depot.  I mention this because the prices on both were so affordable, especially the geraniums.  Home Depot often has fantastic WOW! events, special  plants with unbelievable prices and quality.  Check them out.  The gernaiums  were a WOW! bargain....such a brillliant red, huge plant and loaded with bloom.  And after a year, they are still looking great!  See the close up photo below.  I love the look!

The precious little hummingbird nest in the yard (see below) will soon be under a glass dome and off to one of our shows to be sold and find a new home with someone who adores it. This is the second one this spring. So hard not to keep, but they build in this same bush every year and hope they continue to return every spring.

Another pic by Isabella

Yummy blueberries are coming in!  My granddaughters and I picked fresh blueberries in the yard Saturday morning and Isabella, quite the little chef, made blueberry pancakes for the family.

Fabulous Day in Riverside...



Our space

Cheers to Connie and Dianne for a fun day yesterday at the Vintage Panache Antique Garden and Art Faire!  Another great group of vendors and sweet customers made for a really wonderful day! Yesterday was our first time visiting Riverside - what a quaint, historic town and Dianne's beautiful home made the perfect setting.



The event was held here at Dianne Peasley's home




It was a bittersweet Goodbye to Miss "M" our  Mannequin - she sold first thing when the gates opened!
We know she will make a beautiful addtion to the new owner's home.



Sophia's Pink Curls Couture items sold really well among the white rose garden.







Thanks again ladies and we look forward to your fall show!









Vintage Panache Antique Garden & Art Faire this Saturday

     We've been busy, the rain slowed us down a bit earlier in the week, but we're happy to be adding finishing touches to pieces and ready to load the van tomorrow!  We're headed north to Riverside for the Vintage Panache Antique Garden & Art Faire this Saturday May 21st, 4535 University Ave., from 9am - 3pm.  We'll be showcasing a few favorites like Denise's Mannequin and Crown Chair as well as some new finds, hope to see everyone Saturday!

Transformation Update: Vintage Stool

The Before...

Transformation Update:  Marital Bliss

Remember this vintage stool from our "Weekend Haul" post about a month ago?  Well it has a beautiful new look!  This is one of the things I love most about what I do.....taking something and transforming it into something else just as fabulous!  When the old green velvet covering was removed and the internal stuffing was revealed (see photo below)...the vintage shredded threads and gray stuffing used many years ago.  (I need to research this and find out the dates this type of stuffing was used.  If anyone already knows, please post an answer for me.)  The original filler was still in great shape, so I left it as authentic as I could.  The stool also has curved springs instead of just a flat board or woven support.  I had not seen this on a stool before.  This is also a clue to the origin of the piece.  I'm thinking it's French, or Italian.

Well, in deciding what fabric to use to reupholster the stool, my first idea was to use the current popular burlap fabric, but as "all good things come to those who wait" (smile), it turns out that procrastinating on the project was what led to the final decision and perfect choice.  We had a beautiful old Italian tapestry titled "Roma" (the name was woven into the threads), which no one in all the shows it appeared in wanted to buy  it....I could never figure out why...now, I know why .....it was supposed to be placed on this stool.  As they say, I married the two pieces pieces together and presto! something quite beautiful. 

 

The original finish on the stool was the same color as the tapestry.  This too was another reason that the two pieces should be joined forever in color bliss. (smile)  And now vintage stool do you take this tapesty to be tacked onto your wood, to wear in good health and in so joining to be more beautiful now as one?  I do!  Then let you be joined together throughout all eternity and let no man take you apart nor seperate you.  You may now live as one, happily ever after.  Dum dum dee dum!

Love, love, love it!  Now, see, here is my dilemma I face all the time.  I love a piece so much that I want to keep it and not sell it.  Tune in to future posts and see what I decided.  I've got my own little "redesign soap opera" going on here! (smile)"

- Denise

...The After

A Weekend Full of Wind, Sun & Fun...

     Denise and I did Behind the Picket Fence this past Saturday in Huntington Beach and the Irvine Flea Market on Sunday.  We met sweet vendors with great items at Behind the Picket Fence, but unfortunately for us, we were "behind" several shops and tucked away in the Beer Garden and didn't get a lot of traffic, but we did do well and have fun in Irvine on Sunday - a bit windy- but it turned out to be a great day!

     Next up for us is the Long Beach Flea Market on May 15th and May 29th, The Vintage Panache Show May 21st - a new one for us that we are really looking forward to, and of course Rita Reade and Christie Repasy's amazing Chateau de Fleurs Marketplace June 3rd & 4th in it's new location at The Oaks in Rainbow, Ca!

Forever In Bloom

This lovely lady has occupied a very special place in our family for about twelve years and she is still as beautiful as the day she was created.  Every Christmas holiday she made her appearance wearing a circular crown that held six candles which we would light during holiday parties.  (her holiday crown is packed away in storage, but will be unwrapped with other special ornaments in December)

She is adorned with handmade ribbon flowers with scattered purchased flowers and various and vintage jewelry filling in the empty spaces.  Handstrung bead baubles and earrings hang around the edge of the bust.  The wonderful thing about ribbon flowers is that they last forever. They are timeless and can be used to adorn any item at any time in any decor. They are worth considering adding to a current project you are working on to bring a lasting and finishing touch.