Is Black & White In??

You ever notice a pattern with the way you do something?

As I'm trying to decide what color,style,shade,texture of fabric to do a Vintage Chair in at the moment- I began to look over some of my re-purposed pieces, color schemes, or designs I noticed a theme.

Do You see where I'm going with this?

Ok, so you see I tend to stick to black & white, then Toile. I guess i figure they are safe, kind of neutral but frenchy, classy, elegant a little shabby.

But I have several chairs I'm getting ready to start, a french vintage plush chair, three side chairs all need upholstery.

Do I go with what is safe, Do I go with what sells, Do I go with something fun-different,  Yikes, so many directions to take..

Here are my before beauties, stay tuned!!

Beauty of a Picture!

While out with my husband over the weekend, He spotted these darling Vintage Photo's, Not so sure what I'll do with them, they are at least 15x20 or so. But He was right on, they are Lovely, I just wonder what the story is behind them, is there one?

Then all of our friends & family know that I have a little shoppe, and love for anything vintage, old, worn, rustic, so many times I'm given old pieces-family items-offered heirlooms or find little this or that's on the porch, (Love it all) So my husband brought  home these treasures for me from work.

One of the fellas he works with out on the job site, gave him these items for me, knowing I like old things.

How Totally Cool is that, again not exactly sure what Im going to or how Ill use them (but i love them).

some old tin containers, and an old tool box, then I stumbled on these

Again, not so sure what I'll do with them, but they looked kind of nifty..

When all else fails (Decoupage).. Right?

Damask Darlings!

Recently I Re-Upholstered four Vintage Dining Chairs for this Adorable gal who I met through the shoppe, who also has the love for vintage, the old & worn, or forgotten pieces. So I'll share the before and afters of these lovely chairs.

Painted in a muted black and barely rubbed all they needed was some fabric to bring them up. After pulling all of the velvet/fuzzy piping off- and removing the seats.

I cut her beautiful soft Waverly Damask fabric loosely over chairs to get an idea of sizing.

Then made my piping for the edge of each seat, then pinned together -sewed.

 Did the top and back of each chair in same way, added the piping i made and there ya go..

Really Loving this fabric.

 And Just how Paint totally can the look of a piece, The Fabric does the same for these dramatic dining chairs.

My Darling Rosette!

There are the most amazing bloggers out there, recently I purchased this beautiful rosette flower pin from (Count your Blessings Blog) I love it so much, It was even better than the picture.
I wished i could figure out how she made it, it is so lovely full of layers of fabric-tulle, i just couldn't figure it out.

Well a few days later,  there was a tutorial on how to make those beautiful Rosettes from Jill at Gypsy Flea Market Blog or at least very similar . How Wonderful it that?
We can copy-try to emulate but really nothing is ever like the original..
 So I decided to give it a try, using her directions, and if you go to
 French Cupboard's Blog today, they are doing a whole post & sharing of Rosettes..
So Here is my First Attempt.

1..using a pulled apart flower-adding some stamp to it, to give character- then adding fringed pieces of cut fabric to layer, and then added some lace as well.

2.. You use wire to pull them together in the center of each piece of fabric-or the flower petal, starting with smaller-to larger.

And here you go.

Now that i have tried it, and sort of can see how it pulls together, I might just try some other fabrics-textures-layers...

Just Love it..

Thank You for Sharing & Inspiring us to give it a try.

Home Made Lovelies!

Thought I would share some of my most recent  home made items-

It is expensive to even buy wholesale, you have to order a high dollar amount just to place an order-So while I have ordered wholesale for some items in my shoppe- Most- I do make myself.

It is cheaper, I So enjoy it & love doing so, it allows me to be creative.

Now while we all travel from Blog to Blog and see such Great ideas, I do believe we all somewhat take from each other, which they say is the best form of flattery (not so sure), but we all do it.

So when i see a great Idea in Blog land, I try to let the blogger know, I'm going to attempt it, and also change it up with my unique touch showing my style, so that it is not the same.

And many ideas are just out of magazines, and i try to alter as well, making it more of my signature style & design.

This my Flirty Half Apron with Layered Ruffles. Last year I saw a picture in a Country Living magazine, with a whole apron with ruffles , and I had to try it. Sold the first 2 right away- So now at my shoppe I thought I would bring some in.

This was my Patriotic Whole Apron, with a deep blue, cream stars, a top pocket and (god bless America) embroidered on top with a small ruffle on bottom.

Next are my chalkboards & cutie Clothespins.

The chalkboards are also clipboards, great for kids on a long trip they can clip paper on it or a towel and draw & erase or color on paper and it all stays together and can be used over and over again.

The clothespins, My mom hand paints many for the shoppe (takes her days to do them), but they are unique & one of kind, and some I add glitter to making fun little clips for all uses.

While visiting all the (Where Bloggers Create II Creative Space Party) I saw so many cool tags-made with those old vintage photos and I love them.

So I decided to make Journals with the same idea-Layered on top of layer with photos-letters.

I have a journal, and write in it often, and it is plain & boring, so I thought how fun it would be to make each journal/diary different, with a theme, style, color so each one is a true one of kind and fun.

I also just made this lovely, she is my favorite, and will be great to use for display.

Lastly is my little gem, I bought from my neighbor Wayne over at The Shack ( selling all vintage records for $1.00)

He brought me this vintage cabinet all dusty-dirty, and with such curvature, detail, scalloping, and amazing feet- I Couldn't wait to work on it.

That same night I brought this home, I was out in the driveway, cleaning, sanding, filling little holes, and using a paint color i never used before a mint blue flat and I just Love it..

I didn't change the vintage original hardware either. When i put the coat of polyurethane on it, it actually made the color a bit darker and looked a bit more aged (even better)..

Love those pieces you just don't see everyday..

Sadly when I buy these pieces, I always buy with the intent of ( I'm going to use this for display, decoration,or this will be one, I keep for home).

Rarely - do I think of (resale) first.

But I do know I have to sell them, I can't keep them all.

So all items on this post are available at shoppe.

Vinette!

Having a Place of my own is a Dream come true, But what I didn't think about was (design). How it all comes together, Im not  great at that.

But I had an idea & and I like the unique or differ. and wanted to try a display or vinette as i think they are called.

Shades of Gold, with a Rustic, French Feel.

And im kind of proud of how it turned out, so I thought I would share it.

This One, I wanted to some what tie in the golds, with a french touch but eclectic as well.

The part of having a shop, i didnt think about- (design)..

And incorporating different colors-styles-themes all into one little 360 square foot shop-and have it flow well- look charming-inviting and not croweded-cluttered-or flea markety.

Thanks for letting me Share!

Guiding You In!

My Little shoppe is on the main Historic Street in Folsom (Sutter St) where many come to visit, attend the Art Walk, the Thursday night markets or Farmers Markets on Sundays and the Annual Antique Fairs, but Remember Im at the end of the street, and down a hall way in the back of an old Barn (where they use to tie up the Wells Fargo Stage Coach).
So now that there is the Big Revitalization going on- (tearing up of street-awnings-sidewalks-dust and construction) things are bit tricky for a new girl like me..

So I decided to make a sign (showing everyone where to go)..
We bought some 1inch thick Particle Board, I drew a hand on it (not a good one) but an idea of a hand.
Had my husband cut it out for me.
Attached it to an upside plant stand -that use to be my daughters bed side table.

Now you can see the front of our building- others have thier signs out- some A Frames- well I have a hanging (Gracefully Vintage) sign, but thought (hmm) my hand might bring some attention to our building.

BAM!!

What do you think, would that grab your attention if you were driving by?

I painted it, painted the stand, and added some toile fabric( got to have my touch to it) to look like a sleeve, some ribbon and there is my little

(where you should shop sign)..

and oh yes i set it right out in the street...

House Envy!

Ok , so I'm not a stalker, but I love this house. This home is in the Historic District of Folsom, Yes someone lives there, but I truly believe I love it more. Isn't this a cute little home, registered as a historic home, and I would one day love to live there-fix it up. It is a street up from my little shop, and everyday that i  go to work i take a differ street just so i can pass by all the old homes, this is one of my favorties- i drive by real slow, and stare-trying to get a glimpse of the inside, a peek into who must own such a lovely vintage place, I drool , & day dream about how i would care, love it.

This Beauty is at the end of that same long old street, right behind my little shoppe in Historic Folsom, and it has been for sale for (EVER), I would pay money just to tour this place- it has a second smaller home out back, a wrap around porch (screened in) and a detached garage.. And I love it...

If i ever were to win the lottery , i so would buy this home, just to fix it up, not to look new-but look new at its original state & fill it with all of my vintage pieces.

Can You imagine the stories, the history it holds inside..

And it is only doors down from one of the Oldest Churchs in town.

Last I heard it was over a million dollars..

Not that I don't love my little Colonial Style home- but built in 1997-But just isn't the same as built in early 1900's.

I don't want luxury-marble floors-, a limo service, don't even want a maid-

Just an Old House,with tattered, worn loving history, i can bring new life to.

Love It!!

Gold French Charm!

While, I think this little-tiny wood chair is adorable, Brown Wood just isn't me. I get the look so many times, from those who think you shouldn't paint old-vintage or antique furniture.

But I have to say, I NEVER buy because of value, or age or what it could be worth. I Only buy because i love the style, the look, the detail the piece has. So off to the paint shop it goes.(My front yard)..

With doing most of my pieces in white or hierloom or black, sometimes I like to try something different. And with this little gem, Thought I would go with Gold, and a Fun, Sassy White plush Fur, and check out the charming lift up seat for storage.

A Dainty Fun Chair with some Charm in an Extravagant Gold for some French Style..

Frenchy Make Over!

Remember this from a few dys ago, this lovely carved large desk,
well, I was so excited to get to use for my sewing desk-table, I worked on it after work for a few days and here is the after.

Doesn't it Look Pretty- I Love It!!

Then there was the cute little accent chair, I could not pass up either, I just love the French Inspired Furniture, Such amazing craftsmanship-detail..

The carved flowers, detail in legs, or that bottem slant of wood.

My old chair was black-with cheetah fabric, I decided to go with heirloom white and a satin pink gold textured fabric.. Love It!!!







Thanks for letting me Share my lovely treasures.


P.S. as for those who are curious about my ceiling at the shoppe,
no decisions have been made, we have to wait for permission to make any changes.(So in Limbo)..