Friday, December 19, 2008

Antique Shop ~ Parrin & Co.

If you're passing through the 45th & Stateline area in Kansas City, make sure to stop in and take a look at Parrin & Co ~ a lovely little store packed with all sorts of beautiful temptations. I dropped by several weeks ago and admired the Christmas displays ~ old religious statues(the crispier, the better) and miniature paintings, a shell encrusted cross, and anatomical fragments amidst an unusual selection of sacred heart ornaments displayed on tinsel trees. Below are a few shots from my visit.

{love these sacred heart ornaments}

{These vintage Christmas balls look so beautiful in a wire basket}

{not sure what this is, does it matter?!}

Monday, December 15, 2008

Holiday Ornament Swap ~ Paper Ornaments

Awhile back I mentioned that I had decided to participate in a the Third Annual Holiday Ornament Swap ~ ornaments were to be mailed no later than December 10th ~ which is when I sent mine out! Below are a few photos of my ornaments in progress and several finished ornaments. I decided to make the ornaments out of recycled old paperbacks, glittered stars, and some medallions I designed for K&Co. I added a wire hanger and a small "r" logo as my signature. I enjoyed making these ~ even if I did work way into the wee hours of the night!

{a selection of supplies I used ~ cut strips of paperback books unfolded and folded, glitter stars}

{silver, turquoise & gold version}

{red, green & bronze version}

{front & back view}

{My packaging solution ~ chinet plates! These needed to be mailed and I wanted to keep the price as low as possible so I am hoping that the chinet plates and the padded envelope did the job and the ornaments all arrived safely ~ so far, no complaints ~ I'm keeping my fingers crossed!}

Sunday, December 14, 2008

The Aftermath

Now that the big show is over, time for a break! Well, not really ~ we are in the midst of a large home project ~ installing FLOR carpet tiles in my porch room. Because of that project, the entire living room is packed to the rafters with everything from the other room ~ poor Speck and Sprocket are having a tough time finding a comfortable space to sleep. Hopefully we will get this project done this week so that we don't have any injuries due to toppling stacks of books!

{the prince and the pea ~ Speck}

{sleepy sprocket}

Miss Frenchie's ~ Part 4

A week later and I am finally finishing the posts on Miss Frenchie's Holiday Market! Below are a few photos of my booth at the show ~ I made crocheted and knitted scarves, crocheted & felted brooches, wool wrapped bracelets and paper ornaments made from recycled paperbacks. I have been experimenting with folding books and used some of my pieces as displays for my brooches ~ my aim was to incorporate some lighter neutral colors and to add some interest.

{photo courtesy Debbie Dusenberry}

{photo courtesy Carol Spinski}

If you missed the show or are interested in a scarf. brooch or bracelet ~ visit my online store here. I'm also participating in the Poppytalk Handmade Market ~ the new market begins tomorrow (Monday) ~ if you haven't visited there, check it out as well!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Miss Frenchie's ~ Part 3

More wonderful images from Miss Frenchie's Holiday Market!
The door to the barn where the show was held ~ festooned with simple greenery & pinecones in an antique feed sack ~ looked lovely and smelled good too! Below are photos from Debbie's booth ~ she had a wonderful mix of antique and vintage inspired all exquisitely displayed. As pieces sold and walked out the door, I would see Debbie constantly rearranging things so her area looked beautiful from the start to the finish of the show. Visit her blog to see more photos of the show and stop by Curious Sofa if you are in the Kansas City area ~ if not, you can visit online.

{photos above courtesy Debbie Dusenberry}

Carol Spinski was another of the vendors at Miss Frenchie's ~ she and two partners have a lovely store called Raised In Cotton. I first discovered them this summer at the Crown Center Antique show where I drooled over their booth, met Phyllis Fox(one of Carol's partners) and purchased a gorgeous crocheted bedspread. They also do an amazing job with the display of their wares ~ it is hard to walk away without an armful! Amidst a vast array of antiques and interesting finds, Carol also had lovely papercrafts, jewelry, and decor for the home. Check out Carol's blog for more photos of the show here for more photos of the show.

{photo courtesy Carol Spinski}

Last but not least was Elizabeth Maxson's wonderland of a booth! Elizabeth traveled in for the weekend from St Louis ~ I was just amazed by this woman's energy and talent ~ I don't think she stood still for a single minute! The photos I show below don't do her booth justice, but coincidentally one of my favorite blogs, Cafe Cartolina did a posting on Elizabeth here ~ the photos aren't from this show, but they will give you a better idea of her style. Elizabeth has two great blogs as well: The Adventures of Elizabeth and Elizabeth House Shop Talk Series ~ both interesting reads!

{photo courtesy Carol Spinski}

{my big purchase from the show ~ thanks Elizabeth!}

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Miss Frenchie's ~ Part 2

{some of my purchases from the show}

Some more photos from Miss Frenchie's Holiday Market ~ I took quite a few photos, but unfortunately my photographic skills are not meeting my expectations ~ these are the best I have to show for my efforts ~ in my defense, the lighting wasn't helping.

The images below are from Karla's booth ~ she had a sparkling selection of vintage and vintage style items and handmade pieces ~ perfect to pretty up your house with. Karla uses alot of vintage wallpaper in her work ~ I love the paper covered organizer box and the paper cone decorations. Karla also makes jewelry and has a wonderful selection of vintage millinery flowers. If you missed her at the show, visit her blog and/or her etsy store.

Beth Leintz also had a great booth filled with all sorts of vintage treasures including interesting bits of ephemera, old autograph books and journals, wondeful vintage sewing bits, old photos and postcards ~ even some old pincushion dolls ~ Karla and I both got one of them! Beth also has a blog and an etsy store, so you can still treat yourself even if you didn't make it to the show.

Miss Frenchie's ~ Part 1

Decided to go ahead and post some of my photos and finds from the recent Miss Frenchie's Holiday Market ~ even though the images are going to suffer due to bad lighting ~ guess they will match the photos I took at the show!

At any rate, below are a few shots from Gwen and Teri's French By Design booth. They had oodles of great things to sift through: tons of gorgeous French ephemera, old postcards and magazines, silk spools of threads in sumptuous colors, and vintage thread cards. All of this was interspersed with great antiques wonderfully displayed ~ I really had to hold myself back so I wouldn't get into trouble! I did walk away with some absolutely gorgeous French love letters postmarked 1887 and 1888.

Sisters Gwen and Teri have a booth at the Mission Road Antique Mall, so if you missed the show, you can catch up with them there.

{look at that cool postcard display ~ good thing it was NFS!}

{loved these little spools of lace decorated with paper flowers}

{great way to utilize a bottle drying rack ~ another item I was lusting after}

{french love letters postmarked 1887-88 ~ beautiful and romantic}

More tomorrow.....

Monday, December 8, 2008

Scrapbooks: An American History

While I am waiting for a good sunny day - or at least a day that I get home early enough to shoot my treasures from Miss Frenchie's Holiday Market, I thought I would share what looks to me like an amazing new book!

My boyfriend read about it in the NY Times Book Review(here) and is giving it to me for Christmas ~ yes, he has a tough time finding things he thinks I will like so he decided it would be better to ask and spoil the surprise rather than get me something I wouldn't like. Actually it will still be a surprise as I have only seen a couple of pages and now I am really looking forward to getting the book! Apparently the book is causing quite a stir amongst scrapbookers and the design community!

You can order your own copy here ~ while you are there visiting, make sure to check out the video interview with the author, Jessica Helfand. I'll post a few of my favorite spreads after Christmas, so stay tuned!

Added 1.28.2012: Was doing a search and found a written interview with the author at Vintage Image Craft as well.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Ooh la la Miss Frenchie!

Whew - the show is over, but what fun it was! Miss Frenchie's first Holiday Market was a wonderful event with loads of unique and beautiful goods to buy from a most talented and interesting group of women! When Debbie (Curious Sofa) extended an invitation to me to participate in the show, I was thrilled ~ anything that she has anything to do with is ALWAYS gorgeously magical! I had never met any of the other vendors before, so I was looking forward to seeing(buying!) their wares and meeting them as well. What a wonderful group of women ~ amazingly talented, hardworking, and fun to do a show with ~ WOW! Check back later this week as I will be posting photos from the show and share with you some of my purchases as well!

{Glittery holiday sign & crown beautifully styled by Debbie ~ Curious Sofa}

{vintage styled announcement}

{vignette of Karla's purchases}

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Miss Frenchie's Holiday Brocante

Bon Jour! Mesdames and Messieurs!
You are invited to begin a tradition with a special evening of antique dealers and local artists to celebrate homemade oddities, vintage finds and seasonal merriment.

A group of us who are inspired by all things European, want to share our wares. Some new, some old, some girlie, some not. Visit Miss Frenchie's blog to read more about the event.

If you happen to reside in the Kansas City area or will be visiting this Friday and Saturday, please stop by and say hi ~ it is sure to be a wonderful event! I am so excited to be a part of it along with these amazingly talented women: Debbie Dusenberry (Curious Sofa), Carol Spinski (Raised In Cotton), Elizabeth Maxson (Elizabeth House St. Louis), Beth Leintz (Gathering Dust), Karla Nathan (Karla's Cottage), and Gwen McClure/Teri Elliot (French By Design@Mission Road Antique Mall).

Monday, December 1, 2008

First Snow of the Year!

We got the first snow of the year yesterday! Especially nice when it comes on a weekend and no commuting to worry about. I avoided going out in the cold myself, but I did venture out onto the internet and found these lovely photos ~ I love the vintage quality of the images and the calm beauty of the subtle color.

{photos via corfu~}