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Flower, Cape, Crown

The end of summer always comes so quickly.  There is that one chilly/rainy day that kicks the end of summer feeling into high gear and you know it's over.  Even though fall is my favorite season, and I know there are still many summery days left, I'm a little sad.  Why didn't I go to the beach more?  Why didn't I BBQ more?  Where is that ice cream man?!!

Last summer it was the store that stole a lot of my summer days and this year it's the same.  The expansion to the space next door is coming along, but it feels like it's happening in slow motion.  That's what you get for watching Extreme Home Makeover.  Come on they can build a house in a day;  can't they move a little faster on my shop?  I went to the NY Gift Fair last week and it was the same craziness.  At least I feel a little more confident at these shows now.  I've learned how to focus.  And I focused on jewelry!  I have some great lines coming in and hopefully will have some pics to share next week.

But I'm slow too.  Just little bits of craft.  Lucia designed a Lightning Girl costume for her camp Super Hero Week.  The cape was easy.  Just sew two rectangles of fabric reverse sides together.  Turn it inside out, turn over the top edge to make a casing for elastic.  String the elastic through to gather and stitch ends.  I added ties, glued on flower trim, and used fabric bond to iron on the letters.

Here's a another crown I made for a friend's birthday a few weeks ago.  Have you seen this book that's out?  Who knew?

 

And a big thank you for all the warm comments & emails welcoming me back to my long abandoned blog.  It's  a wonderful feeling.  Thank you!!

 

What a fun party!

This Artful Blogging Party is wonderful.  I have learned so much and found so many cool, creative blogs.   I didn't have time to prepare, so I thought I'd share what I've been doing recently.

I've been making Hanging Picture Pockets the last few weeks.  Very simple!

• I take a sheet of chipboard,
• wrap it in vintage wallpaper,
• attach a ribbon or second sheet of wallpaper across the bottom to create a pocket,
• decorate with doodads like buttons, lace, old flowers,
• glue a ribbon loop to the back to hang it from
• finish the back off with a piece of felt to protect the wall

And voila!  I have them hanging all over and tuck pictures, notes, and old postcards in them.  Since it's  a pocket it invites people to come examine what's peeking out and you can change the contents often.  I get to use up all my bits!

Thank you so much Kari for a wonderful idea and an inspiring afternoon!

Crafter-in-training

Lucia loves the part of the Goodnight Show where you do a project.  You would think I would be more amenable to this with all the crafting paraphanalia I have.  But at 7:00 PM at night the last thing I want to do is scrounge two toilet paper rolls to make a pair of binoculars or gather spoons to create wind chimes that I do not want in my house or hanging in my trees.  (I caved and made the binoculars.)

On the plus side Lucia is finally interested in projects AND able to take direction, so when I am in the mood, it's really, really fun!  This week I needed a quick craft to kill an hour before work and I decided to make laundry peg people.  All you need are round top laundry pins, markers, yarn, fabric scraps and a hot glue gun.

Draw little faces on them, create a hairstyle out of yarn, glue on a dress or pants and voila! peg people.

Lucia is so proud and she has played with them non-stop for several days.  She even drew a big playmat for them on butcher paper with little houses, roads and pathways and an ocean full of shrimp.

Vintage schoolroom posters

I recently discovered a set of old veggie/fruit schoolroom cards while out rummaging. 

I have something similar framed in our playroom, so I knew these would look great with the same simple frames.

I think they look great!

The first ten will be in the shop next week!

But who is going to buy the cabbage one?

First crown

A friend who works at my shop had a 50th birthday party and I decided to make her a crown.  I was inspired by a post on a lovely blog called Creative Chaos.

It's all vintage papers and flowers.  I loved making it so much fun!  Check out the crown/tiara swap hosted by Holly Doodle Designs.   I made another for a baby shower but forgot to takes pics.

When Mommy says no....

Lucia has officially  hit the stage in life where she knows what she wants and it's generally what other kids have and I refuse to buy.  She has come home from camp everyday this week asking for Jibbitz.  I had a vague idea of what they are but pretty much said no and ignored her pleas.

Yesterday morning she came down and showed me these.

My clever, sweet girl.

Unfinished business

Today was going to be a catch up day.  For the first time in almost a year, I had a Wednesday off, a sitter for the kids and a chance to be at home and catch up on whatever I wanted.

(unfinished scarf, computer room)

Industriously, I decided to work in the morning and do some computer stuff like order business cards and create a ad.  That actually passes for fun these days.  And as a reward, I would do something indulgent and for me all afternoon.  Sew or knit or read a book.  Alone. No interruptions.

(unfinished baby hat, family room)

And of course the phone rang.  It was my daughter's camp.  She had shoved a bead up her nose and they couldn't find it.  Yes, she is that kid.  A tiny, pink bead no less.  The exact color of the inside of her nostril.  Not so bad.  I could run, take her to Dr. Cotler's and drop her back at camp spit, spot, hurry, hurry.  Maybe finish Toby's pajamas.

(unfinished baseball pj's for Toby, sewing room)

No such luck.  Dr. Cotler was out of the office and I could visit the sub at 2:45.  In the meantime I could try and blow it out of her nose.  This fun exercise involved me holding one nostril shut, covering her mouth with mine and blowing hard in order to shoot the bead out of her other nostril.  We did this sporadically with no luck.

(unfinished collage, bedroom)

At the appointment, the doctor couldn't find the bead.  Maybe she had swallowed it.  Or maybe it was lodged in her sinus cavity where it could become infected.   The doctor wanted me to take her to the ER.  She must have seen my look of despair, because she called several ENT's until she found one that could see me. So off we went to Dr. Levitt located strategically across from St. Barnabas.  At least if I needed xrays we were right next door.  My daughter moaned about the bead in her nose.  I tried to feel more sympathetic. So into the crowded room we went.  After a bit we saw the doctor.  And you know of course what happened.  There was no bead.

(unfinished human, family room)

We came home at 5:30.  Just in time to make dinner. 

You better watch out...

Look I found last weekend!  A little Japanese Santa.  I had a large one when I was a little girl.  I still have him.  Some people think they are a little creepy but not me!  When they pop up at yard sales I grab them.  They actually don't show up that often.  It is against my convoluted Christmas rules to Ebay or antique shop them.

I have strange rules about Christmas.  All of my decorations are pretty much secondhand, garage and church sale cast-offs. They have to be found objects.  I love rescuing them like little misfit toys and giving them a proper place on the tree again.  It makes me so happy that they get a second chance at Christmas.  I am allowed to buy 3 "new" ornaments a year.  One for me and one for each of my children.  Any others have to found throughout the year.   I put them all in a box in the attic and at Christmas it's very exciting to pull out that years booty.

Really I'm strange.

Also I found these lovely dessert plates monogrammed with the letter B.  (My last name starts with B.)  I'm going to pretend I inherited them and use them during the holidays. 

So Little Progress....

...so much time.

So this is the store.  I was supposed to move in September 1st.  HA!  Does this look like I am moving in anytime soon?

The first pic is the front room, this is the hall leading to the back room and...

This is the back room.  Lovely isn't it?
The landlord was supposed to finish it all, but has dragged his feet along the way.  If he wasn't such a nice person, I probably would have killed him or had a nervouos break down by now.  Instead I have adopted a "this too shall pass" mantra and try to focus on all the other things I need to do to get ready.
Like data entry!   Five-bazillion SKU numbers of products I am going to sell, that I enter manually into Quickbooks.   Wicky wacky fun for all ages!

The Gift Fair

So as I mentioned I went to the New York International Gift Fair last week to place orders for the store.  I was prepared for it to be large;  instead it was overwhelming! 

It was spread across the Javitz Center, a pavillion outside and two piers.  It was divided up into sections such as Tabletop, Accent on Design, Home, etc.  My initial plan was to see every booth, decide what I liked best and then go back and place orders.  Ha!  By the end of day one I had barely made a dent in the show.  I was acting like a shopper, not a buyer.  I was stopping to explore every booth and to make sure I didn't miss anything.  At the rate I was going, I would have never finished.

So day 2 I snapped into tv producer mode (my career I'm abandoning) which means very focused and super organized and started walking the show.  You just walk up and down the aisles looking back and forth and only stopping at booths that fit into  your vision of the store.  It was easier on the second day.  I was in some sort of section that sold to tourist shops and religious shops so I could exclude many booths.  At the end of the day I started in on the  home and tabletop sections of the show and started to spend.  The fabulous booth above is Bella Cucina.  I placed a large order and zoomed off to the next place.

And then it became fun.  The store started to take shape, as I b0ught things I loved and hoped others would enjoy too.  These vintage inspired lamps from Architects and Heroes made the cut.  So did linens from Libeco, Moda Home and Pom Pom Maison.  It was so crazy to spend such large quantities of money so fast.  It was all on a credit card.  That I'm paying off with a loan.  Against my house.  My heart was pounding with every transaction.  Boom, boom, boom, buy!  They don't even total up the orders because everyone is in such a rush to go, go, go.  Every night on the train home I would add up the days receipts and make sure that I was staying on budget.  And for the most part I did.

Mostly they don't let you take pictures.  So I don't have that many to share.  Most of the orders I placed will start shipping mid-September, so I will have lots to show then.  I bought lovely letterpressed cards from Snow and Graham.  And wonderful things from Cavallini papers.

I think I wound up with a lot of nice things for the home...sort of urban farmhouse or modern vintage....I'm struggling with a "tag line" that will describe the store's style.   I went for high quality items with a timeless quality to them.  Beeswax candles, gorgeous linens, farmhouse furniture, lots of mercury glass and cloches, garden accessories....

I'm still missing some things.  Picture frames...flatware....There is a cash and carry show in Pennsylvania next month that I'm thinking of attending to fill in the gaps.

So there you go!   A little glimpse into how a store gets stocked.  (With new things at least.)  I still have to show you how my antique merch is coming along!