Je t'aime Mes Amis

The Mes Amis Vintage and Antique Show was a wonderful event (Sandy, formerly from Tattered House, was a lovely hostess).  It was such a spectacular feast for the eyes that I won't muddy this post with too many words - mostly pictures...enjoy!

 

Our Space

Diedre's signature coffee filter

year-round wreaths

Lipstick Gypsy's FABULOUS trailer

Annette's Magical Creations

My Mom loved these...

I wish I had bought these...

 Once again, industrial-chic...

 I looked at this dresser a few times, it's just that after packing the car with ALL my stuff, it's so hard to think about buying more and having to pack it when you are doing a double show weekend, but this was a great piece that I would have liked to own.

 

 

 The sign above was made from coil wires. 

This succulent garden was grown in a metal box.  Both, great displays of using industrial-chic as an art (and functional) form.

 

 Up and down the street and now back to our spot...

I finished this standing jewelry armoire Friday Night and sold it Saturday morning.  It was a great piece!

Isn't it funny how some people just don't want their pictures taken?  Mom (works at Leftovers in SF) and Diedre were looking cute in their aprons helping customers and as soon as my camera clicked, in unison, they both ducked under the table.  This shot cracks me up!

And then there is me and Heather, more than happy to ham-it-up for the camera!Pack it up and let's it do it again tomorrow....

Day Two - Folsom Peddler's Fair

 Our spaces in front of the shop...

Got a pix of my mom when she wasn't looking!

Fun, busy, crazy, wonderful, exhausting weekend. 

Time to rest... 

Preparing For a Very Shabby Weekend...

 

This weekend just might be the end of me, but, I just can't help myself.  I've been buying, sanding, painting, creating, stamping, recovering, pricing, cleaning, and painting some more just to prepare for this double-whammy of a weekend.  Saturday will be the

Mes Amis Vintage Antique Show in Old Roseville (formerly the Tattered House Antique Show).  This show will have many truly talented shabby, french, industrial, and cottage chic vendors there (read the blog below to see pix and info on those vendors).

The Olive and Rose Vintage Styling and Production: REPOST: The Mes Amis Fall Show Line-Up...

Luckily, she did it on Saturday this year so it's not on the same day as Folsom Peddler's Fair which (provided I can get myself to wake up at 5am two mornings in a row), I will also be at!  This popular signature event draws 10,000 to 15,000 shoppers and will showcase our newly revitalized Historic District. 

The 44th Antique Peddlers’ Fair in Historic Folsom will take place this Sunday, September 18, 2011.

This show will have a mix of antiques and shabby-chic items.  Not only will we have extra treasures to showcase in the 3 spots we have in front of Gracefully Vintage (611 Sutter St), the shop will be full of fabulous finds we have brought in on recent buying trips.

It's going to be a great weekend.  Stop by and say, "hi"! 

"I met her in a club down in old Soho"...

When you get a new car, or pet, or boat, or thing that you want to name, it can take days to pick a name that fits.  There was no question on this one.  Once I placed the last bit of cheetah print and wrapped around the last inch of black, dangling beads - she already had a name and "in a dark brown voice she said"...Lola.  Perfect!

"Girls will be boys and boys will be girls, it's a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola". (The Kinks) 

Lola's gone through transformations before she was done to my liking.  She's worn whimsy aprons.  She's worn a flowered, glitter bra, with her neck removed and a sign asking people to drop money into the cavity at her neck to raise money in the fight against breast cancer.  I'm liking her latest transformation.  Wild, pretty, fun, soft, and sassy. 


She'll make the perfect model for some vintage inspired jewels. 

Another transformation was this chair.  It started out dark wood and mauve (yep, mauve) upholstery.  I tried the upholstery paint technique I saw on another website.  It was not turning out right!  I was about to give up and I actually had it in my car to bring to the Goodwill.  Then, I pulled it out and tried one more thing.  I stamped it with a letter written in French and added some other french elements like the PARIS letters in front, Fleur-Des-Lis and sweet cherub.  All the work paid off.  It turned out to be quite an interesting and artistic piece of furniture.  Not the comfy everyday chair but a conversation piece in the corner of your formal living room, salon, or parlor. 

Oui, Oooh La La

SALE. Chairs, chairs, and more chairs

  I have SO many great chairs right now.  Time to move them!  Most of them will be on sale in the shop and we will have a bunch on sale at both the Mes Amis Antique Fair and Folsom Peddler's Fair  



Industrial Chic...It's what's hot right now!  Very hot!  I went to the Alameda Flea this weekend.  NOT the place to go for a buying trip!  It was ultra expensive.  Sure, I saw many great things but most were 2x, 3x or more expensive than what we sell them for in the shop, so, buying for the shop (for the most part) was out of the question.  I did grab one great item.  This perfectly rusted and very functional old tool shelf.  Still great for tools, but, I envision a new life for it in a crafter's room to fill with ribbons, buttons, beads, crafting tools, and such.  I removed the old Dymo labels and added some vintage stamped tags to help with organizing.

Still trying to figure the best venue between eBay, etsy, or on my own (suggestions welcome) to have some items available online, such as these stamped tags.  Great for retail use or to use with gifts.  Most of them are vintage inspired or french, but, I have made a few Halloween ones and will do some Christmas ones too for gift tags. 

If you'd like to see more of my posts and what my friends and I are working on, please click the link to follow my blog or "like" my Vintage Treasures Facebook page to be updated on new posts.

L.

Treasures of Summer

Usually my blog is about vintage treasures or restored antiques but this weekend I was really appreciating the treasures that nature brings us in the summer.  

 

My micro-crop of peppers and tomatoes are ripe and will only be around a few more weeks.

Summer in Tahoe will turn to ski season sooner than you know it...

Most people (at least in this area) know what a treasure Lake Tahoe is.  There are the obvious favorites like the Lake itself, the wonderful bike and ski trails, and the jewel of the lake, Emerald Bay. 

When people think of Tahoe, they don't often think of waterfalls, but, up at Fallen Leaf Lake, there is a spectacular one.  It's worth the drive up the hill on the narrow road to find this hidden treasure.  Walking trails, breathtaking views of the highest mountains, and incredible water falls.

Of course my favorite treasures are my boys and being able to spend time exploring with them!

Now...I won't leave you with just veggies and nature. I'll share with you a few other vintage delicacies of some of my favorite items in the shop right now...

Still my weakness, Bergere chairs. This one with a nice mix of complimentary colors that give it a more aged and rustic look.  More for a sweet cottage in France than a formal tea room in England. 

Also, fit for a cottage with a rustic flare, is this simply fabulous two-tone, chippy dresser.  Pictures do not do this one justice.  It's a work of art. 

Finally, if I could re-do my house, I'd have one of these linen settee or couches in every room.  Ironically, they are both ornate and simple at the same time. 

Actually, I don't think I'd ever sit on them, I'd just sit accros from them and stare.

The pleasures of summer will soon turn into the frantic festivities of fall but my search for unique treasures continues.  A Trunk Show August 25th at FCC, and then Antique Fairs Sept 17th in Roseville and Sept 18th in Folsom.

Follow me to see what treasures I find next...

He Did What?...& You Paid How Much?

picture grabbed from chippyshabby.blogspot.com

He Did What?...

A customer came in the other day and told me a story about how she found this totally fabulous, shabby-chic dresser. Perfectly distressed and chippy and simply magnificent. She was so excited about the piece. She bought it, brought it home and then left again to finish her errands.

She returned later that day - still excited about her fabulous found treasure. Her husband, beaming with pride in his initiative to help out, he exclaimed...

"honey - while you were away, I sanded and painted that dresser for you and now it's good-as-new"

There it was - her fabulous shabby treasure was now perfectly smooth, perfectly painted one solid color, not a worn corner or chippy paint anywhere!


You Paid How Much?

My Dear Aunt sent me an article on the increased amount of antiques out there as a result of the many downsizers and need to clear space for smaller homes.  The gist of the article was that because of this increase in supply - great deals can be found.  The article showed an antique dresser that had been painted black and had it's original hardware.  The dresser looked just like a few that we have or have sold in the shop lately.

The article said that you can now get a dresser like this one for only $1,250 where before it was $2,500.  Where the heck are people shopping that they think $1,250 is a deal??  In our shop, the same dresser would be around $299!  We could deliver it from CA to New York and it would still be half the price of the low price they are touting as so great.  It baffles me.  Well, if there is anyone out there that thinks $1,250 is a steal for an antique gorgeously restored dresser, give me a call.  I'll decorate their whole room for that price and still have money left over for an Appletini at a fancy restaurant in SoHo ($68/glass marked to $65 for happy hour lol).

Vintage Transformations

I just completed an old bedroom set.  It was not in very good condition cosmetically, but, I could tell - it had great bones.  Spindle feet, interesting lines, and pretty, ornate, detailing.  It needed some prep-work to transform and restore it's beauty.  I took it all apart and sanded down all the pieces and then started to apply the layers of paint.  White or Black?  That Is The Question.  I've mostly been working in white for the past few years, but, lately, have been fancying the drama of black.  I decided to do the whole set in black.

I love the way it came out.  Especially, the high-boy dresser.  The top part was missing it's drawer, so I sanded it all down and painted the inside and made a cubby for books or a jewelry box.  It really gives it character.

I went back in to shabby it up and accentuate the beauty of the details with intricate sanding techniques almost like paint brush strokes back into the design.  Then, I replaced the original hardware.





Add the mirror for above the highboy dresser.  The bed frame had some of the same detailing as the dressers.  The scalloping is very pretty and adds a feminine touch to the black pieces.  There were two dressers and below (in my spot at the shop) is the shorter dresser.

 A dramatic contrast to my white furnishings yet still shabby-chic with a hint of Parisian (a bit more on the Parisian side as we just celebrated a fun Bastille Day event at the shop and with our friends at Melange, Not Too Shabby, and The Bag Lady

On a personal note, I spent a fabulous weekend at the beach with my girls.  Found a few mini-sand dollars.  I had collected great sea shells and sand dollars this year and filled jars for fun summer decorating.  As a retailer, we always look to the next holiday while still in a previous season (think Christmas decorations in September).  So, as we hit mid-summer, it's time to look to school starting and holiday decorating.  So, my new black obsession, mixed with a handful of festive silver treasures, will fit right in.

Cowboys and Firecrackers

I just LOVE this display!  Karryann took a cowhide and reupholstered an old chair with it.  This work of art would sell for the high hundreds or even thousands in SF or LA.  She's got it here at the shop for only $245.  One of the pitfalls of working with all these creative women is that I want to take home so many of their masterpieces.

The display was great for the time of year.  We just had the long horn cattle drive through the middle of Sutter Street and the 51st Annual Pro-Rodeo and fireworks show.  Hypocritical that I could covet a cow skin chair but not want to go to the rodeo because I feel bad for the animals.  But, I appreciate the beauty of the hide, the fun of the sport of rodeo, and the cowboys and cowgirls who flock to the town for the weekend.  Jeans, long sleeve button-up shirts, boots, and cowboy hats in triple digit weather.  That's dedication to the true American spirit as is the rustic style of the old bottles, rusty metal table and cowhide chair.  Perfect for a barn in the Midwest or a loft in SoHo.

I guess that's what Independence is all about.  Freedom to hug a cow, wrangle a cow, or sit on an antique  chair made with cowhide.  God Bless America.  Happy 4th of July.

PS.  On that note, since we also love all things French here at Gracefully Vintage, we will also be celebrating Bastille Day at the shop July 16th and 17th.  "Vive-la-France"!

Heirlooms: Gracefully Vintage#c1086593638425727020

Heirlooms: Gracefully Vintage#c1086593638425727020

Gracefully Vintage was mentioned in Heirlooms blog (link above).  Great pictures of the shop!