pemberlie

thank you

My pemberlie project is on hold for now.  Life, it seems, takes some prioritization.  We have big fun things planned for the next year and that means this needs the pause button for a bit.  I am going to try and tend to my pinkpicketfence blog in the meanwhile.  I hope you will join me over there.  Thanks so much for your interest and support!  xoxo

chris

{ hello, sunshine! }

Once there was a sad little coffee table that had seen better days.

And then I painted her yellow and gave her a cushion and a pretty chevron outfit.  And she was destined for the shop! 

But I kind of love her.  And she might have to stay here.  

 

The end.  Maybe.

{ the henredon chair }

Oh this little chair.  I found her at a thrift store this summer.  She was gorgeous.  Fabulous lines, gorgeous fabric.  A deliciously plump down cushion.  Worn, faded, and a little stained, yes, but truly a beautiful piece of furniture. Without hesitation, I had her loaded into the back of my car and took her home.  

She carved out a nice spot for herself in the garage, between a mid-forties chair with great nubby gold upholstery and an old weathered iron bench.  

And there she sat, with all of her potential, for about six months. A few weeks ago I brought her inside and decided it was Time.  I really hadn't decided what to do with her.  The fabric wasn't really all that bad and someone might like her just the way she is. 

It has been some time since I tackled a good slipcover job.  Sometimes I find it easier to just attack a piece of furniture with a staple gun than trying to strategize over how to make the slipcover fitted enough and still removeable... I don't like baggy slipcovers.  Also, I really like constrast piping. 

Nevertheless, I decided a slipcover -- a new dress -- was what this little beauty needed.  Nothing frilly.  Her lines are already feminine.  I just wanted to highlight what was still so spectacular without getting too fussy about things.

 And after less trouble than I honestly expected (goodness, I must be getting experienced at this after all), she has a new frock. 

It's heavy-duty pre-washed/shrunk unbleached canvas with seafoam linen piping.  The cushion has a zipper and is quite fitted.  The rest is one piece and drapes nicely around all of her curves, closing in the back. Wash warm or cold, dry to barely damp, and press if desired.  Not at all fussy.  Just how I like my best girlfriends. 

Oh I like her very much. 

Alas, she is destined for the shop.  $325 and she's yours.  

(The Henredon line of furniture is custom and quite upscale.  Similar chairs online now go for upwards of $2500 and vintage pieces like this are sold for reupholstery. She also has a paper on the bottom that says Schoonbeck Company and Furniture piece 6164. I may have trouble parting with her...)

{ hazards of the job & my assistant is not camera shy }

What a weekend! 

The store looked beautiful, hinting at Valentine's Day with touches of pink and red everywhere.  Friday was horrifically cold -- it was 4 degrees outside and it was near impossible to keep that cold at bay.  But our customers -- our awesome customers -- were out and ready to find treasure!

I found treasures, too.  

 

I am particularly fond of this cool garden orb thing.  What do you call it?  I can't describe it without using the word Thing.  ha. Every time I see one in a magazine or in a store, they are always well over $100.  But I scored this beauty for $40.  

 

It's pretty big, as you can tell by comparison to my personal assistant. 

 

 There are some serious deals to be had down in the West Bottoms on First Fridays.  I was also happy to find some fancy brass buttons (which will look gorgeous on some pillows), a few valentines, and this fun sign -- hand designed, cut & stenciled by my friend Sherri, who is at our store as well: 

 

Every day is super sparkly with three girls.  :) 

Have a super week, friends! xo

{ shop sneak peeks } + work in progress

I worked all day in the store yesterday, setting up my little booth space and adding touches of Love. It is our February 'Valentine's Day' event weekend, after all!  

Our shop owner, Kelly, went around taking tons of photos of the store.  Here are a couple from my space.  

Those pink Hershey Kisses that are full of caramel?  Are stupid good. Also, hat tip to my friend Jade for inspiring my 'You had me at Journey Cover Band' framed print.  She cracks me up.  

I'm working on a couple of new items for the store this week too.  If I get them done in time, they might make it down for Friday morning.  

This chair is getting a slipcover. 

I'm loving the seafoam piping! If I hadn't smashed my hand on Sunday, this would for sure be done.  

Also, I need some more light in my booth.  So I went to work on another lamp today....

That'll do, lamp.  That'll do. 

Wednesday night is kind of crazy around here.  It means ballet for two of us and tumbling for one.  Ready, set, go!  xo

{ february shop prep }

Every First Friday shop has a different policy about setting up.  In our store, you have to have your booth set up by the end of the day on Tuesday before the Friday opening.  

That means today I am getting a whole bunch of small treasures cleaned up and tagged for set-up day tomorrow.

Sometimes I collect things over the course of the month and it's a bit like Christmas when I get to this part! This pink glass vase will be  v e r y hard to part with.

(And isn't this little depression-glass dome adorable?  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, but it's in perfect condition!)

This awesome lamp is getting a make-over even though I am in love with that really good quality tarnished brass.  I just wish the tarnish were more uniform for the length of the lamp.  It is getting a nice glazed finish instead.  I will rub back some of the glaze to expose this awesome detail though. :) 

In other news... (short version: I hurt my hand, I'm a crybaby and I'm going to be ok)

(long version) I smashed the top of my right hand into the corner of a table yesterday. It was that kind of pain that makes you bend over and gasp for air and then moan and wimper for a few minutes before you can tell the other person in the room that you're going to live, but yes, it hurts REALLY bad.  

And when you are a Maker of Things, hurting your dominant hand is pretty upsetting.  I won't lie.  I was a total crybaby.  I had envisioned every bad scenario.  At the very least, I thought this weekend's event was going to be a big dud for me. 

However...after a trip to Urgent Care for x-rays and advice, quite a bit of ice, ibuprofen, and a good night's sleep, I felt much better than I expected this morning!  

So in my typical fashion today, I tried to juggle the three year old and a garage full of things that could use a quick coat of paint and a hurt hand that I promised the doctor I would 'rest' for two weeks.  It was 70 degrees today!  Crazy gorgeous weather for Kansas City in January. Perfect garage-shop weather!

I'll take it, for sure.   Hoping I won't pay for it tomorrow.  [Note to self: more ibuprofen + ice tonight!]

All of this means I might yet be able to set up a proper booth for this weekend's event.  I won't be hauling any furniture, but I was happy to paint with little to no pain today, so my small items will be all set and tagged and ready to go!  

Happy Dance! xo

{ patina love }

One thing that I hear a lot when I'm working in the store is, 'I love this, but I'm not sure how I'd use it... '

I'm a firm believer that if you are drawn to certain lovely things, you can find a place for them in your life. 

Silver is one of my favorites.  And so are tiny cream pitchers and sugar bowls. I do find quite a few while I'm out thrifting -- and rarely for more than a couple dollars.   

I always think my plan is to put them in the store, but they have a hard time making it out of my house once they've made it in.

That's okay.  I've put them to use here and there.  

Fancy and practical at the same time.  A wonderful combination in my book. 

Happy Thursday, friends! xo

January in the shop

January around my house is a whirlwind, much like everyone else's.  Putting things away, getting settled in for the winter, making new plans... starting fresh. I have so many ideas for the upcoming year and I am just bursting!  

We opened for the First Friday Weekend in January and we were surprised by such an awesome turnout on such a terribly cold couple of days.  Our store was looking pretty empty by the end of it, I tell you!

I sold my victorian settee.  She is gone.  That was a bittersweet one. So much work.  Such a great finished piece. I hope she is happy in the hearth-room of her new home!

I also sold a bunch of random things I had placed in my booths for ages and they flew out the doors.  It was wacky that way.

My garage (aka workroom) got cleaned out last week. Between Christmas boxes (for six trees!) and all of the furniture and boxes in the garage, I pretty much had to take a few days off to recuperate.  Ouch.

The good news is I now have several chairs ready for tackling.  I've ordered fabric for one and am waiting to decide about the others... with my littlest sick this week, I am afraid they are all going to have to wait a bit.  

Two weeks and counting... I sure have a lot of magic to make before then!

xo

Dec 7, 2012

We're open! Friday, Saturday & Sunday! And decked to the hilt, too. :)

{ october weekend wrap-up }

It was another fantastic and fun weekend.

I practically sold out (!!), which is amazing.  Most of my favorite goodies are off to new homes...

The foyer space of the shop is one of my favorite spots to decorate.  It has magical powers, I swear.  Not only does it show well, but my stuff flies out of there!  

The store looked beautiful. 

I had a ridiculous amount of fun making potion bottles. Ridiculous. Fun. I used free online graphics and added them to old bottles. (Some were thrifted, and some collected from over the year. This bottle is from a barbeque sauce made here in town.  It's perfect.)  

Anyway, a little simple syrup, food coloring, mod podge and glitter later, and we had all sorts of potions going on.  All that was missing was a couldron.