And The Winner Is......

Sandy Wisenbaker!!!! Press play to see our sweet Mary call out your name. Congratulations on winning a $50 gift certificate to The Vintage-Flea. Sandy participated in our "what makes a house a home" contest. See you soon Sandy.

Dream in Color

We love looking at artistic blogs with lots of creativity and pretty photos. One such example is the SFGIRLBYBAY blog. I particularly love it when she puts obscure photos along side her featured photographs. So I decided to try it using one of my favorite books, Carolyn Quartermaine Revealed. Enjoy the following pictures... on the left are pictures from Revealed and on the right, pictures of products currently in our store.

We're Anxiously Waiting for Friday Night....

Actually we're not as calm as the birds are in the above painting around the Flea right now. We have been busying ourselves with new merchandise and a new look! Join us Flea Chicks for a late night of sipping margaritas, shopping our new merchandise and viewing some amazing new art. We have several artists participating this year, including some from Art Club! These emerging artists will blow you away! Art Walk is THIS Friday Night from 5-8PM. We look forward to seeing you then.

The above was painted by Valerie Dumas.

What is going on with your chair?

I've been hearing this a lot lately at the store, "What is going on with your chair?" Well I am happy to report that it is coming along very nicely. Last week I made 10 yards of cording.. that was exciting. This week I started putting the padding back on.

See how nice and tight? Lots of hard work to get it this smooth!

Now I know why I had to take my time when taking off the fabric, being careful not to rip or tear the fabric. This is actually my pattern for the new fabric. OOOHH speaking of my new fabric. Isn't it delicious. Chocolate brown with beautiful coral flowers. Green velvet will be my side panels and cording. How divine!

And my seat base is finished. Next will be the sides. Stay tuned

Beautiful Bird Sculptures at The Flea

My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather. ~Loire Hartwould

Our fabulous New York finds are flying in. These bird sculptures were our favorite purchase because they are all hand crafted by artisans living in Honduras. You will love this collection priced from $14.

Welcome Curious Sofa Bloggers

"What have you done now?" is what Jenni said to me after I told her that I had written to one of our favorite shop owners.. Debbie Dusenberry. She has two blogs, you see, one for her store called The Curious Sofa and one called Shop Owner. For someone like me who has the whole collection of business books from Victoria (The Business of Bliss, A Shop of One's Own, and Turn Your Passion Into Profits), Deb's Shop Owner blog is what I love to read the most. It is informative, educational, and has wonderful business advice. So my idea was to try to locate other blogs on the web that post about their stores, their pictures, and their business savey. I asked Deb for a little help. (You can read my letter to her on her Shop Owner blog).

So Welcome Curious Sofa Bloggers.. no doubt you found us through the links to the right of her posting. We hope you check back with us often as we continually post new pictures of our products, displays, and marketing ideas. I will definitley be looking at the other links on her page as I am sure I can learn from all of you. Thank you for making this "Sisterhood" project successful.

-Valerie

New Products

"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun."

-Katherine Hepburn

They are flying out the door....

Entry #4 Kay Emerson (AKA Valerie's Mom!)

What makes my house a home?

Pictures of my grandchildren. My grandchildren's artwork
Pictures of my family and their family.

This is what makes my house a home for me.

Entry #3 Cindy Hopper

1. Welcome to my home. I love to see children climbing in the cherry tree and my dog, Trudy, sticking her head out of the upstairs window (do you see her?). Olivia is on the red chair probably dreaming of beautiful things (mini me). Notice the basket on the front door? It is from my favorite store (yes, The Vintage Flea).2. Like Jenni, I live in a cottage and it is sometimes crowded. I have four kids, one husband, two cats, a dog and a chinchilla. A lot of souls in one place. Sometimes a girl just need a space of her own. This is my studio. Here I get to have complete control, or at least the others let me believe I do. This is the design base for my half of the company, Tallulahs. I like to think that this is "where the magic happens". 3. If you turn around in the studio, you'll notice the dining room. I bought this house from my girlfriend, Barbara (the other half of Tallulahs). She painted this room. It's perfect. Here is where the memories of sitting around the table with my family and talking over meals are created. My kids complain when they have to set the table in the dining room (the kitchen counter is so much faster!), but I think they really enjoy the time together. Notice the red chandelier? My husband, Doug, moved it from our old house as a gift to me for Valentine's Day. Now it makes me smile for more than just the happy color. Also notice the big table. I scored it at the Pottery Barn outlet and love the size. It seats up to twelve (though not in our dining room!). It will be our lake house table someday so the grandkids can come and enjoy talking over a meal. Anyone have a lake house to sell? Or a mountain cabin?Our dining room is also our library, you can't see the shelves off to the side. Lots of beautiful (and some not so beautiful) books get stored here. And sometimes read, too. 4. Next is my bathtub photo. This is where I meditate, dream, pray. Bathing is my every day indulgence (sometimes twice a day indulgence). The trees outside of my window bring a sense of peace and serenity, which I need with my busy life. Notice the inspiration board on the left? It is another gift from Doug. Since this is where I dream and pray, this is the perfect spot for it. The little pink lamp was in my childhood home. Blueprint was my favorite magazine. Did you know it has been discontinued? I still get a lump in my throat about that. 5. I had to throw in one more photo. My family (and 3 of our 4 pets) gathered on the deck after dinner. I just doesn't get much better than this.Thanks Jenni and Valerie for pushing me to see the beauty that is already there.Cindy Hopper

Entry #2 Sandy Wisenbaker

What makes my house a home can be boiled down to a word: collections. Eachof us has our own collections that remind of us of something or that we justplain enjoy to look at/use. For us it is the books collected over the yearsthat now sit on shelves made by my husband, the ever growing collection ofphotos overtaking the wall like kudzu, the music collection that bringsdancing and laughter, the collection of matchbox and "Cars" cars hiddenunder the bed a little boy, an aspiring artist's growing collection ofartwork and projects, and my own obsession with pitchers and platters(accumulated from family, flea markets and fun shopping outings with my mom)that are functional when needed and displayed throughout when not. Whethercollecting "stuff" or collecting laundry on any given day - the collectionswithin our house are what make it our home.Sandy Wisenbaker

Let us "Hook You Up"

Okay, the pun was bad, but the hooks are great! We have a HUGE selection to choose from. Just look at this wall!