Rustic Vintage Furniture and Decor for my First Barn Wedding!

I blogged several months ago about meeting Kelli and Shawn at a trunk show I did and they started a wedding and event planning business in Birmingham called Southern Soiree.  Here is a vintage chair of mine they used for a wedding photo shoot!

They referred one of their brides-to-be to me who is planning a fall wedding at Swan Lake Barn in Cahaba Heights and I am so excited to be working with her on providing vintage furniture and decor for the barn wedding!  She has some great ideas and has a wedding board on Pinterest which is such a good way to organize your ideas.  She's wanting to use pieces like farm tables, vintage hutches, old church pews, shutters and more.

It is also really going to help me to start building up inventory to offer vintage and rustic furniture and decor for vintage, rustic, shabby chic weddings and events in the Birmingham area.  I hope to eventually be able to offer a wide variety of items such as vintage furniture, crystal chandeliers, old shabby chic picture frames and mirrors, wishing trees, cake and cupcake stands and pedestals, mason jars, mixes of vintage chairs, burlap chair sashes, table runners and tablecloths, pew cones, signs, old doors.....!

Here is some inspiration from Pinterest and Etsy:

Burlap cones by Oonefineday.blogspot.com

Turquoise French Chandelier Tanks, Flour Sack Tea Towels and Canvas Totes

I am putting the turquoise french chandelier tanks, flour sack tea towels and canvas bags back on Etsy for the summer and I will also be putting these in my space at Serendipity this weekend!

Robyn's Piece, The Revival of Vintage, Briarwood Flea Market and More!

I recently painted a china cabinet/pie safe piece for Robyn and she did a sweet post on it today, here is a link...http://beingrobynlane.blogspot.com/2012/04/re-purposed.html

Here are a few pics I have at Serendipity.

I have been so busy lately I have not been blogging regularly but here is where you can find The French Flea:

Greystone Antiques (painted and distressed furniture and home decor)
Serendipity at Brook Highland Plaza (picture frames and gift items)
Spoonful of Sugar at PharmSouth Pharmacy at Mt. Laurel (picture frames and crosses)
For Home in Homewood (picture frames and crosses)
The Blu Building in Alabaster (picture frames, crosses, wall hangings)
Etsy

I have had such a hard time finding furniture lately so my booth at Greystone looks pretty sparse but maybe some good estate sales will start popping up!


I had an email through Etsy yesterday asking me about being a vendor at an event in Atlanta that sounds wonderful. Here is some info from the website, therevivalofvintage.com:

Smack dab in the center of Atlanta sits The Goat Farm Arts Center- Home to The Revival’s Vintage "Pop-Up" Marketplace. The market hosts national, regional, and local vintage sellers, designers, and experts congregating together to bring curated vintage wares and “do-it-yourself” skills to worshippers of all that is vintage.


Known for its artist studios and creative minds, the Goat Farm is the perfect location for the revival of vintage - it resides in a mid-Victorian industrial site with 12 acres of grounds and 12 turn of the century brick structures. Its non-traditional rustic auditoriums will hold 120+ vintage vendors, expert-taught seminars, live music, and vintage-inspired food that will make you say “Hallelujah!.”

I also got an email today on the 4th Annual Briarwood Flea Market. I did it last year and there was a great crowd so if you are interested in attending or being a vendor, here is some info:

2012 FLEA MARKET DETAILS

members and non-members are invited to shop the Flea Market
where Sellers and Shoppers converge for two great days
of fun and bargain hunting!

Friday, July 27 (Noon – 6 p.m.)
and
Saturday, july 28 (8 am – 2 p.m.).

(Cash only, please. No bills over $50.)

A PERCENTAGE OF THE PROCEEDS WILL BENEFIT
ASPIRE MENTORING MINISTRIES.


The indoor/outdoor market, with over 80 vendors, will take
place in the church gym, lunchroom and surrounding outside areas.
Briarwood PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH is located at I-459 and Acton Rd.,
up the hill from McDonald’s. Once on campus, signs will direct you
to the Flea Market.

Swing Beds, Customer Pieces and Cupcake Stands

I just finished painting a swing bed for Jill and she is supposed to send me a pic once they get it set up. I wasn't exactly sure what a swing bed was when she asked me to do it but I loved it. I asked Jill where she got the design for it and she told me she just drew it out and her husband built it! She said it's going in a glassed in room overlooking their pasture with horses! Here are some Pinterest pics of swing beds.









Here is a chest I painted and distressed for Ashley to go with her nightstands. The color is Behr's Classic Taupe!



I still have trouble responding to some comments on my blog and I don't think this one went through so Bri, I'm sorry I do not know where you could get this cupcake stand from a post on Rustic Weddings but if I can find out, I'll let you know!

New in Etsy Shop, Springdazzle and Pinterest Buzz!

Here are some cute new picture frames I just added to my Etsy shop! (I also have some of these at Serendipity.) My sister took the pics with her iPad and I couldn't believe how good they came out!












Just a reminder that the Springdazzle Craft and Gift Market will be tomorrow, March 30 and Saturday, March 31 from 10:00 - 7:00 both days in the Brook Highland Plaza shopping center across from HomeGoods. I'm not able to do the show but hope to get by there, I know there will be lots of great vendors.

There has been a lot of buzz lately in the news about Pinterest. There was a segment on I think CBS morning news this morning about how women around the country are starting to have "Pinterest Parties", replacing book club parties where the group will share craft ideas they've found on the site and serve food and drinks using recipes found on Pinterest! I think it's a great idea.

They also talked about how Pinterest is also helping small businesses get more customers. Pinning your products on Pinterest could help attract people from all around the world to your site!

Spoonful of Sugar at Mt. Laurel!

I just looked at Angie's "Spoonful of Sugar" Facebook page and it looks like she is getting lots of great new merchandise! (Isn't her photography great?)

She also posted about being interviewed on ABC 33/40:

I will be setting up a small display of our gift shop merchandise at the ABC 33/40 studio for our upcoming interview where we will talk about the new pharmacy and gift shop.. I'll update on the day and time to watch so you can see if you can see your great merchandise displayed!

Here is the link to her facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spoonful-of-SugarPharmSouthMt-Laurel/240612659349704

Customer Pieces

Amber recently brought me 3 pieces of furniture to paint - a black lacquer headboard, an antique green armoire and natural wood chest of drawers. I painted them all an antique white and distressed for her and now they look so cute together in a bedroom!

Etsy's Success Symposium

When you join Etsy as a seller, you become a part of this great big crafters community. Etsy offers a lot of educational opportunities - you can sign up and attend "virtual classrooms" on a topic that interests you and a teacher will lead the classroom and you can type in a question and it will be answered in the class. I just saw on Etsy that they are having a Success Symposium on Friday and offering lots of workshops on different topics and I have signed up for these two:

Get Pinned: Build your Community and Brand with Pinterest with Jasmine Trabelsi

Get Out There: Using Craft and Wholesale Shows to Support Your Small Business

If you are a crafter and have been wanting to try to sell your product, you should consider joining Etsy as a seller - it is very easy to get started and even though it can be hard to get your product noticed with so many sellers, Etsy offers so much help with this and you can link your Etsy up with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more!

Serendipity and Sale in Booth at Greystone

I got moved into Serendipity today! I have a tiered table with lots of cute picture frames, burlap crosses, initial boards and more! I still haven't gotten my new digital camera so couldn't take pics but will soon! There are lots of great vendors in the shop so hope you can stop by soon. Serendipity is located in Brook Highland Plaza next to Big Lots.

I also have a big sale in my booth at Greystone Antiques! Here are some items for sale - console table, cupboard, distressed door, vintage chair, end table and cabinet.

Customer Pieces, The Growth of Pinterest!

Ashley and her family will be moving in a new house soon and I have been painting some pieces of her furniture for her. She had emailed me a pic of a table she liked from Ballard Designs and color and I matched the color as closely as I could and they are really happy with it and I'm so glad!

If you have any furniture you would like painted and distressed, just email me a picture and I can give you a price!

I saw on the news this morning that Pinterest is growing faster than Facebook and Twitter! I still haven't had time to set up my own boards and start pinning but I have gotten lots of inspiration from looking!