it's Camp Vintage time

It's that time of year again - time for the Camp Vintage antique show!

Camp Vintage debuted in September of 2013. It was also the first time I ever attended a vintage show so I wasn't quite sure what to expect but what I found blew my socks off...if I had been wearing socks...which I probably wasn't.

Love is not too strong a word for the emotion I felt when I entered my first Camp Vintage. I felt like I had come home. All the booths had something I wanted - an old window here, a rusted wagon there, a bunch of shutters, old luggage, a door from an old truck - big freakin' sigh of pure ecstasy!

Mr. T, however, wasn't as enthralled. All the words you and I love about shabby chic - chippy, peely, vintage, rusted, distressed - are words that mean only one thing to him. O.L.D.

But now he's watched me take several old, broken down pieces of furniture and, with a little paint and love, turn them into something beautiful for our home so for this year's Camp Vintage, he was actually looking forward to finding something fun to take home and junkify it.

There was so much going on at this spring's Camp Vintage, I actually forgot to take pictures. I think that's a good thing. I mean, I was having a great time and had several things that were under consideration to buy but it kind of sucks now when I have to put together a blog post.

So enjoy a couple of pictures of pretty flowers...cuz that's about all I've got from this year's show.

until I found exactly what I wanted to buy

I bought a couple of old cabinet doors with a really unique wicker design at the top that would be perfect for hanging earrings. I miss my jewelry organizing shutter back in Florida so it's time to make another one. I don't even have to do much painting with this, I love the minty green color and the 1940s styling. love.love.love.

Of course, it's been a couple of weeks since Camp Vintage and they're still sitting, untouched, in the living room but let's not think about that right now. Let's just keep looking at the pretty pictures and count the days till the next Camp Vintage in September.

fancy flea

Greetings from the Sunshine State!

Jasper's Cottage is all boxed up and in storage for a while as we settle in for some time in sunny Florida. Sunny and warm - just the way it's supposed to be.

Mr. French is busy working during the week but we've been trying to have new adventures on the weekends by visiting places we've never been before. Not too long ago we went to a fantastic vintage market called The Fancy Flea which is held a couple of times a year. I actually planned my arrival so that I wouldn't miss it this year and I'm so glad I did! 

Doesn't it look awesome? As you can see, it was full of all sorts of pretty treasures but the best part of the day was getting to meet up with a friend from the blogging world. I was so excited when she said she and her husband were driving up for the show. I don't know how we found each other in the crowd but it was great to meet in person and walk around together. She has great advice about how to navigate this DIY world that I'm so new at. Thanks, Victoria, for hanging out with us! I hope we can do it again sometime.

Being surrounded by so many beautiful things, it was hard to pick just a couple of treasures to tote home. Right away we saw a cute sign which was perfect for our French-inspired living room but after wandering around for a couple of hours, I hadn't found anything else that spoke to me until, there it was on a table in front of a booth I'd walked past at least 20-hundred times. How had I missed this diamond in the rough?

Isn't the sign cute? As for the shutter, I admit, it doesn't look like much now and I really didn't like the color but in my mind I instantly saw the perfect jewelry organizer for my dresser...once I got out the magic paintbrush and worked a little DIY magic, of course.

But that's a story for next time.

prairie style weddings

I kinda love weddings. No, that's not quite right. I'm pretty much obsessed with weddings especially ones with a rustic, vintage vibe.

In addition, I am in love with anything that Fifi O'Neill does. I love her style and her way of documenting the world. So it's with great excitement that I await the December 2nd release of her new book Prairie Style Weddings.

Until then I've got this great video that Fifi has put out along with some wonderful preview pictures on Pinterest to keep me going. I hope you enjoy it too!

beyond the garden gate

Have I ever told you about where I work? I don't think I have. 

If you follow me on Instagram you would know that I work in one of the most beautiful places on the face of the Earth - Tor House. I post way too many pictures of this enchanted spot but it's hard to stop because every corner brings inspiration and the views are fantabulous.

Normally you have to pay for a guided tour but follow along with me as we go beyond the garden gate for a little peek.

The courtyard is magical in any kind of weather. It's not always sunny at Tor House, frequently the fog rolls in and surrounds us.

Abalone shells line the pathways to the cottage. Usually they sit in an orderly fashion but this particular day they were all scattered but there were no animal tracks so I can only conclude that the ghosts were having a wild party before I got there. Oh, did I not mention that Tor House is haunted? I haven't run into anybody but the TV show Ghost Adventures thinks they did. I will say that I have heard  noises that defy explanation.

Told you it was a beautiful place!

The quail are frequent and very welcome visitors in our courtyard.

There are many benches where you can rest and reflect.

This is the far end of the courtyard, looking out to the sea. What lies beyond?

More beauty than you can even imagine. We've recently begun a project to bring back the natural wildflowers that would have been there in Jeffers' time.

Would you like to see inside the cottage? Let me go find the key (yes, this is the actual key that I have to use each time I go in there) and we can go inside the next time you visit.

See you soon!

happy anniversary to me

Today it's supposed to be sunny and 65 in Northern Virginia.

Since I am not in Northern Virginia right now, this is only important to me because today is the 29th anniversary of the day my husband and I started dating...and we were planning a trip back home to Virginia and a party to celebrate.

If you are wondering why you never received an invitation to this wonderful event, it's because it's not happening. We started planning, found the perfect venue, put down a deposit and then had to cancel...yet again. I've actually lost count of the number of parties I've canceled in the last four years. Ok, that's not exactly true. I remember each and every one.

But, today would have been the perfect day for the beautiful, rustic, elegant, country party that I had planned at Willow Creek Farm.

 

so to celebrate, I want to throw a little virtual party and share some of my plans.

That's beautiful Willow Creek Farm in Ashburn, Virginia. The restaurant did not exist when we lived in the area but we found it when we came for a visit a year ago and fell in love with the atmosphere. The restaurant consists of 4 vintage buildings and barns that were purchased in the 1980s, dismantled and stored for decades until this property became available and Clydes decided to open a restaurant.

 This is what you see as soon as you walk in the front door.

That gorgeous staircase leads to a set of private dining rooms upstairs. This is the room where the dinner would have taken place.

Oh my gosh, I knew this lace jacket was the perfect anniversary outfit (along with a crocheted skirt) the minute I saw it.

Underneath it all I was going to wear these perfect, perfect aqua boots. Love!

I love purple, it's my favorite color, so when I saw these glass jars I knew they would be perfect for centerpieces with just a few wildflowers. And I just fell in love with these burlap and lace silverware holders. I haunted Etsy for weeks to find unique items for every aspect of the celebration.

What's a party without cake? This suitcase cake is one of my favorite designs.

 We never got as far as menu planning but the restaurant is running a lobster special this month so I have a feeling that would have been on the menu. 

I had so many ideas, too many to show here but if you're at all curious go take a look at my Pinterest board to see what I had in mind.

It would have been an awesome party. 

The Bench, part 2

My lovely bench was all ready for color but what color would I choose? Originally I had wanted to paint it a soft pink and stencil something on top (yay, a future project) but then I saw a turquoise bench on a favorite blog and I knew how I was going to proceed. I adore the finished product!

The Bench - my first painting project

It has long been established that I'm not particularly good at crafting projects. I long to be an artist and CREATE but somewhere between my head and my fingers that desire gets lost or confused. The fact that I might suffer from a wee bit of laziness probably doesn't help...not that I'm admitting to anything. I really want to make things but I want to know that what I'm doing has a purpose or can really be used in some way. I don't want to use projects as busywork.

You may remember the big kitchen cabinet project of 2013 (here and here) and you may think that was my first painting project. You would be wrong. I did a lot of sanding on those cabinet doors but Mr. French, the perfectionist, did all the painting. He did a great job so I'm not complaining but I was kinda looking forward to painting and I've been itching to get my hands on a painting project ever since.

Enter THE BENCH.

Pretty, ain't it? It's been hanging around our yard for years now, left behind by the previous owners. I've always considered it a bit of an eyesore with all that moss growing on it and cracks here and there. But then I looked at it with new eyes and realized 1) it could be a thing of beauty and 2) it wouldn't be the end of the world if I screwed it up since we didn't pay anything for it. Yes folks, I had that much confidence in my ability.

I first had these thoughts about the bench back in August and I was so excited about the idea that I waited 7 whole months to get started. But one day it just hit me that I really, really wanted to paint something so I might as well go ahead and give this a try.

Step 1 - clean and sand  I really enjoy sanding and I got lots of experience with those kitchen cabinets so this part was fun...actually the whole project was fun but I really did enjoy seeing all the moss and dirt come off the bench so all that was left was rustic beauty.

Step 2 - primer  Since the wood was quite weathered, I figured it was a good idea to put a primer coat (leftover kitchen cabinet paint) on to see how the wood reacted to the paint. I also figured it was a good way for me to get some practice. I fell in love with the distressed look that I got with the first coat of white. At that point I actually wished I had started directly with the final color because I didn't want to accidently put too much paint on the finished product and cover up the distress. But I also knew that having some white show through would add texture and dimension in the end. Mr. French has never been a big fan of the distressed look (once when I bought furniture in a distressed style and it was delivered when only he was at home, he called the furniture store to complain about the dings and scratches and they had to explain that it was done on purpose which was a concept he never could wrap his head around) but he loved the way the bench was turning out at this point.

Step 3 - pick a color  I already had a basic color in mind but wow, there are a LOT of turquiose-y blues out there. I visited more than one paint store and had a bunch of color cards but in the end it came down to these choices.

At this point I had to wait a week to finish things up so this gives me a good stopping point for today. Tune in next time to see the bench in all its glory!