In the middle

Let me be the first to tell you, in case there was any doubt: opening and decorating a shoppe is much more fun than closing down two studios and moving everything.  That has been our life for the past few weeks.  We have everything out now and we are in full on party mode for baby hughes' 5th birthday.  The boy wanted rockets, so we are giving him rockets.  Not live ones, mind you.  That would be a disaster.  In the midst of all this, the Mr. has been super busy (which we are grateful!) He went to Chicago last week to chalk a booth at the BlogHer conference.  

We are giving ourselves at least until after the birthday party to really tackle what we need to get the house ready and on the market.  We are torn on putting it on the market this fall/ winter or waiting until spring.  I think the earlier, the better, but then I also don't want the house on the market over the holidays.  So, we will see.  I am just ready to start packing!  But, I also know that this move is much bigger than the ones I made in my single days.

The middle stages are always the hardest for me.  There is a momentum of an end and an excitement of new beginnings, but the middle is just kind of ehhh when it is longer than a few days or weeks or doesn't even have a determined amount of time.  I know it will all happen in time and to enjoy all the parts.  But, patience isn't one of my strong points.

It looks like there is a good chance that we will be moving to the Tri-Cities area if we stay in Tennessee, which we would like.  We still want to make another in depth trip there this fall and really look this time to see if it fits the bill.

Saying goodbye to our little space on Hardin Alley was hard, even as much as I like change.  I loved having my little shoppe there.  And, I know that it most likely won't be the only shoppe I have over the years, I will still have great memories of my time there.  And, I am excited to come back to visit.  Our friend that we met through the shoppe when she came to buy furniture for her sweet daughter is opening up a bakery there in the next little bit.  If you are local, you need to check out Delectable Art Bakery in Spring Hill.  I was so happy that someone I know is going to love the space as much as I did.

Okay, I think it is time to start cutting out several hundred stars!  I love party time!

Pop Up Sale this Weekend!

So since we like to do things on a whim, we decided to pull out a bunch of stuff from storage and have a Pop up Sale on the shoppe lawn this weekend. There is a LOT of stuff!  

Come on out and see us this weekend!

Friday and Saturday 10-dark

Sunday 1- dark.

We really aren't early birds, so don't be one either *wink*

and, all you daddies out there, have a wonderful Father's Day!

Last Weekend at the Shoppe

hello!  Well, last weekend at the shoppe was the last weekend at the shoppe.  I explained it all here last week.  It was wonderful!  Almost all our favorite people came in, some with treats in tow *wink*  And, while I know that we are going to have sales on the lawn when it is nice and I know the friends I made there are for life, I was still a little sad yesterday.  I went in to paint a few client pieces and decided to take down the open/closed sign on the door permanently along with the hours decal.  And I was sad.  This little shoppe has been a dream for so long and while I am happy with the direction it has taken me, change is still hard sometimes and it is almost always bittersweet.  Over the next week or so, I hope to give the place a through cleaning...  you imagine it gets a bit dusty in there *smiles* ...and get the front spic and span so we can make a proper studio for the Mr's work.  We have worked in the same space before, so I am hoping that we can still get along *double, triple wink*

But, there are plusses to to not being committed to a shoppe that you run yourself.  Like, going to the  farmer's market on Saturday.  And, signing the little man up for soccer and us both being there for the games.  And, the chance to travel over the weekends with the Mr. And, most importantly, having a bit more downtime/ creative time.  Oh, I am so greedy with time!  If I could find a way to cut out sleep and the need for it, I would totally do it.  There are always so many things I can think of doing!  But then again, I do like a little time for an impromptu nap.  Plus, I still have my booth that I can fluff and hunt for.  Plus, who is to say that I won't open a shoppe in the future, when the boy decides that  I am not cool or fun to be around anymore.

So, another thank you for all the near and far support.  We truly appreciate you!  

Now, I am off to see if the bird that is trying to get in the house through the laundry room dryer vent has succeeded.  I think I have decided I dislike birds a great deal.

bye for now~

Things Are A'Changing Around Here

Hello all!  So, I have been sitting on some news about some thoughts about changing our dynamic around here.  I didn't really know how to put it since I was feeling a little sad at first.  So, I will just blurt it out in true Michelle fashion.  We are closing the shoppe.  This is the last weekend that the shoppe will be open on a regular basis.

Now, that being said, I feel that I should offer somewhat of an explanation.   When we opened the shoppe, I started taking on custom painting jobs since I had more room to spread out and paint.  I would work on them alongside the pieces I was working on to sell in the shoppe and my booth.  The custom painting side of my little business has grown and grown to the point that I am now squeezing in my pieces to paint alongside the custom pieces.  There is only so much time and we have cut into our open hours over the past few months to give me more time to get the pieces finished.  Besides the painting, I also have wholesale clients that I have to create products.  Not to mention my #1 employee has been pretty busy with his own work!

So, the decision was made for me to go to full time painting.  I will still keep my booth at Winchester Antiques and there is always my etsy shoppe that will be restocked more frequently since I won't have to watch like a hawk to make sure items are taken down if they sell in the shoppe.  We are planning some pop up type shoppe sales closer to Spring when it is prettier.  I will announce those here and on Facebook. I will still paint at the shoppe and we are hoping to carve a little studio for the Mr there too.

This is bittersweet for me.  I am thrilled to still be doing what I love.  But, I loved having the shoppe open.  We have made so many friends through the shoppe... we see some of them more than we see some of our family.  I am excited to have a little more leeway in our schedule.  Some weekends we have missed out on doing things since we were open. Even though change is hard, I do like it.  I like just enough change so things aren't boring, but right before chaos ensues *wink*

I am so blessed to have been giving this opportunity and to still be doing something I love, albeit in a different facet.  Thank ALL of you guys that have supported me in my little dream.  I can't say that enough... without your support and kind words of encouragement, this wouldn't have happened.   This isn't goodbye... like I said I will still be there, so pop by and say hi.

bye for now~

Fresh Year, Fresh Ideas

Happy New Year!  I normally try to think of my new word for my new year on my birthday since it is less than a month before the new year.  This year I delayed it because I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to define this next year.  This word Fresh kept coming back to me.  Everyone gets stuck in a rut, and I was feeling a little stale.  I have several notepads full of ideas for Vintage Junky... not just the shoppe, but my brand as a whole.  But, I was finding that after all was said and done that I wasn't moving forward on any plans.  The house was messy.  I wasn't able to shop for the shoppe as much or updating my etsy shoppe and my local booth  as much as I would have liked.  I looked at all of these things that I wanted to accomplish and I realized what they had in common: time.  Time.  That little thing that there is just never enough.  I wasn't able to create my new designs or take on as many clients because of time.  

So, after much discussion with my Mr. and some friends with shoppes and some friends with my best interests at heart, I have decided that the best way to keep my ideas, designs, and shoppe Fresh is to open every other weekend each month... the 2nd and 4th to be exact.  I am always available by appointment if I am in town and I have opened specifically for people traveling from out of town.  The Mr. has been traveling more and more with his business and the baby (big boy now *wink*) would like to tag along with him when he goes to particularly interesting places.  This adjusted schedule will free me up to travel with him when I wish and also to go on treasure hunts more often.  Plus, I will be able to get my client's pieces done faster as I only paint Monday- Thursday.

Along with my word Fresh, I have also committed to myself to Make something everyday as my Project 365 on Instagram (my handle is thevintagejunky)  Even if it is just a mess or a batch of cookies, making things gives me time to create and come up with Fresh ideas (there's my word again!) I plan to take a photo of whatever I Make and post it to Instagram each day.

Finally, I have been sort of a lazy blogger.  I haven't been able to visit my favorites as much as I would like.  I am hoping to change that too and blog and visit a little more often.  I am filled with good intentions and some big plans for this year.  Things that I am quite excited about!  I am working to make 2013 the best yet!

bye for now~

Christmas at the Shoppe

 

Hello there!  We did some decorating at the shoppe this week to get ready for the holidays.  We obviously like the vintage and handmade, so that is what we used...

like vintage skates on the front door....

and a whole bunch of vintage inside!

We picked up these vintage pants stretchers ages ago because we liked them.  We had no idea how we were going to use them.  The Mr played around with them the other day and made a HUGE snowflake with a banner.

I am having a hard time saying goodbye to these sweet little fawns

I have the fence awnings on 2 windows, so on a whim I decided to wrap a frame in fairy lights for a little bit of whimsy.

The Santa masks were handpainted by the Mr and were inspired by one that his dad had when he was little.

I knew I had more ornaments than branches so I attempted to chalk a tree... then I called in the pro and then I simply placed carpet tacks to display some of our favorites.

I adore the colors and shape of vintage ornaments!  They really don't make them like they used to...

This year we decided to create our own recycled gift wrap line.  The Mr hand lettered some designs and hand stamped them on some paper.

He also carved some blocks to create a few festive cards.

We got our aluminum tree early last spring and the little man and I were super excited to put it up finally!

It is hard to choose favorites, but this sweet little snowman is perfect!

I always seem to have extra tissue paper decorations around from various things, so I used some with paper snowflakes, of course.

We used a vintage quilt with a pleasing patchwork design as a tree skirt.  The Mr. designed a little Vintage Junky christmas logo for my bags and gift boxes and snowflake bags.

and they look pretty sweet all nestled inside.

So, now that the shoppe is all ready for Christmas it is time to go get the house ready this week.  

bye for now~

Happy Anniversary Little Shoppe

This weekend marks the 1st anniversary of our little shoppe!  Last year we decided to open our own little place where we live and it has been an adventure.  Anyone who tells you that it is easy to open your own business is either lying or has a large bank account to help it along.  Since I tend to not lie or have a large bank account, I will tell you it has been hard work.  But, it is work I enjoy and I have a very patient and wonderful little family.  We have made many friends through our shoppe being open... people we may not have met without this wonderful thing of *vintage love* binding us together.  I have been asked several times if I would do it again.  If I would open my own little shoppe... and the answer is yes.  Yes, I would.  Even knowing all the work and running around it would entail.  I honestly worked harder for myself than any job I have ever worked... and I am a hard worker.... I get that from my momma.  I think that opening your own shoppe not only requires physical work hours, but mental work hours.  Sometimes there are so many ideas that I want to work on that I never get anything accomplished.  It is hard to focus on the big picture when you are wanting to focus on something small.

And, I think that opening your own shoppe/restaurant/boutique/salon takes a bit of bravery.  I am not saying that to say... oh I am SO brave.  But, when you put yourself out there (like in blogland) you put yourself up on display and are open to criticism amongst other things.

We wouldn't be here today if we didn't have such great support from our customers.  If you have ever been to our store, you know how very tiny it is.  You get to know people. And, I think that is worth all the hard work over the past year.  Having my own little shoppe has been a dream of mine for a very long time... I can't even remember how long.  I know that it is other people's dreams too since I get emails and comments asking shoppekeeping questions. I do try very hard to answer those questions, but I am sure I have missed some of you from time to time.  So, if you leave a comment on this post  I will try my very hardest to put together a post answering questions next week.

AND, most importantly, to say thank you to all of you near and far that have supported my little dream from day one or by a comment you left yesterday, here is a coupon for you!

Here is the link to print it out if you are local.  And, since many of you are far, far away, I also added my first ever coupon code to my etsy shoppe: HAPPYANN1 The sale is good until Sunday evening.

thank you, thank you, thank you!  you are simply the bestest!

bye for now~

Frame Hoarder

hello there!  I am blogging sitting in my living room as usual.  Right now, there are 2 sofas in here.  And I am feeling like a hoarder.  In my defense, one of the sofas is on Craigslist waiting for its new home.  My older sofa has a lovely new slipcover that I would *love* to share, but my home is a bit of a disaster as we are reworking some rooms.  So it will have to wait.  But, soon, I promise.  On top of hoarding sofas (and ironstone, and mercury glass,vintage trophies....) I also have a problem with antique frames.  I am a frame hoarder.  Doesn't that sound repulsive?!?  I am though.  I always pick them up... they are so lovely in their chippiness and odd sizes.  Sometimes I will paint them.  Sometimes I won't.  Every now and then I will weed some out and let some go.  But it is always so hard.  I always remember the ones that I really should have kept.  I will be taking some to the shoppe this weekend after I decide which ones make the cut.  And, when one goes home with someone else, I will feel a little stab of pain...  almost like the pain of letting go a piece of English ironstone....

For all of you who collect and then sell some, what is the hardest thing to let go?

Okay, I have a full house in the workshop, so I am off to work... it isn't going to bibbity bobbity boo itself done *wink*

bye for now~

Around the Shoppe

Hello all!  Today was one of those great rainy days!  I was excited to be back at the shoppe after a little break from it last weekend to restock and *roadtrip*  We picked up some great furniture over the past week and if you follow along on Facebook you have probably seen some of the finished pieces already. 

We created quite a few lamps and shades for the barn show and we have some more waiting in the wings.  I love lighting!  I love interesting lamps and I really love making shades as well.

This pretty buffet is the first thing that sold today... it will be in a nursery!  I always love to know that my furniture pieces will be in a baby's room!

I have a thing for bachelor's chests and I always have to pick them up when I see them.  I painted the hidden drawers the contrasting color on the insets and knobs.  I love the spindle-y legs of this one too.

As always, it isn't all work at the shoppe.  Today, the Mr picked up the guitar and then baby hughes picked up some clothespins and turned them into drumsticks for a little jam session.  I think the lunch pail drums drowned out the acoustic... imagine that *wink* We also managed to fit in some games of *Go Fish* It is relatively new around here and quite entertaining to play... I love games!

Tomorrow, our neighbors, the Spring Hill Antique Mall, are hosting an autumn vintage market with handmade, vintage, food, and music from 9-6, so I am looking forward to sneaking over there at some point.  If you are in the area, you should stop by... the Spring one had a great turnout even though it was f r e e z i n g for April.

I am still adding to the shoppe over the next week... we have finished some other handmade items and repurposed *stuff* that we just need to put the finishing touches on.

Have a lovely *Fall* weekend!  Go crunch some leaves!  We are enjoying it!

bye for now~

Excited!

Hello all!  So, I have had a little secret for the past couple of months.  I was contacted by Romantic Homes magazine to do a little feature on the shoppe for the October issue.  And, the Mr. brought me my copy this weekend and I was so excited see Mr. Hughes photos and my little interview in the magazine.  To some people that get published all the time this may not be a big deal, but it is to me!

So, thanks for all of your kind words and encouragement throughout this journey!

bye for now~

Around the Shoppe

Hello and Happy Friday to you!  I have been busy at the shoppe this week... painting as always and moving the whole shoppe.  If you have been here in person, you know that my little shoppe is on the petite side.  It isn't always easy to make it look really different since there is only so many ways to arrange everything.  I did snap some photos on a grey day yesterday to show you some of our newest *stuff*

I have a stack at home that reaches the ceiling so it shouldn't surprise you that I have one here at our home away from home.  

This is one of my favorite, favorite, favorite pieces ever!!  I call it a big girl piece... that is what I call all Empire pieces.  It is like when you get your big girl job and don't have a roommate anymore... this is the type of piece you buy.  Or I would buy *wink*

We normally have a few cameras around the shoppe.  There is something that draws me to them even though we are pretty much completely digital.  They are just cool.... they just don't design things the way they used to.

It is always nice to have a man with nice penmanship around since I don't have it!

I decided to not hoard all the ironstone pitchers in the world... it was hard, but I make sacrifices!

I love this little sign Mr. Hughes made for the new jewelry line we have at the shoppe.  I normally am out a few afternoons during the week and on Sundays with the hyena, so I always love to come and find that he has done something like this.

It has been grey and rainy here for days (perfect reading weather!) Not complaining at all though... I love a good rainy day.  It is just not great for us amateur photographers that don't know anything about settings and just have not taking the leap to learn.

Hope you have a lovely weekend!  

bye for now~