French Beauty........

I have to show you all the wonderful cupboard that I got from my sweet friend Linda Luc, who paints beautiful furniture and sells to dealers here in Georgia.  I took this piece to Lakewood 400 last month and was so surprised no one wanted it.......So you know what that means......I get to keep it.  So after asking my husband many times to help me move it and then fighting with him about three times about how he doesn't want any more furniture in the house.....(What does he know, go back to sleep)  I finally got it in the house.  I painted the back of it the same color as the wall so all the ironstone would show off.  I LoVe It.....Now all the butter pats have a new home and they are so happy, all protected from kitty's knocking them off......Thank you Linda for this French beauty..........

On another note,  I have been corresponding with Sharon where is she now Wilson of Sweet Repose for a few months now and she is just a hoot.  Well today in the mail I got a wonderful old scale from her that I had seen in one of her post on her blog.  And guess what else the sweet little thing sent me some of the most wonderful glycerin soap and candles she makes.  Oh they are wonderful.  You all need to go to her blog and get some of this stuff they smell wonderful.......And she hand makes them right here in the USA.  Of course, if you are traveling through Muscatine IOWA, go by and see her.  I tell you you will love this girl and her partner Lorie are a riot.   I have gone so far as to MapQuest the miles to see how far it is, I have got to meet them in person......Lulu has also purchased some stuffed birds from her that she did herself.......She is too funny.  Please check them out at Sweet Repose.........You'll be laughing and buying stuff trust me....Lauri

Sewing, sewing, sewing..........

  Yep, that's about all I have been doing for the past week.  I thought I would show you some pictures of what I do for my real job.  These are some drapes for one of my clients dining room.  Love this fabric, it is called Confection, and it is a linen that just hangs beautifully.  I have been working on  everything for about a month, but like usual the time just snuck up on me and when she called Tuesday and said, "Is anything going to be ready for my sons graduation party Saturday?"  You could have knocked me over with a feather....I guess, since I don't have a child in school......guess what, school is out today and graduation parties are happening.  So I got busy, really busy.  So here are some pillows I did for her game room, she has a really cool church pew and I did some bolsters out of a Ralph Lauren plaid, her last name starts with M so monogram pillows all around, they are done out of a wonderful caramel colored burlap with the plaid welting.  Hope you enjoy the pictures, now back to goofing off and junkin......Lauri

Flower Power

Isn't this amazing?  I wish you could smell it!

I can look at this from my bed every morning!  It also smells incredible!

I get two-for-one beauties!

I knew I had Texas in my heart all this time!

This clematis (species unknown) grows in a large pot right outside my sunroom.  It makes me happy.

I can't wait until the wildflower & chicken gardens start to bloom!  Stay tuned...xo  lulu

God Bless Texas.......

   Hey ya'll, we are so pumped about what a great show we had this weekend at Lakewood 400, everyone was so nice and we had so much fun.  Thank you to everyone who came by our booth to say hello, or buy something.  Especially the girl who walked in and said,"This looks just like Texas!" We were so proud!!!!!  And, I told Lulu if I made a $1000 this weekend I was flying to Texas to LIVE with Theresa Cano.......and she said, I've already got the tickets!!!!!! Won't Theresa be surprised?!!!!  Here are some more pictures of our space.....Cheers, Lauri

 

CHIPPYS DO IT AT LAKEWOOD 400

Nobody does it better...setting up outside at Lakewood 400 Antique Show.  I am not just bragging.  Well I am but we act like we're in our own little world store.  We're also too cheap to pay for a tiny space inside at 2x the price.  Of course we have to dodge 'weather events'. We thought we were SO SMARTIthis month because we bought a tent!  We decorated and displayed until we were delirious.  AND THEN THE $^*% hit the small fan.  We shoot first and ask questions later as a rule.  Apparently the Fire Marshall didn't appreciate our artistic interpretations or sense of style because he blew the lid off our roof.  AND I HAVE AN 'IN' WITH FIREMEN if you recall our blog about Columbus, TX firemen (Chief Walla).  We had to take the cover off of our frame. Bummer.  It started to rain a bit right after that, natch.  We were 'allowed' to put the cover back on since it was raining AND NOT A FIRE HAZARD!  Ya think?  

 

 

 

Any way...we somehow managed.  See this china cabinet...Lauri scored a good buy on this.  She doesn't want it to sell.  I can completely understand.  I didn't bring that 8' mirror for that same reason.  Since we are masochists we will TOTALLY redo the booth tomorrow and Sunday.  Please pray for sunshine :)

So I leave you with this cubby of cuties...as if we wouldn't have a Baby somewhere!

We'd also like to say 'hey' to Sandra from Tennessee.  We met her today.  She was on our blog prior to coming to Atlanta!   We were tickled...and so was she.  What a sweetheart!

Happy Treasure Hunting !

oxox lulu & Lauri

JACKPOT, FRENCH STYLE

Today I feel as if I won the lottery.  Ladies & Gentlemen, hold onto your sunbonnets because I am introducing you to CHIPPY FAVORITE #11...French General.  Kaari Meng is an incredible artisan, hunter-gatherer & vintage connoisseur!  I am very excited because I didn't think she was in business any more.  You see, she had an adorable storefront in lower Manhattan on Crosby Street.  She carried beautiful and unusual vintage notions, baubles, bangles & beads...mostly french but of course.  The last time I was in her store was in August 2001.  Imagine my surprise when I found her web site yesterday!

I have a large bulletin board I refer to as my Inspiration Board (It is in my nerve center aka The Tasteful Nook). On this board, among other things, is a French General card which reads "Thanks Andrea, Good Luck, Kaari".  The card has a tiny button of a little girl's face glued to the corner. I was in her store looking for sparkly things to make tiaras for my best friend's wedding.  Being Maid of Honor, it was my duty to have all kinds of props and whatnot to amuse all the maids. I bought so many beautiful things from her.  The best bit (I still have a little length of it) is this french metallic-y silvered fringe.  It's really plastic but it looks like metal.  It reminds me of silver eyelashes from some fairy queen. 

So...to all you lucky folks in Hollywood, California who can physically go to Kaari's store I say browse and browse and spread the word.  As for our friends out in Blogistan check her out!  You'll see why this is CHIPPY FAV#11

oxxo

lulu

My Happy Mothers Day!

  

Just wanted to share My Happy Mothers Day with all of you.....About this time of year, every year my husband usually says, lets go to the beach and we always ask our son, Adam to go with us.  And he never does.  But, this year was different.  I almost peed in my pants when he called last week and said, Mom, I'm good to go to the beach if you and Dad still want to go.....I couldn't get my stuff packed fast enough thinking of spending four days with my pride and joy that I simply adore.  I know it sounds crazy but, he has not been on a trip with us since he was a senior in high school, and I know he shouldn't want to go with us.  But, boy was I glad when he accepted.  My husband and I were on cloud nine.   Yes, 22 years ago, God blessed me with this wonderful son that is simply the best thing that ever happened to me.....He has never given us one moments trouble and is just a joy to be around......So with a very thankful heart here is wishing anyone reading this the best of Mothers Days, just like mine! Lauri

CHIPPY FAV #10...The Seed Box

While in Warrenton for the shows last month we had the good fortune to meet Meloney & Brian of The Seed Box.  We first heard about them through sweet Cindy Haire from The Plum Tree .  Unfortunately they no longer have a store, but continue to sell at the shows.  I became extremely excited (if you can imagine that) when I walked into their stall at the Scott Show in Atlanta yesterday!  It is an understatement to say "we get them".  I wanted to buy everything they had for sale...they wanted me to buy it all too.

I did buy an 8' tall mirror encased in a wooden WHITE CHIPPY PAINTED FRAME, but it was all ready in the truck when I took these shots.  Look for it if I get the nerve to put my house photos on the blog.  (No Lauri, you cannot have the mirror!)

Meloney and Brian....Chippys love you and salute you as our one of our FAVORITES!

xo lulu

House wreck?

Well......at the request of my hero....Theresa Cano, I am posting some pictures of my house......Yes, she could probably ask me to stick my head in the fire, or jump off a cliff and I'd do that too.  (Or dress up like a school girl and dance in cowboy boots.....Oh, I already did that.....)  Anyway I am responsible for what you are about to see and it is very eclectic.....So let me know what you think. 

   

This photo of sideways eyes baby is for Lulu.  And of course I couldn't leave out the man room (hate it because it's not white) but, being married to that hunter gatherer type I got to have one.  Well, these are for you Texas T.  Hope you enjoy them.  Lauri

Paranormal happenings and beauty

 

Before I begin I must tell you I contributed to the delinquency of a chippy...I bought Lauri 2 more butter pats last week!  They are fab...one has the "Meakin" stamp and the other one has "Johnson Bros". 

I put both pats in my car so I could give them to her on our next outing.   So there we were on Monday tooling around.  I go to give her the pats and ONLY ONE WAS THERE.  I then remember my Darling Husband drove my car over the weekend TO THE DUMP.  Why he would take it upon himself to relieve my cup holder of one butter pat I will never know.  All I can say is I have a good idea the "Meakin" pat is where the sun ain't shining.  But I digress...

One item not lost in lulu's-bermuda triangle-of-hell is this fabulous bird cage.  We scored a big one for the Chippys Team when I found it on sale!!!!! 

It's so interesting to see how something so plain and ordinary can made into something so...darling!

Cheep Cheep!

xoxo lulu

Ode to the Butter Pat......

I know Lulu is sick of hearing about this, but just bare with me one last time. (yeah, right.)   I can use this excuse,  that a lot of folks ask me, "What do you do with them," But I don't really have an answer to that because, I just LOVE them.....I don't know why.....I will give credit to Ms. Theresa Smith, decorating guru, for the idea.  Because the first time I saw all those butter pats in her cupboard.  I all most died.  I though, I want those.  And that was no easy task my dear, you just don't call up the butter pat man an say send over a 100 or so butter pats.  Oh no, you search and you search and then you run into the colored ones, no offense but they must be white.  So I started this process and I am now proud to say with my latest delivery from Miss Rubbish, I have 102 of those little darlings.  And it only took me..........well never mind.  Some of them I bought, some people gave to me, and some I found in peoples houses and begged for them.  No, I have no scruples. So here are some pictures of what I did with them.  Here is one that Lulu gave me, when we first met.  So I put it in an old clock box.  These I just hung over the sink in the bathroom. These are some of those colored ones I mentioned......But, mostly I just like to look at them all stacked up.  Lauri