Big Girl Prom Night....

...is here!

Well, it's actually our Battalion Ball, but it sure feels like prom to me!

One of the few perks (very few...) of living the military life is that once in a blue moon, you get invited to a military ball. I've missed two balls so far, so tonight is my debut!

The first ball that we could have attended was scheduled the DAY before my second child was due. Right....no way Nelly was I getting into anything other than a hospital smock!

The second ball was scheduled during my Mom's major surgery. Not gonna happen either.

Third time is a charm!

This is a quickie as I'm off to get my hair foo-foo'd...woohoo!

Posting pics soon!

Bust Out the Piggy Bank...

...and get your walking shoes on!

This coming weekend is a big one in the world of antiques, for both the South and the West.

Round Top, Texas is having their fall antiques show. I've been going to that show since I was a kid, trudging through all those fields of treasures, following my parents' as they shopped for the goods.



I can tell you that if I weren't selling at a big show here in Colorado this weekend, I would either be selling at Round Top or buying at Round Top ! If you've never experienced Round Top, it truly is a great place to be. Country Living has even featured Round Top as one of the Greats in antiquing. If you can go, go!

Out here in the West is the last weekend of A Paris Street Market for 2010.



I did my debut show there in July and it was nothing short of incredible. We were so busy selling at this market that I never had a moment to get my camera out to take pictures of anything!

Once again, I will be selling at A Paris Street Market this weekend, here in Littleton, CO. If you have a hankerin' for some very fun antiques, stop by!

The show is Saturday the 2nd, from 8am to 3pm and the weather for this weekend is looking quite dreamy!

If you want to find Me, just look for the banner...



Wherever you end up "pickin" this weekend, I hope your finds are Dreamy!
Blessings!



Hang Out with Our Friends...

Holly Berry Fest Fun!

A three day nap would be nice right about now...

Last weekend was the Holly Berry Folk Festival, here in Colorado Springs, and I was there! If you don't know about the Holly Berry Festival, I'm pretty sure it's been going on for 32 years now and it's a monster-sized market. This year's market included 165 vendors, most being craft vendors and a few were antique dealers (like me!).

I found out about this market just recently, so it was nothing short of a miracle that I got in as a vendor. I was very excited!



Setting everything up is always so much fun!





Here are a few new things that I brought out for this market...drumroll...

Vintage Fat Quarters, for the craft divas out there....


and, German Apothecary Jars...


Funny story about the apothecary jars...They have been sitting in my garage for almost two years now. I had forgotten all about them and found them a few days ago. My garage needs an intervention.

The best part about market days are the great people that I meet along the way.

On Sunday, there was a sweet German lady who walked into my booth and started looking around, then immediately burst into tears. Ummmm...I honestly didn't know what to do! She then explained that so many of the items that I had displayed were identical to her own mother's kitchen, and her mother had passed away one year prior to that exact day. I gave her a hankie and she left.

She then returned later to chat with me about different things in the shop, giving me some cool history on each. I felt badly that she initially was so upset, but I was grateful for our fun conversation later. Everyone has a story.

I also made great friends with my neighbors at the market. Patty and her ladies from Northern Lodge are the funnest crew.

Patty makes these pillows...woodsy & cute!


Their antiques are also dreamy...



They also have a very fun online store, so you can shop with them too.

So now I'm back in blogville and ready to get things updated on our website (I'm wayyyyy behind on maintenance. My apologies...).

I'm getting the online store up and running by mid October, and it should be up through the holidays. Get your Christmas list started now!

If you see some treasures in my market photos that you are interested in buying now and don't want to wait (it's okay, I don't like to wait either...), then shoot me a message and we'll talk.



Have a fabulous week!
Tcheuss!


Follow our Friends!

The Summer 'Ate My Lunch'

I tried. I really did.

I truly enjoy sharing a piece of my life here, and I especially enjoy getting lost in blogville.

But with this particular summer…market season arrived, my husband was away for the summer (yes, the entire summer), and my three year old was in a permanent protest/funk (due to daddy being away).

So, as my sweet mama says, ‘the summer ate my lunch’. I did my best, and I fought hard, but alas I could not keep up with everything - especially blogging.

But now…the high temps are fading, markets are slowing, my sweet girl is a new kindergartner, my son is smiling again, and my awesome big daddy soldier is HOME.

In other words, I have some of my life back, so here I am!

I can’t wait to see what you all have been up to in the recent weeks – especially you creative divas!

Glad to be back!

BIG Shop News...

Whewwwwwwwwwww…

What a whirlwind it’s been.

Finally, finally we’re back in blogville.

We had a fabulous time at A Paris Street Market a few weeks back. Amazing weather, fabulous folks and we sold a lot. A whole lot.

Which brings me to the big news. We have made a decision to return to our original roots in the world of vintage & antiques. Sweet European Dreams will soon return to being a source for antique dealers and selling locally in outdoor markets.

We have met some truly talented people via our Etsy shop, but Etsy is just not the right avenue for our company. Let me just add that we are huge supporters of Etsy - we will definitely continue supporting many of our favorite sellers there!

So...what this means is that our Etsy store will remain open through the month of July. In August we will be updating our website to accommodate those who wish to buy in larger quantities (no, you don’t have to actually be a dealer to buy from us – we’ll explain all that when the updates are complete).

To our fabulous customers out there, don’t panic! We have a few avenues for you to stay in touch with us, buy from us, and drumroll…we may just have a group Euro shopping trip in the works.

Oh my.

Looking forward to hearing from you and reading up on all your lives this week.

Blessings!

To Market, To Market, We GO!

Very exciting.
It's finally here.
Summer market time, that is.

My two favorite things about my business are markets.
1) the market time where I buy everything for the store, and
2) the markets where I sell everything from the store!

In this case, I'm talking about selling at outdoor markets over the summer. I do like the convenience of selling online, but nothing beats meeting people face to face and seeing the look of glee on their faces, as they walk away with a new treasure that I found for them.

My two favorite Texas markets are Wimberley Market Days and Austin's SOCO Market on first Thursdays. Very fun places and very fun people.










This coming Saturday (July 3rd) I will be selling at A Paris Street Market in Littleton, Colorado. Could the mere name of this market be more perfect for my wares?!



I was thrilled to find this market as I'm finding that there are very few shabby or retro inspired markets here in Colorado. (If I'm wrong about this, please email me and give me the skinny on some good markets...I'm in need!).

Ok...back to work. There is much to do before the weekend...sewing, ironing, labeling, dusting, wrapping...you name it. The excitement is building...

Come on out this weekend to the "Paris of CO" and say hello - we'll be there!


Come Link Up With Us!

Some Frenchy FooFoo

Here’s a little France-inspired decor that occured in two parts.

First an ugly stage, then ending with a happy-dance finale.

The first of this little venture occurred when I was in a hurry and my creativity was low. The inlaws were coming for their first visit to our home here in CO and I needed to get curtains up ASAP.

I feel like all my free time (what’s that?) has been spent on curtain-creating since we’ve been here.

Lots of windows = lots of curatains, but lots of windows = lots of light during the winter, so I won’t complain.
Much.

I bought this fabric at the fabric district in Paris. It was a very fun day to say the least. I had no idea what I was going to do with this fabric, but I knew it had to come live with me.

I especially couldn’t walk away as it was a mere 5€, or @ $7 per yard. Woohoo!

So, here was the initial creation. Ewwww.
SEW not creative and so not me.



A few days ago I had another fun guest visiting, so I decided to get these babies in shabby-shape.

I had a contrasting fabric that I purchased at the same time, so I cut a chunk of that to go with it.



I then purchased this awesome foo-foo trim from Hobby Lobby for almost nothing – I think the entire spool was half-off, so it was maybe $1.50. Nice.



I married the two fabrics together. They were thrilled.



Then topped the seam off with the foo-foo trim (as a wedding gift).



Here’s how they turned out…



I still need to get a nice chunky rod for them to go on (adding more Frenchy flair of course), but I’m in a non-spending mode this week, so this rod will do for now.



I’m also in the midst of working on a pennant banner (bunting thingy?) for a show I’m doing this coming week. I LOVE doing outdoor markets & shows so I’m uber excited – but I guess that’s another post!

Totally random, but I want to mention that Raven Brook (one of my favorite Etsy mamas) has her domestic diva gloves on super sale this week.


I have two pairs of these from her and I LOVE them, so I thought I’d pass the info on to all you domestic divas out there.

Stay cool, keep creating, and have a blessed weekend!


Here's who we're playing with this weekend. Come play with us!
Funky Junk Interiors