Monday, November 30, 2009

Inside our little barn

Restoration on the French tool bench is coming along well; Skip has always wanted one so he is making sure he does the best job.
Sorry i loaded this the wrong way up , in a rush to get to work.....Part of the main area set up.

Looking out the window of the barn; really happy with this shot.

Skip sorting out box number 25........


The French oak table that i have just finished.




Sunday, November 29, 2009

pretty in pink and roses

Today has been freezing but skip and i have been working up in the barn doing up furniture; so quite a productive day. I have completed two french tables which are beautiful and have turned out better than i have expected and Skip has been doing up a french antique tool bench which came out of the same container. I will show you some photos later. So i decided on doing a pretty post seeing that we have been both up cleaning the barn and restoring and basically getting dirty and both smelling of metho and linseed oil.
This is my pheasant design antique china which i absolutely love.

A vintage photo of my late father in law when he was a baby; saved from being thrown out.


One of a pair of early jugs given to me by my mother.



And last but not least a lovely bunch of roses picked from my garden.




Friday, November 27, 2009

Wow our marble pears......

Our new marble pears are already flying out the door, and surprisingly the largest and naturally the most expensive is selling first. They are solid marble with a rusty nail as the stalk; really cute.
Our new industrial letters are already creating a stir. We have one set spelling 'home' and another 'love' and just a single 'm'. They are quite large about 1 foot by 1 foot.....so quite a statement.
This will show you the size difference between the smallest and the largest pears. They weigh a tonne.

The tolix chairs look great and are so well made; really happy with this supplier.

A view across the counter to the front window. Well what a busy week between serving customers to unpacking stock and Emma preparing for the Niche market which was on Friday, Saturday and Sunday; i hope she goes well because she tries so hard and deserves to do well. Next week we are expecting even more stock from mainly New Zealand suppliers who i will tell you are great at what they do.....they give us Aussies a run for our money .Well i may do a Sunday post depending on how we go with preparing the barn for our Christmas festivities; cannot wait for it to be all sorted . So i may give you a sneak preview of our progress....or i may leave it to the end when it is all ready, i will wait and see. Have a great weekend one and all.....




Wednesday, November 25, 2009

More stock and more stock.....

This our new natural body products which we have body milk, body spray, hand wash for the kitchen and bathroom,bubble bath and beautiful soaps and candles. All of these are selling quickly and i doubt freighting after this next week is going to be easy.


Yes Lilli and Lulu has arrived and my antique rack and vintage hangers set everything off. I have already had a good response even though they only arrived yesterday. Tell me what you think of my antique colonial cedar rack; what a find couldn't believe my eyes when i was stripping the red oxide stain from it......ya.






We will model some of the clothes for you soon .....have a great day.



Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Well here are some more Christmas shots of my store, the birdy decoration i was talking to you about, and also our new papers and ribbons that have just arrived.





Our new stockings from Lilli and Lulu i think i bought the last of them.



I love my new papers the striped one featured a lot in the recent Home Beautiful magazine.




Monday, November 23, 2009

Christmas is creeping up on us

Things are getting quite hectic for me now and i must admit at this time every year it gets like this.....a bit crazy. So i will apologize now if the posts become thin are my responses become short or non existent. I have a very busy week ahead with about 4 lots of different stock arriving this week and probably the same next week. This spells boxes and more boxes and lots of sorting and re-arranging. I must admit i still get excited when new stock arrives especially when it is from a new supplier. Yesterday i made these cute hessian bird tags which you can hang on the tree i am quite happy with them. I also started doing up my clothes rack and found that it was colonial cedar; so a lovely surprise. We also had a family photo shoot with photographer Nichol Darcy who was lovely. We decided that if Chloe was going (which now she is not sure, could have something to do with some young man she has now met or the fact she has 3 really great jobs here ) so who knows. Anyway the idea was a family shot which we have never had done, and some shots maybe for a small album. Looking forward to seeing what Nichol comes up with ;i am sure they will be awesome as her photos are delightful.


We have some great wrappings and ribbons coming into store today or tomorrow which will inspire all you paper/ribbon fans. They are such beautiful quality; just a special touch for any Christmas gift. I wish you all the best over this Christmas period, just take the time out to enjoy the simple delights that this time brings us and try not to get bogged down in that commercial whirl wind that some people have created. Life is too short and so is Christmas it comes and goes so quickly in a blink its gone; try to slow it down by spacing it out with your entertaining, cooking and present buying and make it simple, then you will be able to see how special it really is....
photos by modern country

Sunday, November 22, 2009

A shot through the front window; always difficult to take due to the reflections that bounce off the glass.
A view through the store.

The French table that i finally managed to get in store; two more on the way.......


Would love to find some drawers like these ; also these urns as i am finding with my local supplier that he is just not bringing them in, and freight from the mainland with these is just too expensive.



This portrait painting by the famous Manet is a bit like what i am looking for but of course a copy to put into a large antique gold guilt frame. If anyone can help me out please leave me a comment . Thanks heaps.




Friday, November 20, 2009

Today is raining and i am just heading into work which will be interesting as the rain can either keep people away or bring them in. We will have to wait and see. Here are some more summer garden shots to add to my collection.
Looking across the potager to our chook pen. The girls are doing very well.....bacon and eggs for breakfast; yum.

A close up of our front door. The sandstone is recycled from the old Westbury bridge that was pulled down some years ago.


Looking through the arbour along the front garden path.



Our water fountain in the side garden....lucky find from Tedworth at Oatlands apparently. Dinner party tonight at the Skipper house hold so i probably wont post again until
Monday see you then.......have a great weekend everyone.


Thursday, November 19, 2009

Some more Chrissy treats

This noel sign would look great anywhere for Christmas ,especially on a mantle piece.
Some beautiful cards made by Ruby Victoria's Letter press.....what an absolute treat to have these in store.
If you want to visit her blog site go to rubyvictoria.blogspot.com.au she is a very clever girl.





Some little white washed birds that would be a great addition to any Christmas display.......happy decorating.




Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The garden is bursting with colour

An old kitchen dresser with my brothers painting of chooks on it. Now apart of entertaining area. The pots are old Campbell 's Pottery.


Views from our deck.


Ah do you like our outside lights that i rust painted. All done for the magazine shoot.



Some of our old fashioned roses are beautiful at the moment.




Our Newest Christmas treats

These bells are the new size for Villa Maison; just a nice size for hanging on your door or over a mirror or on a fire mantle.
Yes exclusive to our store our own line of Christmas decorations made from Belgium linen and french toile.

An assortment of Vandoros ribbons for all your Christmas wrapping. More arriving next week.


More hearts also our label; love the little miniature chest of drawers,new today!



And lastly but not least the tree; what a job putting it up. Very muted with Belgian linen , rattan, and African wire hearts. Down in the bottom left hand corner our new prints on monuments in Paris; this one the Not re Dame Cathedral.