Happy Holidays

I'm so sorry, I've been MIA for the past 2 months. Since my last post I've been busy in the studio, and working on getting my little business off the ground. I've registered my name, juliejayne, with the state of Illinois and now I'm officially in business! On Tuesday, November 29th from 6-9pm the village of Glen Ellyn, IL is having Ladies Night Out. Please come out and support the 20 participating independently owned shops. There will be gifts, coupons, libations, and food as you stroll through the shops in search of the perfect holiday gifts.
These beautiful pieces are part of a collection from A Bella Bead, in Urban Chic Home.

I've been busy pursuing my passion of taking flea market and thrift store finds and altering them to (hopefully) appeal to today's shoppers.
I have been a vendor at 2 of this summer's 3 French Hens markets and have some of my things in Urban Chic Home in Glen Ellyn, IL. Here are a few of the products Beckie carries in her great little eclectic, shabby, vintage shop from a few of the other vendors.
Below is a sample of the lampshades I alter. They're all one of a kind. Everything you see here is for sale. If you can't make it to Urban Chic, just email me if you see something you like and we can make sure it gets to you asap.
Beckie carries the most unique gifts, isn't this little handbag the best?
Every chalkboard I make just flies out the door! I also take special orders.
I've had so much fun bleaching bottle brush trees for the past few weeks. This one is on top of an old candlestick turned upside down, too fun!
Watch this space for a new look. I've contracted with an awesome artist to design a logo for my business. It should be finished very soon! I will try my VERY best to post weekly from here on out. I will also get my etsy shop back up very soon. Thanks for your patience with me. If I only could get rid of this pesky day job......I'd have more time for the more important things in life!

I made a business decision today. I had signed up to be a vendor at 3French Hens market, one of the Top 10 Most Romantic Flea Markets in the U.S. The weather was iffy this morning, the sale was to be from 5-10pm, and I just couldn't picture it this time.

So, I decided to take 4 of my funky lamps to a shop called Urban Chic Home in Glen Ellyn, IL
The proprietor, Beckie Nilles LOVED them! She asked if I had any more so I ran home, unloaded half the trailer that was packed for 3 French Hens and brought her another tub full.
These are a few of the really fun things in the shop.
This is one of my lamps that she had rearranged things in the "main room" to fit in.
This one she put in the "red room" with other things that it matched with.

So, I'm officially a businesswoman! While I totally admire those who set up their shops pre-dawn and take them down at the end of a long day outdoors, I think I'm more of an indoor girl.
Beckie said she wants to put my lamps in the window of her shop. Here's what it looked like today, before my window debut. I'll let you know when it happens.
I look forward to Urban Chic Home being the exclusive venue for my fun and funky lamps! Wish me luck.

Distraction

A couple of weeks ago hubby and I took a road trip to the beautiful town of Mineral Point, WI where we came across Distraction. For me, it was like walking into heaven! There was awesome artisan fiber bundles, vintage everything, architectural salvage, and linens galore.They had many vignettes, all set up by color. I loved them all! Hubby wandered out about half an hour after we got there, which gave me the perfect opportunity to break out the plastic!
If you get to the Mineral Point area, be sure you visit Distraction. The name serves it well!
The prices were very reasonable, the staff quite welcoming, and the variety absolutely amazing!

Behind me in this picture are dining room chairs with the backs covered by burlap bags, very cool.

Bird Tag Swap

I participated in Karla Nathan's Bird Tag Swap and this is the tag book she put together for me. What talented artists we all are! We had to send her 7 tags and then she matched up tags she thought would look good together and sent us each (there were over 100 of us!) a book of our own. The tags I received are shown above, from (left to right) Cher, Donna, Cami, and Elaine Paullus.
The tags shown above are from (left to right) Karla, Sharon, Tina, and Darlene Nahre.
These are the tags I made. I didn't really read the directions completely, so I decorated the front AND back of the tags. And I didn't put my name prominently on the back so I've only heard from one of my recipients. If the others don't have excellent eyesight, they may not even see my name. Oh well.
It was great fun making them all and if you've never been in a swap, I highly recommend it.
Thanks Karla, for putting these all together for us!

I'm so humbled!

I'm beyond humbled. Mark of Room 363 put a whole bunch of pictures of my booth from last week's 3 French Hens Market in Morris, IL onto his blog. If you go to his blog, start with the picture of the blue chair, and the next 23 pictures are of my good junk, thanks Mark! Most of it sold but if you're interested in anything you see on there, let me know. I'm currently working on an alphabet banner for a lady who's house is on the Christmas House walk this year. Everyone seemed to like my alphabet letters that I strung across the back of our booth that spelled "juliejayne", my alter ego name. I've started taking orders for Christmas already!

My son made me switch to a Mac, and I am a PC, so once I figure out how to work with the pictures, I'll put some up.

A Perfect Summer Day

Yesterday was the second 3 French Hens Market in Morris, IL for this season and my first attempt at being on the vendor side of things. I am an expert shopper but as a vendor, I have a whole new appreciation for you folks who do this week in and week out in markets all over Chicagoland. Thank goodness it's my hobby or I'd starve to death, not to mention die of heat stroke! Here are a few pictures of our booth.

This is my hubby after we spent 2 hours setting

up, beginning at 6am. I definitely could not have done it without him, thanks honey!We hung my tag name in altered cardboard letters above the tables and wouldn't you know it people were asking if I sell the alphabets!

It was almost 100 degrees but we had THE best spot in the whole park, next to a huge shade tree. Thanks Traci! Mark from Room 363 even came and took pictures of some of my things, hopefully they'll make the 3 French Hens blog.

Some things I learned: what you think will sell, won't, and what you brought just a few of will fly off the shelves, Square is an awesome way to take credit card payments on your iPhone, and it's a great feeling when people actually want to spend their hard-earned money on things I've made. Check out this lady below taking a picture with her phone. I'm sure she's thinking "I can make that"!

It was a Perfect Summer Day.

Happy 4th of July and 3 French Hens

Happy Birthday America!

Less than one week until my first 3 French Hens Market vending debut. I just learned that 3 French Hens has just been named one of the country's 10 best Romantic Flea Markets by Romantic Homes magazine! Yes, I'm nervous. Yes, our 5'x8' trailer is FULL of stuff to take. Yes, I have lists all over the place on what not to forget. I have been writing to others who are more expert in the field to ask for tips and tricks and have received some valuable advice. Here are a few pictures of some of my wares:

I have a thing for glass cloches. I like to change them up to be a one-of-a-kind artwork. This one had no knob at the top so I made one out of a percolator coffeepot top and a watch face. There's a picture of the whole thing down below. Another one of my passions is blinging up ordinary metal pieces. This is a candelabra that stands about 3 feet tall!

I also love old chairs. This one has a hole in the seat to put a flowerpot.

This is the cloche whose topper is pictured above. I have much more stuff so come on out and take a look next Saturday, July 9th from 8am-2pm. I would really love to quit my day job and open my dream business. But, since it took me about 2 years to acquire and alter all of the things I'll (hopefully) sell out of next Saturday, I guess I'm not quite ready yet. My studio looks so bare nowadays. I've decided what to spend my earnings on: a designer for my blog banner, business cards, and logo. Let me know if you know a good one! Have a happy holiday weekend.