Vintage by Nina.com- A Winter's Tale

 We have just come back from The City Farmhouse pop-up show in Franklin, Tennessee. One of the featured speakers there was Nina Hartman a Swedish vintage collector, antique dealer, interior stylist, designer and author. She was at the show promoting her new book, A Winter's Tale. 
If you find the French Scandinavian style inspiring this book will not disappoint. In this most recent book she takes her vintage style and gives us a new look at Christmas. 

This book is has some incredible photography. If you are looking for a very special book to gift, look no more. I must tell you I purchased a copy at the show and had it personally signed by the author. It was a a pricy purchase at seventy dollars but i find that really great inspiration is often worth the money to have to pay for it. This is truely an inspirational piece of work that will have you seeing vintage Christmas in a new and beautiful way.

Fall

 Even though last winter was very cold with lots of snow and this summer has been very pleasant we find ourselves thinking of Fall and the upcoming Country Living show. I have to admit when it comes to Fall I am a hopeless romantic. There is not another time of year that so speaks to my soul like Fall. 

 Do you love Fall? I know people who dislike it because they dislike Winter and Winter follows Fall but that has never deterred me. Fall is such a visual feast of color, smells and what's not to love about cold crisp morning on a good day in October. 
Four weeks from tomorrow we will set up at the Country Living show in Columbus, Ohio. We are very excited about the show this year. It is always kicks off the Fall season for us. We went picking today and found some great treasures we are packing away for that show. 
CJ is excited about a new product she will unveil at this show. I'm not going to steal her thunder but I will tell you we have been collecting parts and pieces for her project all year. 

So, do you love Fall and if so what do you love about it?

Country Living and Beyond

 We just finished doing our show in Petoskey. It is our last summer show. It is hard to believe but true!
The next show we do will be the Country Living show in Columbus, Ohio on Sept 12-14. It is our big Fall show season kick off. Since Fall is my favorite time of year is is really easy for me to get into spirit of the season at this show. Last year it was hot just before this show. A few days before we left our Grand Rapids home we went to gather some of the first pumpkins off the fields before we left to set up at the CL show. It didn't feel very Fall like setting up but by the time the show opened the weather had cooled and with all the pumpkins in place it felt like a Fall celebration. This really is a show not to miss!

Following the Country Living show we will be return to do both the October and November Hobnob Market shows. In addition we will be doing Beneath the Wreath here in Grand Rapids on Nov. 14-16.
We are also discussing heading south after the first of the year to do some southern shows in January and Febuary. But, more on that later....

Petoskey Fairground Show

We just finished the July 5th and 6th show and in two weeks we will be back to do our second Petoskey show on August 2nd and 3rd. The show is always the highlight of our Summer show season. It is the show we have done the longest and we are aways set up in the front of one of the first tents. This show over looks the Little Traverse Bay in Lake Michigan and it is a truely beautiful setting. If you have cause to be in northern Michigan in a couple of weeks please stop by and check us out.

Fourth of July

Have a happy and safe fourth of July!! See all of you up in Petoskey tomorrow.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

COUNTRY LIVING FAIR - Rhinebeck, NY 2014

 Three weeks from this weekend we will be doing the Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck, NY. This promises to be one of our biggest shows of the year. 
The attached teaser photos are of some of the product we will be taking with us.

We have collected a large selection of product to take with us. Lots of large and small items. Furniture, vintage garden, CJ's clothing lines, jewelry and many other unique and unusual  items we have been creating and saving for the show.

 We are bringing along many handmade, repurposed items made from vintage. Some items are favorites we have been doing for awhile but we are taking along a number of newly created items that will make their debut at this show.

We will be set up in a large twenty by twenty foot space under our own tents at the show. As soon as we have our space assignment we will post where we will be located.

We love doing the Country Living shows and thrive on the excitement and energy at these shows. CJ and I are going to be spending many long hours over the next few weeks getting ready for what promises to be the largest assembly of product we have ever put together for a show. Can't wait!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Tailgate/Music Valley Antique Show & Vintage Marketplace

In two weeks will be doing our first show of the year in Nashville, The tailgate/Music Valley Antique Show and Vintage Marketplace. We are planning a very ambitious show schedule this year. Most of our shows will be new show for us and will involve some travel for us. We are very excited about this and will share with you are planned schedule as we finalize our itinerary. 

Harvest Tables and Winter Reflections

This time of the year is a more quiet time of the year for us. We don't do many shows over the winter. Many of the projects I purchased at the end of the summmer and Fall now get my full attention in the shop.

Harvest tables are one of our largest selling items. So this week now that I have lots of time on my hands I am combing thru the many parts and pieces I have saved for the construction of these tables. It is my hope that this week will give a good start on a large inventory of these table once we get into show season. 
I try to always use as much vintage lumber for the tables as I can find. The tops are pieced together from old flooring, plank doors, barn wood and any other wood that I can find that has history and character. Much of the wood I find needs to be stripped of paint when it is turned into tops for my table. This isn't a process I enjoy so much but the wood that is exposed makes for such a beautiful top when I am done that I aways feel rewarded for my efforts.

I am finding myself enjoying this process this week even more than usual. It is a gift to be able to create and as the snow gently falls outside my windows I feel gratitude to be able to do something with my hands and my heart that I love so much.

NEW YEAR PLANS AND RESOLUTIONS

Winter has settled in early here. Temperatures have been colder than normal and snow fall has been heavier than usual. 

The new year and the very winter like weather finds us at home alot planning and plotting for this coming year. 

We are always looking for ways to do our business better. So often we ask ourselves what our focus needs to be, how can we improve our "look", what should we do to the fixed locations we are in to improve our sales, what shows should we do this year, what items do we focus on when we buy our vintage items, and what repuposed items should we focus on and make. This covers a lot of territory but every business has to go thru this process to stay successful and product results. 

This year we hope to have some new products to introduce you to and some new shows to try. Our first show in fact is only about five weeks away and is the Tail/gate Music Valley Antique show in Nashville, Tenn. We are signed up to do the Junk Jubilee show in Des Moines, Iowa and also hope to do another Country Living show beside the show in Ohio. Stay tune to our blog and facebook page for our plans as they unfold. 

We are excited about this coming year. Some of the ways we hope to introduce new repurposed items into our mix and evolve our look has us very excited. In addition, we have started taking some long hard looks at what we want TRUE NORTH to look like in the future and hope to take some steps this year in that direction. So stay tuned.......