MY FRENCH FARMHOUSE BOOTH IN OKLAHOMA

Here are the latest pictures of my Booth located inside Serendipity Market in Edmond, Oklahoma!  They were taken a few days ago and some of the things you see have already sold!  I'm always happy when big pieces sell... 

Things are always changing and evolving around here!

Nothing stays the same for very long when you run a retail business!

I still love having my booth and I'm entertaining the thought of leasing a second one on the other side of Oklahoma City.

 I still have some healing up to do before I make a final decision...but I'm excited about the possibility of expanding my business.

I'm asked every once in awhile about loving pink roses and IF I still paint them.  The answer is YES...I still love them and I still paint them too!  But, they just aren't big sellers here in Oklahoma so I rarely offer them up unless it's for a special order.

My Mr. AGP Man and I are off again to JUNK!  It's our Saturday ritual!

Blessings~

Rebecca

BACK AT IT...WHATEVER THAT IS!

Dear Blogger Friends...

Today I'm going to tip-toe my way back into the Blog World.  Honestly--I kind of feel like I'm having an out-of-body experience here! I know how to do it, you know,BLOG, but when you haven't done it consistently in a long time it's easy to start out feeling a bit dazed and confused!

 MORNING OF SURGERY - March 6th

So...I'm going to at least TRY to make my way back to some of the things I love!  I'm hoping to reclaim some of what I feel I've lost over the past few years...

Last Monday marked five weeks since my spine/neck surgery.  I'm going to spare you the details of the entire process and only say I'm thankful that I'm growing stronger each and every day and grateful to be able to work towards finding normalcy again in my life.  I've greatly missed doing the things I love and I'm absolutely serious when I say I will never take my good health for granted again.  I feel humbled and blessed to even be able to type out these words...  God is good.  

That is all I can say~

Here's an update on a few other things...

MY BOOTH AT SERENDIPITY MARKET

I still have my A Gathering Place booth at Serendipity Market in Edmond, Oklahoma, and I am still moonlighting there a couple of days a week as well.  I pretty much let my website stay EMPTY after the car accident as I found I wasn't able to keep it stocked while trying to stay committed to those other two things anyway.

SWEET FRENCH CHEST

Last weekend was Serendipity's SPRING OPEN HOUSE and so I was busy working as much as possible on things to stock my booth.  I'm still healing up so I'm working very slow!  My Mr. AGPMan has been super busy as well.  He fashioned a couple of really neat things for me and I can't wait to show you.

I'm still loving all things vintage, antique, soft creamy white, farmhouse (as if!) and nearly everything else that is flirty, romantic, French, fun or previously loved....  Here is a picture of a suitcase I painted for a special bride-to-be.  Her Grandma contacted me a few months ago and I promised her I would TRY and make her dreams of soft pink roses come true!

HAND PAINTED PINK ROSES!

My little Miss Mollie, our precious Yorkie, is still hanging on.  We visited her Vet about three weeks ago and he found her to be spry and inquisitive and didn't feel she was ready to be put down.  The tumor in her tummy is huge (Vet believes the underlying cause is heart disease or liver failure) and we know it won't be long before we will be forced to say good-bye to her.  She is 14 years and 3 months old (about 74 or so in human years) and we've been BLESSED to have her for so many years.

 Me and Miss Mollie 

(Taken Today!)

She is still our baby girl and our hearts are breaking as the  day draws near.  We are praying for an quiet, gentle passing...but we won't let pain invade her tiny body so we watch closely for signs of discomfort.  Those of you who love animals understand our hurting hearts...  We just hate all this.  We've prayed and asked God to give us peace as we proceed ahead...but it is so hard~

Today I met a man at Lowe's who snapped this picture of us.  He is a photographer and said he'd be honored to do a portrait of her for us.  I'm telling you...God brings the most amazing people into my life when I least expect it.  Not sure what I will do yet...but the beautiful gesture from him made me smile.

  To those of you who sent me notes, cards and emails during the past few months, well, I can't thank you enough.  I'm looking forward to better days and getting back to sharing my passions and joys with you.

Bless you all!

Love to you~

Rebecca 

~DISPLAYING A VINTAGE BED IN A SMALL BOOTH SPACE!~

Yesterday and today I worked really hard at my booth located in Serendipity Market in Edmond, OK!  These days it's always challenging to come up with something new and different as there is so much retail competition out there.  Temporary shows are springing up everywhere and that makes having a great looking booth more important than ever!  It's also easy for me to get bored with my booth decor if big pieces (like furniture) don't sell sooner than later.  So changing things up is both good for my customers and for my own peace of mind!

Vintage Head-boards/foot-boards are always difficult for me to display because my booth isn't all that large and setting up a bed with a mattress is out of the question...  So, my Mr. AGPMan fashioned a "short bed" by crafting shortened rails for display and then added a "top" made of plywood to look like a mattress.  The bed is actually about 1/3 the length as a standard full sized bed...

I thought you'd like to see what it looks like.  The bed is painted a very, very muted pink and finished with a dark wax...  It's perfect for my space and great for displaying soft and squishy feather pillows! The vintage/antique gentleman's chest next to it is painted out in the same lovely shade!  I love it!

It's hard for me to believe we are already halfway through June!  In just a few weeks we'll all be putting out our Fall decor and that just seems impossible.  

It's been fun getting back to blogging again.  Thank you all so much for peeking in and being so kind.  In somewhat of a small way I feel like I'm getting my life back again.

Blessings and love to you~

 

~A FABULOUS VINTAGE CHEST MAKEOVER~

 ~VINTAGE CHEST OF DRAWERS~

Popping in today to show you our latest furniture transformation/makeover!  Found this amazing 1958 Chest at a local estate sale a couple of weeks ago and hauled it home!  Originally it had a cheval oval mirror (dated on the back) attached to the top that was truly wonderful...but, the mirror was cracked and since I didn't want to spent $100+ to have it replaced we forged ahead with the makeover without it!

 

~BEFORE SHOT~

The Chest was in excellent condition except for one problem...  If you look closely at the before picture you'll see the back left leg (larger inset photo) was missing.  At some point over the past 55 years it broke off at the glue/joint seam!  Not a hard repair for my Mr. AGPMan!  He traced the right back leg and cut a new left leg from hard oak.  A wee bit of wood glue and a couple glue claps later it was as good as new.  It's an incredible piece of furniture~solid maple and so lovely!

Painted it out with a soft white chalk paint and then gently distressed it.  Clear coated it and then buffed it out!  Done!  It's going to my Booth at Serendipity Market tomorrow!

Summer is winding down...can you believe it?  I'm busy enjoying what I hope are our final HOT DAYS of the Season.

Hope you are well.

Love to you...

~VINTAGE FURNITURE on the MOVE~

 Gosh...I feel like I've been on a LOOOOOOOOOONG vacation!

It feels good to pop in today for a little visit.  Can't wait to visit all my favorite blogs to see what's new!

I've been a busy bee this summer and even though I've been working a little slower than usual I've still managed to get a lot of things done.  Our kitchen remodel is still ongoing with the latest thing on the list being cutting the concrete up in several areas.  We had to do this in order to attach to the existing plumbing when our new downstairs bath and laundry are added.  Our entire kitchen remodel is ENORMOUS and if it wasn't for the fact the pictures are totally boring I'd show you where we are at.  Hope to share more soon.

With the cutting up of the cement flooring we ended up creating a concrete dust storm inside our home.  Even though everything was masked off the grit and grime still managed to make it's way throughout our home.  Cleaning up took days and days and in the process we ended up rearranging furniture.  What fun!

Since I still can't lift anything heavy or push anything my Mr. AGPMan did all the work. :)  We moved our vintage china cabinet/hutch from the breakfast room to the formal dining room and I love how this larger piece helps anchor the space.  I love it in there, but I'm still trying to get use to something else being in the spot it use to be...

I'm also showing you a new batch of goodies I finished last week for my Booth at Serendipity Market (Edmond, OK).  Can't begin to tell you how much I've loved digging through my storage shed and pulling things out I'd long forgotten about...things long overdue for a transformation!

 Spent a great deal of time base painting fabulous older, new and gently used finds before adding vintage graphics and ephemera detailing...

Presently I'm working on painting some incredible furniture.  Haven't snapped pictures of the pieces yet (a fabulous vintage/antique chest and a matching bed), but I will soon!

Today marks the six week mark since I fell outside of Tuesday Morning.  I continue to improve and I so appreciate your prayers.  In addition my Mr. AGPMan and I continue to follow where God leads.  Again, your thoughts and prayers mean so much.  Our summer has certainly been shaken up! 

I'm off to peruse my favorite online places.  Hope your day is wonderful.

Love to you...

~NEW BOOTH REVEAL- A GATHERING PLACE at Serendipity Market~

 Well...I'm finally getting around to showing you some pictures of my new A Gathering Place Booth at Serendipity Market in Edmond, Oklahoma!  With the addition of some amazing pieces of vintage furniture I'm happy to say she's pretty well stocked for now...(we won't talk about my AGP WEBSITE...EEEEK!)!

 Here's a picture again of the space before we moved in!   I know it's really hard to tell (photo at the top) with the light coming through the windows, but the store's windows (above) were accented with vintage doors and lots and lots of vintage shutters to diffuse the light.  My Mr. AGPMan really outdid himself this time.  He worked so hard on everything and somehow created this amazing wall/window area fashioned with only fabulous vintage architectural finds and a few pieces of new wood!  What a man!

WHAT A MAN!

 My guy was able to tie into the existing triangle pergola and thankfully it was possible to use almost all the previous pieces of framework used in my former space!

Here's another picture that shows the vintage crochet lace pieces used to decorate the pergola.  They help to hide the sometimes harsh florescent lighting on the ceiling while also adding a bit of romantic interest.

 This booth space has large terracotta colored tiles for the flooring and I absolutely LOVE how easy it is to move things around.  

 We were so tired after moving in a couple of large pieces today that I only managed to snap a few pictures...I hope to share more with you soon.  I've had the busiest month I think I've ever had since April 1st...at least since my daughter married in 2007!

 Owning a Booth, even a small one, is WORK!

WORK!  WORK!  WORK!  

I'm finding out that I need to have something 'in the wings' at all times to replace large pieces of furniture at any given moment.  

 Since I needed to be out of my previous Booth by April 30th it proved to be difficult to finish the pergola with all my STUFF around...somehow we did it!  Exciting...but tiring!

Here my guy is hard at work!  I'm so blessed to have him as a husband, lover, business-partner and friend.

Here's a better shot of the wall before all the product was put into place!

I was so sick of painting trim-work and slats of wood I could have screamed!  I'm sooo glad it's DONE!

Here's a picture of my first Booth at Serendipity when I opened it March 1st of this year.  A sweet little space but it proved to be wayyyy tooo small!

I hope to show you more photos as the months go along.  Of all the places I've ever had a shoppe (and I've had several!), Serendipity Market in Edmond, Oklahoma, is by far my favorite.  The owners are wonderful (more than I could ask for) and my co-vendors are friendly and hard working!  It's a very eclectic place to visit and a fabulous place to shop for home decor and fashions, too!

Thank you for visiting and hanging with me while I've been MIA!

Storms are ragging here in Oklahoma so I'm off until things clear up and the hail goes away.

Love to you...

~A PEEK AT MY NEW SPACE~

~MY NEW SPACE~

Monday and Tuesday were moving day for my Booth Space at Serendipity Market and we are back today to finish the pergola frame and to prepare things for another month of selling....

~LEFT SIDE~

Just a few photos today...boring as they may be!  Saving the good pics for the reveal! :)

~RIGHT SIDE~

Love using the old doors we've picked up along the way...

~WORKING AWAY~

Working around piles of merchandise is tough!  We hope to have the entire pergola finished this afternoon...this will give me time to do some arranging and display work before the weekend comes.

~LAYING SOD~

Here's a shot of our backyard as we began to sod over the weekend....

NO WONDER WE ARE DRAGGING!

Hope to share more soon.  Happy Wednesday!

Love to you~

~MOVING~

~PREVIOUS BOOTH SPACE~

OK, Peeps!  Today is

MOVING THE BOOTH SPACE DAY

at

SERENDIPITY MARKET

in Edmond, Oklahoma!

More than excited about moving into my new Booth in the same awesome Market!  As soon as we are done and I can get my wits about me I'll share new photos for you to see!

This is coming after a weekend of sod-laying and shrub-moving around our La Chaumière de Briarwood.  My guy and are are BEYOND exhausted...BEYOND TIRED.  Must say though that our new yard and landscaping looks divine!

Nothing like starting a fresh new week off with a bang!

Love to you...

~MAKING A TOTE BAG MADE OF VINTAGE LACES~

 I shared with you all few weeks ago that in early March I opened up at new Booth at Serendipity Market here in Edmond, Oklahoma!  Well...after just a few weeks of loving my wee little Space a larger Booth came open on the first aisle of the store.

 It's by a large window and so I jumped at the chance to take it.  It's not double my existing Booth, but maybe about one and a half times the size I'm currently in...

 I'm excited about having more room...but not about moving!  So...over the next week or so you probably won't be seeing hide nor hair of me...I'm going to be very busy!  I promise to show pictures...

 

 This morning I put the final touches on a Tattered Lace Tote Bag and it was so much fun to make.  Years ago I sold a lot of Shabby Cottage Totes on eBay...

But~ as styles and decor changed I just got away from making them and found myself moving onto things that weren't so labor intensive!  Totes take a lot of time to make...especially those layered with vintage laces.  They can get expensive to make, too!

 The picture above is of the reverse side of the Tote!

I snapped this one after layering the laces, but before assembling it!

I love the vintage linen used for the front side!  Sooo lovely!  Forgot to snap a picture of the inside...it's pale pink with soft white dots!  Did I say PINK????  I think I did! :)

 While scavenging around earlier in the week I found this fabulous vintage brass and glass lamp!  It is absolutely amazing...love those precious little cherubs at the base!

I'm going to work on transforming it over the weekend...  The lamp is actually in wonderful shape...just very dirty and a bit grimy!  I can't wait to see how it comes out...promise to share with you soon!

Hope your weekend is lovely!  My Mr. AGPMan and the Boys are sodding our backyard tomorrow!

(I'm sooo glad I don't know how to do that!)

:) :) :)

Love to you...