The Shop, more pictures

The cold is good for me. Since it has been so cold in Texas this winter I have spend more time rearranging and getting merchandise out of boxes and drawers and into the showroom. I'm still awful about pricing, I will start merchandising and always forget to go back and price the stuff. I know how frustrating is to go to a store where nothing is price, believe me, I'm sure it is costing me business. It is just to hard to do it all and I don't want it any other way. I shop, Merchandise,paint, sort, clean, repair, do books and blog at night. The time is never enough. The shop owners out there know what I'm talking about. I love every minute of it, its the masochist in me. This little vignette is by the checkout when you first come in. Love the girls, anything sepia really.

This vignette is in the first room when you come in. I have done 3 different vignettes in 3 weeks. I sold the table and benches today so Saturday I will probably will have something new in there. I just purchase the most beautiful couch on my way home. Wait until you see this beauty. My mom will be sewing some altered pillows for me, just to go with that couch.

Ah... my green room. I will forever be a pink and green girl. I went down to only 2 pink rooms since is not selling as much as it did a couple of years ago.

                                                                           YUMMY

                      I love this cabinet, is huge and shabby to the max. Peeling green and white paint.

My kitchen is not making me money and I don't understand why. I love primary colors in the kitchen specially red, greens and yellows.

Pyrex is not selling, nor tin canisters or enamelware. My friends keep telling me to just let every go real cheap and start from scratch with monochromatic items. Easier said than done, just too much money invested in the stuff. (plus I still love it even if nobody else does)

Don't you love a little bit of color sometimes?. Yes! I love the whites and the creams but a girl have to have color, there is so much awesome colored stuff outhere.

Toy rooms. Can you believe I sell more toys than I do kitchen stuff. I guess it is the mommies buying for the little ones. Then again I got some grown men that collect toys too.

Red and pink room I decorated for Valentines. The tree with the valentines have been a hit.

Another Valentine vignette in the main room

Some people called it cozy I called it tight!. I started with 1500 sf, I'm up to 3500sf and I'm running out of space again! What I really want is 10000sf, that should keep me busy for a while. I do not have any vendors since so many people are intimidated by the decor. To my if you can't merchandise and make it appealing you should not be in retail. Nothing less inspiring than a room full of shelves with all sorts of stuff in it. So to keep an uniform look I decided to keep it all mine. Yes, it will be easier to let the vendors carry the rent and overhead expenses but not by sacrificing quality and ambiance. There are so many people super talented outhere but I think they are all at Winnie and Talulas. So for now is Me, Myself and I.
Well darlings, that is enough ramblings for a night, till tomorrow, blessings, Marta.

White Wednesday and new pictures of the whites at the shop

Been working hard on getting inside details taken care of at the shop. Lace, pillows, mirrors, me like it.This is a little room we put together. It used to be my only vendor room. Once she left I decided to take over the entire shop.

My cream, white and yellow room. I like how it turn out.

One of my favorite cabinets in the shop. I decided to leave the original blue paint inside since is was such a pretty shade of blue. It weights a ton, it took 4 guys to bring it in.

I like this room and love the armorie. The only thing is that I seem to be the only one. I usually get a lot of response on my pieces, this one have not gotten any attention. I might move it somewhere else soon.

This is the first little room you see when you come in the shop, is one of my favorites.

Basket full of yarn and knitting needles in white and cream of course.

I believe you have seen this one before.

I love this Chinese lantern lights. I think I pay 36.00 for everything, can't beat that.
Well White Wednesday friends this is all for this week. Tomorrow I will post about the other rooms in the store. See you then. By the way don't let me forget about the queen of WW, Ms Kathleen at http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/ stop by and say hi to rest of the WW friends. Blessings, Marta.

Birthday continuation

Oh my God, friends, I'm in so much trouble. Buyers remorse big time. My friend Denise invited me for a late birthday lunch in Georgetown. We went to my favorite store in the whole world, Gatherings in Georgetown TX. I bought stuff I didn't need, new stuff, cute stuff, expensive stuff. I probably should shop more somewhere else first because I was just grabbing stuff like a kid in Candy land. Ouch, poor bank account. I enjoy the visit and can spend hours in there. They got stuff I have never seen anywhere else. We were going to lunch @ the tea room but the smell of Mexican food lure us to Dos Salsas Restaurant. We continue shopping in town, I did my part for the local economy, left 350.00 there. Just smalls, no furniture.

The pictures are all Gatherings. Forgot to take any pictures of anything else. Thanks Denise for an amazing day of shopping and fun. I'm planning on taking pictures around my shop since I have done a lot of rearranging. I will be taking pictures and info on the others shops in town. Until then thank you for visiting. Blessings, Marta.

Happy Birthday to me!

Yeah, forty six, baby. I'm old, I feel old, specially when I look at this baby. I was 13 when he was born. No, he is not mine, just baby brother. He was an ugly baby, stay too long inside my mom and came out skin peeling like a snake. I will have to rock him to sleep for hours, there were no disposable diapers so I did a lot of cloth diaper washing. He owes me big. Later he became a mean boy, spoiled, we got a mentally retarded neighbor that have the mouth of a sailor. Guess what, he pick on it. He was a 3 year boy that will cuss you out, no shame whatsoever. As soon I got a chance I left home. I was in my 3 year of college and decided to join the Army. I left and never look back. He grow up an became a handsome guy. Got married and fathered 3 kids. I will for ever wished to have my family close, to get to see my nephews grow, to spend time with my baby brother. Well, 4 years ago my entire family make the move to the land of honey and milk, where wishes can come true if you do your part, the land of opportunity. He still owes me for the dirty diapers, he can't remember, I do. So today is my Happy Birthday, indeed. Everybody was here, the mama, sis in law, older brother and my 3 babies(nephews) plus my teddy bear. They all beg me not to put their pictures in the blog so I didn't. They are all camera shy. Baby Brother

Birthday Girl

Gift from sis in law Rosa and little bro. Love anything with The Word in it.

Can you believe this apron? Mama sew it for me. I want to wear it with leggings, a turtle neck and a big sparkly brooch for work. Mama can sew, she sew my wedding dress and it was beautiful.

The girl wanted socks, the girl got socks. Fourteen pairs of them!

Fat free cake, yeah right!. True to God I didn't want a cake. I received so many tins full of Christmas cookies which I consumed all that all my fat clothes from last year don't fit anymore. Too small, yikes! So you know the drill, lay in bed, suck it up, zip up, oh, the pain of tight pants.

Earlier on the day my husband took me and my older brother, which birthday is in two days to the movies. We watch The Lovely Bones. Good movie, sad movie, I should have seen Avatar for a second time. I got friends that have gone 3 times already. We have been going to the movies a lot lately. My husband wanted to see Legion, I don't think so. I don't even want to rent it when it comes out. I'm a girlie, chick flick kind of movie person. During this time I usually try to go an see the movies that generate a lot of buzz for the Oscar season.
I'm easy, for Christmas I told everybody not to get me stuff. For my birthday they keep asking me for a hint on what to get me. Well, they push so much I finally came out with some ideas. I do not want to brake anybody's bank, so, socks, aprons, scarfs and ultra penetrating body lotion will do. Got it all.

The big gift is coming soon, a new computer for moi. No more pain, no more frustration. All my challenges have been related somehow to the age of my computer. I think 11 years for a computer place it in the BC era. I can't wait. We are undecided, Mac or Windows, What do you think? You are the savvy ones, come on, HELP! Friends, I must end this post I'm missing the Grammys. Talk Later. Blessings, Marta.

Pink girls

Let me introduce you friends to another one of my weaknesses. I love girl pictures, any kind but specially Victorian images. I'm constantly looking for Gibson girls but they are the hardest thing to find. One thing I have no problem finding is girl figurines.

This one was found by my brother @ Collectors Market in Georgetown TX. She is holding a gift in her hands and I like her even better because my brother said to me "Look, she looks like your girls" which I thought is sweet, he really pays attention. She is a Reubens.

This one is a powder box. Her face is the sweetest and I love the hat full of roses.

More power boxes. I like the girls better than the ladies which tend to have a severe look to them.

Are they cute or what?. These cuties cost me a good penny but at that point I have never seen the figural atomizers plus they are in mint condition.

More girls. The planter in the back is another Reubens ( the same company that used to make the very collectible lady head vases). I don't love her but she was cheap enough to pass up. The one in the front is occupied Japan and she is a sweet girl.

Another Reubens planter

She got no markings so I don't know who she is, I don't care for branding or perfection, if I liked it I buy. I mentioned names a lot just as extra info since most of my knowledge I have acquired from Ebay, bloggers or the net. It comes handy when you resale.

The pink ballerina with turquoise got the cutest face and the girl with the rose hat is a half doll from Germany.

Now, this is my favorite planter. She is in mint condition and I got her for a song.

Another view of the belle of the ball.

This is all for today pinkie friends. Thanks again to the Pink Saturday belle of the ball Ms. Beverly. You can visit with her @ http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/ for a list of more places to visit. Blessings, Marta.

Oh loneliness

Ok, I must be sucking at this. Nobody is talking to me, so I'm sad. Aside from that if it wasn't for the creative bloggers out there ( Ms. Beverly @PS and Ms. Kathleen @ WW) I might not have too much to talk about. My pictures are terrible, I don't know much about adding gadgets to my blog so my look is too simple, nothing spectacular (unlike The Feathered Nest) I want to be like Theresa From Vintage Garden Antiques when I grow up. I want a cult with FOLLOWERS. That is a joke around my house. I celebrate every follower I get out loud, so the other day my brother overheard the word followers and ask me if I was starting a cult. Then again be careful what you wished for. I came home to 39 comments some weeks ago and figure out there was not a humanly possible way to visit and leave comments to every one and that makes me feel sad. I read all my comments and will love to have the time to reply, but I simply don't have the time. Most of my post are finished around midnight and my husband is not understanding what is the deal with blogging. Anyway all this blah, blah is about me trying to figure out the blogging thing. It supposed to be fun, so we will see. To the friends that have stopped by THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. Blessings, Marta.

Let them eat lace

Humm...lace, check, size 2 dress, dream on. This is the bottom of a Victorian lace dress. It was so old that the silk liner disintegrated when we handle it. The lace remain intact.
Do you have wish lists, and if you do what is in it? Number one on my short wish list is one of these dress forms. This one was priced at a bargain price specially for me of 270.00$. Can't, will not, refuse to... it will happen, always does, I just have to wait. I can see a lacy beautiful dress on it, in my master bedroom, by my side. Isn't she pretty? If you have the money she resides @ The Cedar Chest Antiques in McGregor TX of Hwy 84 in Waco. Have you ever visited with Magnolia Pearl? If you haven't I tell you you ought to. The tittle in my post is a quote in her blog magnoliapearlblog.blogspot.com. Not only is this woman incredibly talented in her creations and her love for beautiful textiles, her biggest asset is a beautiful mind and spirit which she shares with her blogging friends. Go and visit and tell me what you think. Well, back to WW. The reason I mentioned Robin from Magnolia Pearl is because we share this love for lace and fabrics. I have amazed a large collection of beautiful lace and vintage dresses made out of lace. I love it so much that I have the hardest time using my lace to make anything, I know, it is sad.

Can you believe this dress? I'm going to tell you a secret, please don't tell anyone. I have found my best pieces @ the Goodwill during the Halloween season in the costume racks!.

Hat made of lace, LOVE.

This is the top work on a wedding dress from the 50's. It's a size 0 so all the ladies get to admire and talk about the time when they would have fit in it. It's a bolero jacket over a sweetheart dress. I found the lace shoes that went with it, size 3 adult (?) Have you ladies that collect vintage clothing noticed how small the ladies used to be?

Just curtains, pretty ones. I wish I have the money and the good eye when we lived in Germany. They have the most beautiful laces, just hanging in their windows. The lace was sold by the pound and it was cheap. If I can only go back. Same dress, out of Goodwill racks, purchased for a song.

Lace collar from Belgium.

Last is this full size bed topper. It is in immaculate shape and got it priced high so I can enjoy it longer. The work on it is beautiful and handmade. How they did such big and intricate pieces, beats me. I'm part of this generation, microwave, fast, mass production cra...so that is why if you collect it, take care of it, there is no more.

Thank you Ms Kathleen @ http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/ for the chance of participating in WW. Check the other WW friends. If they are like me they will love your visit and your sweet comments. Blessings, Marta.