It's been quite some time since my last post.  Sorry for the lack of communication, but I hope to remedy that now.

The retail space is doing fine, not as well as I'd hoped, but about what I'd expected. Flamingo Island was dead for the first 6 weeks after I moved in, but things are starting to pick up slowly.  This also was expected.  Everyone, management and long time dealers alike, keep telling me that "season" is when you make all of your sales - sales volume that more than makes up for the dead-slow months.    For the uninitiated, "season" is when all of the snowbirds come back; those who only visit for a week or two and those with homes here who stay for the entire winter.  I've heard several schools of thought as to when "season" starts - from as early as October to as late as January.  I'm hoping the former is true!  I am definitely seeing more shoppers on the Island, mostly lookers for now, so maybe they just trickle in from now to the beginning of the year at an increasing rate.

While sales have been slow, I'm managing to sell just enough to cover my rent at this point.  That doesn't mean I'm not busy!  I'm working furiously on painting enough inventory for "season", testing the water with different signs to see what resonates with people.  Lots of people look - stop and read every sign I have.  Some are looking for a particular theme, but most are just entertained.  I get lots of suggestions and have incorporated some of them into my arsenal.  MAN CAVE was a popular suggestion so I've designed a sign with heavy, masculine lettering.  Someone this past weekend wanted the female equivalent but didn't know what that would be.  I did some searching and found lots of options:  Ladies Lounge or Lair, She Cave, The Nest, Cougar Den, Estrogeniverse, Girls Club, etc. but settled on HEN HOUSE.  I like the Nest, but it almost seems too sweet and ethereal.  I love Estrogeniverse, but do you think people would be offended?  I may just give She Cave a try as well - no doubt about the meaning there.

Below are some updated pictures showing my multitude of signs.  I welcome your suggestions on lay outs, fonts and sayings, and if you're looking for holiday gifts, well I do custom work! );

WYLDE THYME LIFESTYLE - HOME Retail Space is Open!!

The big day finally arrived!  After months of preparation, my retail booth opened at Flamingo Island Flea Market in Bonita Springs.  I spent last weekend getting prepared - painting the back wall a lovely shade of coral, and covering the side walls with a nice, textural burlap.

Alex was an enormous help - getting my signs in place, creating a fence gate to cover the opening on the back wall, and mostly reassuring and encouraging me.  Did I mention he opened the booth for me yesterday?  He will do so every Friday, as I teach back to back classes that morning.  Thanks, sweet man.

Here are some pictures of the booth - some of my favorite things to buy/sell, and the furniture I've been painting with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  Check it out, and thanks!

Happy Home - Happy Booth - Happy Life

Lisa

WYLDE THYME Lifestyle-Home Comes to ETSY

When I started the blog about 6 weeks ago I intended it as part of a 3 pronged plan to start a new business venture.  I mentioned last week that I was opening a booth at a local flea market, Flamingo Island, in about a month.  I have spent much of the last 2 months getting things ready for the booth - hunting down treasures at garage sales and from Craig's List, refinishing and upcycling furniture and accessories, making pillows and painting decorative signs.

I have a lot of items ready to go, just sitting and waiting for the opening, so I decided to start an Etsy shop for the smalls to see if they generate any interest.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/WyldeThymeHome 

Yesterday I sold my first piece.  Yippee!  It was a vintage letter/key holder that hangs on the wall. I had refinished it in a lovely Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, duck egg blue, and embellished with a key motif.  I'm stoked and ready for more, so I added a few picture frames and some  coasters.  My pictures are still not so great.  I'm taking them with my Blackberry as I still haven't unearthed my camera.  Should be any day though - the addition is complete and we are just waiting for our certificate of occupancy.

Below are pictures of some of the Etsy items and a rocker I'm working on for the booth.  I was going to cut a circle in the plywood seat and drop in a flower pot, but now I'm thinking cushion.  Let me know what you think. :)

Happy Home - Happy Life

Lisa

Good Day for a Garage Sale

It's mid-July, and it's already CRAAAAZY hot and humid.  Is this summer in SW Florida?  At least my curly hair likes the weather!  Since it's not raining for a change, and it's a Saturday, I decided to hit some garage sales.

I'd only gotten a few blocks away when I spotted my first sign.  You never know what you're going to find so I usually do a slow drive-by before stopping.  I spied some furniture down the drive - always a good sign to me, and decided to stop.  There was a really lovely iron day bed with a new mattress that I asked about first.  They wanted $350!!  It was nice, but that was practically retail. I got a sinking feeling. :(   I spotted several wood and upholstered pieces nearby that must have come from the same bedroom.  They were just my aesthetic, and easily transportable, which makes me happy.   I was afraid to ask, but am glad I did.  I snagged a cute, little table that will become a night stand for our master bedroom ($10) and for $25 I grabbed a pretty painted cabinet that needs very little work.  I asked about a pretty slipper chair and another slip-covered chair.  $30 for the pair seemed very fair, but I wasn't sure I wanted to deal with transporting and storing two cream colored upholstered pieces.  Grease and I have a love/hate relationship.  It seems to find me wherever I am, so I decided to think about it and move on.

I loaded the car and headed down the street and kept thinking about the cream slipper chair.  It was in "like new" condition and would add a soft element to the wood pieces that I'm painting for a flea market booth I'm opening soon, so I decided to turn around and go back for the chairs.  I will be selling refinished/repurposed furniture and accessories every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Flamingo Island in Bonita Springs.  I'm really excited to be getting back into the antique and design business at a time in my life when I have the time to do it the way I want to.  Stay tuned for more on the business and the pieces I just picked up.  Until then...

Happy Home - Happy Life

Lisa

Picture This....

I just got back from 9 days visiting friends and family in Dallas and in beautiful South Fork/Creede, Colorado.  Creede is the prettiest little town - a budding artist colony really, with some very nice galleries and a few good eateries.  One very good restaurant, Far Dog, is the new kid on the block.  It's really more of a high end bar and cafe, with as much room at the bar as table dining, so arrive early or expect to wait a bit for a table.  Don't worry.  It's worth it. 


Far Dog is the brainchild of restaurateur, Al Biernat's son, Jessie, and it's clear that he learned customer service at this father's knee.  It was the first night of dinner service and it was packed.  Troy Aikman and posse had taken up a full 50% of the tables.  I don't mean this in a negative way, Troy was as kind and gracious as they come (more on that later), but just to illustrate how crowded it was.  We inquired about a table and were told it might be a while.  We hedged about waiting (as it was almost 9 PM, we had a 12 yr old with us who wasn't used to eating this late, and we were hungry) so we decided to walk down the block to see what else was open.  The Biernat's suggested we circle back by if nothing else was to our liking and they'd have a table for us.  We spent 15-20 minutes walking down the street to other cafes and decided to return.  Despite several couples waiting for tables we were ushered right in to a table that said "reserved."  We were five in all so the table couldn't have been for any of the couplets standing outside or in the bar.  It was just the beginning of sold service that made us feel we were as valued and important as Mr. Aikman.


Portion size was very good - perfect for splitting (which I did with Riversong hostess, Sharon) or for taking home for tomorrow's lunch.  We tried the Tomato-Mozzarella salad.  It was your standard Caprese; very simple and delicious.  For our entree we ordered the pan seared Hawaiian Lemon Snapper over sweet corn and heirloom tomato risotto.  It was served with a frisee and fuji apple salad on top, and was sublime.  Just the right amount of lemon was added to cut the richness of the white sauce that was drizzled over the top of the fish and risotto.  And the risotto was incredible!  I would've asked for the recipe if it hadn't been so crazy-busy that night.  We capped it off with a piece of Coconut Cream Pie for the table.  I'm a pie girl - don't mind saying, and this one didn't disappoint!


As we were paying our check, Troy rose to speak to someone in back, and we stopped him to let him know that there was a young girl from Dallas outside who would love to meet him.  12 yr old Mary Beltran, and her mom (one of my best buds, Ann) had stepped outside to get a little air.  He asked her name and then made a bee-line outside to meet her and take pictures.  He treated her like she was a big deal, as if she was the only person around, and with a great deal more respect than most young people get. You can tell he is a dad, and I'm sure he is a good one.  I will never forget the look on her face, and the kindness he showed her. 


So now I'm back in Naples and back to work.  There's a lot of laundry and cleaning to catch up on, but I have a strong urge to create.  I head to Michael's for a wood-burning tool and something small to test it on.  I found a few lightweight picture frames for $1 each - perfect price - and some stencils on sale.  I painted out each of the frames in ASCP Old White, thinned out with the tiniest amount of water.  On one I stenciled a doily-look pattern in ASCP Duck Egg, and on the other I painted a Bee skep in honor of my recent Queen Bee vacation.  I used the wood-burning tool to add depth and deepen the colors. Using the tool is NOT as easy as I thought it would be.  I thought I could use it to engrave and outline areas, but it doesn't move that smoothly.  I found it easier to burn little holes to outline elements, giving it a tramp art type of look.  It's different than expected, but I actually like it.  I finished both frames with clear and dark ASCP waxes, and buffed to make them smooth.   


Happy Home - Happy Life!       Lisa


Pictured below:  Troy and Mary,  Ann with Jessie and Al Biernat, my picture frames

In Praise of Farm to Table Cooking

My boyfriend, Alex, is a nurseryman-gardener extraordinaire.  With all this acreage, and our shared love of food, he decided to start a large, eco-friendly vegetable garden.  His veggies are amazing!  The beets have been my favorite - roasted or pickled, you can't lose.  He pickled them with a recipe from super-chef, Marcus Samuelson's cookbook, Aquavit.  Linky:  http://www.food.com/recipe/swedish-1-2-3-vinegar-122894  Anyone who has known me for a while knows that I'm not a fan of pickles;  to put it mildly!  But this pickling liquid is simple and fabulous, and elevates your veggies to superstars.

The leeks and eggplant have been the most bountiful.  Leeks have been easy to incorporate into an existing recipe; simply replacing onion with them at a   1 : 1.25  ratio since they are milder in flavor.  There's nothing scientific about those numbers, it's just what tastes right to my palette.  The eggplant has been a little more of a challenge for me; not because it's not versatile (it soooo is), but because I'd simply overlooked it for years.  Now ratatouille is one of our family favorites; as a side dish or added to omelettes or gratins.  And sliced, baked eggplant makes an awesome replacement for the sausage in a lasagna.  We still have dozens on the vines, so your recipe suggestions would be very welcome!

The leafy herbs, arugula and basil have served our kitchen well, as have the multitudes of tomatoes and peppers.  The season's about over for the former though, so we recently harvested most of the basil for pesto.  More on that later.  I love being able to go into the backyard to gather our salad greens or vegetable side dish.  I know exactly how it was planted and nursed along, it's the freshest produce I can possibly get, and no fossil fuels were used to obtain it, which is a big deal when the nearest grocery is 20-25 minutes away.  This bowl is destined for a ratatouille gratin.  Mangia!

Happy Home - Happy Life!
Lisa

In Search of the Perfect Dresser or My First Foray into Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Alex and I are remodeling his 2 car garage into a master suite, laundry room and storage hall.  The project will give us a lot more closet space and the soaking tub I long for.  The style of the bedroom needs to be something that speaks to us both, and be affordable at the same time, so we are blending what we have and trying to make it work.

The choice of which bed to use was a no-brainer: his contemporary, teak king was the only option.  He is twice my size and used to having the whole thing to himself.  Squeezing him into my queen 4 poster might be considered torture in some countries.  Now we had to decide on storage.  My 4 poster is part of a suite of bedroom furniture from Ethan Allen, and the pieces didn't want to be split up so they will become the guest bedroom furniture. They've been work horses since the early 80's and deserve a little rest.  I have a lovely bird's eye maple wardrobe and antique dresser w/mirror that have been used in a guest room in the past, but they are both too delicate for daily use, so they will be stored until we get the guest house fixed up and ready for occupation.

Which brings me to the obvious choice; my Pakistani Camel's chest, from M. Hayat & Bros. of Peshawar, Pakistan.  It's a beautiful chest on chest made of sheesham (rosewood) with delicate brass inlays on the drawers.  I have a similarly styled small chest that would be perfect for a night stand as well.    It's obvious for a few reasons:  despite the delicate brass inlay, it has very clean lines and isn't nearly as feminine as my other pieces; it's versatile and can be split up into two side by side chests or stacked as a chest of drawers; and most importantly it comes from a happy time and a place in my life; from the country where Alex and I met some 37 years ago.

The two sheesham chests will work nicely with his teak bed, but big as they are they will only fit my clothes, jewelry, etc.  So additional drawer space was needed.  In Alex's current bedroom is a pine armoire that's more designed for media than for clothing; besides it has so much going on with several styles of mouldings that it's a bit schizophrenic, and a small knotty-pine chest of drawers that is sturdy and functional, if not beautiful.  I wasn't vibing either with the rest of the room, so I decided to start looking for a solution.

I thought something Baliesque would be a nice compliment to the current pieces - either bamboo or something carved, so we headed to import stores first.  I love an import store, particularly World Market, but nothing spoke to me there.  Same for Pier One.  Their wooden pieces were more East Asian than we were looking for; and the bamboo-look pieces were just so overly frou-froued and massed-produced looking.  We tried some consignment shops and a high end importer called East Indies Trading Co., and found lovely options, but all with hefty price tags.  Our remodel was already waaaay over budget, so we couldn't rationalize the expenditure.  We fell in love with the East Indies Trading Co. though and wanted to take a piece of it home.  Alex spotted small carved wood pieces that one could hang on a wall, and bought one to hang a tapestry from.  Otherwise we decided to move on.  We had about 4-6 weeks before the bedroom would be finished so no need to rush.  I would keep looking.  (Notice that I said I would keep looking - I can happily do this til I drop, judging the merits of the various things I've looked at and even going back for a 2nd or 3rd look.   Alex is good for about 2 hours!)

Which finally leads me to how I came to paint my first piece of furniture with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  When we walked passed the window of High Falootin' Junk in Mt. Dora, my heart fluttered.  When we stepped inside, it danced a little jig.  I've already documented my appreciation for the shop and it's owner in yesterday's post, but just let me add that the shop awakened creative yearnings in me that I'd laid aside for the last few years.

 When Alex and I perused the color chart, we both settled on Duck Egg quickly.  It's in my favorite color palette, and would blend beautifully with the paint color we selected for our bedroom.  We didn't know what we were going to paint, just that it would be something for our master suite.  We discussed a few options, and then in true Alex fashion, he said "let's just see what presents itself", or something along those lines.  Meaning: chill, think about it later, and let's enjoy our dinner and a trip to Orlando.  Me, being a bit OCD, found this hard to do.  My mind was running through every stick of furniture we owned.

I did manage to let go of my internal furniture ticker for the weekend, but on the long drive home my mind was back into design mode.  I set my sights on the knotty-pine dresser.  Alex agreed, and I wasted no time getting started.  No sanding or prep work required - music to my ears!  I cleaned and dried the surface of the dresser and got to work.  ASCP brushes on nicely and dries very quickly.  Second coats have a tendency to catch the first one, making it hard to complete your coat without brush strokes; something I found out first hand.  Doing a little research, I learned you can combat this by dipping your brush in a bit of water, then into your paint, for a smoother stroke.  I've had lots of success with this technique on later pieces.

I did a light sanding to distress the piece before putting on my first coast of wax - a mistake I won't make again.  The chalk paint comes off in a fine powder that will blow everywhere if you've a ceiling fan on like I did.  Read the directions!  Put a layer of ASCP clear wax on after your paint, rub the excess off and let it dry before you distress your piece.  Then, if you don't want a darker heirloom look, let the piece dry completely and buff to a soft shine.  If you do want the heirloom look, dab bits of ASCP dark wax in corners/creases or brush it all over the piece and rub it into the clear wax.  Use as much or as little as you like.  Then follow with more clear wax on a clean cloth to rub off the excess dark wax until you achieve the level you are looking for.  Let the piece dry for several hours or overnight, and then buff the finish in the direction of the grain to achieve a smooth finish.  Whether you're using just the clear wax or a combination of both, make sure you are really working the wax into the paint to create a bond which will firm up and protect your piece over time.

For more inspiration and instruction:  http://www.anniesloan.com/

I love the painted finish of the dresser.  It has a such a smooth hand, and I even like the brush strokes resulting from my novice technique.  I still felt it needed something to tie it into the room and give it that Baliesque vibe, and that's when I remembered the wood carvings I'd seen.  I found three beautiful carved flowers that would fit in the middle of each drawer.  I debated how to attach them and decided not to drill into them, but instead I affixed them with Gorilla Glue.  I searched the net for the perfect knob to compliment the piece, and found some awesome scarab ones at Anthropologie, just about my favorite shop ever.  http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/product/24224487.jsp  I can't wait until they arrive!  Here are some pictures of how the chest looks now.  I love the flower carvings, but I'm not convinced they should stay unpainted.  I'm going to wait until the knobs arrive and see what I think.  I'm leaning toward painting them out to match the dresser, or in an accent color.  What do you think?

Dipping my Toe in the Water

It began with a simple google search:  Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, (hereafter known as ASCP), and my world was rocked.  I found fountains of information on the most incredible blogs, on how to achieve the best results with this elixir.  I discovered ASCP in a lovely shop called High Falootin' Junk in Mt. Dora, FL.  We were on our way to Orlando from our home in Naples, and planned a stop in Mt. Dora to visit the Sid Dicken's retailer there - Noni's Olive Branch, as there are no SD retailers in Naples.  Preposterous!

We made it to Mt. Dora, a lovely little town, around 4:30 PM and snapped up the tiles I'd pre-ordered; along with another I had picked up to gift a friend.  We'd been in the car for hours, and it being close to dinnertime, we had a decision to make:  continue to Orlando to find food at any number of familiar chain restaurants, or see what the locals recommended in Mt. Dora.  We decided on the latter.

Virtually every shop keeper we talked to recommended The Goblin Market (it was fabulous), and it was on our way to find this market, tucked into an alley, that we passed a shop window that bid me enter.  I felt immediately at home with High Falootin' Junk, and the shopkeeper, Denna.  I have always loved painted furniture; even had a small business painting and selling furniture at an antique mall years ago.  I know how time consuming the prep work can be, and when I found out the prep work was virtually eliminated with ASCP, I just had to try some.  Denna had many completed pieces for sale and display so that you could see and feel how a finished piece would look.  I loved the soft hand of the waxed finish; preferring a little dark "heirlooming", but appreciating both.  Such a bevy of beautiful colors!  How to choose?  The choice was easy for me - Duck Egg, so reminiscent of my beloved favorite color - robin's egg.  I picked up a quart of paint and the clear and dark waxes, and was on my way.

Here's a linky to Denna's shop:   highfalootinjunk.com

Several weeks and several painted pieces later, and I am an ASCP groupie.  Having been so moved and impressed by the many blogs I have found in my desire for all things Annie Sloan, I've decided to start one myself.  This blog is not wholly devoted to ASCP.  My appreciation for the products is boundless to be sure, it was the inspiration that got me started,  but ASCP is just a small ripple in the large pond that will irrigate this blog.  Stay tuned for pictures of ASCP pieces I'm working on or have completed, for updates on the eternal bungalow remodel/addition, decorating tips and trends I'm vibing, recipes and insights for farm to table cooking, and bits of yogic wisdom on which to meditate.

Happy Home - Happy Life
Lisa