December so far.....

My goodness....it's been a whole month since my last update!  Well, I have certainly been busy both with my personal life and with Ça Va.  Every since October, I've taken a step in a different direction with inventory and again, with my own personal life.  I felt things needed to shift just a bit as I was starting to get slightly bored with the typical shabby chic style I first started out with.  Now, there is definitely nothing wrong with what I was doing before however I never like to stay with one concept for too long.  Although October's sales took a large dip with the full on Halloween approach, it was nice to get out of the Parisian mind set. Once November came, I decided to put more effort into achieving a more aesthetic driven presentation with my set up as opposed to just having lots of pretty things.  I thought to myself....."hmmm.....how can these pieces function together in one cohesive display?".....and BOOM.....I started visualizing and designing more than ever; working with balancing color, line, and texture more than ever before.  Here are some pictures from the last two shows at The Long Beach Antique Market and The Groves Antique Market in Irvine.

A very modest set up at the Long Beach Antique Market

I've decided to expand my art pieces both by size and by genre.  I've also brought back some vintage clothing that I use to sell a year ago when I sold with my family. 

As for me, I felt that I had to make a change in my health so I hired a personal trainer.  I've always taken pride in being able to lose weight on my own but I always gained it all back over time.  So I realized that I was missing something in the process and that I could use a helping hand. My trainer is fantastic and I couldn't be happier.  He has even motivated me to join a gym which is something I thought I would never ever ever ever do in a million years but here I am; working out at the gym 5 days a week at 5am when they open!  Thus far, I've lost just a little over 15 lbs and my confidence is really coming around while my waist line shrinks little by little.  

I have this chalkboard right next to my front door so that I can be inspired every day.  Thanks for reading and I'll see you at The Rose Bowl Flea Market this Sunday 12-8-13!

Je vois la vie en rose @The Irvine Antique Market

After flipping through several posts on Elle Decor's site, I was really attracted to the use of pink for Fall interior design.  Specifically, I enjoyed the translation from recent fashion designer runway shows use of pink to interior designers using just a touch of pink to highlight an entire setting/room.  Given that I had very little to work with this month, I had to make it count and I think I did considerably well as I received many compliments for my aesthetic and approach.  I suppose that having Edith Piaf playing in the background completed the ingredients list for a pleasant atmosphere.

My 3 big pieces lol White Dining Table, Shipping Crate Bookshelf, and a 4-Pane Mercury Glass Window!

Keeping it simple with white and pink accent frames.

I got these roses in LA in the Flower District but I wish I had more money to spend because the selection is amazing!  Also pictures: Faux Mercury Glass Vase I made. 

I was thrilled to sell the dining table to a young couple who loved it as much as I enjoyed making it.  I was also happy to sell the upcylced shipping crate bookshelf.  I really only had 3 big items and I was successful with moving all of them plus lots of little extras like single pane windows, postcards, Madeliene pans, and other random trinkets.  I also must admit that I was surprised to so well because the flea market location had been moved to a new area and although it was quite a confusing lay out, there were soooooooo many customers out and about that managed to find me.  I definitely love selling at Irvine and am so glad that they did not shut down operation for a bit like they had mentioned during the summer.

Next week is The Rose Bowl Flea where I will have my own full space and more furniture to work with.  See you there!

Ma Chambre....

Even though it was over 90 today here, I decided to stay in-doors and take advantage of some free time that seemed to come out of nowhere.  Now trust me because when you do flea markets and such, free time is such a rare luxury that it's ridiculous.  Of course, that's only if you're doing Flea Markets full time like I do.  Anyways, I've always loved the look of chalkboard walls such as this one I found on Apartmenttherapy.com here:

I love their use of dark rich colors and the soft flickering lights from the tea lights.  I am not completely there with my room as you can see the pink wall and door next to my small partition wall (the other side is my office) but I thought doing my chalkboard wall was going to get things started with a huge punch of change in the original set up.  You can also see one of my Art Deco dressers as well.

Tomorrow's Just an Excuse Away.....

good grief....where to start.....Monty, Dior, Rodin, Le Labo......

My older brother and I....1987?....on my dad's motorcycle

love Burled Walnut....

So that's what I did with my time today! lol  I must admit that I had my sister come in and go through all of my collected items (still in moving boxes no less!) and she arranged everything on top of my dresser.  She's a Visual Communications major and she is immensely immensely talented.