I had a great day today at our February Tag Sale. I won't lie, great business always makes my day, but more than anything, it's the relationships and interactions with really great people that leave lasting impressions with me. Today was no exception, I was smiling before I even hit the front doors as I ran into my good friend, Ashley in the parking lot, beating me to my own sale. Ashley is a teacher and since we were on another 2 hour delay, she decided she was going to make good use of her time (dragging 4 kids along) and high tail it to our event. Love her. Then there is Meredith, who I don't think has missed one sale and usually comes to at least 2 of our 3 days. She is our ultimate cheerleader, making us feel as though we can do no wrong. Love her too! Next I run into Marilyn who I haven't seen in a couple of months, so I was delighted to see her with her sweet little girl. Even more delighted that she brought me my favorite cookie (Rosemary Sugar Cookie) of all time from Moxie Bakery. I love that she was thinking of me and took the time to do that. Should I say it? Yes. Love her too!

Despite the lack of close parking and wet, muddy conditions, everyone seemed so happy that we were just open. I heard from many that we had so much fun stuff, they were having a hard time choosing. I heard another lady say she was escaping to the barn for an hour to decompress. It's a great community, one I enjoy being a part of.

I'm heading to an auction tomorrow, will post pics of the goodies I find. Saule will be down at the barn with Champagne and Cake Bites. Hope she saves me one. Oh, and speaking of Saule, her sofa came back from the upholsterer today & it is yummy! Nice work.

I was just sitting here thinking about how fun our job is yet how time consuming it can be, since we're fairly obsessed with it. What aspect of our obsession should we blog about next? I then thought about the support we get from our husbands to make it all happen and think they should get a little "shout out!"

Here's to our guys for watching our 3 kids (each) evenings and weekends and sometimes on lunch hours while we spend many hours at an auction, or while we're at Chartreuse/Crossroads: ticketing, cleaning, re-arranging & helping customers. Here's to them for being basketball/soccer coaches on Saturday's and then taking all 3 kids to the grocery store & the park! Here's to them for helping us haul some ridiculously heavy item out of our cars when we arrive home at 11 pm and not complaining about it. Last but not least, here's to Dan & Chris for believing in us!!

xo,

Saule & Angelique

Spent the day getting grubby, searching for great finds at an estate sale today and I feel just great about it! The 1st part of the morning I was ping-ponging myself between two auctioneers, afraid I was going to miss some of the items I was stalking. I managed to get all I had set out to, with the exception of a few great pieces that far exceeded my price expectations. Saule the Savior showed up just in time to help haul it all home. A few of the items (a super-cool picnic table/benches from a Munich Beer Garden—I just LOVE it—it's orange painted wood & has collapsible metal legs) will go into storage until maybe May & some items are part of our stash for the Lucketts Annual Fair and a truckload went down to the barn today.

After we finished loading & unloading from the estate sale & then from storage, we headed down to the barn to start the visual transformation for the February 2010 Tag Sale. After a brief, muddy,4-wheel-drive not working, stuck-in-the-mud experience, we got even dirtier tearing our space apart and drilling holes in the old barn ceiling. I'm really excited about how fresh the floor will look this month: many new vintage items, a slew of new custom throw pillows all coordinated with a Modern Global aesthetic which is very hot right now in the decorating world. We're pulling this look off with our usual assortment of great vintage/antique finds in rich woods and adding in crisp white painted furniture. Our new pillows have some really cool graphics (black & white Buddha, rice bag graphics, blue & orange elephants to list a few) and we're having some custom made in a black & white Ikat fabric that adds a modern yet global graphic to ground some of the fabulous, saturated color.

Some lovely accessories to round out our visuals came from the estate sale today: a set of Indonesian brass bowls (so pretty) and an antique wall hanging from an Ivory Coast African tribe. We still have many hours of work to do to turn our visuals into reality but we're off to a good start. Yes, today we spent many hours on our feet, getting dirty and lifting furniture but all in all I would say it was a rather satisfying day.

xo,

Saule & Angelique

We spent most of our day yesterday at an auction and are pleased with what we came home with, making the 7 hours and dirty jeans worth it. All the usual suspects were there as well as new faces, including a woman that didn't know the meaning of personal space, ugh. One nice older gentleman helped us carry a cool, old Galvanized Double Wash Tub that we will have available at Lucketts, VA in May. On the flip side of that, I busted a man helping himself to an old locker (painted a chippy seafoam green) we bought and I hadn't gotten around to loading in my car. The locker will be available at Lucketts also in May.

We also bought a Victorian Camel Back Sofa (we'll name her Sofia), with carved feet & NAILHEAD TRIM (a feature we LOVE!). It's current upholstery is a hideous green but we think it would look spectacular in a gray & ivory modern geometric. I love the contrast of traditional with modern & fresh. The fabric we're considering has a soft neutral palette and the pattern is pretty & interesting. Leave your comment to let us know your thoughts. We thought about keeping it neutral (an ivory canvas, maybe) to appeal to a larger group, but that just doesn't seem to do the lines of Sofia justice.

Some of the other great finds, to list a few:

-2 antique chandeliers, dripping with crystals

-a beautiful carved buffet

-Victorian lamp

-50's metal lawn chairs, painted a chippy gray

-silver plate trays, pitchers, etc

-kitch-y Highballs

-monogrammed (letter B) highballs with an ice bucket all in a carrying caddy

And the list goes on & on. Many of these finds will be at Chartreuse&co Feb 19-21 for our monthly Tag Sale. We're headed to another auction Saturday, will post pic's. Wish us luck!

xo,

Saule & Angelique

Top 5 Reasons to Shop Silk&Burlap Saturday 1/16/2010 at Chartreuse&co:

1.) Awesome inventory of vintage/antique furniture, accessories, decor, salvage

2.) Many items on SALE January 16

3.) New merchandise

4.) Fran, from &Coco, will be there with all her glorious bling, bling

5.) Complimentary Cake Bites from Snickety Snacks

Really, what's not to love about this set up!? Vintage+SALE+Bling+Cake Bites = Heaven! I know everyone knows vintage but if you haven't experienced Brittanie Reed's amazing cake bites, you're missing a small bite of heaven and just like Saule said in a previous post, Fran's creations are absolute "eye candy." I wear my beautiful bling-y bracelet (a gift from my very stylish friend, Saule) any chance I get and wave my arm around like a woman with a new engagement ring on her finger.

I'm looking forward to catching up with all our friends & eating Brittanie's Cake Bites (2 sounds like a perfect breakfast to compliment the Starbuck's coffee Virginia will be providing).

I LOVE, love, love going to auctions/estate sales! I even love driving to them, anticipating what great treasures are there waiting for me to find. I love finding things from an era gone by, touching pieces from a simpler time. It's so fun to see so many old things from different time periods: I love the fussiness of Victorian paired with primitive farmhouse. It's really just record of the way we've lived.

Last nights auction was packed with all the usual characters. At 1st I thought it would be a bust since most things were going for way too much money and the competition was fierce—-January has been an auction drought. Despite what I thought, we drove away with a truck full of finds that will fit perfectly with what we have in store for the upcoming months. My favorite item is an antique setee, upholstered in an intriguing saffron jacquard fabric, which we think will be so funky/pretty with the black ikat, pink/black damask and graphic throw pillows from Rhadi.

Looks like January's auction drought may be lessening as I just found another auction to hit next week. Wish us luck:-)!!

Silk&Burlap kicked off the holiday season in style with our holiday pre-sale party, complete with good friends/customers, Chartinis, twinkle lights & candle light. We had a terrific weekend, it seems everyone is feeling festive. Many dining tables, buffets, china cabinets were walking out the door this weekend as customers are planning to entertain/dine in style! To complete or enhance the dining experience we had some fabulous vintage finds go fast, such as 2 glass turkey compotes, a gorgeous candelabra (my personal fav, found by Saule) and punch cups used as votive holders. I am very excited for our upcoming sale this weekend since I will be bringing in even more vintage treasures. I am hitting auctions Wed, Thur & Sat morning before work. If you were at the barn on Friday then you may have missed some of the great finds Saule picked up at an auction last Saturday. The beautiful dresser/server sold 5 minutes after it was placed on our floor but she also found an incredible, rare steamer trunk, complete with the drawers & original hangers inside. I'd love to place that next to the door before my next trip, telling my husband I only have 1 bag!! Hope to be blogging about all the great treasures I find at the upcoming auctions. Will post pics too in a day or so.
xo,
Angelique