::Vintage Market::

Remember I told you about my wee group of painting mavens?

We're all trying to make a go at flipping furniture and vintage goods, so we're working together brainstorming ideas and sharing techniques and tips.

One of the gals owns a shop in a small lake village nearby, so a few of us schlepped our wares up there and set up a vintage market in her parking lot.

(visit her facebook page here)

Tons of fun.

Here's some pics I snapped of some of our set-ups...

Aimee of Restyled Vintage Designs did the turquoise table and frame set up on the right, and the other items are Sara's of  Revived. 

Look at this crackle!  Aimee is a new retailer for American Paint Company....she also sells out of a shop called Yesterday Once More in Shipshewana IN.

Sara and her hubby Eric brought lots of cool stuff....they turn over items faster than anyone I know!

And here's some yummy-ness from Kari's Cottage in the Woods Creations.  Love her painted yardsticks and signs!  That buffet is done in Annie Sloan's Cream....total bliss.

This was my set up....only brought a few small tables from The Serendipity House and tons of my handmade soap.

When things were slow, I brought along an assortment of paints and waxes, brushes and boards for us to try out new products and techniques.  I didn't get a pic of that because, well, I was playing with paint and waxes....

We've all had a great time getting to know each, sharing ideas and dreams.

I'm excited to see where our little group goes, and we're hoping to add more artists to the flock

I can't wait for the REAL Serendipity House to get itself built so I can host pop-up shows where my painting mavens can showcase their talent :)

Sharing at Claudia's A Favorite Thing party because new friends and vintage markets are definitely a couple of my favorite things!

::Hey Google Friend::

I don't want to lose you.  Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Actually it's just sorrow.

And there's just a wee bit of time left before all 1800+ of your fantabulous faces disappear from my sidebar.

Let's not let that happen, k?

Here's what you do to continue to get your occasional dose of ::cottage instincts::

1. Follow me on Bloglovin;  It's easy, it will transfer your whole ding dang list of blogs in Google Reader in one click, and you can customize them into groups.  Makes my life easy-peasy....

When I stumble onto a blog via a party or a pin, I just open up my bloglovin tab (I keep it on my nav bar), paste that blog's addy into the search, then when it comes up I click 'follow'.  Ta da!

2. You can also follow me via an RSS Feed or email.

3. Or, check me out on Facebook.  

4. I'm also on Pinterest, but that won't let you know when I've posted some new awesomeness here on the blog.

If you do decide to subscribe via a reader or feed, let me know so I can add ya back!

I hate change, and I hate that my teensy tiny robin's nest can't reside on your blog's sidebar anymore.

But let's stay friends.

::Press::

Lookie see what I got in the mail while we were away....

It's a craft magazine from the UK.

I got a wee mention on page 76.  See my window thingy?  I remember doing that project and wondering if it looked too cheesy.  I snapped pics, put 'em on the blog, and it's become my most popular post in 4 years and gone viral on Pinterest.

Ya just never know.  And I didn't even know what SEO was back then.

Not that I know what it is now either, I'm just sayin'.

PS.  They got my blog addy wrong, but I don't care.  I've been published!

Sharing this with my friend Claudia at A Favorite Thing, 'cause this was my favorite thing about my week!

::Off to Florida::

Today Hubs and I are heading south for a business conference in Orlando.

 I won't be minding ::cottage instincts:: much...

Feel free to follow me around on instagram though.

I take exciting pics.  Most of the time.

So, like I said, I won't be around much.

Hopefully, when we get back, this won't be around either:

Contracters were supposed to take this tree down last week so they can begin trenching for our new build.

Yes, I cried when I found out it would have to go.  Yes, I've apologized to it.

See you next week.

::Decorating Dilemmas of Building a House::

Ah, the dilemmas....

On Sunday I got to go to the builder's design center to begin picking out finishes for the new house.
(We had our first of 2 closings today, and the trucks are scheduled to show up by weeks' end! *clap*clap*clap*)

You'd think after 6 months of waiting I'd have everything picked out, no problem.

Annnnd you'd be wrong.

'Cause I change my mind and second guess and get distracted and eat too much ice cream. all.the.time.

Cost is always a factor, so some choices were fairly easy.

Some were pretty hard....I mean, they handed me 2 entire fan decks of paint chips and told me to pick a front door color.

Hello.

Speaking of which, my biggest dilemmas were the front door and the fireplace.

The door I chose first was something like this: 1/2 glass with 3-over-6 panes, 2 flanking full length sidelights with 5 panes:

via

But after getting home and mulling it over, I decided I wasn't sure I wanted panes in the sidelights, and I  was afraid I wouldn't be able to paint over the muntins in the door....Thought it might look too busy with the style of the other windows (see sketch above).

So I changed it to something more like this, and the flanking sidelights would also be plain glass and stop at the same level as the glass on the door.  Love the etching! 

via

BTW, our builder rep is awesome...she smiles her beautiful toothy grin everything I hit her with another "So I was thinking maybe we'd go with *this* instead of...."

Here's a door with a similar sidelight to what we'd do. 

via

But then I really love the long sidelights so I can do treatments like this:

via

The home has a craftsman feel, but I'm trying to soften the hard lines with a more cottage feel....starting with the front door :)

My other big issue was what to do with the fireplace.  Here's a pic of the model to give you an idea of the room.

The mantel is a pretty prominant feature....I would love to do floor to ceiling stacked stone like this:

via

But it's wicked expensive, and I haven't picked out kitchen stuff yet, ha!

I also like this more traditional look:

via

Or this planked look:

via

 Or even *this* planked look:

via

So we told the builder to just drywall everything and leave off any brick or stone or mantel.

Yes, they looked at us like we had six heads.  Something I've gotten used to.

I want to leave my options open....I mean, I *could* find some totally awesome old fireplace surround, yeah? And then plank all around it.  Or use Airstone and add a big ole beam or a chippy old salvaged mantelpiece like the stacked stone pic up thar.  Or only stack the airstones to mantel height and plank above....

So...what do you think?

OH, and most important....outside we're doing plain white siding, sand-colored stacked stone accents on the porch posts and on either side of the garage door, a neutral dimensional roof, added a wee window with a window box over the garage, and a washed turquoise front door, regardless of nuntins, windows, etc. :)

::A Little CeCe Love::

PSSSST...I'm no longer blogging here!

You can now find me at

www.acottagegirl.com

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I love CeCe Caldwell's palette.

The colors are like magic. Happy and fun.

Let me introduce you to Kristen who's wearing a new coat of CeCe's Kentucky Mint.

This Kristen when I met her being taken to the garbage.  Poor Girl.

I gave her some lovin's by sanding her down, painting a couple coats, adding some birdie stencils....big on her front side, wee on her top corner, and sealing with Varathane's Spar Urethane.

I replaced the big blue plaid ceramic knobs with some white ones in my stash that matched the smaller knobs she already had.  Serendipity!

She wanted me to dress her drawers too....so they got a mix of coordinating scrapbook paper.

I think Kristen would look all kinds of awesome in a gender neutral nursery...Kentucky Mint looks fab with so many colors!  Like Memphis Blue, for instance...

Annnnnd here's Lila, painted in CeCe's Memphis Blue!
She was sealed with the Clear Wax.
I was kindly sent samples of both by Kathy at The Vintage Dames after she read about my frustrations with wax.  Isn't that kind?

Lila looked like this when I picked her up.

I gave her two coats and wet distressed her (love doing this, no sanding mess!)

Pretty sure she'd be perfect as a bathside table...

I may have to keep her....

Aren't these two gals beautiful together?

Review:  CeCe's paint seemed very similar to Annie Sloan's, except there was no smell whatsoever.  Really liked that!  Her Clear Wax was definitely easier to spread, also had no smell, but it was still a pain to buff.  Using the Varathane was a pain too...it bubbled up on the second coat.  :(  Had to keep re-sanding.
Still searching for the perfect top coat.....

I'm posting these beauties over at The Serendipity House for locals wanting some happy furniture.

I'l also be doing lots of experimenting this week with painted finishes and top coats if the weather cooperates.  I'll keep ya posted!

Love seeing new followers from bloglovin' and 'likes' on Facebook.....I appreciate every visit!

The girls will be partying at:
Pretty Things, That DIY Party, Restyled Sundays, Mod Mix Monday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, Knick of Time Tuesday, Inspire Me Tuesday, Tweak It Tuesday, The Scoop, Project Inspired{d}, Be Inspired, Tutorials and Tips, Inspiration Exchange, Fluster Buster, Power of Paint, Paint Parade, Open House Party, Home Sweet Home, What We Accomplished Wednesday,Transformation Thursday, Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits, Be Inspired, Shabbilicious Friday, Redoux Link Party, Feathered Nest Friday, Inspire Me Please, Catch as Catch Can, Before and After Party, Party Junk, It's Party Time, Before and After