These R a few of my F*A*V*O*R*I*T*E things!

A Teacup Chandelier...and in my favorite Blue & Whites...

Stopping by my favorite place at Aunt Bee's! The first thing you find is her glass jar of cookies to your right on the counter! I'll have one today Aunt Bee, Thank You! :)
Next to the cookie jar, you'll find her business cards...she's the SWEETEST lady you'll ever meet!
She serves piping hot coffee to drink free while I roam the 70+ vendors in her Antique Shoppe
How can I not fall in love with this oil on canvas?
And teacups galore, this one was "only" $4~
I couldn't walk away without falling in love with this pink hand inscribed bedroom dresser...Oh, how I want that! It spells out PINK just walking by it! Lovin it... This caught my eye as SOON as I walked in! French & Fab!

This next item,only $8! A "totally" fabulous purchase! I can't wait to wear a vintage black dress and wear this little lady! You'll see her below with a special piece in my collection of vintage wear!

These little piggies cried all the way home...not really! :) But they'd like to! I already have my own Kitchen Piglet - these are ONLY $15 or less. I think they are $13.99. If you're interested in them, post a comment and I'll call Aunt Bee to see if they are still there. They ARE a super catch! The little chalkboards are removable too.

How do you like my vintage hat with the vintage black slip that belonged to my grandmother? I want to get a pic wearing these together... Vintage is SO chic! The armoire was a great purchase at a yardsale two years ago for $75. We use it for the TV in the Pink Guest room!

This, "I HOPE" will be the next hat I add to my collection! She's only $10! Can't you just see this on me? I can too! ;)

And this lovely? She's a plant......I met her at the Athens GA Botanical gardens last week. Isn't she a BEAUTY?

Thanks for dropping by and enjoying a few of my favorite things!

Hugs to all~

~CC Catherine

Be sure to drop by this week to visit the following and enjoy many other interesting & favorite things!

• Sally at Smiling Sally's on Blue Monday
• Tam at The Gypsy's Corner on Three or More Tuesday
• Susan at A Southern Daydreamer on Outdoor Wednesday
• Beverly at How Sweet the Sound on Pink Saturday
  

Primrose Lane ~ A Sweet Vintage Haven both Inside & Out!

In a little piece of Heaven on Earth, you'll find Primrose Lane. She's a little Vintage Boutique in Franklin, NC. June is the owner of the boutique, and she's just as sweet as the shoppe's name!

I fell in love with this little Haven and just had to snap pics with June's approval to share with all my friends in Blogland. I have nothing to gain from sharing June's information, with the exception of a sense of hope that we will all keep her in business by visiting her if you're in the Franklin, NC area. I want her to never fade away, nor the boutique! ;)

Here you will find precious ornament chandeliers & floral umbrellas hanging from the lattice suspended from the ceiling... Parisian items for all us Francois lovers, chic hats for all occasions, shawls, teacups, and on an on and on! To the right of her entryway of the boutique you'll see a Bistro Tablescape all set up, as if to invite you in to sit and stay awhile! Tea anyone? ;)

The photo of the home outside is one taken nearby Primrose Lane that I couldn't resist sharing, somehow it made it's way into this post! ;)

And for the finale in the Primrose Lane post, you can finish the visit off in the nearby Coffee Haus & Pub if you've overspent your budget when you visit her in Franklin! ;) On the opposite side of this Coffee Haus is a great big Antique Barn that we enjoyed and it was "BIG"! ;)

Be sure to drop by the following blogs this week to enjoy all the other wonderful posts:

Outdoor Wednesday with Susan

Tablescape Thursday with Susan

Hope you've enjoyed your visit at Primrose Lane today! Give June a call if you've seen something you can't live without! I'm sure she'd be happy to ship something to your door, for sure! ;)

You can also email her at hjune2@gmail.com to let her know how much you enjoyed learning about her boutique in this post if you like! I'm sure she'd appreciate the hello and feedback on the items featured in this post.

~CC Catherine

Strolling through life one day at a time while breathing in the spectaculars along the way!

Welcome Friends!

Open the door & come on in to see the places & things I got to experience in my journey up North the past two weeks.

As you walk through this "Mystery Door", you'll be amazed at where it's going to lead you in the small rural community I grew up in...I sure was!

It leads you to this porch that overlooks a pond that was owned by my 6th grade teacher many moons ago! His daughter now owns the property and built this fabulous porch that overlooks the family pond that my Great Uncle fished at when I was a young girl.
This is the view of the external "faux" windows and flower boxes that greet you when you walk up to the building.

As you can see from the rear side of the building...the door is screened, the opposite side of the door that has the lace is on the porch entry side, which really makes you feel like you're indoors.

What you cannot see is the fact that there is a fountain on the top of the tin roof that with the flip of a switch becomes a recycled water pump/fountain from the water in the pond. The rain falls off the edge of the roof and you sit and breathe in the beauty, as well as hear the sound of the rain trickling down... The love seat rocker makes a great addition to allow you to rock & enjoy!

Then on to CT to an ice cream shoppe, this was in their flower garden which I found quite amusing...but sweet! See the hula dancers?

A drive down a few side streets in CT proved to me that New England states know how to showcase that Cottage look I so love...check out these posies on a side porch~

I had to grab this CT home with the Pink Door for my Pink friend Claudie! The side door was pink also......and it was a dream to see it matched the pink geraniums in the front door! :)

This home was my favorite. The blue/white awnings were on three sides of the home. Gorgeous!

Then to a little antiquing in Glastonbury CT. Deb, check out this rooster painting! Superb!

This little mirror is for a small child, if I would've had a pickup truck, it would have come home with me for my grandie! It was only $70 and was in great shape!

French Pottery I adored...couldn't miss snapping them!

What a chic showcase, couldn't resist! And, she had pink netting sashed on the mannequin!

Last, but NEVER least, a Chandie made out of brass & marble! I still am considering calling the shop and having it shipped to me. It was GORGEOUS!

Well, thanks for coming on my little tour!
I hope to share later this week the exciting trip we had when we visited Franklin, NC recently.

Hugs to all my blogging friends~

And drop by Susan's on Wednesday to enjoy her Outdoor Wednesday where you'll see other great outdoor shots, I'm sure!

Merci~

~CC Catherine

~Recycled Creations Inspire me...so I spent the weekend creating!

There's something about gifts & packaging made out of recycled items that I love ~ they are pieces of Art that I adore~they become heirlooms to moi~ It amazes me of the talent my friends Julie & Claudie have. (go visit them, they are both extremely Francois & chic cool ladies)

The card below sits on my mantel to this day and I read it over and over again every time I walk by it. Each meticulous cut and trinket they attached morphed into this delicate and chic with French influence piece of art for me that they gave me their last morning here back in March.

Not only is it beautiful ~ but it wasn't till after they left that I realized (1) of them even bequeathed me a piece of her monogrammed jeweled pin to make it even more of a heartstring gift~The Rhinestone Letter "C" that hangs on the bow.
So, this weekend I was packaging up some trinkets, baubles, and gifts I had been collecting to mail to each of them in Canada, and I couldn't help but wanna return the creativity favor! ( I can't show everything, but this will give you some great ideas ~ and it will give them a sneak preview of some of the features of their cards and wrapping!

This card is made out of a lovely striped cardboard that was on the top of a box of candy or cookies. It was too pretty to throw away, so I kept it for a rainy day. The little friend pups I cut from a card that was given to me from a "PUP" I dog sit. (I can't bear to throw cards away) The coin is new that I bought from Cracker Barrel...and with just the right cut here and there...and doubleside tape for the coin...this is a card for my PINK friend~

Next, I'm gonna show you the whim that came over me when I was ready to wrap some of their packages! All you need for this is what you see above. Something to cut your paper, Takkon strips to make attaching the paper & pics to your boxes/paper. A punch corner cutter, see how pretty & adorned the edges of the paper look above.

And last but not least, a plain small box. (Approximately 8x10 inches)

And don't forget some trim for the side of the box ~ since the box is not going to be wrapped in traditional all over wrap, this will be how you dress up the sides in some cases!

You guessed it right, this is for my Pink friend, we all know who she is and where she lives! She's mad about Audrey, and so I decided to do some photoshopping and quote finding of Audrey's and use that to adorn the package back... (yes, backside) ;)

Side view...

And front view ~Notice the adorable Tiffany diamond ring that I found antiquing in Franklin, NC just last weekend~ It totally gave it the Audrey Hepburn/Breakfast at Tiffany's bauble accent that it needed. All my friend needs to do when she gets this gift is gently remove the ribbon (it's not taped on) then cut two small pieces of tape that is holding the box lid on...remove her gift, and reattach the box lid for her memory box to keep our letters in that we from blog land send her! :)

Since I was wrapping for "two" friends that I adore~ Claudie brought Julie to meet me back in March...and now she's sharing her friendship of Julie with me too. What a gal~ :) Above you'll see that I took two vintage hankies to wrap a small gift for each of them. The floral hankie is tied together with a lace shoelace that I kept throughout the years and never used. I only had one...and it was perfect to tie up the giftwrap~

And, now...for my Vintage friend Julie~ You see, Julie loves everything vintage...and especially clothes, hats, and such~ So, this box was designed and created with her love of design and art...with a bit of vintage recipes that I photocopied from a book that is over 100 years old that belonged to my great great MeMe.

Here are the items that I used to create with...laid out randomly...

Instead of using ribbon that didn't feel vintage to trim the sides of the box...I went with buttons instead...and to keep with the vintage feel...I went with basic blacks, greys, and tortoise shell brown tone buttons and one cream designer flat stone for the front & back side.

The photos I took a couple years back while antiquing and they just had Julie's name written all over them. (back side of box)

And front side of box...Julie loves to wear the color black~and this dress would look Francois & chic on you my darling~ ;) And, no, not done yet... Using some old French newspapers from my visit to Paris & Dijon back in 2001, I photocopied some small sections for more small wraps. Check it out below~

Who would have know that in 2001...when I brought this French Newspaper home that I'd meet two French Canadian friends in 2009/2010, and one of them would be all about Audrey Hepburn...notice the article about Audrey on the paper~ :) Amazing...

The personalized card attached to the copied newspaper wrap was made from a photo that I took in a sweet vintage shop in Franklin, NC called Primrose Lane. The shop owners name is June Hernandez and I'm sure she'd love to sell some of these finger "tipless" fishnet black gloves~ They're on my shopping list for the next time I visit her shop~ I simply added some text to the pic...made a teency hole in the top left to slide a paper flower in it and "voila"...it's my personalized touch that says how much I adore & treasure these two GEMS of friends~

Am I ever gonna be done? Probably not...I spent the entire weekend alone having a blast wrapping their gifts...one more quick idea~ Here is a small pink doily that I found antiquing in Franklin..folded it in half...interwove some pink sheer ribbon along the sides & bottom, slipped in my little gift..and...

attached another little handmade card from a "too pretty to touch" tea set from June's shop that is available for purchase at Primrose Lane (Shope# 828-524-9258). No, I'm not getting commission, I just love small business owners and believe if we don't support them, they'll go away in this economy...so, go to Facebook and search for Primrose Lane and get connected with June~ I'm going to feature here in my next post so you can see "many" of the great items she carries in her precious Vintage & Chic boutique~

And, for my vintage friend...I think I got "p*r*e*t*t*y" creative making this card for you my dear~ Can't wait for you to get it~ And, yes, I was at Caffe REL when the pic was taken for my 28th Wedding Anniversary one week ago~ For anyone in the Franklin, NC area ~ or within driving distance...it's a MUST~

Well friends,

Au Revoir for now...

be back in a few to talk more about Primrose Lane...and how we need to support June so she keeps her doors open! We need to show her how the lovers of vintage & chic rally the troops in Blogland, and believe me, when you see what she has in her shop....she'll need a receptionist to take the phone orders she's going to get~

Since this is Monday, and my friend Susan loves seeing things morph from one thing to the next, thought I'd join her and the group today. Be sure to stop by her place to see more things that morph on Mondays~