Show Girl

Summer is a bit of a Bermuda Triangle for shows...Kind of hit and miss...Spread Out...Nothing Major but good for catching up and planning for the Fall Shows...Which I am SUPER excited about! There are some really great shows we get to be a part of this year and I've been running thru booth ideas and wanted to share some of the inspiration~

I'm thinking of going with a more pale...shimmery...frosty...forest...fall type of feel...basically a magical fall forest of muted neutrals and earthy elements!

I love these interiors that are a combination of mainly neutrals with some dark tones and garden outdoor type elements which make them a bit more "homey".

It's funny how you can find a booth design idea in the smallest most random element....sparkly chandeliers...collections of plates... a nice curve on a chair~

The Scallop on a Table~

Aren't those windows amazing?? and that Chair?

Basically everything about this makes me SWOON~

And a Splash of the perfect Watermelon Pink and French Teal to make it fun.

Can't wait for the Shows!!

Bella Rustica- August 23-24 at Legacy Farms-

http://www.bellarustica.org/

City Farmhouse Barn Show- October 11-12-

http://www.cityfarmhousefranklin.com/pop-up-barn-show.html

xoxo Aspen

https://www.facebook.com/TheDoveCoteBrocante

https://www.facebook.com/ThreadsbyTheDoveCote

Photos- www.Homedit.com, http://www.interiordesignpro.org/blog/french-interior-design,http://interiordesignfiles.com/2012/01/comfort-and-balance-designers-country.html,http://www.homesideas.net/shabby-chic-interior-designs/french-shabby-chic-interior-design/,http://www.interiordesignforhouses.com/kitchen-design-for-houses/french-country-bedrooms-american-country-interior-design-romanie/

The Pay It Forward Box- GIVEAWAY!

GIVEAWAY of a New Kind!

I wanted to try something a little different, something that would maybe have a little longer effect....maybe brighten someone's day.  So this is my idea....

 

Let's do a giveaway for Shop Owners (online, shows, or storefront) or a Charity or Even an individual who wants to do some good for someone else.

 

I am going to send a Giveaway Box (my Pay It Forward) with at least 10 items....could be all jewelry, could be a mix of jewelry and vintage(!) to an individual who is willing to sell the items in their shop and donate 25% of those proceeds to Paying it Forward in their community or their favorite charity!

 

I will leave the decision of how you Pay it Forward up to the individual who wins....Donate the money how you best see fit with the condition that whoever receives it Pays it Forward as well~

  

How To Enter:

1. Leave me a comment on our Facebook Page letting me know your Business Name and Info

(Email + Website)

 

2. Like+ Share our Page and the Giveaway Link

 

3. Start Paying It Forward= For Each Act of Paying It Forward you will get an additional entry in the Giveaway! Just leave me a note on our Facebook Page letting me know when you have!

 

4. The Winner will need to update us at the end to let us know how the Donation was used to help someone out <3

 

The Dove Cote Brocante on Facebook

thedovecoteshop@gmail.com

 

Let's Do Some Good!

xoxo Aspen

 

 

The Prairie and Rachel Ashwell

It's hard to believe I've been gone for almost 3 weeks between Round Top and then the market in Atlanta but it sure is good to be home. I took a bunch of pics of Round Top that I want to share but thought I would share something juicy first! While we were in Texas I made friends with a wonderful vendor who's sarcasm is as on point as her beautiful style. Needless to say she was a hoot to be around and invited me to go with her to Rachel Ashwell's The Prairie for a book signing for her new book and her feature in Where Women Create.....Kill me now what a dream!

I tried to take as many pics as possible to share but I will warn...they are not super great since I didn't want to look like a loser taking pics of everything! This is one of her beautiful outbuildings surrounded by flowers that basically smelled like heaven. The smell of flowers was so strong I basically thought it was fake :)

Not sure what treasure was hidden behind those doors...but I can only imagine~

Horrible pic but this is where the signing was held and these are some gorgeous interior pics~

I wanted badly to smuggle this bench out under my dress...

Killer chair huh? The doll I went to the party with sold it to Rachel...she has phenomenal taste! Trust me her booth was just as good!

Drum Roll.....I present to you...

Rachel herself~

The only downside was I couldn't bring my mom...I felt like a dirty rotten traitor!

On the property is also the shop which was packed to the rafters and filled with treasures~

If you're nosy like me you would want to know that some of this was picked while the show was going on in Round Top and Warrenton and several days she was walking around shopping...just like us mere design mortals :)

Lovely...so lovely!

I cannot wait until the next show...hopefully there will be another event at The Prairie!

Store Displays & Flea Market Booths

I have always loved window displays and floor displays. I love that you can use so many differing objects to create a little moment in time and probably hands down some of the most inspiring displays are from Anthropologie! Yesterday when we were there we noticed their amazing oversized flowers made out of what we determined to be Q-tips, styrofoam balls and paper...they were magical!

I thought I would share some of my favorite store displays & Flea Market Booths from my Pinterest Board~

Maissa Toulet via The Caledonian Mining Expedition Company

European Antique Market

Who else but Atelier de Campagne~

Whimsy Decor

Flea Market Booth via Dreamy Whites

Alamdea Flea Market Via Pinterest

That horseshoe is out of this world~~~~

London Markets

I basically spent the majority of my trip hunting junk even though "technically" I was there to visit a friend. Thank heavens my friend loves the hunt as much as I do because we made it to around 4 different markets and it's exhausting hauling around treasures all day long! I did want to share some pics and the markets I went to in case anyone is planning a trip or vacation and wants a couple easy markets to get to.

One of the first markets I found (by accident) turned out to be one of the best. We were over at Spitalfield Market and there are 2 sections. The first section has clothes and jewelry and typical street fair type merchandise but the second side has some great antiques and is under a covered awning which is perfect for London's tempermental weather.

OOOHHH how I wanted this!

In the left hand corner there are some hand thrown Victorian Clay pots....

From what I can gather this market is open Tues-Fri and again on Sunday and is well worth the short Tube ride over. There is also plenty of eating and other shoping the area if you run out of junk to buy!

So this little lovely of a market is a short walk from the Wimbledon Park Tube stop and is a cross between a  huge yard sale and a flea market. Some booths are just junk (of the bad variety) but there are plenty that are Junk (of the "I hear angels singing" variety).

Basically it's what's called a Car Boot Sale (hence all the cars) so everyone pulls their car into their space and sells stuff out of the back. It was one of my favorite markets, the pictures can't do it justice, because the prices are much cheaper and you never know what someone has brought out of ther barn or home to sell for the day.

1930's Faux Bois Planters

I'm fairly certain bicycles don't get much prettier (under all that dirt!) Leather seats and Beautiful colors!

I did get quite a few things at this market including 2 Leather Cases, Metal Childrens Animals, Ivory (?) Dominoes and old Leather Shin Guards and a Leather Measuring Tape.

The last market I found was the Monday Antique Market at Covent Gardens and there was just as much treasure there as everywhere else~

Look at those Bread Tins!

Such a great trip!

 

London Loot at a Portobello Shop

I had every intention of writing from London last week but alas after walking all day toting around junk sent from heaven it was all I could do to crawl into bed!

I'm kind of surprised at how many markets I actually stumbled into and how easy and how much fun it was negotiating with the English dealers, bringing all the junk home however was a different story....

My first adventure was down Portobello Rd. I had read that they had weekend markets with lots of street vendors but wasn't sure if it was going to be junk or JUNK (of the good variety). The first shop I ran into I basically moved in. The owner was this wonderful man who has the same obsession with American antiques (in particular our flag) as I do with English treasures. He said he hope to marry an American so he can move over and junk to his hearts content! Such a kindred spirit~

These are some shots of his lovely shop Jensen & Ballantine just off Portobello Rd~

I honestly thought I was about to move in and have tea in his shop and he was going to be

my new best "junk friend"

I almost died when I saw this wall bird cage....we just got those in the shop last week! What are the chances?? The owner was nice enough to give me the lowdown for the street market (go Friday and not Saturday...boy was he right!!) but since it was only Wednesdy I wandered a little bit and ran across some other shops that make you want to hit someone in excitement...unfortunately no one was with me so I took pics and had an entire conversation about how absolutely wonderful this day was!

Portobello Rd has several antique shops (for buyers not shop owners looking for resale) that are out of this world. This was hands down the best most fantastical shop that made my heart stop. I actually went in the side entrance and didn't move for several minutes because it was everything I had ever dreamed of finding all crammed in one space, piled high to the ceiling and a huge sign saying "NO PICTURES"...I'm so sorry!!! There were childrens riding toys (seals, lions, sheep) hanging from the ceiling, flag pendants and banners along the walls, marmalade jars stacked and virtually every space was crammed with treasure.  The only pic I could get was of the outside but you can tell it was a sight to behold!

When I walked into this shop's backroom I thought...Yup I've hit the motherload! Then I checked the prices and had a mini stroke and realized they may actually like there metal numbers quite a bit more than we do. No even the mini was affordable...

Even now looking back at these pics I'm slightly obsessed with all the little treasures~

Slightly off the subject of junk- there is this clothing store in the UK called All Saints that I've loved for a long time now and their current window display is unreal...imagine 4 walls over 14ft high of this~

All of these are Gold Lettered Singers...I wonder what they do with them when they're done?

I do have more pics of junk and am working on another post for those of you that want to do some junking in London so you can have the low down too!