Handmade Holidays

Join me and all of the other handmade, vintage and indie sellers out there - and take the pledge!

Town Wide Tag Sale Day One

Good evening!  WOW!  Long day.  What incredible Autumn weather we are having for this tag sale.  The only thing we might find to complain about was the heavy morning dew, but who could complain about that?

  

Jennifer - smiling as usual!  

How fabulous is it, to have a friend lend you their front yard for a huge sale like this, and help me out to boot?  Pinch me!

 Jewelry off to the left, a great buffet and castle painting on the right.

 The fun table - full of vintage style toys - these are available everyday ay Everyday Elegance, 600 Main Street, Purcellville,VA. 

 A great work table of Jennifer's - filled with lots of my vintage kitchen smalls.

 A beautiful farm table of Jennifer's - with hours and hours worth of my Mom's knitting.  All of the proceeds of the knitted goods will go to Saint Mary's Church in York, PA.

 Two adorable blue and white pieces - a chest of drawers and a dresser with a mirror.

 The Man Cave area.  A cool whirligig and Red Eye sign, club chair, deer head with hoof hooks, English riding saddle, and light up fireplace logs (my fav)!

 The 'Primitive' section - a popcorn popper, wood fruit crate, a great 1930s side table, 2 sweet hand painted chairs, milk cooler (you remember - when the milkman delivered milk to your front porch?!), a cute, primitive kid's table, and lots of spindles, and bobbins from a textile mill.

The cozy Christmas area - a few chairs, a Victorian love seat, oriental runner - and of course - some Christmas decorations!
It was a busy, but fun day.  We had lots of happy customers, kids and adults alike.  

 All closed up for the evening!  We covered everything tonight - so less morning dew to deal with tomorrow.  If you get a chance - stop by and say HI tomorrow.  

We would love to see you at "The Best Tag Sale in Town".  

Our sign claims it, and our customers confirmed it!

Pleasant Valley Fire Department Saturday Fun

These are photos from last year - This year's event was held this past Saturday - August 7th and was great fun!

The event starts at 9 am and goes until ?  They have a field full of sweet vintage and antique cars, a dozen or so flea market vendors, delicious chicken barbeque and great 'oldies' music piped in over a loudspeaker.

Ginna with her dream car of the moment - "But Mom - it's only $5,500"!  OK - these days that's not a bad price - and what a sweet ride it is!

The flea market area with some fun finds.

Some of the great stuff I found from last year's show - many of which I still have to list!  And I found even more cool stuff this year!

Day Two of the Transformation

Two days - two people and a dog - I would have never thought it possible. The transformation in the barn at Really Great Finds is complete! Of course I could add more - and will - but this is a great start!After the paint dried...We starting moving in furniture.

Our rescue dog Cali helped out both days. When she wasn't following us back and forth and up and down the stairs, she cuddled up on her bed by the heater.

TA DA!

A little further along - with a dining table and chairs, little red, kitchen cupboard, end table, and a large wood framed vintage mirror.

A corner of the room with a closer look at a great 1950s mod pink and grey tea or coffee set.

The cutest red hutch! Perfect in a cozy kitchen, dining room, or even the family room!

Cozy corner with some of my hand painted signs, a 1930s green painted one drawer table and more.

A beautiful silhouette of a bed with coordinating nightstand - vintage 1960s Ethan Allen.

My handmade 100% cotton cloths paired with yummy soaps - private labeled for me by Dick and Julie at The Parsonage.

So there it is - Fresh, bright and pretty - just in time for Spring - a breath of fresh air and new beginnings!

A Clean Slate at Really Great Finds

Here's the latest news from Bittersweet Design Studio at Really Great Finds:

I am moving from the Garden Room in the big house - out to the upstairs back room in the barn. My husband Bob, pictured below, graciously painted the back and side walls (Sherwin Williams paint - color - Aqueduct), as well as the floor ($5.00 gallon of paint - Sand color - from the Re-Store - Habitat for Humanity's retail store in Purcellville). So here it is - a Clean Slate - just waiting for goodies from Bittersweet Design Studio. We will be moving in some furniture and smalls tomorrow. Donna Horton - who has tons of cool vintage stuff will be moving most of her goodies from the barn into the house.
Check back here tomorrow - we'll have more pics of our work in progress!

French Provincial Bedroom Furniture from Bittersweet Design Studio at Really Great Finds

Vintage 1960s Bassett French Provincial Bedroom Set

Included in this newly repainted set are: a bed, chest of drawers, dresser, mirror, and night stand. Also available - a slightly newer (late 1960s!) coordinating desk. Dressing the bed and also for sale - two Pottery Barn toile shams and a spread, and an awesome 1960s/70s vintage flower power, spring/summer bedspread. Interested? Contact me for prices! bittersweetdesignstudio@gmail.com

Love is in the air

Love Is In The Air from Betty's Blog - a 'too cute' blog full of recipes and visual goodness. Betty's was sweet to feature one of my vintage necklaces (above) along with some other wonderful items for Valentine's Day!

Snowfall dampens Holiday Nesting Open House

Bittersweet Design Studio amid the snowfall of Saturday December 19th.

This photo was taken at 7:00 am. It is still snowing like crazy at 9:30. I suspect that no one will stop by for the Holiday Nesting Open House today...

If you would like to shop with me today - check out my Etsy shop, or my Artfire shop - click on the photo links on the left hand side of my blog.

I will be happy to open for you, prior to Christmas, upon appointment. Simply post a comment below or email me: bittersweetdesignstudio@gmail.com

Holiday Nesting Open House

Holiday Nesting Open House

Bittersweet Design Studio and Moonshine Essentials
December 18 and 19 from 12 noon to 5 pm

Directions: From Route 7 east or west - Take Route 9 west - go approximately 1/2 mile - immediately after the traffic light get ready to turn left on to Simpson Circle.
The shop is just up the gravel lane from the first house on the right. There will be a sign. You can park along Simpson Circle.
We hope to see you!

Welcome and thanks for stopping by! Please join us for our last event of this Christmas season, our 16th annual open house. Not only will we treat you to some yummy homemade breads,a db somehting hot to drink, we will also send you off in style - everything you purchase will be packaged or bagged for gift giving.

If you have been here within the past year, you know that we are an ever evolving shop, and that once more we have honed our focus. In many ways, our focus has shifted towards ‘hearth and home’, and being ‘green’. You will find many more of our handmade products (knitting, jewelry, note cards, wreaths), and those of our friends (handbags, candles, soap) and more, as well as a larger variety of vintage items, from furniture to home décor - and of course cool vintage Christmas. My daughter and I have also included clothing and accessories in our vintage line – including outerwear, formal wear, lingerie, handbags, and hats. As usual we are having just plain fun!

Bittersweet Design Studio at Really Great Finds

Just a few photos from the Garden Room at Really Great Finds in Purcellville.

Some great vintage Made in USA glass cookie platters - I have about a dozen? of these in various designs.

Aluminum 'feather tree' showcasing vintage ornaments.

The Christmassy red hutch has a variety of hand painted snowman items and snowflake plates, platter and tray. The top - not shown - is filled with those wonderful vintage, glazed greenware, electrified Christmas trees with the little plastic 'bulbs'.

Treasuries - Two in One Day

Take a look at these two Etsy Treasuries -
The theme for the first one is teardrops by www.PynkRoseDesigns.etsy.com view it at :
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=73956

and the theme for the second is horns of plenty or cornucopia by www.morrigae.etsy.com view it at: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=73897

Many thanks to these two Etsy shops for featuring:
Pair of milk glass vases - teardrop pattern
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=27852081
and a vintage ceramic cornucopia
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31874727

How fortunate to be featured in two treasuries in one day!

The video is up...please vote for us!

After several days of hard work, the video is now up on Etsy's site and ready for your votes!

To view it, just follow this link: http://www.etsy.tv/video/If-Etsy-were-a-person

Just a note...it has audio, so you may want to turn the volume down if you're watching in a public/work place.

Hello Spring!

Good Morning! It is a lovely warm morning here in western Loudoun County and before I go out to hang up the sheets to dry I thought I should let you know about next week's open house.

FEELING LUCKY is the theme and - - ok - ok - - that's 'Feeling Lucky' in webdings...

The open house will be both Friday the 13th - ooohhhh - and Saturday the 14th from 12 noon to 5 pm both days. At checkout you will have the opportunity to pick a slip out of the Lucky Leprechaun Bowl to see what discount you get off your purchases - you may even win something!

We are ready for spring with all sorts of freshly made items and cool vintage finds. We hope you stop by to say HI! and spend some time with us! See you here! Liz and Virginia

'A Wintry Mix' Open House

Hello! We are inviting you to come to our 8th Annual Winter/Valentine's Day Open House.

Where: Bittersweet Design Studio and Moonshine Essentials

Paeonian Springs, VA

When: Friday, January 30th from 12 noon to 5pm and

Saturday, January 31st from 12 noon to 5pm - Notice - per special request we will open at 11am today!

Refreshments: Of course! We made peppermint crunch clusters and sand tarts - a rolled sugar cookie. We will also have hot tea to drink.

Our focus for this open house is a 'wintry mix'. Coined by Virginia - an homage to her Pop who is a weatherholic; to the weather - you never know what it may bring this time of year; and also to the items we like to focus on at this open house - a blend of winter items - the blues and whites of snowmen and snowflakes, and the reds and pinks of hearts and all those things that say love.

We always have a great time at these events and we hope to see you here - either Friday or Saturday! Love and Kisses! xo Elizabeth and Virginia

Manhattan Bound

I knew it would happen quickly... and there they go - the first pair of lamps - the 1930s Art Deco lamps are on their way to NYC. You just don't find lamps like this - to think that I managed to find two pairs with original shades is amazing...

Old fashioned Christmas open house

Please join us for our two open houses in December.

December 5th and 6th

Friday from 12 noon to 5 pm

Saturday from 10 am to 5pm.

December 12th and 13th

Hours as above.

New handmade goods, and vintage items abound,

We also plan to have all types of Christmas items on sale,

and I mean sale! See directions to shop in November's blog.