Painted Farmgirl & Friends...

It's official, I have a booth to call my own in a local brick and mortar!

Welcome to
Painted Farmgirl 

 it's just outside of Grand Rapids, MI.

in the sweet town of Hudsonville. 

You can see my booth from the front door, but stop and look around the front 

area before you grab some of our lavender goodness ;)  because there are so many great signs, pillows, flowers, a booth full of vintage clothes, and fabulous vintage goodness everywhere you look!

My booth isn't large by any means, but it does have enough space for an

abundance of our natural lavender laundry and cleaning products, 

as well as my soldered vintage marbles, soldered initials,

and assemblage art jewelry.

one of the assemblage art pieces you can find at 

Painted Farmgirl...

Let's not forget the power of lavender...

I use our lavender linen and room spray for more than just our beds

 and to naturally freshen the air in our home...

My TaDa list was full today,

so I spritzed myself and my work area

with our lavender linen and room spray,

and it helped to keep me calm, relaxed, and focused

(well, mostly focused, let's not push it!)

So if you have a long TaDa list like I do,

head on over to the shop and pick yourself up a bottle!

And while you're there, meander around the shop.  It's has rooms & rooms

full of fabulous jewelry,  Maison Blanche chalk paint, vintage inspired clothing, beautifully painted furniture,

handpainted signs, the most luscious soaps & bath bombs, 

and vintage treasures from one end to the other!

I am beyond thrilled to be part of the Painted Farmgirl Family!

On top of the excitement of having my first booth in the shop,

you will be able to find me at the 

Painted Farmgirl Flea

on May14, at the Hudsonville Fairgrounds!

Have a fantastic weekend!

love,

t.xoxo

it's show time!

The Vintage Green Antiques store in Grand Haven, MI. 

is our first official show of the season, 

and I am pretty excited to make my way to one of my 

favorite MI. cities!

        

I will have our space full of our lavender goodness of course...

perfect timing for all of your spring cleaning needs!

Let's not forget about the baubles...

perfect for all of those spring birthday gifts you may be on the look out for!

I'm having a little love affair with the vintage buffalo/Indian head coins 

I now have in my stash... they give a soulfulness to everything I add them to.

Plus I will have my soldered marbles, a fan favorite!

Another fan favorite is our new diffuser pendants, 

complete with a vial of our French Grosso Lavender oil.

Perfect for those days when you need to 

have a bit of aromatherapy for peace and calming

at your disposal.

I have those days, don't you?

I just love these necklaces, each one had a bead or dangling from the locket,

and they handle the request that many 

of my customers have said about our sachets...

"I wish I could just smell this all day"

well, now you can!

I hope to see you at the Pop-UP shop!

Vintage Green Antiques 

7 N. 7th St. Grand Haven, MI

love,

t.xoxo

looking back... going forward...

time changes everything...

When I started this blog, we lived in a big old white house 

(just in case you ever wondered about the name of our business.)

 I was creating larger assemblage pieces, mixed media collages, 

and repurposing discarded treasures, whenever I found time, mostly for our home or for gifts.

I shared our home after moving a few things around...

(I really need to recreate these fenced platters in our new home!)

our hot chocolate sledding station

 This old dock table is still one of my very 

favorite creations, mostly because two of my favorite people helped us 

put it together!

and then there were the assemblages...

I was a stay at home mom with 5 babes still in my nest.

Now 3 of them have moved out, and lead great lives of their own, 

and my life has changed over these last few years.

because of this...

The Old White House

Since creating our line of natural lavender laundry and cleaning products,

 I am making products, sewing, making jewelry, answering emails,

 filling out show applications, going to a market a week, meeting so many fantastic people,

and juggling mom life, and although it can be overwhelming at times,

I can't think of anyone that I would want to change places with!

(Unless maybe they were doing all of this while staying organized, and having coffee with their friends!)

Creating my jewelry is really my 'art therapy', it makes me slow down, and lets my mind unwind. 

 It's my way of staying connected to the assemblage work that I love, but in tiny form.

I use vintage trinkets, and old costume jewelry, because I am 

drawn to the stories that they hold.  I use the stones that I do because of the organic

feel and look they give my pieces.

I use rhinestones, because, well ...their shiny of course! :)

I do custom work, when I have time, and sell my OOAK jewelry primarily at the Detroit Eastern Market, 

as well as local shows and markets.

Although I don't have them listed online, if you ever see anything

on any of my social media pages that you are interested in, 

please just send me a message and I would be happy put an invoice together for you.

I hope to see you at a market someday, 

and in the meantime, if you would like to see what I'm up to,

please check my Instagram acct. and FB page, 

where you can see pics on a more regular basis.

(because sometimes I still show how our home is decorated, and family life,

 along with the booth, and new creations!) 

like this picture of our new dining room...

Thanks for all the love you have shown me on this blog over the last few years!

t. xoxo

  

i.love.my.job.

I'm thankful for it everyday.  

Taking our natural lavender laundry and cleaning products,

 and my repurposed assemblage jewelry,

to markets and shows is something that still seems like a dream.

(a dream where I work very hard... but a dream nonetheless.) 

If you have followed me up to this point, 

THANK YOU!

I know that I have come and gone, and come and gone again,

so I appreciate each and every one of you that still stop by 

when you see me come up in your sidebar. 

...and if you have followed for awhile, then you know that I have loved reclaiming 

forgotten treasures for forever. 

 I get caught up in the process of turning a phrase into a wearable reminder.

Repurposing the forgotten little pieces of someone's long ago story

into jewelry for someones new story...

 something as simple as a beloved dog's tag,

a reclaimed memory of someone's best friend...

into a necklace for a special dog lover.

Each small piece of our history inspires me 

to create a sparkly something special for you to wear.

I draw inspiration from the rusty, crusty, sparkly, shiny, 

 the natural, earth formed gems, and our past.

...and then there's this -

our incredibly fresh scented, hard working

natural lavender goodness.

like I said in the beginning...

i.love.my.job.

Thanks for stopping by!

Please make sure to check my social media pages

The Old White House on FB

and 

Instagram

and even

Twitter

for the latest updates on what I'm up to,

and where you can find us!

love,

t.xoxo

newest creations...

Happy Monday!

I've had the soldering iron going a lot lately,

and thought I would show how I finished the large (knocker) crazy quilt scrap pendants.

this is the same one, I left the stitching on the backside, the side that the 

quilter usually keeps hidden as the flipside because I think her work 

deserves the spotlight on both sides!

I then hung the pendants with a stack of the sweetest vintage 

cream and milkglass buttons.

The MIlove charms that I showed in the last post I have now added to rings as well.  

This was my instagram and FB page post letting

our customers know we were on the way to Detroit.  :)

When I find a stamp that I think will add a little fun to the sachets

I get a little giddy.... this one definitely did the trick!

So not only do they smell beautiful, but they are just as pretty

when you pull them out of your dryer.

Here's a group photo of the knockers and a few other pieces before I added the buttons and chains. 

See how much bigger they are than the quarter?  

I LOVE THAT!  

They have a great weight to them, and make a gorgeous necklace for layering.

I wore mind with a winter scarf at the market and I loved how it peaked out 

from the bottom of my infinity scarf.

I don't create my soldered pendants with vintage photos like I used to these days,

(unless I have a commissioned order)

but this boy has a hold on me and when I found the print on fabric that 

I made of him a couple of years ago he immediately was preserved under glass. 

 I will most likely be sporting him around my neck.

I just love his look of determination.

It's Monday and that usually puts me in a funk with less focus than usual, 

but today the iron will once again be hot with a few orders to get done.

So there you have it, a little update on what's on the worktable.

I cleared off the dining room table so that we could once again have meals together,

and have set up shop in the workroom where I belong.  

let's see how long this will last ;)

I want to add that if you ever see anything on my instagram page

the old white house

or my facebook page

the old white house

and have any questions or would like to purchase a special bauble please msg. me

and I will put up a reserve listing for you.

My etsy and website have all of our natural lavender laundry and cleaning products,

 but I haven't listed any of my jewelry in some time because by the time 

I get everything made I am packing up to go to a show or market.  

I of course would love to have my friends that do not live close by be able 

to wear a little somethin somethin that I've made also.

So please don't hesitate to contact me!

I hope you have a week full of grand adventures, love, and laughter! 

love, t.xoxo

autumn

We tend to stay pretty busy over here, just like the rest of you I'm sure.

I'm going to spare you all the detailed chit chat and share some

photos of what I've been up to with 

just a little play by play in between...

we went to the apple orchard a couple of weeks ago.

we are already out of apples and we need to get some 

this weekend at the Eastern Market.

this guy turned 12!

so him and his buddies do what they love to do best.

play a little airsoft wars in our backyard.  

They aren't just shooting at eachother like I thought it was,

nope they strategize these games and play a physical 

game of Stratego.

I just stay out of the way of oncoming pellets!

we made it to Art Prize and here is a pic

of Hannah and Max playing in the room with the winning piece.

we are still going to shows and the farmers market most every week.

If you are in the area and get the chance, 

the Detroit Eastern Market is a great 

place to shop, have some lunch and meet wonderful people!

I am now in the midst of adding lots of soldered pieces to the baubles

just in time for Christmas shopping!

As I cleaning my workroom I came across a few

soldered story bottles that needed some tweeking, 

so I added those to the work pile.  

these were a big hit last year, so I am creating more

little snow storms in the bottles for this year.

something very new to the booth are my

MIlove charms.  I will be putting them on key chains also!

I love the organic look that happens when I press into the 

molten lava hot solder.

I think setting up for the show is 1/2 the fun :)

in between all the work and fun, I also try to keep us healthy

with good meals... thank goodness for pinterest!

This is my new favorite salad...

kale, (this time I mixed in romaine because I used all the kale in our smoothies)

roasted butternut squash, apples, craisins,  and sunflower seeds with a 

maple vinaigrette dressing... yum!

actually you can find it in my pin board titled just that - YUM

I also continue to 'play' on my phone with

Rhonna Designs and Photofy

to create marketing pics and thank you notes-

even Max's bday party invites.

(and I really DO start each day with a grateful heart)

xoxo

well there you have it... my life in a nutshell!

I am supposed to be sewing sachets so I better get to it,

soon they will also get a touch of Christmas spirit with

some Christmas stamps on them.

I hope that you are having a fabulous day and

enjoying every bit of your autumn!

love, 

t. xoxo