Summerland Mercantile {part duex}

Here are some more photos from my day in Summerland. Cathy's house was so stunning. And I am so excited for the new Summerland Mercantile Atelier that they are building on Cathy's property. It is going to be a store {open one day a week} and a space for classes... the unveiling will be at their Garden Sale May 7th. So exciting.

PS. I think I have said this before but I have had a couple people ask how I know the ladies of Summerland Mercantile... well, Cathy and I met in France this summer... I thought she was the bees knees and we have stayed in touch. I met her business partner at French General a couple months ago and there you go... they invited me to teach a class and now they won't be able to get rid of me ;).

Summerland bound...

After a practice class with Bianca and lots of supply packing I think I am ready for my first class. I am so excited to spend the morning with the ladies of Summerland Mercantile tomorrow. Wish me luck... here goes nothing.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. ox, Alexis

my first class!!

When I started my blog a year and a half ago one of my goals was to teach classes around the things I am interested in... cooking, sewing, embroidering, gardening, painting... So when Cathy and Stacy of Summerland Mercantile asked me to teach a class about sewing on paper I was so incredibly, amazingly excited! I am going to be teaching March 19th, go here to sign up. Which leads me to my "Creative Crush"... follow me over to Under a Pink Moon to see more...

** everyone taking the class will be going home with 10 notecards like these
*** been getting emails on the location of the class it is near Santa Barbara, CA in Summerland... when you sign up for the class you will be sent the address {I haven't been there yet but I have a feeling it is pretty amazing... super excited :)... thank you for the interest!!}

the recap on my first class

Okay let's just sum it up by saying I was in heaven teaching a class. I loved everything about it. I majored in child education and up until a month before graduation had every intention of being a first grade teacher. I was derailed one night while I was on the phone with an incredibly talented designer/artist that I have tons of respect for. I was expressing my concern about being a teacher and my worry that it wouldn't be creative enough for me. In that conversation she told me that I was right and to do something more 'out of the box.' I called my parents at 2am to let me them know that I wasn't going to be a teacher and that I wanted to do something more 'creative.' Shortly after that I got a one way ticket to Boston with $200 in my pocket... I digress; long story short there is a reason that I love teaching and to be teaching something that I love was such a gift this weekend. Not to mention that my 'class room' was so gorgeous {I took so many photos of Cathy's house that I will need to post those on Wednesday... stay tuned} and the 'students' were amazingly talented and wonderful to spend the day with. Cathy and Stacy thank you sooooo much for having me. I feel so lucky to have been apart of the amazing line up that you have at *Summerland Mercantile. I am already cooking up my next class {if you will have me}... I am thinking gift wrapping for the holidays ;).

*If you are able to make it Summerland Mercantile will be having a garden sale May 7th + Kaari Meng of French General will be doing a jewelry class the same day. I guarantee it will be amazing!

Brocante shopping in France

My favorite part of the day in France is when we would all come back to the chateau after a long day of brocante* shopping. We would have a glass of wine and we would all show off our finds of the day. I loved seeing things that caught other peoples' eyes. I might have seen the same little jar laying in a basket, but when one of the fabulous ladies showed it off I saw what they saw and grew an appreciation of something new. Kaari taught us that if you had your eye on something you would ask the vendor about 5 other things and then right before you walked away you'd ask about the thing you really wanted. On a pad of paper we would write the price that we were willing to pay for it and then we would have a little back an forth negotiation even though neither party spoke the same language. I was so nervous at first after an embarrassing mishap on our honeymoon {We were at the Paris flea market and I seriously insulted a Frenchmen when I offered 40 euros for something that was (apparently) worth more... any way he NO JOKE pushed us out of his space. I was horrified and from then on had my tail between my legs and felt like an 'Ugly American'} Anyway, I digress. Kaari taught us to be aggressive and showed us that we could still shop even without knowing French {which was so much fun}.

And speaking of shopping. One of my friends from the trip is having a sale in Santa Barbara {Summerland} tomorrow {November 20th}. Kaari's mom and sister will be there selling goodies and my friend Carla will be there with all of her yummy canned goods. I think we might even make the drive.

*A brocante is what they call their flea markets although some are in people's yards {which was so much fun}

F&F pop~up shop + more happenings

Bear with me as there is so much to report for this weekend that I feel inclined to make a list...
1-The lovely ladies of M.O.M. will be at the Queen Bee Market {see #2} so while they are out a few of us will be filling their shop with goodies. I have made a bunch of sewn note cards {above} and will dropping by some BIG elephants {like these}. Grace Happens, Modern Crush, and Zippity will also be there... come see us!!
2- Queen Bee Market~ this is a fabulous event filled with beautiful artisans and antiques... think Renegade {with more antiques} in Del Mar.
3-Summerland Mercantile!! is revealing their brand new Atelier on Saturday with an open air market and jewelry making hosted by the fabulous Kaari Meng... if you are any where near the middle of California I would hop in my car and go... Seriously I KNOW this will be a fabulous event.
4- My wildly creative friend Karin Grow is having a garage sale on Saturday. Okay her garage sales are so good that I actually begged to go to her house at 2 today for a sneak preview {I could do an entire post on the fabulous treasures I have found at her house}. 919 Doris Drive, Encinitas... starts at 8.
5- and Mother's Day... to all of you Mommy's out there THANK YOU! I didn't really get it until I had Henry and now I see... it is the hardest and most important job on Earth... and yes! we do deserve a little celebrating!!

F&F sewing class

June 2nd I will be teaching my second class at Summerland Mercantile, making Market Totes. Check out my first class here & here. I so hope some of you can join me. It is such a special venue and I'm hoping it will be a wonderful class.

weekend part 2 {French General}

For Christmas I was given a day of crafting at French General {thank you Gigi!}. Until this weekend I had never seen Kaari's shop in LA. I went to France site unseen. It was everything I had hoped for and more. The store is filled with the most beautiful French ribbons and curiosities. And the classes I took were wonderful. One was how to make a box out of an old book taught by the O-so fabulous Molly {plus a pair of earrings for inside the box... haven't taken mine off}. And the second class was kind of a fabric, sewing collage. Both wonderfully fun. A highlight was that I sat next to Cathy who I adore and met in France. She has a company called Summerland Mercantile which I am sure you will hear me talking about more {I am determined to go up for one of their sales}. Between Alt a couple weeks ago and now this last weekend I have reconnected with 5 of the amazing ladies I met in France... what fun!

Kaari, me, Molly, Kick {Kaari and Molly's mom... and the sweetest lady in the world} and Cathy.

let's create

Just a few {creative} things...
1- Tonight Jennie and I are hosting a craft night! Theme - stamp making... we are super excited.
2- Follow me over to Cresendoh this week while I am a guest curator on Jenny Doh's serious "Art Saves".
3- Have you been wanting to start a creative business or do you need help with the creative business that you have? If yes sign up for Jeanne Oliver's E- Course called "Building a Creatively Made Business." I met Jeanne while I was in France a couple summers ago and she is a little slice of heaven. I adore her and have so much admiration for all that she has done with her business. She has so much wisdom to share and is so gracious to have a class sharing all of her secrets. I am signed up.
4- I am so excited to be teaching another class at Summerland Merchantile June 2nd, we will be sewing markets totes with vintage table clothes... Check out my last class here.