First of all I'd like to wish our girl Michelle, my main partner in junkin'crime, a very Happy Happy Birthday!

I also have some pictures of the latest "rearrangement" at All That Jazz. You know me, I can't leave it alone for too long. After about 3 weeks I start itching to move things around. It needed some help anyway, there are always bare patches where things have sold. You won't see any of Michelle's fabulous new pillows here, these photos were taken a couple days before she dropped them off.

I hope you enjoyed the tour! Sorry about the "green" tint to some if the photos. The light in the shop is horrible for picture taking. I try and I try but never manage to get excellent photos in here.

Do any of you Washingtonians have much snow? I've waited and waited  ALL winter for a little snow and this morning I finally got my 3 inches! Now we move into the deep freeze. That's the yucky and dangerous part. Stay safe out there and all bundled up and Happy Birthday again Michelle if you're reading this!

Next week...bring on SPRING!

~Tara

Back to the Beach

I said I wouldn't have time to get off another post this week but I had such a great weekend and had to share it with you.

 I  hadn't been to this particular beach in nearly 5 years. I went to visit my dad (my papa) and help him settle into his new home. A home that he had previously lived in years ago. Strange circle of events.

My papa.

I helped paint the exterior of this house over five years ago. It's a lovely beachy blue.

The weather was beautiful for mid-February so we took my dad's dog Rosie to the beach. To say that she LOVES the beach is an understatement!

I think she could run the beach all day!

After my beach trip I stopped by All That Jazz Vintage. I dropped off these new pillows I made.

Something for the french girl~

Or the farm girl!

Tara sent me photos of her latest shop re-do and it is looking the best it ever has! She will share pictures with you later this week.

I hope that your week is fabulous!

~michelle~

Birthday Goodness

I won't be posting over the next week as I will be busy with last minute birthday party planning and celebrations. Even though my birthday isn't until next week, I've already started getting spoiled!

I got this spring inspired bouquet of flowers. I love the baby's breath and tiny pink blossoms on the branches. I kept them in the glass vase they came in as I realize I am lacking in a nice large metal flower can! Something to put on the list the next time I go thrifting.

That was actually the "after" picture. It came with pink tulips and Gerber daisies in the bouquet but I pulled those out to try in my upholstery jute mason jar vases.  These are what I will line the tables with at my party, only I will most likely only use tulips in an even paler pink color.

I also added a "40" tag on twine to the aqua mason jars. These will also line the tables and hold tea lights.

I forgot to try them together when photographing these, but I think the pink and aqua blue will be so yummy and crisp.

I promise to share photos of the completed tables after the party.

I got the sweetest gift from my darling Jazz and blog partner in crime, Tara. She got this gift for me at the flea market we went to in Oregon and gave it to me when in a gift bag when we parted ways. I couldn't resist opening it.  Look at these! A chic necklace and a lavender crown pillow out of fun fabrics. Thank you sweet cousin, you know just what I like! I love you dearly!

I also bought something for my camera. I've always wanted a strap cover and couldn't resist this one from Mel{V}Designs Etsy shop.

 The photo color didn't come out well as I'd lost the daylight, but you can see that it is gray/white polka dot with a hot pink ruffle.

Lastly, check out the great giveaway button I posted on the top of our sidebar!! It's fabulous just like the blog itself and the cutie who writes it, Courtney!! Check out Honeycomb Creative Company here.

I hope you all have a wonderful week. When I return, I shall be a bit older (yet much wiser, I am hoping!)

xoxo,

~michelle~

Dear Dreams: Thoughts on Blogging

Grab a cup of coffee or tea. I have some deep thoughts to discuss with you.

~Most recent Jazz shop photo~

I have been blogging for over four years. Even though this Jazz blog is a newbie (shop open almost a year, blog since last summer) I had a blog previously which was about a different topic altogether. I found that I kept gravitating towards my love of vintage home and decor and would often feature such content on my other blog (where it didn't really fit.) Once we decided to open a vendor space in an antique shop, I eventually stopped that blog and started this one to help spread the word about our shop, as well as supporting small towns and small businesses.

In the past 3 years of reading blogs, I have seen many blogs go from zero to hero, from newbies to blogs with multiple sponsers and magazine mentions, and so on. It is very exciting as there are so very many talented individuals out there who are more than deserving of such recognition!

I realize that not everyone has this particular goal with their blog. I'm not sure I do, if I'm really honest. I worry about this as I truly ask myself, what is our goal here? I remember when one of my favorite blogs went "big time." It was weird clicking over, it wasn't the same look and felt so commercial. It wasn't home. I didn't find the connection that I'd felt as I could be one of 20 commenters per post, rather than one of 200. I eventually realized the integrity of the blog was mostly the same: that particular blogger's original content, their photos, their home, their ideas and creativity. After all, that is what attracted me to that blog (or any blog) in the first place.

As we set goals for our little hobby and our little blog, I often think about these things. I wonder where blogging is going for us, and myself. It certainly is time consuming- the energy to really put into doing a blog well is immense, as many of you know. For me, this blog will hopefully help us connect with customers and future customers, as my ultimate goal is to open a a little online shop. That is very scary, too. Who knows if others share our vision or want to buy any of our things?

I think it is about taking a risk- giving it a go. Dreams can't happen if you don't believe in them in the first place. Then you have to try to make them happen. I think back to the beginning, when Tara and I had a vision and were just selling our stuff at garage sales under my Nana's carport, talking about doing a flea market downtown, then exploring renting a vendor space. Who knew that almost a year later we'd be where we are now, with a space in a store where we sell a fair amount of treasures and get a lot of compliments on our merchandising. And we are still enjoying it! Whether this is all we ever do or more, I never want to lose the feel of just being two girls next door doing something they love.

Maybe as I approach my BIG birthday and Jazz's one year anniversary, I am just doing a lot of reflection and over-analyzing, which I am pretty good at! I've just always known I've been meant to have a lot of creativity in my life, and until this past year wasn't sure how to best express it. I think it's starting to come together.

Regardless, I'm curious to know your take. Have you met your goals, whether it's with your blog, your store, or your online shop? Was it is hard as you thought, and what key elements really helped you make it happen and keep you grounded throughout the process? Any regrets? Suggestions?

Thanks for listening, and thanks for sharing yourselves with us!! The wonderful thing about the blogging community is that we are always very supportive and inspiring of each other.

Dream on!

xoxo

~michelle~

i **heart** you

Dear family (two-legged and four), friends, loved ones, All That Jazz Vintage readers and shoppers~

I wish you all the sweetest Valentine's Day ever!

xoxo

 ~michelle~

Thrift Shops, Jeans, and Lemons

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you have a  lot of great activities planned for the weekend. Or not. Relaxing and being lazy is good, too!

I had a successful thrift shop trip yesterday. I think I spent more than I ever have at a thrift shop (and that was with a coupon!)

I found this bluish~green canning jar and this random bouquet of faux forsythia and purple flowers. I already have forsythia so this bunch will end up in a vase in the shop. I do love these colors together!

Here is one of my piles.

I got a cute gray and white striped cardigan sweater dress. I can't wait to wear it with leggings and boots! Also tucked in their is a little baseball tee with the number "24" on the back. A special number to me!


In that pile is a pair of jeans. I hit the jack pot of designer jeans~ so I thought. They were hemmed rather short (I'm 5'3" so that's an understatement.) Alas, they were about an inch and a half too small in the waist. They wouldn't have been last summer. And that is all I'm gonna say about that.

One pair did fit, they were Seven For All Mankind, with fun blue rhinestone detailing on the back pockets. I'll have to wear them cuffed but with flip flops or cowboy boots they'll be adorable! And they were 9.99. They probably originally retailed for over $150. I know, insane!

I also got a great new basket for the bathroom, and some great striped fabric and white napkins for sewing projects.

Lastly, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite products. I do not endorse these for any particular reason other than I love them and how they smell! I am obsessed with anything that smells like lemon verbena or lavender.

First up is this lemon sorbet body cream by L'Occitane. I got this as a gift and it's smells so yummy you want to eat it! Like the fake lemon in the photo? I didn't have any real ones~ hee!

L'Occitane products are wonderful, I use this lavender hand cream every night~

 

Another great lavender product is Avalon Organics shampoos (they also make skincare products which I have yet to try.) You can find these at most any drugstore and they smell really natural (contains essential oils. I'm picky about my lavender smells they can not be artificial, it is just not the same!)

They aren't full of harsh foamy detergents like a lot of shampoos, so it takes a while to get used to it. They have a lemon shampoo too, I actually like using the lemon clarifying shampoo with the lavender nourishing conditioner.

Do you have any other other lemon or lavender scented beauty products to recommend? I'm a product junky and love trying new things!

I'm off to spend a few hours making new pillows for the shop!

See you next week!

~michelle~

A Funky Junky Weekend...

Hi Everyone, Tara here! It's my turn to post about last weekend. Michelle took her camera but was too busy shopping to take many photos so I get to do it!

Saturday morning we Jazz girls loaded in the truck, brought specifically in case a piece of furniture was purchased, at the CRACK of dawn to head to Junk Salvation  in Hillsboro to get our JUNK on!

Starbucks in hand, we cruised 90 miles down the road on a mission. First stop, pick up my big sister in Portland at her house and use the little girl's room before we left because that early morning coffee was kicking in! We let her chauffeur us to our junkin destination, she is familiar with the roads so she got to drive and did a pretty good job, we only took one wrong turn thanks to weird directions from Mapquest.

Tara, Jeanette, Janet, & Michelle

Here we are, looking a little worse for wear I must say. It's still early and we look ready for a nap already.
Maybe it was the photographer?! Sorry Sis!

Once we were in the door, I hit the ground running. I was disappointed when I looked back through my pictures and didn't have any photos of the girls but the one above. I hate to say it but I sorta took off on my own. I guess I didn't want them slowing me down, cramping my style, putting a hitch in my giddy-up! I have discovered I like to do a really fast once over at these types of events and then go back through slower the second time, whereas some of the others prefer to go slower at the start.

I was enthralled form the start. There was so much to see that I could hardly take it all in. And I didn't. I've seen other people's posts and they have pictures of things I don't even remember seeing! Bummer.

There were lots of pops of pink all around. Even amongst all the whites, pink is still holding it's own.

Some of that white I was talking about. I loved the chippy white metal against the worn wood.

There were several amazing mannequins but this one was my favorite. I wanted her skirt. She wouldn't let me have it, she said she didn't bring another and she didn't want to flash her skivvies to all the junk maniacs.
Go figure.

So pretty.

Ahhhhh ticking, my beautiful ticking....

Now THIS is some serious bling.

Sweet treats.

Fun and funky with a feather in her cap.

Fabulous nest! This is the vendor I bought my first purchase from. A fantastic burlap and

vintage material shopping bag.

That candelabra almost came home with me.

I eyed it several times because I made about 4 laps around the place.

More yummy chippy furniture.

There was lots of junkin love in the place. Some of the booths were PACKED. 

I missed out on alot of photos I wanted because there were too many people in my way!

Man, people people everywhere!

This is the sort of sofa you could curl up and take a nap on.

There were so many beautiful things to see. It must have taken forever to set all this up.

Not to mention packaging and pricing.

There were several adorable trailers set up you could go into. I DIDN'T! I felt so weird like

I was invading someone's personal space. Now I SO wish I would have!

Those yellow corbels (is that what they are?), they are so cool! I bet they're heavy but what a statement they would make in a  room.

There were lots of those blue Mason jars scattered about that Michelle posted on. I have a stash of them in the cupboard getting ready to head up to the booth this Spring.  Gotta love that aqua.

There were these awesome french pillows everywhere. I need to make some of these for our booth. They're gorgeous. I just have to figure out how to do it since I don't sew. And I need stencils and they're spendy.

There was lots of sparkly too!

Spring is on the way!

More of those beautiful pillows. I bought some sweet smelling soap and a lavender sachet from this booth, Sparrow. There were so many wonderful vendors and such an extraordinary amount of talent in that one building. It was such a lot of fun and I came home filled with inspiration. Thank you Funky Junk Sisters
for putting on such a terrific show!

P.S. No furniture was purchased during the process of this shopping trip. Nevertheless we managed to fill the back of the truck half full. Could have been worse with 5 girls shopping at one time!

~Tara