Air Mail

Airmail

There is just something about a stack of old airmail letters that I love.

They speak of romance, hard times, the war.

They tell a story - 

of someone's life,

of an era.

Several years ago, I came across an old collection of these beautiful letters. I cannot imagine who could have parted with them, but I took them home with me and enjoyed reading them. They were written by a man who has been assigned to Le Havre as Assistant to the Regional Executive of the American Red Cross. He writes to his sister and his aunt.

 It's 1945 and he is in Rouen, France.  He talks about the city and his travels around Normandy. He writes about the destruction that surrounds him from the bombings. In one of the stories he writes home about, he talks about a French pastor and his family - food supply is scarce and the prices are highly inflated. The pastor's children have never tasted oranges before. They next day, the soldier is able to get oranges from the Army mess hall and he takes them to the children.

They are absolutely delighted by the oranges.

Reading these letters will transport you to another time, put you right in the middle of the action.

Maybe that's why I love them so.

Anyway, this little stack of airmail history that I found, inspired me to create a few note cards of my own.

I bring to you...Handmade Airmail Inspired Note Cards.

Send a little note to someone you love and create a bit of your own history!

Enjoy your weekend.

xo and God Bless!

available at The French Marketplace

The Painted Chair - A Thrift Store Makeover

When you find "the perfect" chair at the thrift store but you just don't have the time to completely reupholster it.

Yes, that's what I was thinking when I spotted this chair.

It was $15 and it was perfect.

 Well, okay, maybe not perfect, but would you look at those lines?

I knew exactly where I wanted to put it and so it came home with me.

I did reupholster the sides and back with burlap...but I painted the rest of it. Yes, painted it! No sewing, no zippers, no pinning. Just me and my paintbrush, a can of paint, and of course the chair. She was begging me to paint her. 

So of course, I obliged.

What do you think of her now?

She's lovely, I think.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in French Linen for the frame and chair - Graphite for the stripes.

Clear wax on the whole chair and a bit of dark wax to bring out the wood details.

xo and God Bless!

Pretty Painted Tins for Storage

As many of you with small children know, toy storage always seems to be an issue.

My youngest has lots of little toys that can become scattered about pretty quickly!

Legos, Lalaloopsy Minis, and of course her beloved Paw Patrol figurines.

We decided to see what we could do with some leftover cookie tins. She picked out the color she wanted {Annie Sloan's Duck Egg} and the stamps she liked.

Then we went to work.

She even helped paint and stamp!

Now she has some pretty storage for all of her tiny toys...and I'm no longer stepping on Legos.

It's a win win!

Enjoy your day and stay warm.

xo and God Bless!!

Needle Felted Hearts

New in the shop!

Needle felted hearts.

A fun little craft that I have learned.

Enjoy!

xo and God Bless

Painted Furniture

Good Morning!

It has been so long and I wanted to pop in and say hello - let you know what I've been up to! 

As many of you know, I started an Etsy shop a year ago - The French Marketplace. From there, I started selling my painted furniture locally {too expensive to ship}. I've been painting furniture for years, but finally having an opportunity to sell it has been wonderful!

I'm so happy to say that it's been going well and I have been really busy!

Thank you to everyone who has supported me in this venture. I sincerely thank you for your business!

I wanted to share a few of the pieces that I have done over the past few months.

Each one of these pieces have been painted with Annie Sloan chalk paint in Duck Egg and Annie Sloan in Graphite on the tops. Finally, clear wax and then dark wax to bring out the details.

I also completely re-did our dining room. New paint, curtains, and I painted some of the furniture in there too.

Below is one of the tables that I did for the room.

My father-in-law gifted me with this beautiful antique typewriter. Isn't it amazing?!

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Thank you so much for visiting and I  hope that each of you are doing well! It's great to "talk" to everyone again!

If you have a free moment, stop by my FB page {The French Marketplace} and say hello. I'd love to see you there!!

xo and God Bless!