Shocking Secret to Climbing roses, Shabby French and Martha

Spring has truly arrived and Piper is enjoying it as much as I have been.  This will be the third year for my climbing rose on the old arbor.  Its the New Dawn climber and it should be doing much better than it is.....so I did some research and discovered a shocking well kept secret that may explain why my climber is not acting like a climber.  

 Its barely a third of the way up the arbor.  So what I learned was that number one, 

plant your climber practically underneath the structure you want it to climb.  

I had mine about two feet away from the arbor.  

 I had tied the branches to the arbor with garden twine almost straight up to get it going up towards the top of the arbor.  Big mistake!  Understand that there are two types of branches, the main cane and then the lateral canes.  The main cane(s) are the big branches that come from the root area and then the lateral canes are the branches that grow off the main canes and they are the only branches that the flowers grow on.  The secret is to train the main canes in a horizontal fashion with a slight angle upwards, because that is what makes the lateral canes sprout and grow and then produce flowers.

 This image from Rachel Ashwell's new book, My Floral Affair, shows an espaliered David Austin Ballerina climbing rose growing on the side of an enchanted cottage.  Look at the angle of the thick main canes.  They are more trained to an angle instead of straight up. And then you can see the multitudes of lateral canes with the blooms on them, and the lateral canes grow straight up in a vertical fashion creating a bushy full climbing rose!! 

Armed with this knowledge I went out and retrained and persuaded my main canes to go at a criss cross fashion and tied them to the arbor.  Since the bush is further away than it should be ideally, you have to allow for the canes to go vertically until you can train them horizontally.  After I trained it, I fed it with Rose Tone food and then planted another David Austin shrub rose, Queen of Sweden, next to the arbor.  That area will hopefully be filled with roses this summer.  Many people commented on my Instagram post about this secret of climbing roses, saying that they too had never heard of this, and it explained why they only had roses growing at the very top of their climbers.  See, if I had just trained the canes to get up to the top, it would only be then that the main cane would lay flat and then lateral canes would sprout and then bear flowers.  Mystery solved!

 Another one of the glories of spring is when the first flowers arrive from the lilac trees.  Lucky enough to have both purple and white, I cut a big bunch of white lilacs for mothers day and I displayed them inside of this colossal silver punch bowl I scored at the Brimfield Antique Fair.  

 Brimfield is the oldest antique fair in the country and there are thousands of vendors who set up their wares in tents along Main Street in the tiny town of Brimfield.  My favorite dealer lives in Texas and I think she has the best stuff at very good prices.  The best stuff, if you like French, Italian, Shabby Chic, Cottage, Garden etc.... Her name is Donna Corr and her booth and business is Corrabelle Rose.

I spotted my punch bowl, all tarnished, sitting on a display table in her tent.  It came with 8 punch glasses in silver plate as well.  The other treasure I took home is that huge and heavy gilded iron candelabra, which I thought would be perfect for leaving outdoors in my summer courtyard.

 Donna has lots of yummy things like tole sconces and lamps and 

wastebaskets (oh yeah I got one of those too).  And Florentine trays and tables and

 boxes (oh and um yes I got some of those as well).  She will be back in July when Brimfield

 has its summer session, so you can bet I will return as well for some

 power shopping at her delicious booth.

 There really are some spectacular vendors, and you will see the 

MOST amazing things....things from palaces and castles and chateaus!  

 This huge planter was likely the base of a pier mirror (one of those floor to ceiling type mirrors).  

I bought a few things from this vendor as well. Pamela, from Plymouth, Massachusetts, was near Donna's booth in the New England Motel lot.  

 And the entrance to a most enchanting booth, The Two Cherubs, 

featured sky high skinny shutters in turquoise that the dealer, Jenny Lunney, 

lugged home from a shopping trip to France. 

 She is also on Instagram as @jennylunney and you can see my moniker at 

the top of this photo @amymaisondecor if you want to follow us.

 Bring a folding shopping cart like this one that I use. 

 I cannot recommend it enough!  I start off with a bunch of bubble wrap

 and then a stack of kitchen hand towels for wrapping items.  

An old Vera Bradley tote bag with lots of pockets is where I stash some wet wipes, 

sunscreen, water bottles, and snacks. 

 There is my big candelabra, all tucked in safe and sound!! 

 Another shot from Corrabelle Rose.

 Parked outside of the Two Cherubs...

 If you love old things, you will certainly find something to bring home that will inspire you to redecorate or freshen up your living space, be it inside or out.

I just adored polishing up the punch bowl and adding flowers to it.

Its going to hold my mail on a daily basis so I can enjoy seeing it all the time.

Gorgeous!!

 The other fun thing I did this month was to attend the Martha Stewart Prop Sale, 

with my friend Matthew Mead.  I picked up this old french bakers rack

 that you see holding my copper collection.

 It was great fun to go and see all the stuff Martha was selling from the days of her 

tv show and things she used in books.  I recognized several of the items as did Matthew. 

Watch us walk through the auction house on our YouTube video here. 

One of the marvelous things she had up for auction was a collection of opaline glasses in various forms in colors pink and yellow.  See them on the lower shelf...the upper shelf had big goblets in pink bristol glass, and hobnail goblets in white.

 As you can see, I prevailed at auction and brought home this enchanting and rare set of french glassware. 

 Some vintage lighting was scooped up for the cottage, 

at least the one on the right.  I can imagine it in the kitchen...

 Look at the Martha stickers!  So fun!!

The bottom of each glass had a label indicating what it was and catalogued

in the Martha Prop Collection with her stamp on it as well.

 Martha's sale also had a ton of outdoor furniture that was an addition from various estates, added to sell the same day her things were auctioned off.  I came home with this cast iron coffee table base to use in the courtyard and I imagined I could add wooden planks to the top, instead of glass.

 There were so many old sets of outdoor furniture! It was really a blast looking through it all.

And on that note I will leave you and prepare another blog post on the vintage patio furniture I did just find, and the outcome of a set I had lusted after since my visit to Grey Gardens.

But before I go, how about this candelabra?

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A week of Inspiration

 Its been a week full of personal inspiration, one I won't forget.

The beginning of the week had me making the decision to create some 

landscape mural paintings in my home office/studio.  Mind you I have never painted

scenes or anything before (besides furniture and some decorative wall panels I did for

my shop two years ago).  But I was carrying the inspiration of Jennifer Lanne's artistic

style, particularly some chairs she did at the commission of designer Sandra Kelley.

I saw these french chairs with landscapes painted on the backs and I just fell head over 

heels in love.  Jennifer also painted some large landscapes on tarps for Sandra that were

beautiful and restful.  They were the inspiration for my modest panels and I hoped to achieve

the romantic look that embodied them. 

This photo was Sandra Kelly's Brimfield booth, which was happily located in

the same field that our booth was stationed.  It was a delight to stumble upon her

booth and see the chairs that before I had only seen when I discovered them a year 

or so ago on Facebook.  The landscapes are so dreamy and magical, aren't they?

The artist, Jennifer Lanne, paints with a bold and colorful style, and Sandra had 

her create these in the neutral Swedish palette that she loves.  I LOVE them!

 The best thing was that if I didn't achieve what I wanted I knew I could

always paint over it...hah!  So my point is, put your fear to the side and just

have fun and be loose and paint.  I wanted my room to be full of these dreamy

landscapes, and after creating a pair of them on the back wall, I decided to 

try my hand at a Versailles-like scene, based upon our visit there in 2014.

There were many enchanting garden buildings, and this one is loosely based on the Belvedere.

 My choice of paint was what was in my stash, which is a boat load of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  To that I added water to keep it loose and flowing.  I tried to never get nervous when I wasn't loving what was happening on my "canvas".  In the end, I think they came out marvelous!

 Using my favorite Versailles coffee table book as a reference,

I could find landscapes and buildings and classical notes to add to my paintings.

It feels amazing when I walk into my office space now....

so if you are inspired by something, don't overlook a way to bring it 

to life inside of your own home. 

The next day I would travel to a friend's home for an alfresco lunch.

Kaydee and I met in my shops, she was a frequent customer and it was clear

we both liked the same things.  We both would find inspiration in so many of 

the same things, and our talk turned to gardens.  I have been working on my courtyard,

and Kaydee invited me to tour her garden and so I did.

She had this charming menu board set up in her dining room, and it was the sweetest thing!

Her use of color (especially my favorite lilac) was inspiring, and her home

is filled with her own personal style, which I would say is a cross of Boho

and Cottage style.  It is such fun to see a home with style!  By the way,

Matthew Mead and I are on a personal style kick~helping people determine

their own style and make strides to getting the look that they love.  So this visit tied 

into what I am really all about at the moment.  Discovering Personal Style.

  We enjoyed a laid back lunch in the garden, and I was blown away by how many containers and beds Kaydee has growing in her yard.  Tomatoes, potatoes, lettuces, herbs, peppers, beans, and a host of flowers~all grown from seed in the late winter!! I felt like an underachiever hahah!!  Her mom,

Barbara, joined us with her homemade Strawberry Lemonade.  It was a delightful day.

The next day was big doings...I would be joining Matthew Mead on a magazine shoot.
Who is more creative and inspiring than this guy? No one!

As it seems in my life anyways, all points get connected.  This shoot was at

the country home of designer Sandra Kelly.  Yes. That Sandra Kelly.

The one whose booth I ADORED in Brimfield. The one whose commissioned 

chairs and landscapes had so inspired me....well it turns out Matthew had arranged

for shooting her home for his new magazine, and I couldn't have been more excited.

How fun would it be to shoot a video of Matthew shooting a home?  In my world,

its very fun, especially when its a Swedish style home with the color palette I love.

Photo by Matthew Mead

I videotaped him shooting a bit of the house, and we also did a video segment

interviewing the designer about her own personal style.

Photo by Matthew Mead

And there are those amazing chairs!  

I hope you find some inspiration checking out Sandra's home

on the 3 mintue video link above.  My cup runneth over with inspiration this

week, both in fulfilling it and finding it in unexpected places.

How wonderful it all was.

Next week, Matthew will be heading to my home to shoot my office, so 

I better hurry up and finish the rest of my walls....!!

For Instagram peeps you can follow along with us below:

Amy Chalmers: @amymaisondecor

Jennifer Lanne: @jenniferlanne.devilshopfarm

Sandra Kelly: @flax_in_bloom

Matthew Mead: @matthewmeadstyle

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Brimfield Wrap Up

It was my first time as a vendor at the Brimfield Antique Fair. But that didn't stop me from

doing a little shopping of course.  Brimfield is an amazing place, and if you like to decorate

using older things, it is worth the trip.  Every category imaginable is there~from old fixtures and 

doors, to mid century modern, farmhouse and my favorite, French items.  

The best thing about this trip to Brimfield was sharing the experience with my son,

Justin Power, who has been running his Boston shop, Pioneer Goods Co. for the last 

two years, after starting with me in my shop, Maison Decor.  

The other best thing was the chance to meet in person, some of the folks I have

admired online, including the Swedish furniture and clock guy, The Lone Ranger,

and a brilliant artist, Jennifer Lanne.  I walked away with one of her barn board art panels,

painted to look like a mora clock.  It fits my home perfectly, a bit of whimsy, the mora obsession thing, and the duck egg blue color that I love.  But that is starting at the end of the story, so I will get back to Brimfield and do a little show and tell with the photos I snapped.

(Me, setting up our tent before we opened on Tuesday)

Tuesday was our set up day.  Hubs drove our stuff out in the big trailer, dropped us off

and then Justin and I worked our butts off trying to make sense of it all.

 It took us forever to get it looking how we wanted, mixing the french

 with the rustic americana was harder than we thought.  

Eventually we just put my stuff in one area and that seemed to work best.

Tired and exhausted, we left to check into our (fleabag) motel to get some shut eye.

Opening day had arrived after only 5 hours of sleep...

The sun was just starting to come up, and it was freezing outside. We arrived at our tent, only to discover we couldn't get inside!! We had been advised to close it with zipties, but we forgot to bring scissors or a jack knife to cut them off. hahah!! I went to a neighbor and she happily lent us her scissors.  

We got inside the booth, and got ready for the mad rush we had been told to expect.

Then right at 6 am, it began!  People were dashing in and out of our tent as if on an Easter Egg hunt.  We had no immediate sales and I quickly grew nervous.  But after about 45 minutes, sales started and didn't stop all day long.  It would be our best day of sales and we were quite thrilled with how it was going! 

 This is a shot of our tent, located in the New England Motel field. 

(Brimfield is a series of fields with names, and many have different opening dates and times.)

You can see Justin in the blue hat and the shoppers entering the tent.  

The guy with the baseball hat had just bought the blue metal garden chairs.

All of the garden furniture seemed quite popular, but our prices were great,

and we didn't want to take any of it back home with us.

 As things sold, we would need to revamp quickly and sometimes it was too hard

 to rearrange things so we would do it at the end of the day, or first thing in the morning. 

 This shot is inside our booth, and shows off an early pine step back cupboard and 

an old pine farm table, covered in old bottles.  All our garden chairs and tables and the like sold quickly.  Justin's early rustic style was translating into sales, clearly his stuff was popular.

 My style of vintage French was not selling at all....it was a big surprise to me. 

 Thank goodness I never had the wild idea to do Brimfield with just my stuff!! 

Victoria, a blogger (Trois Petite Fils), came by with cupcakes and 

a fabulous pink french chair that I offered to consign for her...now I was 

worried that maybe her French chair wouldn't sell either.

But it sold in about twenty minutes, and had three interested parties in it

right from the start. Two were photographers who thought the chair was

perfect for that cool kind of portrait shot in an antique chair, and one of them 

snapped it up for a mere $110. I told you we had great prices!

 So as Justin sold more and more, I would go on walkabouts looking for things

 I might want to take home.  And I had every intention of finding the dealers in the past 

who load up on the Shabby Chic French stuff.  My favorite dealer, Donna, was now

 on the main drag in our field and I couldn't wait to get a break to go see her booth.

 Her booth was bigger this year, and absolutely loaded with wonderful things.  She sells under the name of Corrabelle Rose, and I am pretty sure she sells on eBay as well as all the big shows.  

 Donna sells all things pink and shabby, like old windows and doors and vintage 

paintings and fabrics embellished with roses.

 This is another shot from her booth. I bought two old pink silk lampshades from Donna as well as a painted backdrop of Hollyhocks. Justin was back tending the booth sales, and I had left on a quick "bathroom break" which meant I found the long way back to our booth, stopping in at those that caught my eye.  After Donna's tent, I made my way to finally see Jennifer Lanne's booth.

Jennifer Lanne is a NY artist and she was selling her fabulous floral paintings and her new line of textile art for the home.  Big squishy tuffets and eiderdowns and pillows covered in her paintings or old wallpaper from her old NY home are reproduced into fabrics for the home accessories. 

 I had recently bought a pillow and now I wanted to check out her mora clock

paintings that she does on barn boards. 

We had met quickly the first day during the setting up phase, and now that we were on day 3 I had more leisure time to check our her booth and see if I would find some art to take home.

And there it was....right behind her she had two of her clock paintings, one already

marked with a sold tag.  I claimed the other in a heart beat!  She is just so talented and 

I love her whimsical style and upbeat personality that comes across in her paintings.

 Right next to her booth was Flax and Bloom, a booth owned by Sandra Kelly

 and decorated with quite a bit of Jennifer's artwork. 

 It was the most magical booth in all of Brimfield!  

I found so much inspiration here, it was Swedish Gustavian and whimsy 

all rolled into one big yummy ball!  I briefly spoke to Sandy 

but she was busy as all get out with the mobs in her pretty and popular booth.

 The next exciting booth I wanted to check out was the Lone Ranger! 

 He sells Mora Clocks, and you can see them tied to the posts all around his

 enormous booth. Prices range from about $2000 for a simple clock to $5000 

for a decorative version.  His clocks have reproduction faces with battery clock works,

 but the cases are true antiques, although many are restored.  

Simply exquisite!  

The interior of his booth had loads of Swedish and Gustavian style furnishings

one more desirable than the next.  I enjoyed a long conversation with him on 

a Gustavian settee and he was incredibly nice and generous with his information

about his business.  What a breath of fresh air!  He has legions of fans, and I can see why.

I hurried back to the tent, my "bathroom break" was way too long!

 Whenever I would return to our tent, the scene was always the same, with Justin selling...

The shoppers were never ending, and we were on our toes for the hours the field was open.

 More "bathroom breaks" for me so I could visit more French style dealers.

  Our field at New England Motel has the best French dealers!! 

 This wonderful French booth was a few doors down from ours.
 Jenny had the most beautiful things, and her friend who helped her run the booth, Suzanne, recognized me from my blog on the first day while I was setting up. She was a delight!

Jenny's business name is Two Cherubs and she travels yearly to France bringing 

things home to sell.  She has a shop in New Jersey, and her inventory is amazing.

I loved shopping during my breaks and checking out all of the lovely things 

in our New England Motel field.  I never made it any other field.

  Then  I would head back again to find shoppers, like these ladies debating to buy this long farmhouse table we had in the center of our tent.  Although not old, (a farmhouse reproduction piece) they passed on it, and suddenly it occurred to me that I wanted the big plank top table for MY dining room!! So I told Justin I wanted it....to which he said, lets mark it up and if it sells at a ridiculous price then so be it.  So thats what we did, but it never sold. As a matter of fact it was clear to us that many people were just random shoppers looking for crazy bargain prices.  With a few exceptions, like decorator sales for their clients, we noticed that price was everything for most shoppers.  And I mean crazy low prices....ugh. 

 By Thursday afternoon things were slowing down, and I decided to return home because my 

feet and back were telling me they needed a break. Hubs was telling me I had loved ones at home and a needy puppy to get back to...I really wanted to sleep in my own bed too.  So after spending Mothers Day loading trailers and Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday on my feet lifting furniture, I departed Brimfield.  Justin would be on his own til Friday, when Colin went out to help.  

 The amazing thing about Brimfield is the quality and quantity of antiques you can find.

These urns were amazing, and priced for the wealthy. 

 They were still there on closing day. 

Off to another show until they find their forever mansion.

 Back in our booth, we cut and slashed prices and most of our inventory sold. 

 Justin's shop is closing, and we had no place to bring back our inventory to sell...

that is another story to tell, the closing of the amazing Pioneer Goods Co store. 

Next July and September when Brimfield returns, I will be back as a shopper.  Its 

such a wonderful experience, and I love the fun of it all.

 You never know what you are going to come across that makes you fall in love...

On my way to the dealer parking lot on Thursday, I ran across this mirror.

It said, Take me Home.

And so I did. 
One more thing...

This was an extra special experience with my son, Justin.
I loved doing this with him, he is such a great guy~so helpful to 
the solo women vendors who needed a helping hand, and a real trooper
for sticking it out for the entire week. Well done Justin! 
You make me very proud to be your mom.

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