Girls.... SERIOUSLY!

Go HERE. 

Go NOW. 

Get your ticket 

and GET ON THE BUS to FARM CHICKS 2010!!!

Tickets on sale ONLY UNTIL MAY 1!

{image: CJWU, used with permission}

Sue Whitney is a living doll. No, seriously, she IS.

We met her this weekend at RotP, chatting over dinner about our son's Maui wedding that night and her FABulous JunkMarketStyle web community. Then she stopped by our booth and we chatted some more, about shows and magazines and more fun stuff. She's on a whirlwind tour of shows across the country right now, sharing ideas for 'Junk Decor' and promoting her JunkMarket events.... tireless, I tell ya! Sistah is preachin' the gospel of Junk to the masses!

And then, at the end of a very busy day, she took time to sign one of her books for me AND get a photo taken - which is really sayin' something. I mean, she's gorgeous, but we all tend to wear down a bit on a hot show day. Just look at that smile on her! (Don't look at me, I blinked!) Thank you, Sue, for being such a giving person.

Yes, she signed THIS book.. with a personalized message for one of the lucky attendees of the Come Junk With Us Junk Junket to the Farm Chicks Show. Because we are donating it to Timi for her CJWU giveaways on the Junk Bus!

So, if you want a shot at this book and a slew of other perks, make sure you get your tickets {only three days left to do so!} and GET ON THE BUS {that's my version of Ty Pennington} to the Farm Chicks show!

Cue announcer voice:
Come Junk With Us is the Official Transportation Provider to the Farm Chicks Antique Show. 

 Enjoy a three-day all-inclusive charter bus trip to Spokane from Seattle, including hotel, food, snacks, swag bags, giveaways, two day entry to the Farm Chicks show, and exclusive perks for our bus riders: early entry into the show and admission to the private vendor-only party on Saturday night. Plus more!

Get your tickets before May 1 - visit www.comejunkwithus.com!

{images ours, taken & used with permission}

Even though we are busy preparing for our Spring Petite Retreat events,

Farm Chicks is coming up very very soon! 

We've just confirmed our expanded space assignment with Serena

and we happily announce that

Retreat will have THREE spaces at Farm Chicks!

That's 300 square feet of space,

filled with furniture, home decor & accessories, 

personal accessories, and gifts 

designed by us and created from recycled & reclaimed materials

brought to you in our own RetreatStyle

'under the big top'

{the Taj Ma Tent, of course!}

We are excited to have our friend Patricia from

Tippy Stockton Custom Jewelry

as our neighbor in the '4th space' under the tent...

so much fabulousness, so much fun - 

we can't wait to share it all with you!

So plan to rent a truck, hit the ATM, 

and meet us in Spokane June 5 & 6!

{image credit: Farm Chicks}

used by permission; all rights reserved

This song holds a very special meaning for a young lady whom we met at Farm Chicks last month. When she saw the sheet music that I had collaged inside the front of our Piano Bar, she reacted visibly and then told me a story that made me completely well up with tears. Then she took some photos of it, walked away, and I have no idea who she was to this day.
If you are this young lady, or you know who she is and why this piece of music is so important to her, please contact me at debi.wardkennedy (at) gmail (dot) com. Today I found something special that I'd just love to send to her.... and I really hope I can find her to do so. It would mean a lot to me, and to her, I think. Thank you!

Sooooo, let's time travel a bit here... back to last Monday morning. Exhausted after the Farm Chicks Show and beyond frustrated by a mistake-laden 6 AM wakeup call from the front desk on the one day we planned to sleep IN (note: Holiday Inn Express on Mission Street in Spokane leaves MUCH to be desired in the intelligence and service departments. If a hotel MANAGER used the phrase 'Oh, sorry, MY BAD' while excusing her behavior, you'd think so too.), we began our trip West. An hour or so into it (maybe more, it's all a blur now) we spy this caravan ahead of us..... and as we inch closer, I see the sassy name on the trailer above. I am intrigued and think 'Could it be...?'

The moment this one comes into view, I am certain.

Yup. It's them! The Sisters On The Fly Cowgirl Caravan, all lovely gals even tho their trailers are the bonafide celebs! (I took more photos of the four cute trailers and now I can't find them...?) What fun to see the girls jauntily traveling along. They even smiled and waved when I held up the Farm Chicks poster in my passenger window!

A few more miles down the highway, we saw this guy:

Mmmmmmm, yeah..... those are empty wine barrels. If they had been full, I'd bet the SOTF woulda' been right behind him!!!!!!! (The barrels were so precariously tied on that truck that it made me nervous just to be parked next to it at the rest stop. Yipes!)

In related news, I'm readying photos of my Junk Queen Crowns & Tiaras, which debuted at the Farm Chicks show, for submission to Somerset Magazines. Cross your fingers for me!

Ok, I am s.l.o.w.l.y. deleting old photos so that Picasa will allow me to post NEW ones. This is the only solution I can come up with right now, since my body and brain are on hiatus for who knows how long.

Before I try a post to upload a slew of shots of some of the most incredible booth displays by some of the kindest, most talented people on Earth, I need to thank a most important bunch of wonderful and kind people: all of the hundreds of visitors to our booth at the show. Both those who browsed and those who shopped offered us with feedback and comments that made us blush, smile, and practically float on air.

I cannot tell you, each and every one of you, how much your sweet words and applause for our efforts means to us. I can try, but words fall so short. The smiles, the sparkling eyes, the heads turning every which way to take it all in, and the comments of 'It's the best', 'You deserve an award', 'You WIN!', and so many more just tug at our heartstrings each time we recall them. We do this because we love it, but we do it the WAY we do it to inspire you.... and apparently, we are reaching that goal. By changing the theme for each show booth, we are able to give you constantly evolving fresh ideas and inspiration for achieving the kind of home decor success you want. It also keeps us on our toes, but then we like that!

You have all brought so much joy to us by thanking us for the detail and 'over the top' way we present our products - so thank YOU for the over the top praise! We could not ask for a more appreciative audience than that at the Farm Chicks show. Even Teri & Serena made a stop by once or twice, and commented. (Yes, Teri, it really IS a baby grand piano case in our booth!) We love these girls, respect the heck out of them, and admire their enthusiasm, professionalism, and integrity. To have them give such accolades to us is just..... well, I'm speechless. (And y'all know that doesn't happen too often!)

What makes all of this so very sweet is that we really really REALLY put ourselves on the line to do this show this year. We pulled out all of the stops, even tho a lot of people said not to waste the time, effort, or money of doing a lot of products or a really over the top booth. 'The economy'..... they'd say in hushed tones. We are firm believers that this business is exactly what we are supposed to be doing, so cutting corners is not an option. People do not get inspired by 'safe' displays or products! So we went for it with our time, our effort, our imaginations, and our finances under the premise of 'If they can't afford to buy something this time, they'll still get inspired to decorate this way, and then plan to buy something NEXT time'. Apparently, we hit the nail square on the head! In addition to doubling our sales from last year's show, we've already seen more traffic and new followers here on our blog - so thank you all!!!!

{There were only two instances of that other kind of person that we saw this weekend.... You know, the kind of person who sneak in, not-so-covertly photographs products in detail from every angle possible, and then measures them. The kind of persons who avoid eye contact, never say hello, look at everything in the booth, then gush and gasp and whisper and touch and exchange glances, then either sneak the camera phone under their arm to covertly photograph the product and/OR ask all of their friends to pose with the products on their heads and take a slew of closeups to study later. Then throw the products into a pile and walk off saying "We need our store to look just like this". Yeah. Ok, time for some clarification: You being inspired by us, good. You copying our products? Not good.} Ok, time for MORE clarification: If you asked us for permission or you were one of the hundreds of people who took photos of the piano bar, of COURSE it is ok with us!!!! Lots of photos were taken by blogger buddies and fans, and we love that. We love that you love what we made and want to share it on your blogs! We appreciate that! It's the sneakies who don't ask but take the covert sort of 'hidden camera' photos and who plan to copy our work that just make us frown. And Farm Chicks is no place for a frown!

Coming up this weekend at our next show is a look that is similar to these photos, as some of the products will make an appearance. But you know us, we've got a tweak or two to the presentation planned just to surprise you!

WeLLLLLL we had plans to share some lovely photos of booths and products and people from the Farm Chicks show.... but apparently Blogger and Picasa have other ideas. I'm getting messages on all of my blogs that I 'have exceeded my photo storage quota' and may not upload even one more photo until I PAY for more storage. Even tho this blog has been in existence for several years less than my 'regular' blog, and that means there is no way I have as many photos on here as I do on that one. Seems fishy to me, and Blogger has been having some other serious issues lately. NOT happy. sigh.

But as important as a blog post is, this Chick is too exhausted from the show, the drive, the physical labor, and now the pain of a torn ligament (or something equally as excruciating) to try and deal with a Blogger issue right now. I have to prepare a space plan for our booth and handout notes for my seminar at this coming weekend's show in Puyallup. Have a great day!

Yesterday was AMAZING! Thank you to everyone who came and shopped at Farm Chicks, and also to our lovely blog readers who introduced themselves. What a pleasure it is to meet you! We sold SO much that by the afternoon our booth was looking a bit bedraggled! The left side of the booth held the black buffet (above). Since it sold, we restocked & restaged last night:

Another Hall Tree and several small dining tables came in.

And since the dining set in front sold, we brought in more - this one is sold as a set 0f six schoolhouse chairs, and a double-pedestal table on its own.

The white bench by the pinao bar sold, so in came a low leather-topped cocktail table. Come by and see us at the final day at Farm Chicks! Hey, we still have a really incredible collaged Piano Bar for sale! ;0)

(BH Boys and Tarte: Thank you for a wonderful party! We pooped out early, sorry. And Jennifer - I'm so sorry I missed seeing you yesterday!)

Waiting for 9 AM when the doors open.....

9:00 and three seconds later...... move in begins!

6 PM: some of the lights on, not all of the product in our booth. These are not 'beauty shots' like in magazines! Those come tomorrow morning when ALL of the finishing touches are on.

I know, I know - "Get to the BIG THING, Deb!" Drum Roll, please.................

Pretty Little Baby Grand 'Piano Bar', collaged with vintage music. Again, not the best shot of her, but I knew you'd want to see the 'Secret Weapon'!

She's absolutely stunning (and Bob added a spotlight on her after he took this shot - now she just glows!. Jaw-dropping amazing is what I'd call her. (And I have!) She measures 5 foot deep and 4' 10' wide. Not that big, really. With her top closed, she's a perfect 'standing bar' for entertaining. Open, it displays 15 bottles of wine in side-lying racks. More dealers stopped dead in their tracks today when they saw her, with looks that can only be described as incredulous. "Is that a......" they'd ask. Love it!

OK, more photos:

You can see a bit of the left rear of the booth in the piano photos - there's a black buffet, a three-tier table, two beautiful French style upholstered chairs, etc. This item is next to all of that. It's a hall tree, made from one half of a drop-leaf table attached to an old door, with a chalkboard panel and two hooks. Great for an entry hall, powder room, or even a small kitchen. I love the silhouette of the black Sheraton-style legs against the white door. We have two of these! We also have three old doors made into giant chalkboards, and three vintage schoolhouse chalkboards that are in metal frames & have wheels - 10' long and 4' high.

In the front, there will be a gorgeous display of special tiaras & crowns I have made from vintage materials. Aren't those sconces to die for? - the crystals are opal.

On the right side of the booth, a white French style table & chairs set, a black table with a gorgeous urn base, an ivory buffet (that WAS a vintage Victrola cabinet), a mirror and chandelier painted to look like zinc, and one of two sets of metal lockers we have.

I created a huge selection of collage art for this theme - wall art, embellished bottles & trays, card tables, lampshades, accent tables, the small dresser in front, chandelier crystals, and of course the piano. Vintage papers, pages, sheet & player piano music, and old illustrations all in creamy tones went into them......





Whew! Lots of work for months on this, but it's all coming together into the vision we imagined, so it's worth the many late nights and little bits of drama that have popped up. There is SO much product that isn't even shown in these photos... two white single pedestal tables, one white double pedestal table, a set of schoolhouse bentwood chairs, a few more upholstered pieces, a few more lamps with shades, the crowns & tiaras, and more. SO much more! I'll have final shots to share after tomorrow.


Oh, but I won't be posting tomorrow night. Sorry, but I know you'll understand. We've been invited to THE soiree of this event, and will be out partying with the always fun Barn People all night. At Chaps, Teri & Serena's fave restaurant. We can't say no, can we?!!!!!! Of course not!

Safe & Sound in Spokane, and we arrived to a nice surprise: the gates to the fairground were open and we were able to take our big trailer right in and park it. No dealing with it in the hotel parking lot! YAY! Along with others, the trailers have begun to assume the position... ready for tomorrow's battle. WHAT battle, you ask? The battle of man unloading junk so woman can make it look foofy in a booth! ;0)

Joy Bayer of Auntie Joy and her hubby are here - we saw them unloading beautiful, if not wilty, fresh peonies from their trailer - I am pretty sure that we saw the BarnHouse Boys' shiny new rig, parked by Cindy of Tarte's rig overflowing with rustiful beauties, and several other truck & trailer rigs have been spotted at Yokes Market, McDonalds, and here at our hotel. It's a junk invasion!!!!

The women are all giggling and smiling, and the men are all walking around with furrowed brows - already thinking about how they will unload those trailers tomorrow. In the heat. (I'll bet beer is in the plan....) And probably wondering how they let their women talk them into doing this. I know Bob will miss Jim, AKA 'The Man' of Heather & The Man Bullard. Last year those two guys had so much fun working hard and then sitting back and watching the mahem....

Our sweet friends Marybeth & Julie of Poppyseeds gave us a surprise 'going away gift' yesterday afternoon - Julie even personally delivered it to our house! They gave us a Mac's Lounge gift card and a journal to write about our Farm Chicks weekend. They said the gift card was so we could keep getting our fill of Sweet Tea!!!!! Ok, so, they know about our little vice... up to three trips a day to the Mickey D's in Stanwood to see Ruth and get iced cold sweet tea. uh huh. ANYWAY, how thoughtful is that of them?!

Darling girls, thank you SO much for thinking of us - and you'll be as perplexed as we are to find that not every McDonalds on the Eastern side of the state has Sweet Tea. I ordered some in Ellensburg and the guy looked at me like I had two heads: 'So, do you want me to like, put a lot of sugar in it for you or something?' But they DO have it in Spokane. Thank Heavens!

OK.... planning session, then the pool, then sleep, then up bright & early to go do battle!!!!! I'll share photos of our booth tomorrow night, I promise!

Teri & Serena posted the show map & vendor list on their Farm Chicks blog, so we thought we'd share them here, too. Unfortunately, for some reason I can't get them to enlarge when clicking on them - so you'll have to go to the Farm Chicks blog to do that. Sorry. (What IS IT with Blogger lately???)

Retreat will be located in Bay One, Booth #86.
To get there: Enter the show into the Plaza. Take the first door to the left, into Bay One. Ahead of you, you will see a block of booths - swerve to the right around that block, hang a left, and go straight ahead on the main aisle. We will be the double booth located along the main aisle on your left. (Note: the map above is upside down, really - the main entrance is located at the TOP of it. So, looking at the map, you'd actually enter at the top, go down to the first door on your right, and then proceed with the directions above).

And if you saw us at the show last year, be prepared for a big shock. We have a whole new style, some absolutely jaw-dropping creations and a plethora of products to delight you this year. We call it 'Tattered Paris, Texas Style', (there's a town in Texas named Paris) and we know you are gonna' love it all. From personal accessories to home decor, lighting, & furnishings, we've gotcha' covered. We even have a few things the GUYS will like!

You're also gonna' love the show, the Chicks, the venue, the party vibe, and these amazing vendors:

Quite a gathering of talent, and we are so honored to be part of it all. Teri & Serena have created something so incredible with this - it's not just a show or an event, it's a COMMUNITY. A community of creative artisans and shoppers who GET IT and support local & independent businesses. There is a contagious joyful energy at this event that surpases anything I've ever experienced - including church! (uh oh, I may get in hot water for that one, huh?!) This is the highlight of our year, I have to tell you. We do so many wonderful shows and love them all, but Farm Chicks is kind of like a holy pilgrimage to Mecca for everyone involved. I hear even C Sections are scheduled around it.... ;0)

Oh, and when you come to our booth, please let us know if you are one of our dear blog Followers - we'll have a little somethin' somethin' for you!

One week from today, we'll be in Spokane making magic! Check out the Farm Chicks blog for more info!

You say you want a glimpse of what we are planning for Farm Chicks (in just over a week!)? OK....here ya' go. Positively hideous, isn't it? Don't worry, this is the before shot. With some TLC and a bit of paint, sandpaper, muslin, burlap, and screen printing, the finished product doesn't look anything at all like that photo. But you'll have to wait for the show to see the 'after' on this one and lots & lots of other beautiful creations! Hope to see you there...

We are working on lots of wonderful creations for the upcoming Farm Chicks show AND for our expanded space at Faded Elegance! Something wonderful will be arriving there May 1st. Stay tuned!

Eidted to Add: ....mmmmnnnnn, I lied. May 1st is a Saturday and we can't load in on weekends. So, it will be in on Monday May 3. Sorry 'bout that.

While I was yammering on in my post earlier today about our plans for the upcoming Farm Chicks show, I had no idea that the girls had posted on their blog about the video series I filmed at their show last June! (Thanks for the heads-up, 'Shopgirl'!) For some great decorating & display tips, plus a chance to hear from the Chicks and three other amazing women in business, check out the videos.

Yup, that's right - in exactly two.short.months, we'll be set up and sellin' like crazy at Farm Chicks '09! We are so excited, and you just will not believe the AMAZING things Bob is creating in his shop for this show.

Seriously. You'll fall over when you see them! Our booth is going to be jam-packed with unique treasures made from reused, recycled, thrifted, and found materials, all combined in fresh new stylish ways.

What's that? You say you want some sneak peeks? OK. Just hang on until the week of the show, and then we'll share some! ;0) (I'm just not taking any chances with these!) We hope to see you there!

Image Credit: Farm Chicks

We have so many projects and several themes underway here at Retreat central...

You'll notice a few new things here on the blog - the sidebar is a bit cleaner and we have two new logos, and will be integrating them into all of our product presentations over the next month. Before this summer, our trailer will have the new logo and a little something extra added, too. (It's all about branding, right?!)

Today, we sent off the photo above and a description of our booth theme, 'Farmhouse Retreat', for Farm Chicks 2009. We are thrilled to be participating in this FAB.u.lous show again this year (and noooooo I am not filming videos again.... that was insane. Fun, but insane!). I just can't wait to put our double booth together - yes, friends, that means twice the product and twice the fun! THIS year, I have a whole barn of my own to do the mock booth setup in, so it won't be taking over my living room like it did last year. ;0)

We are also completing final details for our Spring themes - one will debut at Poppyseeds at the first of the month, and another will move into Faded Elegance just after the big Snohomish City Antique Sale in early February. (Stay tuned for more details on that!) The setups we are creating are two very different interpretations of 'a garden retreat', with each chosen for the particular style and demographic of the individual stores. Which makes it SO much fun to shop - for us, and for you!!!

Some of you may not know this, but Deb of retreat is a public speaker, writer, and video host in addition to her design work & antique sales. Known as 'the Decorating & Display Diva', Deb contributes her experience & expertise to many retail industry publications. Last June, when we took retreat on the road to the Farm Chicks Show in Spokane, Deb filmed six video segments.

The videos were for the Gift & Home Channel, a new 'online resource for retailers'. In them, Deb shares information that will help retailers create store displays that are unique, effective, and inspiring.

Footage was filmed in our 'Grandma's Garden retreat' booth for two of the six video segments - shots of Deb with the Emmy-award winning camera crew from Peak Productions in Spokane are shown above.

The video series is debuting this month on the Gift & Home Channel, as a part of their focus on visual merchandising & display. Three of the six videos are viewable now, and the newest to debut was shot entirely in our retreat booth. Several great shots of our logo appear, along with our products and many of Deb's great display techniques. Click here to view the segment.

We've been hearing from you that it's difficult to view the videos - so here's a shot at making it easier: We've created an account with GHC, and you can log right in and view Deb's videos. Click on the link provided above, then log in as 'retreat' and use password '123456'. That should get you in. One favor: When you have finished viewing the videos, please log out!!! You can, of course, set up your own account, and spend as much time there as you'd like...

A bit of 'behind the scenes' info: This segment was the first one Deb filmed - at 7 AM, before the show opened. The segment was shot in just two takes, plus some 'close-up' B roll footage, in fifteen minutes. Not bad for a gal running on just one cup of coffee! (The next two hours of filming were fueled by many more mochas and a few Vanilla Cokes, however...)

Ok, all of you shopping guerillas, flea market mavens, and garage sale divas, the news is out: Get out your red Sharpies and mark THIS on your calendar for next summer:




The Farm Chicks Vintage Flea Market Show
June 6 & 7, 2009
Spokane Fairgrounds, Spokane, Washington
www.thefarmchicks.com

You can bet that we'll be there with a brand-spankin' new retreat collection for your shopping pleasure - and we've already expanded to TWO booths for the show. Lots of planning and prepping is already in the works for this fabulous indoor event featuring over 120 vendors, so make your plans now and don't miss it! Whether you join in as a seller or a shopper, it's a big ol' party! (Yes, Mari - this means YOU!)