A Vintage View

If Cheree and I were in a Fraternity, I believe this week would have been called "Hell Week"! With our amazing new opportunity to display our items in Historic Snohomish came the task of filling and beautifying our vendor space, and creating a seamless surrounding with our new friends at Faded Elegance. After arranging what seemed like thousands of items (in actuality about 50!), and realizing the space looked empty, we set off on a week of searching, driving, buying, thinking,creating, sanding, painting, nailing, and worrying. As friends for 15 years, Cheree and I have leaned on each other during stressful times, but this time we were deep in the muck together. So we dug deep, put on our big girl panties, injected some humor and set out on a mission!

We started at a Yard Sale of a family whose parents had once owned an antique store!

Lots of unique, beatiful, rusty things.  Regrets:  not enough money to buy everything we wanted, including a French blue and white enamel Enema Bottle!!

As we picked through things, we started a pile and acted like 2 year- olds when other people even thought of looking at our stuff by yelling, "Mine, Mine". One of us had to stand next to it at all times for fear that playground rules wouldn't apply at an Estate Sale.

Bubble Bath anyone?  We sure felt like we could have used one that day.

A gorgeous air vent still attached to the floor it lived on! Too heavy to hang as art on the wall, though.

Next we headed to an old historic museum that thought they wanted to sell vintage items, but everything cool, unique or exciting said "Not For Sale"or " Do Not Touch" or "Please Dont't Sit on Me".   

So we had some tea,

And Cheree tried to haggle over prices with the store owner, to no avail. She wouldn't even speak to us!  How rude.

By the end of the week, we had found some gems, like this turn-of-the-century spindle table, candlesticks and glass doorknob.

And we found some diamonds in the rough.......

This is a blank canvas for us to completely revitalize as something new. Not even sure what it is?  A stool? A plant stand? A serving tray?

This poor thing begged us to take it home and make it pretty. The top is bubbly and warped but will get a good facelift soon.

This gorgeous all-metal pedestal came complete with cob webs and spiders just in time for Autumn.  It is missing it's top, so we will get creative and give it a "head transplant.

Yesterday we brought it all together and created a new look at Faded Elegance.

Cheree did not seem to notice that if she slipped off this dresser she would tumble over the railing and down a flight of stairs!  Such courage in the name of Vintage Beauty.  

In the end, we put together our own little 10- foot by 10-foot look into the past.   

Cheree and I just wish we could hang out in our corner of the world and have a cocktail and chat.

Our families have been so supportive these past 2 weeks as we embarked on a new adventure, and I know my family is ready to give up my creative new dinner theme called, "Fend for Yourself".  It worked well for me, but they weren't as excited.

Stay tuned for the head transplant on the pedestal and the other facelifts we will be doing in the next week.

Wishing you creativity in the week ahead!

Jill and Cheree

Takin' It Downtown to Historic Snohomish

Hello Everyone!  I wish I could throw a big party and invite you all over to celebrate our BIG NEWS! With A Twist has a moved into our very own space in the ever-so-darling Faded Elegance in Historic Snohomish!  How fabulous is that?  We are honored to be welcomed by proprietor, Kimberly Mcilrath, and humbled to be amongst such amazing talent!  Jill and I have dreamed of this day and it feels so exhilarating to take this leap!  Because all of you have supported us since the very beginning, I wanted you to experience this special day right along with us.  Here is how it looked through the lens...

We live just a short distance from downtown Snohomish, and although I wouldn't recommend taking photos while driving (seriously, don't do it~), I didn't want you to miss this beautiful view. How lucky are we to live in such a beautiful part of Washington state?

This is the view just across the street from With A Twist's new home.

If you haven't visited downtown Snohomish in all its historic charm, it is worth doing so.  There lots of restaurants to choose from, great shopping and you can end your visit with a stroll along the Snohomish River.  And, of course, when in town, you must come visit us at Faded Elegance.

Are you drooling yet?  It gets better people...next weekend Faded Elegance is celebrating  it's 11th-Year-Anniversary!  Details here.

Between setting up our little space, I managed to snap a few quick sneak peeks.

A waterfall vanity, upcycled chalkboards and clipboards made from fence wood, vintage spindle candlesticks and much more!  Since we handpick each item, we know the back story on all these wonderful items.  Each piece has history, old secrets and stories. With A Twist  is "Art With A Past".

Jill brought out the power tools and began filling up the back wall.

My dear friend Susan was a huge help today.  Here she is tediously tying on  price tags.  She also has a great talent for hanging chandeliers :)
Thanks a million Susan!

What a day!  I can't speak for Jill, but I cannot stop thinking of other items I want to bring in to fill up our space. It isn't near perfect, but I think we have some unique pieces that will be fun for customers to browse, shop and hopefully take home for decorating in their own spaces.  

As I look back to where we were two years ago, I am proud of how far we've come.  I am grateful for the trials and successes along the way.  We are still penny-pinching bargain hunters who find beauty in scuffed, and bumped, rusted old junk.  We are still BFF's dreaming of someday earning...

Our first $100.000....lol.  We've got a long way to go baby!

But, for now we will continue to juggle this little thing called life, stopping to rest every once and a while to enjoy the beauty in all things vintage.

Hope to see you very soon!

Hugs,

Cheree and Jill

Fantastic Fall Finds

 Cheree and I approached this week with sheer joy as we planned for one of our favorite activities together.....Dumpster Diving Day! We have many other fun pursuits, but those all involve wine and food.  We set off with a long list of wants and needs for the day, including used desks, tables, chairs, topiaries, chandeliers, old doors, and broken windows.  Of  course, we had sent eachother texts by 7:00 am about where we would eat lunch, an unspoken requirement for all dumpster diving days!

We have driven past a unique store in the Ballard neighborhood many, many times and always promised we would stop "the next time" to see what this place was about.  Today was the day. How can you NOT be intrigued by this giant fowl guarding the front door?

At Home and Garden Art, LLC in Seattle we found a beautiful maze of repurposed and recycled metal that kept us entranced for about an hour.  Some of our finds included........

Oops, almost lost Cheree in the maze!

A beautiful rooster repurposed with metal from New Zealand

A french-inspired chimnea

Not the most comfy bicycle seat in the world, but a cool addition to your garden!

Vintage jewelry

And our favorite......rusty stuff!

We continued on to our remaining adventures and sifted through cinderblocks, old radiators , abandoned school lockers, old trunks (some not so nice), crates, ovens, fireplace mantles, stained glass windows and anchors.

Sometimes we just stand and stare for awhile at something until it tells us what it's new purpose will be. 

In the end we scored a few things for a thrilling new chapter for With A Twist:  A permanent space in amazing Historic Snohomish, WA!  Stay tuned next week for details!  We are going to be busy and dizzy with excitement as we prepare.

As usual, we ended our day with amazing food at La Isla, a Puerto Rican restaurant in Ballard followed by a Cupcake run at Cupcake Royale. When I learned that *GASP* they didn't sell Gluten Free Cupcakes, I jokingly asked if they would squirt frosting directly into my mouth for a pick-me-up, and to my utter joy, they had already thought of that idea and prepared a "frosting shot" for me! I can tell you that the Cream Cheese Frosting is heavenly, and they even put sprinkles on top! Cheree ordered 4 cupcakes for dessert for her family, but polished off the Lavendar one by the time we got on the Highway. Must be that good!

Whether it be spoonfuls of frosting or old rusty metal,  we hope you find something this week that brings you complete joy!

Jill and Cheree

Good-bye Summer and Vintage Door Vignettes

As we say good-bye to summer and send our kiddos off to school today, I am reminded of the saying, "When one door closes, another door opens".  It's a simple saying, but it brings me loads of comfort.  We had such a wonderful summer, full of all the favorites...family reunions, bbq's, campouts in the backyard, visits to the open markets, walks around the city, sunsets at the beach, concerts at the winery and just enjoying the freedom to stay up late and sleep in later.  But, as my daughter enters her sophomore year and my son begins seventh grade, I'm choking back the tears realizing there was not a lot for me to do this morning.  Aside from me making a hoagie sandwhich for my son's lunch and begging both kids to let me snap a quick picture before they walked out the door to begin their day, that was it!  That was all that was needed of me.  And, I am grateful!   I realize we are moving into a new phase in our family and my kids are doing just as they are suppose to do...growing up!  Sigh.

This new routine has left me with so much time on my hands (I kid), and in staying with the door theme, I headed over to 'Studio A' today to feature this amazing vintage door salvaged from Mount Vernon, Washington, which is just North of where we live.  We are not quite sure of its exact age, but we are pretty sure its over 75-years-old.  Take a peek at what kept our minds off of missing our kids on their first day back to school...

We hauled the door upstairs to Jill's daughter's room first.  Look at what a perfect headboard it would make!

I love the character shown in the crackle finish.

This door would also make a great accent lean-to piece.

Next to these beautiful hydrangeas, it makes a welcoming vignette on a front porch.

By the way, the 'Bonjour' sign is just one of the many With A Twist products made from salvaged wood and can be found in our Etsy shop...here's the link:  WithATwistDesigns

Doesn't everyone need a 'Door to a Secret Garden'?  This picture was taken in our friend Cheryl's gorgeous backyard.  She is an amazing artist, gardener extraordinaire and has a wonderful blog and website.  Check them both out here: My Petal Press Blog and My Petal Press Shop .

The door looked so good in Cheryl's backyard, Jill and I just wanted to leave it!

Imagine looking out at this with a fresh glass of lemonade in hand! 

As always, thank you so much for stopping in to check out what we have going on.  Stay tuned for some new products coming out very soon...hint: most likely will include something painted with...you guessed it...Annie Sloan Chalk Paint :)

Hugs,

Cheree and Jill