la Brocanteuse: September 2012

Sep 28, 2012

Weekend Brocante to visit

~Enjoy your holiday and weekend~

what ever it is you are planning..make the most of it.

My weekend and all the days from here on,

will be spent sorting old French linens ,

lace and French trouvaile...in preparation for the KAMERSVOL GESKENKE event coming up soon.

How I wish I could have one more day here before then:...

It is impossible to recreate what one experience at a French Brocante, the colors, the stacked collections of anything from old crockery, books,baskets,linen, lace, statues,lamps, glasses., jewellery, a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g- ...displayed on any available surface from the bonnet of a car to makeshift tables,
piled in boxes and crates.. be prepared to bend down and unpack, open boxes and tins.

this is what I spoilt myself with, after a month of shopping for fellow francophiles at home, I felt I deserved some whimsy and delicateness..

you won't believe how I had to beg the dealer for this little doll's head...he used it as display under a marriage dome, I won, of course it meant having to buy other bits from his stall as well, but I did not mind at all. she came home with me.

As much as I would like to just pile it up and stack the boxes..It would be my first choice to try and recreate the exciting feel and racing heart beat when you discover the treasure buried in a box. But... I will curate and set it out pretty. That is what I will be doing for the next few weeks,.. planning how to display in the space assigned to

la Brocanteuse at

FRENCH BROCANTE

21 October ~ 27 October 2012

KAMERSVOL GESKENKE

LOURENSFORD

Somerset West

and if you are in the area..

you will love visiting this beautiful village and market.

Colette

remember the post on my "blue Brocante" sign"?

here

Sep 21, 2012

old Script

I love Script,

especially old handwritten ,timeworn documents

we learn so much of another era where every day tasks included real paperwork..

I had a long discussion with a antique dealer not so long ago about the art of hand writing, the time and effort that went into sending out invitations, the time factor when a reply of confirmation was expected.

The said dealer collects stamps and that is actually how we got onto the subject. I wanted to purchase some of his old South African stamps to have a little project for Dd for the upcoming school holidays.
~aiming to bring awareness of a disappearing act-that being the writing of letters and post cards, adding a stamp as payment to have it sent to a friend anywhere in the world.. She loves to collect old, like me, poor girl she has no choice!
I remember one day when she was just a little tot-princess, we visited one of my favorite jaunts, - a store stacked to the ceiling with everything from old kitchen corning ware stored in wooden boxes to those every now and then true treasure.
After walking around a bit, amazed, and totally overwhelmed..( can you imagine what it must have felt like for someone not even a meter high..)
she said, " Mamma, is this the Crazy Store for big people?" fellow South Africans will know we have a store by the same name that kids love for their affordable and mix of all goods colored and plastic..

Any way, with time she learned that Mamma loves old and the stories collected with all.

Give me old ephemera

and script in any form any day,

and I will treasure it with my heart and all,
right there next to old monogrammed french linge and handmade dentelle.

I received a package in the post all the way from Alwen in Canada

it contained her very beautiful artwork and the old document in this post..

- most specially wrapped in a old map and handwritten address label

such a true from the heart joy to receive in the mail from so far away, the perfect something that touched my heart, from someone I have never met, yet we connected through our love for old, curiosity and ephemera

framed in floating glass to expose the back of the document as well

sheet music with detailed artwork on the front

framed grain bags to display and share the story

re- purposed on chairs..

I had a very kind letter from Kathee with a delightful blog:Chateau et Jardin,

asking if she could use some of my images in a post on her blog she found via Pinterest ,

originally used by me in a post titled

here: DECONSTRUCTED FRENCH CHAIRS

How thought full and appreciating, to have someone honor fellow blogger's creative input.

Thank you Kathee!

Colette

PS: one of our rituals when travelling, is to send post cards, like one used to do way back when..
I had Dd "write" her first one to herself and sent it home from Switzerland when she was just little ~(4)
the excitement on her face when she received it in the post box this side..precious!!