Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind the Blogger


Susan from Must Love Junk, and myself (Kris) Junk Chic Cottage wanted to do a regular feature on our blogs, something unique that hasn't been done before.   So we came up with an idea to 'spotlight the real life behind the blogger' in a more personal way.
There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland, and we thought it would be fun to bring you a closer look at the person behind the blog.

Every week on Saturday we will spotlight a blogger and have them tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs.  You will be able to see and read about each of the bloggers on both Susan's and my blog. 


Saturday November 29
Stacey from Cottage Industry


It gives me great please to introduce you to a really wonderful blogger that I happen to be friends with in real life not just in blog life!  Her name is Stacey and she has a beautiful business and blog called Cottage Industry.  Stacey not only has a great design company and great little shop she also is a wonderful photographer.  Stacey did the pictures of my home for Cottage of the Month awhile back on The Old Painted Cottage website.  Stacey has the cutest house and cutest family, well just lots of cuteness and talent with this girl.  Please sit back with your Saturday morning beverage and enjoy learning about Stacey.


Hello, Junk Chic Cottage readers, I'm Stacey and I'm so honored to be sharing a bit about me here today!  Doesn't Kris have an amazing blog and home?!  Love seeing all the makeovers she does and cool things her husband makes for her!  I have had the pleasure of meeting Kris in person and spending time with her out to lunch and at her home...we live near each other...I'm lucky!
I started blogging in 2010 a few months after my daughter was born, as an outlet for something else to do besides be "Mommy" all day.  At that time and for the next 2 years, I blogged about my home at A Sort Of Fairytale.  I have recently stopped blogging on there, but I have a new blog, Cottage Industry.  Cottage Industry is my online shop and decorating services site, my little budding business!  My full time job though, is that of a Stay At Home Mom ;)


I currently live with my husband, Matt and daughter, Maggie in the suburbs of Chicago. 





We moved about three years ago from the city of Chicago (and our teeny tiny apartment) into our first home.  I still kinda can't believe I'm a "real grown up" with a house!








It's not a grand home and there is some remodeling and projects to be done, but I really, really, love my cozy house!  I am forever changing things up at home, so these pictures already seem dated to me, LOL!
In my spare time, I love to craft and make things for my home, shop, friends, and family.



My newest crafty passion is crochet!  I'm making granny squares in the hopes of having a blanket someday...



Something people find interesting and/or funny about me is how many jobs/careers I've had!  I have been:  An Art Teacher (my bachelor's degree), a Retail Manager at Anthropologie,  a Shop Owner (a small vintage boutique in the Chicago suburbs), a Showroom Manager at The Merchandise Mart in Chicago, a Visual Stylist at Marshall Field's (department store, Now Macy's), and a Hairstylist (worked at a salon in Chicago).  I'm like a cat who's had 9 lives...and I'm only 37!  Every one of these jobs and my getting into it/leaving it, has it's own long story...much too long for this post!  You could say I'm either very flaky about work, or that I was just searching for the right one!  I prefer the latter.  I believe in trying...even if you don't succeed you tried...no regrets, and I have none about it.  My best motto is, Go For It, and figure out the details later!!  But, seriously, don't give up on your dreams...keep searching (and trying) for what makes you happy!
After all that, I am happily where I want to be and am meant to be today, raising my daughter daily and doing the little things I love on the side (decorating, crafting, running a business)!


(Maggie on her first day of Pre-school this year)

Thank you, Kris for having me over today!

XO,
Stacey

Cottage Industry

Thank you Stacey for sharing the personal side of you with all of us.  Is Maggie not the cutest ever!!!!! I have had the pleasure of babysitting with Maggie on occasion and she is just the sweetest and so adorable.
Now that you have come to know Stacey hop over to Susan's blog and learn about Polly from Georgie Emerson Vintage

Have a wonderful week end.  Hope your Turkey Day was a good one.  

Due to the holidays being upon us Susan and I will be taking a break from Saturday Spotlight and will resume with featured bloggers in January.  This will give everyone the time they need to get ready for the holidays.  Happy Shopping, wrapping and baking.  
Kris
:)

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to wish each and everyone of you a Happy Thanksgiving.  May you enjoy the peace and blessings the day brings.

You have all become like family to me in blog world and for all your support and encouragement and inspiration I will be most thankful.  I am so thankful for your gifts of friendship.

Have a wonderful day where ever the Thanksgiving Holiday takes you. For you that are traveling this busy week I wish for Safe Travel.

Happy Thanksgiving.


This Thanksgiving table is from TheLilyPadCottage.com.  How beautiful to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner looking out onto the lake.  Lot's of dreamy whites.






Remember this beautiful saying as we approach Thanksgiving.

Enjoy your day with family and friends.
Happy Thanksgiving
Kris
:)

Old Vintage Door Meets Bathroom Make Over

Happy Sunday Everyone.  Have you ever tried to take a good picture in a small bathroom? Yep! with no natural light or space to work in it was difficult.

I recently repainted the bathroom and wanted to show you the transformation.  It was hard to get good pictures but here is what I have to show you.


Here it the before pictures of the bathroom.  Cream and white.


I like the cream and white but my vanity was so old and the sink in bad shape cracked and rusted and was in need of up grading.  So since I have been on a painting kick of late I decided to take the Gallery White (hint of grey) on into this bathroom.
I Painted the walls the gallery white which has the tint of grey.  The most exciting thing I did in this bathroom was to take that old vintage door that had the mail slot in it and make it part of my new mirror/vanity.  



Being on a budget I did not want to buy a whole new vanity so I used the shell of the old vanity and Terry cut the bottom of the old vintage door to make these new cabinet doors for the old vanity.  So I was able to use the whole vintage door for this make over.  I loved that I could do that.  





Here is a close up of the mail slot of the door for the back of the vanity.



The top part of the old vintage door made for a great mirror and center piece for the bathroom.  My husband just cut a piece of mirror from Home Depot to fit in the window of the door.


Here is a picture of the room with the chandelier off so you could see it without the glare of the lights.  I used my open shades with the buttons on the chandelier.







With keeping with the vintage feel I used this towel hanger with old door knobs for my towel holder.



Just an old porch post to put a little decor near the tub.




A little candle chandelier over the tub for a nice bubble bath with candle light.  Ha Ha like who has time to take a bubble bath with Thanksgiving on us and Christmas around the corner!!!! Maybe in January!!!




Little vintage night light.
I brought in this cherub wall decor from outside in my garden.  My good friend Sandy gave me this some years back and now I love that I could bring her into this bathroom.  I put some Christmas greens and a nest and angel wings in her for a little Christmas decor for this bathroom.



There you have it.  A little paint on the walls and a great husband that can take my crazy idea of using an old door into the focal point of my bathroom.
  No dollars spent except on the new sink everything else I had and made work.  So I got a whole new bathroom for the price of a new sink and faucet.

Happy Thanks Giving Everyone.  Enjoy your time with family and friends.
I am so thankful for all your support and inspiration and friendships.

Happy Thanksgiving
Kris
:)
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Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind the Blogger




Susan from Must Love Junk, and myself (Kris) Junk Chic Cottage wanted to do a regular feature on our blogs, something unique that hasn't been done before.   So we came up with an idea to 'spotlight the real life behind the blogger' in a more personal way.
There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland, and we thought it would be fun to bring you a closer look at the person behind the blog.

Every week on Saturday we will spotlight a blogger and have them tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs.  You will be able to see and read about each of the bloggers on both Susan's and my blog. 


Saturday November 23
Janet from Shabbyfufu

Good Saturday Morning everyone.  This week's line up is Janet Coon from Shabbyfufu on my spotlight and Kate from Salvage Dior on Susan's spotlight.   I have the the pleasure to introduce  you to Janet Coon.   Janet Coon blogs at Shabbyfufu and has a fabulous business with some of the most beautiful treasures for sale.  I have just recently gotten to know about Janet and was so excited when she said she would do the Spotlight Feature.  So join me in reading and learning more about this talented blogger.




Janet Coon at Shabbyfufu

Thank you for inviting me to share a bit about myself with your blog readers today Kris!

I'm Janet although I'm most known on the internet as Shabbyfufu, the name of my on-line business that I've had for about fifteen years now. I would venture to guess that I'm often called an internet dinosaur, but I like think of myself more as a pioneer who enjoys inspiring and mentoring others as well.


Shabbyfufu the moniker came to be when I was in the antique and collectible business with a local friend some years back. I have always painted my furniture white, sewn, crafted and furnished with thrift shop finds since my college days! I love to mix in a bit of sparkle, and when a friend took a look at one of my shop vignettes said "your style is so shabby, yet so fufu." The combined name stuck, and a bell went off for the brand! 

I was born a city girl in New York, but have lived in South Florida for most of my life now. True loves are my family, my Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, the beach (where we have a part-time home), traveling, creating and treasure hunting.





As a child I went with my aunt to my first flea market and broke open my piggy bank to buy a vintage perfume bottle. From then on was hooked on vintage. I have been an artist as well for as long as I can remember, always puttering with projects and organizing ways to sell my creations. In college I studied art with emphasis on ceramics and took many classes that helped me learn a variety of techniques and skills such as photography. I received my degree and taught art for awhile, but quickly learned that I enjoyed the creative process more than the instruction aspect. 

Fast forward to marrying my husband of over 30 years now and raising our family, during which time I continued to create in various ways and sell my pieces to supplement our income. 
My biggest successes in that arena were with my pottery lines and my clothing company, neither of which I am still doing at the moment. 

Changing times and shifting modalities are just a part of life and keep it interesting, and often unforeseen circumstances come into play. I had a studio that was a separate building behind our home of twenty three years now. We went through the devastating Hurricane Andrew back in 1992, and with our home left a shambles, the studio was gone. We stayed and repaired, rebuilt and eventually enlarged and improved…but the studio that I could play and make a mess in was reconfigured into part of a large home addition. On to other things with some trepidation,  I closed my clothing line (Pour It On Productions) and then the internet and Ebay came along to give me new direction. 

I still enjoyed the thrill of the hunt for vintage, and started back attending yard sales and flea markets and selling on Ebay in the late 1990's. This allowed me to combine so many passions and it then was quite thrilling to see the bidding wars on my vintage finds as well as the creations that I had previously only been able to sell in local shows! 

I began to specialize (and still do) in altered art mannequins and dress forms, as well as recreate lighting fixtures into art pieces for the home. Under the Shabbyfufu umbrella my pieces are found all over the world and it's an honor to have quite a few clients that have been with me ever since those early days. 




Eventually I cracked into the early days of website ownership (yes, had to know some code way back then) and Shabbyfufu.com became my thriving and full time job. Such joy! I could then have my own "store", not rely on Ebay or the antique mall and make it my style in my own way. I took thousands upon thousands of photographs of merchandise and vignettes and began to be featured in magazines such as Romantic Homes, Romantic Country, Better Homes & Gardens and several international publications as well. 





Several months ago I had the pleasure of being filmed by a crew from a French television channel for a day at my home and working with my photography business, and was it was aired as part of a documentary over in France!


In the spirit of helping others, I've worked with other talented artists through my website, and have enjoyed connecting and allowing these women the chance to follow their dreams…just as I had.

My blog became a natural extension of my website, at first started to let my customers and clients know a bit more about me and the other artists on the site. I also used it as a marketing tool in my early days of blogging (since 2007) and still do. I was featured in one of the first books about blogging called "Blogging For Bliss" by Tara Frey. To this day I follow that mantra in terms of my personal blogging and try and not get too bogged down in the commercial aspect of penning a blog. I enjoy…and so I do!

These days you can still find me being the same "artsy craftsy Janet" aka Shabbyfufu, over on my website shabbyfufu.com and my blog shabbyfufu.blogspot.com. I am most often behind the lens of a camera as a freelance stylist and lifestyle photographer, currently working on home shoots with several magazines both internationally and within the U.S. I have a few other exciting things in the works as well, and am scouting homes on a regular basis…so feel free to contact me about that if you know of any "magazine worthy" homes.


I have so much to be thankful for in my life and I truly am! 
Thank you for reading about me and I encourage you to follow your dreams and allow them to take you where they will... as they have with me. 

Happy Holidays,
Janet


Thank you Janet for sharing about yourself.  It is so nice to get to know you better.  Now that you have come to know a little more about Janet you can hop over to Susan's blog and read about Kate from Salvage Dior.

Have a wonderful week end.
Kris
:)

Sneak Peak at a few Christmas items


 

I have been working on my Christmas decor this week.  

I thought I would share a few things I got at Junk Jubliee for Christmas.  





Here are the angel wings I bought at the Junk Jubilee show last week end.

Here they are in full view.  I loved these the minute I saw them.  So many lovely ruffles.  This is not where I have them hanging you can see the final place they will be with my Christmas decor reveal on December 8th.

Here is another wonderful purchase of these salvage tin hearts with glass chandelier crystals.  I loved these and thought they looked great on this old vintage window in my living room.  I added the joy sign for Christmas.


Many of you remember my Amazing Grace Angel I got last year.  She is one of my favorite pieces in my Christmas decor.



A little sneak peak at my cherub piece on my chippy benches in front of the mantel.
A sneak peak at the vintage winter garden theme with some birdhouses and nests.

A little sneak peak at my tree this year.  I used an old white wash tub for the base of my tree.  This year my tree is filled with angels, birds and a lot of crystal bling ornaments.

This is a little sneak peak at some of my decor.  Just a little bit to entice you to come back on December 8th to the White Christmas Linky Party.

I will be participating in the Creating Christmas Linky Party below with 4 other talented bloggers and their themed decor.  Jan from Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson invited me to join the party this year.  I will be excited to share all my White Christmas decor.  

This should be a lot of fun to see  the five different styles of Christmas Decor.  My theme is White Christmas and is on December 8th.  So be sure to stop by and see my White Christmas Decor and you are invited to join in and add your decor ideas at the party. 

So please join the party starting Sunday December 7th with Carlene Organized Clutter Queen starting everything off with her Vintage Christmas Decor.



Kris
:)

Junk Jubilee

 I just got home from my Girlfriend trip to Junk Jubilee in Iowa.  It was so much fun.  It was their Christmas market so everything was Christmas themed with vintage and chippy junk.  It was fabulous.  Here are some pictures of the trip.  Sorry but I forgot my camera so they were all taken with my cell phone.  We also stopped at some cute shops along the way and of course I was so excited about the shopping that I forgot to take pictures of the shops.  Next time I promise to remember my camera and take more pictures.  I am such an amateur!




Lots of old sleds


Lots of Cabin themed Christmas items

Loved this vendors booth she had lots of vintage "glampers" Christmas items.  Gotta love vintage campers and Christmas. Her stuff was too adorable.  Look at her Little LuLu that she travels around in.

This vendor took old vintage toy cars and made them into necklaces.  I loved the little VW bug necklaces.

This vendor's booth was awesome.  She had so many white and chippy items.  Don't you love that metal repurposed chandy with the crystals added.  Too cute.

Lots and lots of Christmas trees.  Loved this little one under the glass dome.

This vendor had some awesome architectural salvage pieces.

This vendor did cute aprons and also some gorgeous necklaces.  If you are a jewelry person this show was for you.  So many great vendors with unique jewelry pieces made from vintage charms and salvage.

Look at the Iowa Farm Girl sign and the 4 H Ribbon.  Too awesome.
This little awesome cutie came home with me for the hubby's new home office.

What I loved about this vintage fire chief car is that the number on it (508) was my husbands call number in the fire department for many years.  I think this was meant to be for a sweet gift to bring home to him.


This vendor has some great chippy pieces and loved this garland out of old torn pieces of fabric.   This pink truck was so fabulous and cute.


This vendor made this cute lampshade for this lamp out of stencil letters.  Loved this.  Too sweet.




Gotta love that chippy white Noel sign.

This vendor has adorable stuff but she caught my heart with the silver tinsel tree like my grandma had when I grew up.  I remember that tree each year at my grandmothers.  Hanging on the tree were vintage Christmas items but the christmas stocking were just like the ones we had growing up.  It was sweet to look at this booth and have great memories flood back to me.

This booth was my absolute favorite.  Got lots of things from this vendor.  See those hard to see ruffle angel wings in the back left corner.  Yep those came home with me.  I will show those beauties when I show my Christmas decor.  Look at the sweet chippy chairs and that fabulous light blue distressed cabinet in the back right corner.  Too many lovelies in this booth.  


This was a few pictures of the show that I remembered to take! I get so wrapped up in looking at things I forget to take pictures.  I got some pretty vintage Christmas things that I will show when I do my Christmas decor post.  Have a fantastic Sunday.

Kris
:)











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