Dreaming of Tents

Tent featured in The Bride's Guide

The time has come to rent our tent for the fair, however these tents are not available in the Midwest {sadly}. We're smitten "by boutique tents"! It is going to be hard to rent a plain white one after seeing these. We do line our interiors with fabric so that does help...........somewhat!

Raj Tents

We have also discovered these lovely wooden pole tents on the East Coast, Sperry Tents.
Pictures did not transfer over well, but make sure you check this family owned company.

Have a lovel-y day,

kara+darcy

Swan & Shears

For quite a while we have been wanting to change our blog name. We still need to do more work on the blog, but baby steps! Swan & Shears is a name that sums us up, we like a little fuss plus in our lives there is a lot of flurry behind the scenes.

Kara headed into K mart to get a medley of baby supplies and trucked it while cuz Sara was in the car watching her kidlets. Kara can fly around stores -must be from all the gift show experience, keep moving and you'll find it! Kara checked online for those "tacky garden swans" and lo and behold 50 years later they are still manufactured in US of A--. Kara flew to the garden area and there they were perched on the top shelf {good thing she's 5'10"} grabbed the two left! {highly doubt they were top sellers} No, she didn't get plastic flowers to tuck in them!

Actually we wouldn't put these in our garden, but for display purposes "Amen"! Oh, the possibilities running around in our little heads. More on projects for those at a later date we want you to digest the thought that we just purchased these plastic swans!

Kara didn't have a cart and when the checkout girl saw her coming with those swans perched in her arms, she blinked a couple of times and we knew the thought running through her head, "you've got to be kidding me"!

Actually, you never know Anthropologie wouldn't bat an eye at using these for a visual display in their stores. You also know our affection for flamingos and a year or so ago Ralph Lauren did a flamingo display in one of their NYC stores. See we are not that wierd!

Have a little fuss and a lot of flurry this week.........

Kara + Darcy

Nie Nie won the Madsen Cycle

Nie Nie & her family

{Pic from her blog}

Nie Nie of the lovely blog The Nie Nie Dialogues

survived a plane crash {along with her husband}

She tells her story on her blog about raising children, her home, her accident, cupcakes & more.

& she WON one of the 3 Madsen cycles given away!

We love her blog......

Congrats Nie Nie!

Love your readers,

Kara + Darcy

Curious Shops & Two Gals

{Bon store sign, pic from Patch NYC}

We spotted these two gals in a booth in NYC and really didn't talk to them just noticed their smashing-ly cute business card and we knew their shop is on our list of places to go. Tuscon, Arizona is calling our name. We really haven't seen a lot of press {puzzling as it looks like magazine material} on this shop, another write up in this newspaper is spotted here.

{Interior of Bon, pic by A Fanciful Twist}

Vanessa, an artist writes a delightful article on this shop in her blog. This is the only place besides Patch NYC, that we spotted pics and a lovely write up of this shop. It's a mother/daughter team, who are highly creative judging by their work in the few pics we have found. Bonnie {mom} & daughter {Crystal} formed a partnership, Crystal hails from the well known Anthropologie in SoHo, as she did a stint there in the visual display department. Enough said this store is on our list of places to visit.........it looks that good! It should with a name like Bon!

Another shop we have yet to see in the press is Fleur de lis {no website} in Modesto, California. Ruth or as some call her "Ruthie" is another high energy, very creative shop owner. She has owned this shop for over 20 years. She has moved the shop to her current location in the last 7 or 8 years. She has a devoted clientele, her events are always packed out and her visual displays will knock your socks off.

The store is detailed and tons of fresh plants are mixed in. {San Francisco flower market is 1.5 hrs away} Kara started shopping there after she got married and still to this day all her purchases made there are still with her, it's that great! We highly recommend if you are visiting the bay area to take a drive to the Central Valley and make a stop. Darcy & I always have her shop on our list when we visit........promise you won't be disappointed.

Lovely, fresh displays.
Check out the ribbon cupboard, tucked in the corner........she is known for her ribbon selection.

At a little over 1,000 square feet, she has never expanded. She is just amazingly good at making her shop crammed full like the ones in Europe. {She does go on buying trips to France, has been going there for a long time} Floor to ceiling, it's filled with treasures. Why is it that our favorite shops are small and have never swelled to thousands of square feet.....must be something to this, small is good!

Now on to shop girls at heart!

{Barbara at a farmer's market with her beautiful daughter, Arabella}

Barbara lives in Ohio & hails from California..........{she was a shop girl for Ruthie at Fleur de lis} Here is her lovely blog, Joyful Living.

She'll be helping us out at this year's Country Living Fair. She is a very talented gal, helping her mom, Doris behind the scenes with her Etsy shop, Dogwood Designs.

Here is a list of what inspires her:

What I love:

My Lord & Savior

My family & friends

What I enjoy:

Vintage linens, ribbons, paper

Mixing old, new, vintage & used together

Estate sales, flea markets, really any sales

Bringing nature indoors-flowers, branches, leaves....

Balancing the deor in our home to reflect a beautiful and cozy, but a real life home.

She also enjoys cooking, trying new recipes and using fresh ingredients.........

Barbara has two small children and is expecting another in December, she is a lovely mother and has a good eye for all things beautiful! We're blessed to know her as a customer & friend.

Amber lives in Indiana and is opening her own shop this fall........find more about her upcoming shop, Damask Designs here!

She is also helping us out at the fair this year! {should we tell these girls it's like boot camp, shhhh, we'll keep that under our hat}

Here is the oh-so-wonderful details on me & my little shop.....

I am a busy mama to two....

& I'm currently enchanted with vintage & French finds

Chandeliers

Ribbons

Quaint little shops & little bits of everyday life

I love to daydream, design & created {with whatever I have}

Damask Designs is an accumulation of my interests

It is a little "occasional shop" {open certain times of the year} selling all things "vintage & vogue". Tucked in the shop will be antique letterpress stationary, vintage finds & little indulgences, to make you & your days more delightful.

Best wishes to you Amber as you start your journey as a shop owner.

Darcy & I have known Amber as a customer and just recently met her in person, what a delight. We can't wait to come to your shop.......

Thank you to both of these sweeties for putting up with us!!!

Kara + Darcy

Monday: A Stitch in Time.......

& just in time for Country Living Fair 2009!

Since our theme will have a haberdashery flair to it we have found products that will perch just fine in our tent. French sewing products and beautiful ribbon.....love the pins they are

like the old ones, with a ball at the end instead of the normal "loop" that way fabric doesn't get "caught"! These items will be available on our website after the show.

Another company we have found hails from one of our favorite places, Berkeley, California and has fun sewing bits. We have been on the look out for beautiful packaging and all of these products fit our aesthetic. We attended a show that opened a whole new world for us. We love thinking and finding things that are "out of our normal box", but fit the bill just the same!

Since sewing has come out of the woodwork and taken the country by a creative storm we give thanks to people like Amy Butler, French General and other fabric designers. We love this theme across our nation: the DIY projects & Etsy . It's giving this idea to people everywhere "I can do this"! Bravo! Yippee!

Here is a creative blog for today that we want to pass on.........A Field Journal

In Stitches,

Kara + Darcy

Another Shout Out..........

Attention all Brick & Mortar Shop Girls {& guys too}

Abby of The Blissful has a unique thing going on.......

to show you how to "shopkeep"

Open to 100 shop owners, this private blog, A Boutique Industry, will be very helpful to those of you who need support

and want to learn.

She also is having a very fun "Indie Girl" event so check that out here.

She is an amazing writer & one bus-y shop girl!

Simon & Cricker's Westy Adventure

If you're tired of peeking on us!

meanwhile, here's something to peek at......

2 boys {I mean "guys", what was I thinking}

heading west

in a restored "tricked out" VW bus

across our country VA to CA

perfect citrus-y yellow color {so kate spade}

pop -up -thing-y on top is too cute.....

here is their blog

here are pictures

please wish them well

{we don't know them personally} although I'm sure they are heading to our church
conference out west.

{just through joni, and she's tired of waiting on our big change!}

this reminds me of my {kara's} big adventure west in 1994

don't you just love their title!

send them wishes please, this is too cute!

k+d

& yes, for those wondering if we're ok...we are!

keep peeking!

Ice cream!

Jeni's Ice cream has a blog!

Our favorite & in Ohio!

Happy {Green} Day!

Darcy & Kara are ready to be set free from these brrr cold days! Check out this cute store in Japan! Tweet!

Ready to work outside! Today we felt a warm spring breeze, finall-y.

Another note Gwenyth P. has a blog & it's cute. We linked the butterfly section since it's green and fitting for today + it's on parenting and Kara has that on her brain day & night!

A Pink Ribbon Day! {Prize Winner}

A darling lady has won our organization goodies.........she has a lovely blog! She is Jerusalem of the my little life blog! We would love to have tea with her today!!! I will post a picture of the prize delights that she'll receive! {Sorry these nights with Bebe Zach have threw me for a loop, I'm so slow at everything these days!}

Dearie please let us know if you want more "pinks" in your organization goodies or "reds" or a combo of "reds & pinks"

let us know! Please email us your address @ mcmasterandstorm@embarqmail.com & congratulations! Oh, and the prize ribbon is yours as well!

What inspires us to clean & organize? Seda France candles, Mrs. Meyers cleaning supplies, Spring, open windows, magazines & blogs!

Love,

K&D

We Won!

We entered Katie Runnels {Constant Gatherer Blog} contest for her darling wreaths she makes. She co-founded ShopSCAD in Savannah and now lives in a little town in South Carolina. She has a studio and an etsy shop. We would be delighted to meet her in person. When she e-mailed us to tell us we won yesterday Darcy jumped up & down as she has never won anything. This pink birdie wreath will adorn our store studio wall. Tweet, tweet. Now, Kara can't figured out how to copy the picture of the wreath to our blog {go figure}! So we'll just make you link to her blog and check it out!

Thanks Katie for your darling wreath you created, you're a doll!

K&D

McMaster & Storm's Gold Bird Perched on Design Sponge Today

Our gold bird was featured on Design*Sponge today! This blog is a fun read and is great for shopkeepers to check out.

You're Invited to a Gift Wrapping Event

You're invited to a fabulous tutorial on gift wrapping with

McMaster & Storm
via Melissa at The Inspired Room's blog!

We love to wrap------it's the details in wrapping that make for a memorable gift from the outside to the inside! We want to show you simple ideas, inexpensive & even being "green" with recycling, to make an "oh, I can't open that gift...it's wrapped so yummy"!


The tutorial debuts this coming Monday , December 3rd! Get your wrapping stations ready, make it pretty & get inspired. Stay in your jammies, pour coffee or tea in your fav mug. Better yet get your girlfriends together and wrap your gifts together, sharing supplies is soooo much fun! Get your shopping done & wrap on Monday with us!

Here are pictures of our "gift wrapping kit" compliments of McMaster & Storm!
A recipient will receive this "gift" containing our favorite things to wrap with.
Enter to win at The Inspired Rooms blog!

Kaari Meng of French General will be sharing photos as well to inspire you.
We love her things and sell some of them at our store.
Her store is worth a visit when in Southern California!

Now Darcy & I will hand it over to Melissa , our gracious host.