Where in the world is FMS?!

Is your wait over yet?!! Consider this our special GPS edition of the FMS blog!

Many of us are still waiting for the latest issue of Flea Market Style to land at our local retail stores, though reports from some readers East, West and in between assure us that they have already managed to get their mitts on a copy!

Editor-in -Chief Ki Nassauer's long wait is finally over! She found hers Saturday at the Vons supermarket in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., on the way home from a vintage shopping jaunt. The magazine stocker was just loading FMS onto the shelves! When Ki asked her to snap a photo of her and Senior Editor Heather Bullard in front of the rack, the stocker wanted to know why they were so giddy.

"I showed her Heather's photo so she would believe us," Ki laughed.

Where you have spotted (and purchased!) your copies?!

While you're filing your coordinates, feel free to throw your name into the hopper for one of the five free signed copies of the magazine that we are giving away!

You read right! Just leave us a comment (and make sure we can contact you); we'll choose the winners by the end of the week. (We can't promise how fast they'll arrive though; Ki is still waiting for her crate of mags from the publisher!)

The FMS team can't wait to share its 144-page baby with you. And when you finally do get your copy? Scrutinize the pages to see if you find yourself! It is chock full of photos, stories, resources, web sites and bloggers who are all living the Flea Market (life) Style!

The President is IN!

Happy President's Day weekend!
Monday is the day we pay homage to George Washington's birthday (actually Feb. 22) and Abraham Lincoln's birthday (Feb. 12) and the service of all the other commander in chiefs. (Former President Richard Nixon proclaimed it President's Day in 1971, though on the federal books, it officially remains Washington's Birthday).
So while you're thinking all things presidential, we give you some related, FMS-style food for thought: Presidential memorabilia can be a solid collectible!
Flea Market Style's contributing editor Tim Luke, an expert appraiser and host of HGTV's "Cash in the Attic," deems President Lincoln the "most collectible" of all the presidents.
"He's also the most expensive!," Luke noted. The picture above is a copy from the 1930s, printed from an original negative when Lincoln ran for the presidency. Luke said reprints such as these have sold for $200 to $500 at auction.
Luke said presidential commemoratives were popular early in history and founding fathers memorabilia is especially sought after. "Unfortunately, they're still being made today," he said, "but now they're made in China!"

Luke said this rug is in the den of a Florida collector, a perfect foil for the man's grouping of signed Presidential photographs.

The 100th birthday of President Ronald Reagan, whose signature is found on the letter below, has prompted an outpouring of commemoratives from T-shirts to bobblehead figures, Luke said.

"You can find presidential memorabilia, but depending on the President you have to remember the invention of the auto-pen, rendering more contemporary signatures less valuable," Luke said. His advice:

'

"That's why we say collect what you love, because if it increases in value over time, that's an added benefit. But if it doesn't, you still love it!"

Luke, who operates TreasureQuest Appraisal Group with Greg Strahm, blogs about collectibles and their value here . Be sure to check out the February issue of Flea Market Style, and the upcoming fall issue, for more of his insights on memorabilia and other collectibles!
Still waiting for the February issue? It's starting to trickle into major retailers. Check back early next week for the latest update and a surprise giveaway!

2/14 Happy Valentine's Day! And the Winners are...

The azure avian star of this pretty vintage valentine seemed just the ticket for winging our best wishes -- and giveaway winners list -- to you today!

First, the FMS team sends heartfelt Xs and Os to you on this date set aside to celebrate people we care about. And we love that Valentine's Day is the perfect time to exhibit Flea Market Style:

* A lovely table set with vintage glassware, dishes and tag sale silver to showcase a cozy meal, made with love, for a special someone or someones.

* Beautiful bits of old lace and ribbon, paper and buttons repurposed into one-of-a-kind valentines for paramours or pals.

* An old tin cup bearing a bounty of chocolates or gummy hearts for a sweet recipient.

We'd love to hear how you are celebrating this heart-filled holiday!

Here are the lucky winners of Super Giveaway Week swag!
Names and times of comment are included to help you identify yourself. Please email us (see right side bar for link) to claim your prize. We will need to hear from you within 5 days.

Now, without further adieu, we'll let our fine feathered friend deliver his precious parcel!

Giveaway #7

$100 gift certificate from Barn House Boys:
Laurie who posted on 2/8 at 2:50PM

Giveaway #8

Enamel sign from Ramsign: Erica Cooper

Gift certificate for any item on Rosekraft Etsy site: Along the Ausable

Giveaway #9

Charms from FMS editor Ki Nassauer's Junk Revolution online shop:
Judy posted 2/10 at 10:41
Anon posted on 2/10 at 10:16

Giveaway #10

Bags of Vintage Textile Soak:
annaduarte 2/11 1:18
Terri Gordon 2/11 3:46
LittleZ 2/11 10:34
Kath@retromantic antiques
Jennifer Pearson Vanier
erin 2/11 4:21
Sherry Back 2 Vintage
Laura M 2/11 9:46
kfw3 2/11 8:23
Tricia @ vintage No 35
Edwina, eorban 2/12 6:04

Kari from Meadowview Farm

Congrats to all winners! While the giveaways are finished, the wait for the latest issue of Flea Market Style is not! Orders have started to arrive at small independents, and the wait is on for it to arrive at larger retail spots.

Keep watching this space for updates and posts on all things Flea Market Style!

Mag Launch Countdown Giveaway #10!

Got stains? We've got your back!

We're wrapping up Super Giveaway Week today with 24 bags of Vintage Textile Soak going out to 12 lucky winners (one bag to keep, and one to share, in case you're feeling magnanimously generous)! Susie Emmons' charmingly packaged soak is perfect for removing stains from quilts and other vintage fabrics.

So race your fingers to the end of this post to leave your comment and contact info. That's all it takes to be entered for this giveaway, as long as you've logged it by

8 p.m. Central Standard Time tomorrow, Feb. 12.

And then, it's all over but the waiting!

Waiting for the winners of Super Giveaway Week, who will be named in our Valentine's Day post.

And waiting for the latest issue of Flea Market Style magazine, which is already trickling in to small shops that have pre-ordered. It should be hitting newsstands next week some time!

Thanks for being part of the Flea Market Style magazine family. We can't wait to share our newest "edition" !!

Mag Launch Countdown Giveaway #9!

The countdown to the arrival of Flea Market Style's spring issue continues apace! Are you as excited as we are?! We can barely contain ourselves long enough to type, but Super Giveaway Week must go on!

You'll be charmed, we're sure, as much as we are with Giveaway #9, these cool glass charms From Junk Revolution founder Ki Nassauer (a.k.a. FMS mag's editor in chief)!

Two lucky winners will each walk away with a two-sided charm and chain, handcrafted exclusively for Junk Revolution. The lead-free solder charms have a retail value of $16 each, and the winners can choose their favorite from 18 great slogans on the Junk Rev site!

How can you enter? Merely leave a comment at the end of this post, making sure we can reach you once you've won!

Leave your comment by 6 p.m. Central Standard Time tomorrow, Feb. 11.

Watch for tomorrow's big giveaway, going out to 12 lucky winners! The winners for this week's giveaways will be revealed in our Valentine's Day post!

Mag Launch Countdown Giveaway #8!

Super Giveaway Week continues with a double dip (because we know your anticipation of the latest Flea Market Style mag doubles daily!)

Prizes from Ramsign Classic Enamel Signs and the Etsy Store of Rose at Rosekraft are today's Giveaway #8!

First up: A sign with design! No need for an identity crisis when Ramsign is in the house!

Ramsign will gift a custom, hand-crafted porcelain enamel sign. Bonus! The lucky winner can choose any house number or name plate from these five pages:

http://www.ramsign.com/products_category.asp?vg=100

http://www.ramsign.com/products_category.asp?vg=700

http://www.ramsign.com/products_category.asp?vg=800

http://www.ramsign.com/products_category.asp?vg=600

http://www.ramsign.com/products_category.asp?vg=500

The second giveaway is a no-dollar-limit purchase of any one item from Rosekraft's Etsy store!

To enter for both drawings, just leave a comment by 8 p.m. Central Standard Time tomorrow, Feb. 10.

No muss, no fuss, no complicated formula. Just be sure we can contact you!

The winners for this week's giveaways will be revealed in our Valentine's Day post!

Mag Launch Countdown Giveaway #7!

Super Giveaway Week starts now!

With the latest issue of Flea Market Style almost here, we're revving up the prize patrol to celebrate! Starting today, we'll give away a gift a day through Friday! (And not to stoke the fires of curiosity, or anything, but Friday's giveaway will go to not one, but 12 lucky winners!)

Who better to get the party started than the Barn House boys, Joe Apodaca and Jermonne Swendell!

The proprietors of the Barn House franchise (yummy must-haves for home and garden





!) have long been FFOFMS -- Fabulous Friends of Flea Market Style!

They're showing the love with Giveaway #7, a $100 gift certificate to use in their online shop!

To enter, just leave a comment on this post (be sure to include contact info) by 8 p.m. Central Standard Time tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 9. The winner will be identified in our Valentine's Day post!

J and J (whose cool digs were featured in the debut issue of FMS), are also taking pre-orders for the second issue, arriving soon, on their site. You can contact them here:

http://barnhousemarket.mybisi.com/products/pre-order-flea-market-style-magazine

And here's a big FMS shout out to Chris, winner of Giveaway #6, the Sunny Day buttonhook set!

The cover "reveal"!

Our long wait is almost over!

Here's the fabulous cover of the much-anticipated second issue of Flea Market Style, which should be arriving on newsstands within the next week!

Exactly when is not an exact science, we've found, so be sure to check with your favorite mag purveyor!

And while we're talking science, you might be surprised to learn that this luscious cover bested 12 other candidates to capture the coveted spot! Many deliberate decisions were made to decide which worked best.

(We'll give you a glimpse of what went on behind the scenes while shooting this cover in a future post!)

Here's the long and winding road we traveled to get to here:

The winning cover was photographed by Senior Editor Heather Bullard and styled by Heather and Editor-in-Chief Ki Nassauer. Art Director Stacey Willey tirelessly mocked up each of the 13 candidates with blurbs and the FMS masthead.

The considerations are myriad, in part because newsstand sales differ greatly from subscriptions. If newsstand customers don't pick up the magazine and flip through it, they'll never know what great content resides within!

A lot is riding on a great cover, so that's where the science come in! Do the colors tantalize? Does the type represent the good stuff inside? Are the blurbs compelling? And what will it be competing with on newsstands when it's released? These considerations are why you frequently see magazines trying different covers for the same issue to see what sells.

Team members "all had different favorites for different reasons," Ki said. The FMS team narrowed it to six, and publisher Harris Publications had the final say.

Ki and the team hope you like it. She admits to being always nervous about picking just one cover to represent 144 pages of photos and content!

While you're still taking in cover details, the team is already deep into the mechanics of the third issue, due out this fall!

And here is one more great thing to look forward to: Starting Tuesday, we're kicking off Super Giveaway Week! There will be one a day for the remainder of the week. All winners will be identified on Valentine's Day!

Please grab our cover button, below, and keep counting down the days until you've got not one, but two, great Flea Market Styles in your magazine stash!

<a href="http://fleamarketstylemag.blogspot.com/" target="fms"><img src="http://www.robomargo.com/fmscoverspring2011a.jpg" width="200" /> </a>

Guest post: The write stuff

This week I received a beautiful handwritten thank you note from my friend Alexis.

In a world of texting, email, cell phones and Facebook updates, it was a sweet reminder of how much I love getting real mail


To know she took the time to practice her caligraphy on me and record her thoughts is priceless to me.

Letter writing is truly becoming a lost art.

While I was in Paris, one of the the flea market finds I was the most excited about was a huge lot of old, handwritten French letters.

Everything from the paper to the penmanship to the pretty blue of the envelope cried out that this era of letter writing has passed.


When I was younger ( and without children) I could spend an afternoon in a coffee shop writing letters.
Because I have always loved to write and I have been a lover of papers for as long as I can remember, letter writing was something I did regularly.

As my life as gotten busier I do not do it as often and that is something I hope to change this year.

With Valentine's Day right around the corner I know that the sweetest gift I could give my husband and children is to take the time to write down in words how much they mean to me.

I love flowers, and who doesn't enjoy a gift, but most gifts will eventually get passed on and flowers will fade.

I have every love letter my husband has ever written to me. I will treasure these words and thoughts for the rest of my life.

I have every birthday card and love letter my children have ever written for me...because they matter!

They are the most lovely of gifts because they took the time to tell me how much I mean to them.

I encourage you this Valentine's Day to sit down and let those you love know it with your written word.

I can promise you they will treasure it!
Blogged by Jeanne




There's still time to enter the Fabulous Giveaway #6 in the post below!
and....
Be sure to check back on Monday! That's when we'll reveal the cover of the next issue of Flea Market Style!

Mag Launch Countdown Giveaway #6!

Admittedly, there isn't a lot of actual use for buttonhooks these days (unless your idea of "daywear" runs to high-top spats and gloves.) But aren't they a fun collectible?

This collection from the 1910-20's, a set of two "apple juice" celluloid and pearlized finish buttonhooks with a third in ivory, is Giveaway #6 as we tick down the days to the arrival of the next issue of Flea Market Style magazine!

You can read more about these vintage hooks, donated by Sunny Day Vintage, here.

Meanwhile, want to get your mitts on these? Leave a comment by 8 p.m. Central Standard Time on Saturday, Feb. 5.

We'll post the winner Monday, Feb. 7. Remember it well! That's the day we also hope to give you a sneak peek at the cover of the February issue, and kick off our Super Giveaway Week. Starting Tuesday, we'll give away swag every day through Friday!

Finally, our congrats to Jaclyn, Fishtail Cottage and Diane, who won the three cool bottle stoppers made from fence finials and a vintage doorknob in Giveaway #5!
Please email us to claim your prize.

Valentine's Day Heartstrings!

February is an excellent month for dreaming of May (especially if you live in Minnesota)!

And it's always time for a clever crafting project! Here's one to help you whittle away the hours while you wait oh-so-impatiently for the latest issue of Flea Market Style!

Paper czarina Sara Smith designed these "Heartstrings" garlands using her sewing machine and pages from Reader's Digest condensed books found at a flea market. They're great for Valentine's Day decor or for gifting to a treasured someone.

Materials:

* Several hearts cut from book pages, sheet music or other paper

* Heart-shaped puncher or scissors

* Threaded sewing machine

Step 1

Determine how many sets of hearts you want on your string; the one pictured has eight, but not all are visible. (Some are also hanging upside down, but that's because the string was looped over the window hardware to hang so at least some of the hearts could be photographed!) Each 3-D heart is made from three hearts. Cut or punch them out.

Step 2

With your sewing machine, pull a lead thread (as long as you want for hanging the chain) beyond the sewing machine bed.

Step 3

Position a stack three hearts, perfectly aligned, so it is centered under the needle of your sewing machine and stitch past the bottom tip of the hearts. This is the first heart in your chain. Keep sewing past the hearts; this will give you the thread between the set of hearts you just sewed and the next one you will add. You can space them any way you like; Sara starts stitching another stack of hearts as soon as the first stack has cleared off the base of the sewing machine.

Step 4

Repeat until your chain is at the desired length. Leave extra thread at the bottom for attaching a weight, if you like. (Sara added a "skeleton-key-to-your-heart" on this one)!

Step 5

Fold each set of hearts in the middle along the thread line and then separate each to form the 3D heart.

Then it's all over but deciding where to hang it!

Smith operates the Seasons In Carver monthly occasional sale in Carver, Minn., and never met a paper recycling project she didn't like. See more of her work on her blog!

Do these heartstrings tug at yours? What fun craft are you working on for Valentine's Day?

There is still time to register for give away #5 below