Margo's Texas Junkin' Jaunt

I enjoyed a wonderful couple of days at the twice-yearly Round Top/Warrenton Texas Antique Shows. Truly a place to find rare junk and meet up with great junkin' friends. It's so nice to be around folks who "get it."


I was so surprised when I ran into Mike Brown from Page 124 of Flea Market Style magazine, walking across one of the fields. He's selling out there this Spring and you can find him in the Zapp Hall Field.


Theresa Cano from Page 27 hosted a fabulous blog party on Sunday night.
There was food, fun, and some fabulous junk!


Fun and silliness ensued!

This photo courtesy of Rho


Of course there was fabulous junk around every turn!
I snapped the pic below just for our very own horsewoman, Ki.


And where else can you find a pink parking meter, Well, maybe at the
Junk Bonanza!


Here's a little 1960's Junkin' kitsch for ya. Can you identify the elements on this handmade plaque? The person who made it proudly inscribed the back and dated it. I think it's fabulous.


That's my whirlwind trip to Round Top; I enjoy this trip every year. The weather was pleasant, the people were wonderful and the junk was delightful. You bet my car was full when I got home! You can read more about my trip on my blog here.

Margo

Ooh la la! Keys to the Fleas app winners!

These five lucky winners have won our "Keys to the Fleas" smartphone app by leaving their comments about the first thing they they would do -- or buy -- in Paris!

This app for iPhone/iPad is the creation of Claudia Strasser, the author of "The Paris Apartment," and is filled with insider tips on Paris’ chic flea markets.

All winners have been notified, but not all have responded. Please check below to see if your name was one of those chosen! The date and time of your comment is noted to help you identify yourself.

The 5 winners as chose by the magic random number generator are:

Breana 3/17 9:06 Claimed

White Ironsone 3/17 2:16

Sara 3/17 2:48

Ann 3/17/3:54 Claimed

cstahl 3/19 10:54

Please contact us by sending an email to:

fleamarketstylemag@hotmail.com, to claim your prize within 5 days.

Merci!

Where is your favorite antiques mall?

Photo by Ki Nassauer of collectible lady head vases at a Florida antiques mall.

Lots of things get better with age: broken-in flannel shirts, stinky cheese, and — of course — antiques.

For our fall 2011 issue of Flea Market Style magazine, we’re rounding up a list of the country’s best indoor antiques malls and we want your recommendations. We’re looking for interesting antiques malls with 10 or more dealers. They should be open year-round. Give a shout-out to your favorite antiquing spot! If we use your nomination, we may quote you in the magazine.

(Check out “Reader Favorites! Small Flea Markets” on pages 28-29 in our current issue to get inspired to shop — and share your go-to shopping spots.)

To submit your suggestions, send an email to fleamarketstylemag@hotmail.com with “ANTIQUES MALL” in the subject line. In your message, please include the name of the antiques mall and the city and state in which it’s located. (If you know its website address, write that down too.) Give us one reason (or more!) you think it’s a must-shop antiques mall. Is there one booth you love? Are the prices divine? What unique finds have you nabbed there?

Don’t forget to provide your name and contact information (and your blog/website, if you have one) so we can get in touch with follow-up questions.

Christine

Margo and Theresa at Texas blogging convo!

Looking to rub shoulders with Flea Market Style? You can bet your boots, this is one great opportunity!

Our own Margo, from Margo's Junkin Journal , will be on hand with the latest issue during a blog party Sunday, March 27, in downtown Warrenton, Texas.

The party is hosted by Theresa Cano from Garden Antqs Vintage; she was one of 20 design bloggers featured in the February issue of FMS! The blowout is part of Antique Week in Round Top and Warrenton; see her blog for details!

Happy junking!

We Take French Lessons plus...5 chances to win!

Oh-la-la? More like Oh-la-oops!

Our magazine’s spring story “Shop the Paris Fleas Like a Pro” is one of our favorites, but unfortunately the first paragraph of the article somehow disappeared during the production process. Vanished! Gone! No words!

When you turn to page 11 of our spring/summer 2011 issue, this is what you see:

What you should have seen was this:

Because we love our readers, and because we love shopping in Paris — and because we feel terrible that there are 27 words missing from your magazine — we are giving away five “Keys to the Fleas” smartphone apps.

This app for iPhone/iPad is the creation of Claudia Strasser, the author of "The Paris Apartment," and is filled with insider tips on Paris’ chic flea markets. The app is an invaluable tour guide, whether you’ve got a French trip booked or whether you’re just dreaming.

To win one of the Keys to the Fleas apps, simply tell us in the comments: If you could magically transport to Paris this week, what is the first thing you’d do — or buy?

Comment by the 6 p.m. Monday, March 21. Winners will be chosen by a random number generator. Be sure to leave us contact information, in case you win!

Christine

FMS goes to the Rose Bowl Flea Market!

Why do they call them flea markets, anyway?!

While in town for a Junk Bonanza planning meeting, I had an opportunity to check out the Rose Bowl Flea in Pasadena, held the second Sunday of each month. Vendors ringed the football stadium and spilled over into additional lots. There was a lot of stuff, and no fleas in sight!

While the range of goods varied incredibly, there was a lot of great patio furniture to be found throughout. One thought kept recurring: How could I get this home?

It took me awhile, but I finally saw the letters painted on the ends of each asphalt aisle. So that's how you figure out where you are from the map!

There was a ton of retro...

... a fair amount of repro...

...and lots of cool DIY ingenuity!

Stopped in to say hi at Blue Canoe Reloaded, where Lisa's fabulous creations combine bottles with elements of nature and other ephemera.

I think this is the bottom of a barber shop chair, where a customer's feet would go. What do you think?

I know what I think. I think I would love to have access to this cool flea market more often!

Got the flea market bug? Check out the February issue of Flea Market Style for a story on shopping the Alameda Point Antiques Faire and two pages of readers' favorites small flea markets!

Happy Junking!

Kim

Where can I find FMS mag?

Hello faithful readers (and those who want to be, but are still looking for their copy of Flea Market Style mag!)

You've had questions: "Where do I find?" "Can I subscribe?" ''Can I order?"

Blogger Margo Arrick has rounded up responses below to frequently asked questions to help you with all of these queries, as well as how to locate a past issue. You can also click the FAQ and Where to Buy buttons at the top right of your screen, just above our logo.

So here we go...Answers to your Top 5 questions:

Can I subscribe?

FMS is a newsstand-only publication and published twice a year. Subscriptions are not available. But you can order the current issue online here while supplies last.

Where can I find a new copy of Flea Market Style?

The Spring 2011 issue is showing up in stores such as Target, Barnes & Noble, Walgreens, Walmart, Lowes, CVS, Home Depot, grocery and small retail stores and independent newsstands throughout The United States and Canada.

Can I order a copy by mail?

You can order a copy of the Spring 2011 from Margo here.

She will ship to domestic and international locations.

How many issues have been published?

Flea Market Style Magazine is owned by Harris Publications. Although they have published magazines under this name before, 2010 was the first issue executed by Ki Nassauer and her team.

There was one issue in 2010; the February issue this year will be followed by another in September.

Can I get a copy of the 2010 issue?

2010 FMS sold out and we are unable to find any back copies, but we continue to look. Please check our blog regularly and if we find any we'll announce it there.

Please check out the FAQ button at the top of our blog home page for answers to other questions!

FMS How-to: Etched in time, quickly!

An email from Ki's assistant Oct. 18 went something like this:

"Ki says you know how to etch mirrors, can you tell me how, so I can get a project done for a photo shoot...day-after-tomorrow?"

Well, I do know how to etch mirrors and have made several, but to explain over the phone how to actually create one in one day might be a bit tricky. So I suggested I just make it myself and send it overnight delivery.

The next step was to come up with a design -- that night!



I sent Ki pics of mirrors I had in my stash, in the size she wanted, as well as photos of some other mirrors I had created. She chose the one she liked and then we discussed the design.

The design was Ki's idea. Sometimes it's difficult to communicate an idea exactly. She told me what she wanted. I would send a mock-up and she asked for thinner letters or less boxy letters, etc. Then I'd make up another and send it to her until it matched her vision.

Then I was off to the workshop to create it, that very night.

Me working on the actual mirror featured in the magazine.

I just happened to be wearing my Junk Bonanza T-shirt that day. This is not a shameless plug!

After the project was finished, I emailed a pic to Ki and she breathed a sigh of relief. It was not until that moment she knew it would work for the shoot.

The next day I wrapped it in layer upon layer of bubble wrap and mailed it Next Day Air, with a hope and a prayer (and lots of FRAGILE stickers!) that it would arrive in time and undamaged. It did!

Actual Box

I was thrilled to see it as the opening project of the mirror article in the February issue of Flea Market Style!

A few months later I was asked to put together a "how-to" for the project.

The key here is to get an overview in just 3 images and 4 steps and only a few sentences. I had taken several pictures when I was making the magazine mirror, but we needed some more. I had my husband take a few shots that I mocked up and sent to designer Stacey Willey.

How to whittle the entire process to four basic steps? It worked like this:

Writer Christine Hofmann-Bourque asked how the project is done, I answered. Then she wrote back and said "can you reduce that a bit?" so I did. And then again. We went on like that for a few emails until it got to what you see in the magazine!

You can view a more detailed tutorial for this project here, for free and for a limited time. Just click the link to the tutorial.

I am always happy to help out on projects and was glad to be able to contribute this one.
I hope you'll see another from me in the next issue :)

Blessings,
Margo

FMS Mag Winners!

And the envelopes go to...

these five lucky winners of an autographed copy of Flea Market Style!

Each was chosen by Random Number Generator and we've included your times of comment to help you identify yourself!

Please email us using the link on the right side of the site, to claim your prize! Send up a flare within 5 days !

(Insert simulated drum roll here)

And the winners are:

* Ann 2/21 6:14 pm

* Amanda Dittmer 2/21 6:50 pm

* Melissa 2/23 5:08 pm

* Judy 2/24 8:11 am

* Julieann 2/25 8:2 5 am

Ki is still waiting on her shipment of magazines, so as soon as she gets them and signs them they will be off to the post and winging their way toward your mailboxes!

Congrats to all! Magazines are starting to show up in most retail stores! Margo found copies in her local Home Depot just this past weekend. Check the comments on the previous "Where in the World is FMS?" post to see where your fellow flea marketeers are finding their copies, and leave your scouting report!

If you want it mailed to you or you are out of the country you can always order it online from Margo here !

Happy hunting!

Behind the Scenes: Shooting the FMS mag cover!

The cover of the latest Flea Market Style magazine looks oh-so-put-together, with its bright colorful walls and cheerful textiles.

You could hardly guess that Editor-in-Chief Ki Nassauer and Senior Editor Heather Bullard transformed Heather's breakfast room into the cover shot in one day (well, mostly one night!).

(Once Heather could get Ki out of the chicken coop, that is. She was mesmerized by the resident poulets!)

Heather's cast of plucky cluckers: Easter Egger, Souffle, Butter, Lola and Ruby, whose eggs are blue, green, pink, light and dark brown, respectively!

But back to the shoot!

Fortuitously, Heather's breakfast room walls had been recently stripped of wallpaper and painted white while she awaited inspiration. She just wasn't planning on the green that ended up there, but the mag's publisher loves color, and colorful it is!

(Coveting that color for your very own? It's Valspar New Avocado #6007-6A!)

The counter obstructed Heather's camera angle, so she performed geometric gymnastics of sorts to get the perfect shot! Ki made a pilgrimage to LA's fashion district to nab fabrics for the shoot. (Yes, that's a tea towel covering the chair shown on the cover's far right!)

Ki admits to being out of her element dealing with textiles, but she gets props for the props! She rocked the drapes, table and seat coverings, all sans hammer, her usual "comfort" tool!

They also gathered flowers...

...and three rugs from Cost Plus World Market. They raided Heather's prop studio, garage and staging cupboards for vintage dishes, glassware and everything else on the cover (though that cool metal etagere was there all along!)

Ki and Heather spent the night prepping for the shoot, in order to be ready to grab the precious hour of perfect morning light. They worked feverishly (and Ki still has green paint in her hair! They were even too busy to document their evening with a real camera; you can spot the cell phone shots!)

When it was all done? A toast with Heather's favorite festive pour, a glass of almond champagne!

And then they called it a day, because the shoot (and the chickens) would have an early call!

(Ki loved holding the warm eggs and says the entire experience was like being at camp!)

Stay tuned to this blog; we'll be sharing more behind-the-scenes stories from the February mag, and more fun as work progresses on the fall issue.

And watch here later this week, when we reveal the five lucky winners of the signed copies of the February issue of Flea Market Style!