Lisa's Cottage

What a beautiful day we had here today!  The sun was shining and there was a cool breeze, it was just perfect.  Around my house there are dove’s nests, robin’s nests and hummingbird’s nests (those are harder to see but Mama Hummingbird buzzes me if I get too close!).  Spring is definitely in the air!

Easter bonnets in the sunshine!

Easter Wabbits

I got a chance to get my 2 rooms at Collectiquity stocked with some new things.  I finally took in the Franciscan Desert Rose dishes and serving pieces some of you have been asking for.

Franciscan Desert Rose

The “kitchen room” has a new table & chairs set that is perfect for a little kitchen nook or apartment sized kitchen.  There’s also a mini hutch that won’t take up a lot of space either.

Small Ethan Allen Hutch from the 50's? 60's?

I hope you’ll stop by soon and see some of the new things everyone has in their rooms!

6 stack Lawyer's Bookcase is a rare find!

Sellers "Hoosier-type" cabinet

Mirrors and Tapestries on the wall...

Oak Hall Rack

June just flew by for us, with Father’s Day, graduations and the Flag Day Parade keeping us occupied during the first half of the month and a flurry of shopping activity during the 2nd half. 

We are seeing signs of the economy picking up by seeing an increase in the sales of major pieces of furniture.  Many in the industry point to that as a good sign.  We’re happy for us because it has allowed us to bring in more fun pieces that we’ve discovered and we’re happy for you because it’s always fun to redecorate and spruce up a room.  I just put a new chair in the corner of our bedroom and it makes me happy every time I walk in there!

Thanks to all of you who supported me in the San Diego Union Tribune poll for Best Antique Store.  I understand that the results will come out at the end of August.  We appreciate the e-mails and phone calls we received in support of our nomination (and the VOTES of course!).   It really touched us how much you cared!  Thank you!

Here are some new things to see in the shop!  I’ve had to re-take some pictures because things have been sold before I can post the picture, so don’t wait to come in and check out the new items.  As Julie likes to say (and my aching back can attest), we bring in new things EVERY DAY!

This white hutch is one of the things just recently departed from our store.  My husband worked many, many hours on stripping the paint and making it as good as new!  Good job, hubby!

This is the beautiful piece that took its place!  Love it!

We are so thrilled to have been nominated in the San Diego Union Tribune’s “BEST OF” poll and voting for the winners will be concluding on the 27th of June!  How we got included with THE BIG GUNS,  we have NO idea!  BUT,  we DO know we have the best customers in the world and they have been sharing their love of our little place with their friends.  We were shocked to hear the news and so very honored and thankful to whomever took the time to nominate us!

If you would like to see if we can win the proverbial battle of David (us) vs Goliath (the BIG antique malls), would you take the time to vote for our little store?  Hey, even if we don’t win, we are blessed AND honored to have been recognized.  THANK YOU!

If you’re not a member of SignOnSanDiego, you can register HERE

Then, once you have registered, you will vote HERE

It will take 2 minutes to register and vote.   If you have that to spare, please vote! 

Here are some things you may have missed on your last trip to the store…

We have some fun baskets to use on your 4th of July picnic…you ARE having a picnic, right?  🙂

We hope you pencil us into your calendar to come see the cute new things we have for you at Lisa’s Cottage! 

We have a few new beautiful mantel mirrors in stock…in great shape, too!

I think each of us has a relative that had this beautiful Desert Rose pattern, don’t we?  We have a LARGE stock of this available!

This cactus flower is in bloom at the store and looks perfect in this vase…

The bird print on the right was done by our next “visiting artist” and is an example of her wonderful work.  We are taking orders for this print if you are interested..

We’ve got some cool old car emblems in stock that might be the piece you need for your restoration project or just a cool decoration!

These beautiful pincushions and sewing accents are handmade by a local artist.  Love them!

OK, who had a PRINCESS PHONE?  🙂

Well, that’s our latest batch of pictures!  Thanks again for supporting your small, local business!

May Gray?  Not out my window!  It’s sunny and warm and there’s a nice breeze making it oh-so-wonderful in Southern California.  I love this time of year!  We’ve got Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day and Memorial Day this month!  (For those of you following me in Kentucky, have fun at your Kentucky Derby parties!)

We’ve got some exciting things coming up here at the store.  Beginning this Friday, May 6th, we will be open late (until 8 pm!) on the FIRST FRIDAY of every month.  A large percentage of the stores in the village will be open late and have specials and refreshments for you!  Look for the balloons outside the store to let you know which merchants are participating!  If you don’t have a Mother’s Day gift yet, we’ve got some jewelry from visiting artist Kelly Evans:

These earrings also come in a silverplate version…aren’t they pretty?

Also, we have a class on Decoupage coming up.  The date is Thursday, May 26th at 9 am.  Shown above is the sample plate we have in the store of what you’ll be making.  Come in and sign up!

Remember, if  you’re stumped on what to get “MOM” for Mother’s Day, stop in and let us see if we can help you!

We have some handmade Mommy and Me aprons.

We just restocked our handmade soaps (you all are loving these!)…

We’ve got some new cute pieces of furniture at great prices!

Did your grandmother have a foil dispenser like the one in the picture?  Mine did!

We have lots of cool barware and pretty cordials and etched glassware!

This would be nice for your taco condiments…

If nothing else, pick up a nice hankie and stick it in  your Mom’s card.  She’ll love it!

How many of you are getting the good china and silverware out in preparation for Easter weekend? 

Do you have your Easter bonnet picked out?

I asked my best friend Julie if she would take some pictures at the store while I was at my house having a storage shed built (it came out beautifully!).  I had just remodeled everything (AGAIN!) and was anxious to see how it looked in pictures.   Love it!

REMINDER:  Beginners Ribbon Flower class is next Thursday, April 28 at 9 am.  As of today, we have 5 out of 6 slots taken. Don’t wait if you want to learn to make these beautiful pieces of Art!

As I look out the window of the store at yet ANOTHER dreary day,  I need to stay focused on the positive and remember that our yard is so green and full of blossoming flowers!  

We have lots of flowers here in the store too, in all shapes and forms. 

Some on china:

Some on chairs:

Some on pins:

Some on pretty teacups:

Some on Mother’s Day baskets:

And in pretty “Claire’s” basket – (Claire is the store mascot)…

Well, you get the idea…  We LOVE flowers at Lisa’s Cottage!

Hey, speaking of Mother’s Day (it’s May 8th…write it DOWN…LOL!), we are getting some cute things in the store in the next few weeks that will be PERFECT for your Mother (and Mothers-in-law!).  ALSO, we will be giving out a free gift with minimum $25 purchase beginning Saturday, April 9th (while they last).  Mention you read about it in the blog!   Check back for updates as we get them in…

CLASSES….CLASSES…..CLASSES….

Our ribbon class filled up quickly last time so if you want to reserve a spot in our next class, Ria will be teaching a beginners ribbon flower class on Thursday morning (9 am) on April 28th.  Cost of the class is $15 + 5 materials fee.  You will make 3 ribbon flowers and Ria will find out how many of you want to take an advanced class to make the flower necklace shown below. 

If there is enough interest, we’ll book an advanced class.  The advanced class would cover how to make a necklace using the technique learned in the beginner’s class.  The finished product looks something like this:

Call the store at 619-466-2600 to prepay your spot if you want to assure that you’ll get in on the beginner’s class (Remember, if you commit to take the class, it removes a spot for someone else, so the class fees are non-refundable).

Ria will also be teaching a class on decoupage, the craft of applying paper with an adhesive sealer to decorate all kinds of items.  We’ll try to post photos of an example of what you’ll be making for the class.  Again, the cost is $15 + $5 materials fee.  THAT class will be Thursday, May 19th at 9 am.

For those of you who can’t make the classes during the week and would like to attend, please send me an e-mail to lisascottage@gmail.com and I will teach a Saturday class if there is enough interest.

Some cute things I also wanted to share with you at Lisa’s Cottage…check this out:

THE most adorable chocolate lab was patiently waiting for their owner, Lore (one of our fav customers!) to finish her purchase and get BACK in the car.  Sooooo cute!  Just had to snap a picture!

Or perhaps they were trying to strain to see “How much is that doggy in the window?” These are cute, handmade dogs that can be custom-made for your pet! 

Also, we have some cute, cute things that we just brought in:

CHECK OUT this adorable PINK Royal Typewriter!

Who’s going to take home this cute little shabby chic desk?

We’ve got some beautiful hats that would look great on a hatstand on your dresser!

Oh, by the way, we finally had enough sunny weather to get our sign up on the building.  Here is Rich surveying his wife Jurene’s and his granddaughter’s Jenny’s work!  They did a great job!

And finally, I hope to soon be bringing in my vintage tools, some beautiful pots to use in your garden and some vintage trains and comics.  It should be a FUN spring!

The village merchants of La Mesa will be having one of their biggest events in a few weeks, so be sure to mark it on your calendar!  The LAST SUNDAY in MARCH (3-27-11) from 9 am – 4 pm, we will have our annual Antique Street Faire.  This is a great annual event with a multitude of vendors sellings some wonderful antiques and collectibles.  Parking is free on Sunday but you can also access it via trolley!

If you make it down here, you can see some of the new displays in the shop!  We want to celebrate all that is Spring…the birds are busy building their nests in the front and back yards (which makes for a noisy morning!) and we have lots of new bird related items to show you…

We’ve got a whole beautiful display of some wonderful teacups and teapots for  you to see!

!

If you don’t walk through slowly, you might miss these:

These candle pins dress up an ordinary candle and come in a variety of designs.

We’ve got good, old-fashioned antiques too…such as these:

For those of you who can’t make it down, I wanted to let you know that a lot of items from the shop are on www.etsy.com.  You can go directly to my shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/LisasCottage.  Also, don’t forget you can SUBSCRIBE to this blog and the updates by clicking on the <Sign me Up!> button on the right. 

We should have class information for you very soon!  We have another ribbon class and a decoupage class in the works!