Birch + Bird Vintage Home Interiors

Lily and I have been looking forward to this weekend for awhile now and the timing could not be more perfect.  With the market behind us, we could use some fun, inspiration and not to mention, rest!  Lily mentioned the other day that we’ll be heading into Vancouver for the Design*Sponge Book signing that will be taking place at the downtown Anthropologie and then quickly sneaking out to mingle with a talented group of bloggers at the Blend 2011 for the rest of the evening.   Does that sound fancy or what?  We’ll be back next week to tell you all about it and maybe even share a photo or two.

1. party dress 2. clutch

Glitter Guide

Have a wonderful weekend whether it’s fancy like ours or restful at home.  See you next week!

As you can imagine, we’re still glowing from our weekend at Fieldstone Vintage Market. Many of you wished you could have been there so we asked the very talented Sharalee Prang to document our day and, boy, did she ever! Sharalee captured so many poignant moments of our vendors and customers alike, not to mention each of the incredible displays that our vendors worked so hard to put together. It was extremely difficult to choose which ones to post today so be sure to check out our Flickr account for many more stunning photos of our day in the field. Also visit our Fieldstone blog for another batch of Sharalee’s pictures…they’ll make you feel like you were actually with us at the EcoDairy last Saturday! In case you missed it, be sure to also her slideshow on vimeo.

Our morning started out with the field (and all of our tents!) wrapped in a heavy fog, making things just a wee bit damp. But after a beautiful sunrise, the fog lifted leaving nothing but blue skies and sunshine behind! It wasn’t long before the parking lot was full and customers were eagerly lined up for our 9am opening…

Look at their smiles! We saw a lot of smiles all day and I know that my cheeks were hurting by the time we packed up. Customers began pouring in and the hunt for treasures was on! You could see the EcoDairy and all of our tents for miles, from the freeway and beyond and, despite several hardworking parking attendants, cars were soon lined up as far as the eye could see!

The best part of my day was having the chance to see peoples’ eyes light up and even hear them gasp when they walked through the gates into the field. Many had never been to the property before and it was truly magical, with the open fields, horses and mountain views beyond. Our vendors went above and beyond to create the most gorgeous displays for their goods…

Like I said, their were happy smiles everywhere, our EcoDairy partners Helinda and Tanya included! Our only regret of the day was that Rachel and I were too busy scurrying around the property and manning our own booth to take any time to shop. But it was so fun watching customers triumphantly carry their new finds around the pathways…

See what I mean about all of the smiles? The kids all had tonnes of fun too…from pony rides, to live music, to a fantastic art station hosted by The Reach gallery, there was more than enough to keep them entertained while mom and dad shopped…and shopped!

We had live music performances by Hanna Williamson on the violin, local band Old Mare, and singer/songwriter Anna Vandas. They’re all so talented and it was fun watching people dance while they shopped or take a break and have a picnic lunch while enjoying the music…

Be sure to check out our list of all of our Fieldstone Vendors…most have links to webpages or online shops so you can continue your market shopping from home. The networking opportunities on Saturday were amazing, with customers coming from Victoria, Vancouver and beyond and we’ve been so excited to watch our vendors grow and expand their small businesses. After all, they’re the reason we chose to host another vintage and handmade market!

All photos by Sharalee Prang Photography for Fieldstone Vintage Market.

Yes, that’s Rachel and I looking a little melted at the end of the day…but still smiling! We’d like to take a moment to say a HUGE thank you to the Bakerview EcoDairy and our lovely partners Helinda Vanderkooi and Tanya Curtis for hosting such an amazing market and working so incredibly hard to have everything ready for our big day! Another HUGE thank you for our husbands, families and friends for patiently helping out behind the scenes on the home front and the odd building project (or 2)! More thanks to Canuck Place for manning the front gate and raising funds for the much needed children’s hospice in Abbotsford. If you forgot to give on Saturday, please help support this wonderful organization and visit the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice here.  The City of Abbotsford and Tourism Abbotsford also lent a hand, generously printing off hundreds of rack cards advertising Fieldstone and several other local business…thank you! And last but not least, another HUGE thank you to our amazingly talented vendors and thousands of happy customers…we could never have done this without you!

All photos by Sharalee Prang. See more at our Flickr page here and please always give credit where credit is due

I’ve been feeling a little under the weather the past several days.  Thank goodness, my immune system put up with my stress level until after the market ended.  I wouldn’t have been any help at all!  Since I’ve been forced to stay put, I’ve been drinking a tonne of tea and keeping warm and cozy by our fireplace that went on for the very first time this Fall.  Which one is your favourite?

Design*Sponge

Coastal Living

A Cup of Joe

Apartment Therapy

House & Home

I should be good to go tomorrow…crossing fingers.

As Rachel shared yesterday, we are still on Cloud 9 after our fabulous day at the market this past weekend! We had high hopes but could have never imagined what a wonderful day it would be for us, the EcoDairy and all 55 of our amazing vendors. Our vendors’ booths by far surpassed our expectations and we are so proud of them all! We have no doubt that many good things will come their way as a result of Fieldstone Vintage Market and are so excited to watch them grow. One of our lovely vendors, Sharalee Prang, was kind enough to take stunning photos of all of the fabulous displays and other excitement throughout the day on Saturday and this vimeo slideshow truly captures the essence of Fieldstone.  We’re so excited to share the rest of her photos with you very soon!

Fieldstone Vintage Market on Vimeo by Sharalee Prang

It feels a little surreal that after months of planning, our big day has come and gone but now it’s time for us to turn our focus back to our families and homes and some other exciting events in the very near future. This Saturday will be another busy day for Rachel and I. In the afternoon, we’ll be heading into Vancouver for a full evening of networking, cocktails and fun! We’ll start at Anthropologie for Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge‘s book signing. I am so excited to finally get my hands on a copy of Design Sponge at Home and am so looking forward to meeting Grace in person…I’ve been reading her blog for years now! We’ll also see Janis Nicolay there (she was so sweet to come visit us at Fieldstone despite her crazy schedule!) and are hoping to finally meet Jan of Poppytalk, who’s been working on what’s sure to be a gorgeous backdrop for the evening’s book signing and craft night.

Garden Design with Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge. Home of Nicolette Camille.

Design*Sponge Book Tour Vancouver: Design*Sponge at Home

Photo by Janis Nicolay for The Cross.

Aren’t these herringbone floors fantastic? They’re made out of reclaimed shipping pallets…I’m in love! I’m also loving these Safari Stoneware dishes over at Anthropologie…perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas, don’t you think?

Arctic Plank via Jets on Green via Poppytalk

Anthropologie

After the Design*Sponge book signing, we’re going to whisk ourselves off to the Loden Hotel for Blend 2011: A Fusion of Social Media & Design alongside 50+ other bloggers who are part of the Canadian Design & Lifestyle Bloggers West group that we belong to. Also in attendance will be influential designers and tastemakers like Suzanne Dimma & Mark Challen of Canadian House & Home, Shauna Levy of IDSWest and designer Kelly Deck. The entire evening has been generously sponsored by IKEA and coincides with IDSWest, which will be at the Vancouver Convention Thursday through Sunday. Cannot wait!

The Loden Hotel

We’re also hoping to squeeze in a little shopping and stop in at Stepback on West Broadway. We had the pleasure of meeting owners Robin & Chris at Fieldstone where they spent several hours browsing the pathways with their family. Such great people and we’d love to take a peak inside their shop! Seems like the perfect way to wind down from all of the Fieldstone preparations…shopping, mingling with like-minded bloggers, cocktails and a luxurious night at the Loden = bliss!

After almost exactly 3 months of preparation and planning, the Fieldstone Vintage Market was an absolute success in every way possible.  With the only day of sunshine in a weather forecast predicting rain every other day, our prayers were definitely answered on Saturday.  The sun shone gloriously all day long and so did the happy, smiling faces of vendors and customers alike.  A steady flow of shoppers started before the gates were even officially open to take advantage of all the amazing treasures up for grabs and with 55 vendors, it was truly handmade and vintage shopping heaven.

photographed by Darlene of Time to Spend

photographed by Donna from Funky Junk Interiors

Surrounded by mountains and Fraser Valley farms, the field of the Bakerview EcoDairy was the perfect backdrop for the first annual Fieldstone Vintage Market.  We are so thankful they gave us and all the vendors this amazing opportunity.  We could not have pulled this off without them.  Tanya Curtis, the Marketing Manager of the Nutriva Group, and Helinda Vanderkooi, the owner of theBakerview EcoDairy had a lot of faith when they sent that very first email to us 3 months ago.  Barely rested from The Old School Market, we couldn’t help but jump on board when they asked us to join them in planning a European-style outdoor market with enough vendors to fill the field.  How could we resist?

photographed by Donna from Funky Junk Interiors

photographed by Donna from Funky Junk Interiors

photographed by Vanessa of Ethereal Fine Art and Photography

photographed by Darlene of Time to Spend

There was a sea of white tents and unique finds were in every nook and cranny.  The incredible amount of time and effort that all the vendors put into their products and displays really made the market something quite special.  There was so much to take in and we noticed the same customers browsing for hours at a time, going round the paths again and again.  With every pass, you would see something else that caught your eye.

photographed by Donna from Funky Junk Interiors

photographed by Monica of Opechee

Thank you so much to all the talented vendors for sharing the day with us!  Judging by the armfuls of goodies leaving the field we hope that you went home with a lot less than you came with.  A very special thank you to all who helped make the day so enjoyable, especially the Nutrifoods Market and Bakerview EcoDairy staff.  Don’t think your hard work has gone unnoticed, we could not have done this without you.  Thank you so much to my husband and my girls for putting up with my absence and for the extra help from my family so that I could make it to meetings on time or head out treasure hunting with Lily.  And of course, thank you to all the shoppers who braved the crowds to come see what the Fieldstone Vintage Market was all about.  We hope that the day was as wonderful for you as it was for us.