Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Brocante is coming to town ,are you?









I had so much fun collecting these treasures back in the Sunny South of France this summer! It makes the rainy Oregon days seem bright and warm pulling them out and smiling at the memories they bring back. I love the smell of old books and the thought of who will be in the old frames this time around . I love the pattissiere labels and think it delightful to wonder the sweet treats they will find their way into. I managed to find a little 19th century fabric to put on some old french towels and made some Lavendar sachets as well. I love the little treasures from the Brocantes of France. They make my heart skip a beat or two and I hope they do the same for you................

Thursday, October 15, 2009


What you will find at Charlottes Brocante....

Antique french pharmacy boxes
Handwritten french music cards

Antique French buttons
19th century letters

Antique Documents and more............ see you on the 6th!



You're Invited

A dream and a trip to France to make Charlottes Brocante come to fruition. I went to France alone to discover all the things I love and bring them home with me, but the best thing I found was a friend. A intimate and lovely brocante loving friend. She is small enough I could have stuck her in my pocket to bring her home with me .Reluctantly I left her behind in body but not in spirit. I was reunited with my dear Corey love in California last week. When I was in France she took me into her home out of the goodness of her heart .I was terribly lonely when she found me and a dinner in Provence turned into 10 days of dancing ,cooking,laughter and shopping. She dried the tears from my eyes and washed my feet and tucked me into a billowy bed of old linen in her home in the South of France. Magic I tell you pure magic.(I will tell of her Precious husband Yann and beautiful daughter Chelsea)This store is the culmination of a journey of believing in your dreams, even though I discovered the best dreams are the ones you never knew you had and they come to life in full color..... and your living them. See you at the Brocante....

Sunday, October 11, 2009


I had never even been out of the country before, let alone owned a passport. Smack dab in the middle of remodleing our 120 year old house my husband set up a bistro table in what would be our kitchen and asked me to go on the trip of a lifetime. On my 40th Birthday my husband took me to Paris and I have never been the same since. It awakened in me a passion and love of the beauty and details that make it so unique . Every day in France has fanfare involved. Just the pastries alone are cause for celebration. Perfectly decorated with every piece of chocolate or sugared flower perfectly placed on top ,row after row of them. Nothing is quite as good as the food except maybe the place were you eat it. Many of my first memories of Paris are of the Jardin Luxembourg. Pierre(really my husband Jeff but in France this is his name) and I Coco(really Amy but when in France.........) spent many hours playing cards and gently sneaking our feet onto the perfectly groomed grass to cool us on the hot days of summer.Those memories are so dear to me little did I know I was on my way to the Brocante.Charlottes' Brocante.I will show you the way tomorrow......

Saturday, October 10, 2009













photo by Corey Amaro

Cuff links of love.






Oh how I love old things! I remember when I was a child and I would go to our elderly neighbors house growing up. I would change the clothes on her antique dolls from their winter to summer clothes each season. She had fiesta ware dishes in the colors of the rainbow and bright aluminum cups that lined the top of her shelf above the stove. She would always allow me to pull out a hard candy with powdered sugar from a old jar as "payment" for my work. The love affair with old and previously loved items has been soaked into my skin for quite sometime now.Walk with me through my blog and I will tell you my story that has led to a place called Charlottes Brocante.......