JEANNE D'ARC LIVING CHALK PAINT

this may be one of the most exciting

 announcements here ever...

just when I was thinking of developing my own line

of chalk paint

along comes this fabulous product …

odorless

less expensive than like products

one coat application

new and improved Euro/French Nordic palette

package and branding 

like no other …  

calling all painters!!

available at

www.stuffintheburbs.com

 soon

so I ask  …

would you buy a product like this?

If all goes as planned

we will be toting the paint to all of our 

spring and summer markets

stay tuned for updates

I'm over the moon excited!

you can read and see more info

in the March 2014 issue

of JDL

SAVE THE DATE …

Remember out little chat about Nina Hartmann?

spring and summer are on their way …

 guess what follows?

Fall and the second annual

CITYFARMHOUSE

POP UP SALE!

here is the official invite

to meet and greet her.

along with Matthew Mead !

I can hardly breathe right now …

We've been included in the star studded line up

and will be featured doing a demo

with tips, secrets, and fabulous repurposed ideas

from our workbench

maybe even Q and A

(you never know what Kim has in her bag of tricks)

save the date

join the fun

book a room right now!

bring on spring!

watch for updates via Facebook

and this blog

NINA HARTMANN

Nina Hartmann

… at times I live I a dream state

wondering what it would be like to meet this lady …

well wonder no more!!

I am bursting at the seams 

of my way too tight jeans

to announce that

three time author

and uber chic designer

 Nina Hartmann

of "Vintage by Nina"

will be the guest of honor

at the City Farmhouse Popup sale

October 17-18
promoting her fourth book … 

~a book about winter~
with reflections of Christmas

details to follow

as they become available!!

stay tuned here 

and follow along at 

"city farmhouse"

and savvycityfarmer

on Facebook

save the date

We'll be there too, with a booth full

of fabulous finds, redesigned goods, farmhouse vintage

and Euro style painted furniture.

... make your plans as soon as possible

to attend the second 

annual 

City Farmhouse show 

in Nashville, TN

chat soon!

love y'all

"scf"

JEANNE DARC LIVING FEBRUARY 2014

Need I say more?

one thing I will say …. 

this will now be one of my favorite cover features!

limited copies available

shipping end of January

here

POST ROAD VINTAGE

POST ROAD VINTAGE

Allow me to introduce you to someone really special.

I met Heather …  where else but Facebook.

I stumbled upon her and we chatted back and forth.

I fell in love with her and her life's philosophy.

Here's a brief interview,

pictures

and links to all of the social media connections.

   savvycityfarmer: "how did this all start?"       

My business took flight in 2009 when I opened up my etsy shop www.etsy.com/postroadvintage

I started out by selling handmade and vintage items which I loved. This was such an exciting time for me! I really didn't know it was possible to do all of the things I loved, and make money from it...... create and shop antiques while being home with my babies. Ever since I was a young girl I've loved creating things to gift or sell. My sisters and I were in the local craft fair with my mom, we would also go door-to-door selling bouquets of wild flowers and pretty rocks we had found. I am also the oldest of 14 kids. I've always known I've wanted to be a mom, and that was always my #1 dream. So yes, a creative, nerdy, entrepreneur, mini-mom from the start :)

My business has evolved quite a bit since the beginning. Within a year of opening my etsy shop I also started bloggingwww.postroadvintage.com this was such an awesome experience! When you own an online business and do not have direct person to person contact with your customer it can become easy to feel disengaged. I am a huge people person and struggled with this because I really love the interaction with others and the encouragement and support you can offer each other. Blogging was a way to get a part of that back into my business. Even though it's not face-to-face your relationships are still way more than transactional. And through my blog, I have found the best support group of creative women! Also, It will never cease to amaze me how lucky I am to be born at this time in history. When else could I have possibly owned a small business while raising so many kiddos, homeschooling, and farming? We are lucky that we need not own or run a storefront, as I have no interest in maintaining and giving so much time to something like that.

savvycityfarmer" It's clear you have a young family … how do you balance work, hubby, and young children?" 
 Work/Life balance is a huge issue for me and continues to remain so. On any given day which seems to flow real smoothly and I start to think,  "maybe I've got this thing figured out?" The next day I am almost guaranteed to be standing on my head again, trying to tread water..... and wondering what-the-heck I'm doing. When I started my business I had two toddlers and a baby, and looking back, my life was so E.A.S.Y. Ok, maybe my memory is making things a bit more rosy, but my boys would literally roll together on the floor like baby bear cubs most of the day while mamma got her work done. Fast forward to today......... two more babies, and a growing farm. (We have since began raising most of our own meat). And life no longer feels quite as simple as it used to. Because a simple family centered life is what we strive for it requires constant evaluation and change to get rid of what's not working and do more of what is. I am stubborn enough to believe it is possible to create a business which revolves around our lives, instead of a life which revolves around our business. Creating my magazine (Homebound Magazine available in my shop shop.postroadvintage.com) and holding classes has been such a great fit for our lives, and family that we have chosen to focus on these two things moving forward. It is important for me to figure out how to structure my business so that as it grows it won't change our priorities as a family (Me being able to be home with the kids, homeschooling, and growing our own food.) Because we have busy lives, yet value our closeness as a family I have learned to be really good at letting go of the perfection. Of course there are moments when I look at what other people are doing and wonder "how did they do that so fast??" And then I remember that we are each on our own journey's, with our own priorities, things that come up, and there is nothing I would change about my life (ok, I actually would be totally fine never scrubbing another toilet!) So yes, I do very much feel that my business is still in the growth stage. My magazine and classes are still babies in the business and creative world, but I am so excited to see what they will become with the proper nourishment, care, and love!

Through everything that I do, my shop, blog, magazine, and classes (even being a wife and a mom!) my hope is to be encouraging and inspiring to others. That you also can create a home and life you love which revolves around life's simplest and most beautiful of pleasures. I am addicted to the farmhouse style because the life and design of it is everything which I love. Pure function, simplicity, and love of the imperfect. I love teaching and inspiring others to be creative and use whatever they've got (they're current supplies, talents, etc..) to create something which makes them feel so happy and fulfilled. This is our one chance to live and love with all we've got!

savvycityfarmer: " tell us what a day in the life of POST ROAD VINTAGE looks like?" 

A day in the life of Post Road Vintage........

My perfect day is waking up at 5am with a hot cup of coffee and a quiet house (the only time of day it is almost guaranteed to be quiet around here). I am a morning person and LOVE the mornings. It truly feels like ANYTHING is possible and I can take on the world. So I usually try to get some work time in here. Or I will read, write in my journal, and just breathe :) The kids usually wake up around 7 and we make breakfast, read books, and do some chores (not in any particular order). I am not one for an overly structured day and have found it works best when I don't force this upon myself. We do 'school' all day. Between work, play, making meals, working in the garden, tending animals, and bumming a little bit too. I have found that there is rarely a 'perfect' day, but rather it is 'perfect' if everyone is healthy, happy, and finding time to do the things they love. After my hubby gets home we have supper together. The evenings can vary quite a bit. Sometimes we just continue on with our days activities, other times my hubby takes the kids bumming, trapping, or hunting so I can get some work done. Many evenings we also have projects to work on together (right now we're building a chicken coop.) We go to bed too late, but it doesn't matter.... the babies stay sleeping all night. (oh, I did say perfect, right?!) ;)

 savvycityfarmer: " what role does your faith play in your business?"

How my faith effects my business......

Our faith is very personal to us, and I don't usually dive into it too much on my blog. But obviously it is a huge part in shaping us and what we do. Just after a year of running our business, we lost our first daughter. And I will say that experience with her and our faith has changed a lot of how and why we do what we do. She is my reminder to always always do what I love and be brave, because there are no guarantees of tomorrow. She is also a reminder to us to never sacrifice family in a way which will hurt them because most of what we do is just 'details'. It's the big huge things like faith and family that really matter.

please visit any of these links and get to know Heather.
She is an amazing woman … you'll fall in love with her, too 

blog- www.postroadvintage.com

shop- www.shop.postroadvintage.com

facebook- www.facebook.com/postroadvintage

instagram  www.instagram.com/postroadvintage

~~~

if your business and design philosophies are a good match

and

you would like an interview with scf

showcasing your business

send an email to

stuffintheburbs@gmail.com

HOME IS WHERE THE HEAT IS …

my hope and prayer is that you are all safe and warm

so yeah

I'll be staying in today

loading many new items to our on line

store

 home is where the heat is … 

have a blessed new week.

bunting available here

linking with
common ground marketplace

SHOP THE SHED ...

we're back after a one time sale in Indiana

at the family farm last September

SHOP THE SHED

 is popping up again in 

Illinois

at the farmhouse

potting shed of

Don and Joy Waltmire

... back where we started!

the shed you all love and love to shop

save the date 

June7, 2014

8-3

questions

stuffintheburbs@gmail.com

e.x.c.i.t.e.d.

FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS …

FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS

MERRY CHRISTMAS

happy new year 

I adore all of you

and lift my glass to a

 blessed and prosperous

new year in

2014

savvycityfarmer

SHE'S THE WON …

SHE'S THE WON …

PAM

 from 

MOMENTS LIKE THESE

is the special lady

the random number generated !

Her copy

of the December issue of

JDL

was shipped yesterday.

Thank you all for playing along and

promoting via facebook and blogger …

~~~~~

two hefty announcements

coming from here at the end of the month

well maybe three … I think I might burst!

… if you can land back here

then
we'll chat

I pray your season is blessed beyond measure 

THE THREE DAY GIVEAWAY ...

THE THREE DAY GIVE AWAY

I'll make this short and really sweet … 

speaking of sweets, how was your Thanksgiving?

as usual, we sold out of our December quantity of

JEANNE D'ARC LIVING

with that being said … 

I am offering my copy

 of 

the beautiful Christmas issue

as the giveaway

gift

{I always keep one issue for my library}

leave as many comments as you

want

talk to me if you social network over at

facebook, 

pinterest,

 twitter

 if you don't please tag along if you wish

the more comments you leave

 the better the chances

… go … 

giveaway closes 

December 3 at midnight Chicago time

CST

USA entries only please

you can purchase an entire year 

subscription  

here

we autoship on or around

 the first of every month

and track the year for you

CEDAR HILL FARMHOUSE ...

meet Anita ... 

we've been friends for a long time via blogging.

Last week we chatted on her front porch  ... well sort of

she posted an interview

that made me feel very special!

you can read it 

HERE

thank you Anita!

ps

she has a lovely Facebook 

page, too !

FAMILY MATTERS ...

... taking some much needed downtime to

tend to some tender family matters.

I covet your prayers.

~~~

planning a beautiful giveaway in November

photo credit

GOING GOING GONE ...

more often than not

we sell out of November and December

you can pre order now

here

stuff in the burbs

THE NEXT BIG THING ...

just got home from Nashville ... 
Mr. Savvy and I actually picked a date for 
Shop the Shed 2014 while traveling... 

falling into bed ... 

just had to scout out some vendor photos!!

talk soon, I hope!

HARD WORK ... NEVER DID A BODY HARM

If I told you how many times

 I did the steps, or how many sheets of bubble wrap

I used, or the cost of goods, 

or the countless truck loads unloaded or revised lists  ... you might not believe me ...

If you've ever done a show, you know there

is no glamour here.

may I just say 

somehow zeal and energy

are coursing thru my veins this morning ...

Thank you Lord for health and the

ability to work

... most anxious to meet and greet

bloggers and dealers

that have become great friends over the last

eight years!

see ya in Nashville!

next post

pictures from the

#cityfarmhousebarnsale