05.12.06
Three years have gone by…
and this learning curve sure has been steep!
This is going to be a long one… hopefully someone will find it useful and/or entertaining :)
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2003 Signed the lease of this lovely building back in January 2003. Although it was happily occupied previously by the Desi Geestman foundation, it wasn’t exactly the look we were going for :) We started by tearing up the carpet, painting, painting some more, pulling up more flooring… and to our excitement, there was a plywood subfloor! Perfect for our barn-like flooring! |
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There was so much to throw out we just started piling it up everywhere. We started getting shipments of wood and other supplies. It was an endless shuffle game. |
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this is what half of 600 square feet of wood flooring looks like leaning up against the wall :) |
| *I* actually used this chop saw to put our floor in all by myself! It took a while to get used to it seeing as I enjoy having 10 digits and both eyes. It has a kick so I had to secure it to a piece of wood with some screws and really get used to the feel of the handle and how not to force the saw down too quickly! I now am the proud owner of 4 different kinds of saws and I’m open to adopting more :) I love power tools! |
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Almost done… hundreds of nails, 3 or 4 coats of white wash using a paint roller on a pole and 2 coats of crystal clear verithane later… This is the first flooring endeavor I have ventured out on… not too bad. Although, this last rain… argh… water leaked in and warped about 9 square feet of board :( It’s so so sad watching all your hard work buckle, crack and spit water when you slosh over it… although… we WERE going for that barn look…. |
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And the counter. Oh, the counter. I have not met one person yet who can give me the history of this counter. I’ve been told this space was a copy store, an import clothing store, a sound engineering studio (?)… and this counter had been evolving throughout each tenant’s stay. My theory is in the top of that 80′s teal green formica top… there was hot pink neon with some sort of swoosh, zig zag or thunderbolt. I’m reminded of saved by the bell and sqeal, scream… screech… whatever ;) |
| We had our grand opening on April 19, 2003. We got about 2 hours of sleep that night. My Mom and I carefully tore down the tissue paper curtains off the windows at about 5am and skipped out into the middle of foothill boulevard to see our hard work from the outside… it was so surreal. To see our logo, items inside, little chandeliers lit up, all the wall colors glowing… I couldn’t help but tear up at the sheer fact that I wasn’t going to have to tear it all down tomorrow because the street fair was over. I didn’t have to fold up my little ez up roof and stick it in a bag. My fixtures were actual furniture, I had electricity, a working cash register and credit card machine! It was SO unheard of. And we had gotten our merchant account THAT day. What made us super happy (and a tad superstitious) was the fact that the last 4 numbers in the long string of 15 or whatever numbers in our merchant acct number happened to be the last 4 digits in our home phone number… that we had for over 25 years. See, I got chills… but, that’s just me :) |
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| I got a very official-looking envelope in the mail from the city… I thought for sure I was going to jail for something. Perhaps lavender is outlawed on the sidewalks of Glendale or I should have made my door open in, not out. I was hesitant opening that envelope but was pleasantly surprised to see a certificate from the county with nicely watercolored violets on it! Your tax dollars hard at work! We have since matted and framed this item… and it hangs proudly in our little office area! |
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My first displays were… sparse. I enjoyed creating little vignettes. I would sketch them all out and spend hours arranging and re-arranging them. It’s easier than dusting! When we first opened, it was all about Paris, Eiffel towers and pink poodles. This look is still in demand but more antiquey. I can’t get enough Eiffel tower items in!! I guess we’ll just have to start making them ;) |
| That baby bassinet! We rolled that thing half way accross the Rose Bowl one fine Sunday morning. My Mom didn’t want it to ever sell, she was quite attached. That corner unit was the first piece of furniture we ever sold. We realized we could actually sell furniture. Didn’t even cross our minds. Since then we’ve sold the whole store’s furniture once or twice. I should buy stock in those crystal knobs. Wow… our baby section is so packed now, so different! |
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Back in the day I used to take hours painting furniture. We would only get a few customers during an average weekday so I spent my time putting little details on the furniture. This vanity has a matching dresser and it has found a home with a loving local family. I wish I had the time to do more of these! I’m partial to hydrangeas… the depth and color really is appealing to me :) |
| Big sellers… fairy items and that blue sky clayworks stuff. |
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2004 and our first year is behind us. We had a modest christmas display and kept everything clean and simple. I branched out into little purses and accessories, some jewelry, not much. Now jewerly is our 3rd best seller. By May we got word that the space next to us is available. Before they can even put the sign in the window we were in. So, with the help of a handy man, we turned what used to be a chiropractor’s office into Violets are Blue, too! Or Violets are Blue East, as I like to call it. |
| We cut a nice arched wall in the middle of the two shops… it was so odd to stand on one side or the other and look in. I would stop someone in mid-conversation and say… “wait… there’s another shop there and it’s ours”. These next pictures are from 2005. For some reason I can’t find a ton of pics from 2004 or the renovation of that side. Just imagine a doctor’s office with lots and lots of dark wood paneling and an x-ray room. It was *that* charming |
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So, unlike Violets West, Violets East had compartmentalized rooms so I could have little themes in each. The front room was more of the living room/sitting room, followed by the kitchen (which I built a fake counter and sink into), the green room which was originally for all garden and fairy items but it changes a lot, and the last room was closed up and was going to be my office. Wrong. It turned into the Violet Cottage handmade bath section. Quick sidenote… I sold my jewelry and soap for a few years at street fairs and boutiques (thus the happiness of not having to take a booth down) across california. We did san diego, big bear, montrose… almost san francisco but it was getting ridiculous! I was still in school at Calarts and did this as a side income thing. Looking back… it was more for fun and believe it or not… exercise. I got more muscle lugging 40lb boxes of soap than doing anything else! :) |
| This is the “green” room. |
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Oh how I love Midwest of Cannon Falls and Bethany Lowe Designs. Their holiday items are the best out there! I had fun with this mantle last year. I put paper pulp glittered icicles on the mantle and lit them from below. We had so much glitter in here…I’m so glad they kept this look for 2006! |
| This is sort of hard to see but we had all pink, blue, green and white items in this area. Sort of a new french/country/victorian-ish thing going on. Chintz and polka dots, glass birds with white feathers and bottle brush trees with pearls. Very sweet! |
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And here is what people saw driving by at violets are blue east. We had a lime green, bright purple and silver tree in the window on one side and three green trees giving a forest feel on the other. You should have seen our electric bill for that last two months. Ouch. |
So, the ups and downs of 2005 brought us into 2006. In 2006 we had a window blow in during the wind. Got that call at 3am from the alarm company… “ummm, ma’am… you’re alarm is going off, we arent sure why… ” Found out why in a hurry. The wind had thrown something into our window and it shattered inward. Taking a full display of st. patrick’s day teacups and teapots, violet teacups and a lamp down with it. Argh. We pulled up and a cop was in front shining his light into the store. We Got in and turned the alarm off, which was quite loud, thankfully. We waited an hour or so for the board-up people to come. I happened to go to high school with a family who did this sort of craft so their name popped into my head as I dialed 411 in the noisey wind, crying. Did I mention the power was completely out and our chandeliers were swaying? Long story short, about $1000 damage later… it was fixed and done. About 6 weeks later the door, which I believe got pushed open during our wind escapade, broke as a customer was leaving the building. It weighs 100 lbs. I’m so glad it didn’t fall on her! I propped it up and had to wait 4 hours for a repair guy. *note* the company that came out to fix the door told me it would cost twice as much because they would have to board it up first and fix the door later. They had the part but could get twice the money if they have to make another trip out. I called another company who… surprise… had the part. So, I bargained with the first company who ta-da! had the part miraculously appear. Funny how that works.
We now have 50 consignors. I’ve had some slight issues that have been ironed out over the years. I am a one woman show. I cannot do absolutely everything. Some days I think I can and I hope that I can put smiles on the faces of the masses, but alas, I cannot. I do try though, trust me. I found the words I was looking for in another blog. If you have ever considered being a consignor, a crafter, doing craft shows, selling your wares to anyone besides your aunt mildred… read this blog! It will be my mantra going forward in the crafting world. We want to help you help you and help us. We should be a huge circle of compromise, respect, love and shared joy of crafting and handmaking goods (or the treasure hunt for the vintage-seekers). Again, please read this… Alicia has a way with words I will never have, but will aspire to :)
Okay… one hour later and I guess I should get some sleep! I think my next rant will be the enormous piles of cardboard that I accumulate. I have to shuffle it out of the store, into my car and then take it to a recycling plant, recycling trash can or find a way to make forts with it all. I made $16 on over 600 pounds of cardboard… that’s right SIX HUNDRED pounds. I’ll take pictures next time… it’s amusing.
Thanks for listening!!!!!! :) If you have any business questions, feel free to ask… I may or may not have an answer, but I’ll take a crack at it! ;)
Jill said,
May 12, 2006 at 8:58 am
What a nice story! And in there somewhere you mentioned Glendale, which isn’t all that far from me. I will surely visit your store, and if I can get there for the birthday party I will!
Carrie said,
May 12, 2006 at 11:17 am
Carrie – This is such a fabulous story! And I love the photos! I hope I can make it to the party!
tracy said,
August 6, 2006 at 12:10 am
oh, it’s wonderful!!! I’m so glad you posted in my blog…where have you been all my life? :) oxox
Tyn said,
August 15, 2006 at 5:07 pm
I had a business not far from you- and what you wrote about took me back!
It was such an experience, I always consider that time similar to earning a masters degree. Congradulations~
Violets Are Blue » I need some advice! said,
January 1, 2007 at 10:46 pm
[...] Looking back to allllll the work we’ve done on the shop, it will be bittersweet to leave… but hey… if someone offered me a great little victorian house with a big parking lot to turn into a store I wouldn’t care where it was, I would jump at it! That’s my idea of perfect star alignment ;) I love that there are so many opportunities out there if you just open your heart to them (my heart is open, just show me the way)! A few of my bestest friends are moving to far away places in the next few months… this is going to be a big year for change. Hey, it IS January 1st, 2007 today :) OH! and my cousin was the 2nd “R” in the Porterville Marching Band in the Rose Parade in Pasadena… how about that! [...]
susan said,
April 20, 2007 at 5:10 am
ahhhhhh, I would love to trade stories and share bits and pieces with you over a cup of tea. No make that a margarita or two! No plans for us to go west in the near future, but truly, if you make it out east – I’ll buy!
we may be twin sisters of different mothers!
cheryl griffin said,
November 25, 2007 at 6:45 am
where did you get those sm white bottle brush trees with pearls in the picture with the white xmas tree. i have 2 and need more for my mantel\please help
Karen Cox said,
January 24, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Carrie,
I discovered your beautiful store when I worked closeby on Pennsylvania Ave. I loved the soft and delightful feeling I got when I walked in, and all the very feminine and precious items on display. Gifts that I bought there for family and friends never dissapointed. When I got another job farther away, I would drive from afar just to come in and see the new decorations for the latest holiday, whatever it may be. My stomach panged when I got your “closing” postcard. I will miss my whimsical getaway called Violets are Blue/Roses are Red, Violets are Blue (during Valentine’s season) very much. Thank you for it all, and I hope I get to see the dream continue somehow…
Love,
Karen
brandi said,
April 11, 2008 at 12:50 am
Your shop is adorable, love looking through your blog… where are you located exactly? I am in Anaheim Hills in Orange County… would love to come and visit?
Renee Sullivan said,
October 2, 2008 at 9:08 am
I think you should be a writer…..Id buy your book!
Kristina said,
May 11, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Haven’t read this in awhile…came back for some good memories. Karen Cox’s post just made me cry….. I miss it so very much! Here’s to the dream continuing and the beauty you brought to us all through your and your moms creative minds.