Confectionique's Académie: Our Creative Offerings for March!

Bonjour friends -- we are pleased to present our Confectionique  Académie schedule for our March market!  Space is limited and these classes tend to be quite popular, so we do suggest you send your deposit and register as quickly as you can. We look forward to seeing you, creating with you and celebrating the coming spring season with you!

Here are our classes for our March "Le Lapin" Easter-themed market!

Glittered Easter House
Make a charming little house to add to your Easter decorations or tuck into an Easter basket! Everything you need to make one, (or more) houses will be provided, including paint, glitter, fuzzy chicks, ribbon and flowers. Saturday, March 14th, 10 - noon. Instructor:  Connie Jean.  Tuition: $40.00


The Butterfly Tree
Would you love to make your own butterfly tree? These delightful butterflies are folded out of old French sheet music or books and attached to a tree branch. This is a beautiful and unique organic option for Spring decor that is quite meditative to make and a delight to enjoy all Spring and Summer long. All supplies included. Saturday March 14th from 2-4:00. Instructor:  Anastasia.  Tuition:  $40.00

Enjoy spending time with others in a pretty and supportive environment. A small healthy treat will be offered along with hot tea and water. We encourage healthy eating during the creative process!  A $10 deposit holds your spot and will be applied toward the class tuition.*

If you are interested in attending message us. Space is limited!

* To join in the fun just messsage us on Facebook or send us an email at confectionique@confectionique.com  If we still have space we will provide you with information on submitting your deposit.

a bientot!

March "Le Lapin" Market Hours:
Thursday, March 12:             5pm-8pm            

Friday, March 13:                   10am-5pm

Saturday, March 14:              10am-5pm

Sunday, March 15:                  Noon-5pm

Stay warm till then!

Anastasia and Amis

Confectionique's March "Le Lapin" Market Features Lovely Retro Renos!

Bonjour friends -- 2015 is certain to be a year of fun at Confectionique! Along with our themed markets and classes, we will be giving select artists who live in or near our community an opportunity to share their talents and treasures with you. Beginning in March,  we will feature an artiste invite (guest artist) during our Nuit Blanche events – our opening Thursday nights.

For our "Le Lapin" Market (opening Thursday March 12 and continuing through Sunday March 15), we are delighted to present Stefanie, the one-woman show behind LovelyRetro Renos.  She’s a wife and momma to four little kiddos (with number five due Spring of 2015).  Stefanie describes herself as a “crafty junkie"  who loves to sew, paint, and build whenever she can. 

Stefanie enjoys her power tools, including her grandpa's radial arm saw and jig saw, and she feels like she can take on the world when cutting things with her reciprocating saw.  Stefanie also believes in the power of paint!  She combines these into beautiful and useful home treasures.

Stefanie loves the eclectic mix of shabby chic, industrial, and farm-antiques. She is delighted to be featuring her beautiful work at our Le Lapin Market on Thursday March 12 from 5-8pm only.  Stop in and show Stefanie your support and let her talk with you about her creative process.

Merci Stefanie!

March "Le Lapin" Market Hours:

Thursday, March 12:             5pm-8pm            

Friday, March 13:                   10am-5pm

Saturday, March 14:              10am-5pm

Sunday, March 15:                  Noon-5pm

Stay warm till then!

Anastasia and Adam

March: The Lapin Market!

We know it's mid-February and the dead of winter right now, but believe it or not, by mid-March, Spring will be just around the corner.  The days will be noticeably longer, it won't be nearly as cold, and the sun will feel just a little bit warmer.  To celebrate the coming of Spring, Confectionique's March market theme will be "Le Lapin" -- the bunny!




What's more quintessentially Spring than visions of bunnies, chicks, and lambs?

Remember, Easter is Sunday, April 5th this year!  We'll have tons of Paques (Easter) merchandise -- let us help you fill your basket with vintage, Parisian and handmade treasures!

Join us for a complimentary glass of wine on Thursday, March 12 from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm as we kick off the "Le Lapin" market with our monthly Nuit Blanche celebration!

March "Le Lapin" Market Hours:
Thursday, March 12:             5pm-8pm            

Friday, March 13:                   10am-5pm

Saturday, March 14:              10am-5pm

Sunday, March 15:                  Noon-5pm

Stay warm till then!

Anastasia and Adam

Restless Atelier February: du coeur

I bought this beautiful book Creating Papercrafts clear back in 2006. The front cover attracted me with it's beautiful red and white damask-like paper.  The colors and styling so reminded me of shopping in the interior design shops of Rue Saint Germain des Pres. So, I bought this delightful book, scanned the contents, and then added it to my book shelf. I don't think I have touched again until today, as I searched for my Restless Atelier project for February.


Du coeur means "From the Heart." I thought this craft would be a perfect ode to St. Valentine. I have never made a heart box (or any box for that matter) from scratch. This should be interesting.

I am hoping to do better following directions with this project and I am certain to learn something new. What project do you have in mind for February? Do share!

à bientôt and with love,

Anastasia

January's Restless Atelier, Fini!

When I finally sat down to read the directions, my first thought was "uh oh." I asked my daughter if I could bring the book and my supplies to her house, because after reading the first few lines I was already confused. I didn't have any idea how to transfer patterns onto fabric to stitch them. I use iron-ons, or I embroider free-handed.

When I arrived at Rosie's house,  I opened the book and pointed to the page. "See, it only tells you to transfer the pattern, but it doesn't tell you how to do it," I complained, exasperated. "Mom," she said kindly, "Did you look at the beginning of the book? This is where the author provides you with all the information about techniques." Sheepishly,  I said no, I did not look at the beginning of the book -- I didn't even think to do that.

So we built a light box, and . . .  ta dah! I was able to trace the patterns and stitch them. This is all going to go so much easier, I thought to myself.  Following directions is fun!

Until the next paragraph.


I can tell already that my biggest challenge is going to be following directions. I enjoyed the process of making this caddy -- once I stopped reading the directions. I did my own thing after paragraph two.   I know  -- this sort of defeats the whole purpose of my year-long journey.

So, what would my 8th-grade Home Economics teacher have given me as a grade for my sewing project? I am certain I would have gotten nothing above a B minus. It would breakdown as follows (The italicized is what she would have written on my Project Completion Sheet).

1. Creativity: A-  I like your mixture of patterns and fabric selections, the general look of the finished product and the way you arranged the pockets, although it appears you didn't do all of them, this will be reviewed below. (She never gave me an A for anything.  I think she thought not getting an A would make us work harder.)
2. Embroidery: B+ I like the blue thread choice as it coordinates well with your fabric choice and displays nicely on the yellow fabric, but you didn't do all the required stitching.
3. Sewing : B+ You did do back and forth stitching to secure pockets (I don't remember what this technique is called.) Your top stitching was fairly straight, however it would be perfectly straight if you pinned all sections first. You used the correct color thread. All seams appear straight.
4. Following Directions : D  Remember, you can learn a great deal more from following directions. I know you will do better in this area next time.
5. Complete Project on Time: A-  Remember, I never gave you an A, why start now?

And what did I learn? Well, I learned to explore more of a book before I decide the directions aren't adequate. I learned how to make a light box. (This is the favorite thing I learned.) Finally, I learned that this "reading directions thing" is going to be the bane of my creative existence!


I also wanted to report the main fabric I used is from Madame Catherine, one of my favorite purveyors of vintage French fabric in Paris. Merci!

I will have my sewing tidy at our next market March 12-15.  Be sure to share your January craft project on Confectionique's Facebook page! I am excited to try again in February.
à bientôt,

Anastasia

We've returned from Paris!

Well, perhaps vicariously. Since the success of our winter-themed markets, we realized our French inventory has declined significantly. Merci to all of you who visit our little French market and make it possible to reduce our inventory in the first place!

Adam and I decided if we couldn't actually set foot on one of our favorite continents this winter, we would ask a number of our French friends to bring a bit of France to us. We arranged for several shipments of a variety of traditional vintage French treasures: classic cafe au lait bowls, vintage Japy- and Jaz-brand French clocks, old spice pots, linens, and cigarette papers! (The packaging alone of the old cigarette papers are divine - these have many crafting possibilities!) And our dear friend Julia just popped a box filled with lapin- and poisson-themed vintage goodies in the mail for our upcoming Lapin market in March.  For our crafty customers we have reastocked vintage French fabric, ribbon, beautiful thread and other mercerie.

Many boxes from our friends have yet to arrive, but our inventory is again filled with pretty Paris treasures and vintage French lovelies! Merci to all our friends in France for helping us put together a delightful Spring inventory!

I am excited for all of you to visit Confectionique in March at our "Le Lapin" Easter-themed Market from March 12-15.  (Remember, there's no market in February this year!)

The Lapin Market:

Thursday, March 12:   5pm-8pm
Friday, March 13:         10am-5pm
Saturday, March 14:   10am-5pm
Sunday, March 15:       Noon-5pm


à bientôt,
Anastasia

A New Year Begins Again....

After all this time, Confectionique finally has a good foothold in Middleton.  We have a wonderful group of truly creative women who have brought treasures each market, almost since our doors opened, with excitement and enthusiasm. We have had a wonderful landlord and cohorts at the airport, glorious space to help make all my creative dreams come true, and we have had all of you -- our loyal friends and customers.

Some of you we see each market, some every few markets and some only for specific markets. We have so enjoyed seeing the happy faces of our established customers and the new ones that continue to find us one way or another.

You have traveled along with us to Paris, participated in our "Package from Paris" adventure and have encouraged us every step of the way as we move in other creative directions. For all this, and so much more, we are so very grateful and simply couldn't imagine something else more fun than opening our doors to you at Confectionique!

But, to avoid dullness and complacency, we decided it was time to shake things up a bit for 2015 at Confectionique.  We are introducing a new market schedule -- we have moved our February Market to March this year.  Our March market will be our Easter-themed market -- "Le Lapin" or the bunny market, a theme we haven't been able to celebrate for two years now.  The following month, in April, we'll feature our spring and garden market.  In June we'll host our vintage summer market, and August will be our annual home or maison market.  Once we return from our September buying trip to the City of Light, we'll be ready to cap off the year with  2015's Les Trois Fetes:  The Haunting (October), The Feasting (November) and The Giving (December).

We hope to see you at our "Le Lapin" Easter-themed Market from March 12-15.  (Remember, there's no market in January or February this year!)  We certainly want you along for the ride in 2015!

The Lapin Market:

Thursday, March 12:   5pm-8pm
Friday, March 13:         10am-5pm
Saturday, March 14:   10am-5pm
Sunday, March 15:       Noon-5pm


Bonne Annee,
Anastasia and Adam