It's That Wonderful Time Again.... FARM CHICKS!

A wonderful and happy package from the ever sweet Serena Thompson of the Farm Chicks!

Hello Everyone!

SO,

have you made your plans to head to

The Farm Chicks Antique Show in Spokane Washington?!

If you have never been to or heard of this wonderful

EXTRA LARGE SHOW

then you'd better read more about our experiences

OVER HERE.

We simply

LOVE

going to the show every year!

We load up on items for ourselves & even items for the shop too!

Frankly,

we wouldn't miss it.

SO,

if you love Grandiflora Style....

we pretty much advise you to

GO!

We are TEAM GRANDIFLORA!
Junking our way through the show with the happiest dispositions and keen eyes for junkalicious finds!
Hope to see you there!

P.S.

Can't make it?

Too bad...you will be missed.

But... be cheered, as the shop is always open here and full of

gorgeous finds that are still coming in daily.

Let our wonderful girls serve you with a smile....

we are proud to have some of the best employees and selection around!

Cheers!

The Grandiflora Girls

 



Grandiflora Featured in Gatherings Magazine!

Hello Everyone!

Just wanted to drop in and let you know about a wonderful magazine

publication that you can view online for free!

This is such a pretty magazine filled with all sorts of ideas that

we know you will simply love!

This magazine is put out by

Heather Spriggs Thompson

& it's called

Gatherings

The other pretty fun thing about the magazine,

is the fact that our main buyer

(and one of the owners)

Trisha Brink

is the new

Market Editor

for the magazine.

Pretty great huh?

................................

So many of the displays you see in the shop are

planned out strategically by two folks:

partners/owners/sisters

Trisha Brink & La Von Vander Werff

The two sisters work side by side

gathering ideas from market

&

piecing them together to tell the stories you see in

our store vignettes.

Trisha is the Main Buyer.

La Von is the Visual Merchandiser.

OR WAIT

is it the other way around?

Well, it really depends on the day.

Although both of these ladies could do eachothers' jobs...

(and often do!)

they do try to stick to what they do best...

&

that's why they work so well together.

Which is also what makes

Grandiflora

so great!

....................................

So,

back to the magazine.

We highly recommend heading over to

Heather's wonderful Gatherings Magazine

to see the

Spring Market Preview

from our buyer Trisha.

Stay tuned to this magazine in the future for more

market trend reports too!

So excited to be a part of such a wonderful publication!

Enjoy!

:)

The

Grandiflora Girls

 

 

Moments at Market: We Had Fun BUT Worked Hard

Middle photo: Me (Trisha/Main Buyer/Partner) La Von (My Sister/Head Visual Display/Partner) & Kim (Our Floor Manager & Annie Sloan Instructor) in a Seahawks moment at market. They were playing only a few blocks away. We got razzed when they lost :(

Hello Everyone!

Just wanted to pop in here to show you what we've been up to at

Atlanta Market.

Let me fill you in on what Atlanta Market is:

 

1. HUGE! 3 buildings roughly 50-60 floors combined.

2. OVERWHELMING! Each floor has either multiple large showrooms or numerous booths.

3. OVERSTIMULATING! Each showroom decks itself out with a huge amount of product.

4. EXHAUSTING! You are on your feet for 12 hours at least 3 of the 7 days without sitting down,

& on them for 9 hours the other 4....no sitting!

5. CONFUSING! Are you in building 1 floor 3 or building 2 floor 3 or building 3 floor 1???

6. CALENDAR INAPPROPRIATE! Isn't Christmas over? Yes... 2012's Christmas is....

but everywhere you are ordering for Christmas 2013!!

7. POCKET BOOK SHOCKING! Always make sure you have wandered into the

moderately priced showrooms...Bill Gates does not shop at Grandiflora.

(At least we don't think so anyway ;)

&

Last but not least....

8. AWE INSPIRING!!

We enjoyed all the lovely displays we saw at market

(SOOOOO many more than what you see here,

as we were not allowed to take photos of certain showrooms....and didn't want to spoil

our buying surprises for you anyway!)

It is hard to walk away from market uninspired.

We came away from this market with SOOOOO many ideas

it is making my head spin to think about making them all happen!

The best part is....we are on fire for Grandiflora this year....

we are going to light a fire under ourselves and our customers this year.

It's time to celebrate this awesome shop we've all come to love and appreciate.

May Grandiflora see it's best year yet!

Not really talking financially....although that would be nice....

wink, wink.

LOL!

NO...no....no.....

I'm talking about finding the niche that we were all meant to find in

Grandiflora.

Now....

wouldn't that be nice!

We were flitting from booth to booth, showroom to showroom finding all sorts of great things with the power of caffeine! We were also really excited to meet Jo Packham of Where Women Create & Where Women Cook where she was signing books and magazines. What a great lady....and what an honor!

 

Well, it was a trip to remember & a trip to inspire.
As I said before we are on fire for what comes next....
THE BOXES OF PRODUCT!
Be visiting often for all the lovely items that will start arriving in a few weeks all the way through the end of the year.
It takes 7 days (72 hours of straight ordering) just to hit the tip of the iceberg in ordering.
I can honestly say this:
WE DID OUR BEST BUYING THIS YEAR!
You know what that equals?
YOU WILL HAVE THE BEST SHOPPING AT GRANDIFLORA THIS YEAR.
Happy US + Happy YOU!
Here's to Grandiflora & the fun she brings us all!
Cheers!
La Von, Kim & I



New Shipments of Gifts & 50% Off Christmas Decor!

Hello Everyone!

How is your Christmas Season going so far?

We hope well!

We've been working very hard unboxing, receiving and displaying

all the new product that arrived recently at our doorstep.

There are so many new 

sweet gifts for the women in your lives.

We have home decor & accessories for all ages of women.

Also, you can find adorable scarves, jewelry and purses too!

How exciting to have so many new items in, as well as some

seasoned favorites which we've been

trying to get ahold of for quite awhile now.

 

On top of all this,

the remaining Christmas Decor is now

50% OFF*

at the register!!

SO

hurry in to get the best selection!!

(* Excludes consignments, Frasier Fir by the Thymes, seasonal stationary/seasonal paper napkins, everyday "red or green items" and previous purchases.)

See you soon!

:)

Behind the Scenes as the Christmas Decor Goes Out

 Hi Everyone!

We've been at it for the last week up on the second floor....

yep,

it's that time of the year again!

Christmas Decor is here!

 We ordered it in January, received it in Spring and Summer and organized it

early this Fall.

Now it's time to haul it over from our storage unit and display it for

YOU!

 Yes,

we've been waiting for this all year!

The time where we get to pull out all the stops and

GO FOR IT!

True...

it might seem a bit early for some of you.

We however realize that it's not as far off as you might think.

Many of you have been wondering when it would make it's appearance;

asking for it even!

We promise to deliver.

HOWEVER.....

....we have one more full week of putting it out on the main floor.

SO,

please be patient with us as we do so ok?

It takes so much more work and effort than you might ever imagine.

Our girls work so hard for us and most importantly

for you

to make Grandiflora a veritable winter wonderland!

Here's a sneaky peaky of  some finished second floor displays....

We hope you'll like what you find this year...

it's such a lovely look all over the shop!

Cheers,

The Grandiflora Girls

:)



Flurries and Flakes

Yes.

It's that time of the year again!

The time where we always...ALWAYS regret wearing black to the store!

The snowy stuff is beginning to go out and we are COVERED in it!

:)

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

 We are having our Annual

 HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE and ANNIVERSARY SALE

 on Thursday evening the 15th of November

(stay tuned to your emails/facebook and the blog for more details to follow).

 

 However, please note: the Christmas decor goes out ahead of time. 

We only have about 1/3 of it out now  & will continue to put it out for the next week.

It should be out in full force by the 1st/2nd of November.

 

 Please bear with us as we work our hardest to make Grandiflora a Winter Wonderland ♥

Thanks in advance!

The Grandiflora Girls

P.S.

Just so you know....we actually love snow, some of our best friends are flakes!

:)

Chalk Paint™ by Annie Sloan, Our First Class Sign Ups

Hello Everyone!

The time has come to announce our first few

Chalk Paint™ by Annie Sloan

classes!

Because you may not know the history behind

Grandiflora

carrying this awesome product,

we though we'd let you in on the behind the scenes story:

Grandiflora has had

Chalk Paint™ by Annie Sloan

on it's shelves since last September 2011.

What you probably didn't know is that we rented this space out to a

mini stockist named Chris K.

As the year went by this awesome paint product simply

went outta control bonkers

here at the shop!

What a shocker to all of us who were overwhelmed by the response we saw.

Chris has since decided to hand the baton over to us as stockists for this awesome paint.

We are happy to announce that as of

September 1st, 2012

Grandiflora is now the actual stockist in Lynden for

Chalk Paint™ by Annie Sloan!

Whoo - hoo!

A HUGE thank-you to Chris for finding and sourcing this great product for us.

We are so blessed to have it on our shelves.

If you are not familiar with this paint,

YOU SHOULD BE!

We love it!!!

SO,

that being said...

we have sent our very own

Kim

(our treasured shop manager)

to the

Train the Trainer

course in Spokane, WA

Kim is now certified as an official

Chalk Paint™ by Annie Sloan, Instructor!

Yay Kim!

Congrats to you!!



We think you will all agree that Kim was the perfect choice for this position.

Some of you may have met Kim at the shop before, & know how on top of things she is.

 Now she will use her gifts and talents to also teach classes on the paint techniques.

So without further ado, here's our first class date! 

Tuesday October 16th at 9:15 AM

Kim will be holding this first class on a single technique

called: two color distressed.

It is the most popular technique used by Chalk Paint™ by Annie Sloan customers.

Each student will learn the basics of surface prep and care for their painted surface,

 along with this ever popular technique.

The class includes light refreshments,
 a generous coupon towards the purchase of a sample paint pot, and of course the technique itself.

Each class holds 6 students.

Class Fee is $35.00
(Not suitable for children, class fees are not refundable or transferable.)

Class update: our October 16th class is now full.

However,

 please feel free to attend our demo day

(below)

to find out more!

Kim will also be demonstrating the Chalk Paint™ by Annie Sloan at various times through out the day on

Thursday October 18th

where you can see the paint in motion, and get a glimpse of our future class schedule.

(Demonstrations are free of charge, however classes are recommended for in-depth questions.)

Grandiflora will be open special hours that day from 11AM to 8PM

in conjunction with the

Lynden Craft and Antique Show

at the

Northwest Washington Fairgrounds

...............

Would you like to see a little sampling of our practice class???
We had a lot of fun the other night being Kim's guinea pigs
(we prefer guinea pigs to lab rats!)
LOL!

 What a fun night it was!
We think you'll agree that this is the most fun you can have with paint!
Get on in here soon to see just what this paint can do for you!
...............

In closing we would like to say how happy we are to have this lovely product under our roof.

Not only is it a wonderful product to sell, it is unbelievably fantastic to work with.

We all stand firmly behind the product and have used it ourselves in our own homes.

Who wouldn't like being able to paint just about anything with a self priming paint in a lovely color?!

Here's to

Annie Sloan

&

her fabulous

Chalk Paint!

Cheers!!



Another Market = More to Choose From at Grandiflora....

(Kim-Floor Manager, Trisha ((me)) Main Buyer & Partner, La Von Visual Manager & Partner)

 Helloooooo!!!

We are so excited to get back to you with some very exciting news

from the latest show we attended;

Las Vegas World Market!

We worked very hard every day to find all the best new lines and items to bring

home for you!

I am excited to announce the fact that we picked up

SEVEN NEW LINES

&

reordered from over 10 existing fabulous suppliers.

The items we have coming are truly

Grandiflora "worthy"

MEANING:

they are super cute items for you and your home....

but not just that....

they are also affordable!

Would you like to know how hard we work to find the best prices for you???

I think the photo of La Von (above) pretty much sums it up.

We spend hours and hours walking through 3 rather large buildings with numerous floors,

& we negotiate as low a prices as we can possibly find for you.

It takes LOADS of COFFEE!!!

This all makes for a stressful 5 days at market.

HONESTLY?

Anyone could walk through this high design market and find

beautiful home decor and gifts....

HOWEVER

...I'm not sure if they could do it with the sort of budget that we work with for you,

our loyal customers.

Whenever you shop through Grandiflora and wonder why something is

REALLY INEXPENSIVE

you can rest assured we did our job well!

ON THE FLIP SIDE...

whenever you find something that you consider to be

EXPENSIVE

you can also rest assured that we did our job well....

meaning....

we found the most quality/cutting edge items for you at the lowest prices available to us.

Sure....

it may have been cheaper somewhere else...

but,

we are pretty picky about product quality.

Although we've had items come in from time to time with some issues....

we pride ourselves on selling quality, affordable & lovely items.

We hope you would agree.

SO...

after all that hard work we spent a few well deserved hours at the pool....

....it was 106 degrees....

but that's ok

it matched our attitude....

because,

we are always

"on fire"

for our great shop

Grandiflora!

:)

T.



Girls Day Out at Warehouse Beautiful

Kim (our floor manager) and La Von (my sister and partner) enjoying a Saturday morning out shopping.

On a recent Saturday we decided to head out for a little fun.

Kim, La Von and I wanted to go check out the cute new shop we've been hearing about called

Warehouse Beautiful in Ferndale, Washington.

We enjoyed it very much, and highly suggest that if you like lots of

vintage, antique & shabby items in your home...

you can't go wrong here!

If you go....

make sure you tell them the

Grandiflora Girls sent you!

:)

Heads up...Souvenir Summer Issue Out Soon!

Just a quick note to let you know about a stellar online magazine we

love.

It's called

Souvenir Lifestyle Magazine

&

is the handiwork of

Heather Bullard

 whom you might know as a contributing editor to our favorite home decor glossy mag

Country Living.

Heather has asked

Trisha Brink

(one of the owners here at Grandiflora)

to share a special summery space she styled in the upcomming issue

releasing this Tuesday July the 10th.

We're very excited to be a part of this wonderful publication

filled with inspiring home decor, delicious recipes,

beautiful DIY ideas & gorgeous photography.

So,

if you have a minute, you can head over to

Souvenir's Facebook Page

to see some more behind the scenes shots of the upcomming

Summer Issue.

We know that if you love

Grandiflora....

you'll think

Souvenir

is the bees knees!

Enjoy!

:)



June Class Sign-Ups Going on NOW & Save the Date!

OK....

Now's your chance!

You've been asking for it.

We've been planning it...

and now....

IT'S HERE!

Sign up time for our first class (which is limited to 12 people)

starts Saturday June 16th at 11 am.

Come in and sign yourself and your girlfriends up for a night of fun!

CLASS SPECIFICS:

Date/Time: Thursday June 28th at 7pm

Craft: See Below... Learning how to stencil fabric with freezer paper.

What's included?

Our fabulous creative crafting knowledge, scrumptious light refreshments,

 two adorable tea towels made by adorable you and a mini swag bag with goodies and samples.

BUT the best part....

.......a generous store coupon good for the night of the class!

NOT TO MENTION LOADS OF FUN!

Price: a mere $12.00 (paid at time of ticket purchase)

We tested this class out for you, and had a blast doing it!

We think you'll enjoy every minute of it...

so make sure you're the first ones in the door to get signed up on Saturday morning

June 16th at 11am!

And don't forget to check your latest email for some wonderful sale news!

Also,

stay tuned for our July festivities.

We would like you to save the date:

Thursday Evening July 19th

(More details to come, but can we just say...whoo hooo!)

&

Our next class will be Thursday Evening July 26th

(Again, more details to follow...and they are some really cute details!)

Farm Chicks Spokane Washington 2012 Trip-a-Palooza!

 It's official.

We had a

BLAST!

The Farm Chicks Show in Spokane, Washington

was simply put: wonderful.

We started out early to get a jump on all the shoppers heading that way.

It was pretty doggone smart of us to book a U-haul trailer ahead of time since we have a tendancy to junk along the way to the show.....

We enjoy finding new places and things all along the way. It's also great fun to hit those spots where you know you'll find all the best food and finds.

Our fave food stop whilst in Spokane is

Chaps Coffee Company

which has the deadliest drinks, delicious dinners....and most decadant desserts.

Another new find is

Pink

a great destination shopping experience in Spokane.

( Some crazy Instagram photos of our stops to and from the show.)

 After toodling around for a few days on the way to the show, we headed out from the hotel bright and early to wait in the early buy ticket line.

(Our lovely Mother was kind enough to buy our tickets online way back in September of 2011 for our birthday gifts! Yay Mom!!! It was an awesome gift! )

Sadly,

it was raining buckets when the line was forming, but again...mom saved the day with umbrellas!

 This is the tiny 300 person line....the 5,000+ line was elsewhere, and I was happy NOT to be in it!

(L-R. Carrie our sister, Jan our mom & partner, La Von sister partner, Kim manager.)

 Yes, we were hoping for sunshine...but instead tried not to drown in the deluge of rain &.....

 ....not to drown in the fun deluge of

J U N K!!!

I had to nab this hilarious striped flotation device for the shop soon after entering the show.

I might've been able to use it out in that line....oh well.

It's a good thing I grabbed it when I did, I was attacked

 (I won't name names...you know who you are ;)

by one woman in particular and many others who loved its charm and character.

It looks smashing in our beach display right now!

:D

 The booth displays were chock full and fabulous as always!

Our lovely friend Deb's Booth at Garden Party.

 Happy Customers were everywhere!

 There are just too many booths to list....this one was pretty fab however!

Straight From The Farm

Oh yes....& this one too....

 Funky Junk!!

Honestly....the coolest display in the whole show.

I mean who THINKS to turn an old truck bed into a shelf for ironstone???

Freakin' awesome!

;D

 After we had

WAY TOO MUCH FUN BUYING JUNK

we got the dirty job of not only hauling the stuff out to the parking lot....but unloading the stuff we had already purchased along the way, & then reloading the new stuff too!

It was quite a load! 

( La Von ponders the crazyness of our decisions.....)

 I had faith however and kept saying:

" I know it's all gonna fit....I just know it!"

BUT,
there came a moment when I was doubting......

Yes, it's true....

you'll never believe what happened.....

We cleared the parking lot....were left there alone while everyone went off and partied the night away.

We eventually got the sink into the Escalade....and headed off to Chaps for dinner and drinks.

It was an amazing day to say the least.

One we want to repeat again next year if possible!

We're gathering people to join our team of wild women junkers....

....maybe you'll wanna join in on the fun next year???

Hooo-rahhhhh!

;)

Trish

&

The Grandiflora Girls

xx

Classroom Details Coming Soon...

 If you were at our

Pink-a-Palooza Party

last week, you're probably wondering what in the world we were doing with a

Classroom Setting in the shop?!?!?

Well,

We've been asked so many times to hold classes on many different topics.

(Some of you have even attended classes we've held at local Churches...weren't they fun?)

So...

we decided to work hard opening up a space in our shop to do just that:

Offer classes!

What will the classes be you ask???

Well....
here are some of the ideas we've been presented with so far:

1. CRAFTS.

 Many people are following us on Pinterest these days,

if you've not had a chance to come on over and join the fun there then we invite you to!

We hope to have fun in groups of 8 or so creating some of the things we find there,

& some ideas we come up with all on our very own!

2. How To Decorate Your ______.

Ever wonder how to decorate your fireplace mantle with style?

Or are there other areas of your house that stump you?

 Well, the ladies in charge of decorating at the shop can help you out in one of these classes.

3. Ever had problems deciding whether you want to commit to purchasing

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?

Chris Kenner of Fleur de lis Design, (our in house stockist)

 is already holding classes for those who are ready to learn....you can sign up NOW in the shop for full blown painting classes at her wonderful studio right here in

downtown Lynden.

But...for those of you who are undecided....she's toying with the idea of offering sample classes here at the shop.

Why don't you let her know if you're interested....

you can shoot her an email here:

4kenners@comcast.net

4. Are you part of a BUNKO group?

Isn't it fun? What? You love to go when it's at someone else's house....

but not when you have to host it at your place???

Hubby complains about having to find a place to "hide with the kids" while all the ladies are over?

Think about the possibility of hosting your Bunko group here at the shop!

Now wouldn't that be fun!?!?!?

WELL,

there's much to do to make all these dreams a reality.

So many kinks to work out, and supplies to purchase.

We'll let you know when we decide to release the final details of each "class" opportunity.

Until then,

if you have any questions, comments or suggestions...

PLEASE.....no really..... PLEASE

contact us via email at

info@grandiflorahome.com

We would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on classes, crafts, party ideas etc....

because after all....

we are nothing without you!

:)