Serendipity 7

Monday, August 27, 2012

feeling...

This is the youngest of the "7" of Serendipity 7

...and her face pretty much sums up how we are feeling!

There is A LOT to do and school has not started.

need I say more?

With that said we know we are up for the challenge!

It is a thrill to be pulling this beautifully creative space together. A space that will be full of wonderful vintage finds, upcycled furniture and creative handmade pieces like these...

(introducing "Bob" our unofficial mascot)

and remember these beautiful words from "The Help"?

All and all as the space is coming together we feel like this....

Looking forward to sharing "Serendipity 7" with you very soon!!!

Opening September 7th 4-8pm

exclusive boutique dates:

9/7, 9/8, 9/15, 9/16,

10/12, 10/13, 10/26, 10/27,

11/9, 11/10, 11/23, 11/24, 11/30

Fridays 4pm-8pm, Saturdays 10am-5pm

for a limited time located at 909 15th Avenue, Monroe, WI

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Joy!

Serendipity 7 at Northwinds Antique and Garden Show
June, 2012

Serendipity 7 was started with the dream of opening a little shop. How would that look exactly? We both have toddlers at home and full schedules with 7 busy kids between us. Maybe we could open a shop that we could run for a month or two? Who would rent to us for such a short amount of time?

So after exhausting all our options we accepted the fact that this wasn't the way our business was going to look. We decided that vintage shows and an etsy shop was how we would run our business. It was all good...we could choose shows that would work with our schedules and an etsy shop would be easy to maintain. Not how we pictured it but we both realize that life rarely works out the way you picture it and that is usually for the best...even though you don't realize it at the time.

But sometimes life works out exactly how you picture it. A couple of weeks ago we got a call from one of our past inquiries. The owner offered to rent us our dream shop for 3 months at a price we could afford for the months of September, October and November!

Pretty serendipitous I would say...

So back to business! Summer fun is drawing to a close and a fabulous fall of running our own brick and mortar shop has begun. So if you are in the area at the dates below,

stop by and visit a dream come true.

Serendipity 7's new fall home!

Serendipity 7

inspired, upcycled & vintage home decor

Opening September 7th 4-8pm

exclusive boutique dates:

9/7, 9/8, 9/15, 9/16,

10/12, 10/13, 10/26, 10/27,

11/9, 11/10, 11/23, 11/24, 11/30

Fridays 4pm-8pm, Saturdays 10am-5pm

for a limited time located at 909 15th Avenue, Monroe, WI

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

More treasures!

Only 2 more days until the Northwinds Antique and Garden Show in Burlington, WI. Here are some more Serendipity 7 originals that will be making the trip down with us.

This little succulent garden was made of an old 1980's style pine cabinet that someone gave me. Wouldn't it look cute next to your front door or on your back porch. Actually it looks pretty nice on mine...

perfect against the green walls!

And I promised a peek at the lampshade when I was finished. Viola!

Did I mention that the piece hanging

next to it was purchased last year at

the Northwinds sale? Really, don't miss it, so many awesome things!

Just a little example of the up cycling we like to do. It is so satisfying to use a discarded item that was headed for a landfill and make it beautiful. Here is an old clock cabinet that I breathed new life into...a unique cork board!

And introducing Lenny, my garden art flamingo, made by my neighbor and Rochester, WI native Dan Saunders! Unfortunately for you, Lenny isn't making the trip. He is all mine, sorry folks. But we will be bringing another unique "Zookie Bird" and some other metal garden art by the same artist.

I really hope to see you there!

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Sneak Peeks!

If you are looking for household and garden items that are unique, have a history and are totally different from all your friends "finds" at Pottery Barn, check out Northwinds Perennial Garden's Antique and Garden Show in Burlington, Wisconsin on June 8th and 9th, 2012.

The garden is one of my favorite places in Wisconsin. It is serene while still being hip and artful. I never miss this sale and this year Serendipity 7 is joining in the fabulousness! Here are a couple of "sneak peeks" we will be offering...

This fantastic patchwork quilt...

This fresh chair is going to be hard to give up. Such a nice pop of red....my favorite color!

And of course, an owl lamp...one of our signature products.
Wait to you see the sweet poppy shade I'm making to go with it!

This is a distressed, metal door.

Wouldn't it be awesome leaning on a mantle?

It is magnetic so you could hang photos, Christmas cards, kid art, dried flowers...anything your

heart desires.

This my friends, is a unique find!

Keep checking back to see more groovy stuff.

Maybe something will catch your eye and you will feel compelled to make a road trip to Burlington on June 8th or 9th!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

us...serendipity 7

Serendipity 7 is 7 years in the making.

I don't think it is possible that either of us could have imagined this friendship.

One that feels like family.

Somehow our lives brought both of us to this place...

Serendipity.

We, Jeni & Marcie, met simply at our children's preschool.

I had just moved to Monroe after living in France for a year.

Marcie had lived in Monroe for 6 years.

We were both in the thrawls of young motherhood.

We soon saw in each other a sisterhood.

A soulful connection.

One that is easy, honest, loving.

We realized we were cut from the same cloth...

perhaps a cool vintage cloth!

Within months of meeting we were even vacationing together in Jamaica.

ahh....
We both love sushi, pedicures, Oprah, anthropologie.

Over the last 7 years we have seen eachother through

the trails of marriage, motherhood, pregnancies and adoption.

All of which are better when shared with a soul friend.

There are 7 precious children between the 2 of us.

Which makes for full, blessed lives.

We have had fun, fun, fun... with friends and hubbies

And now our latest adventure... in friendship and life!
Serendipity7 where we indulge in our love of upcycling and vintage design!

A little bit about "us".... which will always be what Serendipity 7 is truly about!

Monday, May 7, 2012

My Mom...

A couple of weeks ago, my 3 year old son Max and I were at McDonald's playland killing some time in between errands. It was pretty empty, just Max and a little boy about his age. They were fast friends and climbed all the way up to the play structure where there was a little spaceship they could sit in. They could see me from their ship and Max proudly exclaimed, "that's my mom!" "Have you ever seen my mom before?" The pride and love in his voice made me feel like a superhero.

That incident got me thinking about my own mom and how in general, the older we get the more complicated our relationships become. It isn't always the beautiful simplicity of the 3 year old expressing his love and admiration for his momma. Maybe I don't brag about my mom from the top of a McDonald's play structure but I certainly can here...Just think of this as my spaceship. ;)

So what does this post have to do with Serendipity 7? Well, pretty much everything. My mom is the queen of making something beautiful out of nothing. I was brought up by a lady who wasn't afraid to put her hands in the dirt, pull something out of the dump and put it on a wall, or make something old look new and fresh. Check out the dresser she just completed!

My mom taught me how to garden, to sew, to paint, to refinish furniture, and to use color. But most importantly she has taught me how the quality of my life is up to me. That creativity is vital to my happiness and whenever something goes wrong she reminds me that only I can pull myself out of it.

She is an artist, a mentor and a friend and my part of Serendipity 7 wouldn't be possible without her.