Rose Mille

Introducing "Cachette du Mois" Petite!

The little sister of our original collection has arrived! We are so excited to introduce the smaller, more "petite" version, of our very popular "Cachette du Mois".
The Petite version has an eight inch band box, (as opposed to the 10" original) filled with some of the more popular items of the larger version, but things that we have somewhat more quantity of. Of course we are offering this new size at a fabulous price of $58! Valued at $70-85.

 Currently we have the smaller box for February, March and April. The petite January box will be available in a different color, or we may just use the 8" box, stay tuned for more info on that.

Starting with February

The Petite Cachette's will have a dozen of their month's post-cards, just like the originals.

Let's look at March

They will each have a cute, vial of German Glass Glitter as well.

And April

Automatic "Petite" subscriptions are also available as well.

If you know you want one you can order them all right here!

Choose Month

February March April

Or you can read more about them including the list of contents on our web-shop, here

BTW, We are already filling up the gorgeous May Cachette du Mois, yes there is a Petite version. To be announced mid April.

xo

mi

 

Evolution of a Collection Kit

Years ago, when Rose Mille was in San Jose, (1998-2002) there seemed to always be this growing pile of mish-mush, wonderful leftover bits and bobs, random odds and ends of ribbons, threads, buttons etc. So we started making collections out of them. We put them in clear topped boxes by color and theme, and also lengths of ribbons in "bits-bags". No two were alike never to be exactly repeated again. 

These boxed kits we lovingly called "Rose Mille Starter Kits". Each box was filled with everything and anything that we could fit into them; ribbons, glitter, fabrics, buttons, snippets of pretty papers, sheet music, millinery flowers and even wooden spools of vintage thread.

Very early on while still in California, we launched a "Ribbon of the Month Club". It was wonderful but very hard to keep going without the benefit of the internet, we had to rely on walk-ins and snail mail advertising, which proved to be very costly.

 
Later, in Stillwater we started putting a few collections together that were the same. But this time we used old See's candy boxes that had come with us from the Bay Area. The only problem was that since the tops were not clear, it was hard to keep them from being rummaged through in the shop.

{This could be another post, shortly after I opened Rose Mille in 1998 I was fortunate enough to purchase inventory from an old fashioned "Notions" store in Palo Alto called "Irma Schwabel", named after the proprietress. Yup, this is worth it's own post. Who had sorted her thread in old See's Candy boxes. But I digress.}

In our earliest advertising campaigns, we used vintage images tailored to our events. We found vintage post-cards so charming and fitting our look, so we used them for our semi-annual sale and soiree. 
Each time layering the new post card over the previous years card, with just enough peaking through so, in case anyone ever looked closely, they could see the progression.

In 2011 we wanted a cleaner less cluttered look so we stopped layering and put more work into re-designing the cards even more.

We were also creating our "Frame Cards" to use in displaying our jewelry and winding ribbons and trims on. Everyone wanted the cards, so we decided to sell them. This led to making other kinds of cards like our "Vintage French post cards", and our Christmas cards for sale.

Before there was a Rose Mille, I was making custom hats and bridal veils under the name "Michelle Rose Designs".  Some of my hats were to big and some too tall for the average hat box, so I found a manufacturer who would make custom ones for me. Over the years this manufacturer has made many custom boxes for me, including the band boxes for our new collection.

The internet, and later blogging, has made it much easier to connect with like minded people and makes it possible for designers and shop keepers to sell items that would normally get damaged in a physical shop.

This time, with technology in our favor, we pulled everything together and launched "Cachette du Mois". Named after those wonderful French Cachette boxes that we carry. The ones that are shaped like strawberries, logs, mushrooms and even fish.

This past December, we launched "Cachette du Mois", starting with January and includes:

Twelve custom post-cards.

A custom band box.

Unique bits and bobbles to covet or use in your special projects.

Finally it's working.  Thank you everyone for "getting it". Right now I am choosing the ingredients for our April box. The Post-card and box are all ready in stock. We have also designed the box and post-card for May and June. I can't wait to show you.

For more information and to purchase our latest kit or a subscription click here.

xo

mi

Pin Cushion with Simplicity's Felting Machine

I am a natural fiber snob. Some people have annoyingly called me a purist. Ninety nine percent of the time I am using cotton, silk, wool or linen. I prefer stitching over gluing, and I have a hard time with printed fabric trying to look as if it were woven.

I recently discovered a machine that works with wool's natural ability of "felting" to itself. Since I love to work with wool felt in hat making; steaming, stretching and smoothing the fibers into shape is quite gratifying. Wool blankets as felt material is also a lot of fun for me. Hence my wool flower pins and kit. So when I first saw this machine that actually uses just the needles action, without thread or glue, I was intrigued so say the least. 

My first project, (that I am going to actually write about) is making a pin cushion out of wool blankets that have already been "felted" and an old canning jar lid.

First I cut out a circle, 5 leaf shapes and a 5 petal flower out of blankets.

Without pinning, the leaves are "felted" onto the blue circle. There are 12 needles poking through all layers, causing the wool fibers to "felt" together.

All the leaves are now attached to the circle.

This is what it looks like on the back, see the green fibers coming through!  This gives me an idea.

But first, I attached the white flower, but "felting" only the center. I want the petals to be loose.

Great, it worked!

Now back to that idea; I flipped the circle over and felted the leaves from the back side and look what happens!

{so exciting!}

Darn, I wish I would have done the back felting before I attached the flower, but I worked around it and it came out great. 

I wonder..........

Wow!  Look what happened when I felted the flower from the back.  A blue center! Next time I will take pictures while felting the back , yes - I have three hands.

{so easily amused}

Now, make a running stitch all around the edge of the circle with strong thread, gather up, stuff and stitch closed. Grab the canning jar lid and apply some Fabri-Tac, by Beacon and insert into the lid.

Stitch on a pearl button, tie a bow with some of the french ribbon you have laying around and poke in some corsage pins. Wala!!

I'm thinking about putting some embellishments on some sweaters with this nifty machine.

xo

mi

 

March Cachette du Mois

March is an exciting month, especially where it is cold and snowy in the winter. However this year not so cold and not so much snow. Since living in the upper Midwest, I have learned that March is when we dare to start thinking about Spring, my favorite season. It may sometimes be the "snowiest" month but hey, Spring is just around the corner!

The birthstone for March is Aquamarine, so we chose this gorgeous silk taffeta ribbon, that was found in France, for the box ties. Some of the earliest flowers coming up are Violets, which are featured on this month's post-card.

Violet and aqua, with lots of green are this month's colors. Still cold outside we have velvet Violets, and antique crystals for what's left of the sparkly snow.

Yards and yards of ribbons, trims, a generous piece of my coveted favorite linen fabric, a fat quarter of Aquamarine silk tissue, Lilac glass glitter and vintage chandelier crystals.

Spun cotton plums, velvet leaves, vintage millinery netting and braid, a poesy of velvet violets and sparkly rock candy stamens in aqua.

Assorted "Dresden" embossed paper embellishments, including a pair of "in like a Lion", Lions and four "Good Luck" vintage appliques.

Tucked inside this month's Cachette du Mois are:

A quarter yard of grey roses on aqua, linen fabric

A quarter yard of aquamarine silk tissue fabric

A bunch of velvet Violets

18 Moss green leaves on wire

An aqua Dresden assortment

Three Large double sided horse shoes for luck

A dozen four leaf clovers in gold

A pair of Golden Lions

Four "Good Luck" vintage appliques

One yard of fancy flower trim with pearl centers

2 yards of aquamarine vintage rayon ribbon

3 yards of vintage green Soutache cord

A one ounce jar of Lilac German glass glitter

One yard of tubular aqua and violet millinery braid

3/4 yard of vintage French silk netting in violet

Ten vintage chandelier crystals

A bunch of rock candy stamens in aqua

A bunch of spun cotton plums on wire

A dozen gorgeous March post-cards

A hand made Tarragon band box with;

One yard of French silk taffeta ribbon ties

 

You can order it right here or go to our Web-Shop where you will find more information.

Offered at $100

If you would like to order a  subscription, to ensure that you will be first on the list to receive a cachette, to be automatically sent a new "Cachette du mois" every month, with a surprise gift, until you request to opt out in writing (Minimum of 5 months commitment). Please include your phone number in the notes box on as you check out, so that we can call you to set up the automatic subscription.

xo

mi

 

 

 

 

February 2012 Cachette du Mois

Love is in the air!

{cold cold air}

And here is something to warm your heart. The February Cachette du mois is overflowing with lots of Valentine inspirations. In fact it is taking lots of skill just to be able to close the lid!

Tucked inside a red ribbon tied, 10” keepsake band box you will find;
5 silk single stemmed Carnations
6 pink and red crepe paper party cups
6 pairs of vintage appliques
6 large vintage paper heart scraps
6 vintage paper rose scraps
5 white scalloped paper Dresden borders
6 large manilla tags with glassine bags
6 small manilla tags with glassine bags
12 strands of red & white bakers string
 6 ivory blank cards with envelopes
6 signature lace post-cards
 a 20 x 20 piece of heavy red linen
a hank of white DMC cotton
a red and white cupid cameo cabochon
a one ounce jar of Red fine glass glitter
2 yards of white millinery braid from the South of France
2 yards of red silk ribbon
2 yards of pink galloon trim
2 yards of pale pink satin ribbon “l’amour toujours”
2 yards brown cotton lace ribbon
4 rhinestone pins
6 white lacy heart cabochons
a large red Dresden Cupid
12 Golden Dresden arrows
20 Golden Dresden hearts
A dozen gorgeous "February" post-cards

You can order it right here or go to our Web-Shop where you will find more information.

Offered at $100

If you would like to order a  subscription, you will be first on the list, and we will automatically send you a new "Cachette du mois" every month, and a surprise gift, until you request to opt out (Minimum of 5 months commitment). Please include your phone number in the notes box on as you check out, so that we can call you to set up the automatic subscription.

xo

mi

Introducing "Cachette du Mois"

After years of research and collecting, designing and planning, we are so so excited to finally launch our first ever inspired collection of the month. We are calling this precious assemblage of treasures "Cachette du mois".

Inspired by the seasons, flowers and folklore, every month we will offer a different color box filled with vintage and new, sentimental bits of ephemera, to save or use in the most special of your creations. Every detail has been carefully considered, from the custom "made for us", band boxes, to our own labels and packaging. We have even designed a beautiful post-card to go along with each month's collection.

Lets start with January, 2012......

January is a time for calm, for reflection. It's quiet and cozy with cool muted colors and warm fires. The beginning of a new year full of promise and hope. Long shadowed snowy trees, and icicles hanging from the eaves.

These are the inspirations for this months Cachette du Mois.

A charming 10" band box with taupe silk ribbon filled with.........

Vintage German silk Rose spray

A bouquet of velvet and silk Narcissus

Pale blue vintage satin leaves

Winter white velvet berry wreath

One ounce jar of chunky glass glitter in Snow

2 yards of taupe silk ribbon

2 yards of blue taffeta ribbon from the South of France

2 Rhinestone pins

25 - 10mm glass pearls

A strand of matt blue 3mm glass pearls

6 - 10mm spun cotton cream mushrooms

6 - 18mm spun cotton cream mushrooms

4 Bronze Dresden paper wings

2 sets of silver Dresden numbers

6 white glass shank buttons

A bundle of sparkly flower stamens

A dozen gorgeous "January" post-cards to send

All tucked inside a keepsake band box tied with silk ribbon

The January Cachette is available to ship now, just in time for the holidays. What a perfect gift, as well as a perfect way to have a little Rose Mille delivered to your door every month. This collection is a limited edition of 30 each month, valued at $150. We anticipate selling out each month and advise ordering early.

~

Offered at $100 (plus $10 shipping each month, MN residents add 7.125% sales tax.)

If you would like to order a  subscription, we will include with your order a "2012" glitter garland as a gift to you (limited to the first 50). We will automatically send you a new "Cachette du mois" every month, until you request to opt out (Minimum of 5 months commitment). Please include your phone number in the notes box on as you check out, so that we can call you to set up the automatic subscription.

xo

mi

 

Karuna Balloo

I would like to share this wonderful "horticultrice textile artist" Karounah Balloo, of Paris. Shes makes Dalia like flowers out of hand dyed silk organza and our vintage flower stamens.

Enjoy:

{bonne}

Wouldn't it be great if she teaches?

Comment if interested

www.karunaballoo.com

xo

mi

 

 

Skirt Transformation

We got these rather plain, and too short if you ask me, skirts in. But i kept thinking, maybe if I sewed some trim on them they would be much cuter.

 I found some Ethnic Euro (my term) striped fabric in my stash and cut and sewed some on the hem, or lack of.

{What's with this manufacturing trend of just cutting off the edge and calling it a hem?}

MUCH cuter! 

And 3" longer.

I happened to have purchased a tray of vintage Millinery flowers at Junk Bonanza, and will pin these to the new "hem". I had just the right amount for the 5 sizes of skirts.

{Told you I would share some of my Junk Bonanza purchases!}

We have the skirts like this in XS, S, M, L & XL, but not for long!

xo

mi

A Bottle of Brown Rit Dye

It's amazing what one bottle of Dark Brown liquid Rit dye can color. A week or so ago, I boiled, in a big big pot on my stove, these hat hoods, in order to turn them a dark brown. They looked very dark in the pot but by the time they dried the color came out more of a milk chocolate than the desired dark chocolate.

{70% Cocoa}

The color is still pretty, and will work up into a lovely hat. This one is still on the block and has a hand shaped brim, ready for wire. Note the large rubber band holding it on to the block.

Not wanting to waste any of the dye bath, I decided to throw in some vintage linens and trims. While I do love these pieces of history, most of the time the color leaves much to be desired. The beigey, ivory color of a lot of laces does not do that much for me. So into the pot they go!

I did get more items with a nice darkish brown, but then after a few batches, the color lightened to a lovely plum or lavender. All this was from the same batch of Dark Brown Dye.

So I rummaged around my studio for more dingy old lace items to give them new life.

I even dyed the bright Aqua tunic I was wearing.  It turned into this lovely shade of grey/plum.

{Those light spots is the sun peaking through the clouds.}

Finally this vintage two-piece crinolyn, that my cousin Charlene gave me for my birthday went into the pot as well. So much better!

I spent a good part of my Sunday ironing this lot, and then shooting the pics on the back yard lawn.

I used to not like to work with liquids. But this was so much fun, I think I will try for a dark black next time. Maybe the residual color will be a blue?

xo

mi

 

Lauren Laliberte - Artist

Lauren Laliberte has been frequenting Rose Mille for some years now and every time she comes in she brings her gracious spirit and generosity. She usually finds something that inspires her to create. On one such trip she found feathers and flowers, and created this adorable fasinator headband.

She also replaced the fabric of a tattered Victorian purse with some vintage and new upholstery fabrics she found in our stashes. I have personally used both of these fabrics in projects, and it is really fun to see them in a new way.

 It's amazing what can be done with pieces of this and that.

{My dining room chairs are covered with the green fabric.}

 

xo

mi