Monday, February 02, 2015

Our little Starlet....


She was a labor of love, every single part of her.
After I selected the exterior colors, decided on the window/door placement, and chose the floor covering, our little pink gem arrived to us like this from CH Campers.

When we were finished.....she headed to the raffle to find her new home looking like this.  I can't tell you how much this photo makes me smile. :-)
  
Every square inch of her, we designed and built, I spent a week just working on the drawings for her interior long before she arrived.  She was very special to us from day one, so we dressed her to the nines.  

Leaving no stone unturned....for six weeks we worked.....
and worked....and worked.
We hung every piece of designer wallpaper on the walls....
on the ceiling....
inside the custom bed nook....
even the door was wallpapered.
 Every board that was cut and nailed,
whether it was a custom bench.... 
a custom built-in bed.....
custom built cabinetry for appliances...
a custom built vanity
mounting and securing repurposed vintage architectural salvage, even building a custom size and shape table...
and a custom cabinet for the sink and AC unit...
 all the way down to door/window molding and the cute little custom built steps.....
 My sweet hubby built it all.
But we weren't through adding layers, not even close. 

Every shred of fabric...
Whether it was sewn.....
or upholstered (custom and reversible I might add)
or used to create custom window treatments....
or to add unique details.....

like vintage lace and trim....
It too was all lovingly done by hand.....all in our little workspace.
But, there were still more layers, more details such as carefully chosen colors for faux finishing to match a vintage mantel top installed as the staple for our bed surround...
perfectly sought images for printing and framing....
and custom touches added to carefully chosen vintage accents.
Again, all done by hand by LaurieAnna's.
 
Still not finished....we kept adding more unexpected layers of charm, things you wouldn't expect to find in a camper.  Things like a vintage dress form, of course adorned in vintage attire....
a custom built closet.....
 stuffed full of vintage and formal dresses for dress up...
along with scads of vintage purses, hats, and shoes...
even a vintage pink wicker trunk tucked under the bed for storage....
 
also stuffed full of more dress up finery.

Every square inch of this mere 84 square feet we lovingly detailed.
So, why all the fuss?....  Because this little beauty was being raffled to raise money for St. Jude Children's Hospital. Just like this amazing hospital, she had to be special, she had to be unique....nothing less would do. 

Aside from the obvious reward of giving to such a wonderful charity.  The joy of donating the interior, design work, and all the weeks of hard work came with an unexpected perk..... the outpouring of love from all of you.  We were overwhelmed by the number of you that expressed beautiful words of encouragement for our efforts during this past show and through thousands of comments and likes on our FB page over the past couple months.  The crew and I were repeatedly amazed at how many of you had been following our journey and watching our progress on Facebook. 
 
It made my heart soar to see how many of you had fallen head over heals in love with our Starlet, just as we had. Even the name for this sweet camper came from YOU through our FB page (thank you to our FB followers Patsy Romine Bahl and Joy Mayor for the name suggestion) 

You have no idea how much your words of appreciation mean to us.  I mean that from the bottom of my heart....you have no earthly idea.  The graciousness and love of our customers never ceases to amaze me, you are such a blessing.

And it wasn't just your words.....LaurieAnna customers purchased $13,400 in raffle tickets for this little camper to add to the donations for St. Jude.  Just through our little store in tiny little Canton Texas.....what a contribution from our customers.  You make us so very proud....we can't thank you enough for that.
We would also like to extend a HUGE thank you to these wonderful people that donated and helped for the build-out of this camper interior and hope you will thank them and give them the honor of your business:

Canton Lumber, thank you for donating most of the lumber that hubby used for construction of the interior.

Martha at Wallpaper’s Galore, thank you for your guidance in finding a source for my specific wallpaper needs, and for being so gracious to give LaurieAnna’s a discount for our wallpaper purchase.

Diane at Mother Goose in Terrell, thank you for donating several formal gowns and recital costumes for our dress-up themed camper. 

Thanks to Nostalgia Electrics for donating all of the cool retro-inspired appliances for our build-out.

Thanks also to our staff for being so supportive, for donating fashion accessories, and for promoting raffle ticket sales.  I want to extend special thanks to several crewmembers for their special contributions:  to Lettie for upholstering the seat cushions, to Patty for faux finishing the bed surround to match the vintage mantel top, to Wendy for creating our sink skirt, to Kelly for all her help with raffle ticket sales (she dealt with a lot of craziness), to Connie for her help with several tasks such as painting and creating pretty hangers.  The LaurieAnna crew is comprised of the best people you would ever want to meet.

A huge thank you also to my hubby that worked so hard with me.  He built every square inch of the interior of this camper.  Spending many, many late nights, and almost every weekend for 6 weeks.  Whatever I asked….he lovingly did for St. Jude. 
I may have the ability to see a design in my head as clear as day, but it can only come to life with his carpentry skills and the help of the people that are the joy of my life. 


And the biggest thank you of all.....to St. Jude Children's Hospital for all you do for the children and families fighting to beat childhood cancer.  God bless you!

We extend congratulations to Carl Hamil, the winner of the raffle drawing, and the new owner of "Starlet".  We hope she brings as much happiness to their family as she did to ours while we created her. 

Another blog post will be coming soon that will include all the details of our build-out and the many projects that took place during this unique design gig. 

Stay tuned!

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5 comments:

trash talk said...

You forgot to mention, but I will, the pieces of y'alls hearts that are tucked in every nook and cranny of this beauty. The winner of Starlet isn't lucky, but blessed for he will be pulling not just any canned ham, but one filled with love and hope.
Bless y'all and St. Jude's.
Debbie

Gloria Cardinale said...

Wonder-full ! Thank you for all of your fine work and love !This is price-less.

Amber ~ The French Pressed Home said...

I think you, hubby and everyone else that worked on Starlet and donated towards her, have earned their wings. What a beauty and what a beautiful gift to give. Blessings to you and yours!

Debby said...

I am speechless. What a generous donation to St.Judes' Hospital.

ShirleyC said...

I is so amazingly beautiful! I wanted to win so bad, but I'm more thankful for the money it brought to St. Jude, and to Minden's auction.