sister store shenanigans ...

our store assistant, Rebekah Carey McNall, is doing a "stage" (stahj, fr.) ...which is somewhat akin to a work exchange program with our sister store, The Bohemians in Brantôme, France (the southwest region). This will likely be a program we introduce more formally each year.

As part of the program Rebekah structured and proposed, she will be designing four distinctly different window displays while in France. The shop has very unique, hand-forged windows lining the front of the store...these are about 8" panes of glass that are 6' or so tall. There are two dozen of these ... many of which are the original old wavy glass ... lovely to behold and they fill the space with beautiful morning light.

For her first installation, Rebekah chose a bird theme.. (knowing proprietaire Kim Mancha's love for all things oiseau!)...she wanted to arrive prepared to complete a window 'toutes-de-suite' and the ethereal, tissue-light birds that she pre-cut and tucked into here valise were just the ticket.

The birds flock around openings left in each window ... creating a spotlight effect on the mannequins posed in each window.

We think the result is very pretty and very, very 'printemps'! do you agree?

trésors de France!

Rebekah Carey McNall is completing an internship in France at our sister store, The Bohemians. While there, she is scouting french treasures to bring back for Mignonne ... as well as completing window designs, interior merchandising schemes and general sightseeing and vagabondry!

We're stealing some shots to whet your appetite for all of the sweet things to come in July.

Here is an adorable porcelain coffee or tea set from Limoges ... 4 cups, saucers, sugar and creamer and tiny spoons ... depicted are a courtier romancing a young miss with his mandolin ... a charming country scene. Delicious and soon to be seen in our Berkeley shop!

more to come ...

Welcome Rebekah Carey McNall, our newest Mignonne Intern!

Mignonne continues to extend our commitment to the East Bay Area by creating opportunities for young aspiring artists to demonstrate their creativity and gain experience in décor merchandising. We have a rotating internship program for design and art students in our local community.

We are delighted to introduce our newest intern for our fourth rotation of the program, Rebekah Carey McNall.

Rebekah is an Oregon native with Berkeley roots. She graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in theater.

Rebekah is already a familiar face at Mignonne, where she was a terrific part of our working team while Johnelle was in France. With Rebekah's new role as intern at Mignonne Décor, she will be designing the window displays and interior merchandising, as well as learning furniture restoration. She also enjoys creating hand-crafted greeting cards, repurposing furniture and general crafting.

Stay tuned to see photos of Rebekah's inspired window creations and store vignettes ... coming soon!

If you know of a local artist or student in the area that would be interestested in our program, have them contact us at Mignonne (contact details in our blog header). We'd love to have candidates in mind when we begin interviewing for our 2010 season (wow ... 2010!!!!)