Dealer Phil Done of The Country Cottage and author of The Ornament Box

We love to feature our creative, savvy, and talented dealer-merchants and thought you would enjoy getting to know them! Meet Phil Done of The Country Cottage, Dealer PNP on Church Street, in our Alpharetta Queen of Hearts.

Phil has been a dealer-merchant at the Queen of Hearts since February 2016 and specializes in European cottage collectibles hand-picked from Hungary, Romania, and France. He says that his favorite part about being a dealer-merchant at the Queen is finding treasures (just like a pirate!) and fluffing the booth. 

A year ago, Phil moved back to the states and married his partner, Piotr. Phil and Piotr sell an array of European pieces. Piotr is from Poland, and they lived in Budapest for a total of ten years. Twice now, they have brought over containers full of European collectibles, including grain sacks, seltzer bottles, vintage teddy bears, dough bowls, pickle jars, demi-johns, and enamelware. Phil attributes their success to personally hand-picking unique pieces. They live in Marietta with their doggie, Roxie.

These are a few of Phil's Favorite Things:

• European Enamelware (because he loves the bright colors!) 
• Finding old European teddy bears stuffed with straw, but says that it is hard for him to part with them unless he knows they are going to a good home. 
• His dog, Roxie and his partner, Piotr. Piotr likes the selling and business part of it, so together they make a great team.
• An old china cabinet with a bowed glass front that is in his home. It resembles the one his grandmother used to have, and he remembers as a child listening to her tell the stories of all the pretty things behind the glass, which probably started his love of antiques.
• Palettes of warm gray and off-white 
• Painted furniture and that "chippy" is still in - you used to not be able to sell anything with a ding or chip in it!
• Taking old things and find new uses for them. Recently, he was amazed when he saw an old mattress coil turned upside down, lined with sheet music, and transformed into a vase for dried flowers.
• He also admires the work of many of our dealers at the Queen!

Besides hunting down treasures for his booth, Phil has two other loves: teaching and writing. Originally from California, Phil taught 15 years in California public schools before moving to Europe, which had always been a dream. In Europe, he taught third, fourth and fifth grade for 10 years at the American International School of Budapest, one of the premier international schools in the world. 

In his first two books, 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny: Life Lessons from Teaching and Close Encounters of the Third-Grade Kind: Thoughts on Teacher-hood, he wrote about the funny and poignant things that happen in the elementary classroom. His third book, The Charms of Miss O'Hara: Tales of Gone With the Wind and the Golden Age of Hollywood from Scarlett's Little Sister, is a biography of film star Ann Rutherford, best known for her role as Carreen O’Hara, youngest sister in Gone With the Wind. Phil's writing has also been featured in Reader's Digest, Real Simple, and The New York Times.

Phil's fourth book, The Ornament Box, with a foreword by classic film star Debbie Reynolds, will be released on October 11, Both Hallmark and Lifetime have expressed interest in adapting it for television. 

The Ornament Box is the story of one family told through its ornaments. As they are unwrapped on Christmas Eve, so too are the family’s relationships, struggles, and secrets. The ornaments tell stories of love and loss: sometimes they are worn and broken— just like us. This is about what unites a family: tradition, holiday, and sickness, and shows us that the eternal spirit of Christmas is not beneath the tree; rather, it is within.  

Meet Phil Done and have him sign a personalized copy of The Ornament Box for you at any of the below times. If you can't make the book signings, The Ornament Box will be on sale at all three of our locations for $16.95 and is a perfect stocking stuffer!

Alpharetta Store, 670 N Main, Alpharetta:
Thursday, November 3     5 to 7 pm
Friday, November 4         1 to 3 pm
Saturday, November 5     1 to 3 pm
Sunday, November 6       1 to 3 pm
Saturday, December 3     3 to 5 pm 

Marietta Store - 2745 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta:
Thursday, Nov 10      6 to 8 pm
Saturday, Nov 12      3 to 5 pm

Check out their Facebook page at facebook.com/ourcountrycottage.

For more information about The Ornament Box, go to www.facebook.com/theornamentbox, or email your questions to theornamentbox@hotmail.com.

Susie Goldenberg Long of Farmhouse Paint

We love to feature our creative, savvy and talented dealer-merchants and we thought you would enjoy getting to know them!  Meet Susie Long, owner of Farmhouse Paint and Urban Market Warehouse in Cartersville, GA  

Susie Goldenberg Long, the creative force behind Farmhouse Paint, is a dealer in both our Alpharetta and Marietta stores.  She has been creating decorative finishes and products for more than 25 years and used that knowledge to create the formula for Farmhouse Paint in 2012.   Farmhouse Paint has created “The Next Generation” Furniture Paint and products. The proprietary formulas consist of the highest grade low VOC components, which provides customers with a superior product delivering advanced bonding and durability while delivering a smooth silky easy to use “Single Step” process. All of Farmhouse Paint products are user and environmentally friendly.  Currently, there are over 100 distributors selling Farmhouse Paint throughout the US and Canada.

Susie’s excitement for creating new finishes and easier ways to accomplish magnificent looks has kept her in the leading edge of the industry.  She holds an art degree from Ohio University and her professional accomplishments include leading workshops nationally and internationally, guest speaker at national conferences and home shows, painted commissions for influential clients, and multiple mastery level awards.  Susie has been featured in many national publications and registries along with appearances on DIY television shows.

Susie is shown here leading a Farmhouse Paint demo in our Alpharetta store

Especially exciting news is that they will be moving the Farmhouse Paint distribution center and corporate office to Cartersville, Georgia in August.  Also coming in September and October, they will be opening Urban Market Warehouse, Cartersville's newest concept in home decor furnishings and more.  Urban Market Warehouse will feature dealers with an abundance of awesome and unique furniture, accessories, and everything in between to decorate your home or office.  If you are looking to furnish an entire house or just need an accent piece, Urban Market Warehouse will be the place to shop in Cartersville as their focus will be dealers offering upscale up-cycled, one-of-a-kind furnishings in a staged atmosphere, with styles from industrial, contemporary, eclectic, farmhouse, transitional, and more.  As Susie commented to us, “I see a smaller version of the Queen of Hearts with creative and resourceful dealers offering refinished and painted furniture (hopefully using Farmhouse Paint products!) and repurposed merchandise to fit new trends and catering to a younger crowd of shoppers that want to make old styles their own.”  

The Queen of Hearts has many successful dealer-merchants in all of their stores and is always supportive when they branch out into these creative avenues.  It is this type of entrepreneurial spirit that continues to foster the love of antiquing and discovering what is around the next corner that keeps our industry thriving! 

Stacey Anderson, owner of the Queen of Hearts, standing with Susie Long amid the construction 
of her new Farmhouse Paint/Urban Market Warehouse location in Cartersville, GA

If you know of anyone in the Cartersville area that might be interested in applying to be a dealer in this Urban Market Warehouse, give Susie a call at 770-883-6603.  She plans to open by October 1 and we will be helping her host a Dealer Sign Up Day on Saturday, September 10 from 10 am to 4 pm at 327 N. Tennessee Street in Cartersville.  She is accepting appointments now so give her a call.  This is sure to be a great addition to the town of Cartersville and we hope you will visit and stop by and see her!  

Susie recently became engaged to Jerry Long and they love to spend time on Lake Allatoona, which makes Cartersville an ideal arrangement for them.  Good luck to Susie and Jerry Long as they begin this wonderful journey and the best of success to Urban Market Warehouse. 

Gay Stiteler ( Dealer GGS) of Stiteler Antiques

We love to feature our creative, savvy and talented dealer-merchants and we thought you would enjoy getting to know them!  

Gay Stiteler (Dealer Code GGS) of Stiteler Antiques has been a dealer for over 18 years in the Alpharetta Queen of Hearts. In fact, she was one of the original dealers when Jim and Stacey first opened the Alpharetta store in 1998.  Gay specializes in china, crystal, silverplated flatware, furniture, pillows and anything with “bunnies.”  She previously owned an estate sale company, Estate of the Art, with Judy Viness, who is still in the business. 

Gay says that her favorite part about being a dealer-merchant at the Queen of Hearts is looking for antiques, selling and buying vintage, going to AmericasMart with friends, and interacting with other dealers. 

Gay has been married to Frank Stiteler of Stiteler Insurance for 56 years.  She grew up in Atlanta and Frank grew up in Decatur and they met in church.  They have three children and four grandchildren and recently moved to Athens to be closer to family.  Gay is retired from the Dekalb County School System. 

LIKE her on Facebook at Stiteler Antiques