Image of the day...

Just got this back up after having the wallpaper done.  For some reason it is one of my favorite vinettes and had missed it.  Now it's back up...next are the window treatments...

Yippie!!! New wallpaper!!!

I've been waiting a looooooooooooong time to get new wallpaper and I finally got it this week.  I had the idea and got the new paper way before Miz Juney ever decided to re-do her kitchen-FYI.  I had a friend who was going to install it but couldn't bring herself to tell me that she didn't want to do it because it was such a shit job, so it took me way too long to get the hint then I found someone else to do it.   This photo also shows the chandelier that we took out of Paul's Uncle Robbie's NYC apartment.  It was a very dusty gold.  I removed the crystals and spray painted over the dust, cleaned the crystals, and added shades.  I love using heirlooms whenever possible.

 

I was beginning to get really nervous having hundreds of dollars of wallpaper sitting around the house for so long.  It was a ridiculously priced job because the most wall in the area-the kitchen and breakfast nook-is a 5 foot wide wall, above and only 8 foot ceilings.  The rest is a 3 foot knee wall, a sliding glass door, two doors, two entryways, a fridge cutout, and cabinets- so mainly just soffetts to paper. 

 Sooooo much expensive paper wasted but there was no other way.  OVER 12 YEARS we had the other paper.  The new is a beautiful robin's egg blue background which is the same color as my dining room which the paper bumps up against.  It also has very similar flowers to the ones on my roman shades in the family room which it bumps up against on the other side. The picture is also from Uncle Robbie's apartment-one I just fell in love with and am so happy to have the perfect place for now.

Here's the old paper.  APPLES ON VINES.  Very similar to the paper two papers ago in Miz Juney's kitchen.  12 years.  That's too long.  It wasn't just Paul's fault; I got too used to it too and just didn't see it for the last few years then suddenly I did see it and went, "Yikes!, where have I been?". 

Here it is close up.  I know, not even really right for 12 years ago.  Not a classic design but this is our first house and I made so many mistakes at first; the whole house has been done over at least once but this was wallpaper and wallpaper has to be lived with unless you're made of money.  That's why I splurged on this new one-Thibaut-to get a more classic look, hopefully, that will work for a while.  The other one was right off the shelf-how embarrassing.   I still have to make the new curtains from the same pattern fabric with a yet-to-be-found coordinating fabric.  Of course I'll let y'all see!

Ode to Tina

Tina Wright.  I was going through some older issues of Somerset Magazines a couple of days ago and came across an article that Tina wrote, I think, in 2008, about the art in the first photo above.  I never met Tina in person.  I can't even remember how I got to find out about her Cowgirl Paper Swap, but that's when I first "met" Tina.  I was lucky enough to have gotten her, the hostess, as my swap partner.  I got a fabulous box full of wonderful and fun cowgirl themed collage art.  I have them all over my studio and some here and there in the house.  Later, I purchased the above necklace from her through her Etsy shop.  It is one of my favorite necklaces, and I have a lot, and I get constant compliments when I wear it.  Also, if you read what's on the back, it's very special because of that, also.  That was Tina.  By now you must have guessed that she is now in heaven.  Around this time last year she had been diagnosed with colon cancer and was being treated.  She passed away January 3, 2010.  She is the one who founded Paper Cowgirl art retreat in Waxahache, Texas.  She was also an Aggie, which y'all should know is very near and dear to my heart.  She would email me when she'd been to The Dixie Chicken and had eaten chicken fried steak and drunk Shiner Beer.  She loved making me squirm!!!!  As much as a person can get to know another, and that can be surprisingly a lot, through the inter net, I got to know her at least enough to get a good sense that she was a fabulous person.  Her friend, Cindy, continues the retreats which, from the photos, are great and I hope to attend some time.  I just felt moved to post this when I came across the photo and article.  She still lives on, even in lives she lightly touched, and I believe she will for a very long time.

Making and Copying and Deja Vu

Yep, I definitely steal am inspired by ideas that I see in all the art and decorating magazines but this as a new record for how long it took me to knock this one off.  Not exactly rocket science, and it didn't hurt that I had all the items within my reach and could be found.

No shame, exact except I left a hotel key I had on the jar when I found it full of acorns.  Love it 'cause it's the robin's egg blue color jar which matches my bathroom perfectly.  Highly recommended!

Last Saturday I was in quite a funk for no particular reason (could have had something to do with Matt having gone back to school 4 days before he came home with strepand mono and I've kinda been waiting for some uninterupted time for six weeks.  So on Sunday I pulled up my bootstraps, put on my big girl panties, and headed to my work room.  I whipped up some stuff that I really enjoyed making.  I'd love to sell them (they're in the shop) but the therapy is in the making.  I used many things I've had hanging around for a while so that's double goodie...getting rid of stuff too.

This is a little put-together that I did today.  I got two of these easels of Wendy Addison's from Bayberry Cove.  Love them.  This one is in my bath with a beloved ATC from years ago that became unearthed on Sunday.

This is the deja vu.  A friend I haven't seen in years emailed me that she had some things she was cleaning out, furniture, and was giving me first right of refusal.  Free=Yes.  My other friend, Paul, picked up the pieces for me so he could make some minor repairs.  When I went to his shop today to pick up some of the pieces I found the above in a strange basket outside.  Post traumatic art syndrome.  I made this maaaaaany years ago and it was fun to have it come around again.  It'd had a different pin on it, and I had never found a really good spot for this fab pin, so it got an update and is staying with me for a while this time.  Next up, I'm working on my workroom/studio again.  I had it pretty cleaned up a couple of weeks ago but still have boxes that I never unpacked when I changed rooms and I'm back to the point where I can't find anything anymore when I need it.  N0-fun-creativity.  I'm kinda hoping that I might get it so clean/good looking that I submit it to one of the studio mags.  Guess what?  Stay tuned...

2010 Historic Ellicott City Show House

"We" finished the rooms at the show house last week.  Actually, Karen has been tightening up this week, but for the most part, it was done last week.  I say "we" because my name is in all the publications as a designer.  Karen was lead designer, wanted to make most of the decisions, and that was fine with me!  I nodded a couple of times and did a little here and there but felt ever so undeserving until last week when I put in some real time.  Unfortunately for Karen, it's the hard part; for me, it's the easy part, because it is the easy, fun part of doing the decorating.

We did the show house decorating under the umbrella name of The Pink Cabbage to promote the shop.  One of our shop owners is a fabulous artist.  Kate painted and did the treatment on the walls and painted all the art for the rooms-we love it. 

Many folks at The Cabbage contributed their wares for the room.  We like to think of it as an overall feeling of all the different shops we have-11-within these decorated rooms.

Most of us brought in what we had that would fit into the feel of the rooms.  Oh, yeah, we had three rooms; the master bedroom, bath, and dressing room.  Lots to take on and Jody, Kate, and especially Karen worked their butts off.

In the dressing room, the vanity before the large oval mirror was hung.  Looks gorgeous with all the vintage clothes, purses, and jewelry.

Here is the detail from the floor cloth that Kate painted for the dressing room.  Beautiful isn't it?  At the very least, these are some of the most beautiful rooms in the house.  Whew, opens tomorrow night with the gala-oh boy!