My Shabby Streamside Studio

To help someone is a marvelous gift to give

2012-01-27T20:01:00.011-05:00

Interior detail of 'A Memories Purse' by U.K. artist/author

Krissie Karlson of Shabbily By The Sea

(Reprinted with permission)

To help someone is a marvelous gift to give and can mean the world to the person you are helping whether the favor is big or small.....in gratitude I made a purse of winter white.......

Lawn cotton, broderie anglaise, and lace stitched together from petticoats and dresses of Summers gone by....the lace loop to go over her wrist as she tip toes over her stream is a little tattered and torn just the way she likes her treasures.......a lace bow to tie and hold the things that are dear to her.......

Photo: Krissie Karlson

Inside, a tied bundle of old lace and a vintage bobbin of cotton to remind her of all the things she has created in white with her own hands that have brought joy to so many......

On the opposite page sits a carved wooden button of a Viola, a beautiful wild flower to keep close her love of her wild flowers while they are sleeping through the Winter....a tiny white shell from a 'Sandy' beach......a crystal bead to remind her of the chandelier hanging over her bed in her studio and two buttons from France: one is mother of pearl and the other is glass to show her love of shabby French decor....and a safety pin to attach her thoughts to her haven from the outside world while she is away....

Text by Krissie Karlson, Shabbily By The Sea, 2011

What I did for Krissie really was no big deal; her dream would find her considering her talent. She felt the need to send a token of her appreciation. I keep this on the doorknob of my room so every time I see it I am open to dreaming of the future once more, finding solace in the handmade, the sentimental, and the spell of old lace.

Catch up with her in Creating Vintage Charm Issue No. 6 (Fall 2011). Krissie also writes a fascinating blog, weaving in and out of the real and the magical. She's restoring a beach home with family ties to her childhood, and makes pretty things: all in all a great blog to follow.

I am still receiving messages of hope from you all in regard to my recent tragedies. You help me. And that is a marvelous gift to give.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage

A Seawashed Gift On My Shore

2012-01-22T20:26:00.001-05:00

The Artist: Calm, Pacific, Seawashed.

Meet Kerrie Sanderson of California

I read every one of your comments of comfort following the blaze that destroyed my unfinished home and the death of my marriage. I learn I am not alone in this sort of loss...many of you shared how you made it through the same heartbreak.

Your heartfelt sentiments will help me heal. My gratitude is...boundless.

Whenever I get "too much" in my eyes from staying online, I turn to my friend and fellow blogger Kerrie Sanderson's Seawashed. Her natural materials and palette reflect the beauty of the Pacific. But the lovely thing is you really feel serenity, calm, patience...a baptism by the eternal sea and all it can teach.

This is something I knew years ago, and though the Atlantic is a 15 minute drive away I never make the time to get there more than 2 – 3 times a summer.

Her reply to my letter of thanks was:

" I hope it brings you some calm in the midst of the debris you are wading through from the storm."

Visit Kerrie at her Etsy and Facebook to experience the art resulting from her meditations with the sea.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner

Leisure

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of scars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

W.H. Davies

Shabby Chic: Blues and Greens

2012-01-08T19:18:00.000-05:00

Green & white Cabana Stripe pillows, stationery, decoupage cup,

and the middle striped & sprigged sheets above are all Rachel Ashwell.

The top & bottom linens are vintage Laura Ashley.

What delights me the most is the way Rachel Ashwell honorsthe legacy of her wares. You could pairsomething you bought yesterday with something you bought twenty years ago andit’ll blend seamlessly.

Here’s a shot from last spring of my Rachel’s SimplyShabby Chic Cabana Stripe throw pillows, bought at Target seven years prior for$15 each. They’re wonderful for that crisp,fresh, summery look of a cottage on the sea.

And, freshly laundered Simply Shabby Chic beddingfolded and stacked away. After fiveyears the colors are fading and fibers thinning, so it feels really vintage andcomfy. They’re the real life sheets,unlike the purest white new linen I keep for guests. It’s a pity I didn’t think to dig up hersachets when I shot this, I’m certain you would’ve liked to see them.

My newest acquisition is a $1 packet of sticky notesand flags from her Treasures collection from Michael’s. I keep some flags on my nightstand (wherethey are so much more restful on the eyes than those neon ones from theoffice), in my wallet, my blog binder, and on my computer.

Thanks, Rachel!

Until next time, stay shabby!

The Unforgettable Fire

2012-01-08T18:10:00.002-05:00

Bottom photo: Todd Foster

Fire

Does notexist
In its natural form
Exists by consuming
Another form
It transforms from one
Form to another form

Fuels our passion
Leaves everything ashen
Duels the darkness
Heaves on compassion

Fire, constructively destructive
Fire, destructively constructive
Fire, living death
Fire, dying life

Anand Dixit

My unfinished homeburnt to the ground just before Thanksgiving. My dream of a book about it and marriage went up in its smoke.

No one washurt. This is the best thing.

Like with anysetback in life, time soothes. AlreadyI’m planning a new life, a new home, somewhere else. I can forgive. This is the other best thing: washing my soulof anger.

The irony isI’ve made a fairy tale home so many admire and wish they could live in. Myself included.

I wrote aboutit for The Women’s Eye if you want to read the long version stuffed to thegills with metaphor.

*********************************************************************************

Star ofWonder, Star of Night

Stars. Sparkle, glitter, dreams, fire, light. Last Christmas, my life was starry as a clearsub-zero winter’s night in the Catskills. This Christmas, my life is as dark as a grave.

ThisChristmas:

I’m divorced
my unfinished new house (a real house, not my little shabby streamside studio) burnt to the ground
and the homesteading book about it and my once enviable life obviously is nixed
my Maltese dog Belle is dead
I’ll see my 3 babies - my dogs - for a few hours in December
I paid $600 for dental work my Maltese Zuzu
and $900 in car repairs
I gained 10 pounds

Without myold dreams, I’m disoriented. Without ahome, I’m dispossessed. Without myhusband, I’m not constantly infuriated but I’m also missing my dearestfriend. It was he that accidentallycaused the fire with the woodstove. Theguilt sears and tortures him. He said helay on the cold ground and cried the next morning. I lay on the cold ground and cried when I gothome from the lawyer’s office filing for divorce the next day.

The last 10years of my life were spent working two full-time jobs a 4 hour drive southfrom the Catskills so I could arrive where I was last year: a simple lifewithout a mortgage. My husband and I clashedterribly over the years concerning our living space and earning income. He’s a clutterer with hoarding tendencies,I’m a neat freak. He started businessesthat didn’t work out, I put my dreams of being a photographer/stylist/author onhold while working good (but unfulfilling) jobs with benefits.

I washomeless as a teen. All I’ve ever wantedwas a little refuge to call my own.

I built it, Iunexpectedly got a lot of press on it. My dreams finally were coming true.

My new side careerblossomed, my unemployed husband’s depression worsened. Most ‘ditch the city for the country’ storiesyou hear about are of well-heeled individuals that left six-figure jobs or soldsix-figure homes. I ain’t one ofthem.

My refuge inthe form of a real home is like a flake of down in the air. The moment I reach it, it sidestepsaway. I’m not materialistic, I’m proudto own few possessions, but my sentimentalism for some makes it difficult toaccept their loss.

Thislantern’s light once lit our table at our wedding, then our little campsite onour honeymoon in the Catskills. I usedit in the very first magazine feature I sold. I lost five matching 19^thcentury porch columns I bought for $25 at a yard sale. It will cost me $380 at a salvage yard toreplace them.

It looks likea tiny house for tiny money. But, I maketiny money. For someone a tick or two above living paycheck to paycheck, the fiscal setback ismonstrous. Especially in light of thefact I need $7,000 in photography equipment, and my $5,000 Visa is maxed. That’s where I’m at.

So, I’mliving with Mom, looking for a night job.

I seek thelight at the end of the tunnel, but it’s always dark. Holidayscenes that once inspired me pain me. Christmas music guaranteed to cheer me saddensinstead. I visited my old studio on thehill to get a few shots for a magazine feature. The old comfort is there, and irony. Like millions worldwide, I wish I could live there. I’d never afford the road, the addition, and the septicsystem making $20K a year up there.

Like the Grinch, my “heart isfull of unwashed socks”. (Last year, Iwrote a bubbly post to 'be understanding of Grinches'. Life.) The spark of creativity in my heart doesn’tignite. I’m uninterested in designingvignettes and shooting. Or even puttingup a tree.

Then, a star appeared. A design star. A prominent author/stylist/photographercontacted me to be in her upcoming holiday book. Another (also doing a book) commented on myblog and we got to sharing, too. Theircompassion buoyed me, their burning passion for what they do heated myblackened heart. And it’s lit anew.

Neil Peart wrote of losinghis daughter, wife, dog, and career in his memoir Ghost Rider, and one passage stays with me. In the West, we say, “once burnt, twiceshy.” But in Africa,they say, “wood once burned is easier to light.”

Another great Canadianwriter’s final sentence in her novel Cat’sEye stays with me as well. Referringto stars, Margaret Atwood wrote, “It’s old light, and there’s not much ofit. But it’s enough to see by.”

I go out in the warmun-Christmasy evening. The sun, ournearest star, sets. It is cloudy. Stars can lead us home if we navigate bythem. I cannot see the stars. I am lost. I know they’re still there. ButI’m still lost.

I return to the place in thewoods two mere weeks ago I cut larch branches for holiday styling and shooting.

They burnt along with myhouse.

There are more branches. Their seeded cones are lovely along the dainty twigs. I remember some seeds need fire to germinate. I weep.

************************************************************************************************************

I'm still blogging about my studio, don't worry!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Shabby White Oval Neoclassical Mirror For Sale

2012-01-02T20:42:00.003-05:00

$299

The 33.5" long x 24" tall oval mirror over my mantel is now for sale at The Wrentham Country Store in southern Massachusetts. It's probably from the 1920s, the glass is naturally patinated, a silk cord is used to hang it, the swags are plaster on wood.

Please contact Sandi over at A Cottage Muse if interested. Sorry, pickup only!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage

Christmas at The Wrentham Country Store

2011-12-29T23:54:00.003-05:00

Treasures from Mary Ellen and Sandi's Booths at The Wrentham Country Store.

Clever, imaginative, thoughtful, pretty:

a European style Advent calendar by Sandi in her booth.

Owner Mary Ellen, Sandi of A Cottage Muse, and me.

Photo: Nicole Tadgell

A visit with my sister Nicole Tadgell in Massachusetts was the perfect opportunity to check out The Wrentham Country Store, voted one of the best Antique Malls by Flea Market Style's Readers in the Fall/Winter 2011 issue! The large space is pleasantly decorated by each booth owner--this is no 'rust and dust' shop.

The outdoor area in front of the building is full of industrial vintage and rustic wares (antique chicken feeding troughs, zinc buckets), and an adjacent barn stores architectural salvage. Primitive and Colonial styles are represented (it is New England after all). Prices are fair and reasonable.

Sandi is gracious enough to sell a mirror I no longer want -- contact her if interested.

Photo: Sandi Fruci

Shabby Neo-Classical Mirror Available at The Wrentham Country Store

by Sandi of A Cottage Muse.

Contact Sandi here

Tender thanks to all for your words of holiday cheer, blog posts, and comments. The holidays are all the more special because of you bloggers!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

Giveaway Winner: Tracie from My Petite Maison!

2011-12-13T08:12:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to Tracie of My Petite Maison!

I'm hopelessly delighted in the participation and comments and 'spreading the word'

from each and every entrant. I'd send this out to every one of you if I could.

You deserve it.

I extend a warm welcome to all my new followers!

God Jul,

Sandy

Worldwide Annual Holiday Giveaway 2011: Books & Ballet

2011-11-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

I offer my second giveaway, gifts only one of you willreceive but my heartfelt intent is to give them to every one ofyou. Material things are meaningless compared to the daily cup ofjoy topped with foamy sunshine you serve me by sharing your visits, blogs, andcomments. But, giveaways are what’sdone in the blogosphere to commemorate milestones, so without further ado thisyear I’m doing “Books & Ballet”.

My December post will be tips & tricks on 'A Shabby PinkNutcracker Ballet Holiday' in celebration of my first paid magazinearticle!

So, the winner (international entries welcome) will receive:

The vintage balletslippers I used in the magazine.

A signed copy of Rachel Ashwell’s latest book “Inspirations”

The Jeanne d’Arc Living December 2011 Issue

(already sold out at many U.S. vendors).

“Amazing Retreats: Under Nordic Skies”
by the editors of Jeanne d’Arc Living

courtesy of Little Cottage Shoppe.

...and 2 $20 gift cards for Shutterfly

to make photo cards and the like.

To enter:

Your Vintage Video: A Nutcracker Ballet Christmas

2011-11-29T00:29:00.001-05:00

I'm so grateful to all the bloggers and artists that shared

their ideas and art in this year's holiday edition of Vintage Video!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday atFaded Charm

Show & Tell Friday at MyRomantic Home

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Farmhouse Friday atLaurieAnna's Vintage Home

FeatheredNest Friday at The French Country Cottage

Showcase Your Holiday Décor On Vintage Video!

2011-11-22T20:14:00.001-05:00

My gentle readers, it’s time for the holiday edition of my seasonalblog party “Vintage Video”. I hope you’ll link up and join me andyour favorite bloggers in a YouTube video feature!

No video is necessary -- just a picture of your latest holiday themed work orblog post. The software I useincorporates still photos beautifully.

(If you have a video, please email me here.)

Don’t be shy! Link up! And, kindly leave acourtesy link to the post if you have a blog.

Vintage Video: Holiday 2011

Until next time, stay shabby!

I’m sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Show & TellFriday at My Romantic Home

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage

Fall Flight

2011-11-16T22:46:00.001-05:00

Suet birdseed cake and coated apples styled by Todd Foster

Jeanne d'Arc Living Autumn 2010

You move me

With your buildings and your eyes

Autumn woods and winter skies

Neil Peart (Rush), from TheAnalog Kid

Late fall is the best stage, when no green remains. From bare branches vibrant leaves fall up, down, sideways, tinkling, snowing, flyingin glittering droves, like birds.

How I love wild birdies, especially chickadees. Fall is the time to welcome your winter birdsback, and why not pamper them in clever style?

This feature in Jeanne d’Arc Living’s 2010 Autumn issue (I bought on Etsy in May) by Dorte Palsgaardand Anette Christensen with photos by Lonnie Wurtz Jensen moved me so much Icouldn’t wait until next fall to try their ideas.

A bar of lard cost about $2.00 and a 40 lb. bag of birdseedis $20 on sale, so a handful of seed is pennies. You melt the lard in a pan on low heat, pour and sprinkle seeds alternately, put it in the fridge overnight and it's done. It made not only this lovely ‘suet cake’ buta pair of brioche tin shapes, too. The seeded apples hung on hemp rope work better if you tie them against a branch to allow the birdies good footing. Domestic birds aren’t exempt from this treat: hens eat wild apples ifthey’re cut up, and birdseed makes them bonkers.

Standing in my orchard with a warm sweater on, smelling theperfume of grounded leaves and woodsmoke, listening to the chatter ofchickadees is one of the best things in life.

Until next time, stay shabby!

For everyone wishing sympathy for the loss of my Belle,

and congratulations on meeting Rachel,

I humbly thank you!

Lavender Laundry Sachet from Dreamy Whites

2011-11-08T20:10:00.000-05:00

“Between the garage and the beech hedge was herdrying-green. She had done a wash thismorning, and a line of laundry stirred in the rising breeze. Wooden tubs, planted with pink hydrangeas thecolour of blotting paper, flanked the entrance to the house, and a hedge oflavender grew close to its walls.”

from September by Rosamunde Pilcher

Now that it’s autumn, the days of drying laundry outdoorsare going as quickly as the light in evening.

Using one of Dreamy Whites' organic lavender sachets in the dryer does a great job making up forsummer winds. The fabric is a softcotton tied with a bit of butcher’s twine. So simple, so natural, so touchable I findmyself holding them to my face before I toss them in the dryer.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Meeting Rachel Ashwell

2011-10-24T23:59:00.001-04:00

Photo: Daria DeBuono

Glorious spaces.

Fresh. Bold. Soulful.

Photo: Daria DeBuono

Right Photo: Daria DeBuono;

Left Photo Lamp: Simply Shabby Chic Lamp at Target

For the party, every detail in the store was so pretty and thoughtful.

So Rachel.

Right Photo: Daria DeBuono

If you don't live near a store, you're in luck...

It’s no secret Rachel’s Shabby Chic style has heavilyinfluenced me. Imagine my shock when oneof her assistants contacted me to ask if I’d agree to be in her latest book Rachel Ashwell’s Shabby Chic Inspirations and Beautiful Spaces. I received my complimentary copy the daybefore her October 20^th Manhattan book signing, and after work readmy chapter on the LIRR train en route to New York.

In her lovely shop of treasures (velvet pumpkins and votivesto herald the season—plus one box of Christmas ornaments—wait till sheputs them on her website, you’ll die), her staff and customers gushed over mystudio. My dear friend Daria DeBuono(thanks for the pics, hon!) teasingly called me a celebrity. (Me: “Oh stop!”)

When the line moved close enough, Rachel caught sight of meand said in her British accent, “Do I see Sandy over there?!” She jumped up and hugged me, then we enjoyeda long chat while she signed my books.

I’m moved she was moved by my humble little studio.

I am so bashful looking at the pictures and book I’ve onlylooked at them twice. It’s prettysurreal to see my name on the dedication page right next to Sharon Osbourne. I don’t know many designersthat would include the glittering L.A. home of Sharon and my shack in the samebook. But that’s Rachel.

She offers luxury, she offers value. She feels both have merit, she proves it.

I relayed the one most important thing I wanted to say (butforgot) on her Facebook post expressing gratitude over the event: how proud I was of her. She replied the same to me.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner
Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage

Giveaway at DustyLu
Win a signed copy of
Rachel Ashwell's Inspirations and Beautiful Spaces!
Ends 28 October 2011
(Don't win Lu's? Don't worry.
I'm giving a signed copy away on my annual December giveway, too.)

Gifts from Roberta Comeau: Whispers From The Past

2011-10-17T00:00:00.000-04:00

Roberta Comeau, an artist residing in the Catskills of New York, has gifted me with a bouquet of fabric roses she created. You may remember the sachet I bought from her here.

And then there's the Gianna Rose Maltese gift soap shaped like a Maltese show dog...now that's CUTE! I love pink and cocoa...great fall colors on my daughter Zuzu.

It was great hearing from you Roberta, and I hope to get together with you Upstate in the new year after my schedule lets up!

Belle

1999 - 2011

I'm saddened to inform you I had to put my adopted daughter Belle down.

Her joints had degenerated to the point where she could barely walk,

glaucoma was setting in...but she's at the Rainbow Bridge now

and everything's OK. Except I miss her.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:
White Wednesday at Faded Charm
Thursday Favorite Things at Katherine's Corner

Fall Wildflowers: Asters Native to the Catskills

2011-10-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

Vintage wasp catcher from France, $60 - Dreamy Whites

Summer passed

firefly-fast

Now dancing asters

have a blast

as golden roadsides

roll in shawls

of fuzzy faces

soft and small

Violet

fireflake

snowworks call

Love now

We will not last

It's fall

Asters by Amy LV

Daintilybranched all the way down the stem, and covered with tiny starry flowers withviolet eyes, these beauties grace dry meadows and roadsides in late September. The Small White-Flowered Aster and CalicoAster (Symphyotrichum racemosa & Symphyotrichum lateriflorum) are known toinbreed readily, so it’s not uncommon to see variations. I transplanteda few plants from the side of the road two years ago and I’m rewarded withbloom without further fuss.

What is your favorite aster?

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Cottage Flora Thursdays at Fishtail Cottage

Thursday Favorite Things at Katherine's Corner

Hard Black Wire, Soft White Interior

2011-10-04T00:00:00.000-04:00

On acres of theseeded grasses

The changing burnishheaves;

Or marshalled undermoons of harvest

Stand still all nightthe sheaves;

Or beeches strip instorms for winter

And stain the windwith leaves.

--from Tell Me Not Here, It Needs Not Saying byA.E. Housman

Picture 1: Light bulbcover (.50 cents at a yard sale) and Edison ‘squirrel cage’ filament antique style bulb.

Picture 2:

Upcycled yard salejewelry tree into a church candelabra with shabbos candles held in with tackywax (in the candlemaking section of your craft store).

Picture 3: Chandeliersstripped of white paint, patinated with Jax antiquing polish and small smearsof black Rustoleum paint.

Picture 4: Angel wings fashioned from heavy gauge baling wire and oxidized with Jax antiquing polish.

I love using vintage accessories to show off the contrast between black and white. Industrial and hard vs. romantic and soft is elegant, practical, and leavens when your shabby romantic interior feels too “puffy and ruffly”.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

White Baby Boo Pumpkins

2011-09-27T20:27:00.000-04:00

Season of mists andmellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend ofthe maturing sun;

Conspiring with himhow to load and bless

With fruit the vinesthe round the thatch-eaves run;

To bend with applesthe mossed cottage-trees,

And fill all fruitwith ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd,and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel;to set budding more,

And still more, laterflowers for the bees,

Until they think warmdays will never cease,

For Summer haso’er-brimmed their clammy cells.

from To Autumn by John Keats

I had trouble finding these cuties last year. One needs to be fast, visiting localfarm stands in September before they’re sold out.

Pumpkins and gourds are easy to grow, so Ibought seed in hope of saving money, and I did. For $7 I purchased seed from Harris Seeds (about $3 for 25 seeds plusshipping & handling) and sowed them in an indoor seed starting tray in late May,then my husband kindly transferred them outdoors in early July (way after danger of cold--the vines die easily).

By mid-September I have so many! Harvest early so they don’t turn yellow. This bigwire basket displays an amount that would cost about $10 - $20 at a farmstandor lifestyle shop. There are many more coming – if you happen to be inUpstate New York contact me and I’ll give you some!

PS: Maria Carr is hosting a Cabbages & Roses giveaway at Dreamy Whites!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:
White Wednesday at Faded Charm
Thursday Favorite Things at Katherine's Corner

'Louis Philippetize' A Square Mirror

2011-09-21T01:05:00.001-04:00

As imperceptibly as grief

The summer lapsed away, --

Too imperceptible, at last,

To seem like perfidy.

A quietness distilled,

As twilight long begun,

Or Nature, spending with herself

Sequestered afternoon.

The dusk drew earlier in,

The morning foreign shone, --

A courteous, yet harrowing grace,

As guest who would be gone.

And thus, without a wing,

Or service of a keel,

Our summer made her light escape

Into the beautiful.

--As Imperceptibly asGrief by Emily Dickinson

Love those French 19^thcentury Louis Philippe mirrors but can’t find or afford them?

Here’s how I turned a pair of common square yard salemirrors into rounded corner Louis Philippeish versions.

Remove glass and clamp your work to a work table with wood clamps.

Mark a curve in pencil.

Don gloves and safety goggles.

Use a scroll saw with a 3/8" wood cutting blade and round it off.

It takes 10 minutes.

You don't have to be a guy to do this.

Trust me.

Smoosh putty or craft clay into the top two corners.

Round off with a kitchen knife, sand when dry.

I put a line in to mimic the joint.

I didn't care for the blue paint on this $2 mirror so I repainted it white

and rubbed on antiquing glaze (Valspar, Lowe's, $12).

The crazing pops right back up when you do this.

Keep a bottle of glaze in your craft kit if you redo yard sale finds...unbeatable stuff.

I'm loco over the patina of the glass resembling 19th century foxed mercury glass. This mirror was left outdoors, possibly for years.

I can't believe my luck at finding it for $2 at a yard sale selling hunting gear and man things.

I'll refinish the other (newer) mirror like this and share with you.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

Cottage Instincts for Make it for Monday

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage

P.S. - Big weekend getaway giveaway over at the Na-Da Farm!

A Visit From My Swedish Friends Emma & Petra

2011-09-08T00:19:00.006-04:00

Me flanked by Stockholm photographer/journalists

Emma Mattsson and Petra Kjellström

Emma & Zuzu by the stream

Hihi! (pronounced hey hey)

At long last, my dear journalist/stylist/photographer friends Emma Mattsson and Petra Kjellström arrived back in New York for another trip to the Catskills and Manhattan for “reportage” (pronounced re-port-TAGE) in Swedish newspapers and magazines.

The story they did last October on my studio for Sweden’s Skona Hem (Beautiful Home) magazine should be out next month and they’ll send me a copy. I promise to share that when I receive it.

I swore I'd never post pictures 'Skickat från min iPhone' on my blog, but how else does one capture the little moments in life?

Here I am picking the girls up at JFK, sitting on the Cross Bronx Expressway for 1 1/2 hours (they thought I was joking when I informed them they should go to sleep), and the next morning in the Roses Brook Valley in Roxbury, NY.

I felt guilty the whole weekend because I made them cross the creek at 9 p.m. (3 a.m. to them) and trudge up a post-hurricane hillside in pitch dark after an 8 hour flight and 5 hour drive. The girls were very sneaky about paying for my meals as I always refused, happy enough they were here. When I dropped them back in Manhattan they actually tossed cash on the car seat when I wasn’t looking.

We started the day with breakfast at The Cross Roads Café in Delhi (blueberry pancakes piled with raspberries, chocolate chips, and whipped cream), drove across the Askokan Reservoir and down to The Mohonk Mountain House, and ended with a Middle Eastern dinner at The Falafel King in New Paltz.

They brought a wonderful set of gifts; a heart shaped pan, a gag gift of the royal family in tea bags (last year I wasn’t aware there was Swedish royalty), and my favorite: soft gum drops. I shared them with the girls but couldn’t save any to shoot they were so good. The flavor and color is natural and fruity ligonberry.

Photo: High Falls Mercantile

Old friends Jeff & Larry and their 5 dogs & cats of the much-celebrated High Falls Mercantile unfortunately haven't had power at their home for a week. They opened their sophisticated lifestyle store when I lived near High Falls in my big old farmhouse, and I miss stopping in. Flawless taste, sort of a masculine industrial farmhouse with lots of Jeanne d'Arc Living things like mannequins and French wire. No bargains, but you'll find the dream version of whatever you're looking for. Emma & Petra particularly loved the Italian soaps.

But it was The Barking Dog that ensnared Emma’s heart. An excellent antiques & collectibles fixture in quaint High Falls for nearly 30 years, that fact alone would make it newsworthy. But octogenarian owner Sue, hard of hearing, offerer of jelly beans, mother to dog Daisy and cat Ginger who blithely sleeps in the middle of the quiet street, is a character.

Photo: The Turquoise Barn

The next day we visited my friend artist/raw food guru Michelle Premura at The Turquoise Barn (you will hear a lot about her in the near future here and in national press), and the funky-elegant Roxbury Hotel. You have to see this place to believe it. The ceiling of one room resembles a cream pie. It’s Las Vegas only tasteful (yes the cream pie ceiling was somehow tasteful, even artful), elegant, wholesome, and affordable.

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise.

from Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

Friday, the girls took my car to Woodstock, and of course everyone suggested they hit Sweet Sue’s in Phoenicia for pancakes and great shots of the line waiting to get in on Saturday morning. Sadly, they found the entire main street closed from Hurricane Irene’s rainfall causing the Esopus River to flood the poor little village.

Main Street, Arkville, NY flood damage

caused by the heavy rainfall from Hurricane Irene

I've never seen the results of a natural disaster in real life.

It's horrifying. Many homeowners near rivers own their homes outright due to inheritance. They cannot get flood insurance for them either because no carrier will sell it to them or they cannot afford it. Something like this happens...and what's to be done? They can't sell, they can't get money to repair their home, and in the meantime they need to find a place to live.

When I got back to my cottage I hugged and kissed one of the porch columns.

Emma and Petra said the most touching thing, though; they were moved by all the community fundraisers and outpouring of help to those in need.

Thanks again to those who asked about how I weathered the storm. I was very lucky.

I’ve been scarce in blogland, and I apologize. It’s an extremely busy month with two photo shoots at my cottage. October will be the next Vintage Video, so stay tuned. I think pumpkins will be a good theme!

Tills nästa gång, stanna shabby!

PS - Some of you have asked ‘what happened to my story in the October issue of Romantic Homes’? The answer: I have no idea! I guess it’ll appear eventually.

Vintage Chic: Old French Wire, Nordic Flair

2011-08-25T19:45:00.002-04:00

Reproduction mercury glass candlestick, $24 at The Sheep's Nest

So it’s today, and in the chokecherry this year:

the first leaves turn to ochre, there, by the open gate.

I grab the sweater you left on a chair, wrap it

around my shoulders, and – as I did for days last year

until I couldn’t keep up with the season – I pick

every single rusting leaf, each fading flower

and hide them in my apron pocket: their crush

clandestine against my belly. It’s a simple gift

for you – for us – such an easy thing to do

for a few more days of summer.

from Fall by Laure-Anne Bosselaar

I purchased this heavenly wire basket from Stine Johnsen (Vintage Chic), who was paring down before her move to a new apartment in Oslo. It’s old, from

France, and has the loveliest rusty patina. It was only about $40 USD after shipping, too, and she takes PayPal.

Photo: Stine Johnsen, Vintage Chic

Enviable caddy. Love the contrast between hard patinated wire and fragile old glass.

Photo: Stine Johnsen, Vintage Chic

Stine's work-in-progress Oslo apartment.

She and her boyfriend are doing the renovation themselves:

I'm thrilled with every post.

Photo: Living

Stine’s in charge of social media at Living, a Norwegian furniture retailer. Check out her Living Blog and Facebook page. It’s her first job as a young interior design/journalism graduate and she shares “the latest news, trends, and inspirational pictures” and does it well.

(Pages translate automatically if you use Google Chrome as your browser).

I visit her blog Vintage Chic regularly…not only is her home’s renovation fascinating to watch, but she divulges all the European magazine photos that drive me crazy and inspire me to no end.

May Stine do so for you as well.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop at Katherine's Corner

Jazz Up A White Flower Windowbox

2011-08-17T08:56:00.001-04:00

Palest lilac verbena and white violas in a cloud

of euphorbia graminea “White Frost”

I am always drawn to the daintiest flowers, even though they peter out in August from the heat. Cutting back and extra water will reward you with lovely fall blooms, or a few 6” pots of white mums can take their place.

This year I thought I’d add textural interest to my white flowered windowbox with foliage plants. Purple and silver are so nice with white. I used purple ‘color echoes’ for interest. The purple ipomea batatas ‘Blackie’ (Sweet Potato Vine) is so dark it appears black, and the contrast with white is heaven.

Sedum (sedum cauticola lidakense), with its lovely blue leaves, can go in the ground in the fall and resurrect itself next year. Its flowers unfortunately are red: pinch off when in bud so only the foliage continues to grace your windowbox. The oxalis (the white flowering four leaved clover “Shamrock” plants in the markets before St. Patrick’s Day) leaf has a lovely burgundy reverse, a subtle purple color echo.

Violas are my favorite windowbox flower; this year these cuties are also a purple color echo.

Silver helichrysum petiolare (Silver or White Licorice Plant) softens the edges.

Few flowers are charming as alyssum in a windowbox. It does what a bit of old lace does for a surface in the home.

Jeanne Long

I’m thrilled to share this sweet little watercolor of my studio (including my windowbox) painted by Jeanne Long. She wrote:

“I'm sending it to you so you know how much your work has brought yet another person enjoyment.”

Jeanne belongs to the Minnesota Artists group, and her blog In A Fresh Foursquare depicts her charmed life in a sweet early 20th century home and its environs. Her ability to capture it all in watercolor sets it apart.

Thank you, Jeanne, for the gift of art.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Cottage Flora Thursdays at Fishtail Cottage

Making Your Own Church Candleabra: Some Practical Advice

2011-08-06T16:46:00.016-04:00

I do not know which to prefer,

the beauty of inflections

Or the beauty of innuendoes,

The blackbird whistling

Or just after

-from

Thirteen Ways

of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens

I’d be lying if I said the first time I saw an antique church candelabra in Jeanne d’Arc Living I loved it and wanted one. They’re dark…blackened brass or bronze, no…crystals...or anything pretty on them.

Issue after issue, Scandinavian blog after Scandinavian blog, I quickly appreciated what they did in a space. Strong, graceful, dark ‘notes’ in white environments, and, tell me one can’t use more places to burn candles.

Jeanne d’Arc Living, March 2011

"Belle Blanc: A Love Affair With White",

text and photos by Bianca Aurich for Jeanne d’Arc Living

Order Jeanne d'Arc Living at Little Cottage Shoppe

I wanted one. Desperately. So, I learned the Danish word 'kirkenstagel' and went to the web shops and dealers that advertise in Jeanne d’Arc Living.

And immediately learned a tiny one with one lily, for example, was $500 USD. And they didn’t take PayPal (some never have heard of it), and demanded a bank wire with a service fee of $40 on my end alone. The PayPal issue was no longer of consequence: I wanted one with 5 – 7 arms, but that was coming up on various sites for prices like, oh, $15,000 USD.

Making one was the only alternative.

Now, this is isn’t an ‘exact’ tutorial. Think of it as a roadmap. I’ll share stuff that worked, stuff that didn’t, and hope you, gentle reader, will do the same if you tackle a project like this.

It helps if you’re the sort of person that doesn’t mind a reproduction or somewhat awkward, homemade 'edges' to objects in your home. The saving grace of course is you made it yourself. And that’s always nice.

Raw Materials:

A ‘base’: existing candelabra that can be converted into a church candelabra.

Old tin ceiling tin without paint, or sheet metal for fabricating leaf and lily shapes.

Parts of second-hand store candle holders in shapes of leaves, wheat, grapes, lilies (these are Judaeo-Christian symbols).

Work Materials:

(If you don’t have heavy wire cutters (they cost $15, a lot of money for one project if you’re never going to use it again) ask the hardware store if they can cut your metal rod to length.)

22 gauge wire

Jewelry maker’s wire cutters

Jax Pewter Black metal tarnishing solution ($12.25, but the Hazmat delivery fee is $50)

Flat black spray paint

Clear Strip spray-on paint stripper (if paint or lacquer is on your base piece)

Tin cutting scissors

Heavy wire cutters

10 gauge wire, bailing wire, or coat hangers

3/16” weldable steel rounds (available at your local hardware store)

Metal drill bit – about $2

Drill

Dowel or rolling pin for rolling clay

Knife for cutting clay

Lily flower template

Craft Store Materials:

Air-dry clay such as Creative Paperclay

Look for existing candelabra with the right ‘bones’.

Study pictures of old church candelabras to get a feel for what they include.

Stretch, re-bend, or add metal to your base and wrap tightly with wire.

Cut and wire metal lilies, leaves, wheat, grapes.

Tarnish and add black paint (if necessary).

Create and wire white lilies.

A fifty cent 'thing' I found at a yard sale became the bobeches.

I combined a pair of candelabras I purchased for $14 total from Saver’s, a Goodwill-type store, with a $2 length of 3/16” weldable steel from the hardware store.

Lilies are easy to make:

Like anything, you get out of it what you put into it. This is not a weekend craft, but if you're up to the

challenge I think you'll be happy with what you create.

Uninterested in making anything yourself? Find an artist at Betterfly.

My gentle readers, thank you for all your comments on my church candlesticks -- I’m glad if I gave you hope if you want to make them yourself. But if I didn’t, here’s a link Tonje Gronvik of Norway generously shared with me.

Landstil carries excellent House Doctor "Kirkestake” (church candelabra) reproductions that retail for around $300 USD.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

Get Your Craft On Tuesdays at Today’s Creative Blog

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Mocha Ricotta Umbriaca: A Toast to Elle Decor India

2011-07-29T20:48:00.001-04:00

A belated but heartfelt thank you to Elle Decor India for extending a lovely gesture to me: my first contributing editorial!

I'd show you the pictures, but you've seen them a zillion times (they're Trevor Tondro's).

To celebrate, my King made lovely Ricotta Umbriaca (Drunken Ricotta). He adds chocolate for...well, since does one need a reason? Putting it in the freezer makes it like ice cream. It's no-cook and so easy even kids or lazy adults like me can make it.

Ricotta Umbriaca Mocha

by Todd Foster

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 Tbs instant coffee

1 Tbs (heaping) unsweetened cocoa powder

2 oz of coffee liqueur (optional)

Stir in all ingredients and chill in the fridge for a pudding-like texture.

Place in the freezer for an hour or so and it is like ice cream.

Yield: 2-3 servings

Until next time, stay shabby!

Antique Roses and Mottisfont Abbey

2011-07-20T18:17:00.001-04:00

Konigin von Danemark

Celsiana

Blush Hip

General Kleber

Pergola of Debutante at Mottisfont Abbey (Photographer Unknown)

Back cover of Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall's "Roses".

Detail of the 'Birth of Venus' by Sandro Botticelli
depicting a semi-double Alba.

I find myself browsing my old pictures of favorite roses and gardens often these days. With my garden at its best, I always see one more spot for another Damask.

Above, last year’s portraits of my newly planted old roses, followed by a picture of unknown provenance of Mottisfont Abbey, the mecca for lovers of old roses, and the back cover of Roses by Jane Fearnly-Whittingstall. May you escape in these pictures as well as I can!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Come share other beautiful gardens with me at:

Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer

Cottage Flora Thursdays at Fishtail Cottage

Vintage Video Summer 2011: Linky Party Participants Included!

2011-07-18T19:13:00.000-04:00

I'm soooo excited to share the summer edition of Vintage Video with the Linky Blog Party participants included! You'll delight in the variety of submissions: bouquets, gardens, vignettes...so click on the link
below and prepare to be enchanted.

As always, my appreciation to all the participants.

Until next time, stay shabby!

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer

Cottage Flora Thursdays at Fishtail Cottage

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

It's time for Vintage Video!

2011-07-11T19:23:00.001-04:00

No video is necessary -- just a picture of your latest work or blog post!

My gentle readers, it’s time for the second ‘Vintage Video’ blog party! I hope you’ll link up and join me and your favorite bloggers in my seasonal video feature.

I made a video with my dorky little camcorder, but the software I have access to makes nice transitions with still photos. My hope is you’ll link up still pictures related to the season’s theme until I close the Linky in five days, and then I’ll insert them in the video and post. The video will forever be available for viewing here and YouTube.

If you made a video, even better. Yours can be either emailed to me or uploaded on YouTube; just pass along your link. Videos get embedded directly in my blog.

Don’t be shy! This season’s theme is summer flowers. You could post something you grew, or bought, or displayed in vintage-style containers; ephemera or ceramics depicting flowers -- anything related to the theme. I’d love to share what you do! Kindly leave a courtesy link back.

I’d like to humbly thank Mira of Belle Blanc and Mia of Lilla Blanka for sharing their inspired photos and design ideas with me.

Until next time, stay shabby!

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer

Cottage Flora Thursdays at Fishtail Cottage

Linda Bloom: Antiques for Newborns

2011-07-01T15:34:00.007-04:00

Sew Sweet handmade plush white teddy by Linda Bloom

Sew Sweet heirloom baby pillowcase dress by Linda Bloom

Sew Sweet heirloom pillowcase dress by Linda Bloom

Sew Sweet. What a delightful name! Meet my newest advertiser, Linda Bloom, and learn more about her darling handmade treasures from vintage and antique linen and lace for babies and small children. She also sells dainty Limoges china and other glassware.

She's an RN, working in a Pennsylvania hospital for 18 years, presently in the Critical Care/Trauma Stepdown Unit. To top it off, she's a volunteer for Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue and is a certified Canine Massage Therapist. Sewing is a stress-breaker for her.

From Linda's Etsy bio:

Both of my grandmothers sewed on treadle machines. My grandmother taught my mother and she taught me. I do heirloom sewing, embroidery, repurposing old linens, and teddy bears. I love lace, ruffles, roses, growing things, reading, and my three dogs (Marley, Sunny, and Cassie -- all rescues). And chocolate.

Looking at your Etsy site, I can see you love babies and children. Even your name ‘Sew Sweet’ reflects your product line. How does your love of infants help or hinder your work?

I made my daughter Aimee's clothes when she was little. I love dressing up little girls - all the ruffles and lace. Aimee had a lot of outfits, and making them myself, I was able to “fancy them up.” Good thing I

didn’t have a boy! I’ve been making teddy bears for about twenty years - for big girls, as well as little ones…even boys can enjoy a teddy!

I love your baby gowns from old linen. Do you have a design in mind when you start? Or, do you ‘listen to the linen’ and see what happens when you work with it?

That’s a great way to put it! I do “listen to the linen.” I spread everything out on my big table and just keep switching everything around, adding and subtracting until I get a design that I would make for my own child. I get a picture of a baby wearing the dress, maybe with little white sandals and a hair bow, then I start sewing. I don’t cut into perfect (whole) linens. I use them for my pillowcase dresses. Less than perfect linens can be layered, perhaps on a wedding apron, or a stain can be cut so the piece fits around a pocket.

I can’t pin down an era that’s influenced you…I see a little Edwardian, a little mid-20^th century, but your creations are unique to me. Are you inspired by a particular era?

I’m a little bit of each. I like the Victorian era, but not the heavy, dark colors. A big influence was a book by Sarah Howard Stone called French Handsewing. In the southern states, children were (and sometimes still are) dressed in lacy, white, embroidered batiste dresses, diaper shirts, and “bubbles.” It was all done by hand, even the seams were “rolled and whipped.” I taught myself from her book. Now, French handsewing can be done by machine. The new machines have a library of “heirloom stitches,” as well as special attachments for sewing lace-to-lace, gathering ruffles, and making entredeux (a stitch for binding delicate ‘like with like’ fabric). I also love Sew Beautiful magazine by Martha Pullen which publishes lessons in this work on machine. I’m working on a line of baby sacques (a sweater or jacket fastened at the neck) which will have my hand embroidery combined with machine construction.

What is a layette?

Traditionally, a woman made a hand-sewn collection of tiny clothes and accessories during her pregnancy. She could show off her fancy needlework skills making little things for her baby. Today, the layette refers to

clothing, blankets, bonnets and accessories for the newborn.

How can a new mother and her family find vintage-inspired items at Sew Sweet?

The items on my site are one-of-a-kind, but I am also able to do custom orders that are similar. The laces and fabrics would be different, but the basic design would be the same. I have several convos (Etsy conversations) going right now concerning flower girl’s dresses.

How would a buyer care for linens and clothing purchased at Sew Sweet?

Although my fabrics and linens are machine-washed before I construct them, I would hand-wash items made with vintage fabrics and hang or spread them out to dry on a towel. Since they didn’t have permanent press in grandma’s time, they have to be ironed. (Sorry!) Never wrap them in plastic. If they are folded in a chest or drawer, refold from time to time. Wear and enjoy them, and pass them on to your daughters.

Very closely related to children’s clothes are toys, and you have such adorable handmade teddy bears. I can only sew straight lines and I don’t do it without clogging up the sewing machine and expletives. How long did it take for you to learn how to do this?

I don’t make my bears on the machine, I hand-sew each one using a lock-stitch I learned in a “bear class.” I have taken several classes and combined the techniques I liked best. The latest class was from Ted Menten, who has written several books, as well as the Teddy Bear Calendar. He taught me to design my bear patterns and how to get different expressions by placement and size of ears, nose and eyes. My patterns are my own design, although influenced by the Steiff bears.

Your teddies have such a sweet expression. I know you love animals. Do you think your love of animals helps to get a ‘soul right’ in a stuffie?

As soon as I put the eyes in, they start to acquire a personality and “come alive.” Every one is different, but I like them to look a bit saucy and mischievous. I also don’t know if I have a boy or girl until they are done.

Hand blown glass eyes and suede paws sound like luxury items, why do you use them on your teddy bears? What other materials do you use and why?

I use German mohair, which is selling upwards of $250/yard right now. If I’m going to take the time to hand sew a bear, I want the best materials. Some of my bears are twenty years old by now and have “grown up” with their owners. I want them to be life-long friends. I also put some of the mohair fabric inside the bear when stuffing it, in case repairs are needed in the future.

What do you hope your business will do for others? For yourself?

I want to carry on the tradition of fine handmade items in our present “throw away” society. People don’t realize that probably within the next generation these items won’t be available any more, because very few women are doing this work. I want to honor the women who created this artistry with their hands, needles, and hooks. It will soon be lost. I would urge anyone who loves fine vintage work to learn a few of these techniques; embroidery, crochet, or even bobbin lace, and pass the knowledge on to their daughters.

**************************************************************************

I learned a lot interviewing Linda, and I hope you did as well. If you, gentle reader, take up these arts you'd be carrying on a splendid tradition. Visit Sew Sweet and be inspired.

Until next time,

(and next time kicks off Vintage Video for the summer season!)

stay shabby!

Sharing with:

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

And the winner of 'Sanselig Sommer' is...

2011-07-01T08:00:00.002-04:00

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:138Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Congratulations Mary Beth of The Cedars of Pittsburg blog who had the 138th post! I will ship a copy of Franciska Munck-Johansen's Sanselig Sommer out to you as soon as you email me privately with your mailing address, Mary Beth.

I wish I could personally thank every one of you for your support and enthusiasm for this lovely book available here. Using Google Chrome as your browser will automatically translate any page on the web.

Until next time, stay shabby!

International Giveaway: "Sanselig Sommer" by Franciska Munck-Johansen

2011-06-14T20:23:00.005-04:00

They are not long, the days of wine and roses:

Out of a misty dream

Our path emerges for a while, then closes

Within a dream.

-Ernest Dowson, from ‘They are not long / The weeping and the laughter’

Summer comes and goes so quickly. Don’t you wish you could capture it? Well, if you win---or purchase---a copy of Sanselig Sommer (Summer for the Senses) by Franciska Munck-Johansen you’ll have access to summer any time of year. This colorful hardcover book is like Victoria in the 1980s crossed with Jeanne d’Arc Living, and features the homes and gardens of prominent Scandinavian bloggers. You’ll love the large pictures of darling children, beaches, bunnies, decorating ideas, and gardening tips. The pictures take precedent over the text---no knowledge of Norwegian is necessary.

Highlights include the cottage gardens of Helen (helensdagbok.blogspot.com), my friend Jorunn’s sunporch (villaklaraberg.blogspot.com), and the work of Petra Eriksson and Ingela Broling (romantiskahem.blogspot.com, inspirationivitt.blogspot.com (Lev Vackert's authors). A bonus visit to Green Gables---I mean---the seaside Prince Edward Island home of Carolyn Aiken (warrengrovegarden.blogspot.com) is featured. Finally, her entrancing photos are in print. There’s even a spread of a streamside cottage by this lady I know pretty well, too.

The experience of this book is as sweet as its many dessert recipes.

Linger in it as long as a Nordic midsummer night shines.

My very special thanks to the dear, the talented, the indefatigable, the lovely Franciska Munck-Johansen for asking me to be in her breathtaking book. Enjoy more of stylist/photographer/author at Franciska’s Vakre Verden (Beautiful World).

The contest is open to all, and international entries are welcome!

To enter, leave a comment.

If you don’t have a blog, leave your email address like this so spammers don’t latch on to it: zuzudotfosteratgmaildotcom.

Posting the above button on your blog, Facebook, or Twitter scores extra entries. Be sure to leave a post for each so the random number generator counts your effort. Giveaway ends at midnight 30 June.

A preview of Sanselig Sommer (A Summer for the Senses):

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with
Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

How I Spent My Spring Workcation

2011-06-09T00:59:00.019-04:00

My puppy Zuzu on our hillside apple orchard!

Another weed tree bites the dust.

One person's weed is another person's wildflower:

Alliaria seed gathered from roadsides last year

is a drift of white lace for this spring's

Dame's Rocket 'runway strut'.

Scored an industrial stool ($25), and $5 for these daybed ‘ends’ with killer

patina at the Memorial Day yard sale at Maple Shade Farm in Delhi.

So what if I have to build the rest of it?

I see white linen and nailheads in my future.

How was my spring workcation? Too short, of course! The garden shed My King and I intended to build was all finished on Wednesday. We guiltlessly relaxed with fun time and a date at our favorite haunt The Crossroads Café on Friday night when they have live acoustic music. We felled logs enough for next winter. We’ll split and stack them between vegetable garden chores all summer long.

After nearly a week at home, I entered that sweet state of grace -- suspended from ties to the real world and responsibilities for so long you begin to believe it. I shopped, money seeming coming from a magic plastic card for I could remember no job; I enjoyed movies with My King and we went to bed late and slept in without consequence; I played with my dogs instead of weedwhacking; I shook myself ‘back’ after minutes in the bewitching spell of my half-wild garden and it didn’t matter. Heaven.

As adults, we long for the unfettered feeling of summer so much we sometimes go to great lengths to feel like a kid again. I built my streamside studio to recapture this! Whether you vicariously relive your childhood by giving your children a fun summer every day, or if you’re at work or school for so many hours summer comes and goes without you noticing, I hope you have at least one magic summer moment this year.

Photo: Hanna Kristindottir/Charming Recycling

This leads me to a great summer lifestyle book I'm sharing with you: “Sanselig Sommer” (A Summer for All the Senses) by Franciska Munck-Johansen. I’m giving a copy away next post – stay tuned!

Photo: Maria Carr

Last but not least: Maria over at Dreamy Whites is hosting her first giveaway at her delectable online shop: a generous $250 gift certificate! Pick from antique French linens, wire baskets, zinc pitchers, vintage documents, grain sacks, lavender products, Catholica...everything you could hope to accessorize your home in the shabby French country style.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer

My Fifi Shoot and a Review of 'Romantic Prairie Style' by Fifi O’Neill

2011-05-19T18:44:00.003-04:00

Reviewing pictures on Dan's laptop, 18 May 2010.

Photo: Todd Foster

My King and Zuzu watching Dan and Fifi.

Photos: 1 & 4 - Sandy Foster, 2 & 3 - Fifi O'Neill

Photo: Fifi O'Neill

Zuzu amid the foxgloves after I just missed capturing

the first hummingbird of the year on them!

What you don't see in magazines: the detrius.

As I decorated my studio last year, I always thought, “Hm, now what would Fifi do?”

I am a lucky girl. I got my wish.

When I was a fledging blogger, I shyly emailed the Editor of Romantic Country magazine requesting permission to use one of her interior photos here. Days later Fifi contacted me at work. The answer was ‘yes,’ and she asked if she could shoot my studio for Romantic Country and her upcoming book. I had to shut the door to my office so I could giggle and hop.

When she called to firm things up, I mentioned the only florist in the area was Price Chopper’s--did she mind wildflowers?

“Wildflowers are the best,” Fifi replied. Gotta love her.

The hard-working Editor/Stylist/Author Fifi held her day job heading Romantic Country and went on several grueling shooting tours for weeks at a time. For example, for my house she flew to New York 17 May 2010 (on her 64th birthday) then drove 3 hours up to the Catskills to rest briefly at Dan Mayer’s weekend farm in nearby Andes. The following morning, lilacs were picked and they arrived at my property at 9 a.m. and shot until 4 p.m. on a day pestered by chilly rain. They got back in Dan’s car and headed for the next stop: Rhode Island, 5 hours away for tomorrow’s shoot.

Fifi’s a delightful human being. She has a gift for making everyone comfortable. She speaks just the way she writes on her wonderful blog, soft-spoken yet possessing a delight in making up witty word associations in her French accent. She breaks into a face-splitting grin whenever she encounters farm animals.

Fifi didn’t mind when our clumsy black Lab Momo practically licked her face off with doggie kisses. (We took pregnant Momo’s temperature every hour during the shoot because we thought it was her whelping day, but as it turned out her breeding failed and she simply was fat.)

If Fifi had a fear of heights and crossing streams, to her credit she didn’t show it. A self-described ‘high-heel’ sort of girl, I warned her how steep and rugged my place is, and she came prepared. She wasn’t, however, prepared for the size of my stream, which she called ‘a raging river’ in a hysterically funny blog post, nor the fact she had to cross it on our log slide for the firewood we cut in early spring. She hesitated, then did it. Inspiration personified.

Photographer Dan Mayers is a great guy; laid-back and funny. Dan said to stand perfectly still while his wireless shutter release took pictures because movement would shake the floor and blur them. I tried to make everything as easy and efficient as possible – boxes to move props, a snack table with fruit and homemade cookies courtesy of my Italian-born neighbor, cleaning supplies. I made sure Fifi was alone for long periods of time to compose and create by steering my friendly pets and dear husband (who will talk your ear off) on to other things.

We delighted at the pictures on Dan’s laptop before he packed his gear up, I gave them little gifts, wished them well, waved them off, and slept until the next day I was so cold and tired!

In September I spoke with Dan Mayers about shooting me as I worked on my ‘second studio’ for my book. We chatted, and I learned he wasn’t shooting Fifi’s book after all because Ryland, Peters, and Small don’t allow the photographers in their books to sell their pictures again. My friend Bella over at Bella’s Rose Cottage excitedly emailed me after her garden was featured in Italy’s Casa Romantica, and she noticed my studio on the cover of a subsequent issue. It was the story Fifi and Dan shot, and it found a great home. So, I don’t show the final shots in case Mary Forsell (the anointed editor of Romantic Country, Fifi left to chase new dreams) decides to run the story. A fun day. I'll remember it always.

* * *

Book Review: Romantic Prairie Style: Homes Inspired by Traditional Country Life

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,

One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.

Emily Dickinson

Before the book is even opened, the dust jacket lifts and transports you to a sweet world where:

“Prairie Style is much more than a way of decorating—it’s a way of life…The influences—from traditional country life—are nostalgic, sweet, rustic and chic, often all at the same time. They are personal and universal—and as enduring as the prairie itself.”

We know this isn’t a Pottery Barn catalog of brand-new furniture and accessories for tract-home suburbanites primarily interested in surrounding oversized wall-mounted TVs with places to sit and play video games. It’s a book for those that cherish family heirlooms and prefer to shop in flea markets, yard sales, and antique stores:

“Value on the prairie relies less on an object’s age and provenance than on its usefulness…and other beloved trinkets that are typically of little financial value are treasured for their deep emotional meanings.”

Fifi’s exuberant Florida cottage of course is featured, leaving one rapt with her originality and fearless yet tasteful use of color. Titled “Prairie Chic”, and other sections feature homes (many of bloggers) showcasing other styles, giving the book excellent variety in its three main chapters, “Traditional Prairie”, “Romantic Prairie”, and “Vintage Prairie”.

My favorites? “Prairie Savvy” features antiques dealer Joy Waltmire’s home with industrial accents and patio by a tin-roofed shed where their white picket fence is swallowed up by hollyhocks and clematis. “Refined Prairie” shows Carol Spinski’s skill at mixing chippy paint architectural pieces with Louis XV and French industrial furniture. “Perfect Prairie” enchants with Nordic-French style at the upscale farm of antique dealers Caroline Verschoor and Jon Paul Saunier. “Inspired Prairie” is a delectable stay at Maria Carr’s elegant yet childproof ‘French Ranch’. “Rustic Prairie” tugs at my homesteader’s heart with Michelle McCauley’s cabin mixed with vintage-find flair.

What touched me the most is Mark Lohman’s landscapes of working farms and his skill at catching tender moments with children, pets, and farm animals. It’s clear he woke up early, walked around for the best shots, and stayed up late as the amazing dusk shots at Anne Marie’s Na-Da Farm attest. Kudos to the book design team for using Mark’s black and white farm scenes between chapters. My only regrets are a fine book like this should have a linen cover (publishers are cutting costs), and I'd like to see the author’s cottage on the dust jacket cover.

Inspiring poetry and pose peppers the book, each section is packed with tips from the featured homeowners, and there's a well-stocked source index, so rush and buy a copy to find out how they can help you!

“The time has come for a gentler world and a simpler life.”

– Fifi O’Neill from Romantic Prairie Style.

Available at your local bookstore or Amazon.com

Hardcover: 160 pages

Publisher: Ryland Peters & Small (April 1, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-13: 978-1907563195

I'm on my annual spring 'workation' up at my farm next week,
and getting to the library to check email will be harder, I apologize in
advance for desultory replies to email and comments.
Enjoy the holiday!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home.

Spring Approaches, Difficult to Capture

2011-05-15T12:39:00.004-04:00

Belleayre Mountain, a popular ski resort near my home, early May.

The leaves on the summit emerge when the man-made snow melts: June.

Serviceberry blossoms in my pantry.

Eternity

He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sun rise.

-William Blake

I don’t think I set foot in my studio this month.   My feet, in my worn pink rubber boots, have been making sucking noises in the soggy overgrown meadow near my studio where my husband and I have been bucking up next year’s firewood.   I take such satisfaction in homesteading; just my soulmate and I transforming a tangle of third growth trees into a pile of fuel, branch by branch, exposing a slope fat and green with grass.    Only the song of the stream, chickadees, and red-winged blackbirds accompany our chainsaws.   We chat, thinking of the Native Americans and Scotch settlers that did the same in this area (without chainsaws), proud we’re part of the legacy.

We’re not real homesteaders.   I long to kick responsibility to the curb and move to the country, but we need the medical benefits and I’d default on the car loan just selling eggs and veggies.   I like high heeled shoes, bleaching my hair, tropical vacations.   I don’t fit in anywhere!

My photography class at the local community college on Long Island is fun.   It’s not geared for people studying to be a professional photographer, but the instructor is knowledgeable and of course you learn so much just by talking to other enthusiasts.   I appreciate the feedback.   I want very much to know if something I did stinks.

Like this picture I took during class, where we were challenged to go outside and find something to shoot. I picked viburnum and shot it on my scarf. My instructor thought the scattered florets looked contrived. He’s right. I wasn’t happy with any of those pictures. The viburnum is pretty but all flowers are pretty. I failed to show how I saw it. How hard it is to capture something in limited time! I must learn how to do this—a photographer generally has only one day to shoot a house for a magazine.

This is why I love the Japanese cultural sentiment for cherry blossoms and their fleeting beauty that, in truth, can never be captured, only experienced.

Speaking of photographers, yet another fabulous interior décor book will hit the market in October 2011: Vintage by Nina styled by none other than oft-imitated (myself included) stylist Nina Hartmann with heavenly photos by Maria-Isabel Hansson.

'Vintage by Nina' by Nina Hartmann. In Swedish.

Photography by Maria-Isabel Hansson.

Photos used with permission.

Have a store and wish to carry it? Please email them here.

It’s a safe bet to assume it will it will be available on Amazon

or Book Depository in October.

Sound familiar? This team has been in Jeanne d’Arc Living, Vakre Hjem, and a host of other magazines. If you like the ‘Dansk-Fransk’ style, check out these wonderful blogs—they’re at least a potent antidote to this boring post.

Vintage Chic (Stine’s decorating her new apartment, very exciting!)

Jeanettes Kreative Utbrudd

Next post, I will share pictures from the very first shoot in my studio: Fifi O’Neill’s styling and Dan Mayers’ photography. A review of Romantic Prairie Style will accompany now that I’ve received my signed copy back from Fifi.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with White Wednesday at Faded Charm –

please join in on Kathleen’s 100th party and her giveaway!

http://www.fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/

Antique Roses in the Garden: My Favorite Pictures

2011-04-29T00:00:00.002-04:00

2005: The rose arbor and rock wall I built at the first home I owned.

New Dawn is on the left, Apple Blossom on the right,

underplanted with artemisia 'Silver King' and nepeta 'Six Hills Giant'.

I do plan on making the same arbor and stone wall at my studio.

Both ramblers covered the arbor in their second year.

(Apple Blossom is partially supported by a rhododendron).

Frau Eva Schubert, Teblemann, 1937
I must buy this rose again. Scentless but lovely.

Blush Noisette, St. Swithun, New Dawn, Frau Eva Schubert
from my garden at my first home c. 2004.

A sempervirens rose on the arbor at Mottisfont Abbey,

Hampshire, England. Unknown photographer.

Another sempervirens, Felicite et Perpetue probably, trained on an arbor

at Mottisfont. Unknown photographer.

Roses of Redoute and Today: Rosa carnea.

(Be very careful trying to buy this: every 'Rosa carnea' I've ever bought

doesn't resemble this beauty.) Botanical print: P.J. Redoute.

Unknown photographer.

A bower of Cecile Brunner, photographer: 'Missy' from Pbase

Gentle, pale pink, deeply fragrant antique roses with tissue-thin petals have always been my favorite: Albas, Damasks, Centifolias, Mosses.   I share my collection of dream garden photos.

I planted the 1832 Damask Madame Hardy (urged not just by need but by Mira & Bianca's book Belle Blanc: Aus Liebe zu Weiss), and the ancient Alba (prior to the 15th century) Great Maiden's Blush, and pre-1835 Chloris with a PICK AXE in my stony hillside last weekend in the rain & cold, cheered by all the spring cress, sweet rocket, and foxglove babies coming up around me.    I order from Pickering Nurseries of Ontario, Canada even though they are grafted plants because their shipping is lower than most and they come dormant unlike leafy plants from the west coast that get surprised at snow in May.    I haven't lost a plant due to an exposed graft yet and I'm Zone 4 & don't protect (except for deer netting).

In early July I'll share my harvest of roses with you!

Forgive me, I have no idea of the provenance of the pictures save mine; I've collected them years before blogging.   Happy to update if anyone knows.

Enjoy!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Come share other beautiful gardens with me at:

Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer

Cottage Flora Thursdays at Fishtail Cottage

Starting Sweet Peas

2011-04-22T00:00:00.001-04:00

Labels: Tattered Vintage

Rosa 'Konigin von Danemark' and pink sweet peas

Photo: Unwins Seeds Ltd/Frank Bird Photography, c. 1900 reprinted in Gardens Illustrated, June 1999

There they are, the little dears,

The mower and the pruning shears.

Rusty where they hid their heads

All winter long inside our sheds.

D.A.W.

“The story of the modern sweet pea begins at the end of the 19^th century…Lord Spencer’s head gardener at Althorp (England), Silas Cole, exhibited a variety called ‘Countess Spencer’…with larger, frillier petals…it caused a sensation. They became Queen Alexandra’s favourite flower.” -- from “Sweet Symphony” by Mary Keen, Gardens Illustrated, June 1999.

Sweet peas (lathyrus odoratus) are an old-fashioned scented flower I consider a must in a ‘vintage interested’ home and garden. They’ve all the faults homeowners (note I said homeowners, not gardeners) aren’t interested in: these annuals don’t flower all summer, they need support, the leaf isn’t attractive.   Consequently, garden centers can’t stock them.   But you can grow them.   Soak the seeds overnight before planting in situ.

Using Beth’s $4 French-inspired Tattered Vintage sheet 95, I printed them on my color printer, then glued two together back to back with a bamboo skewer in between (obviously this is last year).   They’re perfect for raising flats indoors or in a cold frame before planting out.

I made a Microsoft Word document with the names of my flowers (in French if I could translate it, otherwise in Latin), in the pretty Kunstler Script font, cut them out and glued them on.   I believe tiny details in the home and garden make for a huge experience of cloaking your world with only the pretty and sustainable.   Unlike plastic, when these markers outlive their usefulness they can be reabsorbed back into the earth.

These are pictures of last year’s sweet peas form packages of mixed colors I bought in the supermarket. I got a lot of reds and bright blues. Since I prefer shy shades, this year I’m shopping at Thompson & Morgan online for select varieties. I did this 15 years ago and remember the results were good, but it came at a price for premium imported seed.

Am I alone in the love of these non-mainstream flowers?!

Until next time, stay shabby!

I’m sharing this post with other gardeners at:

Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer

Cottage Flora Thursdays at Fishtail Cottage

Please join us!

A French Script Linen Pillow Enhancement for $18 at Tattered Notions

2011-04-13T00:00:00.007-04:00

Zuzu loves our new Tattered Notions pillow!

Belle still prefers the $20 faux fur throw from Marshall's for her naps.

Beautiful love notes from Petite Michelle Louise using images from The Graphics Fairy.

First of all, thanks for all your kind comments on my friend Karina's work! And, I hope everyone likes my new banner. It's painstakingly cut from an 1803 French document I bought from Tracey over at French Larkspur.   She's sold out, now, but Maria over at Dreamy Whites offers them for $15 each.

As I made the printed graphic paper cones for Zuzu’s birthday party in February, I thought how lovely a pillow covered in pale grey French script from an antique document would look.   It would be a nice change on a plain winter white bed like mine, especially if it bore some sort of meaning.   Every day by my “Roi” sends his gestures of fondness for me, his “Reine”, so this pillow has my name on it.   Or does it?   “La Principessa” Zuzu claims it!

My go-to person for graphics is Nevada artist Beth Neumann, who whipped up a darling design and put it in her new shop, Tattered Notions.   She posted an informative, well-researched list of links for those who wish to transfer any graphic on fabric here.   I’m big on doing everything myself to save money, but fabric transfers require an investment in equipment and a learning curve.   My $18 pillow cover from Beth saved money as well as time.

It’s printed on a heavy cotton duck fabric, it’s washable, it’s fabulous.   In an hour I had it stitched over a linen standard size pillowcase, leaving the ends out to fray in that trendy way.

A bittersweet post this is to write!   To meet my fiscal goals I’ve been going Upstate only twice a month.   I’m trying to pay my car off early so I can afford the pay cut I face when I move there.   I miss my King.   I miss my poochies.   Sacrifice is necessary, but being a saint really sucks when I lay on my empty bed at my mom’s house.   I will smile through my tears.

Until next time, stay shabby!

I’m sharing with:

Cottage Instincts for Make it for Monday

Get Your Craft On Tuesdays at Today’s Creative Blog

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Treasures & Trinkets Thursday at My Cottage Charm

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage

Join in!

Katrina Patina: Karina Gentinetta’s New York Times Feature On Rebuilding Over Ruin

2011-04-07T09:36:00.000-04:00

Karina’s late father surely is looking down upon her today, bursting with pride.   I believe I feel just as proud: my dear friend Karina Gentinetta’s feature is published in The New York Times.
Joyce Walder’s words moved me to tears—a tough thing to do when you already know the story.   With the images from Japan so fresh in our minds, it is easy to imagine poor Karina walking around the mud pit that used to be her beautiful home.   One needs the strength of a supernatural being to get through that, but to me, her chutzpah during her three-year struggle to rebuild awes me more.   The crises in her career, marriage, and a hideously long commute in a broken New Orleans is the sort of tortuous agony that the day-to-day marathon of strength really is needed.
New Orleans gets its magic from its people, and, like the twist of bittersweet humor in a jazz funeral Karina marched on.   With the infallible work ethic of the American immigrant she shoved her shoulder into rebuilding.

I thought now would be a great time to share pictures from the 1stdibs opening reception at the New York Design Center in February.   Karina was so nervous the first time she went to Manhattan to set up her booth she had a panic attack before boarding her flight back to New Orleans.   Of course, I made sure I was at the airport to pick her up (in sweats, sneakers, no makeup, who cares?) to circumvent a reoccurrence, but I had to use subterfuge because like all strong people she said she'd 'be fine'.   I looked her flight up online and just showed up.   I went to the Garment District to research fabric wholesalers and when I returned two hours later Karina was gorgeously turned out in a little black dress and super high heels.

Karina graciously put me on the list, and everyone there was quite kind, all smiling and handsomely dressed (including the small doggies).   I thought some faces looked familiar, and Karina said designers like Alexa Hampton and socialites were there.   Naturally, I thought Karina’s booth was prettiest, especially since it seemed most dealers sold modern decor.   Karina fit right in, dressed in all black.   We New Yorkers say we like fashion but wear the same uniform anyway.

But the story is about Karina’s house.   Read about Karina here, and at her blog here, and view her art—I mean—her antiques—here at 1stdibs.

Until next time, stay shabby!