Summer Foxgloves

For winter's rains and ruins are over

And all the season of snows and sins;

The days dividing lover and lover,

The light that loses, the night that wins;

And time remembered is grief forgotten,

And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,

And in green underwood and cover

Blossom by blossom the spring begins. 

Algernon Charles Swinburne, 1890 

I'm loving foxgloves (digitalis).  Tossing ripe seed heads around the garden yields more next year.  Love lazy self-seeded gardening!

I've been accepted into Southern New Hampshire University's online MBA program.  Sometimes, I think the only way I can to do it is because I haven't been in school for years and I don't remember how hard it can be!

‘Till next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style  

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner 

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse  

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage 

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage  

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Come enjoy all the pretty entries!

Conclusion: Nina Hartmann Says “Have A Thread”

Orderliness

Listing my life
making an inventory
that's the way to perfection
no disorderliness
all of it lined up on the shelf
nothing lacking
except what was sold
put on exhibit and sold in a sale
gone forever at a cheap price

E.C.

Nina suggests to "have a thread" -- a theme -- going on in your decor. 

There’s a thin line between having a collection and a flea market. 

Group like with like, color with color.

This is critical in small spaces.

Less is more.

Declutter.

I hope you enjoyed this series!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style  

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner 

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse  

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage 

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage  

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home 

Decorating Tips from Nina Part V: French Mirrors

Photo:  Maria-Isabel Hansson 

Posted by Atelier de Champagne

Pre-Order Vintage by Nina in English 

Life, like a mirror, never gives back more than what we put into it.

Anonymous

Admittedly, these are a very tall order here in the U.S.  Affordable Louis Phillippe style mirrors just don’t seem to exist.  I rounded the top ends of two lovely chippy yard sale mirrors (one I bought for $2, one I had), and it’s not the same.   But I tried.  I think of them as anorexic French mirrors.

Want to learn more tips and where to shop?  

Pre-order the English version of Nina’s book Vintage by Nina.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style  

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner 

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse  

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage 

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage  

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home 

Decorating Tips from Nina Part IV: Chandeliers

Glass

Words of a poem should be glass
But glass so simple-subtle its shape
Is nothing but the shape of what it holds.

A glass spun for itself is empty,
Brittle, at best Venetian trinket.
Embossed glass hides the poem of its absence.

Words should be looked through, should be windows.
The best word were invisible.
The poem is the thing the poet thinks.

If the impossible were not,
And if the glass, only the glass,
Could be removed, the poem would remain. 

Robert Francis

It’s very hard to get a ‘shabby chic’ room without a chandelier.  As I said on The Nate Show, a room is a volume, not just four walls.  Think about filling the ceiling void with a double-duty item like a crystal chandelier, which gives light and intense beauty.  Up the romantic charm with a candlelight model. 

Can’t afford or find an antique chandelier?   Supplement the prisms on a new model with vintage crystal prisms hunted down at flea markets and ‘rust & dust’ antique centers.  Yard sale finds from the 1950s – 1970s can be tarnished to “Scandinavian black” with a treatment of Jax Pewter Black metal tarnish (sticker shock warning: hazmat delivery fee of $50).  Pictured above are just my old white chandys, updated by stripping, patinating, and adding $14 new glass ‘necks’ from online lamp suppliers for that ‘Nina Nordic’ look.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style  

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner 

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse  

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage 

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage  

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home  

Decorating Tips from Nina Part III: Mercury Glass

Shiny Things

I hide coins for my son to find
drop nickels ‘round the playground swing
seed quarters under sawdust by the slide
place dimes beside the whirlawheel
I act surprised when he discovers
a penny along the woodchip trail
delight in the excitement on his face
his lucky smile finding unexpected shiny things

I seek objects that shine
collect and hold them in my hands
assorted coins that shimmer
crows so bright they start
the fire burning in the sky
my son his brilliant eyes
I turn them in the light
then hide them in my heart

Bruce Dethlefsen

Today’s lesson in ‘the Nina Hartmann look’ is the importance of mercury glass.

She uses shades made of mercury glass over task lighting in her kitchen and candlesticks.  They add sparkle without bling, because the tarnish softens the effect.  It’s like displaying silver without the chore of polishing. 

Try massing them in front of mirrors.  With shimmery candles lit at twilight the effect is pure delight.

Mercury glass votives do double duty as charming vases.

I’d love the real thing, but they’re prohibitively expensive in antique stores and the web.  I found my reproduction candlesticks at The Sheep’s Nest ($80 for 4) and my real one at The Barking Dog in High Falls, NY ($15 because it’s chipped), and reproduction votives at Anthropologie ($12).

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style  

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner 

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse  

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage  

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home 

Decorating Tips from Nina Part II: Angel Wings

In this immaculate doll of heaven has been conceived,

            as though

No hands had shaped her, an uninvented innocence be-

            queathing grace

Ring upon ring in haloes all around her, and not remote

            nor kind

But only there, dispensing of all the brought light a total

            larger light.

Even now her wings have assumed such shields of glory

            and the pool beneath

Wheels with such wreaths of shining, the room is gath-

            ered and filled

By her tall and burning stillness and, an actual angel,

            her suspension wars

For a whole minute against all the dark, as if I were a

            child.

from Swedish Angel by Winfield Townley Scott

As promised, I’m writing a series of posts on Nina Hartmann and how her style has influenced my decorating.

Angel wings are the first item on Nina’s list.  She buys vintage wings made by mothers or nuns for children in Christmas pageants in European flea markets.  Tough to find, but easy to make yourself.  I merely bent bailing wire into a wing shapes, sewed scrap cotton net, painted stars with glue, then sprinkled German glass glitter on.

I can’t help feeling a little spiritual with angel wings in the house.  They symbolize freedom and protection. 

They impart intangible ‘heart’ in the home far more than any tchotchkes.

Avoid the $7 12" dollar store wings.  I’ve seen them in magazines but the effect is perfume on a pig (they’re just toys for kids).

Check out handmade wings at:

Fanciful Design

Petite French Market

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style  

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner 

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse  

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage  

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home 

Decorating Tips from Nina Part I: Rustic & Romantic

Fluffy white angel wings on a black bulldog: Nina in a nutshell.

Vintage crinoline and my homemade church candelabra.  Ruffled leavened with rustic.

The crinoline was $18 at The Salvation Army and the candelabra was practically free. 

Balance in romantic home accessories: white and black, roses and tarnished metal, 

refined linens and raw burlap.  Authentic only.

First off, I must thank all of you for your kind words and advice in response to my recent tragedies and troubles.  I’ll heal much faster with encouragement.  I’m looking into master’s programs, too, to raise my earning potential.  I fear the money and time it will all cost, along with the knowledge I may not be better off after all’s said and done.  But one must try, for failure is certain if one does not.

As promised, I’m writing a series of posts on Nina Hartmann and how her style has influenced my decorating.  

Nina says:

Compliment every feminine accessory (such as lace boudoir/wedding textiles) with a masculine accessory (such as old mannequins or my favorite – shed deer antlers).

Nina suggests zinc, raw or dark wood, old wicker, weathered metal, and industrial materials to get the look.*

(*Cited from 'Jeanne d’Arc Living' Autumn 2010 cover feature on Nina.)

Getting an authentic feeling in your home means skipping Restoration Hardware or Pottery Barn items.  Go for homemade and handmade.  It saves money and you’ll never have that impersonal cookie-cutter effect.  My favorite Etsy shops for this look are:

My Petite Maison

A Prairie Market

Brocanterie Belle Ami

Savvy City Farmer

Want to learn more tips and where to shop?

Pre-order the English version of Nina’s book Vintage by Nina.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style  

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner 

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse  

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage 

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home 

Vintage by Nina Book Winners!

Congratulations to:

#14 Debby of Cozy Blanket  

#8 Maria of Rusty Hinge  

winners of Vintage by Nina by Nina Hartmann with photos by Maria-Isabel Hansson.

Pre-order your copy at Atelier de Champagne!

Please Pre-Order 'Vintage By Nina' in English GIVEAWAY (U.S.)

What a fine thing!  What unannoying

            romance; And how beautiful, she

            with the natural stoop of the

snowy egret, gray-eyed and straight-haired,

for whom it should come to the door,--

of whom it reminds me.  The split

            pine fair hair, steady gannet-clear

            eyes and the pine-needled-path deer-

swift step; that is Sweden—land of the

free and the soil for a spruce tree

from A Carriage from Sweden by Marianne Moore

Dear Nina Hartmann has graciously offered two SIGNED copies of the Swedish version of Vintage By Nina for a giveaway!

Nina needs your help.


In order to get this delicious English version, 
interest must be evident in the U.S. in the form of pre-orders.



She works so hard.  She has invested so much.

Won't you send Atelier de Champagne an email to pre-order today (it's about $70) or at least leave a comment about your interest?

Let's make Nina a big success in the U.S.!

To enter: leave a comment.
Extra chances will be given to those who spread the word via social media.  Don't forget to leave a comment for each.  If you don't have a blog or email link on your blog you must contact me.

Winner will be chosen via random.org.
Giveaway ends midnight 12 June 2012.  Open to U.S. residents only.  Books will be mailed by USPS Priority with Delivery Confirmation (NOT Media Mail, the cruel unprofessional joke that cost me huge money and denied customers what they ordered in good faith).

From Atelier de Champagne:

Those interested in acquiring (the English) book for resale should contact us via

e-mail infoatelierdc@gmail.com for details and info on cost.

Title your e-mail Wholesale VBN

We need to take pre-orders ASAP in order to get the book to you by mid-September.

Those who are interested in purchasing an (English) copy or two for themselves send an e-mail to infoatelierdc@gmail.com.

Title your e-mail Retail VBN


Atelier de Champagne will take pre-orders for the sure to please Vintage by Nina Christmas book out in October 2012 with photos by Maria-Isabel Hansson soon...stay tuned!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style  

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner 

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse  

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage 

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage  

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home 

Vintage by Nina Winner & New (Longer) Giveaway

New blogger Ashley of "...Ideas At Midnight" is the 20th commenter and won the signed Swedish copy of Vintage By Nina!

Don't ask me where my head was when I scheduled a giveaway to end the day I started it...

Posting a longer giveaway now!

U.S. Giveaway: Vintage by Nina Book!

What a fine thing!  What unannoying

            romance; And how beautiful, she

            with the natural stoop of the

snowy egret, gray-eyed and straight-haired,

for whom it should come to the door,--

of whom it reminds me.  The split

            pine fair hair, steady gannet-clear

            eyes and the pine-needled-path deer-

swift step; that is Sweden—land of the

free and the soil for a spruce tree

from A Carriage from Sweden by Marianne Moore

Dear Nina Hartmann has graciously offered a SIGNED copy of the Swedish version of Vintage By Nina for a giveaway!

Nina needs your help.

In order to get this delicious English version, interest must be evident in the U.S. in the form of pre-orders.

Won't you send Atelier de Champagne an email to pre-order today or at least leave a comment about your interest?

Let's make Nina a big success in the U.S.!

To enter: leave a comment.
Extra chances will be given to those who spread the word via social media.  Don't forget to leave a comment for each.

Winner will be chosen via random.org.
Giveaway ends midnight 30 May 2010.  Open to U.S. and Canadian residents.

From Atelier de Champage:

Title: Vintage by Nina

Language:English 

Hardcover: 164 pages

Dimensions: 10"x 8.5"

More than 300 colour photographs

Those interested in acquiring this book for resale should contact us via

e-mail infoatelierdc@gmail.com for details and info on cost.

Title your e-mail Wholesale VBN

We need to take pre-orders ASAP in order to get the book to you by mid September.

Those who are interested in purchasing a copy or two for themselves send an e-mail to infoatelierdc@gmail.com.

Title your e-mail Retail VBN

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style  

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner 

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse  

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage 

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage  

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home 

'Vintage by Nina' in English!

The lilacs lift in generous bloom

  Their plumes of dear old-fashioned flowers;

Their fragrance fills the still old house

  Where left alone I count the hours.

High in the apple-trees the bees

  Are humming, busy in the sun, --

An idle robin cries for rain

  But once or twice and then is done.

from At Home from Church by Sarah Orne Jewett

Look who's here!

Nina Hartmann and Maria-Isabel Hansson's groundbreaking interior book 'Vintage by Nina' in English.

(Distributed in the U.S. by Atelier de Champagne in September 2012.) 

I've scanned a few images of my Swedish copy echoing the purples of my lilacs.  I absolutely don't mind books I can't read, but discovering more about Nina's aesthetic surely is better.  Corresponding with Nina a few months ago I relayed: America needs you.

Romantic yet minimalist, sentimental without saccharine.  

This is the first in a series relaying how Nina's influenced my cottage...så vackert! 

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style 

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner 

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse  

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage 

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage  

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home 

Catskills Yard Sale: IKEA Blekinge White Ektorp Sofa & Loveseat For Sale $300

23 May 2012 - UPDATE: Looks like we have a buyer!

Sofa ($200 neg.) & Loveseat ($100 neg.) will be sold at a 2-family yard sale.

Unused sofa and loveseat in storage.  Sofa's slipcover is still in the original packaging.

9 am
SATURDAY - SUNDAY MAY 26 & 27
515 ACORN HILL RD., OLIVEBRIDGE, NY 12461


A barn full of housewares, antiques, entertainment electronics, TVs, audio & music equipment, computer desks, coffee tables, chairs, shabby chic, tools, 2 refrigerators, books, something for everyone (except baby and kid stuff).


Memorial Day weekend is the hottest yard sale weekend in the Catskills.  Stop at ours first!

Until next time, stay shabby!