EASTER WREATH

Well I couldn't swallow my morning coffee this morning.  Less than a week from Easter, and I hadn't even put a spring-y, Easter-y wreath on my front door!  In fact, I just took down the St. patricks day signs off my front door last week (I hear you gasping!  Don't judge, don't judge!).  

I know none of you need a tutorial on wreath decorating, so I thought I would give a step by step photo tutorial on my project:

First things first…

Then, I got my stuff together…

Ta Da!  Easter wreath!  Next week I'll pop off the nest, and glue on some silk rosebuds I had made a while ago.  

Time to paint!

Miss Hannigan has style!

I    L-O-V-E   Y-O-U   M-I-S-S    H-A-N-N-I-G-A-N!!!

I was just watching one of my favourite movies (the 1982 Annie) with my kids.  I've always loved Carol Burnett, since I was a little kid, and I especially loved her cast as Miss Hannigan, but tonight I was just loving her style!  From her dresses, to her beads, to that amazing romantic bedroom of hers.   Talk about shabby chic, but not todays 'shabby chic' of pastels and whites, a more old world shabby chic.

Amazing fabrics, romance, moody colours, WOW, hard to believe all this in an orphanage during the depression.

Can you believe I couldn't find one image of her bedroom on the internet?  Anyway, if you all get a chance to see this movie (which everyone should watch at least 100 times!) keep an eye on the sets (and Carols wardrobe!).

Cape Cod

I've always wanted to go to Cape Cod.  You know, its one of those things you always read about…'summering at the Cape'.  So two weeks ago, when my husband and I were wondering what we were going to do with the kids during March break (we NEVER go away during March break) I suggested seeing if we could rent a place on Cape Cod.  My husband didn't think there would be anything available, as this is a hot vacation time in Canada.  All package holidays are either fully booked or so expensive its prohibitive.  However, I guess no one wants to go to New England as it isn't exactly tropical weather.  We didn't care about the weather, we just wanted somewhere nice and interesting.  So I scanned the internet and found a gorgeous home on the water.  I don't mean nice, I mean G O R G E O U S!!!!

Just look at this view!  This was exactly 20 feet (ish) from our front door!  I haven't downloaded the photos of the house yet, but when I do I'll post them.  I just can't get over our, I mean OUR beach!  It was semi-private, but as no one else was crazy enough to be on it, it felt pretty private!

Crazy or what?  I felt it was crazy to have this in your backyard (I mean GOOD CRAZY!!!).

How can something so simple as this photo give me so much joy?

And here is my funny leprochaun at the Cape Cod St. Patricks day parade on Cape Cod last saturday!  He  does have 50% Irish blood, but 100% Irish mischief in him!

We also went to my ultimate dying to go to place of all time…MARTHA'S VINEYARD!  It truly was beautiful, and we were lucky it was a sunny (COLD but sunny) day.  The island was pretty much deserted.  We ate at the only restaurant open in Edgartown, 'The News from America', and it was really great.  Our food was pretty good, but they could have fed me chicken nuggets, and I wouldn't have noticed, as the ambiance and character of this old pub was spectacular!  Also, as one of my kids has a severe (LIFE THREATENING SEVERE) peanut/treenut allergy, the restaurant staff was very helpful and accommodating.  A lovely and safe meal was had by all (not as easy as it sounds).

Martha's Vineyard was really all that and a jar of caviar!  But, in a very relaxed, low key, billion dollar cedar cottage way.  I would move there in a heart beat!  Look at these views…

The harbour in Edgartown, known as the JAWS harbour, as Jaws was filmed there in 1974 (wow!  I remember reading the book back then cause my parents wouldn't take me to the cinema)!  Did I mention I read it when I was just 6 months old?

and…

and…

Oh yeah, and…

SPECTACULAR!

Here's Primo (not his real name, but as he's a real Tony Shaloub fan, we find it appropriate) chillin' by the lighthouse, reading his map.

Well, not only did the kids love running around the lighthouse, and their day there, they thought it was SUPER COOL that Tony Shaloub owns a home there!!  Are my kids not the geekiest kids in the world?!?!  We love watching Monk!  We have 7/8 seasons on DVD, and are having the hardest time finding season 8!  Anyway, when they found out he has a home there, it was worth the day trip!

All good things must come to an end, and our great vacation ends tomorrow!  Long drive back home, but even thats fun!

Oh, did I mention I did a little 'junktiquing' on the trip?  More on that next time…

I just joined the Cowgirl Up! Link party!  Follow the party here:  (sorry, I'm so bad at this and can't figure out how to get the button on here).  Just copied and pasted, don't know if it will work…Sorry Ladies, hope it works, don't mean to offend.  I would love some advise on this if anyone can help!

http://farmhouseporch.blogspot.ca/

Cath Kidston Love

CATH KIDSTON LOVE!

Why is it that we are drawn to a certain designer, or a certain look?  Why is it when you walk in some shops, you feel a real connection?  Thats how I felt about Cath Kidston about 10 years ago, when I first saw Cath Kidston in a UK magazine.  I quickly found the online shop, but to ship from the UK to Canada is terribly expensive, not to mention how much duty we would pay on top!  So a couple of years later when my daughter moved to NYC to attend NYU, I was ecstatic!  I would buy online from the US site, and have it shipped to my daughter.  Or, she would just go to the shop and pick out what I wanted.  As you can see from the above photo, its done in 'vintage' Cath Kidston prints.  I love the Pop Flowers curtains, and the 'Birds' oilcloth tablecloth.

However, now I think I've fallen in love with the new pattern called 'Royal Rose'.  IN LOVE, real, achey, yearning love!  You know what I'm talking about!  How can I deny my heart its desire?  When I saw this photo I knew I had to have it!

Doesn't it just make you ache?  My walls are pale green, so I'm pretty sure this will work without changing the paint colours.

While her oilcloth tablecloths are a bit pricey, they are worth every single penny!  They last and last.  Yes, they will stain if you spill tomato sauce on it, so I'm quite careful when my kids eat pasta (I just put paper towel under their plates), but even with the odd stains, it holds up well.

Ok, and if you are going to invest in a new table cloth, you need a new apron or two!  Tea towels are an 'INVESTMENT'!

However, I'm not going to the UK till this summer, so I'll have to order them (from now, cause I don't want anything sold out!) and have them shipped to my sister in laws house!  What do you think?  Lovely, huh?

Then, after redecorating my kitchen I must redecorate myself!!   Look at what else I found and MUST HAVE:

Can a girl have too many broaches?

How about a matching handbag?

I have to start saving up for this trip!

Goals...

One of my Goals for 2012 is to write more posts.  I actually do a lot of crafty things, baking, cooking, etc… I mean to take photos of them (Santa even brought me a fancy new camera for Christmas so I wouldn't have to just use my lovely lovely iPhone).

However, ever since I got my new camera, I haven't crafted!  Well thats not true, I painted a beautiful vintage luggage rack a lovely shade of french grey with white trim.  It really turned out quite nice.  Will have to photograph!

Anyway, last few weeks I have been running around taking my kids on auditions.  For the last year and a bit my three kids have wanted to try their hands at acting.  They have actually been taking drama classes for the last 3 years with a very respected seasoned Canadian Actress.

My daughter was in a national commercial shot last february which was just rereleased (can you spell R E S I D U A L S?), and a smaller internet commercial for a health clinic.  Last summer my oldest son shot a great music video for an amazing young local talent called Diamond Rings, and he just got cast in an insurance commercial!  It will shoot sometime this week!  Again, no crafting or camera exercising.  But I guess while I love painting, crafting, JUNKING, etc…I love my kids more, and what makes them happy makes me happy.

Remember this face!

Updating goals for 2012…JUST KEEP SWIMMING...

Yes, Happy New Year, and I know this isn't how I'm supposed to start the year, but this is EXACTLY how I feel!  I am determined for this year, to be 'The Year'.  You know the kind of year I mean?  The year…

The year where I figure out exactly what I want to do with my life.
The year which allows me to finally shine.
The year where I put myself first.
The year where suddenly out of the blue I get my burst of creativity and an equal dose of ambition, which finally lets me do 'that thing' which I've have been meant to do.
Last year was the year which reminded me that I'm getting older.
The year which emphasized that I'm closer to 50 than 45.
The year which pointed out all that everyone else has accomplished.
However, this year will be 'The Year'!

I'm determined to ramble on and on on this blog, even if its meaningless babble…if only to allow some creativity to come through.

When is a collection too much?

I was reading a blog yesterday (but I'm not sure which one...eeeek!) and came across a topic that got me thinking...  However, I have to explain why I dont know which blog I was reading, and therefore cant credit the entertaining and talented author for credit.  I go on my favourite blogs, then I go down their blog lists and click on those, and sometimes I click on the lists of those bloggers.  So by the end of the night I have no idea where I even found the blog I read!  I know its bad, because many a time I've come across a blog I really liked but cant find it again, because I dont have a clear trail to follow.

Why do I ramble so?  So I was reading this ladies blog and her topic was signs and graphic images in a home and if it gets to be too much or not.  It got me thinking, because I really do like signs and graphic images.

When I started decorating my house years ago (its been evolving for a long time) I started out by buying reproduction signs.  As I started going to antique shows (here in Canada (Toronto area) we dont have the great flea markets you Americans do!  Our flea markets only sell socks and cheap  make up!) I started finding some signs which I liked.  Slowly I started buying a piece here and there (as they are pretty pricey).  I'm actually glad I started when I did, because the prices here have gone crazy!  There were very few signs I could actually afford this year!  Luckily I didnt like most of them and thus wasnt tempted to pay.  If I like something...it nags away until I brake down and justify why I should spend crazy money!
As I started collecting nostalgic signs I gave my reproductions away to my sister, as she would always say 'if you dont want that anymore, I'll take it!'.

Last night after reading that blog, I walked around my house and noticed that pretty much all my walls are covered in collections, home made art, or signs!  I cant stand buying ready made art!  Knowing it will be hanging in thousands of other homes takes the joy out of a piece.  Also I'm a snob about cheap print quality.  Unfortunately I cant really afford good art.  Well, its probably fortunate not unfortunate, as I am pretty fickle and fall just as easily OUT of love as in it!

This morning I walked around snapping photos (sorry, just an iphone camera!).  Let me know what you think?  Too many?

Most of them are in the kitchen.  Really my favourite ones are in the kitchen!  I love this sign:

The dealer said he got it on one of his trips to the United States.  Canada is newer and far less populated, so we just dont have the quality and quantity of antiques/vintage goodies you Americans do!

I dont know why my ceiling looks pink!  Since I'm a tea sommellier now (such a proud one at that!) I have collected a few 'tea' signs.   To be honest, they came by me quite accidentally!  I wasnt out trolling for tea signs!  Really!  I went to a nice mans house to pick up a vintage green bread box and vintage plastic cannisters, when we got to talking...when he found out I was into tea, he pulled these things out and sold them to me for pretty good prices.  He was moving and had to get rid of years of his collections.  I could have bought most of his stuff it was so great!  Unfortunately my wallet wouldnt allow it!  Here are three  signs I bought from him:

I bought this one (Three Trees Tea) NOT loving it, but after a few months when I got the next one reframed and hung them together, I LOVED them!

The Red Rose one is an old advertising poster on cardboard.  It was in a kind of ugly frame, so I had my friend who owns a framing/art shop reframe it in a kinda kitchy/country frame which I adore!  What do you think?  Too kitch? Or is it great!!!????

On its own it might not say much, but look at them together.  Doesnt it look good?  Dont feel obliged to   humour me : )

The last sign I bought from this gentleman, was a counter sign used in a tea shop in England.  Many of his vintage pieces he brought over from England.  He had it on his buffet, but I know in my house it would be at the mercy of many grubby fingers, and framing it was the only way I could preserve it!  Also, my counter surfaces are already overflowing!

I bought a white frame from Michaels, and backed it in my favourite Cath Kidston wallpaper.  It hangs over my pantry door:

My newest sign is the last 'tea' sign in my collection.  I found it quite by accident at the last antique show of the 'Toronto' area.  The price wasn't bad and I loved it!!!!  Its painted from underneath a piece of glass (I think).

Its cute! Oh yes it is!!!  I have two more kitchen graphics, one is again a counter sign from an old variety store.  I took the stand off and use it on my wall as a notice board.  Since getting stainless steel appliances, I had no where to put the kids school notes!  I works great for that, but unfortunately its usually covered, so its cuteness is always covered.

Its an old Tums display stand!  Small packages of tums were pegged onto this board and sold!  Do they have Tums in the US?  Its like alka seltzer but without water.  These last two signs hang with my final kitchen graphic.  This is a reproduction poster which I bought a couple of years ago when the posters were rediscovered in England.  I know its a repro but I love it none the less.

Sorry for the blurry shiny image!  They make a nice vignette on the narrow kitchen entry wall.

Hmmm...my Tums sign is just too functional to be attractive!  Form over function must be applied here I think!

The rest of my signs (all of which are on the ground floor of the house-I wonder why I did that?  I think I have to run out and buy more signs for upstairs!) are okay signs, but just signs...they add character but aren't my favourite signs.  What do you think?

Its old, so old in fact, that I have no idea what 'stop 26' is!

Another old, local sign.  It hangs in my husbands study.

I dont have any history on this one.  I bought it from an architectural salvage shop, and they have many many numbers.

This is a heavy old metal double sided Beauty Parlor sign.  Must be American as its Parlor not Parlour. This is the good side, the other side is very very chippy!

This hangs in the living room, which my husband calls my office, but its there to remind him!  My vice is candy!!!  This is the last sign in my collection.  So, too much of a good thing?