Mixed Media and Penmanship Art

One of my favorite things is old penmanship and faded papers.

Another is gardening and painting so they are brought together

in this new grouping (new series) of mixed media prints

that I am offering on at my Dictionaryreader shop

This French girl spreads love and gardening cheer

by planting her gardens in heart shapes.

I am ready for Spring and all of the bulbs

and tubers that push their noses up through the 

winter weary soil

Spring is like the opening of the treasure box

and the treasure box being the garden.

All kinds of jewels shimmer and sway!

Not to mention fragrance.

Downton Abbey Silver Holiday Decorating Tabletop

Simple decorating ideas are my kind

of decorating. I have these silver plated cups

that I call my Downton Abbey Cups..

They are just vintage silver cups

but I am sure they have lots of stories to tell.

(They will look more like Downton Abbey

on white linen!)

Place each cup in a circle like a wreath

and fill each with boxwood cuttings.

If you are a gardener that is the same

as saying each are filled with cheer.

If only boxwood rooted quickly

like say, mint!  

Old silver has such character!

The combination of brown, silver and gray

with some shimmer and some dull areas

has such appeal to me.

These almost blend into the tabletop.

Beautifully burnished is the best description for the cups.

Happiness is a table full of family and friends

good food helps too,

so I guess I should be looking for new dishes to make

the usual dishes are comforting but it's always good to

have a few surprises each year.

I stumbled upon a cookbook by 
Sam Choy

at a Goodwill store and it was $1.30 

Now I have the recipe for Payapa Dressing!

The list of secret ingredients is in my kitchen.

All photographs are my own from Instagram.

Connecting up with:
   Between Naps on the Porch
Coastal Charm
Common Ground

Pastel Napkins

The softest colors of summer on the table.

I've always wanted to add a soft teal

to our home somewhere

and here it is in the form

of candy teal cotton napkins
that I made myself 

Sweet and light.

My oldest son went to the
emergency room Friday and
just got out of the hospital yesterday.
I'm glad he is back home and
feeling better after surgery! 

Linking up with French Country Cottage.

Sweet Farmhouse Country Whites

I can knit, but I am not great at it and the tension is all over the chart. So, it was a sweet deal to bring this vintage sweater home for five dollars. It's made of wool, mohair and acrylic. It is so soft and lightweight and great for a cool summer evening like tonight. Isn't this white kitten precious? More softness and beauty. White flowers make even dirty barns look beautiful...or at least I think so.
Connecting up with White Wednesday,   Katherine's Corner,  Common Ground,  and French Country Cottage

Dreamy White Diningroom

Simplify and beautify with whites.  This buffet table usually looks like a flea market table in my diningroom, but I took everything off and only put back on the silver tea set and a tureen. I like it so much better as it looks dansk/norsk and so calming because it's uncluttered. I am trying to simplify. I have a burlap tablecloth on for now. The texture adds some rustic texture. The vintage silver tea set makes it my Downton Abby corner.

About this time an idea came to change it around every week and photograph this wall. What do you think? Am I crazy? It would be a good design challenge. Shabby chic whites!

Connecting up with Faded Charm Cottage
 French Country Cottage
 Romantic Home

 Ivy and Elephants

Spring Whites All Year Long

I am fine and still in love with chippy and vintage whites! Spring, family and farming keep a person lively and busy. I will try to get on more often. Big word here is "try." Everything is bursting in the yard and more trimming is needed.

Aren't these whites lovely? The birdbath has rust and charm and room for water or use it as a shallow planter. The love seat is so pretty without arms. Vintage typewriters have such charm...especially when they work. And this sweet petticoat is unique in the way it's made. I would love to wear this under a slightly shorter skirt with cowboy boots! A girl would feel and look feminine whatever the setting. These beauties are from Luckett's Store which is always filled to the brim with tantalizing things.

I am connecting up with White Wednesday. Hop on over and take a look at lots of lovely whites on Faded Charm Cottage blog. You won't be disappointed. Also linking up with Wow Us Wednesday and What's It Wednesday

Chippy White in the Greenhouse

A very beautiful chippy white chair.
In the perfect place.
A greenhouse.
Aqua blue hose: Accessory.

Connecting with:

White Wednesday
Common Ground
French Country Cottage

Ivy and Elephants

Beautiful Breakfasts

This breakfast was like eating dessert. So early in the morning I felt guilty. Truth be told it is thick creamy-vanilla, greek yogurt with fresh strawberries and honey drizzled on top. Delicious. I made this the last two mornings and it is heavenly and only cost about 75 cents. It's very easy on the eyes if you are not a morning person. Gone are the days where we raced around the kitchen counter and grabbed a banana or just a cup of coffee and dashed out the door. I always seemed to spill the coffee somewhere on myself. Before I even got to work. Trying to consume food when the stress meter is bouncing off of the top of the meter every time we look at the clock is not good. Drinking coffee in stop and go traffic is not good. I am still in a rush in the 'moronings (my word for frantic mornings) but I just eat breakfast later after the rush, but still before lunch!

Shabby Roses Pink Dreams Digital Art

We've had a great weekend with family. Cooking and more cooking. Taking pictures. I did a little planting outside with some peony roots that I had and didn't want them to die before they got in the ground. The color of the peonies? PINK.

I've always wanted to play with my photographs and make them more artistic. Tonight I took an old photograph of my silver vases with white roses and merged it with a photograph of my vintage silver platter for texture. Instant charm. These were merged on photoshop and then I went to the channel mixer and made the colors more red and I couldn't believe how dreamy the photo looks now. Digital art. I think I am hooked! It's faded, pink and textured...plus it's of roses. It's a win win!

Sharing with The House in Roses

Eileen Blue White Floral China England

The sweetest old china platter

It's old, but new for me and this blue

and white says SPRING.

Now I know why Mother's always

want their kids to eat everything...

because the plates are so beautiful!

Any food would look good on this platter.

W.H. Grindley made these dishes.

Do you see the cruise ship on top

of the globe?

It cost me only pennies and it dates

between 1891 and 1914.

This dish has been around!

I wish I knew alot more about

old pottery houses in England.

Some trade mark stamps

identified here at The Potteries

Connecting with:

Vintage Inspiration Friday

The Shabby Nest Frugal Friday

Feathered Nest Friday

My Romantic Home

The Charm of Home

Farmhouse Friday

Two Beautiful Blogs

I have found two beautiful white decorating blogs that I want to share with you. Det Vita's blog is full of wonderful whites and lovely photography.

Also visit Tina's blog at Me and My Shed. Isn't this picture fabulous of her conservatory that she calls her "shed?" If only I had a shed this gorgeous. After visiting these blogs you won't be singing the blues...you'll be singing the dazzling whites!

I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays! Won't be long til school starts again unless we get lots of snow.

French Garden Leaf Combinations

Floral arranging doesn't always mean using flowers for me. I use what nature provides at this time of year in our yard. I love texture and different leaf sizes and shapes. If you are a gardener you are your own florist and designer. How fun is that? I aim for it to be fun! And pretty.




When I have to throw hay to the sheep I like to pick a few things on my way out to the barn and a few more on the way back. I used the hydrangea leaf as the plate or vase and added the arrangement on top. The gray is hidcote lavender, the orange is dragon head, a chestnut and a pinch of the tip of a fir tree branch. A sweet little garden vignette on a leaf.




Nature offers so many beautiful colors to work with. I am amazed at how beautiful everything is when we stop and really take a look. Just because some plants have died down there are still lots of pretties out there in the garden.






The chestnut is smiling for us here on a chestnut leaf and an added hydrangea flower. Browns and golds and creams. I think it's romantic, but I do like vintage botanicals. Even faded ones.




You know those little brown glass bottles you get your flavorings in, here they are as vases. They even look vintage! They look like ink bottles here with quills in them.




A beech leaf with a ornamental grass head and a liriope leaves tied in a bow around the base. I wanted it to resemble an anthirium! Well, it looks like a rather radical anthirium...like one I've never seen before.

Connecting up with friends at:
Feathered Nest Friday
Potpourri Friday
Inspiration Friday
Fridays Unfolded
Farm Friend Friday
My Romantic Home
The Rose Garden
Designer Garden
Simply Creations Friday

Shabby White Furniture and Linens

To walk into these bedrooms in the Beekeepers Cottage is like being awake in a good dream. You can linger in the light as cloud rooms.






The linens, cottons, and burlap are touchable and ready for you to purchase. Tempting and beautiful and they would fit right into my dream cottage. How I loved everything there.





The backs of these steps have the prettiest rose paper or linoleum on them. Unfortunately the stairwell was not for sale. Wouldn't you feel like a princess going up and down the staircase? It would remind you to smell the roses.





This pillowcase with the triple rows of lace were gorgeous.





All of the furniture has been refinished to white or gray. Oh la la! My husband is afraid that our bedroom might be this full one day.



This decorative pillow is so cute. It looks like rows of opened bias tape stitched into flower shapes. One side of the tape had a metallic sheen to it which would really sparkle in candlelight.





The folks at the Beekeepers cottage are full of creativity! This is a different stairwell in the old farmhouse with a mosaic all along the wall. Do you see the silver spoon and beads? The broken ceramic dolls and lids? Whimsical! I had the biggest smile on my face the whole time I was there. When you first enter the rooms are sparkling with jewelry but I edged by the crowd for the furniture and linens.

Mercury Glass Style White Decor

Vintage Mercury glass you can just order online! The sparkle and glow adds cheer to any white decor or farmhouse! This gorgeous vintage mercury glass lamp is from Pottery Barn. You can order online or walk into store. The burlap lampshade adds just the right shabby touch.




Look at this duvet cover! Maybe I need this to complete the look. Yes, absolutely.




These votive mercury glass candle holders are only 5.00 each and there are many different styles.





Sweet canisters. Wouldn't these look great for the holidays? From West Elm.




Candles add a romantic touch to any room. Food seems to taste better by candlelight. They bring blood pressure down, and bring a calm.

Sweet mercury glass napkin rings. I want to buy some of these and take them off of the napkin rings and put some on a curtain rod. I could sew them onto the top of my curtain panel? I noticed some companies call mercury glass "mirror glass".

Now that it has turned cold we are looking around the rooms here and thinking we need to decorate and rearrange.

Mini Salvage Window Greenhouse Handmade

Isn't this adorable and just the right size for starting some cuttings and seedlings? Maybe you could just have a little bed of lettuce greens in here? I am in love with this homemade, frugal, chippy white one that I saw recently! I went out to the barn and saw a few windows in the corner from when the orginal windows were replaced from the house! Yippeee! (If you don't have old windows you could always use clear plastic and some two by fours.) We are trying to keep ahead of the cold and keep growing.

Vintage Dolls

Can you imagine how these sweet dolls carried on with tea parties and catwalk fashion shows, although I don't think they called them that back in the early 1900's. Such smiling faces and bright eyes...they look as though they are still reminiscing.






This doll still has her original hat.




Each doll is waiting to be adopted at Lucketts Store in Virginia! Such a fun place to visit and each room is loaded with charm. On the very top level which is the tippy top of the attic are shelves of vintage lace, shams, tablecloths and more. The vendor told me that most of the linen is from Germany and they are so nice!

Inside and outside Lucketts' makes an impression!

White Picket Fences and Paper Dolls

I love these little miniature white wooden picket fences. So sweet and they say cottage charm. (Haven't you heard them?) I like to rearrange this little fence with different vignettes of paper dolls and animals. So much fun can be possible with a pen, paper and scissors. This would look so sweet in a nursery, but I actually have this in my dining room at present. I collected moss from out in the shady garden. We love to bring greens inside when it turns chilly. This is the tiniest clay pot they make I think, but so cute. My little giraffe says, "Hi. How are you? Let's party."




We have to include our westie dog most of the time with my paper dolls. A boy and his dog!





Sometimes our kitty gets to babysit them, but usually ends up bathing them.





These roses were white with pink edges. I dried them and I think they still look pretty.





Miniature fence, miniature clothespins. This looks like a fairy fence with their flower petal aprons out to dry.

There are so many more little decorating ideas for these little picket fences. I've seen them stitched onto collages and on canvas.

I hope you had a little fun here with me. Be sure to stop by Faded Charm to
see all of the other White Wednesday posts as there are many white cottage decorating ideas and gorgeous photographs. All photographs here I've taken myself, no small feat. Have a great week!