Artful Blogging Summer 2014

Hope you all enjoyed a joyful Easter!  We had family in town visiting and it was wonderful, followed by a week's vacation for the kids.  Now I'm getting back into our routine, and I wanted to share some fun news with you.  Back in January, I was contacted by Christine Stephens, the editor of Stampington's Artful Blogging magazine.  She asked if I'd like to contribute an article, and of course I was thrilled to do so!

It will be published in the Summer 2014 issue, set to hit newsstands May 1st.  I received my artist's copy last week, and it's a great issue.  I was super excited to see that Maria from Rusty Hinge also had a article in this issue.  I love her blog!

It is so surreal to see my words and photos in a magazine, and this was a fun article to write.  I shared a treasure hunting story that I knew fellow bloggers could appreciate.  :)

(so cool to get a shout-out on the cover!)

We're finally seeing some spring blooms around here, so thought I'd give you a look at some vibrant forsythias on our dining table:

And I couldn't resist these soft-colored carnations at the grocery store today...

Happy spring!

At Home with White - 2014

This past weekend I was so fortunate to spend a lovely morning at the Wrentham Country Store's annual At Home with White Event.  It was better than ever!  My first visits were in 2011 and 2012, and I was so happy to return this year.  Sandi and all the shop girls did an amazing job in that gorgeous white tent.  I'll let you take a peek around...

(that rusty stool came home with me!)

One of the highlights of the day was meeting Kris from Junk Chic Cottage.  She and her hubby Terry came all the way from Chicago!  Kris was such a joy to meet!  She had a warm, bubbly personality, just as you would expect from her friendly blog.  Terry was such a good sport, taking lots of photos with all our cameras and helping Kris score some treasures.  She and Terry arrived early in the morning on Saturday, and from what we hear - it was a mob scene!  By the time Michelle and I arrived around 10:30am, the place was hopping and the lines were long.  Way to go WCS shop girls!

Here's a photos of us bloggers.  It's hard to believe that Michelle, Sandi and I all met at this very same spot just 3 years ago!

(Michelle, Kris, me, Sandi - photo courtesy of Michelle)

We spent so much more time chatting than shopping (shame on us), and I was a bad blogger by not getting any indoor shots or pictures of the gorgeous porch.  I was too busy ooohing and aahing over everything!
Michelle did get a picture with her camera as we visited inside with sweet Karen.  Karen used to blog at Shabby Moment in Time, but she hasn't found the 'time' for that these days.  :)

Ladies, it was a joy to spend that morning with you - laughing, hugging and talking about sour cream in freezers and such (funny story Kris!).  We advised Kris and Terry to check out Concord, MA on Sunday and I'm sure Kris will fill you in on that visit, especially since she stopped in at the wonderful Nesting store.

My sweet sister Michelle lives nearby and she joined us, too, and even scored a cute Victorian chair.  It was fun shopping with you sis!  (darn, wish we got a photo together)

So...wondering what I brought home?  3 fabulous treasures!
This rusty stool and this chippy old box...

Look closely at their fabulous patinas....sigh....

I also nabbed these vintage math flash cards.  Thought I'd make a vignette on the stool using the flash cards and some $1 baker's twine I found at Target recently:

Well ladies, it was a wonderful time to be had at the event - all those whites never disappoint.  Oh and Jan from Todd Farm, if you're reading this it was so nice to see you!  You ran off and we never got to chat more with you.  You looked amazing and we hope you scored some treasures.

I'm joining in at these great parties this week:
Blissful Whites Wednesday
Grey Dey Thursdey
Be Inspired Friday
Feathered Nest Friday
Shabbilicious Friday

Fun with Stencils and At Home with White this weekend!

Hello friends!
First off I wanted to let you know that the spectacular At Home with White event is this weekend at the Wrentham Country store!!!  Woo hoo!  Are you jumping up and down?  If you are in the area, please make sure you don't miss this annual extravaganza.  I've been twice (see here and here) and have been amazed at all the yummy white and neutral treasures to be found.
Once again, Michelle and I are making a trip down to Wrentham and we are looking forward to seeing Sandi & all the WCS gang there, as well as meeting Kris who's travelling all the way from Chicago!!

The only challenge will be to stop hugging and chatting and laughing in order to snag treasures before some other lucky shopper grabs them!

I also want to share with you results of a recent project.  Some of you may recall that our dining table, chairs and buffet are a dark mahogany.  That finish was a compromise reached by hubby and I many years ago.  I'm not fond of warmer wood tones and he's not fond of too much painted furniture.  Bless him, he puts up with a lot of white in this old house.
Nevertheless, I grew tired of looking at those dark chair backs in our dining room.  Slipcovers to the rescue!  I had already covered the backs of 2 armchairs, and decided to cover the rest.  I simply stencilled on some words to canvas dropcloth using letter stencils and a black fabric marker.  I wanted them to look French grain sacky (is that an adjective?).
Here is the result...

I continued having fun with stencils by making these little bags from more canvas drop cloth:

They look right at home next to a bunch of lavender in this old fruit crate.

I got the lavender at the cutest Frenchy shop nearby, called Brissonte.  Michelle and I took a fun shopping trip there yesterday, as well as an antiques mall next door.  I got this funnel there, just because I liked the patina.  A woman in the store asked what I would do with it.  She and another gentleman thought it would be fun for a Tin Man costume.  I'll just display it for now, but will keep that in mind next Halloween!

I also found these lovely vintage bobins at the antiques mall.  Heavenly...

Well friends, hope to see you Saturday at the At Home with White event.  We'll be sure to post lots of photos of the event next week!

I'm joining in at these great parties:
Grey Dey Thursdey
Be Inspired Friday
Feathered Nest Friday
Shabbilicious Friday