Girls Night Out - A Place with Pink and Sparkle

Hopefully the women in my monthly girls night out group will not read this post today because I am trying to keep this a surprise.  Instead of hosting at my house, when they arrive I am whisking them off to a surprise location......my new shop. 

 Some of you will remember my recent post about finding this great piece at a junk shop.  I wanted to use this gorgeous scrubby table when I host the girls. 

Over the past few weeks, business partner Lorraine and I have been so busy setting up the shop and photographing all of the bits, that we have had no time to relax.  But it is almost done, and to celebrate, tomorrow night we are having our monthly Girls Night at the shop.

Using vintage dishes from the shop, I arranged the place settings with pale pink napkins with silver and horn napkin rings.

I'll use the available silverware.......

.......and accessorized the table with bits from my recent trip

The whole table is very girly....

They have all been so wonderfully supportive and full of great ideas for us, I want to create a special evening.

...and transport them away for a little while to a place with pink and sparkle.
I am participating today at Tabletop Thursdays over here at Between Naps on the Porch Blog.

Sunshine Award

Nellie over at McCarthy Design gave me this sunshine award yesterday.  If you have never looked at Nellie's blog, you really must pop over there it is really unique and fulls of interesting bits. You can visit Nellie here.

I have to nominate some other blogs, so here are some of my favourites.  Some are new and you may not have found them yet, so pop over to visit and you will see why I love them.

Attic Mag - Online Magazine

A Creamy White

Cottage On Rosewood

Low Tide High Style

Small Acorns

If you were given this award and you feel like passing it along.

1. copy the picture to your blog.

2. Pass it on to your favourite blogs

3. Notify them that they have been awarded.

Thanks so much Nellie, I appreciate you reading my blog and giving me this sunshiney award.

Scrumptious Ruffles

Yesterday I posted on the talented Li from A Creamy White whose scrumptious ruffled pillows I had been admiring.  While Flea marketing this weekend, I came across a very non-vintage find.  This beautiful ruffled pillow cover pictured above was buried in a pile of nasty old bits.  I may have passed it by previously, but after seeing how gorgeous these ruffles look in Li's house, my eye went right to it.

After a good washing it came out fresh and bright.

I rather like it with my wacky floral pillow I picked up last week.

It looks fresh and Spring-y on my white sofa.  And it was only $8....

There is a tag sewn in.  It says Elena Brunelli.  I have never heard of this designer/manufacturer, but it is very well made.

I am thinking how pretty this would be in pale, pale pink......

I added a feather insert to give it the right amount of Squish.

I am linking to White Wednesday at Faded Charm Cottage

Ruffled

A few weeks ago I came across the blog A Creamy White owned by the sweet and creative Li.  I was first captivated by this woman as she sews ruffles.  Ruffled pillows, ruffles on her shower curtain.  I poured over the pictures and was so envious of someone who could sew so patiently and beautifully.

This is her shower curtain.  See how many ruffles!  That yards and yards of fabric.

All images with permission from Li at A Creamy White

Look how lovely they are on her bed.  She even posted a how-to, but, for me it was more of a "oh, how I really can't do that".  Then out of the blue mixed in with a random bunch of old vintage bits, I found a gorgeous ruffled pillow slip on the weekend.  I will post a picture tomorrow as I am washing it and I wanted you to have a look at the real handmade thing (mine is mass produced I think) and take a look t Li's other gorgeous things she makes and her blog.  You can go here to meet Li if you haven't done so yet. 

A bit of my art

Hand felted and hand embellished beads

To call myself a fiber artist is perhaps a little self indulgent.  I have sold a few pieces and gifted a few more, but it is not something I persue as anything more than a hobby at the moment.  I have always loved textiles, especially wool, and particularly raw wool.  I love the differences in sheeps wool. Felting occurs when you add soap and aggitation to raw wool.  No stiches, no glue.  It is the oldest form of fabric, first occurring when tribal peoples placed raw wool on horses backs. 

"This piece titled "Porridge" is #2 in my series of “white on white” felt art. Hand felted, using wet felting techniques, it is constructed of 100% pure Corriedale and Alpaca wools. I love working within the confines of simple white wool as it has a raw earthy-ness, and demands that I interpret it with relief, dimension and texture. Using felted “tiles” allows me to explore scale, balance and rhythm in composing the final piece. The wool is basic, naturally colored, warm, wholesome, un-processed, earthy, raw, old fashioned, comforting and organic-hence the name Porridge." 

 Wow did that sound a bit like an infomercial?  Sorry!  It was actually the blurb that accompanied this piece when it was shown in the Greenwood Gallery in Guelph.  I had three pieces accepted into this juried show. 

Two years ago, I decided "why cook dinner and clean my house?" in my non working hours, when I could sew thousands of tiny glass beads onto hand made felt beads and trade them with other fiber art fanatics around the world (Fiber Art Traders)  I did a few trades, and these were 3 sets that I traded.  The 3sets I got in return are all hanging on my crazy capezi shell light fixture at the cottage, so I will have to photograph those another day when the cottage opens up.

I seldom felt now.  I do miss it (not the barn like smell that comes with the raw wool) and will do some more pieces, but I a waiting for both the time and inspiration.

Make no mistake.......I would have fought you for this!

I was out Saturday with my business partner Lorraine to a warehouse full of old toilets, discarded kitchens and smelly old sofa's. Not really my thing, but Lorraine loves salvage, so off we went. Part way through the warehouse while I was feigning interest, Lorraine gets that look...the one she gets when she finds something exciting...wide eyes, mad grin...non verbal gestures so no-one else will catch on that we found a treasure. And treasure it was.

 Not one, but 2, massive 10 foot long work tables. They have the metal fold down legs, but the juxtaposition with those steel legs and scrubbly tops makes them very Modern Vintage.

How fabulous is that worn peely paint and exposed wood

Anyway, we immediately summoned a sales person and staked our claim. But we made a big mistake.  We took our eyes off the tables and continued shopping. 

 When we finally made it to the cash, we were just in the nick of time.  A gentleman (hmnn, maybe not) who was right by us (and listening to us when we were telling the sales lady to hold them for us), was at the cash desk trying to buy them.  We had the tags in our hands, and it was only because the cashier was calling overhead for a price check that we realised what he was trying to buy!

The other one is red and scrubby and equally lovable.

Well, as proper scrappy table lovers will do, we rushed right to the front of the lineup and loudly( and a little forcefully) pronounced ourselves as the rightful owners and called upon the original sales clerk for backup.

It ended well. He made a quiet and rapid retreat.

But...just in case you, that gentleman, are reading this....make no mistake....

.........I would have fought you for these ....

Pretty in Pink

I have always had a love for hotelware because it is so rugged and a lot chunkier than most china.  Vitresol or hotel/restaurant china has been specially glazed to withstand the harsh environment of the service industry.

 

Very occasionally I have come across it in pink.  The palest pink like these cups from J. Meakin and Sons.  I found them in such an old shop, the staircase was leaning literally 20 degrees to the right!

This huge pink pitcher and tiny pink creamer were really unusual finds too.

I have a thing for pale pink and silver.

Giveaway at Marley and Lockyer

If you haven't already discovered the blog of Ness Lockyer here is a quick link.  Ness has a great etsy shop too with some gorgeous vintage inspired goods such as these clay gift tags.  Ness is holding a giveaway of 2 of her pillow covers and a set of these gift tags.  Worth checking out her blog, and not just for the giveaway... it's a great blog.

Fresh, Modern Vintage.

I am so excited about the shop, I just had to give you all one more peek.  Lorraine and  I spent 6 hours today sorting through our bits and pieces.  As certain areas came together, we started to elininate items we felt weren't in keeping with the feel we want to create, or the products we want to stock.  We kept asking the same questions.  Is it Fresh, Clean, Simple or Modern Vintage? We don't want a Granny attic.  Although our shop will be primarily an online shop, we plan have 4 "markets" a year, so we have been painstakenly styling the shop. 

Rhubarb- It's a color

Images from www.homeandproperty.co.uk and www.sarahrichardsondesign.com

Today I was fabric shopping in a showroom and a color kept popping out at me.  Rhubarb.  Not pink, not red.  Somewhere in between.  Perfectly in between.

  

Robert Allen has a whole colorway called Rhubarb.  See how pretty it is with cream.

Rosie Daykin used it here in her daughter India's bedroom in a leopard print.

I reupholstered this old chair in Robert Allen Rhubarb Paisley from Italy for my son's girlfriend.

Being a neutral girl around my house, I suddenly wanted a bit of this Spring like color in my home.  I found this big down filled pillow with a rhubarb colored floral print.

And then I found this milky glass lamp with a rhubarb damask shade...

...and I thought it would work well on my scrubby old table in my living room.

I noticed the color elsewhere in my house.....

.......and had my coffee in a vintage rhubarb and white cup....

I am participating in Friday Furniture over at http://www.missmustardseed.blogspot.com/

and Show and Tell Friday at http://www.romantichome.blogspot.com/

Peeking into the Shop

I thought you may like a sneak peak into the shop.  

Inspirational Shop Atelier September

I came across this gorgeous website yesterday for a Danish Shop called Atelier September.  This cabinet reminded me of the cabinet that Mary from the blog Vintage home and Garden.  You can see her cabinet  here . I found this great shop on another blog which I have promptly added to my blog list.  It is called Carte Blanc and you can visit it here .

Scrubby wood.....my favourite

Modern vintage...

Symmetry and balance....

table for 12..........

The photography is wonderful.  Look at the seemingly casual arrangement of these chairs.

All images from http://www.atelierseptember.dk/