A Crown

It started with a crown. 

I have been looking for a crown stamp for years.  Since 2007 to be exact.  I looked on ebay - $15.00 plus shipping to Canada = wayyyy to much $$ for a little stamp.  I have looked for years,.... yes years.   Every time I went into Michaels I checked the stamp department I could never find one.  Dissapointment every time. 

Yesterday....... A Crown!!!

Near the ground in a bin, low to the ground (think bottom bin) and it was recognizable to me.

Do you recognize it yet??

More "Treasures by Shabby Chic"at Michael's, this time feature a crown motif and a flowers.

 Cutest of all,

Facial Tissues!!  I have yet to open one but I probably will soon.

Note Cards:

with beautiful aqua envelopes and a bow. 

It was a delightful find.  I have one complaint though, I wish there was some some sort of notice when new product arrives.  I was just lucky to look down and find my crown.  I guess part of the fun is the find.

Oh yes, the crown was$1.50 and it was 20% off day(!)  It turns out after all these years it was worth waiting for.

Patricia

Better Late Than Never

It has been cold this year and rainy and as a result my peony's were late.  Better late than never when it's a peony.

They were extraordinary this year. 

I love the heartshaped petals. 

I purchased a double white peony and when it bloomed it was a single petal pink.  I hate false peony advertising!

I love the scent of a peony but no one seems to be able to replicate it in a perfume without it smelling fake.  If you know of a great one let me know. 

Patricia

Bedroom

I moved into a new room for my bedroom about 2 months ago and I finally finished it today.

Sometimes a large space is harder to decorate and this is large and awkward in places.

There is an area in the room which I treated as an office area.

This was my first ever foray into garage sales.  I traded an ugly pair of curtains for this, it's a fish tank holder.  I painted it, added a mirror to the top and glass to the bottom.  I have had it for about 15 years and it always works itself into a room (and looks good despite it's pedigree!).

My favourite Sid Dickens tiles, on top of a shelf that looks better on a table than on a wall.

I wasn't sure what to put above my bed, but the yard long Paul deLongpre won out.



I needed some Anthro pizazz to shake the room up a bit.  I found an amazing lampshade at winners that looked like Anthro without the high cost.

It's not crewel work, just the pattern so it wasn't so expensive.

I added a shelf with some treasures.

I added a few blue crystals to the chandelier which was in the room before me.

It's large which stumped me, but it's finally coming together. I know

 curtains would soften the space, I'm planning a trip to the states this summer and I think the Simply Shabby Chic drapes at Target will work. This room is soft, light and not cluttered which is what I always need in my bedroom.

I will keep working on it, but at least now it makes me smile.

Until next time,

Patricia

I will be sharing this with:  Fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com

Myromantichome.blogspot.com

Paperx2

I went to the mountains of British Columbia on the weekend and accomplished nothing, sorry I haven't posted in a while.

I forgot to show what I did  with the other Treasures by Shabby Chic wrapping paper (the first one can be found at http://whitecottagechic.blogspot.com/2011/06/shabby-chic-rescue.html )  The one I didn't use on the dresser.

I adore this pattern.

I know it is not for everyone, but for me it's wonderful.  On the way home from purchasing I realized the beige in the pattern was exactly the same colour as my cabinet.

I taped it on the back, which added some texture to the cabinet, which it needed.



There are only two patterns (that I could find) of this paper but I feel like I put both to great use. 

Dear Rachel Ashwell:  These patterns should be made into wallpaper so I can add them everywhere else!

Sincerely,

Patricia

The Shabby Chic Rescue

I blame this.

This beautiful aqua pillow.  It got me loving aqua and in turn thinking I needed to add it to ........ something. 

A few weeks ago I showed my painted dresser project

I love it but the overall effect has been so white.  I noticed this when I took a picture of my daughter in vibrant colours and the room behind her glowed white. I thought adding colour to the dresser would work.  I thought I would add a bit of wallpaper ( could not find any I like),  those wall sticky things (never any in my taste ) and then I decided to look for a stamp of a damask pattern (which was no where), then I looked for a damask stencil.  Aargh! Nothing.

Then that damn beautiful pillow made me think I needed aqua and off to Home Depot I went.  This is what I did.

And this,

I sat down to look after I was done and realized it was a green not blue aqua.  It grated on me for the entire 6 days it lasted (It was wrong because I  have no greens here, blues, grays, pinks but no green.  There may be a reason for that, green never seems to work for me).

Yesterday I was by Michael's so I thought I would check for a damask stamp, but no.  Then I thought maybe I would look for wrapping paper and see if anything there would work.

A Shabby Chic Rescue!!  Treasures by Shabby Chic gift wrap.  Huh. 

I looked at it and realized I could make it work. 

I like the grey and white almost damask pattern and decided the grey would be a definite improvement over the green.  I applied it with mod podge

I repainted all the green pale grey.  It was exactly what it ( and I ) needed.

To me the grey looks french and subtle.

It is my little corner of France.

My favourite candle holder.  Once a weigh scale (like a justice weight),  it was my first garage purchase, .50 cents.  I pulled it apart, glued it together in a more appealing combination, then silver leafed it.  The crystals are from the grocery store.  

I like this all so much better.  It was a lesson I needed to learn.

No more green. 

Until next time

Patricia

I will be sharing this with:
http://www.fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/

Lamp redo

A few years ago my Mom gifted me with a large, beautiful mercury glass lamp with a large black and white shade.

It's a beautifully detailed shade but the black and white isn't working in my bedroom.  I really needed a solution and couldn't find one.  I tried to do ruffles, an epic fail.  I was inspired by  this amazing shade done by;

http://4theloveofwood.blogspot.com/

 I tried to replicate it ( using a mix of white ribbon and a black pin) but I couldn't find anything that made me happy, or would work, or was the right size. 

It's been bothering me for weeks, fabric would be draped, and discarded, ribbon wrapped and unwrapped.  Everything I tried was either too sheer, too small for the overall size of the shade or wasn't what I was looking for.

  I hid the lamp in a corner out of frustration. 

I adore inspiration, I knew an idea will bubble up and save me and it finally did.  I have a set of unused curtains and I realized if I folded it in half it would cover the black and white pattern.

After washing and ironing I rolled and then taped the top down. Pinned the edge to the fabric.

Easy

The result was perfect

I like it so much I took the lamp out of the corner.

Until next time,

Patricia

Frenchy Bathroom

We only have one full bathroom in this condo so it gets a lot of use.  It has been looking better since it was painted, but it was missing something.

 I found something last weekend at Homesense.

$16.00 on sale and exactly the design pow this bathroom needed.  After ironing I put it up and it was perfect.

The punch of black in a beige bathroom was exactly what it needed.  I already had some frenchy items in the bathroom so it just tied it all together.

I store makeup remover pads and q-tips here and I love that they are hidden and it looks girly.

I found a clock in the fall that I colourwashed with grey matte paint mixed with water which gives it a milk paint look.

I love a clock in the bathroom, and this one was a nice frenchy find but it needed a final touch. 

I had a fleur-de-lis pin that just needed to be on the clock.

I love the splash of black in here.

Wellington

 

 The new towel rod, from the restore now fits here.  It has all come together so easily, and this little beige bathroom finally has some style and design focus.

I think the big part of reworking a room is finding the one item that gives it a wow. The shower curtain brought together a bunch of disparate items, gave it the wow and make it shine.  It is a hit, I know this  because even my teenager is working to keep it clean. 

Until next time,

Patricia