A Bright and Shiny New Year

Hello, and happy new year to all who wander on to here, or the handful of readers that come. We started out new year the same as always, with brunch in Berkeley and to get our 3 for $10.00 calendars. Since then, it has been a cozy rainy month and I've been dreaming up little creations with embroidery, especially after I finished the special order that I was talking about in my previous posts. They were really fun to do, and it makes me want to make sure to include interesting embroidery in more of my garments. I have always found embroidery so soothing and fun to do. I recently went to Japan town in SF and bought some really cute embroidery books to be inspired. The Japanese sure know how to do cute, in a tasteful way.

In case you are wondering about my cups that are photographed, I had a major mishap the other day!!! I put that amaryllis in the corner by the cups, and one morning, as I was walking out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee and my breakfast, I start to hear something sliding. Before I could do anything, my beloved cup and saucer crashed to the floor. This one was my favorite of all four, and was purchased in Versailles by my dad for my birthday, back in 1993. When we were living in Paris, I had a mishap with the saucer and chipped it. I was able to replace it there, but was told that this one was not being made anymore and very difficult to find. Of course this one would have to fall :(   I quickly hopped on E-Bay and found one though, thank goodness! It's on its way now, but it won't have the cool marking on the bottom that was from the museum in Versailles.  Having now learned my lesson, I think I'm going to move these, because this mistake was quite costly!!! I also need to bolt this piece of furniture to the wall in case of an earthquake.

All those beautiful lemons in the basket are from the backyard. I recently had friends come up with good ideas for all these lemons. I plan on implementing a few, like freezing them whole then grating them over food. The other is to freeze the juice for recipes. I would like to try and preserve some of them, but I just don't have the space sadly.

Recently we went to see a couple of movies that are nominated for an Oscar this year. One was the "Revenant," the other was "Brooklyn." Loved both of them. Brooklyn was such an eye candy film and so romantic and sweet. If Leo doesn't win best actor for Revenant, then there is just no justice. I think the only other movie I saw that is nominated was "Mad Max." I really liked that film, so I'm happy that it got nominated also. Tell me which ones you have seen other than I have listed and let me know which ones you liked.

Happy new year again, and hope everyone has a great one with good health and much happiness.

How I Spent My Christmas Money

 I have been looking at Jess Quinn's work on Etsy for a while now, and decided to buy one of her very charming dolls with my Christmas money. Lots of really pretty details and quality of craftsmanship in this little lady.

 Since I'm a sucker for Liberty of London, It made my decision a bit easier to choose her because of her little skirt and of course her darling little face. She came all tissued and naturally perfumed with dried lavender. She now has a nice spot in the living room, until I get my work space sorted out, and then she will join all my other little toys.

Last weekend Caitlin and I completed our little bunnies. Now all we need to do is glue them to their little stands. They were a lot of fun to make, and both of them turned out quite differently, which makes it more fun I think.

We nick-named this mourning dove "Mable," she decided to make a nest right by our garage. At first I thought this was a really bad idea when I saw them starting to build it, but they did a much better building job, than I have seen other doves do. She/He, freaks out each time the garage opener goes off, but then settles back down into the nest, once they realize that no one is going to harm them. Should be cute to see the little babies soon chirping away!
Today it was 80 degrees, and summer feeling instead of spring. Which is making it easy for me to cut out more cute spring/summer items.
Thought I'd pop in to say hi, and take a break from laundering all the new fabric!

I just had to show you this

I'm not by any stretch of the imagination, a doll collector, but when I saw this little cutie at a local thrift shop, I had to take her home. I probably paid too much but since the thrift shop is for the hospice, I don't feel to badly about shelling out $20.00 dollars for her. There was something about her little face that spoke to me.
If there are any collectors out there who may know anything about this type of doll, please leave me a message. The only tag in it, says that it was made in the Soviet Union. The lace looks quite old. The buttons are shell, and the fabrics are really nice. Both the vest and skirt are made of cotton sateen. The shoes are really cute too, though not made of leather, the fabric really looks like it.
As I took it home, I started to wonder about its story. There seems to be a large population of Russian people in our town, so perhaps it came with a family when they emigrated here, I'll never know, but it is fun to think up stories on how she did make it here. I have a couple of old toys in my work space that she now sits with. The inner little girl in me is very happy to have found her.

Liberty of London Overload

I bought the trench coat.......
A quilt for Caitlin's bed
These pretty mugs......
This darling little nightie ....
Had to have the dress too!
David bought the shirt, and a different tie than the one above, because that is for Pierre.
Loved this canister too.

So, to say we went a little nuts with Liberty of London, is an understatement! Not pictured are cute boxer shorts too, that David got. Today, Nicole called and asked us to pick up the trench coat for her too, and the dress that went with it. I decided that I would like the dress as well, so David made a trek back to Target and picked one up for her,and for me. Oh, lets not forget that Caitlin got one of the shirts for Cyrous. I think we should all dress up in our Liberty of London duds and take a picture.

I was complaining to a lady in the store that I was mad at the people that came at 8:30, and wiped out the housewares. I'm saying this, as my entire cart is filled with all of the above!

I think we did alright don't you think?!

On another note, I'm starting to walk much better, and I even forgot the cane in the kitchen at one point, as I walked into the living room. Things are getting much better.

Been meaning to show you these

I mentioned that my husband gave me a gift that was too big, and had to be returned didn't I? Well, here it is! It is a pink tourmaline/silver ring. They really had to hunt it down, because they are a bit limited in supply. I love it, and it is my alternate birthstone, so that makes it nice too.
I took this picture while turning off my manual setting for the first time! The lighting is so, so, but not too bad for a first attempt.
Getting back to the jewelry; I purchased this key and chain with my birthday money. If you haven't already seen them go here. I had such a hard time deciding on which one to get, they were all so pretty. They sales lady was showing me how nice they look with multiple keys :) I did mention this to my husband, as a future gift possibility ;) They also have many chains to decide on as well, I chose a fairly long one, I think it is 24 inches. I loved how it was set lower with the key I chose.
I love the simplicity of Tiffany's jewelry and how it can go with anything and not over power what you are wearing, that is my kind of style.

On another note, If you haven't seen the movie "Bright Star," go now! It is the love story of John Keats and Fanny Brawn. Absolutely gorgeous film!! I can't stop thinking about it. Everything from the story to the beautiful eye candy it provided! We saw it this past Sunday at a really neat old theater in Berkeley. It was only playing there, but it ended up being so neat because of the coziness and old time feeling of the theater. Anyway.......go see this film, it is amazing!!

I forgot to show you these

I completely forgot to show you these shams that I bought on my trip to Paris. We went to the "Fragonard" boutique,and I fell in love with these little shams.
I think the translation is as follows, I dream of, jewelry, of champagne,of distant voyages,of the forbidden,but most of all to sleep with you. If anyone thinks this is wrong that speaks fluent French, let me know.
The mans pillow says, I dream of beautiful cars, of grand wines, of adventures, of the forbidden,but most of all to sleep with you.
Caitlin bought a pair also, that has words that say J'taime and it makes a heart. Hers is red and white.
Anyway, I thought I'd share these since I think they are pretty unusual.
Next post will be of Caitlin's dress,which turned out pretty darn cute I must say! I need her to model it for me tomorrow. Until then....have a pleasant weekend!

Projects that are in the queue

I have been so desperately trying to motivate myself to cut this dress out and get it sewn. What is stopping me? Well, there is another dress that is not quite finished, and I just can't start this one until the other is done. I put the other one down when we went on vacation,and it is truly almost done. I'm tired of complaining about it now,and today is the day!! I will finish that dress, so that I can cut this one out and move on. I bought this pattern last year,and they no longer sell it anymore. I went to look it up, because I forgot to bring the pattern with me for reference, to buy some notions. To my dismay,they dropped it! I always wonder why they keep really ugly dated ones,and then cute ones like this, seem to just vanish! The sales women at the fabric store seems to think that the pattern is more difficult than most,and maybe didn't sell. The bodice has boning in it, and that may be the problem.
The fabric I'm using is from Anna Sui, and it is kind of a heavy weight thick cotton, with the above as a border on the bottom. I think it will be real cute. Send me good vibes everyone, so that I can complete the other project today!
I bought this cute little pattern last week at a quilt shop. I can't wait to make some of the pin cushions. There is a cute strawberry pattern that I really want to make. As you can see it is from the adorable Heather Bailey at "Hello, My Name Is Heather."
I know this picture doesn't fit in with the sewing post that this is, but I couldn't resist showing you these appetizer plates that I got at CB2 this weekend. I think I may duplicate the image and embroider them on to some cocktail napkins that I have. I think they are hilarious.

I had a very special day on Friday, where I got to meet, in person ,Valerie from "Un arc -en-ciel dans le lavabo." We met in San Francisco for a few hours,and we had the most delightful conversation. I got to meet her adorable little girl, whom she was vacationing with. I forgot to bring my camera to take a photo of ourselves. Perhaps one day I will go visit her in France and I will have my camera this time!! Go to her blog and check out how talented she is.....She sells her goodies too.

Thinking about my Grandma

I took these out the other day to look at them and dust them . My dad gave these to me a couple of years ago for my birthday; they belonged to my grandma. I love how color coordinated they are, and I would have to say that the one with the lily of the valley in the cup is my favorite. I also have six demitasse cups that she gave me one Christmas. Grandma had many little collections, like these cup and saucers, and quite a large lladro collection.
When I was little, my grandma gave me this photo of herself and Doris Day. She gave it to me so I wouldn't feel sad that she was going home after visiting for the summer. I treasure this photo of her, because it really represents her personality. She worked in a bakery in Beverley Hills back in the day when stars were really stars. She struck up many friendships along the way, and wonderful memories as well. Doris Day was a very good friend to her, and they corresponded up until my grandma passed away. She visited Doris at her home when she lived in L.A. My grandma moved out of state in the mid-seventies, but they still wrote to each other all the time. Doris Day now lives in Carmel California,and back in 1987 I worked in Carmel. My grandma came to visit me and also to visit Doris. I remember a driver coming to pick her up to take her to her home. I never met Doris, but I did see her out and about when I was at work.
My grandma had some very amazing stories about some of the stars of Hollywood,one of them about Alfred Hitchcock. She had to go to his home once for some kind of catered event,and she said he was quite odd, and his house was rather dark and eerie, there was more to this story, but my memory fails me.I really wished that I had written down some of her stories about her days at the bakery.
She was such a friendly person, and had many friends. I love to remember all the little things too, like how she made the best shortbread ever, and being of British decent, she could sure make a mean roast beef dinner! The other thing about her, was how impeccable she use to dress. From head to toe, she was always put together, with the prettiest jewelry and accessories. I'd like to think that I inherited some of her traits.
I'm glad that I have these cups that she loved, it makes me feel like she is present in my home.
I hope this posts makes others think about fond memories of their grandparent.
Have a good rest of the week blog friends.

Spring cleaning

I decided to clean out my closet yesterday,and decided it was time to take out my spring/summer handbags. This one is my very favorite that I bought in France, made by Lancel. I so wish that they would sell Lancel in the States. The only brand that has made it State side is "Longchamp." Which, for me, is not as nice as Lancel. This purse was inspired by the movie "Amelie." If you click on the pictures, you can see all the little streets and monuments on the pattern. When I bought this handbag, they had so many items you could get with this fabric. They had a trench coat, umbrella,and many other styles of wallets and as you can see below.....


this adorable coin purse and credit card holder. Since I bought the handbag and coin purse, the sales lady gave me the credit card holder as a gift. I thought that was so nice, and it made my day! Anyway, I thought I'd share this cute little bag, as I don't think it was ever sold in the U.S.
First off before I say anything about this little bag. I have to say that I'm no fan of the shop "Brighton." In fact, I think it is just too over the top cute. Having said that, one year they had this little number in the window, and I fell in love with the flowers. When I got it for mothers day I was so happy. When I got home, I immediately took of the "Brighton" heart fob on it,to de-Brightonize it!
I just pretend I got it from somewhere else :)

My closet is now organized and ready for some new friends to be welcomed in. Cleaning your closet always feels like you just did a deep cleansing breath. Now I'm off to tidy up my sewing space again!

Show and tell

These are our three etchings that we purchased at the Louvre, during the time we lived in France. There is this incredible store/gallery, at the Louvre, where you can purchase these amazing etchings from old plates that they have stored in this gallery. We bought the big Paris one on my birthday one year, and it is the coolest thing to look at, because it shows how Paris looked like in 1860. The top etching is of the famous painting by Igres," La Baigneuse." It was engraved by L. Boutelie.
The center one has no identification as to who executed it, but I loved how it was tinted in these pretty colors. I could never get enough of going into that place, and wish I had purchased maybe a couple of others that I had my eye on. I just thought I'd share more of my collections/ goodies that I collected while living in France. I have other items to share, so stay tuned. When there is a slow post day with not much to say, I may whip out some other photos to show you.

I love Gien

My first knowledge of Gien, was by a gift of dessert plates given to us by my dad and step mom. They gave us two of the lemon plates and two kiwi plates(not pictured). They also gave us the long tray with the bird on it.
When we took our first trip to France back in 1993, we traveled to the village of Gien, and went to the factory there. It was combined with a small museum and then the factory store that you can purchase their seconds or discontinued patterns. Gien is not cheap, so most of the pieces above, are from the seconds factory. The heart cup I bought back in 1993, the sweet pea cup and the other over sized one above it were purchased when we went back in 2003 while living in France. The demi tasse with the heron on it was purchased in a gift shop in St. Malo in Normandy. We also decided when we visited the factory to add more dessert plates, so we purchased the black berries and cherry plates. I really love most of their patterns, and treasure the collection that we have. If you ever travel to France and happen to be around Gien go to the factory, you will not be disappointed.

Corners of my home

The Lady And The Unicorn, Cluny Museum Paris
A copy I bought

When I visited France for the first time in 1993, I fell in love with all the tapestries that were in all of the Chateaux that we toured through. At the time we couldn't really afford to buy replicas that were for sale in many of the museums and shops. A lot of them are produced by machine,but in the traditional way, mostly in Belgium. You can buy fairly inexpensive ones made out of cotton and not loomed on a machine,but printed. The one pictured above is my favorite and has a very mysterious story attached to it. The original is in the Cluny Museum in Paris, along with the other five. I loved that museum,mainly because of all the stone work inside and how all the tapestries looked so gorgeous hung on the bare stone walls. If you ever go to Paris, you must go to this museum! There are six large tapestries in a darkly lit room that represent,they think, the five senses. The last one,"The lady and the Unicorn," is the one that has a bit of mystery to it. The other five clearly show imagery that leads art historians to believe their theories. But the sixth isn't as cut and dry. There was a book written a few years back by Tracy Chevalier,and it is called, "The Lady and The Unicorn." She takes a lot of liberties with the theories, but it makes for a fun read.
I knew I had to have one of the tapestries of that sixth one. The one that I have was on the pricey side given that it is %100 wool and machine loomed, not printed. There is a really cool tag on the back side of it showing who made it etc. This is one of my favorite things that we bought in France. Thought I'd share it, and maybe spark a bit of interest in the story behind the tapestries. Enjoy!

The Three French Ladies

"Aux Dauphins"
"Aux Tulips"
"Fleurs des Champs"

These demi tasse cups are nick named by me as the "Three French Ladies" The first one of these that I received was the "Aux Dauphins." This was purchased while visiting my dad when he was living in France back in 1993. We were in Versailles touring the chateau,when I came upon this little beauty in the gift shop. I had celebrated my birthday while visiting,and my dad had not gotten my a birthday gift yet. He said that if I find something I like while we were touring any of the sites, that he would get it for my present.....So, Voila! That is how this collection started. The other two were purchased while we were living in France, by my husband, for I think a birthday and one on Mothers day. They are manufactured by the "Ancienne Manufacture Royale de Limoges." They are replicas basically of ones that are in a museum in Paris called "Musee des Arts Decoratifs" or in Limoges in a museum called "Musee National de Porcelaine." If any French speakers are reading this, I apologize for the missing accents.
I have some other Limoges pieces that I might share later, but I think that these lovely ladies need a post all their own. When I go on trips I try to collect very interesting demi tasse cups that have some unique quality to them. I try not to go for cutesy,and they have to reflect the area where I get them. I bought a really neat one in Spain a couple of years ago that I really love. Anyway, I might do another post later on my vast collection of tea cups. Tableware is my big weakness!!