Faux snow ... it's popular for Winter decorating. Over the past several weeks you've seen it used in many different ways and places ... on many different blogs. From tablescapes to snowman scenes to Christmas villages. I've shown it to you myself. (Just click the pictures to see the original post.) My earliest memory of faux snow involved something like this ... My Grandma (who I told you about HERE) decorated her front door with spray-on snow and stencils. One year she hand-cut scenes from the Twelve Days of Christmas and stenciled them on the 12 window panes in her door. Oh, how I wish I had a picture of that! Even more, how I wish I had those stencils! Today we would cut them out ... Keep Reading...
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I’m Inspired! Look where I find my inspiration …
I'm sometimes asked where I get my ideas; for tablescapes, blog topics, you name it. That question always "throws" me, because I'm not sure I can think of any places where I DON'T get ideas. Magazines and books are full of inspiration. Topics from design to daily living, poetry to prose, laughter to tragedy: they all inspire me to feel -- and for me, feelings are translated into colors and textures and patterns. Nature itself is so full of color and movement and rhythm that I can't imagine not being inspired by it. Colors and shapes I might never have conceived putting together co-exist beautifully in nature. Art and architecture often inspire me. Simple or elaborate; each has something to ... Keep Reading...
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Is Your Home Your Castle? My brush with Alexandra Stoddard.
Boston, Massachusetts - mid-1990s While out sightseeing, Renaissance Man and I came upon a quaint little discount bookstore. Never ones to pass up a bookstore -- especially a discount bookstore -- we went inside and took a mini vacation. For us, there's something very relaxing about browsing in a bookstore ... I was greatly in need of a vacation! To give you some background, I was coming to the end of my interior design studies, graduating the next year (finally!), and older than my fellow students. My two daughters were in elementary school, so obviously I'd long ago "set up housekeeping." I had definite ideas–and dreams–about what I wanted in a home, and I was looking forward to the day when my time would ... Keep Reading...
