Double Ruffles

I could barely contain myself as I tore open the box that arrived in the mail a couple weeks ago.

Shellagh's beautiful handwriting on a sweet tag was the first thing my eyes landed on.

A smile crossed my face as I read her note and I sent her a silent, happy hug in my heart.

Beneath the tag, wrapped in crisp, white tissue paper was my Christmas present that I ordered from her.

I lifted the luscious frayed edged ruffles out of the box,

walked over to the kitchen table

shook the heavy, Belgian-like linen,

and let it drop onto the tabletop.

The double ruffles landed in a beautiful pile of creamy white

like thick whipped cream.

I lifted them again and spread them across the table,

watching the ruffles slide over the edge and down to the floor.

  

*sigh*

Call me crazy, but it was beautiful thing to see.  :)

 

I spent a couple hours photographing different vignettes

while the late morning sunshine streamed into the kitchen through the French doors.

The autumn light was perfect.

 

Playing with different photo editing effects...

I plan on using this sweet rosette trim on a lampshade soon.

Someday, I would like a small, vintage wooden baker's rack on the back wall where the birdcage is.

   

My favorite photo from this shoot.

Yesterday, I was anxious to create a simple Thanksgiving tablescape for dinner with my mother, father, and brother
while The Husband made his famous pumpkin pies.

Yes, I am blessed with a husband who loves doing the majority of the cooking and baking around here.  :)

While the pies filled our house with a delicious aroma,
I took an old crocheted throw and layered it over the linen, and topped that with a vintage linen tablecloth with wide jacquard bands of pink.

Matching napkins,
 my mother's antique silverware,
glass candle holders,
etched glassware, 
rustic rattan chargers,
and pink roses
completed the shabby chic look.

I loved the look of my French desk chair at the table.

(Note to self: Add Rachel Ashwell's 'Darcy' chairs to Wish List.)

(Yep. Writing RA 'Darcy' chairs on my list right now...)

I pray that everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving day overflowing with the love of family!

~  Grateful Blessings  ~

Thank you, Shellagh ♥

for sharing your gift of sewing,

for being so patient when I describe a vision to you,

and for being such a wonderful west coast friend.

Be sure to visit Shellagh's beautiful Etsy shop to see more of her breathtaking linens!




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Sweet, Simple Pleasures

Ok.

Call me spoiled.

But I love buying myself a dozen roses each week at the grocery store

where I sometimes get lucky and find them on sale.

I love the simple act of picking out the blush pinks and whites,

or sometimes the lovely lavenders.

 I love the simple act of trimming them when I get home

and plunking them in various vases and vintage cups.

I love that they're real.

I've used faux ones before because they look so very lifelike now.

Hobby Lobby and Michael's carries beautiful silk flowers, btw.

But I bring in blooms from my garden as often as possible.

There's nothing like real flowers scattered throughout your home all year long.

Lilacs and peonies in the spring.

Roses and hydrangeas in the summer...

But with the drought this summer, blooms were far and few between.

I was in withdrawal.

So, I resorted to setting aside a few dollars each week for a small splurge.

And it had to be roses.

I love watching them slowly open their soft petals during the week,
and the way they eventually bend their pretty heads over the side of the vase

as if in prayer.

They grace various vignettes throughout Heaven's Walk,

even in a vintage mustache cup...

that sits in my favorite corner of the living room

on my favorite little table.

A new pillow slip carries through the pinks and greens of the roses.

See it peeking from behind the chaise on the slip covered church pew?

I first saw this fabric at Tausha's and fell head over heels for it.

I found some online and begged my sweet friend Shellagh at Ticking and Toile Linen Shoppe to whip up a nice, big, 28"x28" pillow slip for me.

I simply adore it.
(Thank you, Shellagh!)

Sweet, simple pleasures that bring a song to the soul

and 

make my heart sing.

♥

~  Blessings ~

PS ~  May I ask for some advice from you computer techies out there?

My computer keeps telling me that I have "high CPU usage" and "low disk space".
I can't even defrag because there's not enough disk space.  Yikes!
I spent houuurrrs deleting old files and photos, and then trying to transfer a huge amount of photos to CDs to create more disk space, but I'm still stuck because there's not enough disk space to actually write them on the CDs! Help! 
What do I need to do....??? 
Do I need to purchase more disk space?

I have tons of photos (as I know many of you do). How much disk space do you have on your computer? Or do you keep your photos someplace else?
I'm not savvy enough to know what programs I can delete from my drive or how to solve this problem...
so I need some help here, peeps!
Thank you so much!!




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Romantic Ruffled Bedskirt

I ordered a five tiered ruffled bed skirt for my king size bed from Wayfair this past winter because I loved the romantic look of it.  They were sold out of white. I hoped that the "ivory" color wasn't too yellowy like I've quickly  learned that ivory can be.

Well....much to my dismay, it was.

So, I hauled out my trusty lavender scented bleach and bleached the dickens out of it.

(Like for 15 hours).

Then used White Brite to remove any remaining yellowy tinge.

Oh...just wonderful.

It turned a pretty shade of yellowy cream with alien green thrown in for good measure.

So, I bleached it again.

For another 15 hours ~

and used the whitener for about 8 hours.

It ended up being a tolerable shade of creamy white,

so I threw it on the bed thinking that The Husband and I were the only ones that had to look at it.

This photo doesn't show the sickly shade it truly was.

 

You guessed it.

By this summer, I was sick to death of it.

The "too many ruffles" that my eyes now saw, consistently looked wrinkled and scrunched up ~ which in my book ~ isn't romantic at all.

Nobody wants to look wrinkled and scrunched up in bed, do they?

I knew that I had a couple SSC duvet covers that I had successfully bleached to creamy white perfection that were just sitting in the willow trunk in the guest room.

Hmmmm.....I wonder......?

I called upon my favorite West coast seamstress/buddy/beloved blog sister for help.

 Shellagh at Ticking & Toile Linens was patient with my frustrated whining

and agreed to create a bed skirt from the duvets.

It arrived the other day.

I eagerly ripped open the box.

I think I heard angels singing.

And bells ringing.

Yeah.

There were bells ringing

(like on Christmas morning).

I placed the lovliness in the dryer with a damp towel and a couple Gain dryer sheets

(my favorite)

and let it rock and roll for about 20 minutes to get the wrinkles out

and then wrapped myself in those creamy ruffles, and pranced up the stairs to the bedroom.

I was going to manhandle this king size bed myself

because I wanted that bedskirt on in the worst way.

I HAD to see those ruffles in all their glory ~

and The Husband wasn't around so I could supervise him to help.

This is how you do it solo, girls:

1. Grab pillows and sheets and throw in hallway.

2. Stand on one side of bed and take a deep breath while grabbing side of mattress and heaving upwards.

3. Fall back against wall while mattress thumps back on bed.

4. Repeat #2.

5. Take deep breath and grunt loudly as mattress bends in middle and moves one measly inch.

6. Repeat #2.

7. Go around to opposite side of bed and try pulling mattress toward you.

8.  Repeat #2.

9. Stand there and say naughty words under your breath while trying to catch your breath.

10. Repeat #2 while simultaneously grunting loudly like a caveman woman and pushing
(glad that there is no one there to hear you).

11. Watch as mattress miraculously lifts.

12.  Quickly step up on box spring and push up with all your might.

13. Do NOT look at arm fat swinging like an apron in the wind.

14. Look up to see ceiling fan 1" from your head.

15.  Duck.

16. Get angry at arm fat and as adrenalin spikes, throw bed against wall.

17. Make sure bed does not fall on top of you and squash you and your arm fat.

(THAT would not be pretty.)

18. Step off bed and realize......mattress is now blocking doorway AND
beautiful new bedskirt is in the guestroom across the hallway!

(sugarjets!)

19. Try to burn off swinging arm fat and position yourself at end of mattress and push.

20.  Squeeze through opening in doorway and retrieve beautiful bed skirt waiting for you in guest room.

21. Squeeze back into bedroom and watch as beautiful bed skirt gently floats down upon the box spring - marveling at the delicious double ruffles flowing and draping onto the floor.

22.  Spread out beautiful ruffles on floor and look up to be greeted by wet nose and furry face.

23. Kiss furry face and place her back on floor.

24.  Turn to grab camera to photograph ruffles and realize camera is on hallway floor.

(sugarjets!)

25.  Squeeze back through opening and retrieve camera.

26. Realize that you could'ave waited to take photos.  

Duh.

27. Grab one end of mattress and slide it slowly toward bed

making sure cute furry face is not on box spring.

(Do NOT want to squash cute furry face.)

28.  Let wobbeling mattress fall back on box spring with a crash

as you take out the lamp on the side table.

29. Make note to pick up new lamp at store this week. 

(Smart move, cave woman.)

30. Scootch (yes, that's my word and I'm sticking with it) mattress across box spring inch by inch until repositioned.

31. Dance around bed as you tuck in clean linens (smelling deliciously of Gain) while sweet furry face helps by patting out wrinkles.

32. Lay on floor like contortionist and take photos of beautiful ruffles while cute little furry face (who somehow made her way back on bed) looks over the side at you and rolls around on freshly made bed ~
as deliriously happy with the new beautiful ruffles beneath her as you are.

(A bath in the ruffles sounds quite nice...

and a little more sprawling, of course.)

33.  Continue to contort on floor to photograph beautiful romantic ruffles..

(*sigh!*)

(*big sigh*...)

until Husband's voice behind you warily says,   

 "What...in...the...world..are...you...doing down there...???"

And that's how it's done...

solo.

 ~ Blessings ~

[Want another laugh today?  Check out Suzan's blog.

But be sure you're sitting down.

And don't forget to visit Shellagh's beautiful blog and linen shop!]

 

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In Love with Linen

Linen.

 Soft,
washed,
wrinkly
linen.

White ruffles like dollops of whipped cream
or fluttery little angel wings.

Nothing feels better or looks better in shabby old French-Nordic inspired farmhouse

than creamy white linen floating above vintage oak floors.

Even the furniture slipcovers, although cotton,

have a linen-like look and feel to them.

I can't seem to get enough of washed linen.

Nestled among my bleached linen/cotton shams

are the down-filled linen shams handmade by my sweet, funny, talented West coast friend,

Shellagh.

You know her from her lovely Ticking and Toile blog

and beautiful Etsy shop.

Her creations are made with 100% linen with an incredibly rich and silky feel.

A beautiful creamy vanilla white,
(or whatever color your heart desires)

and ruffles you could completely lose yourself in ~

never wanting to come up for air.

This pillow cuddles a flax colored linen sham I nabbed on eBay 

for a sweet price

because the monogram was accidentally stitched slightly off center.

(I told myself I bought it for the husband because his first name begins with that letter. ♥)

A sofa filled with soft, cushy, wrinkly, smooshy white linen

for snuggling and sprawling in the dappled sunshine.

And then there is this beautiful piece of art.

Silvery blue ruffles like rolling ocean waves.

A linen throw in a such a beautiful color,

also created by Shellagh.

I found myself wrapping it around my body.

I found myself draping it over tables

and letting the silky ruffles cascade down to the floor.

Even the peonies couldn't stop gazing at it.

I watched as the ruffles slipped over themselves

like a waterfall,

creating a puddle of linen on the floor.

I loved it most flowing over the corner of the chaise in the living room

where I could gaze upon the silvery blue puddle every day.

But in the end,

Maizie had the best idea

and claimed it as her own.

A nap among the ruffles.

She's a ruffled linen kind of girl, too...

You can find Shellagh's breathtaking linens in her awesome Etsy shop. 

~  Blessings ~

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