Just In Time For Summer: A Giveaway!

Greetings from

  Catalina Island!  

Isn't technology amazing.  I was able to log on and do this post today from a boat in Avalon Harbor in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.   

I love this! 

 And hey guess what!  

I'm giving away one of these great pillows!

I purchased these last summer for our boat.  They are designed by Thomas Paul.  

The graphics are huge seaside inspired plants and sea life. 

He also does great rugs.  

CSN stores has various sites for sofas, gardens and household items but you can purchase these from the site allmodern.com.  

Or....You can get one for free just in time for summer. 

Just leave a comment on this post and follow along with me on my bloggy adventures.....and the winner will receive a gift certificate for $85 dollars which is the cost of one of these great pillows.

I promise I will use the "techie winner chooser device" this time instead of the fishbowl technique.  

Only one entry per person and the winner will be announced on Monday, May 24th.

If you win you can buy anything you might want on any of their sites.   But I gotta say, these are really great.  

They are 100% linen and down filled and a big 24" square.  

The colors reverse on the back so you can use them in a variety of ways.

Pretty fun stuff

Smile.... its almost Summer

~*~

kelley

Fabric Ideas for Pillows

Vintage fabric is a true love of mine.  

Wendy Lewis always has the best selection of vintage fabrics  anywhere and I bought a nice assortment for some new pillows.

The black floral is a french quilt top and will need backing because it is so sheer, but the colors are amazing.  Pinks and some salmon with a dark  black background.

She had a few new feed sacks in black...I know I know......but I couldn't help it!  

The pretty French ticking looks great with the print as well.  

It has a cream back ground and the stripe is sort of unusual, which I liked.

I usually back the pillows with this great hemp that she sells in large rolls.  The down side, is that it is not all that wide, so if you are doing larger projects you will need to seam the fabric together.

I like to throw the fabric on the bed or the floor and take a look at it all together, to edit and see how it will all look.

This soft purple orchid floral looks so pretty with the sweater weave pillows

I bought this really bold Indienne floral too.  Wendy told me this was one of her favorites from her last trip to France.  It is from the 1880's and in untouched condition.  Its has a strong coco brown ground with the pink coral and gold floral motif.  She has more if you like this!

Project #2 is Americana inspired. 

 The little tea stained american flag is new but will sew up into a wonderful pillow. 

 I like the brass grommets! 

 The blue stripe is a vintage American ticking duvet cover.

I had another stenciled sack to put with this grouping too

What also caught my eye is how the french floral looked with this group.  The gold from the flag ties these together and will be very fun if I end up using them that way.

What a great combo!

Well, I'm off to visit the Upholstery guy and I will share the results in a week or so. 

 Don't forget to visit Wendy.   You will love her store!

~*~

kelley

PS:  Hope all the MOM's had a wonderful day yesterday

It's Complicated: Garden Reality Check

Boy, talk about being late for the party.  Whew. 

 I think the last movie I actually saw in a theatre was Planet of the Apes....The first one.

So being the adventurous type I rented It's Complicated, the  movie, last weekend...watched it 3 times!  

Yep 3

I loved it.  It was clever and the characters were fun.  Alec Baldwin was hysterical. 

I think he was "fat sexy"   

so weird I know

The real star of the show, as we all know, was the house and the gardens. 

 I have read more blog posts in the last few months about how "not real and Hollywood" the garden was.  

Not real? AWWW come on!

Well, I'm going to stick my neck out here:  

I think you can have a garden pretty close to the one depicted in the movie.  

The only thing missing in the photo below is a bunch of dirty garden clogs and a few pairs of gloves.  Well, and maybe some Round-up weed killer and a dead rat.  

Make that rats, 

plural.

Any one who collects vintage primitives probably has a spot that looks like this, somewhere!  

I pretty much have all of this stuff, just with more dirt involved.  

Oh and  a back hoe and a John Deere Tractor.  

And really ugly gardening clothes.

While the vegetables look a little bit pumped up on steroids, the overall design is really pretty simple. 

And using flowers in the vegetable garden is a great idea, especially in raised beds. 

I actually love this garden, really! 

I'm not saying my garden looks like the movie garden but we really work hard to keep things in check.  Here's how....

List below:

1. Roger:  AKA "the gopher pro"

 He uses traps, not poison and so far we have been pretty successful. 

 He also happens to work at the local golf course which makes him something of an expert.  

Think Bill Murray in "Caddy Shack"

Animals caught to date: squirrel, possum, raccoon, crow, small child, neighbors dog, my dog, big foot.

Where are the bugs and munched on flowers?  

The criticism on the blogs was  "it's not possible to keep a garden looking that good". 

 I'm saying "yes you can!"

How can that be you ask?

Who does all the work around here, anyway?

Well, that would be me and my Husband, the raking fool, with a little help from Roger

2:  Enjoy it...and we do, and don't worry so much  

  

I know it sounds crazy but it seems to make us more relaxed and happy after a full day of digging up weeds, mowing and tending to the orchard and vegetable beds.

And honestly the amount of greens and produce you can get from one of these beds is amazing.  I showed this photo last week, but we have yet to buy any lettuce for months. I have started growing whiskers and wiggling my nose a lot lately. 

So strange, I ordered a carrot Mojito at dinner after being chased around the yard by a lone male Hawk.  At least I made it under the fence. 

3:  Notice the changes and give yourself some "at-a-boys"

When we bought this property a year and a half ago, the citrus orchard was in terrible shape.  

Sour yucky oranges.

But we have twice as many blossoms this spring as last year, just from selective pruning and proper irrigation.

4:   Re visit the past.  

This is called the "I can't believe we actually paid money for this" file.

 But we have worked hard to get here: 

THIS:

BECAME THIS:

AND NOW IS THIS:

FULL OF THIS:

So what I'm saying is: it's not really all that complicated. 

 It takes is some time and some planning.

 A lot of dirty socks and " a Roger"

dead rats you get for free 

Have a great week

~*~

kelley 

Professional photography

It's time to give the garden a rest, at least for now.  

We had an interesting experience last week.  

Our home was photographed by a professional photographer.

It was actually for a couple of reasons which I will share later, but I wanted you to look at how the photographer framed each shot and how different they are from the photos I have used (my own) in  my past posts.   And how much more each shot allows you to see!

It was really fun to watch him work and he seemed to know exactly where to place the camera even though he had never been in this house.

It takes about 45 minutes to set up for each shot and he only took a few frames.

I found the one below really interesting because it moves from the breezeway into the master in a single shot.  He got the light coming through the windows too. 

This shot of the living room sitting area was one of my favorites because it really captures the ceiling height and the crisp details.

Above is the media room, a fancy word for the spot we watch TV.  This was my least favorite photo because this room is very warm and cozy and I didn't get that from this photo.  What I do like is how the purple and aqua work together.

Above is the famous blue table I stalked.  He opened the french doors out to the front deck and framed the orchid in the photo.

 The kitchen below. 

 He had me style this shot with the wine and notice the flowers I posted about last week, on the island. 

 He also seemed to get an orchid blossom in each photo.

Again, if you look to the right you will see the living room in the shot as well.

This is another angle where he frames it to flow towards the little side patio with the fountains.

Grandma sleeps here! But just for a few days.... 

Design work space and blog central....

This is the master bath that I haven't shared because the angle was impossible for my camera, but he got most of it.

 The stone is a cream french limestone.

I wasn't crazy about the photo below but he got the entire master in one shot, bedroom sitting room and bath..amazing what a lens can capture

What's interesting here, is that I used the grasscloth wall paper in only the sitting area to set it off from the rest of the room.  Now you can see why that works so nicely to separate that small special space.

The front deck looking quite snappy in lime green.  

It was a perfect day for photos too!

Well, I'm not sure if this matters but I think I need a new camera lens.

best to all

 and thank you for all the special comments on my last post, 

xxoo

~*~

kelley