Is your Mom Your Best Friend, Your Dad Your Best Buddie?!

So, is your Mom your Best Friend? Your Dad your Best Buddie? Well, perhaps YES, perhaps NO! Whatever - I am sure they will love to find these tiny little framed custom table names at their place at your Thanksgiving and Christmas table this year.

 

 

Hey - and don't forget Little Brother & Little Sister!

Because of the time of year, I'm thinking of the holiday period that is nearly upon us, but these little place names would be a great way to personalize your table decor for any coming event - perhaps your wedding or an anniversary party and don't forget they go very well with the table numbers that are also available in my Etsy shop in the Table Numbers and Names Section No need to go with the names I have illustrated - I'm quite happy to custom print your own name suggestions for your little Table Numbers!

Pages From My Sketch Book

Thought you might like to see a few pages of my color doodles which I use to work out new color ways for my frames, but they could be used for all sorts of projects, from a new painting to restoring an old piece of furniture that you have found in the local 'brocante' (garage sale, car boot etc.)

Orange

Deep Purple

Obtaining a Pale Pink

Sea Green

Red

Romantic Style - My Lovely Prize Book!

I just had to take a little time here and tell you about a wonderful interior design book that I was lucky enough to win in the prize giveaway run by Mandy at her lovely blog à-la-parisienne  and also Debbie from powder-blue who donated the book.


What Luck!


It's called 'Romantic Style' and if like me, you love the 'Shabby Chic' look in all its forms, then put your hand in your purse and get out the plastic! This book is going to give you lots of ideas and inspiration for decorating your home.

Selina Lake and Sara Norman together with their photographer, Debi Treloar, have produced a well laid out book that illustrates the different aspects of romantic style decor, and I'll have to say that Debi Treloar's photos of the homes they have chosen, are truly inspiring.

I particularly like the mix of vintage finds with decoration which doesn't cost an arm and a leg that we can easily do ourselves. All you need are a few ideas of color matching, start hunting through garage or car boot sales for bits 'n bobs that the sellers might not want, but you can find just the right spot for, and it probably only needs a bit of a clean or perhaps a paint job to give it a new lease of life.

Well, this is just my slant on Romantic Style. I know for sure, as soon as you start leafing through you own copy, you will find lots of other ideas and inspirations that you can particularly relate to your own home decoration.

If you would like to buy the book, you can go to the publisher's website:

Ryland Peters & Small

The price is: £19.99 or $29.95

Title: Romantic Style

Authors: Selina Lake & Sara Norrman

Photographer: Debi Treloar

ISBN No: 978-1-84975-040-0

Garage/Car Boot Sales - Start Collecting!

When you are 'Out and About' - perhaps browsing around your local Car Boot or Garage Sale (called 'brocante' by the way in French), as well as looking for old frames for our tutorial, keep a look out for a few other items that we will be using in future DIY projects. For instance:

Old Keys
Interesting Postcards
Old Photos
Old Books with Interesting Text

I'm sure I'll think of lots more as time goes by - keep an eye on the 'Out & About' section for new collectable ideas!

DIY Shabby Chic White Frame For Wall Display Part 1

I hate waste and I love a 'Shabby Chic' look, so I thought, let's put the two together and make something SPECIAL!

As you might know, Martin and I make picture and photo frames in our little studio here in SW France and over the years we seem to have accumulated a stockpile of redundant moulding, some of which is quite startlingly elaborate. Surely I can do something with this, so I hauled out a few pieces that were lurking in the back of the garage, gave them a good dust down and gathered a few materials together to give a new lease of life to these long forgotten beauties.*

Would you like to follow along and have a go yourself at the same time? Obviously we have an advantage here of lots of old moulding hanging around, but if you take a stroll down to your local car boot/garage sales (called 'brocante' here in France) this weekend, I am sure you will find a selection of old frames that are pleading with you to buy them and give them a makeover.

Are you up for it? OK, this is what you need:

1. Old frame
2. Vacume cleaner with little brush attachment.
3. Fine sandpaper (No.2)
4. Undercoat Paint. You will have to decide which type to use for the surface you are working on. I used one for wood.
5. Acrylic Mat Paint - I used the remains of the two colors I used for the bathroom I've just painted which as you will see are an 'Off White' and 'Stone' (color swatch below).
6. I did use a touch of Acrylic Artists Color (White) at the end for added enhancement, but this is not strickly necessary.
7. Bees Wax or Acrylic Mat Varnish.
8. Brushes + Old Plate + Water Jars + Old Knife + Wooden Blocks to put the frame on whilst working.
9. A packet of dish washing sponges.

*Yes, I know what you are thinking - The old stuff looks beautiful and I agree! We still make frames with this lovely moulding - you can see them here at our website - these are just odd bits that are too damaged for the real thing.

See you later for part 2.