French Larkspur

My Studio Gets a little Redo

2012-01-25T05:00:00.000-06:00

Hello!

I'm sorry for such a long break in between posts, but I have had a project I needed to get done and my two younger kids were sick last week, as well.

While my husband was off of work between Christmas and New Year, I had him give my studio a fresh coat of white paint...

He also built me a basic shelving unit {entirely out of salvaged wood}, so that I would have some additional storage...

I wanted a place to hold all of my vintage crates, since I thought they would be great for storing supplies for my shop...

{This room gets amazing light all morning thanks to the large bay window}

I wanted this room to better serve as a photography studio, in addition to being the place that I pack all of my orders, so I brought the farm table from the family room that the kids were using for crafts in here {the family room is undergoing some changes too ~ more on that soon}.

I also reconfigured the garage doors to be together in the corner of the room, giving me a nice backdrop to photograph into. I flipped the doors around so that the "ickier" side was facing out, but I gave them a coat of grey paint and now I love them!

I had my husband nail a large branch to the top of one of the garage doors so that I could hang things from it. He also helped me make small hanging votives out of small mason jars and wire. I plan to add a few more branches, but right now the ground is covered in snow, so that will have to wait a bit :)

Simple but functional, what more could a girl ask for?!

:) Tracey

Colored Glass love

2012-01-12T05:00:00.000-06:00

Good morning! I'm finally back with a new post! I have been trying to load pictures for this post for 2 days now, with no luck! So I finally gave up and am using my husband's laptop to write my post. Hopefully I will figure out the problem soon and be back on my own laptop {I am so not techy!}.

Today day I wanted to share with you a very simple idea, but one that I often use when I want an instant pick-me-up in my decorating...colored glass...

A great way to brighten any room, especially during the long Winter months, is to use colored glass. It is especially pretty near a window where the available light will make the glass come to life.

Of course, these bottles would look wonderful with fresh flowers in them, but they are also lovely all on their own. During the Winter months, when I don't have fresh flowers readily available from my garden, I like to set up small vignettes showcasing my colored glass pieces...

Here I took a Vintage French Bottle Carrier and filled it with a few of my favorite things. Starting with these beautiful green beer bottles...

Since our last trip to Paris, my husband has taken to drinking the French beer Kronenbourg 1664. Well, I noticed what a pretty color the bottles were and started saving them. I do absolutely love vintage glass bottles...but I just couldn't ignore the appeal of these straight from the grocery store beer bottles. Besides, they are French bottles after all, right?! Ha :)) And you can't beat the price. At any rate, I really like how the bottles have the 1664 embossed into the glass.

I also added a few of my favorite things to the bottle carrier, in addition to the colored bottles, just for fun...

{Antique French Letter Bundle}

I adore these little white latte bowls from Anthropologie and use then all the time...and the cafe spoons I picked up in Paris.

So, for a quick and easy pick-me-up in your Winter decorating, try using a little colored glass around your home!

Enjoy your day!!

Tracey

Creatively Made

2012-01-09T05:00:00.001-06:00

Hello!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!!

My husband was home for 10 days over the holidays and the kids were off of school for 16 days, so it has been a bit difficult getting back into the swing of things this last week...but I am slowly getting back to blogging and photographing new items for the shop.

January is always a tough month for me, with the weather being cold and dreary, and with Christmas over, I usually have a real slump in the creativity department and can use a serious shot of inspiration...so that is why I am so excited that my good friend, Jeanne Oliver, has timed her new e-course, Creatively Made, just right!!

Today is the last day to sign up for Creatively Made and it is also the first day of this beautifully inspiring four week e-course. Here is a bit more information about it...

***To sign up for Creatively Made, or to get more information, go HERE***

I will be back soon. Enjoy your day! I've missed all of you!!

Tracey

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T08:17:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!! Blessings and happiness to you and yours! Thank you for all of your support and encouragement throughout the year and for taking the time to stop by and visit :)

I will be taking a couple of weeks off from my blog to spend time with my family...see you in 2012!

Tracey

Painted Pine Cones, Orange Sugar, and a Cranberry Cocktail

2011-12-19T05:00:00.002-06:00

Hi! I intended to have this post ready last week, but there was a long stretch of dreary, no-sun days and I was unable to get any photography done...but Caighton and I busied ourselves doing various Christmas crafts!

I love to use these mini pine cones for decorating, as well as, table settings. I have used them before in product shots for the shop. I think they look so cute in tea cups and make for a unique place card setting that way...

So, for a variation on that, I thought it would be nice to paint some of the pine cones white and place them in my little vintage clay pots for a more Christmas inspired place setting. Tucking a stamped paper doily below them, keeps the plate clean and allows you a spot to stamp your guest's name.

Caighton and I had a lot of fun painting the pine cones {you can add a dusting of glitter while the paint is still wet for a very pretty effect}...

Next up I made some Orange Sugar...

A perfect gift for someone who loves tea or iced tea, and it is super easy to make.

All you need is the zest of one orange for every cup of sugar you want to make...place the zest and sugar in a food processor and pulse for a minute or two to evenly distribute the zest among the sugar...Easy! And the smell is heavenly!!

I transferred mine into these adorable canning jars I brought back from one of the kitchen gadget stores I came across on our trip to Paris...I also added one of my dried orange slices to decorate the jar...

Shake the jar once a day for the first week to keep the sugar from clumping.

I used the orange sugar over the weekend to make my Christmas Cranberry Cocktail...

All you do, is thaw some frozen cranberries and then combine them in a bowl with some of the orange sugar.

Macerate for at least a couple of hours, gently mashing the berries every so often {depending on how many drinks you plan to serve, use about 2 tablespoons of sugar for every 1/2 cup of berries}

Place a scoop of the cranberry/sugar mixture in a champagne glass and fill with sparkling wine...

The bubbles from the wine will make the cranberries float and distribute the sugar. It's a fun, festive, and not-too-sweet Christmas drink! Enjoy!

I hope to be back soon with more Christmas projects. My kids are officially home for Christmas break now :)

Tracey

p.s. I wanted to let you know about the amazing Annie Sloan chalk paint giveaway going on over at Christie's blog, Carter's Cottage...here's what you could win ~

2 Fabulous pots of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

1 tin of Soft Clear Wax

1 tin of Soft Dark Wax

1 Ultimate Wax Brush

1 Glazing Brush

2 Chalk Paint Brushes

1 sheet of Ripple Cloth (for buffing)

1 Color Chart of all 28 Annie Sloan Chalk Paints

The Painted Kitchen Book

Creating the French Look Book

& Quick & Easy Paint Transformations Book

Prize value over $250!!

***Head on over to Carter's Cottage to enter!

Simple Homemade Christmas

2011-12-12T05:00:00.015-06:00

Good morning!

Well, the weekends until Christmas are winding down! I don't have all of my Christmas shopping done yet, but I basically refuse to do it on the weekends, as I don't like fighting the crowds. I much prefer to be baking and crafting, rather than shopping :)

For those of you who read my blog regularly, you know I'm not much of a crafter...oh, I'd like to be, but it's just not really one of my strengths {there are some seriously amazing crafters in blogland!}...

...but every Christmas, I catch the bug and want to do nothing but craft projects for about 3 weeks...

Today, I am featuring two of the projects I worked on over the weekend...think simple and natural, as that seems to be the theme this year.

I took some of the clear ornaments that you get at any craft store as the start to this first project {I chose the square ones for something different, but the round ones would work great for this too}...

First, I took off the top to add some salt, for snow {I used a funnel}, and then added some pepper berries and small green flowers. The pepper berries will dry naturally and retain their color nicely, if you are starting with fresh ones. I found the flowers in the fresh floral section of the grocery store, they were marked simply "Christmas bunch."

{back view}

I finished off the ornament with a bit of torn vintage French paper {with a Christmas theme}, burlap, and some sheer green ribbon. I used double sided tape to secure the torn paper.

Project number two was some napkin rings using star anise pods...

First, I cut a small length of ribbon...I used the vintage French ribbon I bought from Jeanne's shop last year, but any sturdy ribbon will work well. Then it was just a matter of hot gluing the star anise pod to the middle and then hot gluing a small rhinestone onto that. I deconstructed an old vintage pin, that I had that was falling apart, to get my rhinestones, but you could always buy new ones at the craft store.

Adding a little velcro to the ends of the ribbon will allow the napkin rings to be used again and again.

My mom, sisters, and I decided to have a homemade gift exchange this Christmas, so you will be seeing more simple, homemade gift ideas from me soon :))

I would love to hear what your best ideas are for homemade gifts!

Happy crafting!!

Tracey

Virtual Holiday House Walk...

2011-12-08T05:30:00.004-06:00

Good morning! Yep, I am the "surprise stop" on my good friend Jen's Virtual Christmas House Walk!

Be sure and check out my friend Tara's beautiful home {that is before mine on the tour}, over at Blondie 'n SC! And if you are just getting started with the home tour {which started on Monday} you can get a complete list of homes in the tour over on Jennifer Rizzo's blog.

Ok, let's get started...

I'm afraid I do not have my act quite as together as the rest of the gals on this tour and only have one room to show you and not the whole house...but I took a lot of pictures of this one room :))

I stuck to a very natural Christmas look in this room...lots of fresh greenery, twigs, berries, pine cones, apples and dried orange slices for a homey feel and a Christmasy smell.

the homemade tags on the vintage German beer bottles read, peace, love, joy...

I love using old crates combined with fresh greens, and this crate, along with the vintage Anheuser-Busch crate, belonged to my husband's grandfather...my mother-in-law recently gave them to us and I just LOVE them! Even the sides of the crates have "cool" printing on them...

I made my own dried orange slices by cutting the fruit and then baking them in a 200 degree oven for 3 hours to dry them out. Just flip the fruit slices every 30 minutes or so, in order for the fruit to dry evenly. Super easy! They look really pretty hung on a tree or in a window, as well. And, lemons and limes work great too!

I bought this vintage sheet music wreath, but with a little time, patience, and glitter, you could easily make one yourself!

The usual grain sacks that adorn my old ladder were replaced by these lovely vintage grain sack stocking from Dreamy Whites Online...

Several years ago, my in-laws gave us many of the vintage ornaments that are on our tree, and I have added a few more every year as I find them at the flea market and antique shops...

I will show you more of the tree when I get a few presents wrapped and under it :))

Thank you so much for stopping by! Tomorrow the tour continues with Kristin's home over at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia!!

:) Tracey

Finding the Perfect Tree

2011-12-07T16:45:00.001-06:00

Hi! Just checking in for a quick post...I wanted to share a few photos from our tree hunting excursion this weekend! We are lucky enough to have a beautiful nursery right in our own town that has a tree farm as well, where you can go and cut your own tree...

It was a lot of fun to search for just the right tree...

...we had to pass up a lot of "Charlie Brown" trees that weren't quite ready yet to be Christmas trees, but I sure thought they were cute...

We had hoped for some snow, but instead we got a gloomy, rain-filled day. We made the most of it though!

My husband did the honors of cutting the tree down for us and, in the end, we were pretty darn happy with the tree that we picked...

Over the weekend, we also visited Santa...aka my neighbor Jerry...he dresses up every year for the neighborhood kids and passes out candy canes and coloring books! So my sister came over and took our sweet little Sophie for her first visit with Santa...

Isn't she a cutie?!!

I will be back tomorrow with a little Christmas decorating :)

Enjoy your evening!

Tracey

The Coming Home Collection...

2011-12-02T07:23:00.002-06:00

{The Evelyn Handbag}

Good morning! I am so honored, excited, and overjoyed to share my very dear friend Jeanne Oliver's new Winter 2011 line, The Coming Home Collection, with all of you!!!

Let me just forewarn you, after you view these pictures, you are going to want to do some shopping :))

Jeanne has truly outdone herself yet again!!! Be sure to check out the details at the bottom of my post about her mega huge giveaway!

Enjoy...

{The Natalie Camera Bag}

{The Betty Ruffle Messenger Bag}

...and, for the first time, a little girl's messenger bag...in the same gorgeous material as the Betty Ruffle Messenger...my Halena wants one of these...

{The Gracie Little Girl Messenger Bag}

and that adorable little dress is available as well {sizes 2 - 10}...

{Lila Peasant Dress}

Isn't it the cutest, sweetest dress?!!

And, of course, I LOVE Jeanne's adult dresses! I have 2 from the last collection and I plan to buy some from this collection as well!

{The Elaine Knit Dress}

{The Audrey French Tunic}

{The Louise Dress}

Jeanne carries vintage items and gorgeous jewelry in addition to all of her beautiful dresses and bags...here are just a few examples...

{Vintage Yellow Coat}

{Vintage Purse}

{Francis Earrings}

To see many more gorgeous new items from Jeanne's Winter 2011 line, The Coming Home Collection, please head on over to her shop...

Jeanne Oliver Designs

you can also view her Lookbook to see the entire collection

And for some really cool news...

***If you go to Jeanne's blog, you can sign up to be entered into her $500 gift certificate giveaway, just click *HERE*

Have a great weekend!!!

Tracey

Vintage Inspired Christmas Entertaining

2011-11-30T05:00:00.002-06:00

Happy Wednesday! I wanted to share with you the photos I took and some of the simple entertaining tips I shared recently in my article for Heather Bullard's holiday issue of Souvenir. Souvenir is a seasonal lifestyle gazette, and it's free! If you would like to subscribe to get future issues, go *HERE*

Thank you so much Heather for including me in this wonderful issue of Souvenir!

My article featured my love of using vintage items and reinventing how to use them...especially for entertaining...and especially during the Christmas season...

Above, I used the old tool chest that usually sits in my bedroom to serve cocktails on...it's a fun piece that shows off the vintage pink cocktail glasses perfectly. I always thoroughly wash and seal any vintage pieces I buy as soon as I bring them home, so they are ready to be used for whatever purpose I might think up down the road :)

{I use a water based polyurethane and just brush it right onto whatever I want to seal.}

You have seen me use this Goodwill find before! I love using this silver serving tray with the perfect patina for showcasing drinks of all kinds, including simple red wine. I just added some of the many vintage watch dials I have collected over the years to each glass stem, using wired mini garland, for a festive look...

And, lastly, this vintage blue caddy gets used for a different purpose every other month it seems! It's perfect to gather items up for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres for any small party...

I love using a sprig of rosemary and some jute twine around simple white napkins during the Fall and Winter...

I am really starting to feel the Christmas spirit lately and am so excited that we will be getting our tree this weekend! We have a rather large artificial tree that we have had for years, but this year my husband and I thought it would be nice to take the kids to a tree farm and get a real one...an experience they've never had. I'm really looking forward to it!

Enjoy the rest of your week ~

:) Tracey

p.s. And, just a reminder that my big Christmas sale is still going on...in the SHOP!!!

Christmas Sale!

2011-11-28T17:17:00.002-06:00

Hi! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! I'm a little late for Cyber Monday, as I wanted to announce my sale this morning, but it has been an extremely busy past week for me...my best friend, Natasha, was in from Denver to visit for a couple of days last week and we were able to get a jump start on our Christmas shopping...and then my sister, Jeanna, was in from St. Paul for Thanksgiving, so it has been a whirlwind of shopping, family time, games, laughter, movies and fun!

I want to thank all of you who have shopped with me this past year! I appreciate your support of my little shop more than words can express! I feel so blessed to be able to have a home based business that reflects my love of decorating and my passion for styling and photography and keeps me available for my little ones. A most heartfelt thank you to all of you!!!

***From now thru next Monday, December 5th, I am having a Christmas sale on many, many items in my SHOP! I'd love for you to take a look around!!

Enjoy your evening ~

Tracey

French Larkspur

One Table, Two Ways Part 2

2011-11-17T05:00:00.002-06:00

Happy week before Thanksgiving! I can hardly believe it!! I am hosting a dinner party on Friday evening, but then I am off the hook for Thanksgiving.

Well, I changed up the table setting from Monday just a bit...mixing my favorite two elements, the rustic and the pretty, for this version...

I kept things fairly simple...I used my bolt of burlap and cut a piece big enough to cover the table and then added vintage French canning jars, golden pears, and the prettiest vintage dinner plates to achieve the look I was going for...

I then stamped words like...gather ~ family ~ love...onto vintage wallpaper that I had picked up at the flea market some time ago, and fashioned a little napkin holder. I also tucked a torn page from a vintage French book and tucked it under the silverware...why, because I seem to be a wee bit obsessed with torn papers lately :) You could choose to stamp names of your guests instead, I just wanted to change it up a bit...

For each new morning

with its light,

For rest and shelter

of the night

For Health and food

for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

{vintage tea cup set}

While I was photographing, my little helper showed up and asked if she could come to my party...well, how could I say no?!! She even put her "pretty" dress on all by herself :))

Blessings to all of you ~

Tracey

One Table, Two Ways...

2011-11-14T05:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday! Well, November is moving right along isn't it?!! With Thanksgiving coming up next week already, I thought I was past due for a table setting post. I also wanted to showcase some of the items I have in my shop, so while my husband and kids were out of the house on Saturday, I had the idea to do a little "rearranging" in the family room and shoot my table setting post in there...then I had the idea to show you the same table set two different ways. I love doing table settings so much, that I have been trying to really focus on adding items to the SHOP that reflect this love.

If you get a chance, please stop back on Thursday morning and I will have this table set a whole different way for you :)

Elements for this table setting include:

vintage ironstone dishes

vintage silverware

pine cones and cranberries

pear branches from my yard

pressed and dried maple leaves from my parent's yard

{I dry leaves in between the pages of a telephone book every year so that I have them available whenever I might want to use them for Fall table settings and craft projects}

I covered one of my sap buckets with a vintage French map and then tied some jute twine around it for a little added interest.

I have a dozen of these blue striped napkins for myself and use them all the time at my dinner parties, they have such great texture and just keep getting better every time I wash them. I decided just to leave the napkins casually draped on the back of the side chairs...

I am in love with the extra large vintage mason jars that I just added to the shop! They are over 9 inches tall and will be perfect for many decorating projects this Christmas season.

Because I love how versatile basic white ironstone dishes are, I will start offering pieces in the shop as I find them at the flea market...right now I have a beautiful pair of antique ironstone platters listed.

And just because I think the antique French letters that I brought back from Paris are so very pretty, I added one of those to each place setting as well :))

I now offer the vintage German beer bottles you see on top of the armoire in the shop too...they can be found, along with other new items, in the Flea Market Finds !

***And, as a holiday special, I am offering all Jeanne d' Arc Living pillow covers I carry at $25 off now thru Thanksgiving weekend!!! You can find them in the Beautiful Living section of my shop***

Have a great day!

Tracey

p.s. I cooked the best tasting turkey I have ever made yesterday. I bought one of the fresh turkeys from Trader Joe's and followed the instructions *HERE* to cook the turkey breast-side down so that the breast meat would be extra moist...and it worked! Just thought I would pass that tip along.

Wandering the Streets of Paris

2011-11-10T17:26:00.001-06:00

Bonjour! Aside from the flea markets, my favorite thing to do in Paris is to simply wander the streets and observe, soak in, and enjoy the beauty that is everywhere! My husband and I spent MANY hours walking around during our trip. The mornings were a bit brisk, but every afternoon was bright sunshine and in the 60's...perfect!

It is a daunting task to come home with sooo many photos and then try and narrow down which ones I should share here on my blog...so I decided to just pull a random sampling of our excursions for now, and maybe a bit later I will show you some more...

The cafes are an integral part of the Parisienne lifestyle and such a wonderful part of being in Paris. I never got tired of sitting down for a cafe au lait and listening to the "French chatter" all around me. I was beyond thrilled that one of the cafes right near our hotel served decaf cafe au lait! Seriously, I was ecstatic! I gave up caffeine earlier this year as it was causing all kinds of problems for me, so I thought I was going to have to forgo my beloved lattes while in Paris...nope...we went twice a day to get a decaf cafe au lait they were so good :))

The sky was an amazing color of blue on this particular day and clear as could be! This is outside of Eglise Saint-Sulpice. I always feel it is a very special part of our trips to be able to visit some of the beautiful, old churches that are in Europe. I took a few pictures inside the church even though it was very dark {I did not use flash}...

{L'Opera}

{Yes, I did stand in the middle of Champs-Elysees avenue to get this picture of the Arc De Triomphe!}

The only disappointment of our trip, was when we went to the Musee d'Orsay and discovered that it was closed due to a strike! Next time!!

Toting my camera around, I looked like a total tourist the whole time we were in Paris and I don't care...if you have a passion for photography like I do, there is simply no better place on earth to be than in Paris!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing in my trip with me!

:) Tracey

Creatively Made

2011-11-07T05:00:00.002-06:00

Good morning! Just a quick post today to let you know about the wonderful new e-course that my good friend, Jeanne Oliver, has just started taking enrollment for...

Creatively Made

Here is a brief summary of her amazing new e-course:

In this four week journey art will be your companion to help you remember what you were made for all along.

Week One-Accepting the gifts you were given

Week Two- Perspective changes everything

Week Three-Growing your gifts

Week Four- Letting Go

Each week will include mixed media how-to videos, PDFs, templates, written explanations, themed videos, Q&A time, guest artists, assignments and inspiration.

There will also be fun studio tours to encourage you to make space for yourself and your gifts. There will also be inspiring videos from many of the creative women in my life that share bits of their heart and their journey to embracing the gifts that they have.

The class will begin January 9, 2012 and will run for four weeks.

You can also go *HERE* to view a video about the new e-course!

To sign up to be a part of Creatively Made, or to read more about it, go *HERE*

All images courtesy of Jeanne Oliver

I will be back very soon with some more pictures from my trip! Enjoy your Monday!!

Tracey

p.s. I am back in stock on Jeanne d' Arc Living's new book, Amazing Retreats, if you didn't get a copy last month and would like one. I also added new items to the Flea Market Finds section of the shop!

New items from Paris and more...

2011-11-01T05:00:00.019-05:00

Happy November! I really can't believe I'm saying that...and to think Christmas is just around the corner!! I still have more pictures of Paris I want to share with you, but today I am focusing on the new items for the SHOP.

I spent the weekend photographing, and I'm still not done, but I at least got the bulk of my new items listed. My husband and I had such a great time at the Paris flea markets that we've decided to go back again in the Spring! I told him that he is the best French flea market buddy a girl could ever ask for...he speaks enough French that he could negotiate prices for me, he figured out which bus/train we needed to take for all of the flea markets I wanted to go to, and he schlepped all of my treasures around for me without complaining :)) Now you know one of the reasons I am madly in love with this man!!

I hope you will love the things I brought back as much as I do {I wanted to keep everything, but my husband said that wasn't the deal :) }!!

I changed my categories up in the shop a bit and all of the Paris vintage items are in the "Flea Market Finds" category. I've decided to start including items I pick up on my flea market excursions to the shop...I think they will fit in nicely with the rest of the shop and I have such a true love of vintage that it only makes sense. So check back every month for new items in this category.

Phew, okay, so here is a sampling of the new items...

I have been collecting these Antique French Letters for awhile now and am so happy to be able to offer them in my shop! They are sold in a 5 letter bundle...

...and my heart did a little flip when I found these beautiful Antique French Documents. The writing both inside and out on these is so very pretty..the old script is just so incredible...

I also brought back a lot of Vintage French Maps as I have such a passion for them and I know that I myself have had a hard time coming across them here in the US, so I thought it would be great to offer these in the shop as well. I use mine for product shots and also photocopy them to use for many decorating and craft projects {more on that soon}...

{pictures don't do these maps justice...the colors are soft blues, pinks, greens and yellows and the paper is a gorgeous sepia tone that only comes with age, these particular maps are dated 1877}

I also brought back quite a few sets of dishes...not an easy task, but we managed not to break a single dish in transit :))

{Vintage French Blue Transferware Plate Set}

{Zinc Stencil Set}

{Vintage French Grey Plates}

{Vintage French Grey Dishes}

{Vintage French Hemp Towel ~ shown here on the table as a small tablecloth}

The ribbon around the napkins is actually Vintage French Laundry Labels, but I love it as a ribbon. I only have a few different monogram choices, but any initials work for a pretty presentation...

{Vintage French Linen Towel}

{Blue Striped French Linen Towel}

{Vintage French Canning Jar}

{Super big 600 gram cubes of Savon de Marseille Soap}

{Set of 2 Vintage French Books}

I also added a few new pieces of jewelry to the shop, and will have more over the next few weeks...

{Sea of Love Necklace}

{a slightly different version of the Paris By Night Earrings}

{Amber Loves Vintage Necklace}

{The Golden Ocean Set}

And lastly, I ordered more of the Christmas issue of Jeanne d' Arc Living Magazine, so if you would like to pre-order a copy, I am back in stock on those {they will be arriving in the shop by November 11th}...

Have a great day!!!

Tracey

The Golden Hour in Paris

2011-10-28T06:00:00.001-05:00

Good morning!

There is a term in photography called the golden hour...the first and last hour of sunlight in the day...and it can be quite magical.

I was lucky enough to capture a little bit of the golden hour while in Paris last week..

The first day my husband and I were there we were leisurely walking along the River Seine, near Notre Dame, on our way to dinner and I was eager and quite happy to be snapping some pictures...

{the back side of Notre Dame}

It was evening and, at first, it was clear, warm, and sunny...so I started shooting into the sun as I love the effect it gives to pictures...

But as we kept walking, many streets were beginning to darken and the sunlight was fading...

All of a sudden, I noticed that the light was really changing...the last rays of sunshine cast a golden glow wherever they managed to still appear amongst the shadows of surrounding buildings...

Before I knew it, the sky was a spectacular shade of pink...and there in the distance was the Eiffel Tower...

None of these photos have been enhanced in Photoshop, this is truly how gorgeous the city looked at this brief moment in time!! We were in the right place at the right time and I felt completely blessed to be there...

Wishing you all a beautiful weekend!

Tracey

Autumn in Paris

2011-10-26T19:35:00.001-05:00

Bonjour! I'm back from an all too quick 6 days in Paris. There were signs of Autumn everywhere in Paris and it made a beautiful city even more spectacular!!

I am way behind on emails, laundry, sleep and just about everything else, but it was sooooo worth it :) I can't wait to show you everything I brought back for the shop...I am SO excited about it...lots of my favorites...vintage maps, letters, linens, dishes, documents, French laundry labels and more! I will try and get as much as I can photographed and loaded on the website over the weekend and early next week.

I have a lot of pictures to go thru and am anxious to share them with you...but for now, I will just give you a peek at the Autumn color in Paris...and I will be back Friday morning with more pictures of my favorite city...

Au revoir!

Tracey

The Vintage Tea Collection...and I'm off to Paris!!!

2011-10-20T05:30:00.001-05:00

Happy Thursday! My good friend Jennifer Rizzo launched her fall collection this week and she has truly outdone herself!!!

I would love for you to head over to her etsy shop and check out all of the wonderful items in her new Vintage Tea Collection

You can also view her beautiful Look Book *HERE*

In honor of her new collection, Jen is having one heck of a giveaway!!!

Here are the goodies you could win:

The Nesting Giveaway

a vintage picnic basket filled to the brim with goodies:

1- in flight pillow cover

1-white linen La Parisien pillow cover

3-number towels

3-french inspired tea towels

3-tea time tea towels

1-set of vintage inspired cloth napkins

1-hat and fingerless glove set

1-set (4) of tea plates

1-set(2) of vintage ironstone mugs

1-vintage book

organic tea

lavender sugar

and that's not all...the winner will also receive a $100 gift certificate to her shop {good towards any of her lovely jewelry}!!!

To enter Jen's giveaway go *HERE*

{contest ends on Monday}

To visit Jen's etsy shop go *HERE*

{images 1 - 6 courtesy of Jennifer Rizzo}

And yes, my husband and I head to Paris today! I am so excited to head back to Paris!!! I have my flea market schedule all mapped out and I hope to bring back lots of goodies...including some for the shop as well.

I will be back at the end of next week with lots of pictures :)

Tracey

{jewelry love}

2011-10-17T05:30:00.005-05:00

{for the love of paris necklace}

Happy Monday! I have a wonderful new line of jewelry that I will be carrying in the SHOP now...it is all made by my talented sister. My sister Kara has been making beautiful jewelry for years now and I am so happy to be able to start offering some of her amazing vintage pieces in my shop!

{time for me bracelet}

All of the jewelry is made almost exclusively with vintage elements. My sister loves to shop the flea markets like I do and is always coming home with great new vintage elements that inspire her pieces. For example, the bracelet above features rare glass clock face beads made in Northern Bohemia between 1914 and 1945. I love this bracelet!

{the kara necklace}

Items in this line feature vintage ~ pearl, metal and glass buttons, watch parts, czech fire polished beads, pins, broaches, and various other unique vintage necklace parts

{paris by night earrings}

{across the ocean necklace}

{amour bracelet}

{time to travel necklace}

Look for additional pieces to be added to this collection, especially over the next month!

Have a great day!!!

Tracey

French Larkspur

The Na-Da Farm Sale

2011-10-13T14:32:00.000-05:00

Oh my, where has the week gone??! I can't believe it is Thursday already and I am just now posting pics from Anne Marie's beautiful barn sale!

The vendors both inside the barn and out did a spectacular job and everything looked truly amazing!!! Plus, the weather was gorgeous the entire weekend which is always a plus!

So, without further delay, here are some pics of the fabulous Na-Da Farm Barn Sale...

{the first 6 images are of my good friend Jen's incredible space inside the barn!}

I snapped the picture of this cabinet below while the vendor was still setting up, but it is the only clean shot of this cabinet that I have so I wanted to include it with the pics..I loved this cabinet and really wanted to bring it home with me, but didn't...oh well :)

And, of course, the highlight of my weekend was getting to spend so much time with my beautiful friend Jeanne...

Have a great weekend!

Tracey

Raspberry Jam

2011-10-04T05:30:00.002-05:00

Happy Tuesday! A few weeks ago, my sister Stephany, daughter Halena, and I went raspberry picking at a nearby farm. As soon as we finished, we made a big batch of raspberry freezer jam. It's really easy and now my freezer is stocked with jam that I can pull out as needed for us or for gift giving in the months ahead.

I thought I would do a quick post with just a few simple ways I like to dress up canning jars for gift giving...

stamped paper doilies

{use a small piece of two sided tape under the doily to hold it in place}...

I found these spools of green twine at the flea market a few years ago and just love the color...jute twine works great as well...

punched butterflies...

burlap, vintage seam binding, and a sprig of fresh rosemary...

My good friend Jeanne is coming into town this weekend and staying at my house...yay...so I won't be posting again until next week. I hope to have some pics of the Na-Da Farm Sale to share with all of you when I return!

Have a great week!!!

Tracey

Rainy Day Random

2011-09-29T05:30:00.010-05:00

Hello! It has been gloomy and rainy here for days, so I am very behind on a few photography projects that I need to get done...so for today's post I thought I would gather up a number of things that I have wanted to show you but never seem to have the time to squeeze in...

I'll apologize in advance for the super long, random post!

In keeping with my love of outdoor photography, this past Summer I photographed everything I could, including a few picnics. I did not snap a lot of pictures on this particular day, but I will share the few that I have. Dappled light does not make for the best photographs, but we picked this spot because it was close to the creek and mostly shaded. One of the things I really love about blogging is that it has given me such an appreciation for taking the time to make things pretty. Taking that extra effort to make things special and pretty might, at times, go unnoticed by my family, but that's okay because I enjoy doing it...and having all of you to share it with makes it that much better :))

One of the many things I reuse the French lemonade bottles {from Whole Foods} for, is to hold new drinks that I make. My kids happen to love what we call "blueberry fizz," which is just the organic blueberry juice from Trader Joe mixed half and half with San Pellegrino sparkling water.

Perfect for a brunch picnic, as well, is herb butter. It is super easy to make your own butter if you have a Kitchen Aid mixer. All you need is about 9 minutes and some heavy whipping cream and you are good to go! If you would like detailed step-by-step instructions, CLICK HERE. I love to fold in fresh herbs at the very end for an flavorful twist on plain butter. Here I made thyme butter...chive butter is also a big favorite.

If you leave your honey out in the sun a bit and let it warm up, it is divine over sliced pears...crumbled goat cheese is a wonderful addition as well. Just make sure the jar you have has a tight fitting lid so that you don't attract ants :)

And speaking of honey, I have been wanting to share with you my love for infused honey. One of our favorites is lavender honey and it is super easy to make...

All you need is a clean canning jar with a tight fitting lid, raw honey, and dried lavender buds {make sure they are not treated with anything and are specific for cooking with, I get mine HERE}. Then just fill your jar about 1/3 full with the lavender buds and fill the rest of the jar with your honey. Place in a sunny window for one to two weeks turning the jar once per day. After two weeks, strain the honey into a clean jar and discard the lavender buds. Voila, lavender honey! Easy!! Infused honey makes a great gift!

Okay, moving on...I told you this was random :)) Autumn is my favorite time of year to photograph outdoors, and here in the Midwest I think God made Fall especially beautiful to make up for the long, cold winters ahead that we have to endure! I would like to include some changing landscape photos in my posts over the next month or so as the beauty of Fall takes over...

I took these two photos at a farm that my sister and I take are kids to for weekly walks. They have a 2.5 mile path that goes all around the prairie fields and it is one of my favorite places.

I would also love to share pictures that I take of my niece/goddaughter from time to time. I have been practicing my portrait photography on Sophie since she was born in May. Isn't she a cutie?! I don't get enough practice at portrait photography because my own kids do not like to cooperate with me when I pull my camera out and ask them to stand still...let's just say that there is usually a lot of arguing going on :) At any rate, here are just a few pics of precious Sophie...

And lastly {phew!}, here is a little peek at the new Jeanne d' Arc Living book, Amazing Retreats, that will be available in two weeks...

This book is full of outdoor styling inspiration and will feature many gorgeous Summer homes from Denmark, all in the lovely Nordic-French style!

As a bonus, the book will also include a chapter on Christmas decorating! Yay! I can't wait to see it!!

{last 7 images courtesy of Jeanne d' Arc Living}

You can pre-order a copy of Amazing Retreats in the SHOP

I think that was one of my longest posts ever! Sorry to throw so much at you at once, but I have a very busy week ahead and I'm not sure how soon I will get to post again.

Enjoy your day!

Tracey

Early Autumn

2011-09-22T09:42:00.000-05:00

Happy Thursday! Today I am sharing a corner of my dining room that I like to change up on a regular basis :) This room is the first room people see when they enter my home, so it is a fun room to update and change seasonally. I changed out the table that I usually have in this corner for my vintage French dry sink and then just gathered some bits of nature and elements from around the house that I already had...

I started taking pictures and then realized that I hadn't added anything to my hanging nest :) So I asked the kids to gather up some of the leaves that have started falling from the tree out front and added those to the nest...

dried scabiosa

I'm not sure what this says :)) But I love these old French poetry books, so I brought them down from my bedroom and added them...

Some burlap and limelight hydrangeas added new life to my old tool caddy...

Happy Autumn!!!

Thank you so much for stopping by...

Tracey

p.s. My friend Anne Marie's Fall Barn Sale is coming up on October 7th and 8th...here is the information for anyone who is interested in coming...I'm definitely going!

My friends Jen and Jeanne are also teaching some amazing art classes that weekend! If you hurry over to Anne Marie's blog, you can sign up to win a weekend getaway for two to the sale!!!

Click here for details about the giveaway!!!

{drawing ends September 23rd at midnight}

A Winner and a Touch of Fall

2011-09-19T08:42:00.001-05:00

Hello! Just a quick post to announce the Winner of the Post Road Vintage Giveaway that Heather was so generous to offer here on my blog...

The Winner is Connie from She Dreams Big!!!!!!! Thank you so much to everyone who participated!

As much as I've had a hard time letting go of Summer, I have been slowly starting to do some Fall decorating and enjoying it. I wanted to take more pictures to show you today, but it rained ALL day yesterday and was very gloomy {so far today is more of the same}, so I will hopefully be back soon with more touches of Fall...

I took this picture last Fall in the woods near our house...I really do love this time of year and am looking forward to the beauty of Fall!

Enjoy your day!

Tracey