Gifts of White

Today I want to share with you some very special gifts. But first, I can finally share my "big news" and the reason I haven't been getting around the blogosphere nearly as much as I'd like.

They say that life is a circle, and it does appear that it has come full circle for me. After more than twenty-five years away, I'm returning to my hometown of Kingsport, Tennessee! It's so funny; the place I couldn't wait to get away from so many years ago is now where I want to be more than anywhere else in the world. And due to a delightfully unexpected chain of events, I'm moving back VERY soon. So all of the time which hasn't been consumed with working has been filled with packing and preparations. A very interesting twist is that Liz, my best friend here in Maine, decided to move south at the same time! She will be moving to Savannah, Georgia to be close to her daughter and grandchildren. Her beautiful home has gone up on the market and she will actively pursue selling it when she returns from an extended visit with her family in Georgia after the holidays.

So...we decided to have our own private Christmas celebration last Saturday. The items I'm sharing today were her Christmas gifts to me. I opened the large gift bag first, and my breath was swept away when I discovered these gorgeous white feather Christmas trees!

Then I began opening the smaller presents and to my delight, discovered this precious little vintage Santa, complete with his reindeer! Liz knows how much I love decorating for Christmas, and she couldn't have chosen gifts that were more perfect for me! Of course, with the move, I won't be able to decorate for the holidays this year. I'm planning to leave Maine on December 13, and should be arriving in Kingsport either the 14th or 15th. December 16th will be a free day to spend with my friends there, as the moving truck will not arrive until the 17th, at which time I'll be busy unloading and trying to get somewhat settled into my new house before starting work on the 20th.

These wonderful candleholders were another Christmas gift from Liz, and while perfect for the holidays, these will be displayed year round.

I'm looking forward to lots of new adventures! I'm moving into a house sight-unseen, and eagerly anticipating the challenges of decorating it.

The darling white birdhouse was yet another gift from Liz. I'll be finding a place of honor for it in my new home. Isn't it funny how life works sometimes? In planning my move, I thought about how much I would miss Liz, and now she's planning to move to the south so we'll be able to visit on occassion! I just can't get over how beautifully God lays His plans sometimes! Along with my two best friends in Tennessee, Debbie and Barbara, Liz and I are already planning our trek down the "World's Longest Yard Sale" next summer!

I'm anxiously and eagerly awaiting the decorating adventures that lie ahead with my move. It will be very interesting to see the house for the first time. At first I wanted pictures, but Debbie's camera was on the fritz when she went to look at the house for me, so I've decided to keep it a surprize and see what I can do on the fly.

In addition to putting my home together, I already have several friends who want design help, so I'm going to have LOTS to blog about! Please forgive me if I don't make it around to your blogs much in the immediate future. I truly enjoy reading and being inspired by them, but right now, I must attend to the business at hand.

I'm happily anticipating having lots to share and lots to see in 2011. But for now, packing boxes await...

Until next time,
Sheilla

I'm linking up with "White Wednesday" at Faded Charm. Come on over and check things out at Kathleen's fantastic blog!

Favorite Whites

First of all, I'd like to apologize to all of my blogging friends for not "making my rounds", as regularly as I normally try to, and to my readers for not posting last week. I've got something big in the works. I wish I could share the news with you right now, but for the time being, I've got to keep a lid on it. Look for an announcement in the next week or so. Since I've been unable to work around the house, I thought I'd share some of my favorite white things with you to celebrate another White Wednesday.

This is part of the vignette that I arranged on the shelf of the recycled dresser mirror that I posted about a short time back.



It's quite simple....just an apothecary jar filled with seashells, a small architectural fragment and a little milk glass sugar bowl that has lost its lid.

This is my take on an "artsy" shot of a sconce that I revamped some time ago. It was one of those gold 3-armed syrocco pieces that I spray painted white and then sanded a little of the paint off to reveal some underlying gold. I added some crystals to it for good measure and did a similar treatment on a mirror to hang above it.


This is part of what is probably my favorite vignette in the house...one that sits atop an old piano. This little cherub is watching over a small bouquet of white roses.


This rose is part of an arrangement in a large crystal vase...also on top of the piano.


Don't ask me why I included this...It's just a piece of moulding on an Art Deco style dresser that I painted white, but I like it, so here it is...


Here's another of my cherubs. This one is an inexpensive garden statue, but I rather like the perch I created for her. It consists of an old rusty standing ashtray that I found in a freebie pile and topped with a small round vintage vanity mirror.


And finally, a crusty old urn filled with spools of white thread.


And a close-up of the thread. Isn't it funny how some of the simplest things can be quite beautiful?

Again, my apologies for leaving you with a "quickie" today. I think you'll understand when I share my news in the very near future.

Until next time,
Sheilla

I'll be linking up with "White Wednesday" at Faded Charm. Come on over and check things out at Kathleen's fantastic blog!

Two for One!

My project for today actually turned out to be two projects in one (sorry for such a long post)!



It is my first real woodworking or building project completely from scratch. It's only a very simple bookcase, but it's something I needed and building it has given me the confidence to try my hand at woodworking again. Here's how it came together.

First, I assembled my materials.



And I gathered my tools, most of which were purchased at yard sales.



And then it was time to saw, hammer and nail. I attached the sides to the back first, and then the top and bottom.
Look, now I have (drumroll...) a large box!



And now for the moment of truth....is it level?



Yes!!!!
Time to put the shelves in!



The next step was painting...white, of course, and then I added some vintage ephmera to the back. I only taped it in place so that it would be easy to change. Finally, I added some wheels for easy portability. Here are some close-ups of the shelves. The first shelf features the cover from a piece of 1920's sheet music.


Here it is after I added some decorative objects. The little blue box also serves as storage for my plate hangers.


On the second shelf I used some vintage sheet music, a remnant of scrapbooking paper, and a vintage style postcard.


It holds some books, a family photo, and a vintage flower brooch. The book covers are made from aqua wrapping paper to coordinate with the room.


For the third shelf I added some old book pages and a piece of vintage sheet music. I really like the title of this song, "Why Must I Dream".


Here's another storage box; this one holds my plate and photo easels. I put the toile container on top because I like it, but I'm certain that it will soon become the stash place for something!


I put some additional sheet music on the bottom shelf, along with more old book pages, one of which, has photographs.


More books and a little milkglass sherbet for the bottom shelf.


Here's a photo of the finished bookcase, pictured with some other recent projects.


After putting it where I'd planned, I realized it needed something else. The front was facing the dining area, but the back was facing the guest/project room and looked rather blah. (I'll show you the bookcase in its permanent spot when I do the room reveal a little later.) At any rate, I decided it would look nice semi disguised as a column, so out came the pencil. I did a few practice sketches of columns on paper to find a design that I was happy with. Then I penciled the sketch to the bookcase.



I "painted" it by going over the outline with a wide Sharpie marker. Gotta love those little Sharpies --- one of my favorite "tools" anyway!


Here's the finished result.


So now it's a bookcase on one side and a column on the other.



Again, sorry for such a long post, but I just had to share my first absolutely from scratch furniture project.

Until next time,
Sheilla

White Inspiration

	This week work has been crazy and I've found myself dreaming instead of doing, so I thought I'd share some photos from my "inspiration file". I can't remember where I found the one on the left, but I just love that gilded sofa. Another one for my wish list!

More and more these days I seem to be drawn toward an elegant simplicity.

Photo: Apartment Therapy Design: Alexandria Nolita

I still love vintage, and a juxtaposition of rustic and refined elements, but these days, I seem to be craving a much quieter mix.

Photo: Ticking and Toile

I think this living room has such a peaceful quality about it. While predominantly modern, there are vintage elements present in the mantle and mirror. The dog statues were flea market finds. The long, billowy curtains add an air of softness and romance.

Photo: Metropolitan Home

Of course, I still love "stuff", and I find the photo below very appealing. I love the wrought iron daybed. Perhaps one day I'll find one in my price range.

Photo: Country Living

Of course it just doesn't get much better than this!

Photo: New York Times Design: Sandra Foster

I love all the classical elements in this photo, and especially like how the mirrors were layered. I believe I could do without the enamel ware pot in front of the fireplace, though. A chippy, rusty, old urn, in my opinion would be so much nicer.

Photo: Country Living

Here's a new addition to my inspiration files. This living room is on the cover of the current Elle Decor magazine. I'm in love with the mural by Bob Christian.

Photo: Elle Decor Design: Suzanne Rheinstein

This is another shot from the same New York apartment. The floors here were also painted by Bob Christian.

Photo: Elle Decor Design: Suzanne Rheinstein

Another of my current cravings is the pairing of aqua or turquoise with white, and black accents.

Photo: Elle Decor Design: Delphine Krakoff

And now for a few items on my wish list. I absolutely love this ruffled shower curtain! I wish I'd saved the source info, but I didn't. (My apologies if this happens to be yours).

I did find a similar one, however, at Anthropologie. If I had the budget, I could really get addicted to that store!

Photo and design: Anthropologie

And finally, last by not least, I want this piece of art! The photographic artist is Jennifer Molley Wilson. You may recognize her work from another White Wednesday post from a couple of weeks ago.

Photo: Jennifer Molley Wilson

Well, folks, I guess that's it for me today. Time to stop drooling and start doing. Thanks for visiting! I hope you've enjoyed browsing some of the images in my inspiration file with me.

Until next time,
Sheilla

I'm linking up with "White Wednesday" at Faded Charm. Come on over and check things out at Kathleen's fantastic blog!

I'm So Excited.....

I'm so excited! Tracie at My Petite Maison just contacted me to let me know that I am the winner of her fabulous Petite French Bohemian Giveaway! And one of the reasons that I'm so excited is that the prize will be

a complete surprise when it arrives! But whatever it turns out to be, I am absolutely positive it will be wonderful. You see, Tracie was planning a shopping trip to Alemeda, the largest antique show/flea market in Northern California, and she very generously decided to do a bit of shopping for one of her friends in the blogosphere. So she had a contest. She asked people to comment their wish lists for an entry, and I did. I still can't believe I'm the lucky winner!

For those of you not familiar with Tracie and her gorgeous blog, she is a woman of impeccable taste. She has been featured in Romantic Country magazine several times and is the owner of the most magnificent shop you could imagine! One of the things I like best about Tracie surprisingly has nothing to do with

decorating, though. Tracie is a kindred spirit in that she is a true animal lover. Her beautiful home is also home to a number of rescue pets -- Zeke, a huge but adorable French Great Pyrenees, and a trio of precious rescue cats!

Tracie THANK YOU so VERY MUCH!

Reese, Prissy, and Lucy
send their greetings to Zeke, Buttercup, Giles, & Gigi.
(and they can hardly wait to help me open my surprise!)
THANKS AGAIN!

Until next time,
Sheilla