New additions to my Etsy shop

 An elegant little 3 piece covered soap dish has an insert to keep the soap dry.

 You could also hide the ugly scrubby pads in here as well

 as use it on your desk for paper clips and rubber bands~

 The shabbiest of trays, I picked this off the fair ground fields at Brimfield.  

There is something very chinoiserie about this tray~

Gold baroque style beveled mirror came from the auction last weekend~

I will only buy mirrors if I plan to sell them 

(as my collection of mirrors is overflowing)!!

 An instant collection of little creamers, also culled from Brimfield.

They make a darling group on a kitchen or a bathroom shelf.

How about on a window sill with one bloom each?

 This dresser set I found at Brimfield has

 the cologne bottle, the perfume bottle and the powder box~

it is in perfect condition and in my favorite color. 

The identical set, in pink, is on eBay now for over $300!

My favorite color again in a cottage coffee pot~

wouldn't it be pretty filled with queen anne's lace or pink carnations?

These items and many more are available for purchase at my Etsy shop.

Change of the Seasons

Living in New England makes for quick changes in the seasons, often before you are ready to let them go. It doesn't seem that long ago that spring had sprung after the snowiest winter I could remember!  I was so happy to see the forsythia blooming and the trees budding up~and with that came summer even faster.  This year I had lots of garden plans that involved climbing roses and building garden structures for my new roses to climb upon.  The plans are still in the works, the climbing rose has been planted, and it is going to need a support structure soon.  Before I was ready, Labor Day came, and with it the cooler weather and soon the tree leaves will turn~

Fall is upon us in New England, one of the prettiest times of the year.  This was taken last year as we zoomed down my sister's street on hub's motorcyle~a pastime he loves and that I reluctantly share.  I loved the color of the leaves in this picture, and when they litter the street it is kind of magical. When you think of fall, don't you think of New England?  We get a lot of "leaf peepers" this time of year who love seeing the changes.

This very chubby girl is me carrying my halloween pumpkin for trick or treating~my grandmother made this blue wool sweater with the white furry angora trim and the little bunny eared hat for me. Fall is the time for back to school and back to our nests and getting them all cozied up and ready for the long indoor spurt ahead. As reluctant as I am to give up on summer, there is something satisfying about the things Fall offers. Cooking apple pies, fires in the fireplace, kids on a schedule, and decorating our home for the new season.

I always start with the mantle~and this year I ordered some handmade pumpkins from a fellow blogger, Donna~ who writes A Life Reclaimed as well as sells things like these pumpkins in her online Etsy shop.  I am not an orange person! So when I saw these cream and brown pumpkins with the perfect green for leaves, I had to get them.

A tole tray I was able to get on eBay in a wonderful green color is my centerpiece~and lots of bits and pieces are stuffed in for falls abundance.

A couple of florentine trays and some leaf garland and ribbon are added to fill out the mantle. Have you tried the automatic pillar candles? Every night at dusk, they turn on automatically for 5 hours~ the room looks so cozy!  I found a four pack last year at Costco, and I love them!

This is a shot of one going at dusk as I was decorating the mantle...it looks just like real candlelight.

The other new fall thing is the old needlepoint stool I found at Brimfield.  It is just darling and rustic all at the same time.

As I said earlier, I don't like to do orange, so this mix of brown with my favorite minty greens and pinks with just a hint of orange in the binding gives it the fall colors that mix well with my living room colors.

I don't overdecorate my house during the fall season, but I do like some touches here and there.

Sending a typical early fall picture your way from New England~roses still blooming in our new cooler weather with mums on most everyone's front porch.

Purple toile valance for the kitchen

A miniature valance out of the Brimfield Toile

 I found  now hangs at my kitchen window.

Since I collect purple transferware

 and have started moving more pieces into the

kitchen I thought I would use a bit of it as a valance.

The pattern says "Hunting Toile Samarcand Selection 1992" on the selvage edge.

 The plates I hung on the cabinets are from a dinner set I just bought off of eBay

 in the Claire Cliff Rural Scenes pattern. 

There are different scenes depicted on the plates, bowls and saucers. 

I plan to keep the dinner and salad plates for use,

 but hang the smaller ones in my kitchen.

I have different pieces up on the window shelf I made, 

it is a nice area to display things in my very small kitchen.

Still, with the plates hung and displayed, it didn't look so great.

This is my dream kitchen~remember this image

 from Carolyn Westbook's The French Inspired Home?

How could I even come close to this?

 Well I am still working on it, 

but the valance has gotten me a

 little closer to achieving the look I was inspired by. 

Shall I do beadboard next on the backsplash? 

And then paint it light apple green?

 I'll confess I have been dreaming of marble counter tops too.

 I started painting over my grey lower cabinets...

Its a work in progress, 

but this charming little valance 

made me feel a little closer to my dream kitchen!


joining the party at

and

decorating with transferware

A simple way to use transferware in home decor

 is to make a floral container out of a vessel.

One piece like this adds cottage charm and a nod to yesteryear.

 

Typically one sees a collection 

of transferware showcased in cupboards.  

Adding just a few red and white plates transformed these shelves.

Another common area for decorating with transferware is in the kitchen.

The large hood over the range is a great place to display a prized platter.

Leave it to Martha Stewart to design a 

wedding cake to coordinate with transferware!

Can you say gorgeous? 

An enchanting backdrop for the dog figurines, 

the plates make for a charming brown and white vignette.

I have a weakness for purple transferware. 

This is a pretty table that uses white dishes and sets a 

small purple Clarice Cliff Charlotte plate on the top. 

This is quite lovely, on a sideboard~a big collection to admire on a daily basis.

I vividly recall seeing this first on Cote de Texas. 

The entire wall is covered with purple and mulberry transferware plates.

 I think it is quite incredible!

 Not in love with mirror or lamps in that black finish though.

The first purple piece I ever got was this lacy looking teapot.

It started my collection~

I built up my collection one or two plates at a time.

On Etsy I found this tiny sugar bowl lamp for my kitchen.

I have since added a set of dinner ware in purple that I can't wait to share

with you all! I also got a few pieces from my Brimfield Trip.

I don't know anyone who has a 

bigger collection than Nancy of Nancy's Daily Dish.

She has a business and a blog built around transferware.

I asked Nancy to work with a

 client of mine to put together an instant collection

for her dining room and living room walls. 

When the project is completed I will be bringing you pictures,

but here is what Nancy sent me for 

one of the groupings for my client to consider.

We will be hanging this row of plates above an arched window~

it is going to look amazing!

Totally a coincidence, but lucky for us all that love transferware,

 I see that Nancy is having a giveaway at Stone Gable this morning! 

So if you are looking to get into transferware, 

head over there and maybe you will get lucky!

Giveaway link to StoneGable

If you are in the shopping mood, 

you can see a few pieces for sale at reasonable prices

 at my Etsy shop by clicking here.

Sources: 1. Decorology 2. source 3. The Inspired Room 4. Martha Stewart 5. Getcottage 

6. StoneGable 7. Pinterest 8. source  9. 10. MaisonDecor 

linking to

Brimfield Fair Diary~Day Two

 Day two, for us, at the Brimfield Fair, which is actually the last day of the fair~hoping to get some good deals.  We hit the road early and planned to start at the very beginning of the one mile stretch of venues. You can see us parking at the church and heading to the tents in this 30 second video below. This post is more of a video diary, and I don't have any experience uploading videos. Yesterday the one video I uploaded directly quickly became unavailable, so today I am using YouTube...you can skip the videos, of course!

Next we approach the tents, and look how amazing it all is!! Another 30 second snippet of the shops.

 We try to go in rows and came across this very pretty tent all set up like a store.  This is where I got a few things, to include a very sweet little blue and white handled dish~and you will hear how happy I am to discover it as I stumble upon it. This is what Brimfield action is really like!

 This lady did really pretty fall displays, such as stuffing a broken clock with a bird's nest.

 As I paused to take this shot of a needlepoint chair, Sue informed me that she threw one out just like it!  Gah! Argh!

 Isn't this garden potting bench sweet with the faucet attached above a sink~just for show...cute anyway.

 Oh look~purple transferware, but it is only a pile of the same college souvenir dishes for William and Mary at $50 each. No thanks....

 My prom days are over, but I bet Rachel Ashwell would have loved this pink dress. It was $150.
We are headed down another alleyway of tents. Sometimes it is just so fun to be with your BF sharing discoveries together~and a few laughs too!

This fabulous bed was going to be mine for $100 if I wanted it~the dealer was really trying to make me take it home. I would have if I had the extra room, I love beds with wrap around footboards.
We were getting excited because a lot of these prices seemed better than the day before, and the dealers were giving bigger discounts.

These things reminded me of Kim from Savvy Southern Style...

Sue and I both loved this old cabinet~what a great coffee or wine bar this would make.
This piece is from German Favorite Antiques, a shop in Leesburg Virginia.

Someone made their cart look all dolled up with these cute fabrics! We continued shopping and walking and looking and talking and...I even grabbed a delicious home made donut after they handed us free samples!

 And then it happened, I saw a real live purple transferware vegetable bowl.  At this point I was so desperate for a great piece that I didn't care that this bowl was almost $100! But I asked what her best price was, and she said $60~SOLD! This next video captures the moment!!

 I was equally elated to find this very nice toile remnant in purple. It had dogs and roses~the perfect combination in my humble opinion. It will make a pair of nice pillows or a kitchen valance. Price was $20, but I got it for $10!

 A client of mine is due to have her third baby anytime now, so when I saw this darling dish I got it for her.

A nice enamelware coffee pot in such a great color~headed to my Etsy shop.

 This three piece set of blue and white with gold is very shabby~and will go in my Etsy shop too.

Another pretty trio, this french vanity set will go on my vanity. I am in love with this robin egg blue color.
So these are some of my treasures that I brought home. I got a lot of other smalls I didn't show off alone.

I ended up making more videos the second day than taking pictures. I forgot to take a picture of Sue's oil painting that she found, but it is in the final video below. Back at the car, loading our stuff, and I realize now that I cannot turn the camera and expect the screen to turn with me, like you can with an iPhone....so sorry about the sideways element...

Thanks for coming to the Brimfield Fair in Massachusetts with Sue and me~