U.S. Giveaway: Vintage by Nina Book!

What a fine thing!  What unannoying

            romance; And how beautiful, she

            with the natural stoop of the

snowy egret, gray-eyed and straight-haired,

for whom it should come to the door,--

of whom it reminds me.  The split

            pine fair hair, steady gannet-clear

            eyes and the pine-needled-path deer-

swift step; that is Sweden—land of the

free and the soil for a spruce tree

from A Carriage from Sweden by Marianne Moore

Dear Nina Hartmann has graciously offered a SIGNED copy of the Swedish version of Vintage By Nina for a giveaway!

Nina needs your help.

In order to get this delicious English version, interest must be evident in the U.S. in the form of pre-orders.

Won't you send Atelier de Champagne an email to pre-order today or at least leave a comment about your interest?

Let's make Nina a big success in the U.S.!

To enter: leave a comment.
Extra chances will be given to those who spread the word via social media.  Don't forget to leave a comment for each.

Winner will be chosen via random.org.
Giveaway ends midnight 30 May 2010.  Open to U.S. and Canadian residents.

From Atelier de Champage:

Title: Vintage by Nina

Language:English 

Hardcover: 164 pages

Dimensions: 10"x 8.5"

More than 300 colour photographs

Those interested in acquiring this book for resale should contact us via

e-mail infoatelierdc@gmail.com for details and info on cost.

Title your e-mail Wholesale VBN

We need to take pre-orders ASAP in order to get the book to you by mid September.

Those who are interested in purchasing a copy or two for themselves send an e-mail to infoatelierdc@gmail.com.

Title your e-mail Retail VBN

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style  

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner 

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse  

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage 

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage  

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home 

'Vintage by Nina' in English!

The lilacs lift in generous bloom

  Their plumes of dear old-fashioned flowers;

Their fragrance fills the still old house

  Where left alone I count the hours.

High in the apple-trees the bees

  Are humming, busy in the sun, --

An idle robin cries for rain

  But once or twice and then is done.

from At Home from Church by Sarah Orne Jewett

Look who's here!

Nina Hartmann and Maria-Isabel Hansson's groundbreaking interior book 'Vintage by Nina' in English.

(Distributed in the U.S. by Atelier de Champagne in September 2012.) 

I've scanned a few images of my Swedish copy echoing the purples of my lilacs.  I absolutely don't mind books I can't read, but discovering more about Nina's aesthetic surely is better.  Corresponding with Nina a few months ago I relayed: America needs you.

Romantic yet minimalist, sentimental without saccharine.  

This is the first in a series relaying how Nina's influenced my cottage...så vackert! 

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style 

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner 

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse  

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage 

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage  

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home 

Catskills Yard Sale: IKEA Blekinge White Ektorp Sofa & Loveseat For Sale $300

23 May 2012 - UPDATE: Looks like we have a buyer!

Sofa ($200 neg.) & Loveseat ($100 neg.) will be sold at a 2-family yard sale.

Unused sofa and loveseat in storage.  Sofa's slipcover is still in the original packaging.

9 am
SATURDAY - SUNDAY MAY 26 & 27
515 ACORN HILL RD., OLIVEBRIDGE, NY 12461


A barn full of housewares, antiques, entertainment electronics, TVs, audio & music equipment, computer desks, coffee tables, chairs, shabby chic, tools, 2 refrigerators, books, something for everyone (except baby and kid stuff).


Memorial Day weekend is the hottest yard sale weekend in the Catskills.  Stop at ours first!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Second Acts: Karina Gentinetta Featured In "More" June 2012

Karina Gentinetta

'More' June 2012

Photo: A.J. McAlear

Read about her dreamy photoshoot here.

More magazine "celebrates women of style and substance with articles on style, health, work, spirituality, and relationships.  Let there be more women living in a state of constant possibility with youthful energy, intelligence, achievement, and sophistication."   

More - Facebook

More - Twitter

Get Karina's Look:

Karina's in New York at 1stdibs in the NYDC on 200 Lexington Ave.

My next place will be under her spell.

Waiting for the winds of change

To sweep the clouds away

Waiting for the rainbow’s end

To cast its gold your way

You don’t get something for nothing

You can’t have freedom for free

You won’t get wise with the sleep still in your eyes

No matter what your dreams might be

from Something For Nothing - Neil Peart (Rush)

My dear friend Karina’s feature “Second Acts” in the June 2012 issue of More magazine is THRILLING.

And reprimanding.  I need to find my second act.

How bad is it?  I waver between getting a master’s degree (to support myself better) or breast implants (to get a rich man to do it). 

I am hardly the first person to be heartbroken and others have it much, much worse. 

I’ve picked up and started life over before.  I thought after I bought my studio for cash I’d just cruise.  What a fool I used to be.

Close friends urge me to go home to my studio and visit.  I haven’t held my Maltese dog Zuzu since February and won’t see her until Memorial Day weekend (days from June).  I live absolutely alone.  Home and/or nearest family is a 5 hour drive away.  With gas over $4 a gallon I must choose between feeding Zuzu and seeing her.  I’d rather pay the bills and keep my great credit than see Zuzu and dodge collection calls.

That’s messed up. 

My studio is on the cover of Romantic Homes.  I haven’t seen it yet, but surely it’s the old ‘fantasy come true’ angle.  What bitter irony!  In truth I’m a grieving old fat fart disinterested in everything that used to please me whose greatest hope at the moment is a higher paying night job in addition to my full-time job.

Then…

           

…along comes an email from a dear friend.  A woman that’s lived in heaven and hell.  Karina’s inspired me.  She’s so action-oriented.  I’m just merely stubborn.  So, instead of whining I'm thinking about my next project.  It will be much more rustic.  (I can get a tree stump side table from my woods. Free.)  It will be uncluttered yet cozy, cushy yet unsentimental.  All white, of course.

It better not take 13 years to get there this time.

Thank you all.  I really have the best 'gentle readers'.

P.S. – Special thanks to 'Romantic Homes' for the feature story on my studio.  My copy is at my old address and I won’t get to it until Memorial Day weekend.  I’ll post about it in June.  People say it’s nice, I’m very grateful and thankful.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style  

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner 

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse  

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage 

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage  

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home  

Purity: Handcrafted Artisan Soap by Me & The Boy

Ylang Lavender SLS-free soap from Me & The Boy

I highly recommend the Ylang Lavender SLS-free soap from Me & The Boy.   Clear undyed vegetable glycerin with a pretty baroque design betraying the lovely fact it was hand-poured in a small cottage industry batch.  It lathers, it smells lovely to me: that note of old-fashioned, unmasked, work horse soap smell.  I can use it on my farm and it won't pollute my stream.

(What's Sodium Lauryl Sulfate? Who Cares?

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate - SLS - is an ingredient in many cleaning products, hygiene products, and toiletries we use daily. Its function is to remove grease and oil…but it does its job so well that it also causes health issues ranging from eczema to canker sores.

People with sensitive skin are particularly susceptible.

--Definition and text from Squidoo.com.)

Meet the maker of the soap and other products such as candles, bath products, and home decor: Tanya Picano of Toronto.  Her story inspires:

“Me and the boy is just that.  I am Tanya, and the boy is my son Val.  I have been a stay at home mom since his birth, I had no choice as my son had many issues.   He's almost 4 now.  Having ADHD and him as well, life can be very interesting…like many high needs kids needs alot of 1 on 1. 

Our company is based on the belief that our customers' needs are of the utmost importance.  I am committed to meeting those needs.  As a result, a high percentage of my business is from repeat customers and referrals.  We love custom requests and have a broad range of intrests.

I would welcome the opportunity to earn your trust and deliver you the best service and product I can.”

I bought her maple-scented soy candles for a shoot.  Loved them.  She's chock full of creative stuff.  Hurry over to Me & The Boy and see for yourself!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm 

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants 

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style  

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner 

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse  

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage 

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage  

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home 

Gift: Daria Pew

My dear friend Daria Pew keeps a blog full of nature and spirit.  If you love roses, you MUST visit.

She made the sweetest tissue box for me bearing glittering images of my Maltese dogs, the late Belle and Zuzu.   The graphics on the box are from Tattered Vintage.

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style 

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner 

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage  

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home 

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home 

Sorry, but I’m not selling JDL after all...

I repeat, gentle reader, I'm really sorry.  And I love the magazine of course, but my life’s headed for major change again and I’ll need evenings and weekends free for it.

I'd like to extend special thanks to Sylvi of Little Cottage Shoppe for her mentoring.

You may order the magazine from US retailers such as:

Enchanted Treasures 

French Larkspur 

Savvy City Farmer  

The Sheep’s Nest 

Urban Farmhouse  

View the complete list at Jeanne d'Arc Living's website, just select your country in the drop down box. 

IF anyone’s finished with the April issue and wishes to pass it along, would you kindly email me?   

I have a customer that received one mangled.

Northern Magnolias

The sun was warm but the wind was chill.

You know how it is with an April day

When the sun is out and the wind is still,

You’re one month on in the middle of May.

But if you so much as dare to speak,

A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,

A wind comes off a frozen peak,

And you’re two months back in the middle of March.

from Bereft by Robert Frost

In the Catskill Mountains of New York, Magnolia x soulangiana is a popular landscape tree and one of the first to bloom.  They are deciduous and pink unlike the evergreen tree you see in the South.  Would love one near my cottage!

What is your favorite early spring blooming tree?

Until next time, stay shabby!

Karina’s Katrina Cottage Featured in Southern Living

Southern Living

My very dear friend Karina Gentinetta's New Orleans home was featured in Southern Living this month!

I shot her home in 2010, and it's amazing how a stylist will change a home to suit the editorial requirements of a magazine.  I saw her home in white, Southern Living wanted color. 

As you can see, Karina's talented at EVERYTHING. 

If you buy a copy of this magazine, do it!

Until next time, stay shabby!



Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home



Shabby Chic Refinishing Using Annie Sloan Paint: Color Change When You Want To Keep The Chippy Finish

In progress: before glazing.

Before

I grew weary of the shabby green & gilt finish on my mass produced c. 1930 French style cabriole leg table and its unproportionally small center wreath applique, especially after seeing this at my friend's antique store...

She's not into it the look any longer, but I was in love with French Neo-classical and wanted to change the color -- but not the patina. 

This is not a weekend project.  It involves gesso-like crackle paint, antiquing solution, and a lot of distressing.  Here's what to do:

Rub the end of a paraffin wax candle over any spots that reveal the original finish.   After painting and distressing, the new color comes off and exposes the original wood.

Select a crackling accelerator and spread it places the table would've seen wear over the years, such as sun damage from a window.  I like DecoArt Texture Crackle ($5) and DecoArt Weathered Wood ($5) from Michael's. 

Above is the effect from  DecoArt Texture Crackle.  It needs to dry for a day or two.

Above is the effect from DecoArt Weathered Wood.  On the left is Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey ($15 for the 100ml sample size) applied over the crackle painted on both horizontally and vertically with a crappy old nylon bristle brush.  On the right is the effect with paint over crackle done in one direction.  If you leave the crakle to dry until tacky it crackles more.  I usually brush paint on over it as soon as they won't blend together.  The crazing is more subtle.  Be sure to use craft or interior paint; leftover exterior paint resists crackling.

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Original.  I used another white craft paint in areas, because you need 3 shades of white to make a good rich patina.

I wished the center wreath applique was as wide as the side appliques from Do It Yourself Chic.  Unable to find one online I made one out of craft foam board and fake flowers.  Nail a few brads into the area, hang your form to verify placement.

Pull the fake flowers apart and rearrange as a wreath with hot glue.  Spray paint it white until all the color is gone.  Mix a small batch of plaster of paris the texture of cream and paint on.   Keep making fresh when it gets gooey.   Let dry thoroughly, touch up and let dry again.   This wreath is fragile so if the object gets a lot of bumps you're better off with a resin applique bought online.

Wet a rag and apply an antiquing glaze like Valspar's Antiquing Glaze from Lowe's ($14) in small workable sections.  When a section is damp, distress it with an old pair of scissors, your fingernails, a bit of heavy chain (I avoid sandpaper because the finish looks like manufactured distressed furniture to me).  Be random.  Let the cats use it as a scratching post.  Let the kids kick at it and doodle then cover it up so it has that lived-with look.  Really scrape the feet hard as they would show damage after a century.  Hitting fresh paint with a blow dryer on high will bubble paint like sun damage.  Warning: antiquing glaze stains the gesso-like substances like plaster of paris faster than paint.

Someone once asked me 'how do you get that really authentic distressed look?'  I said I left the table on a screen porch or drafty dusty garage all winter and in the summer if I wasn't using it to get blistering and shredding.  Don't allow water on it; it de-laminates and weakens joints.

Also don't allow it to catch on fire.   I wish I could show you the "after" picture but the table was 'seasoning' in my unfinished home when it burnt down.  The only thing left was part of the side (circled) and even that's been cremated.

I walked this table to my dorm from a flea market near Wheaton College in Massachusetts, enjoyed it for years, and spent money and worked very hard on this refinishing.  It's gone now and I can accept it and let go without anger.  Not every project in life works out.  But you learn from every project.

Send me any questions you have on refinishing furniture if you like!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage 

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage

My Burlap Pillow Won at Bella Rustica’s Giveaway

VII
Come, fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring
The Winter Garment of Repentance fling:
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To fly – and Lo! the Bird is on the Wing.

from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam revised by Edward Fitzgerald



Elegant elegance is lovely, but rustic elegance is liveable.

And when the product is handmade and ‘all proceeds are donated to Those Who Do or someone who is doing for animals but needs a little help’, how can you resist being chic and conscientious?

Kim Kelly, the artist behind Bella Rustica Market, relays, “I personally make each pillow…I begin with cutting the burlap and then I surge the edges for a professional finish.  After the down & feather pillow form is placed I finish the pillow by hand.  Burlap is tricky to work with but the results are elegant yet rustic, a perfect combination.”

Want to get the look?   Be sure to check out Kim’s “The Elegance of Rustic Series” on her blog.  She’s redecorated her new Simons Island, Georgia home room by room in the Italian elegant rustic style, and includes her tips, sources, and breathtaking pictures from her inspiration file.

Mille grazie, Kim!

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

What's It Wednesday at Ivy & Elephants

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine's Corner

Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage

Farmhouse Friday at LaurieAnna's Vintage Home

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Introductory Offer: Jeanne d'Arc Living Magazine on sale at My Shabby Streamside Studio for $14 bucks!

Photos: Jeanne d'Arc Living

Lonnie and Vivian over at JDL are making a huge investment to grow their American audience: absorbing the shipping fee for a year. Won’t you help them achieve their dream of growing an audience to the point where they can print in the U.S.?

I'm waiving the shipping on the first order myself.

Click on the PayPal button below to order.

“What if I pre-ordered at $26?”

I will refund every order the $12 I owe starting tonight. (Thanks to every person that pre-ordered.)

Jeanne d’Arc Living is a Danish indie magazine that sucessfully challenges the way romantic lifestyle publications are done.  It is truly like purchasing a very good book every month.  It’s translated to English (charmingly at times), free of advertising, and printed on heavy paper.

Interior décor, entertaining, recipes, gardening, crafts, shops, and more all in the elegant “Dansk-Fransk” or French-Nordic style await you.

It inspires me and alerts me to trends so much I for one can’t miss it.  Period.

SOLD OUT April Issue 

Until next time, stay shabby!

Sharing with:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Feathered Nest Friday at The French Country Cottage

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home