Merry Christmas Eve

24 Saturday Dec 2011

Posted by Trish in Architectural salvage, My home

Tags

Architectural salvage, French curiosities, garden style, Rough Luxe, theater antique

Christmas Eve…and still lots to do. Family will be coming for dinner tomorrow and setting up a dining area in the living room. Family just seems to have a way of growing and it will be all chairs and silverware on deck. I dragged home these branches several weeks ago while on one of my hike/runs in the hills nearby but had to put them away until the last workman left the door ajar behind him on his way out.

Cleaning in a frenzy…channeling a garden conservatory mood…

My little terracotta bust presiding over antique French garden pots and reindeer moss and votive lights….

Couldn’t resist these beautiful radishes at the store this morning….

Carolyn Quartermaine silk script…and a happy dye accident. The originally two toned beige seat fabric gave me stripes when introduced to an inky dye….

Burlap and white roses….and galvanized flower buckets…

I had my sheetrock guys do this table top for me…they’d never constructed furniture before…a lighter weight frame below the top piece to give the illusion of edge heft but make the top portable so this table can be moved outdoors in the Spring. I will be having metal sheeting put on it but couldn’t convince the shop to do the job before Christmas. C’est dommage. Might cover with painter’s drop cloth grabbed on one of my before sunrise jaunts to Home Depot…or as is. Like it’s simplicity!

Santa did come a bit early…from Ambiance Antiques in San Francisco. I had a lovely interlude with Teresa Beltamo in her crammed to the top warehouse space. Her shop is lovely…but I suppose I am a warehouse girl at heart! I loved peeking into every dusty corner! I posted about these 19th century French Theater doors in Temps Perdu here months ago and just kept thinking about them. You know how that goes! Wishing you all the best of luck making magic happen for all your loved ones! Merry Christmas!

‘Twas the Week before Christmas

18 Sunday Dec 2011

Posted by Trish in 18th century, Bathrooms

≈ 23 Comments

Tags

18th century clothing, Bath, Embroidery

Hello my fellow holiday revelers. Busy, busy..and the usual chaos over here. I assume you all know Beatrix Potter’s The Tailor of Gloucester? The part where silk thread and time are nearly run out?

Actual waistcoat from the Victoria & Albert museum that Beatrix Potter copied exactly for her tailor’s vest…”I have been delighted to find I may draw some most beautiful 18th century clothes at the South Kensington Museum. I had been looking at them for a long time in an inconvenient dark corner of the Goldsmith’s Court, but had no idea they could be taken out of the case. The clerk says I could have any article put on a table in one of the offices, which will be most convenient.”
(Letter to Norman Warne, 27th March 1903). More here

Perhaps I’m drawn to embroidered waistcoats because of Beatrix Potter’s tale. Or my ineptitude at embroidery magnifies my awe of such fine stitches. I intend to attach these 18th century embroidered vest panels to new material and possibly frame them….

But time for sewing and other projects is quickly running out as Christmas and a just started bath project (and a dusty home) need my full attention…Here’s a peek at the gathered materials and inspiration. Hopefully all the materials will fall into shape and my Christmas guests (thankfully my forgiving relatives) will not have to hike upstairs to use the facilities. I tend to like the un-perfect and unfinished…hope all will get pulled together and my home will look a fraction as good as the photo below!