Raised In Cotton

Hosting Lunch For Friends

My buddy Karla had a great crafting event over the weekend at her house so I decided to invite everyone over for a casual luncheon at the farmhouse on Saturday. Angie, Beth, Deb, Karla and Suzanne (in town from Atlanta) came for the afternoon so I wanted to plan something special for them. This is what I came up with~

I started my decorating by using a roll of vintage wallpaper as a runner down the center of the table. You know I am all about picking a color theme first for anything I do so I knew when I saw this pretty yellow, green and blue floral paper it was the perfect starting point for my luncheon tabletop.

 

To compliment the wallpaper runner, I placed yellow roses in blue mason jars and chartruese green depression style candle holders (found at the dollar store for $1.00) down the center of the table.

 

At each place setting, I used inexpensive ($4.75) twig trays as chargers and added a combination of stoneware and mismatched china plates to complete the table decor. 

 

 

 

I stepped away from my Weight Watchers plan and made a Raspberry Tiramisu for dessert~Yummy and so simple~I replaced the Lady Fingers in the recipe with pound cake which made the dessert that much more decadent. A special treat for some special Women!

 

  
   

Serene Farmhouse

Do you get a certain "feel" or "vibe" when you step inside your home? After living in the farmhouse the last few days the word that comes to mind in describing my surroundings now is serenity.  Except for the occasional rooster crow that lives down the road, the peaceful feeling has been a blessing.  In keeping with a neutral and soft color palette, I have been trying to bring a bit of that calming ambiance inside the farmhouse~

Muted colors with a little texture helps to keep the calming flow of the room. I set this vintage calender topper embellished with a piece of stamped ribbon for a touch of Spring on the corner table.

The old scales that I found in Round Top are used as a candle holder~

Hopefully if you ever come for a visit you too will experience a little calm when you step inside my farmhouse doors.

*Thank You for all of the Mac Love and tips you left after my last post! Consider me a new and excited member of the Mac club:))

 

 

 

 

Hello Mac

Hello Mac, Yes I am jumping the PC ship, you know the one with the spinning circle that drives you nuts and crashes before you get to land? After many weeks of thinking if I should or even could switch from years of PC use, I am buying the iMac. On my last post I mentioned how I wanted to simplify my life and that would include trying to improve my computer experience. I don't know about you, but it seems I spend a lot of time dodging all of the aggravation that comes with owning a PC . Since photography is a joyful part of my life, I also want an easier photo editing workflow without wasting time on defrag, rebooting, spam, viruses etc. and etc. So I am basically tired of spending time on computer issues when all I want to do is create! Any Mac tips would greatly be appreciated.

Here are a few collages of my past photo's that I am placing on my blog Portfolio page~

 

 
   

Simplified Decorating

Hello, and Happy start of the week to all of you. I hope Mother's Day was filled with beautiful family visits and a little bit of rest included in that wish:) I had a wonderful weekend but still continue to have a little ache in my heart from missing my own Mama Stella Mae.  This is my second Mother's Day without her and I still find myself longing for that sweet hug of hers. Does it ever get any easier?

The last few weeks have been spent moving into the farmhouse and editing what I wanted to keep.  I have been such the collector all my life or maybe hoarder (jeez bad word) and really am trying to simplify my decorating style.  You know the older I get the easier I want my surroundings to be~ not worried if every single space is filled. 

How about starting with a couple of shelves? 

 

Decorating the shelves in the living room, I mixed ironstone and brown and white transferware together.  Thinking about balance and function, I selected pieces that would be easily accessible while still trying to maintain a pretty display.  

 

 Decorating shelves can be really tricky.  Too much and you risk the cluttered look but not enough leaves the eye wanting more.  Two ideas I use to decorate shelves is to use objects with the same theme or color category.  For example, the photo above of the white shelf is in my bathroom off of the foyer.  I took a small grouping of vintage bottles and placed them on the shelf to reflect off of the sun that was streaming in from the window.  

Not only am I trying to edit my decorating style, you may have noticed I have a refreshed blog format.  I am trying to declutter my sidebar so I placed more navigational buttons at the top. Also I have added the Subscribe, Facebook and Twitter buttons closer together.  So if you would like to follow me on those just hit the buttons. 

I am working on a Frequently Asked post on the farmhouse to try and bring answers to some of your questions together.

 

Gratitude and Leading A Creative Lifestyle

Can I just say how very proud I am of seeing the latest issue of Where Women Create that features my friend Elizabeth Maxson?  I knew she was getting the cover and rightly so.  Elizabeth took a plain room and transformed it into an amazing studio environment for herself using her signature style that she is known for.  I have a circle of friends like Elizabeth who are passionate about leading an authentic and creative lifestyle.  Many of you who read my blog are also part of the same mindset. You celebrate your God given talents by sharing inspiration through your own blogs.  I am constantly thrilled at seeing all of your artistic and imaginative postings on a daily basis.  Cheers to all of you that are genuine and follow your dreams, you make my heart sing~

I am grateful that each day I can visit with some of you and offer my own ideas and thoughts and somehow “pay it creatively forward” on my blog.  The beautiful comments and emails you send me in return are so appreciated~Thank You Dear Friends.