~ A few Answered Questions ~

Hi Girls! I had a few questions on my last post, so I figured I could answer them here... The new dish towels were from Moda Home. I just adore their fabric lines and Home Accents too! Yesterday the table cloth I ordered finally came, its part of the Dairy Fresh Collection, which I am in love with! I have more pictures of it below. So onto a few other things :) Hmmm, like what to make for lunch? I can relate to this Vintage picture below as I am often perplexed for a new recipe or something warm and yummy! I go on kicks now and then and probably because of the still icy weather, I am dreaming of pasta and bread a lot:)...
Sooooo, with the help of my new table cloth and some yummy Vintage Le Creuset cookware, I am feeling warmer already :) I would love to make you all some! You are so wonderful to stop by and visit, so its the least I could do! :)
I hope my bread turns out this pretty! I used to bake my own bread weekly , but I haven't in while. I can feel the itch coming on to do it again! Maybe by my next post. I have to do something warm ( !! )to get through this long winter!
( Photo source: Country Living )

Here's an up close of the table cloth, I love the edge with the ruffle! This girl can never have too many ruffles!

Isn't "she" pretty and sweet? I loved it so much I wanted to name it :) lol....maybe the winter is making me crazy, lol, but I think I'll call her Ruby, because it's a jewel of a tablecloth. Very un-fancy pants, perfect for me....
I had a few people ask where I got my decoupaging images from, I usually cut them from books I have or catalogs too. ( I photocopy first ). I use a lot of Gooseberry Patch and last time on the Recipe box I used the Moda Home catalog ! I learned from you decoupaging experts that they are called decoupaging "scraps" which, btw, made it a heck of a lot easier to google and find some! I just got this book below and figured I'd post it because it has the neatest Valentines and card making ideas too! So Gooseberry was good for 2 things this time!

I also had a few emails with people asking for more blue fabrics and with checks, so I am adding these onto my Website this weekend, if you see something you like , just send me an email! And Thank you also for all your kind and encouraging words about my website! They were so immensely appreciated !!

I wanted to add this picture below because when I find a great site, I love to share! and as some of you know, I adore collecting miniatures! I only just started this year , But this shop I found was too sweet to keep a secret! If you love kitchen miniatures, I think you will enjoy the artists talents! I plan on only getting a few pieces to add to my kitchen hutch, or maybe on a shelf, but they add such whimsy to a space and always make for neat conversation pieces! The one below is from The Miniature Cake Shop, so cute and what attention to detail !!


....and a little update: I found a spot for my recipe box, I think it looks right at home here :)

Well, its time to go clean the house , maybe I will finally get that Pantry done!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend coming up! We are expecting a heat wave here :) of about 39 degrees that is..... :) lol

Thank you so much for stopping in for a visit! You are all so wonderful!!

Many Hugs,

~ Cynthia ~

~ Hand Picked ~

Hello to all my sweet friends! It's been such a busy week again, and I can see by my blog roll that I have a lot of catching up to do! So many pretty new post's to go see. I'm looking forward to a relaxing week and time to go visit you all!

It's still chilly here in New York, but my thoughts are set on Spring! A perfect time to rejuvenate and redecorate. I've started by updating my website, ( you can click on the red link, or go to my side bar to get there ) ...I hope you'll all take a few minutes and go see the changes! I have met with a new sales rep and will be carrying new lines of furniture and such pretty cottage accessories too! I plan on keeping it pretty small. So I came up with the idea to do a different selection of things every month, each with it's own theme, but still sticking with that scrumptiously Cottage look. This month is "sights set on Spring". The Cottage shop portion features some beautiful fabrics, hand selected to go with that entire feel. And on the Hand Picked page you can see a few items that were chosen to decorate your tables and give you that "Spring is coming" feeling. I am excited too about all the new things coming in, I hope to bring you lots of pretties :). The picture above shows the country blue cottage candle sticks and below are a few more items too. Everything is very limited for now, so hurry on over :) The daisies aren't included, lol, but I just love buying fresh bouquets to get my mind off winter...

I adore Vintage seed packets , so I wanted to make sure I had a few items featuring them. These are all images from seed packets that date back to 1910. I love that. It makes me want to get out the shovel and start planting :)

After updating my site, it was time to put out a few Spring items in my house, it helps to take away the winter blahs! I just adore my friend Bekah, she too sells a few items now and then and when she does, I panic to "get there first". She has few: " I can't fit anything more in my home sales" and when she does, I head right over ...These two aprons below are from her, I think my collection is full now, I wanted a Vintage rose Apron, so now I can say I'm done, lol, hmmmm, maybe :)

I look out the window and just long for these curtains to move!, that means that the Spring breeze is coming in! Oh hurry please!
I love that smell of fresh laundry , it reminds me of my Mother bringing in the wash from the line. Even though my Mother had her coveted laundry machines, she still hung certain things outside on the line. It was my job to bring them in, and honestly, I can still smell that pretty scent of fresh air coming through the sheets! My neighbors might not like it, lol, but I want a laundry line too! This vintage ad just brings me back to that sweet time, I can still see the Lux box on the shelf that I was too small to reach :)

While these towels below aren't hanging on a line, they have such great vintage images, so for me, in January, that's as close to fresh linens as I am going to get :) and a bit of scented Spring fabric softener helped a little too :)
Aren't these images so sweet on the towels ?

"Her love was entire as a child's, and though warm as summer it was fresh as spring."
~ Thomas Hardy
I hope the stores will start carrying some seed packets soon, I usually start them with my daughter Melanie in late March, but I like to buy them a little early , stick them in a glass jar and when I walk past them, I get that happy feeling :) This one below is Vintage early 1900"s as seen by the 5 cent price ( btw, I just looked at my keyboard as I was typing this, and , lol, there is no "cent" button, I guess that says a lot , lol ) I adore the colors and would love to start a little collection , I bet they would look pretty framed too!
I was inspired by the vintage ones to create something crafty where I could see them all year round, so I made a little recipe box and and guess what girls? no wrinkles this time! :) Thanks so much for all your advice, it's so nice to have a network of help out there!
I added any image that spoke to me. I had found the little wooden spatula's at good old Micheal's and couldn't resist :) Then a little cottage gingham bow and I was done.
I had to add a bit of "Farm sweet" style to it too. I grew up loving horses and rode almost all my young life in competitions and even taught Riding when I grew up. We had a beautiful barn on our property here on Long Island and my home as a child was everything I could wish for. But its funny how you remember the scents and moments the most. I can still remember the breeze carrying the scent of horses and fresh mowed lawns into my room on a Saturday morning! Now while I know you all probably don't love the smell of horses, lol, to me, it was pure heaven :)

Well friends, it's off to bake a little breakfast! I'm so happy to have some time today to visit you! I've missed blogging this week, it's amazing how only a week has gone by and I feel out of the loop! I have lots of things to look forward to on this winter day, because visiting you all, is like a breath of Spring!!
My wishes for you.....

Thank you as always for stopping by and visiting, your comments and hellos are so appreciated too! Don't forget to stop into my little cottage shop, I hope you find some special things to brighten your home and welcome in Spring a little early :)

Lots of love and thanks!

~ Cynthia ~

~ Having some fun ~

Oh what a busy week! I tried sitting down a few days ago to do a post , but life got in the way :)....I gave myself a little time this week though to browse all your blogs and that made me so happy! I know I have said this many times, but Blogging is such a wonderful adventure! Every single one inspires me ! If you haven't checked out my blog roll yet, its down a bit on my side bar! I've added a few new ones and will continue to do so! It makes it pretty easy to fall off into blogland and get Inspired everywhere! Speaking of other blogs, I ordered this sweet "Cottage" sign from my friend Elyse over at Cottage, I adore it :) I had my eye on it for awhile, but had to recover from the holidays first :) Elyse, you know how I feel about your things, lets just put it this way, I use a lot of exclamation points when I tell her I love something she made!!....:) and now she has an Etsy store! Such pretty things!! , stop in if you get a chance, you'll love her goodies!


I moved it to a few different places, but I think for now, it has a home right here :).... I love the little bits of Robins Egg Blue coming through, it has a sweet aqua like quality in the tone too and also has that aged Vintage feel I love! Thank you Elyse, your creations are so happy in my home :) The fabric shade on the small lamp was from a dollar store and was just a plain white shade, Then I added my favorite fabric and trim to it to dress it up Cottage Style... Glue guns are great! lol

"Every artist was first an amateur."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I framed a few of my book pages, this one below is from Little Dinners, by Susan Branch. I have always thought the kitchen was so sweet in the illustration! I love the Vintage nook!
A new Gooseberry :)....., again, such sweet images!
I wanted to take a few moments here to Thank everyone for giving me such great tips on Decoupaging! I am just starting on this venture this year ( I'm not counting the ones I did when I was 13, lol ) and I am addicted to it! Its so relaxing and so much fun to add my favorite images to something functional.... I took all your advice and I am on a mission to get a few more pieces done without wrinkles :) or .....as Dawn from My Hydrangea Home said , "crumble the paper before you add it to the background"! I thought that was such a great idea! Give it wrinkles on purpose :) That works for me! :) I intend on doing a few pieces this month, so we'll see if I'm a good student .....some flat, and some wrinkled on purpose! :)

I also received some advice from Ece Aymer over at Favorite Home to Visit. I saw her blog a few weeks back and had fallin in love with her work! Below are a few samples of it, simply gorgeous !! Each piece is so unique and her talents are amazing! I want one of each! click the pictures and look at the details... They are works of Art!


I love this one below, oh the Reds make me so happy!

Give her blog a peek for more incredible projects, she runs an Art studio and everyone there is so sweet and they all do such beautiful work too! Hi Girls!! {{ Hugs }} I hope after much practice mine will look half as good!

and yes, lol, I am still addicted to Srapblog !! As you can see I changed my blog header above, I had a ton of fun playing with that site and still do! I thought since I changed my header, I should update my Blog Button..... BUT, one problem..... I forgot what site I took my original image to , to create the html code that people can grab!!? ( every time I think I'm getting computer savvy, I get smacked back down again, lol )....If any one out there knows what website does this , can you please send me a reminder! I would greatly appreciate it! Below is my new Blog Button, so if you want to put it on your side bar, for now, it would have to be a "copy and paste" and create the link yourself......But if you want to wait for the coded one, hopefully I will find the code creator this week and I'll just add it to my side bar and you can get it from there....when I find the site, it will be the correct "button size" too :)
I am excited about my next post too { smiles }, I have a few things coming that I think you all will enjoy, I was hoping to do it this week, hopefully the mail will cooperate :)

Till then, I hope you have a wonderful week girls!!..... Thank you so much for all your sweet , kind and uplifting words! I look forward to visiting you too!!

Many Hugs,

~ Cynthia ~

Update: I finally figured out how to do a new button, If you'd like to grab one, its located on my side bar with the code :)

~ Necessity is the Mother of Invention.... ~

Hello my sweet Friends! ....Well my crafting weekend turned into a bit of a longer process than I thought, but I was happy to finish some of them on Monday when the kids returned to School... yippee :)....The reason for my title of this post is pretty simple. Being a Designer, I have to shop for other people on a daily basis, so when it comes time to shop for myself, I'm just simply too impatient or tired. But the hardest part of shopping for me or a client is, finding the perfect piece .... just the right color, size, and fitting the style of the room.... Soooooo, lol, I have resorted many times to saying, "Hmmmm, maybe I can craft and create what I need all by myself.... This is something I did on a regular basis years and years ago. But I stopped doing it because I lost interest. I can only think about "creating" when I'm in the right frame of mind. Now with the kids so much older I've picked it up again. Mostly due to all the Inspiring women I've met in blog land! So a big Thank you goes out to you all ! I am rusty , so bare with me.

I needed a Tray, so as the saying goes....."Necessity is the Mother of all Inventions"..... :)

The greatness of a craft consists firstly in how it brings comradeship to man"...Antoine de Saint Exupery

I bought an unfinished and simple tray..... Then went to work: ....I painted it, antiqued it (using some amber color glaze available at any craft store ), added some scrapbook paper to the bottom with glue, and then decoupaged on the florals, added some 3 dimension decals ( available at craft stores also ), and pretty letter buttons........ Then the entire tray was shellacked....I put back on the glass that came with it when it was all dry......and it was done :).... I have to say though, if any of you have tips on getting bubbles out?!, I'd love for you to share, I had to leave on very heavy books overnight for a few that popped up :) The picture below shows some of them, then after a night with weight on it , they flattened out a bit....but there has to be an easier way!? :)

Going into Micheal's Craft store is so wonderful! I cannot believe the "advances" they have made on embellishments , I could stay there all day! Aren't the little letter buttons so sweet ?
Each little letter has a cottage/vintage pattern behind it, ohhhhh, so pretty up close..... My camera does not do them justice! The butterfly , strawberry and flower have little drops of glitter too! ....Remind me to take a photography class!, I would have loved to show you the details better! But you can click on any of my photos and see it "up close" if that helps!
Its hard to see this below, but I found corner stickers that I thought were so cute and added them too....

I found the perfect place for the tray too, I put up a few pictures at the end of this post. But the one below is just a picture of some of the papers and embellishments I used.
Now......lol..... onto a brand new obsession :).... yikes, I'm getting too many lately, it must be the weather :) But I wanted to share this site with you , its called Scrapblog. Have you heard of it? Maybe I'm the last to know, but I adore it, it really is fun! I was looking for a place to make a new header for my Blog and saw this idea on Glitter and Bliss's blog, she has no idea yet that she caused me quite a stir :) The best thing about it , is it's easy as pie!! I haven't decided for sure if this will be my new header, I was too busy playing for now, but I hope you enjoy!

I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to do a chalkboard on one of my doors, but I just couldn't bring myself to paint a cabinet in my kitchen, I didn't want to disrupt the "line", so I opted for one in a frame instead. Mind you , this was the easiest thing I ever made and it only cost me $5.00 for the paint. I took an old frame and took the art work out ( it wasn't my taste ) , took a $1.00 piece of black thick oak tag , painted it with chalkboard paint ( Home Depot ) and then just put it back in as the Art work :) Wait a day before writing on it! Then I added some gingham ribbon with a bow to hold the chalk :)
Now I have my kitchen chalkboard. :) I was going to do a pantry door with it also, but again, I decided against that because I want my pantry to be see-through , I've always wanted it to be a screen door! That will hopefully be finished by Spring :)
I haven't decided on the Vignette yet underneath...books? nothing? plate and jar? If you like one over the other , feel free to let me know! Only the KitchenAid has to stay! :)
“True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new.”Antoine de Saint Exupery

Well, I know what I'm doing this coming weekend......relaxing :) Read a few books, drive my daughter to the Mall, ( her favorite obsession of late ) catch up on some more blog reading , buy some Somerset magazines and watch movies!

I ended up finding the perfect spot for my Tray, all happy on my kitchen Island....


This angle below shows a little bit more of my Island, I posted about it a few months ago, but it also, was such an easy project ! It was my desk as a child, and all it needed to be an Island was a base of 2x4's , plywood , and some casters to make it movable and some paint ....and then I had the Island I was always looking for .....Ahhhhh, Necessity is for sure, the mother of my invention :)
Thank you so much for stopping by !! Take a piece of Apple Crumb Pie to go!! You have all been so sweet ! If I could , I'd mail you all a piece! I Hope you all have a wonderful week and many Blessings as always!
Hugs and appreciation, from me, to you!

Cynthia