High Drama

 Well, I knew I couldn't live with the gray in our room. So I ran back out and got red. Without even look at the names I pick one I liked. When I looked at the name, I knew I had picked the right one....High Drama. Perfect. If you missed it...my first major fail was is here.

 This time I bought a flat finish. I like it. The dark gray shows through and gives an effect I love. It looks antique and scruffy.

 I didn't worry about being perfect. I am leaving it as is. I am not even going to use the paste wax. I heard it won't work with latex paint anyway...so I am very happy I didn't start.

 This is a perfect color for you room. I think it's fun, feisty, and perfectly dramatic!

Thanks for all your help and advice!!! Even having to do it twice...it really wasn't difficult. I love the built in primer. So smart and easy!





I'd like to post some pictures of of my dresser in my master bedroom....but it's mess right now!! That's why I am hoping ot win this giveaway!

Check out "Old grey Mare" here!

 You should check out, Old Grey Mare....and enter the giveaway this for this great book, "Book of Organization."




.... Bisous.....love from the "High Drama" queen!

Karen

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Before and After Pictures...

 It was pretty bad to start. It's better now. Unfortunately I jumped into the whole up-cycle completely and Gray goes with NOTHING I own. Last night when I finished I was chatting with my mom on the phone. I mentioned what I had done. When I said it was gray and dark gray, she said, "Eh. I don't think I like that." I should have called her from Home Depot when I picking out the paints.

 My room has gold tones everywhere, including an accent wall in....brown. Why did I pick gray? I bought a satin finish, so there is no shabby chic....but it's clean and pretty well done. I didn't use any of the appliques. This piece is curvy and the ones I wanted to use didn't lie flat.

 I used paint with a built in primer so it was very easy. I can't believe I bought a gallon of this gray for two small pieces of furniture. I have almost the entire gallon of Gray left....and since it matches NOTHING, I doubt I'll be using it.

 This thing was hideous... I am not thrilled with the after either. I should just do a shabby white or ecru. The other side is a solid gray and of course, I like the it better.

Lucie helped me with the primer. Um....the primier looked better than anything!! Shabby white would have been a good choice. Not even sure I had to do this, but again the advice I got was not great at the store. I mean, the paint I bought had a primer in it.

I am not motivated to re-paint this divider. It was difficult.  I thought it would be easy. First of all you have the two sides, you have to hold it as you paint or it will fall over and then you have the all the edges and hardware...

So here you have it. My first attempt. Now, I am going to re-do it in red and black or cream. I am going to buy it in a flat finish. I am going buy some sort of wax for right after I paint it. It will have a more up-dated look....AND it WILL match my room. Not sure if I am up to re-painting the whole divider. It took so long. We'll see.........I'll keep you posted! The super sad thing...I am stiff and sore all over like I had some sort of major workout!!

Bisous!
Karen

Major Paint Project Mistake

I am so irritated with myself. For years I have wanted to repaint a few pieces. Some of blogging friends repaint, re-do and re-purpose like it's breathing. So, today I set out to get paint. Ann...what is it,  Anne Sloan? I don't know you guys all talk about it with the fancy wax, etc. So, when I walked into Home Depot and no one knew what on earth I was talking about that was clue to leave. But, did I? No, of course not I wondered the aisles in a daze thinking there is nothing cool and settling on some colors and paints that I never really had in mind to buy.  

 I felt rushed and disappointed I couldn't find any of the fancy; Paris at midnight with a touch of la blah la....or any of the fancy chalk paint everyone talks about...But what was worse....it came to $97 dollars at the register. Well, "Chalk" this up as one I'll never tell Stan about. Geez.

 But, then I got home and started taking pictures of the junk I am going to paint and feel a bit better....I mean, could get worse than this? I have been living with this monstrosity for years now. I wish I had been patient or smart. I always wanted to do a Union Jack on this one. Of course, that wouldn't match either.

 

 It's just red would have worked better. All of my pieces are black and I bought a light grey. ON the way home my heart sank....gray? My walls are yellow. Geez. It's going to clash. Then I remembered the accent that is brown. Oy Vey. I mean, seriously....you have to consider all of these before you just pick random colors at Home Depot.

 This is out in the garage already....sickening that it was even in my HOUSE!!! It will be better in a gray, right?

 Hideous. Absolutely disgusting. Then in my regretful panic I thought appliques!

 Seriously? Micheal’s in my only choice in town?  And once again...they don't have what you want....WALK AWAY! None are shabby chic...none are chic. I should take them back and order the cute ones I saw on Etsy!!

Do you think I stand a chance? Do I go back and spend more money???
So off I go.........I am laughing and crying all at once. Stay tuned. LOL

Bisous!
Karen

San Francisco

This picture would have been so much better with my Pain au Rasin, but you see I haven't had carbs since May...so I inhaled this puppy so fast. I did consider getting another one so I could a picture but I know it was more for me than you....Visit La Boulange here

 This is were I sat and waited for Stan while he was at the French Consulate.
 I was driving and just dropped him off in front. I parked (public parking So crowded you must give up your keys so they can wedge you in.)

 Stan asked me what I wanted to do in San Francisco and my first response was have a coffee and croissant at a French bakery. I was happy to see a La Boulange right in front of my public parking. I sat here for well over an hour. Taking in the sights and sounds. My cappuccino was delicious.

Fiona's Sweet Shoppe

 Cutest little candy shop around. I said I'd come back and get something for the kids. Never do that! Get it while you are there. I didn't make it back!! They had the best little candies and British candy to boot. Look at that banner!!!

 Tiny....and sweet.

 Market day. It was fun walking around and seeing the fresh food and people watching.

 Walking around calmed me. I received a few texts from Stan here and there...

 Here you can see the glass roof from the market place......This is were I got the finally text....emergency passport approved...done!

If you are going to ruin you your no-carb diet...you might as well go all out. Homemade pasta carbonara. We enjoyed the intimate feel of this tiny Italian restaurant and comfort of food and wine while feeling somewhat victorious.

Stan's mother's cancer is not small cell. It is lung cancer that has spread to the pleura. Stan leaves next Thursday. Thank you for your prayers and kind words. It's amazing how these things can carry you through. Merci!

Karen

I Am Asking For Your Help

This weekend we received news that my husband's mother was just diagonzed with lung cancer. It looks like a primary cancer, but we are waiting to see if it's small cell and in the lining or the lung itself. If, it is small sized she will not have long to live.

Stan with his mom, my dad (1938-2008) and my mom, in Albi, France

Mamy, with Lucas and Lucie, the last time we all visited as family.

Mamy with the kids. Mamy ever smoked, never really drank, and was a high school PE teacher.

In Carcassonne with the kids.

 It has been an extremely difficult few years for Stan's family. Two years ago Stan went to France alone with Lucas. While palnning for their trip, Stan learned that his one of his faovorite cousins' husband had brain cancer. Days before leaving on their trip Stan got the news that Christophe had died. He was in his late 30s and he was Stan's best man in our wedding. His decline was incredibly rapid. Leaving behind his young wife and two children. Christophe had taken time off work to spend time with Stan and Lucas on their vacation. In a sad twist of fate Stan made it just in time for his funeral, one day after arriving in France. Stan never got to say goodbye to Christophe. When Stan returned from France, his mother's mom died a month later and Stan's father's mother died shortly after. It has been one sad event after another.

Stan is lost right now. Being so far away is the hardest part. You think of all the lost time. To make things even more difficult, his passport has expired and he must wait until the 14 Th for his appointment at the consulate in San Francisco. We are hoping he can get an emergency passport due to the circumstances.

Please keep Stan and his family in your prayers and positive thoughts. He needs to be there for his parents. His father JUST retired less than a month ago.

This was the summer Stan was supposed to take Lucie to France. We aren't sure about anything now. Part of me thinks Stan should take the kids. Part of me says wait. What we do know is that Stan needs to go. Now.

I am sorry to bring such dreadful news, but I knew I could turn to my blogging friends. 

Bisous,

Karen

Friday Fill-Ins

 1. In New England People have accents, love lighthouses and eat a lot of lobster. I have never been, but this is what comes to mind. Don’t take it personally, I am from California....I know what people think of us!


2. There is LOTS of snow in California, but only in the mountains. In the valley it's been very sunny and warm.

3. Ahhhh, my paycheck was in the mail today.


4. Sneaking away to a casino with my husband is my favorite thing to do nowadays. I think it's because the kids are young and we feel wild. LOL



5. Last night, I had a dream about an old house. I dream about this house a lot. It's not a house I am familiar with, only in my dreams. It's dark and there are many rooms. I can picture the wallpaper. I am young in the house. Many people from my past are there. I only remember bits here and there. Now you're thinking, yep. She's from California....weird.



6. Today I only had three classes and was finished subbing at 10:20 a.m. which is the perfect way to start my weekend.



7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Sharing the bottle of Mumm sparkling white wine (those darn French won't let us call it Champagne) with Stany and watching all the movies I got from Red Box. He has never seen "The Help" yet, tomorrow my plans include  Taking Lucas to his Baskeball game, getting Lucie's passport renewed, mailing off an Etsy shipment and Sunday, I want to RELAX (and secretly I'd love to sneak away to the casino again. It's too convenient that Grandma lives 5 minutes away from it!)


Happy Weekend everyone!

Bisous,
Karen

My Cricut

My Circut Mini

 You may remember me saying I got  Cricut Mini for Christmas!  This is my first experience...and it's a lot of fun! It's EASY. A Cricut is simply a "cutting machine." You have a certain amount of basic shapes and fonts that come with the machine and you can add more images and fonts by purchasing new cartridges.

 Have you ever seen on or used one? They are easy and fun!
 
The mini Cricut is connected to my computer and I "design" all my cuts on the computer screen. I simple pick from the images that appear on the bottom of my screen. Click on the image I want and move it to the area I want, enlarge it, etc. Easy. You can copy and paste, change the sizes, and save projects. Everything is cut on a sticky mat and then removed.

Vinyl:

Vinyl is great for doors, and walls. It peel right off and leaves no residue. I thought this was much better than the hand-written paper that reads, "GET OUT!"

My first thought was that vinyl would be hard.......NOPE. Cuts just like paper and Voila!! You have add transfer paper to the back. I have seen on blogs that people even use duck tape over the letter. This transfer paper keeps the words lined up and together.  You place on door..scratch off and your letters stay!

 I did this Vinyl wall quote took a few minutes!  I think it's a good message for the kids!

And one last vinyl project:

 So you can see I LOVE the vinyl! I am going to be changing this to No. 1234
with our address in white, I think.

Here's how to make T-shirt:

 So, of course I wanted to try T-shirt vinyl or heat transfer vinyl!! How cool. Here's a great site to buy some. You can buy it by the sheet. Great for trying out the first time! Oh, and they have glitter!!!!  http://www.expressionsvinyl.com/. Amazon has great prizes but you have to buy a lot. T-shirt vinyl has two layers. The actually vinyl for the T-shirt and a plastic heat transfer layer.


You start with the same steps:

 Design what you want on the computer, and cut. T-shirt vinyl comes with a special plastic already in place. Letters must be cut in REVERSE for T-shirts. Images, etc. can be cut right side up. You spell out the name and hit a button that reverses the letters. I could do it. So EASY.


 I designed a T-shirt for Lucie, a Crown and her name in glittery silver. The size of the crown I see on my computer screen is the exact size I'll have on her T-shirt. So I just picked the size I liked. This crown is found on the "Sophisticated" cartridge.

 I was amazed! Once your image is cut and the extra vinyl around it is peeled off...place on the T-shirt and iron right onto the shirt! The plastic doesn't melt!!

 Peel the plastic off and...voila!I was really impressed.

Letters must be cut in REVERSE for T-shirts. Because you want to cut the vinyl, not the plastic. The plastic must be placed face down.  Images, like my crown can be cut like normal. To reverse letters and words, simply spell out the name and hit the reverse arrow. I told you it was EASY.

Now her name, because she can never find it in The States spelled the French way!! Notice that I have peeled off all surrounding vinyl. If, Ironed it would all melt unto the shirt. Also, here you can see that the name was in reverse.

 I think this is our favorite project yet! It's so easy! I have seen many...many Cricuts on shopgoodwill.com. I recommend a Mini!

 I am in love with my Mini Cricut. I am going to make the most of and use it a lot!! Oh...I wish I didn't work!!

Bisous!
Karen

I am linking up with:

http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/

Villeroy and Boch, Casa Azul

 Today I am sharing part of my Villeroy and Boch Blue and white, Casa Azul wedding service.

 Perfect for a lazy Sunday morning. The Pretty blues brighten any space and It  feels light and fresh.

 The decorative salad/dessert plates are my favorite.

 I picked my wedding dishes out in the summer of 2000, in Paris at the French department store, Au Printemps.

Au Printemps, Haussman Boulevard, Paris

As romantic as it sounds, for some reason (that I can't recall now) I had a three hour time period in which to pick out my service. I was not with my groom-to-be but instead, with my father-in-law to be (c'est la vie!). I just kept thinking....keep it classic.
 

I am almost certain these beautiful sugars I receive every year from my Mother-in-law come from the same area in Paris. Either, Au Printemps or Galleries Lafayette which is right next door.  I love my Canasuc and they are always fun to serve at any party.

 

Here you can see the flatware I later  picked out  with Stanislas in Nantes. We agreed on something very simple. Our flatware is Couzon. I cannot remember the pattern name. My mother doesn't like the spoons and ALWAYS remarks that they are too tiny. They are tiny because the French do not use spoons for dessert. Perhaps ice cream, but, in general always a small dessert fork. The spoon, is simply used to stir your coffee and often it would be just a tiny espresso....hence the tiny spoon.

 I am using the salad/dessert plates for our toast and oranges. These gourgeous oranges came from my mother's neighbor. The are fresh and delicious.

 I found these napkin rings at a small estate sale, here in Woodland. I don't always remember where I get things, but the wonderful old man that was there  is hard to forget. He was all alone. No other family members helping him. I am sure his wife had passed away and he needed to move on and out. I am usually in such a hurry to rush from one sale to the next, but having just lost my father the year before, I felt connected to him in some way. He showed me around his house and told me stories about all his belongings that were now tagged and ready to be handed off to strangers. I was friendly and took my time. I liked him and felt for him. We made small talk and I could tell he enjoyed our time together. He took me outside to show me his collection of stones. Then into the garage where he had an amazing workshop. He cut the stone for a living. He offer me two beautiful stones. One for Lucas and one for Lucie. His last name also started with an"R" like us. We both thought that was funny and I bought these napkin rings from him with our initials. Less than month a later I saw his house had sold. The garage door was open and there was no sign of his workshop. He was a sweet man I appreciate our exchange to this day. What may have been a part of his wedding service, on his table years ago, is now is a part of mine.

 
I have a twelve piece setting of my wedding service. A beautiful covered vegetable dish, two big platters, bread plates, salt and pepper. When it was time to leave France, I had NO idea how I was going to get my dishes back to The States.
 In 2003, Stan came over to stay with my parents and find a job. Lucas was almost 2 and I was 7 months pregnant with Lucie. I had to stay in France alone to deliver Lucie. I am a very strong person and we had a plan. Stan did not meet Lucie until she was already a month and half old. There were definitely tears at the San Francisco airport that day. We couldn't afford to have the dishes shipped.
A week before I left, a wonderful Scottish couple working for a big company at the shipyard (Stan built cruise ships in France) offered to have our dishes professionally packed and sent via their company using their travel expenses. I was so fortunate. To this day, I can't believe how lucky I got. It cost us nothing and everything arrived in perfect shape.

I am going to bringing these out more this year....even if it's just for a simple coffee and toast breakfast with Stany.

Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday morning!

Bisous!!

Karen

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