Look What's Coming...

Look what I've been working on...

White Linen Pillow covers

White Twill with No# 7 lettering

And...Twill Pillow covers.

Linen 18 x18 French Opera Script Address

I will be adding these soon to my shop.  I'm also thinking....About...Black or natural linen with a white lettering.  What do you think? Let me know what you would like to see.

Le Relais de Roquefereau

Here are some beautiful images taken by Laetitia Rissetto, the editor of the online e-magDECO magazine. This article is on the guest house, Le Relais de Roquefereau located in the town of Penne-d'Agenais.  If you haven't read the article you can view it here (HERE).

Gorgeous fireplace and chandelier

One of the guest rooms

Lovely doors on the built in Armoire

Another bedroom

I love the arched doorway and the stairway

Beautiful floors

I hope you enjoy this article.

Something to Think About

Somedays it seems hard to come up with something interesting to post about. I was thinking about this yesterday when I was researching what I would do for my next post. While doing this, I found a quote that I thought so inspiring that I had to post it for all of you. Coincidently, it coincides with a book I recently purchased that I haven't started reading yet about a young Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt.

Teddy Roosevelt was America's first Nobel Prize winner, Commander of the legendary "Rough Riders". He was also a Leader of the Progressive Movement, noted for his exuberant personality and ranked by scholars as one of our greatest presidents. This quote was from a famous speech given in 1910 at the Sorbonne in Paris and I hope it inspires all of you as it did me.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles...The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who is at his worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

I think it is progressive thinkers, the ones who are unafraid to push forward with fresh, new perspectives and ideas that encourage us to follow our dreams whatever they may be. What do you think?

Dining Rooms- Swedish, French and Farmhouse Styles

Who doesn't love a well dressed table in a beautiful dining room?  With comfortable chairs, large windows with the warmth from the sun radiating in during those cold winter months, and a beautiful garden to look out upon in the spring and summer. For me personally, I like more casual dining but for those of you who like a more formal look,  I have selected some beautiful dining room settings for you to drool over.

Image by House Beautiful

Image by House Beautiful

Image by House Beautiful

Image by House Beautiful

Even though this is a bit dark, I love the grey.

Image by Swedish Interior Design

Image by House to House Co. UK

Image by House Beautiful

Image via Google

Beautiful!

Image via Google

This is gorgeous!  I love the floors and the brick walls.

Image via Google

I love the tapestry and the blue and white fabric on the chairs.  What is your style?  Do you like formal or informal dining?

All In The Family: "Edith's Problem"

It's Friday, time to kick back, relax and have a good laugh.  I decided to leave this week with a little humor.

I'm sure all of you remember All In The Family, the 1960's comedy.  If you haven't and are looking for a good laugh this might be what your are looking for.  In this episode, Edith's personality takes on a drastic change some of us might relate too.  Sound familiar?  Yes, I'm talking about the dreaded word that no one likes to talk about... M-E-N-O-P-A-U-S-E.  If any of you have ever experienced the flushing,(Why is my face so red?), the up and down emotional roller coaster, the headaches, bloating, and hot flashes then this should lighten your spirit.

So, pull up a chair with your favorite beverage and have a good laugh OR not depending on your situation and take a peek at what "Women Of A Certain Age" have to look forward to.

Sigh, It is "All In The Family"!

Upholstery 101

Having recovered several chair cushions over the years and after feeling reasonably confident, I decided to recover the chair seat of my computer chair with the help of my husband.  (He always helps me when I strike a grand plan LOL)  In the past, I have used fabric that doesn't have a match...Either a solid or stripe. This time I decided to try a pattern, a toile fabric of linen/cotton made for upholstering which presented some problems for me, a novice upholster.

Because it was a toile pattern I had to make sure that the scene was centered in the middle of the seat which in and of itself didn't present any problems.  But in trying to make sure that the pattern was perfectly centered (I'm a perfectionist) I neglected to make sure the pattern was turned so the scene could be seen from the front of the chair instead of from behind.  Needless to say, once recovered and I had a chance to look at it, I asked my husband if the pattern should be turned so as to see the scene when looking directly in front of the chair instead of from behind?  Being a man he said he thought you could do it either way.  But I knew something was amiss and decided to contact my dear friend Fifi of the blogs Fifi Flowers(HERE) and Reading Is Fashionable(HERE) by sending her a picture of my chair and asking her what she thought.  She sent a message asking me if there was any reason why I reversed the pattern?  HA HA HA  Not wanting to offend me she said it looked nice. In any event, I had to do it twice.  So, a job that should have taken about an hour or so turned into a two hour project.  LOL LOL Live and learn and you can bet your bottom dollar I won't make this mistake again.  Take a peek at the results.

This is what the chair looked like:

Chair Before I Recovered.

After I Removed the Seat

It took us one hour to remove all of the staples from the seat of this chair.

Laying Out The Fabric

This is a two person job. One person needs to staple while the other pulls the fabric very, very taut.

Stapling the New Fabric Onto The Chair Seat

Stapled and trimmed.

Backing Added

Finished Chair Seat Recovered.

Voila!  And remember ladies to turn your fabric so that the pattern can be viewed when looking at the chair from the front and not the reverse.

Winners of the Giveaway

Well, today's the day!  After putting all the names in a hat, husband picked two winners.  The winner of the French gift tags is Maureen of Eclecticrevisited and the winner of the hand stenciled burlap bag filled with scented lavender is Genie of Paris and Beyond.

Okay ladies, if you will e-mail me your address and select which of the patterned paper shown in the post that you want your gift wrapped in I will get these in the mail to you.  E-mail me at kenkrisfranklin@gmail.com.

A big thank you to everyone who entered.  I wish I could give all of you something! Stay tuned because in a few weeks I will opening my new ETSY store and will be having another giveaway.