A Personalized Present

My friends Kit & Nolan moved out of the city and down onto the wide water where the Patapsco River joins the Chesapeake Bay. They love the life down there, but we miss them up here in the heart of the city and I don’t see them nearly as much as I did when they were just a mile or two away from my old house.

I knew I wanted to give them a unique “housewarming” present, and struggled to think of something that would be personal and practical. A few weeks ago, I came upon the perfect solution.

Using the old nautical charts I’d found on-line, I picked one with the section of coast where they live. I chose one of a 1906 chart of the oyster bars off their point, and downloaded it.

Then I worked my Photoshop magic with it and came up with this image.

Next, I went over to Spoonflower, a company which prints custom fabric. I played with the proportions and figured that I needed something that would measure 21x21 inches and I wanted at least six copies of the image.Their service is very easy to use and the fabric came less than a week after I ordered it.

Then I got to work sewing.I wanted to make a couple of pillows for Kit and Nolan’s great-room which overlooks the water. After playing around with some piping, I decided that the oyster white would be best. The white-white was too bright and the red distracted from the print. I used down/feather pillow forms from Ikea in the 20x20 size, hence the 21 inch repeat.

A few hours of pinning, pressing, sewing, pinning and sewing later, I finished the pillows…Just in time to meet Kit and Nolan on a rare visit to my part of town and a nice dinner and catch-up! And they loved the pillows…

Self-Portraits In The Flemish Style

I am a big reader and I especially love newspapers. I still try and read a few of the UK papers on line because they have an entirely different perspective than we get in the States. In my newspaper travels, I often find amazing things to share with you. Here’s another one.

Nina Katchadourian is an artist, teacher, lecturer and traveller. She’s taken more than 102 flights in the past few years, and obviously, she gets bored. Her artistic mind wanders and she comes up with an idea for a series of photographs… taken in the plane’s loo… using what she finds in there. Self Portraits in the Flemish Style avec paper towels, seat covers, etc.

The series, Seat Assignment, includes more than a dozen sub-projects: in Provisional Shelters, Katchadourian builds edifices from crackers; in Buckleheads, she snaps portraits of her neighbours reflected in her seatbelt buckle; and in Sweater Gorillas, she has created abstract, simian faces from the folds of a black sweater.

I give her a lot of credit for her creativity, but seriously, can you IMAGINE being seated next to this woman on that flight to Australia?

That’s why they make Ambien®. More about Nina here.

Where’s that Baby?

Even the Queen is getting a bit tired of waiting around for the birth of the future heir to the throne of the UK and all possessions still in its possession. She’s getting ready to go on holiday and doesn’t want to come jetting back for the birth of her great-grandchild.

Fortunately, you don’t have to wait, you just have to click this link, print it out. Then, post delivery, just like royal gynecologist Dr. Marcus Setchell, all you will need is a pair of scissors and you can have your own royal baby (and parents!).They don’t call that poor girl Waity-Katie for nothing.

Another Style Quiz

And this one’s actually pretty good. I liked some of the choices, although I was horrified about the “stylish cul-de-sac living”. Sounds a bit nightmarish to me!

I took the quiz twice and got this once:

and this once:

Honestly, much as I hate to admit that I’d be Country, the description fits a bit better… except for the running through the meadows bit.

The quiz is here.

Too Darn Hot!

I just got back from taking Connor for his late night walk, and it’s still about 90*F at midnight! Of course, in the dead of winter, we whinge about the cold, but you can always put more clothes on!With the heat, there’s only so much you can take off!Connor does all he can to stay chill!

Thanks, Graphics Fairy!

For several years, my go-to place for great graphics has been TheGraphicsFairy.com, an on-line resource for unique and well curated out-of-copyright graphics. Each Monday, Karen, who is the Graphics Fairy, hosts a link party where everyone submits a piece of work done using her graphics.

When I got the e-mail, I saw that one of the featured items was a sea-shell collage.

I was curious to see what someone else had done with sea-shells, so I clicked the link. Imagine my delight when it opened and I saw this:

I am so pleased that this was chosen.

As you might remember, I made the image for a childhood friend of mine! I am thinking of adding this, or something similar, and customizable to my Etsy shop.

Dog Days

I love buying mixed lots at the auctions because sometimes, when there’s one piece you particularly want, you get other odd bits that you end up liking. Such was the case over the weekend with the auction I attended.

There were three or four pieces in this lot that I really liked, but it was all or nothing, so I bid on the lot, and won it. Tucked in the back of the shelf are two small Staffordshire Spaniel figurines. I have seen these pieces all of my life, but have never read about their story. The dogs were originally made in Staffordshire, England where there were good quantities of two elements: Clay and Coal, both of which are vital to the pottery industry. There were six major pottery works in the area, known collectively as The Potteries. Although other breeds and animals were portrayed, spaniels were especially popular and this is attributed to royalty favouring the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel breed. So, many of the dogs that you see are either liver and white, or all white. They often have either a chain around their neck, or a collar and locket. Because they were hand-painted, many times by women and children who worked in The Potteries, they are each different. If you see identical ones, they’re probably fake.There are stories about the dogs being used as signals… if they’re back-to-back, that indicates one thing and if they’re face-to-face, that indicates another.

The pairs of dogs can be used in almost any style of décor, although they probably look best in a more traditional room.

Regardless of where you place these, or how you use them, they’re another classic element in your décor and pretty cute, too!

An Auction Sneak Peek!

I attended the mid-summer auction at Alex Coopers, strictly sticking to the North Gallery where all of the bargains are, and came home with a wagon-load of goodies! I have to admit that I spent a little more than I had planned, but there weren’t a lot of people at the auction, and the lots were being hammered down at very low prices.

As usual, I went for the blue and white china,

and some transfer-ware.

I found three fun pieces of French china.

I haven’t had a chance to translate them yet, but they seem like they’re satirical plates.

In addition to these pieces, I got some great silver-plated footed trays, and more silver pieces, a partial set of Limoges Haviland china, some brown and cream jugs that you can see in the top image and a pair of Staffordshire dog figurines. And some other things!

By Monday, a lot of these pieces should be on my Etsy shop, so check it out.

The Auction Rooms

As I mentioned the other day, I am heading to the auction on Saturday at Alex Cooper in Baltimore. You’re welcome to join me, as long as you don’t bid on anything that I want (HA).

Cooper’s has a gallery auction that is much more fast-paced and free-wheeling than the auctions in their main rooms. They sell about 100 lots per hour, and it’s the less expensive goods that are on the block.

But you can still get some great bargains on fantastic items regardless! Might I remind you of my sweet little blue settee with the down/feather cushion, picked up for a mere $20 (+18% commission + 6% tax). Still…

I had downloaded and printed the North Gallery pages, which listed about 300 items. I read through the items, and highlighted the ones that looked promising. I then went to the auction house and wandered through the gallery, checking out each lot that was there. I paid particular attention to those I’d highlighted, but also made notes on other lots that looked good.

After that, I went to the main rooms to see what was there and found some great pieces, although most of it is out of my range. As my friend David says, we like bid that are “insultingly low” and we often get the pieces we want.Do let me know if you’re planning on coming Saturday!

Oyster House

When I was in college, we used to take the speedboats over to Virginia and buy cartons of smokes, because the tobacco tax there was about a third of what it was in Maryland. So when I saw an article about a fascinating house on the confluence of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay, I knew exactly where they were talking about. It’s at the far end of the Northern Neck, a long drive down History Highway, generally paralleling the Potomac River.

The land down there is flat. Marsh flats, scrub, tall pines, piney points, desolate but beautiful. This land had been scraped clean by the oyster industry, and the new owner had thousands of native plants and hundreds of trees planted to bring back its natural beauty.

Because many of the visitors choose to take the water route to the house, particular emphasis has been placed on making that entrance dramatic.

The house is sited at one of the widest points in the Bay, and you can’t even see to the Eastern Shore from this point.

Because of the rising seas, as well as high water from hurricanes coming up the Bay, the house has been raised on more than 100 pilings.

I can attest to the amount of wildlife and waterfowl that’s along these shores.

To read more about this amazing property, click here.