AWARD WINNING

Thank you so much to Debbie Hodge from Breathing Beside Us for honoring me with this award.  You are an angel and an inspiration to me!  XOXO

"These blogs are exceedingly charming.  These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends.  They are not interested in self-aggrandizement.  Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.  Please give more attention to these writers.  Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award."

The following blogs are my 8 choices:

Mosaic Cottage

Vintage Patina

The Attic

Val's Art Studio

Paper Tales

Melinda's Fabric Fancies

Creative Chaos

A Bit Of Pink Heaven

So far everyone has said that stopping at just 8 is very difficult and it's true.  There  are so many deserving bloggers out there!

ORANGE BLOSSOMS

Another very cool shop in Coronado.  It is located at 952 Orange Avenue.  It is owned by Peggy Halpin.  And the store mascot is not an orange blossom as you might expect.  No, the store mascot is......

OSCAR!

Even the outside of the store is lovely, with this vintage bathtub used as a planter.

A unique chandelier

A beautiful umbrella

She carries lots of very hip women's and children's clothing.

Assorted things for the home.

I have got to learn that I can't take a picture of a mirror while standing in front of it!

The web site is:  www.orangeblossomsshop.com

As of right now, Peggy does not have a blog.  Yet.  

PAY IT FORWARD CHALLENGE

My friend and fellow blogger, Valerie Hebert (http://www.valsartstudio.blogspot.com) is participating in this "Pay It Forward Challenge" and it sounds like fun.  

Here's how it works:

The first 3 people who leave me a comment on this post only will receive a handmade item from me sometime in the next 3 months.  Just one day, out of the blue, at no cost to you, a special something will arrive in your mailbox.  (Be sure to leave contact info so that I can get your mailing address.)

The turnabout is that you must choose to participate in this round robin of giving by giving yourself and posting the "Pay It Forward Challenge" on your blog.  How fun is this?!?

A DREAM BEDROOM

My client had just come into some money and decided to finally re-do her bedroom.  She repainted, re-carpeted and completely re-did her bed.  She settled on Shabby Chic fabrics and bedding.  Because she couldn't choose only a couple of the prints, she, basically, went with all of them.  Fun for me because I had a practically unlimited selection with which to create her dream bed.

Because her bed was high, nothing ready-made really worked.  I had to custom make the coverlet so that it looked like she had two bed skirts.  I think I ended up making about 27 pillows.  They literally took up 3/4 of the bed.  But it's what she wanted and she loved it.

These are some of the various pillows I made.  I got to mix and match as I pleased.  As I've said before in a previous post, that's my favorite kind of job:  here are the fabrics, you decide how to put them together.

And to top off the pile of pillows, I made her this bunny out of vintage chenille.  The ribbons around her neck reflect the colors in her bed.

SLIPCOVERS WITH FLAT FLANGE WELTING

For something a little different, these slipcovers have a flat flange welting instead of the traditional welting.  It is made exactly the same way, except there is no cording inside, it is just ironed flat.  It gives the furniture a more contemporary look.  The only thing I don't like about it is,  because there is no cording inside the welting, the stability that the welting normally gives to the cushions and the base of the slipcover isn't there.  It really isn't an issue since there are plenty of cushions that don't have any welting at all.  What is boils down to is personal preference.  And the look you are going for with your slipcovers.

This chair also has the flange welting, though it is a little harder to tell in this photo.  Again, it just gives a slightly different look to the piece.

Both this chair and the sofa slipcovers were made for a shop in Chicago.

MELROSE VINTAGE

I probably would have taken even more pictures, but I ran out of room on my camera.  Maija also took us to Frances Vintage and Rust and Roses but I could not take any photographs.  All the shops we went to were amazing.  We all had a great time and were a little sad to leave.  Luckily, Arizona is not so far for us here in Southern California.

BLISSFUL LIVING STUDIO

Debbie, Maija, Sandy, Mary and me

Anyone who really knows me, knows how much I LOVE color and the colors in this studio are just my thing.  I could happily move in and never leave.  I wanted at least one of everything.  Even the bags, which I forgot to put in this post, are fabulous!  The best thing is, Debbie Hodge is going to be teaching in this adorable studio!  Go to her blog (http://www.breathingbesideus.blogspot.com)

for details and to sign up.

MORE OF MAIJA'S TREASURES

All these pictures are of the wonderful art work and other assorted treasures that Maija has throughout her home.  Like I said yesterday, everywhere you look, not only in her amazing studio, but everywhere, there is something else to admire.

Maija has 3 dogs and 2 cats.  I didn't get a picture of her black cat, Pepper, but everyone else is pictured above.  They were all friendly and affectionate.  Just what I love in cats and dogs!

More great things...

Tomorrow, I'll post the pictures of the wonderful shops Maija took us to visit.  Stay tuned.