~~ You Are Cordially Invited ~~

You are cordially invited to join us this weekend for our Annual Holiday Open House Event.

Where has this year gone to? I can hardly believe it's time to put out all the Christmas decor. But it's here, that time of year where all of the shops in town gear up for their open house events. Ours begin this weekend. A bit more tweaking and my shop is ready to go. I'm hoping to be busy all weekend with customers, but wanted to share just a "bit" of what greets you before stepping inside. (Inside decor is for another day. Is that a tease or what? ) lol

Those on the mailing list received this postcard in the mail. This one is for you! :-))
Outside the arbor is all decked out.
A few bells and a pretty bow.

Close up

Even the bench gets a bit of greenery and a bow. :-))

Let's add the candles to the stone candlestick holders.
I've since added a bit of greenery around the candlesticks. They seemed to look a bit on the bare side. Let's not forget the trees by the door. (Some twigs and fresh greenery went into the pots by the bench after taking these pictures.)

So, there you have a bit of the outside decor leading into the shop. I'm hoping sales will be brisk this weekend. I wish you all could come by and say hello personally. What a "huge" blog party that would be. :-)) I'll try to take pictures through out the weekend and post them as time permits this next week.

Thank you for stopping by to say hello. Say lots of prayers and wish us luck! :-))

hugs ~lynne~

When Did It Happen???

I'm not sure when they started taking over around here. But they are everywhere. Fleur-de-Lis. Yes, my friends you can count yet "another" collection that I have. Come along, and I'll share with you a "few" of the fleur-de-lis.

This fleur-de-lis and the Staffordshire dog and candle holder set on the mantle for "awhile". I love the marble ball the fleur-de-lis has before it's beautiful square base. It only set here for short while. lol After standing back and looking at the small display I felt the balance was off and shuffled a few things around. Do you ever do that? Get something completed and then decide things just aren't going together right? The candle holder to the left is also a new addition. These came in over at work early this Spring and screamed, yes, I'm telling you; it screamed to come home with me. Now, what kind of person would I be if I left a screaming candle holder behind? :-))Inside I have a candle that runs on batteries. It doesn't quite have that romantic feeling a candle has, but does put off a beautiful glow in the evenings. And, if I forget to turn it off, I've just run the batteries down, no worries about setting the house on fire. :-))
The detail of the marble is incredible. By a fluke chance of the camera this almost looks like bull's horns. Hmmmmm Inside the candle.

Same fleur-de-lis, different location. The picture is of mother and daddy on their wedding day. If they were both still with us they would have been married 62 years this past July. Gosh how I miss them.

This green beauty I've sold in the shop for awhile. Made of ceramic and about 8" tall, a perfect fit for just any ole spot. :-)) Maybe not a "true" fleur -de-lis , but pretty close.

Close up.

Moved around a bit and added a carpet ball for a smaller vignette setting. If a refrigerator doesn't have it's own cubby it sets in, I think the top deserves to be decorated. Don't you think so as well? I've had this green cast iron fleur-de-lis for a bit. I thought it paired up well with the beautiful tray and pumpkin jar full of fruit.

This is the top to another beautiful jar. The letter P with the angel was a find at Hobby Lobby last year. I liked it in the secretary, but had to have the lid sitting to the side of instead of on top of the beautiful jar. The shelves just wouldn't accommodate it other wise. So.... I decided to move it.

Now, you see it all together, lid and jar. I moved it from the secretary in the kitchen to the hutch in the dining room. I think it makes more of a statement all together. What do you think?

Just a bit closer view.

From the inside to the outside. Folks, I'm telling you I have Fleur-de-lis fever. This one is also cast iron and goes well with all the bunnies and candle holders on the wicker furniture.

Let's head back inside. The large Fleur-de-lis is my latest one. Gosh it's huge. It came in over at work a bit damaged. A bit of gorilla glue and a touch up of paint here and there and it's like new. Best part for this fleur-de-lis lover, it was free, gotta love that..I paired it with the smaller version and it found it's home on the mantel in the living room.

See the beautiful new lamp? Yes.. girls I had to have another lamp. I know, I know yet another obsession. I'm sure you're asking yourselves how many obsessions can one girl have. Well, I do have quite a few of them. lol.. but have weeded out the lamps I wasn't quite fond of, sold them and found room for the newer ones. :-))
With the lights on.
I hope you enjoyed seeing "some" of the fleur-de-lis around our home. Do you have a few obsessions? Things you collect with a purpose, or ones that have snuck up on you and you discover all of a sudden you have many. I would love to hear about them. As always, I'm so glad you stop by. I so enjoy reading each of your comments.

hugs ~lynne~

Passions Abound

Hello, and Happy November to one and all.
Let's talk today about passions. Passions for something special in your lives. Today I want to share my passion of books with you.

My passion for books started at a young age. I read a lot as a child. I found the places I read about in books were far nicer places than the one I was living in. They became magical places for me. Full of beauty, kindness and love. Because of those beautiful places my love for home decor evolved and I fell in and out of love with many styles over the years. But, my love of books is stronger than ever. :-))

Mary Carol Garrity the owner of Nell Hill's in Atchison, Kansas and the new location in Briarcliffe, has written some wonderful decorating books. I now have all of hers to date. My best friend gave me her latest book , Nell Hill's O Christmas Tree, for my birthday this past year. (Don't you love when a friend knows and shares the same passion with you)? So far, I have to say it's my favorite. The two shown here are from a few years ago. The little dog sitting on top the books is from Home Interiors many, many years ago. The bling from the lamp you'll see in a later post. :-)) These books you'll find in my office book shelves. Isn't she just the happiest little thing? I've changed the color of her bow many times over the years, trying to coordinate it with the decor of the room. You'll find books stacked in many areas through out our home, some in pretty peculiar places, others not so peculiar. This particular bunch is in the living area underneath the round table. The decor on top changes as my moods do.. lolThe English Cat at Home is a delightful collection of cats and their owners. Seen in their own surroundings, whether in a country garden, a stately home, farmhouse kitchen or even a bachelor pad. All in all just a fun filled book. A delightful read sure to put a smile on your face.

As you can see my mood changed. lol I traded out the stately piece up above for this beautiful bronzed deer. I picked up the deer last year at Walmart and gave $10.00 for it. I thought it was quite a bargain, the detail is incredible. I'm hoping to do a flip of sorts in the dining room and make more of a Hunt Style/Library/ Dining Area out of it. The dining room isn't used as often anymore, except for staging tablescapes in, so thought I could make better use of the space.. Just a bit of furniture moving and a bit of tweaking.. no money spent and I'll have another "new" area to have fun with. Now.. hold your horses folks.. I have to wait until after the Christmas rush in the shops to go moving a lot of stuff around here. So stayed tuned for those changes..lol

Many of you know our Bailey is here almost every weekend. This weekend is no exception. He'll be here later today, I can hardly wait. As you can see even my Bailey loves to read, draw and create. His mother texted me the other day with some wonderful but not surprising news.. All A's on his report card and they want him to go to the gifted program.. Bailey I'm so incredibly proud of you!! :-))
My Bailey chose to stack his book of art in the chair.. it has since been moved. However, I found it sweet to think he could stack his books like Grandma does. :-)) I even have a passion for magazines. This particular grouping is on a small stool I've had for many many years. You can see just a "wee" bit of fabric. That also has changed over the years. Just the other day I thought I've got a bit too much black and gold going on in here. So, I'm going to be on the hunt for the perfect red. Red being my favorite color is the perfect choice to add to this sweet little bench. lol That's a metamorphosis for another post. huh?
Ahhhhhhhhh!! Perfect reading.

Books or magazines whatever your choice of the day is, I hope you find great pleasure in letting the inside stories and pictures whisk you away to wonderful places. I hope you enjoyed this "short" tour of a "few" of the books and magazines through out our home. There are many other areas to share, but I'll save those for another post.

As always thanks for swinging by to say hello..

hugs ~lynne~