Planning Ahead

I was very excited to receive my 

2014 Catalog from

Murray McMurray today.

What is that?

CHICKS, baby!

I've got the pages dog eared 

and the numbers selected for each

breed we'd like to have.

Of course some Black and Buff Cochins 

shall be included with some other 

hearty layers because there is

nothing quite as pretty

trotting across the yard than

fluffy Cochins.

One of the girls from my old flock of four!

Our order will be divided with 

layers and meat birds.

{Did I mention that I've been on 

YouTube

learning how to properly 

"take out" a bird?}

I'm actually looking forward to 

growing our own meat birds as well

as having home grown eggs again.

So, we still have a coop to build and

with Winter pretty much here, we'll

be waiting to order until the beginning

of February giving us plenty of time

to design the coop and lay out 

the back yard for my garden too.

Hopefully time doesn't fly as fast as it has the 

last several months!

In the meantime, I'll 

reminisce about my old girls...

 

xo, Amber

Tuscany 2007

P.S. I'm starting to think we should have bought a farm.

The Saturday Night Production!

Saturday as a whole

was such a productive day.

I was up and out early to run 

errands {including picking up *my* paint}

then came home

to work on our projects.

I prepped the wall,

taping and backrolling with the

existing color

{good painter trick for razor sharp lines}.

As I waited for that to dry,

I decided it was a good time to

finish the sideboard.

I antiqued it with a water based 

metallic gold and rubbed it till it

was perfect.

I am so very happy with 

the outcome. 

If you're interested in my

technique, let me know.

I'll be glad to share.

After dinner, the Mister took

control of the wall painting.

I think he gets frustrated with me because

I paint slower than him.

Hey, that's what he does for a living

so I ain't complainin'!

Three coats later,

our wall was done

{we watched Pitch Perfect 

in between coats - cute movie!}.

It's definitely B.O.L.D

and I love it!

Next project: working on the staircase

{I've already started!}.

I'll be taking the week off (maybe)

so have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

xo, Amber

The Painted Chicken

I'm not sure if it's because of the Season,

 the neutral walls screaming for some pop or 

just my true colors that are coming out,

but I'm seeing r-e-d. 

Well, things are about to change!

And it's all his fault...

This amazing canvas was gifted

to me as a housewarming gift

from the amazingly

talented, Christie Repasy.

I have kept it wrapped in cellophane,

bubble wrap and cloth from the time

we packed till a couple of days ago.

I finally decided on a home for him...

Something isn't right though.

It needs *something*.

Something to add some life.

A pop.

Some couleur.

If you've been reading my blog for

a while, you know that when we lived 

in our rental that I pretty much

stripped all the red out of the house.

Looking back, I think it was the house itself

that didn't call for red.

Being extremely limited on what 

one can do in someone else's house

makes it hard to see beyond

neutral and beige. 

But not anymore!

We're homeowner's now. 

The wall we'll be painting is the 

chalkboard wall above, which 

faces this great wall of windows.

Since our style is 

French. Country. Farmhouse.

{not all together, just a bit of each}

Red seems to be an appropriate color.

And, since I recovered our seats 

 with La Petit Ferme by Waverly, 

red would fit perfectly.

We're stuck between 2 colors though

{yes, a his and her dilemma}:

Red Bay - a brighter Crimson shade or

Fired Brick - a mellower Brick shade.

I bet you can guess who picked what!

I don't want to have regrets

{meaning repainting} 

so I will convince him that

I am madly, truly in love

with *my* red.

We'll see if that flies.

xo, Amber

Detour!

I'm still working on the dresser!

I could not find my antiquing products 

or paint so I did the next best thing...

bought more!

So yesterday morning, I decided to work on it.

The beginning of something fabulous!

Trying to hand paint lines and nooks and crannies

is virtually impossible with two little monkeys on your back.

No, really.

 They love to climb on me whenever 

I am down at their level.

Time to wash the brushes and put

 it all away till night time.

So instead, I took a look

around to see what I could

muster up without the help

of my monkey's.

Drapes.

Our kitchen door is at the front of the house

and is all glass so at night,

I feel like I'm being watched 

while cooking dinner or

cleaning up.

Mr. FPH suggested we 

put mirrored tint on it.

Umm... no.

Somehow, mirror tinted

windows doesn't scream

French Country to me.

I did, however, have an abundance

of Toile fabric still waiting 

to be put to work,

thanks to my very generous

friend, Missy.

I've hung onto this fabric for

quite some time, just using

bits and pieces here and there.

In our 

"house that we just borrowed"

{that's what Brock calls the rental},

I made a valance for the big sliding window

{which I took down before we moved and replaced with burlap}.

I then reused a part of that in my new

laundry room, with some to spare.

These drapes were a perfect solution!

I think I love them.

I didn't do any fancy sewing,

just straight as an arrow 

with no bling.

These tie-back's were saved from a remodel

job Mr. FPH did back in CA, 

that were headed for the dump. 

They were the "wrong" color

so a quick spritz of black paint fixed that!

I'll use little pops of Toile 

to tie everything together throughout

the house. Not too much,

just enough. 

Now the possums and raccoons

can't peek in anymore

{yes, we've had both looking in}.

Now onto the next project...

xo, Amber

Finally a Project!

With Fall in full swing, I decided to start cracking on getting a few things done that I have put off for no other reason than pure laziness. 

Hey, you gotta love my honesty!

Anyway, we bought this Provincial dresser and nightstand (not shown) at an Estate sale in CA months before we moved. It's intent (dresser) was to become our new vanity in our master bathroom but it sorta found its

 home in the dining room. 

Since I have a weak heart for the French look and I am a advocate for black, that was my choice for this piece.

I think it's really going to pop and be a huge part of

the overall look we have going in the house.

Black is wonderful but only

in bits and pieces.

I'm using it as an accent and am 

incorporating it through the house

to tie it all together.

Living with eclecticism, I personally

think you need to have some kind 

of element to tie it all together.

"Just my unprofessional opinion."

Our dining room is between the 

living room and kitchen,

so to me, it's kinda the anchor of the house.

I'm using things that both the kitchen

and living room have (wood tone and color)

to unify all the rooms.

And my beloved black.

Here is the anchor with a wet paint job.

I am letting it cure for a couple of days before

I finish with the distressing, antiquing and waxing.

I'll share my personal techniques with you

when it's done.

As I was working on this, my mind was working

overtime. Since the Mr. is working full time 

outside of the house, projects here are going 

a little slower, so I decided to do a little

sprucing to make it pretty until

we get to it and do it right.

Oh, I'll be sharing!

See ya back here in a few days with my

"Beautiful Antique French Treasure"

Enjoy your weekend!!

xo, Amber

Am I Going To Open A Store?!

Asked by a few people lately,

this question has been visited in my mind

over and over again.

my display of faux pastries and custom stands

It's been talked about, debated and 

written about in a 

pro's and con's type of list.

refinished furniture and boutique pillows

It's fun to talk about but

I never had intentions of it,

especially moving to the South.

sparkly pumpkins

Toile pumpkins (my favorite)
and custom cheese stands

I thought I would be running my

B & B right now and serving

breakfast and tea and having a little

in-house boutique with mementos of

a quaint little Country town. 

The Shanks home now owned by some wonderful peeps!

I would be spending my mornings

pressing coffee and making beds

and cutting flowers for sweet little

bouquets for my guests.

That's what I thought I would be doing.
~

"But, the location is perfect for a store."

Yes, it is!

NOT my image (I wish people would watermark their images!)
AND I doctored it up to reflect my idea of what
my boutique would look like if there ever was one
(similar but not exactly the same).
This is JUST an inspiration photo.
This is a real pastry shoppe in France
(with a different name, of course).

There's plenty of real estate to choose from.

I can see what it could look like.

Mentally, it could all very well work out.

My answer is...

No.

I am not going to open a shoppe.

*It is not feasible for our family

to run a brick and mortar

right now, with young children.

*We're still finding our place here.

*We can't afford the time commitment or

the financial responsibility of it nor 

carry the worry of survival.

Do I still fantasize about it?

HECK YEAH!!

I We have it all painted out on how 

it would look, what we would sell,

the colors of it, the style of it,

the building(s) we could see it in, etc.

Yes, I could very easily do it if there 

weren't children to worry about and 

there was an ever flowing river of money.

See, I worry about these things A LOT.

So, in my plan, there isn't

going to be a "store" but, eventually,

another website and or ETSY.
Maybe I'll do a sale at the house
every once in a while when I need to 
purge some furniture.
Maybe.

I do see other opportunities though,

all of which I shall keep tucked 

under my wing, for now.

I'm still doing my "research".

Don't ask because I swore myself

to secrecy. 

Maybe someday.

Dreams are good.

They do come true.

But maybe they aren't "dreams", at all.

Sometimes His plan happens

to be, what we believe, to be our dream.

Look where we ended up. 

{big smile on my face as I type that sentence}

my cherub still awaits his garden.

When the time comes to 

Open Up Shop,

this is the place you will find out about it.

The horse (garage/shop/outbuilding) 

needs to come before the cart (online store).

Mr. B's tools are currently residing in my

 pantry, laundry room and basement

and the eviction notice is getting closer by the day.

{THAT'S why so little photos of the house!!}

I think you  catch my drift.

Time for a coffee break,

care to join me?

xo, Amber