White kitchen - how to create stylish interiors?

White kitchen is impractical option White kitchen is impractical option, but incredibly gorgeous. The interior of the kitchen in white tones will be obtained both bright and neutral. This kitchen looks fresh, peaceful and harmonious. White walls, ceiling and the world under very good for small-size kitchen. White color visually expand the space, but also adds its lightness and airiness. White has

Brass bedroom furniture from Italy

When in Italy furniture catalogs enrich their products, we strive to include them in all kinds and style of furniture with which to satisfy all possible tastes of our customers. Among them, inevitably there are those who want to escape from tradition and leave all borders and interior furnishings. For those of our customers have a new proposal - brass bedrooms, manufactured by Italian finesse

Kathy's Really Easy Fruitcake

Please see my "recipe" page for this dairy, egg and sugar free fruit cake. It's simple, yummy and foolproof to make.

For ideas on creating a reading corner in your home, please go to my Interior Design page or click on the photo below for direct link. I have posted some great photos of different ideas.  Below is a photo taken in my living room of an area that has become my favourite place to sit and read or sit and "blog", in fact I am sitting there right now!

My Own Reading Corner

Minimalist Furniture Design Home Entertainment by Acerbis

This is the minimalist design of home entertainment furniture. Modern furniture design for the living room. minimalist furniture designs by Acerbis. first introduced the theme of integration, physical and aesthetic, audio-video devices, the collection of a New Concept again subjected to further development, fully equipped with projection screen hidden in the closet, for those who do not want to

Special Touches in Louisiana

Hey my friends!  Hope you are all doing well.

 

If you read my last post, I am sure you could tell how great a time we had visiting our friends in Louisiana. 

 

The word FABULOUS keeps coming to my mind.  Simply fabulous!

 

My sweet friend, Becky from Buckets of Burlap, truly is a wonderful hostess.  The entire family made us feel so welcome in their home.  They made us feel like family.

 

I have to share with you just a few of the things that me us smile, feel special or have an extra giggle or two.

 

 

 

 

These three made us giggle.

 

 

 

 

These two pot belly piggies made us smile.

 

 

 

 

Making these adorable pig cupcakes for Becky’s youngest daughter was super fun.

 

 

 

 

Becky has a delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe that she used to make these cookies.  She set up this beautiful little presentation with cookies for a late birthday treat for me.  Special…

 

 

 

 

She also made homemade guacamole and a fantastic Caprese Salad.

 

 

 

 

This lady is an incredible cook.  She fed us well…too well.

 

 

There were special little things all week that made my girls and I feel pretty important.

 

 

 

 

Sweet messages…

 

 

And bags full of sweet foods…

 

 

 

 

MOST of these cookies made it back to Tennessee to share with my boys.

 

 

See what I mean about those special touches! 

 

 

Do you see the pressure she has put on me to make their week just as memorable? 

 

 

I am already making plans in my mind for when Louisiana comes to
Tennessee.  (and that’s going to be in just a couple of months)

 

 

I want to show you one more thing about my trip, but I will save that for next time.  I have to share the beauty of a shop that Becky took me to while I was there.  Oh my sweet friends, you would have loved it.

A Jane Austen Birthday Party

 

This past winter Jamie suggested that we have a Jane Austen themed book party this summer while the girls and I were up in New Hampshire. We also planned on having a tiny little party to celebrate Jamie's 25th birthday. Well, it turned out that trying to do projects for two parties in the midst of everything else this summer was completely impossible so instead we decided to combine the two and have Jamie's little birthday party with a Jane Austen/book theme.  We have only had a couple of days this summer where Lillie and Lola cooperated and took naps at the same time, which has made it very difficult to get all of the projects we had planned done. I guess I was a bit delusional in my grand plans for projects this summer.

We all are a bit strange in our family and as much as we love to make things and decorate for a party we don't necessarily like to have an actual party. I am guessing most people are the opposite and like to go to or host parties but don't enjoy all of the preparation. So, for the party we had a ton of fun decorating for it but just had us girls and our mom for it. As I discovered when I tried to take photos of Jamie's and Josh's  guest room, it is really hard to get good shots in the upstairs of their house in the afternoon. These all ended up horribly shadowy and a bit blurry - sorry! 

We set everything up in Jamie's studio/office. Actually Jamie did most of the setup herself. I can't wait for you all to see this whole room. Jamie is planning on doing a post soon with pictures of the rest of the space. It is amazing!!! I am completely and ridiculously jealous. 

By using things Jamie already had we were able to spend only the tiniest amount on this whole party. I think all we bought for it were the candles on the cake, some thin black satin ribbon for the banner, the white meringue cookies and some cardstock. Unless I am forgetting something I think we spent less than $15 for the whole party! We even saved on flowers by just picking some Queen Anne's Lace from the field.

 

We will have a tutorial soon for the banner and the mini books, and we plan on selling both cardstock and vinyl silhouette cutouts in our shop when we reopen.

And here is a photo of the beautiful birthday girl with Miss Lillabel. And yes, she is in her wedding dress... There is a reason though. =) We have been trying to reshoot many of our products, including some of the tutus, but even though Lillie loves wearing her tutus (in fact she often requests to wear them) she does not like me taking pictures. We thought that if Jamie put on her wedding gown and was in some of the photos with Lillie, Lillie might get a bit more into it but it didn't quite work out as well as we hoped. =) If the weather isn't too hot we will probably try again tonight and hopefully have some better luck.

To view all of our parties, please visit our new parties page!

I hope you all are having a fabulous week so far!

Linking up to Tip Me Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style
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Home Stories A to Z
The Shabby Nest

Behind the blogger...meet Kathy Sue from Good life of Design!

Good morning! So happy to be here with another fabulous "Behind the blogger" interview. Today we meet Kathy Sue from Good life of Design.Amongst the many people and blogs I have grown to like and need my "daily fix, Good life of Design is definitely amongst them. Kathy Sue,the blogger extraordinaire behind it always has something interesting, insightful and thought provoking to think about. After starting out working for a designer, she eventually started her own consultation service and continued for 30 successful years! Many of the clients became friends, a testament to the kind of person she is. She met her beloved husband at 16, got married at 19 and has been married for 45 years and going strong! She is blessed with 3 sons, and still resides in the home that each of them grew up in, how idyllic is that?
 She has a true gift for engaging the reader and her subjects run the gamut from household how to's to etiquette to blog design and of course there is always plenty of eye candy featuring decor and design. What I enjoy and take away from her blog is a great and successful mix of  visual treats (translation lots of pretty pictures) combined with a sensibility and often a conversation about what she is posting. She is a kind, intelligent, capable and generous person who I am happy to have discovered. If you don't visit her blog already, I strongly urge you to do so.....I can pretty much assure you, that you too will become a "regular". And be sure to check out her own spectacular home, her stunning rooms are often featured on her blog and are always an inspiration. So lets hear what she has to say...and click on the header below to visit Good life of design!

Thanks Kathy Sue for participating...click on header picture below to visit her blog.GOOD LIFE OF DESIGNENJOY THE PROCESS

So....... what inspired you to start blogging in the first place?

Two years ago I put my master bathroom and kitchen on Rate my Space. To be honest it was the first time I had really done anything on the computer. I was fortunate in that my rooms were very well received over there. I found out as time went by that it could be pretty mean spirited. Luckily I was never a victim of that.I did not even know what a blog was until a couple of ladies that had a blog invited me to visit. That is where the story really begins. Oh my! A whole world of like minded people,Wow!! I joined a group of ladies in a design chat room. We are still friends, and they are the one’s that encouraged me to start a blog. My grown children were also telling me I should. In January of 2010 I started my blog. My DIL set me up, and I knew nothing about the computer, or what I was really doing. I guess the rest is history. I have never looked back and I can not imagine not blogging or having my blog friends!! 

How did you come up with your blog name?

Since my DIL set me up, she and I sat down and made a list of buzz words or phrases that related to my design career. She is the one that came up with the name, and it fits perfectly, because I had a great life in design for over 30 years, and now I am still having a wonderful life partly due to design. It is the gift that keeps on giving.

Do you have a favorite all time movie?

This is a hard one, since I am such a romantic sap. I think I have to say the one that touched my heart the most was, “The Notebook,” When he said to his children, about his wife, “She is my home!” I lost it. After the movie was over, my hubby and I just sat there until the theatre was empty, we got up, looked at each other,embraced, and we both cried. You see, “He is my home!” I told you I am a romantic sap!!

You get to spend a month in the European  countryside.....is it Italy or France?

I have been to Italy and would love to go back. I am going to France next year, can I tell you after I get back?

Favorite meal?

I have actually asked people if you could only have one more meal what would it be? I think we all choose some of our favorites. I would have barbecued ribs, it is really the only red meat I like. A huge plate of fresh fruit of all kinds. Roasted asparagus and for dessert brownies with a glass of ice cold milk. Not gourmet by any means but I would be a happy camper.

Tell us as little or as much as you want to about your family.

I am pretty private about my family. I don’t usually show pictures of them on my blog. I have been in love with my hubby for 45 years and married and in love for 41 of those years. We have been blessed with three, now grown sons,ages 38,36,34. Two of our son’s are married to gorgeous, wonderful women. We have three of the most amazing,perfect grandchildren. Two grandsons ages, 11 and 7! and a granddaughter age 8.

If you could have any career what would it be?

I had it already, a designer! If I had not been a designer, I would definitely have been a teacher. I was sort of a teacher to my clients, so I guess I got to be exactly what I was meant to be.

Favorite design style?

I definitely have a Traditional bend, but I love a touch of vintage and cottage. Ideally I would have an understated elegant beach cottage, with an ocean view of course!!

You get to have a private dinner with any two people in the world, they can be from the fashion, design world, literary world, Hollywood, politics,etc....your choice. Who are the lucky two? Ralph Lauren and Oprah!

If you could only live in one color what would it be?

This is another hard question for me. I think it might have to be blue, because it is so serene and calming to me.

Favorite season and why?

This is easy, Spring!! Perfect weather, everything in bloom, hope in the air for new things to come. It also shows all of my favorite colors of, Blue, green, yellow and pink!!

Design icon?

I love, love Phoebe Howard. I have made claim to the fact that I would like to be her when I grow up throughout many of my blog post!!

One place you haven't been that you want to visit-

Definitely the East coast, The Hamptons, Cape Cod and Nantucket!!

What's your number one pet peeve?

Rudeness! It is so easy to be polite and pleasant to others, and I think we lack that in our society as a whole. A “Yes, please!” and a “No Thank you,” and how about a simple greeting and eye contact with our fellow human beings? Just the simple courtesies seem to be going on the wayside. 

What are the two best things about blogging?

Actually the two surprises have been the friendships, and how many  like minded people there are out there in the world. I love that!! I also didn’t realize how much I enjoy the writing process, that was a totally surprise to me.

Do you have a favorite saying or quote?

Yes I do!! It is a bible verse:

Romans 8:38-39

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NLT)

This verse is so powerful to me. It is filled with hope and promise in the love that God has for us. It doesn’t get any better than that to me.

Most overrated trend right now?

I have actually written some post on this very subject. I realize it is totally subjective, but, for me it is:

• Chevron pattern
• White chippy paint, not the kind that occurs with time, but the kind that people are trying to duplicate to make look like it is truly old.
• Gray, enough already.
• Spray painting everything in sight!!

You are 18 again. What do you do?

I would actually go to college and get a degree in design and business. I think I would get married at 18 instead of 19.

What are your plans for the summer?

No big plans this summer. We  enjoy just being home in our own backyard. Always some fun times when the kiddo’s come to visit. We try to take a lot of day trips to Carmel, Half Moon Bay or Napa Valley. Overall just , “Enjoying the Process of my life.”

In ten years I will be....................

Older, wiser,  hopefully thinner,and better at writing and taking pictures.

If you could live anywhere on earth and money was no object where would you go?

Very easy question for me, Carmel by the sea or Pacific Grove with an ocean view of course!!

Best tip or two for any new bloggers reading this.......

Write about subjects that you are passionate about. Take off the word verification on your comments!!!

Blogging to me is  a fun hobby and always an inspiration.

Give me four words that describe your personality.

Happy

Loving

Caring

Creative

Just a little recap of all the things that Kathy Sue loves.....

Thank you Kathy Sue! I realized how much we have in common in reading your interview, everything from the places that inspire you to your pet peeves,being a Phoebe Howard fan, to the most over rated trends. On a side note,  dinner with Ralph and Oprah sounds like it could be loads of fun too so count me in for that one! Thank you for participating and wishing everyone a beautiful day!