To Toile or not to Toile ... that is the Question!

I love Toile. I love every color, texture, etc. of Toile. It is so fascinating how a piece of Toile can tell so many stories. I have Toile covering my storage boxes in my craft room/office. I have Toile on pillows ... I have a gorgeous Toile quilt that I need to finish and hang. Although I love Toile, my husband has more of a contemporary aesthetic, and so I judiciously disperse it throughout my house in a constant effort to merge our two styles so that both of us feel like our home speaks to us. But, I will always have Toile in one form or another, somewhere in my house.

I have spent the last several months collecting vintage and discontinued Toile patterns to use in my store Lorraine's Graphiques ... a digital image store that I created. So, when it was time for Brag Monday, I decided it was time to pull out some Toile and share it with you. So, I've made a free printable of Toile labels or tags. My gift to you for all of your support. I couldn't have the success that I'm having with my Etsy stores, this quickly, without my facebook and blog friends. I truly hope you enjoy ... and that these Toile tags bring a smile to your face, as they do mine. Many of them are from the 1700s-1900. The one in the middle is gratis from the Graphics Fairy ... many thanks to her!

As always, you may not mass produce, but feel free to click on the picture and then right click to save. You may refer others to my blog, however. You may also print them out and use them to your heart's content for personal projects, not commercial.

Au revoir, mes amies ... have a wonderful week!

Delicious Autumn

Today's Brag Monday is a free printable that I created to celebrate the beautiful, gorgeous leaves that are all around me. I love the upper midwest during Fall because of the brilliant Maple and Elm trees. I found a quote by George Elliot that I also loved, and thought I'd share it with you. The faint leaf with acorn behind the quote is a free graphic from the Graphics Fairy (see her button to the left).

As always, feel free to click on the graphic and then right-click to save. This is for personal use and may not be used for commercial use or mass produced for any reason. Feel free to point anyone my way, however, to download their own copy to either print and display or save as wallpaper.

I hope you are enjoying the autumn weather where you are. I'm getting so excited as I will be attending a bead retreat this next weekend up in Michigan near the lake. I will definitely be getting my "bead" on with the super talented Heather Powers with Humblebeads. To see her work, feel free to go HERE

I promise, you won't be disappointed it's worth a "look-see." Hopefully I'll have something to show and tell next week!

Have a wonderful week mes amies!!

Au revoir,

Lorraine

House Decorating: Small and Large Scale

Have I mentioned before that I absolutely adore fall? I know it's probably overkill, but I truly do. I love Halloween as well. Nothing is more fun than opening your door and seeing little ones in the cutest outfits and looking so hopeful. So, I always make something new to decorate my home for Halloween.

So, for today's Brag Monday (see the Graphic's Fairy button to the left) I decided that since I'm in the process of really amping up my home decor, I could do an overhaul to a smaller home, a la Halloween. Here is my final Halloween House:

At the risk of sounding a tad bit OCD (okay maybe a lot), the orange roof is actually hundreds of little circles of paper so that I could have a spanish tile roof. Need I say more. I apparently LOVE tedious work. Would this be the project for everyone? No, However, anyone can do it. Truly.

I purchased a card board house from Hobby Lobby (with my 40% off coupon, so it was around 4.99), but Michael's and JoAnn's have them as well. I then found scrapbook paper that fit the Halloween theme, covered the major parts, and then made X's in each of the holes so that I could push the paper back inside and glue it inside of the house (resulting in nicely finished doors and windows. I used scrapbook borders for the window shutters.

I then looked the the Graphic's Fairies halloween images to find the skeletons and cats so that I could have them peeking out of the window.

I love my little house. It looks perfect in my entry hall. I will turn on a flameless candle at night so that it will flicker through the windows (I used vellum for the window pictures) and light up the house within.

I hope you enjoy!

Lining Your Nest

I have been busy the last several weeks working on decorating and updating my home. I have been having a wonderful time, and I have to say that when I walk into my house now, it truly feels like coming home. I know that probably sounds cliche, but let me elaborate.

Years ago, I decorated my bedroom based upon some fabric that I really loved. I'm a red girl, but very much aware that red is not the color choice for when you want to relax and go to sleep. So, I chose one of the other colors in the fabric ... a smoky dark blue to paint my walls. In theory, it was absolutely beautiful. I had two very large windows that brought plenty of light into the room, so I knew I could pull it off without feeling like I was entering a cave.

Well, folks ... it didn't work. It was beautiful. It was coordinated. It worked with the fabric I had used on the drapes and the red cornice boards. But, I realized after several months, that I NEVER spent time in my bedroom. I'd leave it as soon as the day started and never return until the end of the day. It really wasn't "Me!"

At the time, however, I was younger (around 28) and didn't really know yet exactly what was me. So, I started reading the "Simple Abundance" book by Sarah Ban Breathnach that was so popular at the time. One of the prompts in the book was to start a scrapbook and whenever something "spoke" to you, you put a picture of that in your scrapbook. So, that is what I did, and "Voila!" Over time, I realized what truly was me. So, I painted over those blue walls, they became a soft creamy ivory and then I sponged a soft sage green very delicately on the walls. I kept the red cornice boards, and then changed my bedding to a creamy ivory background with red and yellow toile style flowers and, you guessed it probably ... sage green leaves. At the time I don't think anyone knew the phrase "Shabby Chic" but that is what my bedroom became.

Afterwards, I couldn't stay out of that room! I wanted to be in my room all day long, every day ... but alas my children and husband needed me to function outside of my bedroom.

So, here I am, once again, making my house uniquely mine. I'm having a ball, and ... when I come into my home, I once again have that feeling of "Aaaahhhhhhhh," I'm really home now. This space is "ME!"

So, my brag Monday entry is actually some placemats that I've designed to use on my new dining table (I'll post picks after I finish a few things so that you can see). And they are ... you guessed it ... red!! But, I promise ... there is no dark steel blue, as pretty as that color may be, on the walls of my home!

So, my challenge to you is ... how do you feel in each space of your home? Is there a room that you love, and why? Is there a room that you don't spend any time in? I know why! It isn't you. And, if it isn't you, and you don't know what is ... I promise that if you start making a scrapbook (you could even update that by using a Pinterest board) of anything that "speaks" to you, you'll start to see some patterns, and you'll realize what you need to do to make your living spaces create that feeling of "AAaaaaaHhhhhhhh" I'm finally home.

So, here is my brag Monday entry (Many thanks to the Graphic Fairy for her generous use of the nest graphic). Let me know what you think!!

If you click on the picture, it will take you to my Zazzle store, where you'll see some of my other designs. Maybe it will give you food for thought for your journaling to find out what is "YOU!"

Have a wonderful week Mes Amies!!

Lorraine

What a Man!!

Today, I have to say thank you to my husband, for trying to help me dig out of the wreck of last week. I've almost thrown him back in a couple of times, but decided he was a keeper! And, I'm glad I did.

The sweetie brought me a big bouquet of flowers to put on the table where the tile disaster happened, to try and put a smile back on my face. He fixed the dishwasher, fixed the fridge, scraped off the tiles so that I could redo them, and this on only a couple of hours sleep. So, in homage to his kindness, I created a free printable for my Brag Monday entry. The print is from the Graphics Fairy (see her button to the left) and the quote from Barbra Streisand, of all people. I hope you enjoy and have a chuckle to start off your Monday!

As always, this is for personal use only. Feel free to click and then right click to save to your computer or print for non-commercial use.

Au revoir mes amies!!

Lorraine