~ Sneak Peak ~

Here is a sneak peak at my current project.
The inspiration came from this page in a  Romantic Homes Magazine, see above.
The fabrics I'm working with (or some of them) are seen below.

Think ... Tablerunner.
Think ... Sea - sonal.

I'm very excited.  I'm almost done.

And yes, I am well aware that Halloween is this week.

~ A Little Halloween Elegance ~

My living room is relatively formal as compared to the other rooms in my house.  But I still wanted to add some autumn accents.  Not wanting to go the orange/black/purple route, I opted for ...

White.

And to kick it up a notch ... I added some bling!
(Thank you TJ Maxx)

These white wooden favorites were purchased many years ago ... at Mervyns.
That alone tells you it was quite a few years in the past.

But they haven't aged.  Or ... if they have ... I'm thrilled.

I bought these elegant looking signs in Encinitas this summer.
I'm pretty certain that they came from Gardenology. A thoroughly charming store.

I'm loving my living room this fall.

~ Believe it ... or NOT ~

Here is the view from my front porch of my neighbor's house.
They seriously need to call an exterminator.

Seriously.

My porch is much more tame.
And with equal amounts of fiction.

We have had so much heat lately that I was afraid to put a real pumpkin outside.  But I'm just loving this fake one, really I am.

I wish you an autumn with frost on your (real) pumpkins ... and amazing fake spiders.

~ Gourd-geous ~

 

 

 

For my island centerpiece, I went with some simple gourds.
Ninety-five cents a pop at Albertsons.

Sorry, Michaels ... nature really does it best.

Will they last until the end of Thanksgiving? I don't want to find out the hard way that they don't. 

~ BOO on the Beach ~

It's finally finished.

My beachy, pastel Halloween quilt is finished.

Yeah.

You can make one of your own.

Start by picking up a pattern ... here ... on my Etsy Shop.

This one is a quick one ... you can have it done before Halloween.

And since it doesn't scream "Jack O'Lantern!!", you can leave it up until Thanksgiving.

It's Autumn at the beach too, you know.

~ Spooky ~

I got up this morning, all set to decorate for Halloween.  When I stepped out onto my front porch, I realized ...

... that had already been taken care of. 

~ Harvest ~

Big news people.
I have officially turned off my A/C.

I have retrieved this wreath from the garage to hang on my front door.
Other fall decor to follow.

I have this beautiful harvest painting in my home that finally has her time to shine.
My bestest friend Kelley painted it with pastels. She is over-the-top talented.

I found some fall leaves on this tiered server.

I found some on my canisters.

Baking with pumpkin is just around the corner.

I'm very excited about Autumn.
And you?

~ Sister Act ~

I cannot tell a lie ... I have been gone.
For ten (count 'em 10) days.
I left the beach and travelled to the woods.

I spent a week in Sisters, Oregon.
Think of it as a little bit of heaven.

My purpose in going there was to hang out with a bunch of fabulous friends and to attend a weeklong class taught by Gloria Loughman.  She is a purely delightful Aussie who has talent up the wazoo.
Her work can be seen on her wall o'samples above.
And here.

I worked hard every day and then laughed myself silly every night.

I tried to encorporate some of her techniques ... like "tiling" my sky and ... inserting a picture within a picture.

Here is a sampling of some of the "skies" from around the classroom.  I was in awe of all the artistic flair  and pretty much considered myself the new kid in class.

While the week was spent in class it was sandwiched in between two weekends with these splendid ... Sisters.

Once again I cannot lie ... the bread was my favorite part of the trip.