Petit Coterie is Going To Australia

Photo courtesy of: Simple Things Small Joys

I think it is always such a pleasant surprise when you wake up with the idea that today is probably going to be just another day of meeting deadlines and work and then something happens to completely change the course of an ordinary day. That surprise came in the form of an email from a friend in Australia. I know many of you know Cathy Penton, she has been featured in numerous magazines here in the U.S. as well as in Australia.

Cathy and her partner Angela Osment are frantically working to open their new shoppe in Highfields Old Australia. called Simple Things Small Joys . I was thrilled that Cathy and Angela wanted to carry Petit Coterie pillows in their new shop. I have long admired Cathys talent not only as a designer of gorgeous charms but also her designs in fabric.

I have received so many nice emails from ladies in Australia and now they can purchase them from Cathy and Angela. If you have a moment please do stop by their blog, have a look and watch for their grand opening. Thank you Cathy and Angela, you turned an ordinary day into a spectacular day.

I hope your day turns out spectacular,

Linen, Lace and Burlap A Great Combination

I am a fabricholic, I admit it, and I cannot just go shopping for buttons and not walk out of the store with an arm load of great fabrics. I convince myself that this particular fabric would make a gorgeous bed skirt of which I have no time to make. My preferred fabric of choice at the moment is linen, I know I should be saying burlap don’t misunderstand me, burlap has been good to me and I am not going to give it up completely I am just moving toward designs in linen.

With the holidays fast approaching I am anxious to start work on my holiday line and linen will be a big part of it as well as burlap. I think the combination of burlap and linen should be interesting. I love fabric that has texture as it just adds that little spark to any room like the burlap, mix it with cotton duck, silk, damask and the look is complete.

Along with being a fabric collector I also collect vintage linens, ones that have embroidery or delicate lace and even the cotton crochet trim. I actually didn’t realize how big my collection had gotten over the years until I pulled a large box out and there they were all starched and pressed just waiting for some creative endeavor. I have decided that I will use many of these white vintage linens in my holiday collection. The trims are just perfect for a white simplistic French or Nordic looks. Damask, linen , vintage lace and burlap what an interesting combination. Love it!

Happy Wednesday!

The Winner Is...

Photo credit: manon21
A big thank you to all who entered my giveaway. I really love doing giveaways as it's a great way to meet new blogger's who end up being great friends. So I pulled out my little black Amish hat and filled it up with all the names who had entered. The difficult part was getting my daughter out of her bed to participate. I did so with the promise that I would not include her or her mismatched p.j's or her old bleached out Abercrombie shirt in the picture. So here is the sequence of drawing the winners name.

And the winner is...

Congrat to Tara from Blondie.n.sc you are the winner of this giveaway. I really want to thank all of you who left such great posts. I do hope you will all stop back again soon, as you just never know what giveaway I will come up with next.

Have a great Tuesday!

A Lazy Sunday

I really was going to clean house today as there is burlap everywhere but as soon as I heard the thunder and the sun disappeared I knew it was going to be one of those lazy Sundays. A perfect day to just pick up a good book and tune out the mess.

Yesterday I spent the entire day working on new designs and getting photos done so I am sure I will regret taking today to do nothing. The only thing that I can hope for is a sudden burst of energy tonight that will motivate me to do some house cleaning.



Please be sure to post below for my giveaway, I would hate for you to miss out.


Happy lazy Sunday!

Time For A Change

Color plays such an important part in our lives and I have struggled with choosing a new color for my kitchen which connects to the family room since we purchased this house 6 years ago. I have never been a green person, my preference is white or a soft beige. One of the first things I was going to do was re-paint these two rooms, and here I am still surrounded by green.

I had a real attitude about this house since the time we purchased it. Our last home was a true adventure for me, the home was built in 1860 a Federal style, with windows that were all pre-civil war blown glass. The home was in complete shambles but I saw it as a decorating adventure. I completely restored the entire home from cellar to attic which was a huge under taking, it was like living in HGTV everyday for 2 years. Just as I finish the home and was about to really enjoy it my husband was transferred. Agony, I had put so much of myself into this home, it was like leaving a child behind.

This home was brand new, color selections were done by the builder and I was completely detached. I merely unpacked all the boxes hung the pictures and that was about it. Now after all this time I am ready to tackle the green actually it is more an olive green.

I would love to hear your thoughts about color selection. The cupboards are cherry, granite counter tops in a dark almost black green, brick paver flooring. Dark, Dark, Dark. So what do you think? I totally forgot to mention in my last post, I will be picking the winner of the burlap Paris slip on August 4th, so there is still time to leave a post.

I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend.

My Days Have Been So Frantic

Things have just been so frantic since I returned from my brothers. It was wonderful to see his adorable boys and there is nothing better then holding a new baby. His little petite wife gave birth to a 9 lb. 8 oz. boy. She should be frantic with 3 little boys ages 1 year, 3 years and now the baby. Yikes!

Jumping back into my normal schedule was a bit hard, the time change difference had me sleeping a little later then usual so I had to make some adjustments and get back to my normal sleeping patterns. While I was gone I did come up with some new designs and couldn't wait to get home to put them to the test. One of the designs is the burlap slip with Paris on the front. I ended up loving this slip so much that now all the burlap designs will be offered as slips. Much easier to ship. I am so excited about this slip that I decided to offer it as a giveaway. You know me, I absolutely love giveaways. So here is the slip, just leave a post letting me know which room you will put this in.

I hope all of you are having a wonderful summer and are out there having fun.

Scavenger Hunt Winner

I am off to Nevada tomorrow to play with the little guys and to await the arrival of a new baby (not mine) my brothers wife is due on the 26th so I will be helping with the two other children.

But before I leave I wanted to thank everyone for leaving a post for my scavenger hunt giveaway. Dawn from A feathered Nest won by a landslide. I really think I have more fun with the giveaways, as I get to meet so many wonderful women. So a big Congrats to Dawn and I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend.