...family, friends, home and other tidbits of a blessed life

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Teal and White tablescape

Back in June, the girls found themselves as guests at Diane's again. She is certainly a wonderful hostess and pulls out all the stops to entertain her guests. Sit back and enjoy this gorgeous table!

Sorry about the phone pictures. Can you believe I left the camera at home? Me either! Teal, silver and white is really a very comforting and elegant setting.

Silver napkin rings held the napkin and sheath in place. Sheath from Pier One. Teal plates on silver chargers with a Pier One salad plate. Personalized place cards to make everyone feel wanted and welcomed.

The teal glass plates let the charger shine right through.

Silver goblets always make a statement. Individual salt and peppers also graced each placesetting. Notice the peacock feathers sticking out of the rose centerpiece.

Gorgeous votive holders provided ambient light closer to the table. 

The table looked so opulent!! And the food matched the table decor, over the top wonderful!!

So glad you stopped by. Thank you Diane for your hospitality, generous invitations, delicious food and friendship!  Linking to Cuisine Kathleen's Let's Dish and Susan's Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch.

Thanks all for coming by. I so appreciate your visits and comments. Summer has taken it's toll on us. The days are long and miserably hot (not complaining, really), the yard keeps calling with things to do and we've been on a trip or two. I'm sure things will get back to normal!!  Oh wait, my sister in law, her daughter and four of her grands will be here this week...  so much for normal!!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Burlap Sunflowers - do you love them too?

Warning, enabler alert. 
I went into Hobby Lobby last Saturday. Looking for buttercups for a tablescape, HERE.
Did not find any. But I came across these burlap sunflowers.

With their lacy leaves. Two of these on each stem. See through. Divine.

And I picked up some "meadow" flowers. I'm on a yellow kick. Can you tell?

Pulled out a French looking pitcher to use as a vase. Thinking this was a One Kings Lane purchase.

Look at these petals. Rough cut. so textural.

The centers just swept me off my feet.

I know you need some. You know it too. Oh and if you don't have a Hobby Lobby, I'm sorry.
Thanks for dropping in to see what's going on in West Texas! It's been a way cooler week this past week. Praising God!!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Buttercup, Buttercup Tablescape

Buttercups remind me of my grandmother. I lost her when our eldest son was 18 months old. She never got to see him and I really regret that.  We were on our way to Germany when she passed away. I miss her so much some days.  - Okay, I do know those are not buttercups in that photo. I can't dare bring them into the house, our little inspector likes to chew on plants and buttercups(part of the Ranunculus family) are poisonous. I didn't know that as a child, did you?

But these buttercup plates by Copeland Spode are harmless and bring me much pleasure.

I love the scalloped edges of these salad plates. I love the Fleur de Lis like inner border. I love the basketweave/wicker portion, too. And I. am. totally. smitten. with the buttercups. Did you ever place a buttercup under your chin? Did your skin reflect the yellow color? Then you like butter. I'm sure my chin glowed brilliant yellow!!! I've read where some people can have a reaction to this seemingly innocuous darling, little blossom if it touches their skin.

I paired with with a gingham place mat and a solid yellow napkin. Click HERE to link to a fun post on pairing dishes with napkins that I wrote about on Monday. It's a tutorial on a fun iPhone/Pad app.


The darker brown faux bamboo flatware was a perfect choice to pick up the browns in the plates. I also used a gingham napkin with the two solid yellow place mats that were on each end of the table. I had to mix, only have 4 of the gingham place mats and you know perfectly well that it's okay to mix, right?


The still thriving ferns came to the table yet once more. Adding some sweet yellow fauxs in the pots almost gave the feel of sitting in a wonderful, grassy field filled with some buttercups while whiling the hours away.

A little bit of history from somewhere on the web: Copeland Spode appears on some pieces of nineteenth-century English porcelain. Josiah Spode established a pottery at Stoke-on-Trent, England, in 1770. In 1833, the firm was purchased by William Copeland and Thomas Garrett and the mark was changed to Copeland Spode. In 1847, Copeland became the sole owner and the mark changed again. W.T. Copeland & Sons continued until a 1976 merger when it became Royal Worcester Spode. The company was bought by the Portmeirion Group in 2009. Pieces are listed under the name that appears in the mark. Spode still appears in the mark for pieces formerly made by Copeland Spode, pieces that include earthenware and bone china. I think this mark is from 1891-1900+. Spode designed this pattern in 1885. There is more history on this pattern found by clicking HERE.

Three stemmed hurricanes filled with ice cream salt and some candles are placed amongst the ferns.


I also brought out my sweet birds. Yellow and white. Easy conversation pieces.

My Little Buttercup
(Randy Newman)
My little buttercup has the sweetest smile
Dear little buttercup, won't you stay awhile
Come with me where moonbeams paint the sky
And you and I might linger in the sweet by and by, oh...

Dear little buttercup, with your eyes so blue
Oh little buttercup, you' re a dream come true
You and I will settle down in a cottage built for two
Oh, dear little buttercup, I love you...

Everybody !

My little buttercup, has the sweetest smile
Dear little buttercup won't you stay awhile
You and I will settle down in a cottage built for two, oh

Dear little buttercup
Sweet little buttercup,
My little buttercup
I love you

I am so glad you dropped in today and got to play with my buttercups for a bit. Maybe they took you back in time to fields of flowers, sitting on your grandma's lap, and relaxing in the midst of summer.
Cast:
Placemats and yellow napkins - Villeroy and Boch
Gingham napkins - Pier One
Chargers and napkin rings - Pier One or World Market
White dinner plates - Wedgwood Windsor
Salad plates - Copeland Spode
Glasses - Mikasa French Countryside
Stemmed Hurricanes - TJMaxx

Linking to Cuisine Kathleen's Let's Dish on Wednesday evening
Do come by and see the pretty settings the ladies and gents have prepared for you.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Color matching with Sferra's Phone App

Oh boy, I have something really fun to share with you! 
If you have an iPhone or an iPad, this app will work for you. 
I was bummed, android user here. Until. I realized that sweet Mr. CJ has an iphone.
Well, you can guess where this went next....

This app is so cool.
It's designed to match your china to Sferra's table linens. 
It's perfect to test different colors with your china. 
Thinking outside the box....
What about picking piping for fabric?
Or a mat for a picture?
or picking an accent color from a rug?
the list goes on and on!!

You can turn your whole background the color you select.

You can browse Sferra's 101 linen colors.
101.
Yes, that was one hundred and one colors. 
Wow.

 The app even tells you a bit about the company.
Now, I am not being compensated for this post.
I just wanted to share something cool.
After a frustrating week of trying to find light blue napkins in Lubbock, Texas.
I failed, but I did buy napkins. Lots of napkins. Just not in light blue. sigh.

Now for the mini tutorial.
You've gotta download the app from the iTunes store.
Since I'm using this plate for a post later this week,
I thought I'd share this plate with you.
This pattern is Buttercup by Copeland Spode.

When the app opens on your device, you'll see this screen.
Touch"Take New Picture" in the upper left of the screen.
The center circle is what you are capturing.
Hold the camera over the object and then touch the camera icon that will appear below the center circle.
When you have captured an image you like,
touch the "Use" button.
If you don't like what you captured, touch "Retake" until you get the perfect shot.

Here's my tips:
Use salad plates or bread and butter plates. These will let the detail show better.
Or.... take a picture of a portion of the plate as you see in this photo.
The app will be able to select a color more easily when it's focused on specific details.

Here, I touched the buttercup.
Then as I touched each color below and the background filled with that color.
Loved the yellow with the plates, how about you?

Here, I touched the band, and then touched the nutmeg color in the Sferra color band below the picture. What do you think about Nutmeg?

I think I got more of the gray blue color here.
I was trying to capture the blues.
If I really was set on the blues, I would retake the picture focusing on the blue in the plate.
Let's focus on the Request Swatches button on the bottom.
Touch it.

You can select up to 3 colors to have Sferra send you swatches.
I can't wait for my swatch of BLUEBELL to arrive!!!
I played with many of my dishes and bluebell seems to go with many of them,
and not only do I love the name, swoon, but I LOVE the color.

If you click the "Buy" button instead of requesting swatches, the Sferra site opens for shopping!!
The previously selected color is already populated in the color field, as indicated by the arrow.
When I touched "Store Locator", I was guided to all the stores (yes, they popped up Cielo in Santa Fe) in your area. Way cool.

Thanks for dropping in.. now go have some fun with your phone!!

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