AdventureWorld

Busy Bee, Me!

In addition to dealing with all my infirmaties, I also had to (happily!) prepare for my LongLostCousin's visit. So that meant I finally had to finish scrubbing up my antique bed and getting it set up in my room so I could put my old bed in the guest room ..and make it a REAL guest room.

I got it all done just in time because she's due to arrive today. Here are pics of my divine new boudoir and the be-my-guest room. [click on photo to enlarge for more wonderous viewing]

My French flea markety look

Guest room with fabuluos antique linens that you can't see but are, indeed, fabulous

Nookie

My very last room to redecorate in my wee cottage makeover was the breakfast nook. I didn't like what I'd done with it as a temporary thing AT ALL, in fact it was like a blight that bugged the everloving shit out of me. But I just could never quite find the inspiration that I need to know what to do with that tiny space.
Then (months ago before my finances got fucked) I popped in to see my very French, very gay antique textile dealer/pal when he came into town for the Hillsborough antique show and sweet baby Jesus! there IT was, there was no doubt about it--it was like getting hit in the head ..pleasantly, if you can image such a thing.
This was even more unusual because it's a textile shop but he had two pieces of furniture in it--two adorable settees he'd had made from a couple of antique iron beds. All of the sudden I had an absolute vision of the room I was going to create.
So, in my vision, I had piles of pillows made from antique toiles, grain sacks, ticking, mounted on, of course, slubby-nubby antique linen. After many months of collecting of textiles from all over Europe and the US, designing the pillows, having them made; and finding a small table  (that had to be extraordinarily eclectic) to throw in with my old zince top farm table; and pulling it all together, alas, I am done.
And I must say I just love my sweet little nook. I threw in my antique globes and bird collections which added to the electic vibe quite nicely.
Anyhoo, here it is, and some close-ups of the pillows, made from textiles dating back to the early 1800s. Wheeeeee!

Pillow Talk

Well, I FINALLY got the first of my antique-textiles-pillow designs made into an ..[gasp] actual pillow! In all fairness to moi, searching for the right seamstress who was (1) skilled enough and (2) willing to do all the hand-stitching required was quite the undertaking. But, alas, I found the perfect person and not just because she's got mad skills--she got sooooo into it.

But that's another story for when my eyelids are at least half-way open. Right now, I'm peering at this screen through my lashes.  I just can't shake that pesky perpetual exhaustion.

Anyhoo, photos now, story later. The main part of the pillow is made from a piece I painstakenly removed from a 16th or 17th century priest's dalmatic (big robe, this one made of velvet). It is elaborate hand-made embroidery done in gold thread (gold as in the precious metal, not the color) on an ancient green velvet so I also had to reinforce some of it. It is framed by an 18-19th c gold galon trim and the pillow is trimmed in a 19th c gold cord and mounted on a Donghia silk velvet.

Shazam.

Au Revoir, Mon Ami & A Sippy Cocktail Recipe

I've been a busy bee because I was throwing a going away party for FrenchStaffer. She's moving to Boston and I'm teetering on the brink of devastation. I will miss her much; we struggled not to get all weepy at the end of the night at that last goodbye.
*sniff*
*sigh*
But, in a sign o' the times, they had no choice but move to Boston if her husband wanted to remain employed with his current employer. Damn you, Global Financial Crisis! 
We did have a fab shindig at Chez Suki though and my holiday sippy cocktail concoction was loved (and imbibed) by all ..well, except for the wee ones, of course. It's so fab I thought I'd be generous and share the recipe. I'm all about the giving, ya know.
I should give proper props to Cooking Light for this recipe I snagged a couple of years ago. I have eternal unwavering faith in Cooking Light--it's the closest thing I have to a Bible.
Anyhoo, hereyago. (psssssttt. I use Simple Syrup to save time, no one will be the wiser, trust me on this)

Pomegranate-Key Lime Cocktails

• 1/4  cup  sugar
• 1/4  cup  water
• 1  cup  club soda
• 1  cup  unsweetened pomegranate juice
• 1/2  cup  vodka
• 3  tablespoons  fresh Key lime juice (about 3 limes)
• Crushed ice
• Key lime slices (optional)

Combine sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 2 minutes or just until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat; cool. (or, better yet,  be a lazy-ass like me and substitute 1/4 cup Simple Syrup)

Combine sugar syrup, club soda, pomegranate juice, vodka, and lime juice. Place crushed ice in a martini shaker; add about 3/4 cup pomegranate mixture. Cover and shake. Strain into a glass. Garnish with lime slice, if desired. Repeat procedure with remaining pomegranate mixture.

Makes 4 servings. It's gorgeous tasting altogether so you might as well go ahead and double it. If you've got guests make them a batch, too. heh

The Divine Is In The Details

I had such a strong vision of what I wanted my new dining room to look like--I could see it so clearly in my mind's eye. And it took forever to find everything because every detail matters, but now that it's done it's ..IT. Aye, eye!
It was so much work to bring it all together but it was a labor of love. (but the doing the whole house thing has kinda kicked my ass--love DOES hurt)
The chairs are from an antique store in New Orleans, recovered in an antique hand-woven linen from a shop in Vermont. The table is made from reclaimed barn wood over 100 yrs old. The statue is 19th c zinc from an architectural salvage dealer in PA. Etc, etc, blahdiddity blah ..you get the idea without me babbling on with all the (no doubt) boring details.
I just finished it--literally, the statue arrived today and it was the final touch. I love it. *sappy sigh*

It's 2:00 AM & Here I Am

Gah, this has been the busiest day ever. I got my new windows installed in the wee abode which took all day so the TwinWindowGuys were here ALL DAY. Yes, they're really twins but that's another story.

Then I signed away a small fortune to hire someone to rid me of the nasty killer insulation and redo the whole heating system. OY. A homeowner's wallet never closes.

Then I did a buncha stuff I've been trying to finish, like the enoromous task of blocking out my tapestries to fit precisely in their alloted space. I can't believe I got that bastard done.

Bedtime for this little monkey.

Behold the fruits of my labor.

Presto Chango

Today I partook in a seasonal ritual that will probably sound ridiculous to most people but it's just the way I am. I redecorate constantly with the change of seasons. Summer has been such a long time coming but here it is at long last. I took down drapes and hung summerish ones all over the house ..sometimes it's just a rotation of drapes from one room to the other. This year the bedroom drapes went to the dining room.
For my bedroom summer means lots of light and my favorite decor of all--calming neutrals of whites, cream, taupe. A soft palate that is all about the contrast and the texture. And layers, lovely layers.
I scored big time on the window treatments--I made them from tablecloths from William-Sonoma that were marked down ..and then marked down even more which I didn't know until I checked out. Goooooaaaaallll!
And then I mixed-and-matched from my fabulous linen closet to do the bed. Some girls are all about the shoes; me, I'm all about fine linens. I've been collecting them for years. Note the Italian drool-worthy goodness. 
I love my new bedroom. Behold the before and after:
The winter Before:

And the summer After:

In The Name of the Father, The Son, and the Holy Moly!

So far I'm digging it ..even though everything is just tacked up with tiny nails. Even the drapes, note the lack of a rod. heh
I've got to mount that altar cloth on something to make it completely span the bow windows. I have a smoky taupe velvet that looks fab and adds yet another texture to the mix--shiny metallic, rough linen, and velvet in between.
Me likee.
I love the Florentine bed tray that I'm using as a wee side table for the chaise. So deliciously decadent.

P.S. You can click on the pic to enlarge

Holy, Holy, Holey

I've been such a busy bee with the redecorating. I'm working on the final flourishes, including turning an altar cloth from a French church circa early 1800s into a pelmet that will go across that massive bow window in the living room.
And I've hung an antique tabernacle curtain from The Netherlands as a work of art over my new antique desk. Oh, and I converted two 18c altar candlesticks into lamps.
Chez Suki is all chapelesque.
I also bought two pieces of massive tapestry-drapes from an ancient chateau that I'm re-sizing to hang as two tapestries flanking the fireplace, covering the stupid windows that I want to make disappear. I already have five other windows in that room for fuck's sake, I need some wall.
My tapestries tell the story of the Battle of Troy and they are old, old, old. Hector has a hole in his head but it only makes me love him more.
P.S. Here is a pillow I whipped up today because I felt like playing instead of doing the zillion and one chores I was suppose to be doing. All three trims are from 19c vestments and the cross is off a chalice veil from France.
I shall perhaps be struck by lightning any day now.

After the Before, But Before the After

So, the other thing that I've been doing besides writhing in pain is redecorating my wee cottage (I just typed "cootage" which sounds like a house full of cooties, which mine is not of course). So, when I had friends over for a little Christmas soiree they were oohing and aaaaaahhing over my newly redecorated digs without even realizing that I was not nearly finished with the redecorating. Not even close.
The antique bergere chairs were just dressed in upholstery muslin, which is like chairs sitting around in their underwear and I had none of my new pillows even designed much less made, and no rug, no drapes or a zillion other things that I'm still working on.
I decided I should chronicle my redecorating adventures so here is a photo of the After, after I'd gotten all the new furniture in (some sans upholstery)  but before the official After which will be when I'm all done ..or dead from decorating exhaustion. [I have some old photos from a previous Christmas I'll post when I'm finished that are the before Before].
Redecorating is like a second job, for fuck's sake, an enjoyable second job but a really all-consuming one. Made even more time consuming when one decides to make pillows from 17th century textiles that have to first be meticulously restored before one can even think about actually doing anything with them.
Big fun.