I won this beautiful easel....yippee :)

I was so excited when I won this beautiful little fork easel from Lauries Charming Designs, its so sweet ! and the detail on the little nest is scrumptiously pretty! Thanks so much Laurie!

It inspired me to create a GIVE AWAY of my own! I've met so many wonderful people here and just love all the talents and stories you all share so openly every day! So for my appreciation, I want to create a fabulous give-away this weekend...I'm going to post it hopefully by Saturday ! Have a great day everyone and Thank you , all your comments mean so much to me !
Hugs ~ Cynthia ~

Cupcake Saturday....

Today was mother - daughter day. These days are so special , because having two older sons, I know how fast it can all go by. So we went off to the book store, sat by the fireplace and read books. She with her jewelry how-to craft books and me with Somerset Life and the new issues of Victoria and Romantic Homes. After our day out she said : "lets Bake". So since these are rare occasions , I had to say yes ;) when will she ask again? I hope next month ;) and I hope till we are both old and gray together in our little cottage....mother and daughter...as Melanie says: " No boys allowed. I love when we say that to each other and then giggle giggle :)

note: This very vintage looking, gorgeous cupcake sign was made by the ever talented Jenny's Bake Shop, I have collected her things over the years and just adore her talents!

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! ~ Hugs ~ Cynthia

Puttering around after a busy day...

It was a busy Thursday, but sometimes the busier I am, the more I can do ( ok, lol, just sometimes ). I had clients today and came home and just got in that mood to bake bread! so I did ; ) I'm usually not that crazy, but hey, that feeling doesn't come around every day, so I went with it ;) after dinner, I had my girl friend over for some appys and wine and still I wasn't unwound yet, so I started thinking and obsessing about how I want to turn this corner of my kitchen into a pantry. I want a gorgeous gingerbread door with a screen and I'm thinking I'll paint it Red or Robins Egg Blue. I Haven't figured that out yet , but before I destroy this corner of my kitchen , I figured id snap a few photos since I've never shown it before ;) so at 10pm, I turned into a "putterer" :)....
I picked up this casserole dish at an Italian Fair in NYC a few years back and its so unique...
I really love beautiful crystal, but I have such bad luck with it, its so fragile and this is the last of a set of cordial glasses I got from an Estate sale, they were so gorgeous and now I'm down to only one. Ive since switched to using my everyday stuff , with the exclusion of holidays....if you click on the picture you can see all the detail that went into it, it's so pretty in person...
I got this little sign at Michael's Craft store, $1.00 and so cute :) and it wont break :)
My little bowl, a mini yellow ware...
and after a long day there's nothing like a slice of home made bread ... want some?? ;)
Thanks so much, as always, for all your sweet comments, I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! ~ Hugs ~ Cynthia

Little Nooks...

This coffee table is one of my favorites, it was a hand-me-down from my Mom, but it used to have a flat wood top and she took it off and added a picture frame that fit perfectly on top, I thought that was so creative of her! It was all wood till It came to live with me, then I painted it 2 different blues, one very light and then I highlighted a few parts of the moldings a deeper Robins egg blue, and of course distressed it to the max ;)
My reading nook, the coziest place in the Family room ;)....

Thank you! Kitchen Hutch Top!

Thank you so much for all your sweet comments and input! I loved reading all your great ideas, every one truly was so sweet ! I think I ended up with a combo of all of your ideas, I added a bit more accessories this time to further warm it up too. I change it every season and usually like anything that's up there too, but it was fun using everyone's ideas! what a great group of talented girls you all are! Thanks Again! ( I took pictures of every angle and a full shot at the end of this post ).
Jannet, this next pic is for you , its a close up of the curtain detail ;)
Finished :) It will stay this way till Xmas, then it become a place for my Santa collection ;)
Thanks Again, and I hope you are all enjoying a cozy weekend! ~ Hugs ~ Cynthia

Which one is your favorite?

I've been looking for a shabby chic medium sized clam basket to put up here and a great little french painting to go on the wall behind it, but until then , I've come up with 4 different options to top my kitchen hutch with, id love your feedback as to which is your favorite :) or if you have other ideas, Id love to hear too!

Good Bye for now to my Roses....

Im sure this will be my last Rose of the season, so I had to take a picture :)

~Wishing you a nice weekend~

I thought this picture was so nice and cozy ;) I hope when I post it, that the fire moves as it did on Glitter Graphics ( where I got it ). It originally came from Posy , her blog is amazing and just so so cottagey! Stop in her blog to see her beautiful home! Just wanted to drop in and wish all my friends a wonderful weekend! and thank you too for all your sweet comments as always! Time to go grab my book and a glass of wine and curl up on the Sofa ;)

~ hugs and thanks ~ Cynthia

~ Weekend fun ~

Above is the Before picture of this falling apart cabinet...

I love attics, or at least visiting mine now and then, its the cheapest store anywhere :) its free :)
Plus it gave me an hour or two of some extended fun creating something new out of my Junk ;)

Sooooo, this is my After.......


I painted and distressed it a bit and added some decorative paper behind the shelves to give it new life...much better...:)
And a few other finds ;) I hit TJ Maxx for a quick run in, ya just never know ;) and I loved the creamy pumpkin, I figured it needed a home , so I rescued it from the shelves and found the creamy tea canister too ;)
I saw this little metal sign ( vintage style ) it says: "Enjoy the Journey" and thought this would be a perfect addition to my cabinet....at the bottom of this post I show more of them ...
another view....
More weekend trills....
I love the UPS truck ;) it brings me so much Joy, lol ;) On Saturday this darling little Apron arrived that I had ordered from Cherry Blossom Cottage! I love it Ronda! perfect for my kitchen ! Thanks so much for such unique and pretty items!
The fabric up close is just to die for cute and Vintage!
Getting some new paint at Micheal's Craft was supposed to be an in and out deal....lol....but then came a big distraction, so many things were 60% off !! .... and when I saw this Robins egg blue planter, I screamed ;) Sooooo me! and it was only $6.99!! Yippee ;)
Up close its so pretty, I was so happy to grab this :)
My jaunt to Micheal's ended up being much longer , lol, I kept finding so many neat things. I saw these cute little metal signs ( the are self adhesive , yippee ) and knew Id find places for them ;) They have a sweet vintage feel to them too! I knew id be using them for the cabinet but....
I liked one on my spice rack too.....I was getting mini sign crazy, lol, looking around for places to put them ;) Im sure I'll find more places ;)
I hope you all are enjoying a lovely weekend ! ~ hugs ~ Cynthia

Painting weekend :)

Ive posted some pics of some furniture that I designed and painted a couple of years ago. The dresser above was a steal for 10$ at a local thrift market. It was dovetailed and beautifully made, so of course I just had to spruce it up and add some vintage hardware :)

I took off almost a year from my Design work and threw myself into hand painted furniture. I bought every book on the market to teach myself after I had finished one very simple piece for a client. It started with a client saying, "find me a soft pink dresser for my daughter", and after going through tons of resources, they were all too loud or too big or not sophisticated enough for her taste. So, I figured id give it shot ;) and a year later and hundreds of pieces later, lol, I was having shows of my own and my designs were keeping me up at night....my entire home turned into a studio and I couldn't keep up ;)

soooo, this little branch of my business went to the back burner .......My trip recently ( to get my Fall clothes down, lol, ) to my attic revealed many unfinished pieces yet to be painted ;) so here I am, planning to paint again this weekend, hope im not too rusty!! ;) I will post before and after photos as soon as I'm finished!


I did some small pieces too, these are fun to have in the kitchen , just little bits of color to pop against the kitchen floor ;) They just add a drop of whimsy ;) I only kept one though, I have pictures of it in lots of my kitchen photos and its in the background of this pic ;) Melanie is 13 and still sits on it for dinner ;) lol

Have a great Fall weekend !! ~ Hugs ~ Cynthia