Happy halloween

My lovely witch.
My sweet little cheeta princess.
She is so beautiful, too bad she doesn't think so.

Oh how I love love Halloween, the girls are all eager to get set for the big fun...all the dark make- up to bring out their mysterious beauty.
Have a safe and Happy Halloween Everyone.

Tile

Yet another option??? Here is the culprit... tired, bland , in need of a lift. Perhaps I will tile that full wall with the stipes and do all the other bits of walls in classic plain white subway only , thankfully there are only bits.

I really do love tile. I have tired of my children's bathroom, it's pink and purple, it's fine, but I think it is in need of some more interesting finishes other than paint. Since it is a small space I have decided to tile, my most favorite is white subway , classic and affordable. These lovely glass tiles will be the perfect inset . I have settled on the lower layout, I want the subway layout for sure, I will do the lower portion of the room to about 36" unless I change my mind and tile right to the ceiling??? maybe we'll see . No partway .

Hidden trigger

My husband has asthma, and it really hasn't been bad for a very long time I thought it was the new dog that was putting him over the edge, and causing his troubles, but it looks like it was my pillows, I bought these 2-3 weeks before Moe came home , voila, I looked they were not down but their more allergic counterpart feathers, oops, no wonder and with four of them in this little area every time he has been home he has had trouble, so I packed the inserts up , and I can find polyester fill ones. Problem solved.

Cheap trick

I am not a big fan of track lighting , but have actually found myself loving the dark finished pottery barn track lighting , which is quite a splurge due to their high price points, well when I can get the look for much less that is what I will do. I found this light at Rona which recently opened up to compete with Home Depot , not gonna happen.... anyway this light was a steal at $60.00 I thought for my walk in closet , but we tried it in the tub shower area, where it brought new life to that area, and a jolt of light in the mornings.
Which means my bare bulb could be replaces with my former tub area light, it makes the closet sparkle.The closet needs a lot of work, we will have that done soon, a nice built in closet with lots of proper storage. I can't wait.
I moved these lanterns from the powder room to the family room I wanted the hit of black.Sometimes its just fun to switch things up.

Here is the final Halloween scape in the front room, love my crows.

window treatments

Here are a couple of close up shots on how I installed and attached the fabric panel to the two types of romans I covered, one is an inside mount and one an outside mount, the fabric shade roman I simplw sewed carefully the panle righ to it, easy enough.

This room could prove to be difficult for a drapery, luckily I found these premade ikea drapes that were extra long, I needed 14 foot long drapes so I added 4 feet of a complimentary fabric, there was a previous fabric which I recently removed and replaced with this perfectly suited stripe.Easy easy. P.S. I do not like to sew, but I like to save money more , so I sew.

I don't like the term window treatments , its sounds fussy to me, but no window is dressed without a fabulous fabric, to frame the view. This is a seersucker , double sided relaxed roman, I put it up and down five days a week , since it is double layered it blocks out every bit of light.

Straight panel drapes are simple and easy to make. I love to add trim , notice the top has a velvet ric rac trim, the bottom has the most fabulous pom pom and bead fringe, it is so bold, perfect for a child's room.
Another relaxed roman, not ever used, just strictly for added interest, notice the delicious velvet pleated ribbon edging I added. I love great trim.

My premade faux silk bedroom brown and blue striped drapes.
A simple ikea roman that I face with a beautiful striped seer sucker, and added a pleated tailored ruffle.

My patio doors, which I will some day replace with one central door and two generous side windows, these are soft robins egg blue velvet drapes I love these and Sophie my youngest encouraged me to buy them. Good girl, I love shopping with her, she always tells me" just get it" I had a simple bought rattan roman, and simply added a fabric layer to match the new bottom panel I added to my living room drapes.

I fear I will have to move

I have run out of things to blog about, well at least that is how it seems , I will have to come up with a fabulous post, perhaps about painting a really great finish, yes I will paint a table, I will get back to you soon. Promise.

This one's for Liz

This post is for Liz who is contemplating new drapes, I have put together some suggestions I thought might be fun for her. I can't wait to hear what you think. Alright this is my number one favorite, the tones are perfect for your room, I have this fabric in my family room, on my desk memo board and roman over the sink window, its seersucker, really nice.In reality the colors are more deep , its not pinky at all, its an earthy red. , two shades of mossy green and tan/brown, on a cream background.
I am a big stripe fan , so this one jumped out , it would also be perfect for your room.
This is a super winter drape , perfect for decorating at Christmas time, I would use this in one room, and the red stripe in the other.
This brown print has a vibrant green that would work well with your red touches , but I still love number one.
all of these fabrics can be found at www.designerfabrics.ca

Table Makeover

This is the new fabric I found at http://www.designerfabrics.ca/ it is double width , such a bonus. The best thing about this fabric store is that they will send you up to 8 samples, FREE , as long as you send them back with in a certain period of time, so you can see them in your space, when I saw this one it was perfectly suited. They will also ship your fabric to you in a very short period of time , you can shop from home. Wonderful, how did we ever get on without the internet?

I bought this sturdy and ample old table at my favorite flea market recently , as Sophie's former table was over flowing, and tiny, so I gave it a good lick of lavender pink paint and a new plastic/crystal look knob, and it is much nicer, and she loves it.

It still needs a little bit of sanding and distressing to hide any child abuse it will undoubtedly take. It is a touch higher than I would've wanted, but I couldn't bear to cut the leg, because it functions well at that height, as well the old bed is quite low.

S is for Sophie which I hand painted , it is probably my favorite thing, I can't imagine painting over it. I have found the perfect fabric for the drapes in this room, as the current ones are now drastically clashing since I bought the new bedding and the table goes so well with the bedding and also clashes with the drapes. I found a cheery stripe. As well the roller shades need to be replaced as they are showing their wear and tear, but my trouble is what to replace it with.

This is my tuffett ,it was easy to make, I had these little legs , cast off of an old gate leg table, a round piece of MDF that I cut and two small circles of foam ,batting , my staple gun ,fabric and trim , voila a tuffett, I made this about 4 years ago, it has held up very well. It is usually a bed for a Webinz.

I took some new shots of my house , I like the new perspective of my bedroom, it hard to take photos of this room as I have a big exercise machine in that room, which I really should use,huh!
I just realized I should have submitted this photo in my book, that's a really good one of the family room.

So there was a bit of a fiasco with the submission, I just put together a book of photos and little tidbits about what I had done for each photo, when I was all done I looked up the address and noticed they wanted 500 words or LESS, apparently I can get a little wordy, as I had over 1400 words , so back to the drawing board and condense condense I did, got it down to 490 words.

I mailed it this morning, it should be there tomorrow, however pathetically today is the deadline to have it post marked, if I hadn't hit that bump in the road I would've had it in well before, oh well.

On a side bar, the local shop that I had a grievance with called me this morning , shock how did they know it was me???, we spoke she understood where my concerns were coming from and she is going to remove her peanut free claims and add a warning to her shop *may have come in contact with nuts/peanuts. I feel very vindicated , and pleased that I was able to enlist change and in turn potentially protect an unexpected exposure as well I am very pleased that the conversation was very calm and pleasant, clearly this is a nice woman who thought she was doing well by families like mine. Simple miss education.

Fingers Crossed

I have taken my time, finished some projects and put together a book showcasing my work on this house, as I am entering the Canadian house & home magazine design contest, 13 pages in all.

I thought I would show you what I have come up with , I think it shows the vast array of projects I have completed around the house.

I'm not counting on anything, I just hope to get noticed a little bit, it would just be such a thrill to be in my favorite magazine. It would be a highlight.

I am also emphasizing the fact that I have done most of the work , as a woman, and have done all of the work with budget and style in mind.

Who am I kidding, I wanna win.

Life takes twist and turns

You know life takes twists and turns, we all at some point develop a picture of how we would like the future to unfold, but as we quickly learn life doesn't always follow the plan, things change people change, twists of fate.
I know I will not truly feel fulfilled until I can help people to transform their homes into an oasis of perfection , to each person that will be different, but I do believe you should always make your house a home, and I believe that transformation starts with creating a beautiful space, regardless of budget.
I have put that dream on hold to be available to my two girls , they were more important than my career fulfillment, I knew that could surely wait, however I still indulge in decorating my homes and extensively my current home, and if I never became so privileged to decorate for clients , it would always be my hobby, but if we are lucky life is long and I will continue to pursue that dream.

However I was thrown a wrench just over 4 years ago , when Sophie was diagnosed with an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts, I searched for a support group right away , a community to find a common ground, now many people are sympathetic, and make efforts, but I know there is a group of pissed off parents that feels their child is entitled to eat PB at any old time. We need the support of a group , that shares the desperate need to protect their children from a silent danger.
So what this diagnosis meant to me was a change in plans, I had always planned to start my career this September, however I still need to get through this year dealing with the concerns that having Sophie in a school full time, I need to be here IF anything should go wrong, not a broken bone , or stitches, those concerns are so minor to me, obviously, so needless to say I am here when I am needed.
I spoke with a woman, one of the founders of Ananphylaxis Canada this morning, regarding my concerns about the local bakery claiming peanut free products, she mentioned this area needs a support group, I know, we do , I have wanted to start one , and now I will, they will help me with information on how to start and run a support group, I just needed that push, so off I go.
I am really excited to begin, to meet other parents like myself and to help raise awareness, and to be there to offer advice and to compile the best information on anaphylaxis.
Wow a new chapter unfolds.

Emily's story

http://www.allergykids.com/index.php?id=12 please read Emily's story told by her parents , it is very touching , a parents worst nightmare, well certainly mine. As well at the bottom of the page you will find Sabrina's story , Sabrina's mother is a hero , she has lobbied for the safety of all anaphylactic children in schools across Ontario resulting in Sabrin's Law being passed, which ensures procedures are in place for all children with severe food allergies. She is also helping to pass law's throughout the rest of Canada as well as in the United States. A true hero who when faced with the loss of her child by again accidental exposure due to trace amounts of a food allergen in school decided to make changes. I am truly thankful.

I wanted to post this link to an eye opening story about Emily, who died at the age of 13 due to eating trace amounts of peanuts in a sandwich she had eaten many times before. It shows just how delicate this allergy is, trace amounts, you don't need to eat a peanut butter sandwich to have an anaphylactic reaction.

The reason I am mentioning this is because of my recent alarming concerns of the school my children attend purchasing baked goods to sell to the children under the false claim they are peanut-free, first all items I feed my child need to be free of nuts and peanuts and that includes trace amounts. Deaths occur because of accidental exposures, hidden dangers.

Emily's Story is a tragic yet perfect example to get that point across.

Now I don't blame anyone but the bakery for misleading these ladies who thought they were providing a safe product for the children. I have contacted the BBB to have this bakery remove there claim of safety. They admitted to me all of the concerns I had, they have and bake with tree nuts , as well as they say they are peanut free but don't guarantee anything, and worst compared a nut allergy to a milk intolerance not at all in the same league.There are many dedicated bakeries that go to great lengths to be safe for children like mine, like http://www.frostines.com/

and http://www.tickleyourtummy.ca/ peanut/nut free is a claim that comes with serious consequences if there is a slightest mistake.

I am struggling with my confidence as far as safety for Sophie, it pains me to send her to school these past couple of weeks,I need to trust everyone around her to watch out for her safety.

If I can enlighten a few people about the fragility of this allergy then we are all ahead.