Dreamy Whites

Friday, June 14, 2013

A Vintage French Watercolor, Senior Portraits, A Jersey Cow Named Annabelle, An Auction for the Children in Africa

Hello!

I scored this vintage French watercolor for a few dollars a couple of years ago.....

It sat in a drawer, until this last year,

I decided to hang it from my vintage French barn door....

The door that can't seem to find a permanent spot in my home : )

I used our dutch Nautical twine and a vintage French clothespin to hang the painting.....

I just tucked the twine behind the door.....

An easy way to hang paintings from doors without putting a hole in your door......

I decided this might make a great area to take a few portraits of the kids....

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I recently shot a few senior portraits of my daughter, Nicole....

We have lived on this ranch for almost 10 years, and the kids have spent many summers swimming in the ponds on the ranch.....

Time goes by way too fast!

I thought it was fun to capture Nicole in a location that holds a lot of childhood memories.....

We have an equestrian inspired shoot that we are working on at the moment : ).

We are hoping it turns out like we have planned....

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I also wanted to share a picture of our little Annabelle....

A jersey cow that we will soon be milking....

Our boss generously allows us to run so many cows on his ranch....

I was so excited to add a jersey cow to our small herd....

She is so beautiful.....

We purchased her from Ryan and Amber Dias.....

The Dias family is the sweetest family that has the most beautiful herd of Jersey Cows.....

They gave us a tour of their dairy, we were all in Jersey Cow heaven....

I will be sharing lots more images with you of Annabelle in the future : )

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On a final note....

Kimberly Taylor is holding an online auction Monday June 17 at 8 a.m. PST and will run until June 19th at 6 pm PST on her website Kimberly Taylor Images to raise money to help benefit children in Africa....

Kimberly's Mom, Barb has built a home for children in Africa and is doing amazing things for these children.....

You can visit Barb's blog Jaaja Barb's Home of Angels and read more about this amazing woman and what she is doing for these children......

The online auction will help raise money for supplies they need to purchase for their home they have built in Africa....

Here are a few items that you will be able to bid on.....

One of my blue striped grain sack dog beds : )

A beautiful Jeanne Oliver handbag......

Beautiful cuffs.....

This is just a sampling of what you will find listed in the online auction.....

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Hope you all have a great weekend!

Take Care,

Maria

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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Hungarian Zinc Tubs, Hydrangeas, Good Housekeeping, a Favorite Cookbook

Hello!

I wanted to share a few images of these vintage Hungarian zinc tubs I

recently listed in the shop......

They are great for bringing inside or would be fun to use as a planter box outdoors.....

Here I filled the tubs with hydrangeas from my garden.....

I will be listing a slightly larger size then the one shown in the picture.....

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I thought I would also share a few images of my hydrangeas I planted over six years ago.....

They have grown larger then I had expected them to grow : )......

I do not prune them and we only use compost for fertilizer....

We have to water every day during the hot summer months.....

I planted them on the side of the house that gets morning sun.....However the outer layer of blooms gets sun until 1:00 p.m.... Ideally they shouldn't get sun after 11:00 a.m.

Unfortunately the outer layer of blooms eventually get burned from the sun during the hot summer months.

I actually leave the burned heads attached because the inside layers of blooms are then protected from the sun and I have plenty of blooms up until the middle of fall.....

If you want to learn more about growing hydrangeas a great site to check out is hydrangeas hydrangeas......

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I have a major cookbook obsession.....

As you can see my cupboard is overflowing with cookbooks ; )....

I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite cookbooks with you when I post.

I recently bought Gwyneth Paltrow's book It's All Good when I was in GA visiting my sister and I haven't been able to put it down since buying it..... I have been trying hard to make lifestyle changes in the way we eat around here, and this book has been a big inspiration in helping accomplish that goal.....

The images are so beautiful in the book and I love that Gwyneth Paltrow writes a little story with each recipe.....

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I recently had an inspiring get together with the incredibly talented and creative Yasmine McGrane of Maison Reve at her Victorian farmhouse in Sausalito, CA.....

Yasmine will be a vendor at the Remnants of the Past show this weekend....

Yasmine is working on developing a vintage product line for Maison Reve that will inspire others to live a simple and more enjoyable life.....

You will be able to find out more about her vintage line at the show.....

Yasmine will be in booth 54-55......

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My sister, Teresa Waterbury, makes wrap bracelets using genuine stones and leather.....

I have talked her into letting me sell her beautiful bracelets in my shop......

Here is a peek at a few lifestyle images I recently shot....

The above image I shot of my beautiful niece Bernadette, while we were in Charleston, SC......

I will share more images with you in the near future....

I will be listing the bracelets in next couple of weeks....

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On a final note.....

I wanted to say thank you to Good Housekeeping for featuring our home in the House Proud section!

We are featured in the June issue that is out on stands now.....

Hope you all have a great weekend!

We are going to try and make a trip down to the Remnants of the Past show this weekend.....

Hope to see you there!

Take Care,

Maria

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Tuesday, May 7, 2013

French Farmhouse Finds, The Chateau Sonoma French Flea Market, and a Food Photography & Styling Workshop in Atlanta with Helene Dujardin, Mindi Shapiro, & Tami Hardeman

Hello!

I hope you are all enjoying your week.

A couple of weeks ago I listed some French Farmhouse Finds in my shop.....

I thought I would share a few images of the items I listed......

One of my favorite finds is this French Grape Harvest Basket.....

I love the patina.

I filled it with flowering dogwood branches, I only wished they had lasted longer.....

I also added to the shop a few of my favorite vintage French enamelware pitchers......

On a side note....

This is also an area I recently set up to use as a desk.....

I used to work on my computer in this little room where I felt isolated from everyone....

I now feel more connected with everyone while working on my computer : )

A European bread board.......

Vintage French Watering Cans....

Vintage French Harvest Baskets.....

I will also be bringing some French Farmhouse finds to the Chateau Sonoma French Flea Market this month.....

The French Flea Market is being held at the Chateau Sonoma in Sonoma, CA.....

May 18th- 10:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

May 19th - 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

You can visit the Chateau Sonoma's website to read more about it.....

This is an image of my space at the show last year......

This is such a fun show.....

There are so many wonderful French importers that come to this show.....

Hope to see you there....

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I recently attended a food photography & styling workshop in Atlanta.

Helene Dujardin, Mindi Shapiro, and Tami Hardeman were our instructors.

This is an image I shot with my cell phone of my salad I styled at the workshop......

This image was shot with my camera.....

The salad was my favorite food that we styled and photographed at the workshop.....

Food Stylist Tami Hardeman demonstrating how to make pretty ruffles with your

turkey lunch meat.....

Prop stylist Mindi Shapiro working her magic by adding a few props to the scene....

Food Photographer Helene Dujardin setting up her camera to get the perfect shot of the sandwich...

I found out about the workshop through Helene's blog, Tartlette, which is one of my favorite food blogs.....

Helene is also the author of the book Plate to Pixel, a book about digital food photography.....

My sister also lives in Atlanta and my other sister lives in LA, after the workshop was over we

all went to Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA for three days.....

I have lots of pictures to share with you of our trip.....

So much fun!

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On a final note.....

I wanted to share with you some information about a local barn sale that is taking place this week.....

My friend, Marina Gheist is having a sale at Sue's Barn......

Marina imports beautiful vintage items from France, Holland, & Belgium.....

The sale starts May 9th....and ends May 12th.....

May 9th 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Friday 10th 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Saturday 11th 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Sunday 12th 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The address is~

12607 E. Hwy 120

Manteca, CA

The above image I shot at Sue's spring sale.....

Hope you all have a great week!

Take Care,

Maria

Monday, February 25, 2013

The Story Behind the Mason Jar Chandelier

Hello!

It's been awhile since I posted on my blog.....

Today I thought I would share a few images of a mason jar chandelier we recently hung in our home and a little history behind the mason jar chandelier.

I bought it last January when Yasmine closed her physical shop, Maison Reve in Mill Valley.....

It only took us a little over a year to get it hung....

It is something I wanted to purchase from Maison Reve a little over 3 1/2 years ago when I first saw it in the shop.... I couldn't resist last January when they were marked half off and there were only two left....