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Diposting oleh
au on Sabtu, 06 November 2010Kamis, 04 November 2010Selasa, 02 November 2010Senin, 01 November 2010Jumat, 29 Oktober 2010
You may have heard that blogger Valorie, aka Visual Vamp’s husband, Alberto was struck with a heart-attack in the Calgary airport as they were arriving from their home in New Orleans to teach some classes. 
Alberto is slowly recovering, but the medical expense of flying him from Calgary to New Orleans is going to be massive. A number of blog friends of Valorie’s, lead by Decor to Adore, have launched an on-line auction to help raise money for the med-evac flight. I am offering a set of two French Ivory-handled knives and forks, similar to the ones in the picture below. These are collected by such notables as Martha Stewart, Eddie Ross and my new pal, Nate Berkus. 
The handles of these knives and forks are French Ivory, which is a synthetic ivory, developed in the late 1800’s. The handles are incised with decorative elements. They probably date from the 1930’s. It’s simple to participate: Just leave a comment with your bid and the highest bid at 10:00 on Monday morning will be the winner. Bidding starts at $10, and will end at 10:00 a.m. EST, on Monday, November 8th, and the payment should be sent here. Your contribution will help Alberto be flown home on the medical flight from Calgary to New Orleans, a huge expense.
Thank you so much for participating in this special auction!
Diposting oleh
au on Sabtu, 06 November 2010Kamis, 04 November 2010Selasa, 02 November 2010Senin, 01 November 2010Jumat, 29 Oktober 2010
Diposting oleh
au on Sabtu, 06 November 2010Kamis, 04 November 2010Selasa, 02 November 2010Senin, 01 November 2010Jumat, 29 Oktober 2010
Do you read the wonderful blog, French Essence? It’s written by Vicki Archer, an Australian ex-pat, now living in France. She’s got an amazing eye and a way with words.
Vicki’s book, French Essence, Ambience, Beauty and Style in Provence, has just been published in the US by Penguin Books. You can either try and win a copy on Vicki’s blog, French Essence, or buy a copy here.
Her first book, My French Life, chronicles Vicki’s adventures in restoring a seventeenth-century property in Saint-Remy-de-Provence.
Earlier this summer, Vicki kindly send me a photograph of a pig that she’d spotted in a brocante market in Provence. She’s that kind of person – warm, generous and brilliant!
If you’re not already reading it, bookmark French Essence as a fabulous place to visit… and linger.
More about → Une Essence Plus Française
Diposting oleh
au on Sabtu, 06 November 2010Kamis, 04 November 2010Selasa, 02 November 2010Senin, 01 November 2010Jumat, 29 Oktober 2010
The University of Maryland’s Clark School of Engineering and the Walter’s Art Museum have received a three-year grant to develop a technique to slow the tarnishing of silver objects to a nearly undetectable rate.
The $500,000 project, which would involve refining a process called "atomic layer deposition," is being designed primarily to benefit museums such as the Walters, which have extensive collections of ancient silver statues, jewelry and drinking vessels. You can read the story here.
As a child, one of the chores I liked best was polishing the silver before a big dinner party that my parents were hosting, or before a holiday meal. It was instant gratification! I still love polishing my silver, as evidenced in the video that the Nate Berkus Show shot at my house.
Diposting oleh
au on Sabtu, 06 November 2010Kamis, 04 November 2010Selasa, 02 November 2010Senin, 01 November 2010Jumat, 29 Oktober 2010
If you’re in the US, don’t forget that Tuesday is Election Day. It doesn’t matter who you vote for, or which party you belong to, you should just get out and vote.
If you don’t vote, then you don’t have any right to complain about the way things are.
More about → Rock the Vote!
Diposting oleh
au on Sabtu, 06 November 2010Kamis, 04 November 2010Selasa, 02 November 2010Senin, 01 November 2010Jumat, 29 Oktober 2010
My friend Tracey and I put on a Halloween Party to benefit the Baltimore Architecture Foundation, where she’s the Director and I am on the Board. The party was held at Tracey’s other business, Housewerks. The building is a perfect place for a Halloween party – or any other party, for that matter. It’s a Victorian gasworks building and is filled with the most amazing items and artifacts. (This is an early picture, right after they bought the building.)
We didn’t have to do much to the interior of the building, except for adding some lights, 
some spooky skeletons, 
and lots of candles. 
For the food, we had loads of candy and snacks, including this huge cauldron of cheeze balls.
The costumes were hilarious, ranging from the Chilean Miners, to a creepy clown that someone had put on his back. He’s actually facing the “miners” talking, but the clown face was looking out at the group. 
Here are a couple of other views of the space before the party started. Joseph and the Baby Jesus with his miner’s goggles on.
Some spiders hanging from the back door.
The fireplace room, reflecting the main room.
The 1940’s perm machine, all lit up and ready to go.
One of the sinks, filled with glass chunks and fairy lights.
All in all, it was a fun party and raised some funds for the Baltimore Architecture Foundation!
Diposting oleh
au on Sabtu, 06 November 2010Kamis, 04 November 2010Selasa, 02 November 2010Senin, 01 November 2010Jumat, 29 Oktober 2010
We’re having a Halloween Party and I just had not a moment of spare time to decide what to be, so I zipped over to my friends at DeBois Textiles and
found an amazing caftan and hat, which made me decide to be the Sultana of Megistan.
It’s one of those tiny countries that only appears on maps of a certain age.
It has a unique culture, similar to one of those former English colonies, where they continue the colonial way of life. Tea in the afternoon, the old spellings of words and an affinity for all things British.
While I was at DeBois, I noticed that they have a lot of fabulous new fabrics in stock, including some of the newly-released Lilly on
es. I snagged this picture from Jamie at I Suwanee, 
who took it at the recent High Point show. The fabric in the background is called Tail Lights and is somewhat Chinoiserie in feeling. I have it in a gorgeous green!
If you’re in Baltimore and you still need something to wear for Halloween, go on over to DeBois and tell’em I sent you… all the way from Megistan.
Alberto is slowly recovering, but the medical expense of flying him from Calgary to New Orleans is going to be massive.
The handles of these knives and forks are French Ivory, which is a synthetic ivory, developed in the late 1800’s. The handles are incised with decorative elements. They probably date from the 1930’s. 
