Valentines, Another Blizzard, a Stencil Workshop and Family

 Happy Valentines Day! This is one of my favorite holidays.  

I love being in love and expressing my love to my sons and 

my hubby and even though I will admit to you (shhhhh)

 that I didn't buy hub's card until this morning (day of) 

I think of it as a day to try to be especially romantic and loving.

My birthday is the day after Valentines so its usually a 

double whammy of flowers and cards and sometimes dinners out 

and gifts, so it brightens up this winter month quite a bit. 

 My birthday gift is a new pair of boots!  Floral and girly, 

these Doc Martens arrived yesterday and today they are on my feet! 

 I wore them out to get hubs a card at the supermarket while 

I picked up blizzard supplies (yes its happening again). 

 They are so comfy and cute! 

 I was tagged on instagram to take a "selfie" and 

post under #20beautifulwomen by a lovely lady who shops at my store

 and is quite stylish and beautiful.  Instagram is a thing you do with your phone, 

you take pics and upload them under your account and its

 a visual sharing communication platform that I have been enjoying quite a bit. 

Its quick and easy, so these days that works for me.  

At any rate, when I clicked over to see who is on the #20beautifulwomen page, 

its mostly young women...really YOUNG women. 

 Now it was my turn to tag beautiful women I know, 

and I tagged a few beauties that have the "experience and wisdom" in their corner. 

 Beauty is not only for the young.  Getting older and aging gracefully

 is upon me in full force, and with my birthday tomorrow, 

I am embracing my age more than ever. Or trying to.  

Its hard to love wrinkles and sagging, but its wonderful to be 

healthy and alive and in love.  So if you are in my age bracket give or take, 

embrace your beauty, your lovely inner beauty, your confidence, 

your wisdom and all that you have gained through your many years thus far. 

 Lets gang up and make it AWESOME to be older and

 beautiful, wrinkles and greys and those few extra pounds! 

And if you have youth on your side, be kind to yourself.  I know you will

wish you had that figure you find hard to love right now.

 Yesterday I hosted a Creative Stenciling workshop at Maison Decor. 

 It was more about being creative than just plain stenciling.  

Thinking outside the norm and taking a stencil, or two 

or three and layering them to create beautiful treatments 

for walls or even furniture.  

 Cupcakes were just because.  

 They look pretty sitting on our wall boards don't they?

 The thing I learned from Annie Sloan three years ago, 

was to use a foam roller to do stenciling.  And the other thing Annie taught

me was to use two colors at the same time in the paint tray.  

Side by side put a blob of one color and right next to it add another blob. 

Then run your roller through it and stencil so you get two colors 

showing at once in a very muted and lovely fashion.

This was Graphite with Paris Grey. See how it fades in and out? 

There are highlights of metallic but you can just use the two colors

 and then finish by layering even more with dry brushing over the entire thing.

This was done with Scandinavian Pink and Coco. 

Finished with a dry brush and wash.  In other words, 

layer your pieces....and get these lovely finishes.

 We practiced on brown paper first to get a feel for the "touch" 

and to learn not to have too much paint on our roller or 

it will seep through and look blobby. UGH. Don't do that! 

You can always add more, but its hard to take it away...

 This is a finished board using two stencils and three colors. 

Paris Grey base was sponged with a wool sea sponge, 

then trellis was added with Old White, then Emile was added 

over that using a lacy floral leaf stencil.  So pretty!

 This large acanthus was not layered but was put 

over a ragged base then rolled with two colors and 

dry brushed to finish it off.  

A bit of Pearl Plaster was used in the stencil as well for glimmer. 

 This stenciled treatment was done using our Croc stencil over Country Grey. 

We did the Croc using French Linen and Old White and the colors blended 

naturally as they were put on one roller.  We do LOVE our Croc stencil!

 After our fun workshop, look what arrived.  

My paint order, and it was terribly busted up. UGH. 

It came at the very end of the day, and I was really ready to go home. 

Friday night and all that...and now the paint would keep me late in the shop. 

I had about 8 cases of slammed and broken paint.  

I am thinking the delivery guys have had it with our freezing cold weather 

and snow banks and they took it out on our paint.  

Just part of the business that I hate....this stuff. 

The workshops I  love, the claims and damages are the worst.

 Boston has been all over the news as Mother Nature 

has been giving us more than our fair share of snow this month.  

Its been over 6 feet in two weeks and tonight another foot 

is headed straight for us. Again.  And it is in the single digits too!!! 

OMG its simply been brutal.  

 My mother in laws house right next doors has a 

leak in her living room due to ice damns.  

So that meant the roof needed to be shoveled off....

Here is a pic through the screen window of my kitchen watching 

the guys  try to get the snow off and then bust up the ice dams. 

 Finally hubby filled panty hose with Calcium Chloride and

 knotted it into long tubes and threw it up on her roof

 to create escape dams for the water to release.  This stuff is not for the faint of heart.  

So all of my readers (and you mom and dad) who are living in Florida and Texas 

just know that you ain't missing out on anything good right now.

Taking our dogs out has been especially fun....NOT.

Our shop in Reading Mass (*now closed)

 Justin's shop in Boston (*now closed) is no different. 

Well maybe its worse!  This is a pic from his instagram acct.  

I told you, get on instagram!! Follow him @pioneergoods 

and follow me @amymaisondecor

You get to see inside peeks at things like the latest stuff in our shops.

Look at how fabulous Justin's shop is these days.  Its getting better and better

and the guy is on a roll. He is on the covers of magazines and getting

featured and its all just been CRAZY!! I will be blogging all about his 

amazing retail ride soon with details and links to some of these happenings.

Speaking of instagram, here is Matthew Meads account. 

 Now this post of his is about his new magazine that

 is coming out in a couple of weeks,

The first issue will be March 3, then the issue I am going to be in will be

coming out in April!  He is coming over Friday to shoot my house!!

OMG all this snow, and the boots and hats and gloves and dog leads

and junk laying all around from fighting the blizzard will just have to 

get dealt with this week.  I have to get it together so it looks amazing!

 I know this post is very long...but I have to pack it all in because 

I will be busy this week with the anti-blizzard fight and cooking 

for cold and hungry troops, and decorating my home 

so it looks completely unreal, like real people cannot possibly

 live in such a beautiful space!! Lol.  

So this is a pic of my sister's chandelier that finally got 

hung over her table. Since the table was not in the center 

of the room the chandy had to get swagged~but hey, its more 

important to have it over the table and low enough to be dramatic. 

 I think it looks amazing!!

 Here is another shot of her room. We plan to paint the 

corner cabinet Old White.  And get a pair of upholstered end chairs 

to add some more personality to the room.  

And I wouldn't mind saying goodbye to that carpet.....

One "last but not least" mention.

Happy Birthday Taylor!

  Madison shared this pic (on instagram)

 of her holding her little sister and its completely adorable.

They are as close as any two can be....

and today is Taylor's 25th birthday!

And its Valentines Day! 

And it also happens to be National Organ Donor day!!

Really pretty amazing if you think about it.  

We have been blown away by the loving response for Tay.

Check her updates right here at Taylors Heart Fund.

She needs a new heart.  Lets hope she gets one soon.

xoxo

Amy

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Gold and Pink Lusterware

There has been so much snow the past two weeks I found myself

planning the perfect Valentine tea party.  Not that I have tea parties

mind you, I am more of a dinner party thrower....but let me back

up and tell you how this all came about.

While shopping last weekend at an antique shop

I noticed these bright gold plates tucked inside a bookcase.  

They stuck out like sore thumbs in this shop

filled with rustic pieces.  I picked one up off the stack and flipped 

it over and sure enough, there was a stamp with a Makers mark and France. 

 I must have a built in sensor for all things French.  I was especially 

happy to see there was quite a stack at a very good price.  

So they all came home with me where I researched the maker.  

First of all, I couldn't even read what it said. 

 So I just posted it on Facebook,

 and several friends came to the rescue and told me it said 

Sarreguemines.  

It is an old pottery company located in Lorraine France, 

and they make  mostly Faience country style patterned pottery. 

 I searched some more and did not see one item that was all gold. 

 So back to Facebook and several of my pals told me they

 were likely chargers for desert plates!

Look for clues on the back of your dishes, 

then head to the internet to try to identify them.

This mark means the dishes were made between 1920- 1950.

Pretty cool! Different marks by the same company indicate different

times of production.  Anyway, so now I knew who made them and when,

but really wasn't sure what they were used for.

However when more than a few suggested 

they were chargers for desert plates.

 Then one of my oldest FB friends, Mikey Fuller 

(who bought a chandelier from me many moons ago)

said they looked like Lusterware... 

I am pretty sure they were all right! Lusterware chargers!

 So that got me to thinking of a desert party, perhaps

with pink champagne or tea if you were so inclined...

with pink frosted cupcakes and pink

macaroons! I pulled out my collection of pink and gold lusterware

 teacups and some antique  desert plates and pulled it all together.

What is lusterware exactly?

Lusterware: A type of pottery that has a glaze mixed with metallic to give it

the effect of iridescence, which is produced by metallic oxides in an 

overglaze process, then treated to a secondary firing in the kiln. 

It is an old process that started before the Mesopotamian age. 

 Pretty amazing!

I recall seeing my grandparents had two copper lusterware pitchers in their

china cabinet.  It was very collectible.  The lusterware can be silver, gold, 

copper or rose colored depending upon how much of the gold

 is used in the process. 

Its Easy Elegance alright~a remnant of linen with pale pink 

roses piled high with gold and pink lusterware!  Add some pretty

flowers and baked goods and you have all you need.

These roses are actually great fakes!

 I found them at HomeGoods,  they have some fantastic florals.

The best part? They never wilt and look quite realistic.  

With Valentines looming I think I am almost ready.

Perhaps a private party for deux?

The Gold Lusterware is going to make things feel very 

Age of the Innocence I think...indulgent and luxurious and 

over the top!  So take a peek into your china cabinet and 

drag out some old collectibles like depression glass, or milk glass

or fine crystal and china and have some fun.

Mix your old china with some new and make it your style!

Note: Partially sponsored by HomeGoods as part of my participation in their Pinterest Program, Happy by Design. 

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A Whimsical Painting Style, Mora Clocks, and My Painted Piano

Painted Furniture can be done in so many ways.

This table was done in a whimsical style copying

a well known company, MacKenzie-Childs.

 MacKenzie-Childs is out of New York, and it is  

recognizable due to its mix of black and white checks with 

fun colors and painterly techniques. Whimsy abounds!

Gina created this table with paint and decoupage techniques.

 This image shows the edge of the table where some tissue paper

was being attached using a decoupage method using Annie Sloan's

decoupage varnish.  What was happening in the photo was that the shop

floor had flooded and I was taking a picture of the water all over the floor! 

This is the only during process photo I have, 

but essentially the table was painted with Graphite

then some actual MacKenzie-Childs tissue paper

 was decoupaged on the lower shelf and along the top edges. 

She decoupaged some butterflies and flowers on top of the checkered paper.

Colors were added in pinks and blues. Gina used a painterly free hand 

technique on the black and white striped border along the upper rim.

Gold gilding wax was added after waxing and the crackling. She used

Annie Sloan Cracqueleur along the top to create tiny cracks for character.

Dark wax was applied after the cracqueleur to accentuate the cracks. 

 A little more gilding on the legs after waxing the piece. 

 Its charming and fun and a great knock off of MacKenzie Childs. 

Think outside the box when you want to have a whimsy piece for your home.

Using decoupage and paint from Annie, your choices are unlimited!

Switching gears abit...

I don't blog that much about our wonderful Maison DecorMora Clocks.

But rest assured they are a big part of our family business!

We have had so many happy customers and we continue to 

take orders and customize them and send them on their way

to their forever homes.  We asked people to be a bit more

patient this holiday season as we had record breaking orders.

So just in case you were wondering how they are coming along...

The base of the clock operation is in Boston on Tremont Street at 

our sister store, Pioneer Goods Company.  We have created a special 

clock workshop to handle all of our clock orders, and each one is carefully

created, giving it an aged appearance and antique patina.

This is our Clock Workshop!!

This photo was taken this morning by Justin at my request. 

It looks like one is about ready to get shipped, 

while the others are getting ready for their faces and 

aged waxed finish coats.  

I love seeing our clocks in their forever homes, like this one

at Dear Lillie's mom's home in New Hampshire. 

It looks perfect! 

I would love to have anyone who bought one of our clocks

send us photos of them so we could create a gallery

featuring them in readers and shopper's homes.

Send your pics to maisondecorinfo@gmail.com

And now to my home....

 I wanted to refresh your memory of how my piano 

used to look. The dark mahogany kind of swallowed up the

corner of the room. I rarely photographed that area because it felt

so dark and different than the rest of my home.

 Well all that has changed! I love it white!

I used Annie Sloan Old White Chalk Paint.

I added a little detail under the hood...and I am unsure if 

I am going to keep going...or not.

I love how it looks right now. And so that is probably my 

clue to leave it just the way it is.

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Decorating my Sister's House, a Valentine Workshop, the Superbowl, and more Snow

A Valentine project....but first:

 Our snowless winter is a thing of the past. We had the much hyped

and true to form Blizzard of 2015 last week.  

The dogs waited inside at the front door

for Justin to dig them out 

(the first of many go rounds with the shovel).

 We had howling winds and about 28" of snow.  I closed the 

store due to the blizzard and finally opened for business on Thursday.

All the while we were getting ready for the Superbowl on 

Sunday!  Most everyone in New England was super pumped

for the big game...

 Lots of media coverage and beauty shots for Tom Brady

were in the works for the past two weeks. But it was coming 

down to the wire in just a few days. So the weekend of the 

Superbowl I had a few plans.  Saturday I would be headed 

back to Matthew Mead's studio for a Valentine Workshop.

And then Sunday I would help my sister Ellen decorate her dining room.

(A selfie with Ellen McHale, Jenny and Matthew Mead and moi!)

 Plans were made in advance with my friend Ellen McHale to attend

the same workshop so we could be all together and have some fun.

Matthew is putting out 4 new issues of Matthew Mead Style magazines,

and Ellen and I will both be featured in spring issues.  Ellen is 

a talented artist and her home and artwork 

will be shown off in the March issue.

Her business is called Nelley Kelley Designs.

When it comes out I will let everybody know where to find it.  

Then in the April issue my home will be featured!  So its all exciting

stuff, and if you have seen any of Matthew's work, you can 

understand what a treat it is, that he will be photographing and doing

some styling at my house! At any rate, last Saturday I headed up

to his New Hampshire studio with Gina Dechant, my design assistant.  

Her car had issues and we almost didn't get there!! It was more than mildly 

harrowing but get there we did on that freezing blustery day.

And this is what awaited us! 

As always, Matthew's workshops are more what you would call

Lifestyle workshops.  There is food and drink and sharing of ideas and

recipes  so we can create these special and easy to do moments in our

own lives.  Sometimes we get into boring routines, and the thing that

is neat about Matthew's ideas is that he uses everyday items with 

easy and exciting ways to make things special.  Like these heart crackers.

made with a cookie cutter and lavash bread.  Simple and sweet.

Perfect for Valentines.  

 Use your cranberry ware glasses for this occasion

and all of a sudden a little champagne topper on a 

cranberry punch makes things feel romantic and special.

 This easy to make chocolate tart sprinkled with some kind of sea salt 

was incredibly tasty and simple to make.  Matthew makes it easy for

you to take your basics to the next level.  And his displays like

this table that greeted us upon arrival are so artful.

 As we gabbed, ate our tarts and had a drink, we got to work making our 

project, which was a Valentine twig wreath.  Lots of supplies and glue guns

were spread around the table.  Clipping off blooms and ferns and moss

we all created beautiful wreaths.  Yes, we were multi tasking in the best way

possible!  Eating, drinking, laughing, sharing and creating!  

 It was fulfilling and super fun.  

And how pretty was my wreath coming out?

 I used to love doing this kind of thing along time ago,

and now having the chance to do it with the king of creativity 

was just the best!  

 My wreath's beauty shot on Matthew's old wooden door.

 Remnants of cuttings lay on a table, while unused 

supplies in vases were left for the next project.

 This was a wonderful lifestyle workshop with a take away project 

that was just beautiful.  The memories will outlast the wreath I am sure.

We said our goodbyes and made plans for when Matthew would come

to my house to do his photo shoot.  I am officially under the gun!

I brought my heart wreath home and found it a home.
I love it! But by the time the photo shoot comes, it will 
be packed away....and I still have so many things
 I need to finish....but first I agreed to help my sister

Ellen work on sprucing up her house.  So after the workshop at 

Matthew's, Gina and I headed over to a great antique shop in Salem NH

at 39 N Broadway called  By The Olde Garden Gate

Nancy is the owner of this awesome shop, and if you are lucky enough

to be in New Hampshire, go visit and find some treasures

and tell her I sent you!

I found this mirror for my sister's dining room.  It is an

old vintage mirror and I had just the place for it in mind.

It was going to be perfect over a console table from my shop.

 Ellen approved the mirror after seeing  the photo I texted her. 

With all the confidence in the world, she replied " I trust you". 

hahah! Oh my! I better be right!  

And so my long Saturday had come to an end,

and tomorrow, Superbowl Sunday would be spent

shopping for more accessories at HomeGoods with Ellen,

then heading back to her house to work on the dining room.

I had from 10-4 to make it happen, because after that I 

was leaving to get in position on my couch to watch the big game.

 We hit HomeGoods together and then headed back with our stuff. 
 I always recommend buying more than you need, because 
you might want options and whatever you don't use can be returned.  
This is what her room looked like when we dragged it all inside.  
You can kind of see she has a big wooden

dining room table, chair and hutch and corner cabinet, none of it painted. 
(That would never be the case in my home as I LOVE painted furniture). 
 She will freely admit, that the decorating gene was something she missed out on. 
 Her hubby hates vintage and old stuff, so I have stayed away from "helping"
 her decorate.  But after a dinner over there last week, and after a glass of wine 
I said why don't you do something with this room?! 
The curtains were wrong, there was a random candlestick table with a big lamp
 on it plugged into a timer, and then a small end table that belongs 
next to a sofa (not seen here) that they use as an entry table as their 
little Cape Cod style home has no foyer.  Sometimes you have to create 
workable spaces where there are none, and so their  "entry space" 
has to be right inside the dining room. The place where you can put mail,
 have a mirror to check how you look before you dash out the door, 
maybe a welcoming candle or bowl of flowers.  

 Where there once was a short round end table serving as her foyer table, 
I placed a gatefront console table from my shop, Maison Decor.  
It has a wooden top with a creamy white distressed iron front. 
(Her hubby mentioned "throwing out better" as he helped bring it inside, lol!)
 You can see her front door right next to the dining room entrance.  

I hung the old white mirror from Nancy's shop above the iron console. 
 A HomeGoods lamp with a shorter squatty profile in mercury glass
 and a burlap shade would work beautifully.  And perhaps you recall that 
we had started a brown transferware collection for Ellen?  
Well I planned to hang four of the plates beside the narrow mirror. 
 Try to imagine building a grouping on a wall.  If the mirror was as wide
 as the table, this would have been a more standard and boring wall.  
But by having the space to add the plates it would 
become more interesting and charming.  

 By the end of the afternoon this looked so charming and beautiful,

in a cozy cottage kind of way, which is exactly what her little Cape Cod

should feel like.  A vase of faux peonies from HomeGoods 
in a mercury glass vase sit on a few vintage books in the same color. 
The books were from our dad's childhood collection!
 I will share the rest of the makeover when she has her

chandelier hung.  You can see the old one in the reflection of the mirror,

and it was the thing I hated most about her room.  We have a big rustic iron

one that is going to be over the table and it will create a sense of place and style.

The curtain panels were also from my shop, and were a botanical toile in taupe.

We didn't change the wall color or the floor plan, 
it was all pretty much decorative adjustments.  So take a second look
 at what you have going on, and see if there is room for improvement.  
Ellen said she wishes she had a comfy chair in there as she wants
 to be in the dining room all the time now.  Thats because her
 living room needs an overhaul! ha! She and I discuss this room all the time.  
It has the most awkward layout, so I have been working on the floor plan. 
 That room will be a challenge for sure.  I hit the road and 
got back home and settled in with hubby to watch the big game. 
 It was the MOST brutal game I have had to endure. 
 I felt like we were going to win in the first quarter, then by half time 
my confidence was fading. We were all tied up.  The third quarter 
was simply awful as the Seahawks were making so many plays and
 Tom was throwing interceptions.  UGH.  It was so hard to watch.  
But watch I did...and Tom brought his team back from 
ten points under to 4 points over.  The Hawks would need a touchdown to beat us. 
 Feeling ok, but on pins and needles....the Hawks made the plays and suddenly
 I knew we were going to lose. Right at the end.  How could this happen to us? 
 And then like a miracle, Butler made that interception and 

it just took minutes to sink in...
then an encroachment penalty and our fate was sealed!

 We were all smiles and part of Tom's biggest achievement to date!

I was so happy for him! And for us!! I LOVE watching the Patriots play,

even more than my husband.  Its been the best season ever!

And that night another storm started....

It snowed all day Monday and we ended up with over a foot 
on top of our two feet plus.  So my shop is once again closed this 
Tuesday February 3rd as we dig out and try to get through this month.

Our house has so many paths to shovel and stairs to dig out!  
We have the best view around as we sit up on top of the tallest hill
~we can see straight to the Boston skyline from here.  
So with the great view also comes the slippery hill.
 But for now, its a day of shoveling and getting squared away
 so we can get back to work.  Have a great week!

PS~Please know that we appreciate all the donations and prayers
that you all have made to Taylor while she is in the hospital 
waiting for a new heart.  You can read updates on how she is doing by clicking
here at the GoFundMe campaign where my daughter in law, Madison Power,
posts updates every few days. It has been ten days since Taylor got her heart
pump installed, and the last few days have been difficult.  So keep her in 
your prayer list please. She is at the top of mine.  I had a vivid dream that 
the perfect donor heart came for Taylor.  Now wouldn't that be wonderful
if it came true?! 

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