20 Thursday Feb 2014
Tags
2013, Altered, announcement, antique, art, audition, craft, Crafting Design Team Call, Create, Design Team Call, diy, Family, graphic 45, Graphic 45 Design Team Call, Home, idea, mixed-media, scrapbook, scrapbook paper, vintage, We Want You
It’s that time again! Time for the Graphic 45 Design Team Call!
Terms and conditions are here DTcallG452014-2. For more details, check out their blog.
Good Luck, Friends!
xo,
Christine Barker
10 Monday Feb 2014
Posted in Field Trip
Tags
antique, antique shopping, antiques california, antiques southern california, chocolate, country roads and gardens, curried chicken sandwich, edible flowers, eiffel tower keychain, finger sandwiches, full tea service, gigi tea, orange circle, orchid, paris in a cup, pot de creme, scones, tea, tea salon
Recently my mom, Jennifer, and I went out to celebrate her birthday. We headed over to one of our favorite places for lunch, Paris in a Cup tea salon, in the Orange Circle, in Orange, CA.
The menu looks fancy on the outside and it’s the perfect introduction to the delicious food and tea services described inside. The tea menu includes many teas that are familiar, along with many that are exotic, light and flavorful. Thankfully they also have a full selection of teas sans caffeine.
From scones and finger sandwiches to soup and full tea service, Paris in a Cup doesn’t disappoint. We each ordered the Gigi Tea which includes a pot of tea, scones with cream and jam, finger sandwiches, and petit fours. The curried chicken sandwich is divine and the cucumber sandwich is delicious. Even the flowers are edible!
The deserts were delicious, but I especially loved the chocolate pot de creme in a tiny chocolate tea cup. You can even eat the orchid if you wish!
Because it was Mom’s birthday, she received a special surprise; a beautiful Eiffel Tower keychain with a touch of bling. She was over the moon happy at this generous and unexpected present from the shop.
After we finished our lunch we walked over to Country Roads Antiques and Gardens antique mall and found a couple treasures I couldn’t live without. I didn’t take pics but I found a black swan to add to my growing swan collection and a bakers tin that will be the perfect display for some of my tiny treasures.
If you find yourself headed to the Orange Circle, make a reservation for Paris in a Cup. (They fill up fast with groups of lunching ladies, birthday parties, and bridal and baby showers!)
119 S Glassell St
Orange CA 92866
Phone (714) 538-9411
Thanks for joining us on our adventure!
xo,
Christine Barker
PS: Want to read more about Paris in a Cup? Here’s another blog post about their annual Breast Cancer fundraiser, An Evening in Paris.
19 Thursday Dec 2013
Tags
Angela Howard, antique, artistic bliss, cheryl stoneham, Denise Hahn, disneyland hotel, Julie Weller, kim caldwell, lace chalet, mariasela vallejo, Marsi Bennett, matildas mouse, Sylvia Estrada, tashia jacques, tea party, Terry Frias, Victorian ornament swap, vintage, Vintage marketplace, winter wonderland affaire
I recently attended a wonderful creative event called Winter Wonderland Affaire hosted by Kim Caldwell. It was held at the magical Disneyland Hotel and what a soiree it was! We started off our weekend by getting on a plush shuttle and being driven to the Vintage Marketplace in Rainbow, California. We perused the treasures there and then headed for our next stop, Matilda’s Mouse, a fabulous antique destination located in an historic barn on the Betty Crocker Estate.
From there we headed back up to the Disneyland Hotel for a pajama Tea Party, and started on our first preparations for the Chalet we were making.
On Saturday, we did some more work on our beautiful lace chalets, but one of the highlights of all of Kim’s events is the swaps. I joined the Victorian inspired Ornament Swap and the other ladies ornaments were so incredible.
The girls in the swap include:
Take a look through this gallery to see all of the unique ideas that they came up with!
Thank you so much for stopping by. I’ll be posting more pics from that wonderful weekend soon!
xo,
Christine Barker
16 Wednesday Oct 2013
Posted in Art and Crafting, Christmas and Holidays, Mixed Media, Swap
Tags
antique, apothecary jar, black rhinestone pumpkin, black rose, bling, crystal tiara, dia de los muertos, feathers, glam skull, halloween, halloween candle stick, halloween card, halloween craft, halloween home decor, Halloween Mantel, halloween picture frame, halloween swap, halloween treat, Julie Weller, marabou feathers, michelle duke, mummy, Pam Munns, Papier Mâché pumpkin, Rogers gardens, sarcophagus, shabby chic, skull cameo, something handmade, something home decor, something sinister, something sweet, something thrifted, sugar skull, Swarovski Crystals, Sweet and Sinister, Sweet and Sinister Swap, The Duchess, vintage, vintage candle stick
My sweet friend, Julie Weller, hosted a Sweet and Sinister Swap for us this year and my partner was Michelle Duke, aka The Duchess.
Michelle and I told each other our preferences and then got to work creating Halloween treasures for each other. The swap includes:
With our crazy schedules it was difficult to have time to open our presents, since we wanted to FaceTime each other to see the reaction. I opened up my box yesterday and Michelle opened up her box today!
Eek! Isn’t this an awesome box? My prezzies are inside here!
I love how Michelle created a handmade card for me, it’s super spooky with the giant spider on it! Check out my haul!
Here’s the scary loot on my mantel. Michelle decorated a photo frame with a gorgeous feather and vintage flower and a vintage picture inside. She also made me a candle, inside the black apothecary style jar, that smells like licorice. These are my Home Decor goodies.
Oh Mummy! Next is this frightful mummy on a sarcophagus, decorated with a black rose. This is my Something Thrifted, since she found the box at the second hand store. He’s pretty amazing, with his black mesh and all!
Michelle made me a cute pin with black and cream striped ribbon surrounding a cameo of a skeleton lady. This is my Something Handmade and I can’t wait to wear her! Behind her is a sweet shabby chic style envelope made from burlap and lace. There’s also an amazing glam skull decoration with fab feathers. She’s wearing some black roses and bling and I think this is my favorite, ever! (I seriously hope my cats don’t notice this or they will be banned from the house!) Inside the sarcophagus were three skulls and those are hanging out on the mantel as well.
Thank you, Michelle, for all of my gorgeous and fun presents! The cats discovered the spider rings and have been flipping them all over the house and I’m enjoying the candy eyeballs! I love all of my scary, spooky and beautiful treasures that you made and selected for me!
Now, I get to show you what I made for Michelle! A while back, Julie and I took a trip to Roger’s Gardens to check out their amazing Halloween shop. They really put a lot of work into creating gorgeous Halloween and Christmas displays and this is one tradition I always look forward to. We love Roger and his garden! 🙂
Anyways, I saw a pumpkin that I loved but didn’t pick it up that day so I made one myself a bit later, using a Papier Mâché pumpkin, painted with acrylic paint mixed with plaster, embellished with black rhinestones. I added the plaster to give it a textured, matte look.
Michelle said she loved Sugar Skulls, so I made her a Dia de los Muertos skull with hand drawn details, Swarovski Crystals, and a marabou feather and crystal tiara. Isn’t it SCARY?
Next, I made her a wall hanging featuring a vintage little girl in a glittered witches hat decorated with Swarovski Crystals. The wall hanging has a vintage flower topped with a cameo.
For the Something Thrifted I got lucky and scored this gorgeous candle stick. I came across a tutorial online about how to decorate tissue paper and attach it to the candle with a heat gun. But, like everything else, I have to complicate things so I created a design in Photoshop, ran tissue paper through my printer and then attached that to the candle. The candle smells good so that’s the Something Sweet!
I’m so glad we finally opened up our gifts, I’ve been dying to find out what Michelle thought and I couldn’t wait to see what Michelle made me. FaceTime is one of the greatest inventions of all time!
And, I have to give a big THANK YOU to my friend, Pam Munns, for letting me use her incredible art studio to photograph my swap items in. We have such similar tastes in vintage finds that visiting her art studio left me giddy like a kid in a candy store! She has gorgeous vignettes of her vintage and antique finds artfully arranged around her studio and i just wanted to spend days looking through everything.
Thanks for stopping by!
xo,
Christine Barker
{PS} Don’t miss my FREE Halloween Printable: You’ve Been Boo’d!
The full set of printables plus instructions can be found here!
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art + love = life. From provocative to prosaic, disconsolate to delightful & from cursed to enchanting. This is the story of my fairy tale & my happily ever after.
art + love = life. From provocative to prosaic, disconsolate to delightful & from cursed to enchanting. This is the story of my fairy tale & my happily ever after.
art + love = life. From provocative to prosaic, disconsolate to delightful & from cursed to enchanting. This is the story of my fairy tale & my happily ever after.
art + love = life. From provocative to prosaic, disconsolate to delightful & from cursed to enchanting. This is the story of my fairy tale & my happily ever after.
art + love = life. From provocative to prosaic, disconsolate to delightful & from cursed to enchanting. This is the story of my fairy tale & my happily ever after.
