Thinking of Spring...

The weather here in Santa Barbara has been so warm, honestly it feels like summer.  All the Jasmine are budding and getting ready to explode.  Our front yard is going to smell amazing in a week or two.  The warmth has me thinking of Spring and the lovely parties I have had the pleasure of creating.  I thought I would share a favorite with you.

This was a girls birthday luncheon at a local restaurant.  We took over the place, moved out a lot of their things and moved in my fun props.  This was the entrance that greeted the guests.

There were beautiful fans for the ladies.

The restaurant has the most beautiful solarium that we moved my furniture and props into.  We also brought in lots of trees and green plants.

The details tucked in here and there were adorable...

The centerpieces were each different.  This one I used my Mom's antique silver tea set.

This centerpiece had a chintz tea cup, silver tea pot and a cloche over a mini arrangement.

Sometimes you can't even see the vase, I pack so may flowers into them.  I don't know why I take so much time

picking the right container.

This lovely lady is a vintage candelabra that I wired flowers onto for a bar arrangement.

The party favors were beautiful Asian tea sets wrapped in fun bamboo boxes.  The cake was in the shape of a tea pot which I set on my bird bath and surrounded it with flowers.

Wishing you beautiful flowers filled dreams...

New Years... Manifestations?

Instead of New Years Resolutions I would like to share with all of you my New Years deepest most powerful heart felt desires.

First I will say that I believe very much in visualizations.  I have seen this technique work in the most astonishing ways, most powerfully in finding the beautiful home on the ranch where my husband, all the kitties and I currently live.  I now believe is was devine guidence that lead us to the ranch firstly so that we might look after all the cats there that were in desperate need of help.  And secondly so that our life might change its' focus completely.

Many of you may already know that my husband and I run a charity that looks after wild ("feral") cats.  In brief ( I will try though I am not very good at being brief) this is how we came to be...  My husband and I have always loved animals however renting in Santa Barbara is tough with four footed family members so we never had too many...  and they were always rescued animals.  For both of us the horrific problem of animal overpopulation reflected in millions of perfectly wonderful loving dear sweet souls killed every year because no one wants them is really too much to bear.

Shortly after moveing into our wonderful rustic home we became aware of gazillions of cats that were on the ranch.  No one clamed or cared for them, they were just "ranch cats".  These "ranch cats" were starving (as all the rodents had long been over hunted by the huge cat population) covered in flees, reproducing at a frightening rate and some were sick.  I will spare you the details of finding dead kittens.  The Toms were fighting horribly every night for territory and females and getting severly injured in the process.  So in an attempt to keep this already long story short, we quickly edu  my husband and I have as of now trapped, spayed and nutered over 70 cats on the ranch.  After three years of consistently doing this we hit zero population growth.  We are now an official charity called "The Lucky Few" and kennel and care for around 50 cats.  They started as completly wild ("feral") cats but now most are so tame that most of them are in the house with us, sleep on our laps, (and beds!) do tricks and surprisingly they all get along (a few hisses now and then, just as in a human family).  My husband's  and my eyes have been hugely opened to how animals (particularly cats) live and thrive (or not thrive).  We have learned so much, connected with other wonderful charities, read some amaizing books that are completely changing the way humans look at and interact witn animals and generally had our minds blown, this is happening all the while we are putting on weddings and events, creating floral arrangements (and wiping off numerous cat hairs I might add)

Winter whites,

Some beautiful quiet winter whites with a hint of color for your enjoyment...

Magic

"The real magic of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes"

Marcel Proust

To see all the faerie images click here

The holidays have just gone to the cats I tell ya!

What the holidays looked like at our house..

Between jobs there was lots of hanging out with the kitties,

Watching movies (Nanny McPhee II)

Trying to get a bit or work done on the computer (with lots of feline help).

Of course the kitties had to have turkey too...  on the good china, it is Christmas after all...

"Yummmmm.....  gobble, gobble"

"Mine... all mine"                                               "hey he got more than I did!"

Turkey, gravy and stuffing (Looks a lot like kibble I know).

"Boy you would think this place could spring for a few more plates..."

"Is there any more?  I still have a few nooks and crannies that need filling..."

"Gotta wash up now"

"Get behind the ears"

"and between the toes..."

"Did someone say more turkey?!..."

Full tummy!

"That was so good...  so good..."

"Yummy, yummy...."

"so good, so good..."

" I mean that was GREAT!"

Nap time

Flat Top fell asleep while cleaning his belly!!

Our holidays were just purrfect, hope yours were too.

For more information on the wonderful crazy herd we look after visit our web site,

The Lucky Few

Precious Metals table setting

Hello my lovely blog friends!

I had intended to post a beautiful blog wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season...  However the holidays took over my life and this is the first posting I have been able to manage.  I hope all of you had a wonderful time.  Ours was busy but lovely!

I was playing around with some table decor ideas (initially it was to be for a New Years party...  a little late for that!) and here is the result.  It particularly suits the winter but I think it would be a pretty color story for anytime of the year.

I was thinking what a lovely idea it would be to near the end of January when everyone has more or less recovered from the holidays and is least likely to expect it,  to host a quiet winter dinner that sparkles and twinkles.

I love the muted colors of old sepia tin photos and had always though it would make a great color story for an event.  To create this look I pretty much mixed all the metal colors, gold, brass, silver and pewter with the sparkle of crystal.  I started with some old silver plated candlesticks that were loosing their silver color and helped them along a bit.  I soaked them in Tarnex and lightly sanded them until the brass underneath started to bleed through.  This created a lovely vintage look and a great color.  I then glued on bits of trim, fringe and tassels and then added old pearls and jewelry for sparkle.

I covered the table with lots of layers and textures (something I love to do!).  I started with a long bit of olive green courderoy I picked up at a garage sale.  Over that I draped a pannel of chocolate brown tafeta curtains.  Then in a narrow band across the center of the table I placed a vintage tea stained lace cloth.  To top it all off I finished with an inexpensive glittery shawl I found in a thrift store.

I layered the dishes also starting with some funky old brass trays (again from the thrift store) then a crystal plate (again from the thrift store) then a small crystal plate and the soup bowl.  I placed the party favors in the soup bowls.  The napkins are mismatched lace pieces that I tied up with bits of trim or pearl necklaces (fake and again from the thrift store).  I then attached orphaned single earrings (again very inexpensive from the thrift store) or a crystal tear drop.

For the candles I had some beautiful Moroccan tea glasses and some old liquer glasses.  The liquer glasses were so tiny that I carved down a tea candle to fit.  For the silver wear I used mismatched silver and old ivory handled pieces.

The flowers were a mix of cream Roses, Hydrangeas, white Stock, assorted Eucalyptus and Berzillia Berries.  I tried to match the vintage color story however my choices were a bit limited since I didn't pre-order anything.  A better choice for the Roses would have been a true beige as in a variety called "Sand".  An antique variety of Hydrangeas with touches of burgundy and olive would have also been better.

At each place setting I also set another vintage stemmed liquer glass with a single Rose and a piece of jewelry.

All over the table and tucked in the flowers were more strands of pearls just to add to the decadent feel.

Hope you enjoyed my thoughts.  Have a lovely beginning to Winter!