Tale of Two Chairs

The very first time I read Chloe's email from One Kings Lane (here), I was unsure what she wanted me to do. After she clarified the task, I decided to participate in the challenge.  I thought it should not be more difficult than any other home decor project that I had done before.

I have two antique chairs in my garage that needed a major renovation.  I started the project but never got around to finishing it. I thought they would be perfect signature chairs for this challenge.  Then winter came along and I came down with a bad cold. So I decided not to feature the chairs in my garage. Instead, I decided to feature two chairs that already graced our home.

I bought these two chairs at a flea market in Manhattan years ago when I was single, to decorate my apartment. I am not sure if they are an antique chairs but they look very old. What I love about them is that they are small chairs that are perfect accents to decorate any room. And the simple design reminded me of the Louis XVI chair that I love very much. The gold accent exude elegance to them. Since they are a pair, they would be nice to decorate an entry way or a small empty wall in a small room; so that is how I used the chairs to decorate our living room wall.

I probably would do a re-upholstery on these chairs in the future. And I probably would give a nice new color on the chair. I have not decided yet.

The chairs are stamped and marked "Viennesse Collection Henree..." and I cannot make out the rest! So I searched on Google for "Viennesse antique chairs." I learned that these are typical 19th century Viennesse side chairs with characteristics of splayed legs, circular seats, minimalist design and delicate shape. The characteristics of simple lines and design suggests that it was adopted from the Empire style in France. One can see that these chairs are similar to Louis XVI chairs but without the arm rests. It is said that this style of Viennese chairs provided inspiration to the craftsmen of Biedermeyer in the U.S.  I suspect that these chairs could, perhaps, be made by a Biedermeyer craftsman in the U.S., but I am not sure since the chairs are stamped "Viennesse Collection Henree...."

 I gathered some of the characteristics of these chairs at the One Kings Lane Home Decor Resource Guide (here).  

The simplistic design is similar to the English Neo-Classical Design (here)

The leg is similar to a Sheraton style cane-backed arm chair (here)

The simplistic design is similar to the Louis XVI style (here)

The cane-backed and splayed legs are similar to the Viena Secession and Josef Hoffman styles (here)

I would like to talk about some of the items that I created (DIY,) displayed in the pictures above.  I designed a repeat of a silk screen pillow cover on the right chair at fatto a mano studio (here) several years ago. It was a painstaking process to do just a 1/2 yard design. I was glad to do it once, but I will never do it again!  The two collages that flank the mirror were also made by me. It is an intaglio--a medallion plaster that I bought from Ebay (here) and (here,) glued on a corrugated aqua paper. I then matted and framed them. The mirror belonged to my mother-in-law.

I was extra careful when choosing the other elements on this display with the two chairs. I love the mix of the  modern, tribal and Morocco geometric shape of the rug and  the tall vase. I tied them together with a modern drum-shaped black iron table in the middle. The gold on the top part of the lower vase picks up the gold accents of the chairs. The small bright orange vase gives the whole look a pop of color.

"Thank you Chloe from One King's Lane! I truly enjoyed the task of featuring these Viennese chairs."

And thank you so much for stopping by!

 MONDAY

Pursuit of Functional Home by Judy
Twelve O Eight {Inspiration Monday} by Tanya
Lines Across {Monday Funday} by Rachel
Sumo's Sweet Stuff by Sumo
It's So Very Cheri {It's Party Time}
Creative Mondays by Claire
The Dedicated House {Make It Pretty Monday} by Kathryn
Home Coming {The DIY'ers}

TUESDAY
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia by Kristin
The Blackberry Vine {Tuesday To Do Party)
Lady Bug Blessings {Handmade Tuesday} by Kristen
Not Just A Housewife {Show Me What Ya Got} by Stacy
Cup Cakes And Crinoline {Project Inspired} by Mary Beth 
A stroll Thru Life {Inspire Me Tuesday} by Marty

WEDNESDAY
The Blissful Bee {Work It Wednesday} by Amy
Savvy Southern Style {Wow Us Wednesday} by Kim


The Trendy Tree House {Create and Share} by Tara
Clean And Scentsible {Inspiration Exchange} by Jenn
Green Willow Pond {What We Accomplished Wednesday} by Deborah

The 36th Avenue {The 36th Party} by Desiree
The Diary of a Real Housewife {The Blogger's Diagest} by Jennie

The Pleated Poppy {What I Wore Wednesday} by Lindsey 

THURSDAY
52 Mantels {Thursday Are Your Days} by Emily
The Charm of Home {Home Sweet Home} by Shery
The Grant Life {The Life of the Party} by Kelley
Saving 4 Six (Welcome To Think Tank Thursday) by Carrie Made to be a Momma {Homemade by You} by Katie 
The Shabby Creek Cottage {Transformation Thursday} by Gina
A Glimpse Inside by Allison

Perfectly Coutured {Three-fer Thursday} by Bethany

FRIDAY 
 Dear Creatives {Inspiration Spotlight} by Theresa
Chic on a Shoe String Decorating {Flaunt it Friday} by Kate
My romantic Home {Show and Tell Friday} by Cindy  
The Dedicated House {Anything Blue Friday} by Kathryn 
A night Owl {Create and Inspire} by Kimberly
Craftberry Bush  {The Inspiration Gallery} by Lucy
Happy Hour Project {Happy Hour Friday} by Adrienne
Diana Rambles {Pin Me Linky Party} by Diana
Truly Lovely {Fancy This Friday} by Kassy and Kayli
504 Main {Tickled Pink} by Holly 
A Stylish Interior (Stylish Friday Finds} by Karen 
Little Inspiration {Create & Inspire} by Kimberly and Angie

The Mrs and The Momma {The Best of Friday} by Kristen

SATURDAY

Suburbs Mama {Suburbs Mama Sunday} by Rita
Nifty Thrifty Things {Nifty Thrifty Sunday} by Vanessa
Flamingo Toes {Think Pink Sunday} by Bev
Pink When {DIY Sunday Showcase} by Jennifer
Twigg Studios  {Sunday Show Off} by Aimee
Crafts A la Mode 

Hot Chocolate + Peonies

After a bad snow storm yesterday, today is a bit of rain and cold. Therefore the snow on the ground has completely melted.Thank God!

Good news is that Steven is not going to have dinner at home tonight so today I stayed at home all day. Straightened things up and while  having a cup of hot chocolate.

Yesterday I spent my Christmas present from my step mom in law; a Marshall gift card at Marshall. Amongst  few things I got is a hot chocolate mix on a sticks. I love Marshall for these kind of items. If you are lucky; you will get something unusual for very cheaply and delicious.

This hot chocolate mix on a stick is basically the ingredients to make hot chocolate. Instead of  mixing a chocolate powder with hot milk you just put the chocolate stick in hot milk. The chocolate candy like will melt so you will get hot cocoa. Surprisingly it tastes delicious too!

Since I had so much time on my hand other than doing things around the house, I took pictures of this delicious hot chocolate. ("I think I am going to have it again after I finished writing this post!")

So here they are!

I surprised myself that so far I posted 5 topics in just about a week. I think I mentioned earlier that I will not be posting anything on my blog for a while.  I think I love my 85 mm lens very much that I think I have the time to post small projects like these. Or I think it has something to do with the weather. It slow things down. After finally feel better from the cold and stomach ache; I feel like being creative and get busy with my blog again. I have another project that I need to be done and I promised a well known home decor online (I will not reveal it just yet) to do this project. And I hope I can do this task by the end of this week.

Thank you for reading and stay warm!

Silk Flower Crowns {DIY}

A month a go I obsessed in making these silk flower crowns. 

I did not make them for me; I made them for my model or client to wear for a photo shoot. I imagined a baby girl, toddlers, young girls, teenagers or adult wearing these flower crowns and silk flower head bands.

I have a soft spot for girls with long hair wearing these flower crowns and  taking picture of them during one sunny afternoon  outdoor like these images I am collecting on Pinterest (here). I even created some for a new born baby girl.

  I want to create a beautiful whimsical picture of a girl wearing this head pieces outdoor when the soft sun is shining on her. What would be nice as well is to photograph a young girls around the age of 7 or 8 wearing these pieces, or even a teenage girls would be lovely. Don't you think!  I have yet to find such young girl who is willing to be my model and can work together to carry out my vision.

I actually like taking a part vintage silk millinery flowers I bought from Ebay and turned them into a flower crown like these, but it is hard to find  and they are quite costly even on Ebay (here). So I have to take other alternative which I bought silk flower at Michaels (here). I know the silk flowers there a bit stiff and bright in color. I have to be extra careful in mixing them so they look natural and pretty on a person.

I created this flower crown out of a dried fresh spray roses.

I am sorry I edited this post because I forget to put these two vintage flower crowns I created the very first time. They are 100% made out of vintage millinery flowers. You might have seen them before on my blog and pinterest (here and here)

These are for a new born baby girl. Those are tiny vintage silk
 flowers from a doll. These little vintage flower crowns adorned with tiny vintage flowers all around the wiring.  The wiring  wrapped with soft ribbon and it is soft and safe against  baby's head.
 

The side flower head bands are also for newborn baby girl. I attached a piece of felt on the back of the flowers so it will be soft and safe against baby's head.

Because of the size of the flowers; I think these will be beautiful for a teenager or an adult.

I am thinking to create a wide head  band with sewn in beads  like the one I saw on a television show 'Boardwalk Empire'. They look so lovely. And I am sure it will be fun for a young women to wear for a photo shoot. What would be fun for me (as a photographer)  is to deliver and see a person transformed into someone so beautiful wearing one of a kind piece on a photograph. I think a part from being a photographer I like the styling aspect equally. I would love for me to be photographed wearing these head pieces that I created, may be one day! But for now, these are for them.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Thanks 2013! (Collage/Journal Jan. 2014)

Hello,

Today has been a productive day for me as far as blogging and photography. I feel like being creative today. So created a collage/journal and styled my 3 tiered shabby chic rose cake stand that I made a while a go. I will post this either tonight or tomorrow.

This post is about the collage/journal that I just did.

Let me start by telling that 2013 has been a good year for me. First and foremost my health has been very good. All the regular tests showing a good result from previous surgery. Our trip to Dartmouth hospital in New Hampshire last July got excellent report from Dr. Powell.

I was at the most of my creativity by working hard for my blog. Although I felt that it did consume much of my time; but I was blessed that I gained so much joy and felt very  happy each second, minute, hour, day, week, month and through out the year of 2013. 

I discovered that I love photography very much that I bought a camera and lenses that I never thought I would buy. I took  photography lessons on line and gained so much from it. I took beautiful pictures of people outdoor which I love doing very much. None of these  I ever think about of doing before 2013.  Now here I am. I now have photography website (here), photography Facebook page (here) and this blog a platform to express my creativity that I love dearly.

Oh, let me say that I deliberately put my photography blog together in curiositaellya blog. The reason being is that I feel like I do not need a dedicated blog  for my photography just  yet. One day when 'ellyaphotography'  has becoming a more professional photographer/photography; I would created one just for it.

And of course I am ever so grateful to my supportive husband 'Steven' whom without him I would have not done and achieved what I have been achieving so far.

"Thank you Steven for all of your supports, understanding, and help through out 2013!"

I am ever so grateful that my son 'Buck' has successfully managed his own restaurant and lounge in Jakarta. Our love for each other has grown and I am very happy that my son constantly express his love to me which a mother's dream to have their son keep on telling he loves her very much. I know and I do believe although we are far a part physically; Buck and I are very close in our heart.

For these; I thank 2013! I can not ask for a better year than what 2013 has given me. 'Thank you 2013!'

Thank you so much for reading!

Happy New Year 2014!

Happy New Year 2014 Everyone!

As mentioned on my last post I was not feeling well for the last 3 weeks and right after posted the last post (With Gracie) I went to see a Dr. He said there is nothing wrong with my stomach and that I just have to eat bread, rice, egg, apple and banana for a day or two. And that is what I have been doing. I feel much better today. 

I have been wanting to paint similar one like this for Christmas wishes to you that I carried my painting material to our home in Delray, Florida on mid December, but I was very sick while over  there that I could not do anything.

So here is my wishes to you and hope that you All have a great success achieving what ever it is you are trying to achieve in 2014.

Do you have a New Year resolutions? I do, but I won't mention them to any one since for me it is useless. I never carry out my new year's  resolutions so this time I will keep it in my heart and hopefully that I can carry out as planned.

We are officially moving  to a new home by the end of January 2014.  I would like to take this opportunity to say that I think I wont be able to post as much like I used to although in my heart I want it very much. It is mainly because I am starting to pack and it's like my mind is all over the place right now that I can not focus. I will post something once in a while. I can tell you this though; that once we are in our new home there will be a lot to post about mainly about our new home. In between I just have to follow my mood and hopefully I can update my situation to you all.

Oh, have you seen these little cookies below? Those little biscuits with colorful sugar on top? I was so happy to see them in an Asian grocery the other day. I have not seen this for almost 40 years. These are my childhood cookies. It brought beautiful childhood memories when saw this in the store for the first time. I thought it is good to take picture out of and share them with you.

 

Thank you so much for stopping by!

With Gracie (Photography)

Hello,

First of all "HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014". Hope you all had a wonderful time in welcoming the year of 2014.

 I am sorry for I have not been posting anything for over 2 weeks now. I have been ill with cold, cough, runny nose for 3 weeks and now it seems that I have a stomach flue that never goes away. I spent in bed a lone during Christmas Eve and I almost spending alone in bed again for New Year's Eve for the same reason; stomach ache. I told my husband that my stomach is churning that, excuse me, I went to the bathroom so many times. Well, New Year's day was my birthday and we supposed to go to another party, guess what; I woke up with the same problem that my stomach was churning and I felt dizzy that we did not go to that party at all. On top of that the cold from 3 weeks a go never goes away that I am still coughing.  When your body is not feeling fit it is hard to concentrate and do anything. So that is what is happening to me right now.

When typing this post I still feel not right in my stomach and my chest. I am thinking perhaps I need to see a doctor.

No, it was not a good start welcoming New Year 2014 for me.

Anyways, today's post is about me taking picture of Gracie. I had so much fun photographed Gracie not only she is gorgeous but I had a new lens as a birthday gift from my husband 'Steven.' So that is what I shot Gracie with. I can not wait to share the pictures with you.

What do you think! Lately I enjoy taking picture of people out door  like these. This is a practice for me but I am learning more and more and hoping I will develop more of my creativity in photography this year.

Thank you so much for stopping by!