Feature Friday: Tout Va Bien Pillow

Happy Friday!

It hailed here today.  I've got a roaring fire in the fireplace and Graham and I are watching Barefoot Contessa.  (Nice break from cartoons!)  In other words, it's all good here in Oregon.  Which reminds me of this feature I've got for you today.

How cute is this little pillow?  Courtesy of Forgetmenotdreams.

It's so sweet and simple and I love that the stenciling is done in brown.   Tout Va Bien actually means roughly, "All's going well." 

You can purchase this pillow from Forgetmenotdreams' Etsy store.  She's got great stuff, I LOVE her tags.  I just have to show you these cat hang tags.  They have nothing to do with us, they just crack me up.

I have two cats schooled in this philosophy!  :)

If you want to check out the Tout Va Bien, please browse our fabulous French category. 

Have a lovely weekend!  See you next week!

Feature Friday: Musee D'Orsay Chairs

I've been really tardy with my posts lately.  I was all set to post this on Friday and then my toddler got the 24 hour flu.  Just when I thought my husband and I had escaped catching it, we both came down with it over the weekend.  I spent all weekend laying on the couch and I was exhausted from that.  On the plus side, we're all caught up on TV!

But we're all on the mend now and I have been waiting to share this awesome transformation with you guys.


Ange from Chair Up (great blog name!) took these balloon-back chairs from whoa to wow.

Gorgeous right?  Now check out the before pic!

That fabric, oh my goodness.  There aren't words.  So needless to say, just recovering the seats made a HUGE difference.  But she also painted the chair frame with a grey and white antique finish.  Looks amazing.

There's some great detail work on these chairs.  I love this floral carving and the shape of the legs.

Then she used our Musee D'Orsay stencil package (you get the address and scrollwork and the chair is separate) and did the chair in a muted grey, address in black.  Looks very sharp!

And then she made 4 of them!!  Don't they look marvelous at that dining room table?

You should absolutely check out Chair Up, it's a great blog.  Here's a link to the specific post I'm referencing here. 

Here's a link to our French section, which has the Musee D'Orsay stencil. 



Is it Tuesday already?  We'll be back tomorrow with our regularly scheduled Etspiration!

Have you gotten your pumpkin yet?  I think I'm going to paint a pumpkin this year instead of sacrificing my kitchen to pumpkin guts.  I saw this chevron pumpkin on Apartment Therapy that was too cute but there was no explanation as to how it was done.

I'm going to use this tutorial and report back!

Etspiration Wednesday: All We Do Is Wine!

Bonjour!

Well things have been very busy around the Maison de Stencils shops lately.  We're in the midst of moving, designing, crafting, you name it.  This past week I worked on a few new stencils for our Subway Art section, including two new wine stencils.  I've been having a lot of fun learning about wine regions in the process.  It's totally fascinating for a wine novice like myself.  I'm more of a beer snob, so maybe one day I'll do a German beer region stencil.  Or a Portland Beer Stencil!  We're beer crazy around these parts.  I digress.  All this talk of wine got me thinking:  Let's do a tour of Etsy's wine related stuff!  I was pleasantly surprised!

1A:  Vintage French Alchoholimeter Sign Image Courtesy VintageDetailz
1B:  French Wine Region Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
1C:  Cotton Wine Bottle Tea Towel Image Courtesy OpenEyesPress
1D:  Wine Inspired Lavender Sachets Image Courtesy MilkAndHoneyLuxuries

I love the Alchoholimeter sign!  Really anything with weird and funky looking machinery, I like.  This almost has a vintage steampunky look to it. 

2A:  Hemingway Wine Tea Towel Image Courtesy Beagletique
2B:  French Vintage Tastevin Image Courtesy LeMoulinBleu
2C:  Italian Wine and Cheese Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
2D:  Horizontal Walnut Riddling Rack Image Courtesy RChristopherDesigns

Another thing I learned about this week are tastevins.  Tastevins are these special little bowls that wine afficionados spit their extra wine out when sampling.  Isn't that fancy?  A little wasteful, but fancy!  When actors have to eat on set for a take, they just spit their extra food into a bucket.  Wine tasters get extra beautiful silver dishware.  I ate my lunch today on melmac.  (hardboiled eggs and a Baby Bel) Classiness level: Alf.

3A:  Chianti Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
3B:  Recycled Pallet Wine Rack Image Courtesy PalletCreations
3C:  Rustic Italian Coasters Image Courtesy CoastersDiFresco

I am pallet obsessed.  I literally have a pinboard on Pinterest named Pallet Obsessed.  If I can get my act together, I have a pallet feature for the blog in a few weeks.  So check out 3B, a wine rack made out of pallets.  I am such a fan of reusing pallets because it saves a tree, which is a cause near and dear to my heart.

4A:  Vintage Italian Red Wine Sign Image Courtesy LaSartoria
4B:  French Wine Crate Bike Basket Image Courtesy cadeauxcatherine
4C:  Italian Wine Region Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
4D:  Vintage French Enamel Wine Sign Image MaisondelaRue

You should really check out LaSartoria.  She has the most beautiful vintage Italian stuff in her shop.  It reminds me of my Grandma Anne.  My sister and I had two grandmothers.  (I know, that's how it usually works.)  Grandma Mae was my Mom's Mom and she was the typical homemaker grandma.  She baked cakes, let us brush her hair, played checkers with us.  Grandma Anne was my Dad's Mom and she was the kind of Grandma where her house looked like a museum and you knew you could not touch anything.  Know what I mean?  She passed away when I was quite young and I didn't really ever get to know her, but she had the most amazing taste.  I have quite a few of her art books now and on the main floor of our home, I think every piece of art came from her house.  She traveled through Europe and brought so many things back home with her.  Every time I pass by those paintings, I think of her, carrying these paintings through Italy and Croatia.  I wish I could talk to her now that I'm an adult.  And have a glass of wine!

We've got a lovely feature for Friday from across the pond!  Until then, Cheerio!

Etspiration Wednesday: The French Market

Another late post as we spent all day flying back to Oregon. Oh how I missed our pine trees and cool weather! Glad to be home.

Our theme for this week is the French market. I just watched Midnight in Paris (it's really cute) and the main character has romantic notions of living in Paris, strolling the boulevards, and enjoying one of the most beautiful cities in the world in the rain.

Technically, I've been to Paris. I spent 11 hours in DeGaulle on a layover. But my goodness, I don't think that counts nearly well enough and I made myself a promise that one day I'd get back there and shop, shop, shop.

So as a way of getting started, I took a scenic trip to Etsy and found some inspirational items for a digital voyage to the French Market.

On y va!

1A: Large BonBon Tin Image Courtesy FrenchFollie
1B: Boeuf Cooking Print Image Courtesy MorrisandCo
1C: Marche de Paris 1815 Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

2A: Grocery Printers Block Image Courtesy Spacerocketstore
2B: Vintage French Market Price Tags Image Courtesy TheFrenchArtisan
2C: Boulangerie Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils

3A: French Vintage Sweet Tin Image Courtesy AuvergneMemories
3B: Patisserie Label Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
3C: Chicken Rooster Tote Image Courtesy Stituation
3D: French Meat Tea Towel Image Courtesy RandomNicole

4A: Rive Gauche Bistro Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
4B: Champignon Tea Towel Image Courtesy Giardino
4C: Paris Market Carrot Bag Image Courtesy jlquilts
4D: Blue Metal French Street Sign Image Courtesy RueDesLouves

5A: The French Market and Brocante Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
5B: French Bakery Pillow Image Courtesy HeidiDevlin
5C: Marche Vintage Hat Box Image Courtesy momsfavoriteshop
5D: Hand Painted African Butcher Sign Image Courtesy Secousse

As always, thanks to the Etsy shop owners for use of their images. See you Friday!