Please Make Room on the Bandwagon ...

because my large tuckus and I are climbing on!  (lol)

Yup, I *finally* painted my first piece using Annie Sloan's chalk paint! 

BEFORE (last Fall):

AFTER:

Admittedly, I decided to play it safe my first go round with this paint and chose Old White, followed by a bit of distressing and clear wax.  I love the bit of sheen the wax gives you after buffing:

BEFORE:

AFTER:  Once again, I decided to keep the top in its original dark-stained state. I also painted the mirror white earlier this Spring; however, I did dry brush a bit of Old White on it to tie it in better with the buffet.  Alas, I already have changes for this wall ... can you say gallery?!  The wheels are a' spinnin'! 

Here are a few pics of the tabletop as it appears today:

A refreshing change, for sure ...

... although, I need to start delving into other colors!

And, would you just look at my poor, pitiful *frozen* kitty, who has clearly passed out from all of the paint fumes that have been invading our home lately! (lol)

What oh what to paint next ?!  Hmmm .....

And, I just have to mention that I'm super excited because, not too long ago, I told a friend of mine (who owns a wonderful local consignment shop) about chalk paint.  Well, lo and behold if she didn't then go and out and decide to become a stockist ... yippee!  She just got her first inventory of paint, which I got to see up close and personal the other day ... can't wait to explore more!  Once she gets her online system up and running, I'll be sure and pass along her information!  All of you living in South Carolina and/or neighboring states will now have a closer place to purchase chalk paint! 

I'm off to finish getting my porch and patio ready for the super fun blogger block party!

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking up with my creative buddies:

At the Picket Fence/Inspiration Friday
French Country Cottage/Feathered Nest Friday
Miss Mustard Seed/Furniture Feature Friday
Fingerprints on the Fridge/Feature Yourself Friday

DebbieDoos/Summer Paint Party
Thrifty Decor Chick/Before and After Party
Shades of Amber/AS Chalk Paint Party
Perfectly Imperfect/All Things Furniture

Becca

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Views to die for

Today I am sharing some pictures of the views from my balcony. Its a bliss to see the weather changing its mood right from my balcony. During rains it looks so beautiful that I couldn't resist taking pictures of ever changing views, overcast of dark clouds and sun playing hide and seek.

On sunny days it looks so warm and bright that I just love to sit on terrace and sip my cup of tea while watching birds and sunset.

And in the night it looks just wonderful with all twinkling stars and moon in the sky and hundreds and thousands of light glowing on the earth.

I really love all the views I see from my balcony from dawn to dusk and even in the night.

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Thanks Weekend

What a lovely weather and I am all set to go green. I have posted about growing my dream terrace garden earlier.A big big thanks to this weekend it gave me lot of time to fulfill my dreams. I wanted Gerbera, Carnation, Palm, fern, Petunia, Jasmine and lots of ornamental plants in and around my home and this is just first step I took toward growing that garden of my dreams.

Gerbera is my all time favorite plant and icing on the cake is its blooming. It comes in wide range of colours orange, peach & yellow are my pick. Have a look.......

Jasmine and night flowering jasmine (parijat/harsingar)

Croton and Aloe vera

Unfortunately I don't know the name of this plant with pink flower it looks beautiful. If anybody among my blog reader knows the name of this plant then please let me know.

As I said this is only the first step toward growing a garden and its just a series of pots that I kept on my terrace. Lot to do.... I am going to create a landscape.... everything is on my mind and slowly I am going to execute it.

Loved this weekend as I indulged myself doing what I enjoy most.

Linking this post to Patricia's Colours Dekor weekend wrapup

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collective craft.

When I received a mail from Shweta Mohapatra of collective craft, I must admit I was completely blown away by the delicate designs on stone. I believe the products really are 'poetry in stone'.

collective craft is the brainchild of Sibanand Bhol an architect from the SPA ~School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, and Shweta Mohapatra an animation film designer from NID, Ahmedabad.

Soapstone Tealight Holder...

collective craft works towards creating environmentally responsible design solutions and engaging traditional handicrafts in contemporary product in Odisha (Orissa).

Shweta and Sibanand work with artisans who have been involved in the age-old traditional stone art form of Odisha where soft soap stone is used for carving figurative forms.

The collaborative currently works towards securing rural livelihoods by generating work opportunities for artisans through interventions and innovation in design and technical processes.

Leaf Series Platters...

Granite Range Bowls...

Leaf Series Coasters...

Pink Series Coasters...

Stone Jewellery...

Their beautiful creations are retailed at~

KAMALA

Gallery 1, Rajiv Gandhi Handicrafts Bhawan,

Baba Kharak Singh Marg, New Delhi 110 001.

Ph.: +91 - 11 - 65969600 / 23743321

Shweta blogs at collective crafts

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Green green everywhere

As monsoon has arrived here in Pune, I can see lot of green everywhere. I am so in love with this lovely weather and greenery all around.

These days I google a lot about container gardening and planning to grow small but lovely terrace garden. My heart skips a beat whenever I see lot of green and lovely planters. Planters of various kind and colours add so much fun. Lot of planters and container gardening images are so beautiful that I just want to share them with all my blog readers. While searching for fancy planters and gardening I came across a master gardener Michelle Derviss's blog . She with her team creates magic in gardening world. Do check her website here.

Gardening is so much fun, you can place a series of pot

Image Source: Click here

 or you can just grow few different kind of plants in a same container

Image Source: Click here

or use completely different kind of planter like this, ceramic head pot


Image Source: Click here

or even you can use log also as a planter and believe me it looks just perfect.

Image Source: Click here


I have found lot of inspiration and can't wait till Sunday so I'm gonna start my work tomorrow itself and let me tell you friends that once I start my gardening project it will be a great fun and I am sure that I'll grow my dream garden though it will take time. Till then all ideas and inspirations are welcome to help me growing my dream terrace garden.

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Red Rocks ... Pun Intended!

I thought I'd give the inside of our home a break and spruce up the outside a bit ... especially since my beautiful friend, Vanessa, and her awesome sister, Heather, are hosting a fun Blogger Block Party coming up soon, which will include a back deck/patio party, along with many others!  Please visit their amazing blog, At The Picket Fence, (which full of talent, sentiment, wit, yummy recipes and their creative, inspiring projects), for more details!  And, I also want to thank Vanessa so very much for recently featuring my blog ... such a sweet surprise, which I sincerely appreciate!

Here is one corner of our back patio (I look forward to sharing the rest of it, as well as our porch, at the blog block party).  The rockers here used to be painted black.  And, just as I was about to spray paint them ORB, they screamed out for color.  So, that's what I gave them!  Two coats of Rustoleum Sunrise Red later and there they are in all their glory:

This is what the *tired* rockers looked like before:

Now ... they pop! 

I found this beautiful, little mosaic table at Pier One (SALE!) ... the colors are so pretty and tie in beautifully with the striped accent pillows (WalMart) that I placed on the rockers.

I redid the floral arrangements in the wall planters up above.  And, yes, I confess, I do NOT have a green thumb ... instead, I have a silk one!

I love mixing apple green, red and yellow together:

Think I might have to spend some time out here this afternoon ...

... that is, after I put a finishing touch on a patriotic wreath that my sweet friend in Virginia asked me to make for her:



Thanks for stopping by ... have a great day !!

Parties I'm linking up with:

At the Picket Fence/Inspiration Friday
Under the Table and Dreaming/Sunday Showcase
Dittle Dattle/Amaze Me Monday
Thrifty Decor Chic/Before and After Party
Savvy Southern Style/WUW
French Country Cottage/Feathered Nest Friday

Becca

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Varnam presents 'Stories of Channapatna'

Varnam~ Colours for your home, which is Karthik Vaidyanathan's venture brings to you beautiful lamps from their series called 'Stories of Channapatna'.

Each piece has been designed by Varnam and handcrafted by the artisans of Channapatna.

Channapatna is a rural town on the outskirts of Bangalore which is popular for it's wooden toys best known as Channapatna toys. The work involves lacquering the wood of 'Wrightia tinctoria tree also known as 'Aale mara'. The origin of these toys can be traced to the reign of Tipu Sultan who invited artisans from Persia to train the local artisans in making wooden toys.

Green 'Villaku' base, inspired by the traditional oil lamps...

Green base with White and Gold lamp shade...

Lamp bases in various colours...

Green lamp base with Purple Buta Shade...

Karthik says,'I have always found the 'glossy' vibrant colours of Channapatna very intriguing and wanted to explore them in a different avtaar, away from their 'toys' imagery. Since I keep a keen interest in home decor, wanted to combine the two.'

If you want to pick up any of these do drop by at

The Ants Store

#2023/B, 1st Cross, 14th A main, HAL 2nd stage,

Indiranagar, Bangalore - 560038.

Tel :- 080-4175639

from June 3rd to 5th, Fri to Sun, 11AM to 8 PM.

(images by Varnam)

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