A Very Chinoiser-V Easter

Would you believe me if I said I set out to make deep pink eggs? I really did.  Of course I was going to make hot pink eggs.  Hello?! #favoritecolor.  They were not too pretty.  Something to do with my pink gel food coloring – it was all grainy and stuff, leaving all sorts of speckled glop on the eggs.  My perfectionist brain fractured and I almost quit right there.  But I had promised my 4 yr old a day of messy Easter Egg dye.  I briefly considered resorting to a PAAS kit.  But that is such a lame punk out thing to do and the resultant colors are always so limp.  Really, the truth is I didn’t want to go to the store.  So I went back into my stash of gel food colorings and opted for a darker situation.  This go round I was going for a rich turquoise.  And on paper, the paper towels that is, it worked.  The eggs, not so much.  But I love the happy accident.  The blue reminded me of an Imperial Chinese blue.  And as with all roads, this one leads back to Chinoiserie.  So even though I declared I wanted to get away from my standard blue and white for Easter – well, I give you blue and white Easter eggs and a chinoiserie-inspired table.

As for the eggs themselves, this is what I did.  I drew some motifs on contact paper, cut them out, and adhered them to the cooled hard-boiled eggs.  Not surprisingly, some of the dye seeped under a few edges.  I have tried similar methods with electrical tape with similar seepage results so I wasn’t all that surprised.  To clean up the edges, I used white paint and a fine brush to touch up the silhouettes.  I am not worried about the paint on these eggs as they won’t be eaten.

I had to.  COULD. NOT. RESIST. a pink egg with gold accent.  I blame my DNA.  You can see the speckling here that happened with the first batch of botched pink ones – which I suppose is kind of cool if you are going for a speckled egg look but clearly I was not.

Have a good Friday on this Good Friday!

All photos and layouts by mrs. V unless otherwise noted

kisses,  mrs. V

V is for Vignette

we're just going to ignore the dust on top of my armoire, m'kay?

Snippets from around the house today and a dirty little secret.  Vignettes are my visual jam but I am no good at creating my own.  This is due in part to the reality of sharing space with a very inquisitive 4 year old.  She simply cannot resist fiddling with things, especially shiny ones.  And who can blame her?  So when I land on a little display that is visually appealing to me, it is usually dismantled as I am walking away.  Can’t tell you how many times I have found one of my brass animals in P’s laundry bin.  But the other very real part is that I have yet to master the wizardry behind vignettes.  And by wizardry, I mean the nebulous mix of mathematics, scale, and visual instinct.  I use the rule of 3s often as a starting point, but I am never any good at following rules.  So I usually fiddle and piddle until my eye tells me something looks good – which works for me about 75% of the time.  But I’d like to be a yo vinny pro.   Someone who can walk up to a bookshelf and in a handful of minutes, rearrange it into a thing of beauty.  So I am setting out to train my eye and perhaps I will do a regular feature where I dissect a vignette for its successful elements.  For today, I will leave you with this lovely little vinny.

via

What do you think works here?  For me, I like the contrast of textures.  The counterpoint of the wood against the rough architectural finial things.  And that modern piece in that gilt frame?!  Yep.  Oh and hey, rule of 3s in action.  Do you follow a vignette formula or do you arrange by instinct?  Or combination of both?

All photos and layouts by mrs. V unless otherwise noted

kisses,  mrs. V

I'm Not Talking About the Weather Again, Except That I Am

I swore to myself that I absolutely would not mention this pitiful weather again.  I mean, only old people constantly talk about the weather, right?  But that is the only topic of conversation at Chez V right now.  The mr. knows how affected I am by the winter blues, so he has taken to consulting his weather app hourly in an effort to convince me that the sun will indeed come out some day soon and that temps will actually rise above 40 degrees.  Yesterday greeted me with even more snow.  And I discovered that the rabbits and deer have made a veritable feast of my emerging tulips.  Not surprising, given the Ice Age is upon us.  I went off the rails.  So much so that he kindly suggested I get the hell out of Dodge.  A quick trip is not in the cards so I went for the next best mood enhancer – color, in the form of flowers.  These orange tulips seemed a fitting replacement for my decimated bulbs.  Immediately my mood was improved after placing bursts of color around the house.  The photo bombs didn't hurt either.

Hey, hey, remember me, jazz hands? Check me out over here

Pensive, you say, I can do pensive

I can never quite steer completely away from my blue, but the orange is a nice change from my standard white

In complete irreverent defiance, rather than my occasional yoga, today I am making some insanely good cherry bars.  No matter about my hips, cuz Spring ain't coming.

All photos and layouts by mrs. V

kisses,  mrs. V

My Blue and White needs some Coral and Mint

I am off in search of inspiration today.  While this classic blue and white is my go to combo, I am in need of some serious color right now.  With all the white on the ground, my blues need a lift.  Gonna get some Easter vibe up in this joint.  Back at ya tomorrow after I take care of my flower sitch and perhaps some baking.  Might as well add insult to injury.

Ahem, STILL Groundhog’s Day around here.

All photos and layouts by mrs. V

kisses,  mrs. V

Tales From the Projects - the Blockprinting Continues

I’m told that a sure sign of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result.  And yet every morning I run to the window in hopes that Spring has truly arrived only to have my dreams dashed again and again when welcomed by freezing temps and SNOW again.  Middle finger groundhog.  Longest winter ever.  Beginning of Spring my ass.  I am getting downright cranky.  Any semblance of handling this extra long cold spell with grace is long gone.  In true koo koo fashion, I am consumed in my own endless loop.  Lots of drawing, carving, and printing.  And repeat.  Thankfully, in this case, I am getting the desired result.  This is my latest fabric run.  The siren in ultramarine.

It’s an endless Groundhog’s Day around here.  How about where you are?

All photos and layouts by mrs. V

kisses,  mrs. V

Scenes From the Weekend

In spite of current temperatures, there is evidence that Spring is, in fact, on its way.  These lovely little daffodils came from my MILs yard.  We spent most of the weekend indoor.  Boo.  But instead of going stir crazy, we channeled that energy into some long unfinished projects.  Yeah.  Progress has been made.  And that concludes my short story for today.  Hush, it’s Monday.

P.S.  If you’re looking for evidence of said progress, then I kindly suggest you follow me on Instagram where my Chez V antics are captured IRL.

All photos and layouts by mrs. V

kisses,  mrs. V