African Market Basket

My sincere apologies for neglecting you.  A quick update is in order.  I mentioned that the kuba pattern I hand printed was for a charity event. I was super excited to find out that the African basket containing the tablecloth (the fabric was sewn into a tablecloth) went for close to $300 in the silent auction. Yay!  I did not get a chance to take a picture of the finished presentation but I received the image above the other day which gives you an idea of the finished tablecloth along with the basket.  Speaking of the African basket, I have one of these baskets myself and LOVE it.  My MIL brought it back for me from a farmer's market in North Carolina. Right now it functions to corral my magazine overflow but I intend to take it to the farmer’s market this summer.  Beautiful and functional.  Win!

soooo many stacks and baskets full of magazines hidden behind the table and chair

Happy Humpty Hump Day!

kisses,  mrs. V

Kuba Cloth Progress

After trying my hand on a few fabric projects, here and here, I can appreciate why hand blocked fabrics are sooo expensive.  This is a very time consuming endeavor but one that I very much enjoy.  So I made significant progress yesterday on my kuba-inspired cloth but my back officially hates me.   Let me back up for a minute and answer a few queries on my process.  I draw an image on my block, usually a linoleum covered wood block; carve out the image; if printing on fabric then I spend some time figuring out my pattern – which involves sketchy math, wonky measuring, and copious amounts of wine; the actual printing part is tedious because I re-ink my block for each impression.  For this particular project, I used two blocks to create my pattern and did a simple linear repeat.  I could have done both images on one bigger block but I didn’t have one on hand so I used two small scraps of linoleum.

And here is where printing on fabric gets sporty.  My original intent was to create a simple rectangular border as this printed fabric will be turned into a table cloth.  But then I accidentally screwed up my own pattern and had to switch gears.  Next, I planned on an all over pattern, alternating my 1-2 pattern for each row.  For instance, row 1 is a 1-2 order.  Then row 2 in a 2-1 order.  So I carried on in that fashion printing all my 1-2 rows first, doing this to allow for dry time.  But then I realized that an all over pattern, while awesome, would take me FOREVER.  Plus, my ‘client’ came by yesterday to watch some of the progress and declared that she loved it as is – no alternating rows necessary.  So stripes it is – which works because it looks sort of like an African version of the Greek key in this manner.  Thumbs up.  But I still love the idea of the all over pattern and plan on doing it for myself and making some pillows.

I’m off to give my lower back a break!

kisses,  mrs. V

My Take on Kuba Cloth

I was asked to create an African inspired cloth for a charity event.  This cloth will be turned into a tablecloth to be included in an artisan basket filled with such goodies as a turned wooden bowl, live edge wooden cutting board, and some bottles of vino.  I decided to do a loose interpretation on Kuba cloth.  I took the scale down a bit and now I am in the process of printing - a long and messy but worthwhile process.  Will share more pics when it is complete.

kisses,  mrs. V   

The Good Outnumber You

No words.  So I am borrowing them.

quote taken from here

My thoughts go out to our friends in Boston and all of humanity, really.  Because I still believe, in spite of any barbarous act, that humanity is overwhelmingly good.

kisses,  mrs. V

Angie Hranowsky's Pink Bedroom

Geesh.  This week sort of got away from me, didn’t it?!  I know I said I was going to share some of my favorite scouting haunts with you, and I intend to, but what I got for you today is just plain pretty.  By now I am sure most of you have seen the latest issue of Lonny.  Have some thoughts on the whole new helm change but I’ll save those for another day.  Instead today I want to focus on Angie Hranowsky’s feature of her new home.  Love love her work.  Super love her new pinky-t bedroom.  No big shocker there.   Really dig how she used color and art (the art!) to put her personal stamp on a rental.  That living room is bananas good too!

I die for this vignette - especially that nudey nude

All images from Lonny

Here’s to Friday!!

kisses,  mrs. V

And the Winner Is...

Well hoo-ray!  Lindsay is our lucky little lady this morning.  Your cocktailing just got a little more chic!  Thank you to everyone who entered.  I am a gifty kind of gal so rest assured there will be mucho opportunity to getcha some Chez V love.  As I said on Friday, I enjoy making stuff and sharing it with my friends, and you, my dears, are quickly becoming just that!

Today is a scouting day which means I will be out and about looking for goodies and inspiration.   One question I get asked most often is where I do I find stuff.  The short answer is everywhere.  But specifically, I have some regular haunts that I scout frequently.  Tomorrow I will talk more about where I scout and the key to finding the good stuff.

Have a great Tuesday - most productive day of the week!

kisses,  mrs. V

 

Brown Thumb

Successfully killed both of my fiddle leaf figs.  Sad but true.  Nothing left but sad little brown sticks where once there were beautiful waxy leaves.   That’s what I get for following the design flock.  Should have known my brown thumb would show it’s true colors.  I can  maintain outdoor plantings just fine but my indoor plants seem to always suffer from neglect.  I simply forget to water.  Or in the rarer case of the figs, I over watered them when I first got them and they promptly began a slow decline into hibernation and eventual demise.  My first instinct was to run back out to Ikea to pick up some more but I stumbled across this specimen on the 50% rack at Lowe’s and it called out to me.  It is already in a stressed state from over watering so I figured my skimpy attention would be just the sort of attention it needs.  At $10, I am not going to fret if I kill it.  I sort of love that I have a specimen standard that is not as predictable as a fig.

Don’t forget about my giveaway.  You have until midnight EST, tonight to enter to receive a personalized glass tumbler.  Good luck!

All photos and layouts by mrs. V unless otherwise noted

kisses,  mrs. V

Life at Chez V - A Story in Pictures

First things first.  Hello to some new faces!  Feel free to poke around a bit.  I think you will find that there is always some sort of situation happening around Chez V.  What you see is a very close approximation of what happens behind the scenes IRL.   A lot of what I do every day is borne out of my need to simply create and a desire to elevate my everyday moments.  That and the fact that I am crazy inspired by beautiful gestures. As a result, most days you will find me creating something, whether it is a gift for someone, a piece of art for myself, or a wonderful meal for guests.  It’s just what I do.  All the time.  So today I thought I would give you a glimpse from the archives because pictures tell a far better story of life at Chez V than I ever could. 

photo by Merrilee Luke-Ebbeler

As an incurable perfectionist, you will likely find me worrying over details.  Never mind that I might look like I am in pain, really I am insanely happy worrying about the pursuit of perfection.  Like the saying goes, it’s not even a little bit about the destination, but rather about the imperfectly lovely and chaotic journey getting there.  The details are the fabric of my life.  And as such, I am always going to worry those details into something special and significant – hence the tag line ‘perfecting the art and aesthetics of living.’  Life isn’t always beautiful and it is certainly never perfect so a lot of the time I fall hysterically flat on my arse and short of my aim but I hope you will stick around for the antics as I continue to share our life at Chez V.

PS - don't forget to enter my giveaway.  Details here.

All photos and layouts by mrs. V unless otherwise noted

kisses,  mrs. V