A Peek At What's To Come

Picked up the sewing creations for Monday's install. Of course I have to get them out on my dining room table and fondle them!

Pulled out this fabric, from my secret stash, and was able to squeeze out two pillows!

These darling little chair pads are made from the curtains we took down. We also made roman shades, out of the vintage fabric, with plenty left for possibly a bed skirt and two parson chairs! Mario Buatta, 1980s, cotton chintz.

Cushions for occasional chairs made out of material by Mad Cap Cottage, a new line of fabric at Anchor Cottage. 

A pair of split reed chairs in front of the fireplace will have these hefty cushions to snuggle down in. 

"Fun and happy" to be installed on Monday.

Curtains, sofa and two swivel chairs as well as new carpeting and an area rug from Dash and Albert! Will keep you posted!

Sunday Musings

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Thinking about what I will paint over spring break! It comes early this year, Easter being April first! 2017 Easter was on April sixteen, more than two weeks later. There are not a lot of people around during Easter vacation, it seems most travel south for a few days. It will allow me extra time to tweak Anchor Cottage before it opens for the season. 

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Color is on my mind, in a big way, because I want to use yellow floral wall paper and curtains in the same pattern, but what about all the other colorways I sell in my store? 

Jenny McCloskey

The blue and white combination can take any primary color thrown at it and still keep it fresh and happy. 

Cottages & Gardens

Good light and fabrics make this room feel like a July morning.

 

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Small details, sharply contrasted, in clear tones create a beautiful display in a small nook.

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I think you are starting to get the picture!! The yellow floral, I am thinking of using, doesn't work with any of these color ways that I am drawn too. 

 

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All the above, designs, work together, so I need to tell myself to rethink my choice of wall paper and fabric and follow my instincts. 

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Or, go buy some drop dead, gorgeous earrings, and just let the yellow dictate my summer colorway at the shop. 

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Blue, green and white, fresh, clean and light! Hopefully I get it right! 

On the other hand, I want to get young enough to wear those earrings, and that may be what I am sensing for the shop. A youthful sense of design. 

There you have it! Sunday musings. 

What I Have Been Up To!

Four out of seven Amaryllis, from last year, blossomed again this holiday season. Some years I don't get them to come back at all and some years I take them to Florida and plant them, but, this year I had great luck bringing them around again!  

Are tin men hanging in your living room? This Rosemary, that I gave Steve for Christmas, has the best scent when you rub your hand over it. 

About this lamp, sofa and pillows, when we were down in North Carolina, looking at fabric, I found this faux fur and knew right away that I was going to recover Steve's Victorian sofa! 

"Found" two crackled, mustard colored vases, in Florida, brought them back to Michigan and had them wired and topped them off with black gold lined shades. Stunning. 

Steve wasn't too excited about the fur fabric until I made the pillows for the sofa. The bulls eye mirror was a great find and will be coming into the shop this spring. The lamp is still under consideration as I have a pair, do I bring them to the shop or keep one at home? We shall see!

Been rather slim pickings, out in the antique junk shops, but I managed to skim the creme off the top!

Love having the down time, in the winter, to recreate the shop for the next season. More is coming! Plus, I am getting Shorebird Design Studio up and running.

That's been my beginning of 2018!

Happy New Year!

Marshmallow Snow

We had the driest, fluffiest, drop of snow at the end of the year. 

Zero temps with below zero wind chill. 

Then along comes our January thaw. 

Enlarging our heaps of the fluffy white stuff with moisture. 

As the snow absorbs the humidity it starts growing like a marshmallow, on a stick, over the fire. 

Swelling the landscape into puffy cloud formations. 

Not quite warm enough to melt. 

One of the fun reasons for living in the Holler is all of the old outbuildings in their different shades of grey. They are always an interesting photo shoot against the changing seasons of colors. 

What would we do without Big Red? I had to pull him off the bank with the white truck last week. He is our 1984 GMC plow truck. Worth his weight in gold! 

Snow everywhere is an understatement. 

We are heading toward forty degrees by Thursday and all this snow will change to water that will turn into ice when the temps drop below freezing. Something to look forward to, a bobsled run down the driveway! 

In the mean time I am enjoying the "marshmallow snow" sculptures on my walk through the woods. 

Textures And Colors for 2018

Patrick Baty

So I have Anchor Cottage all torn up! What do I want sell in the new season? The color way is first on my mind. 

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Soft textures in earth colors. The lichen green with moss green and fresh green, grass green. Brown, blue with green. 

Jamie Meares

This green, this brown with silver accents.

 

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Rough edges, soft foliage.

 

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Once I have my visuals in sight line then they can translate into bedding, rugs, fabrics and lamps. The end result will flow across the shop. As I see, right now, the colors and textures are the hues that are seen looking out across the peninsula in these northern realms. The brights are softer and the greens are bluer with the lights of natural grasses woven together to bring around the look for the 2018 season at Anchor Cottage. 

We'll see!!

Happy New Year!

On the way to Hansen's to purchase supplies for the feast!

Slow going, blizzard vision along the bay. 

Four Filet Mignons later. 

Cozy fire. 

Setting the table for the celebration dinner. 

This photo doesn't look real! 

The bundled guests.

Nothing like a cozy New Years in the Holler. Garlic mashed potatoes, green beans and Filet Mignon in mushroom wine sauce. Blue Cheese ball with crackers to start and Bacardi Rum cake to finish. A foot of snow, eight degrees and a Magnum of champagne! The Virginians made it "over the river and through the snow" to be a part of the party.

 Happy New Year from Hoot's Holler!