~Merry Christmas to All~

( antique German Manger ~ family heirloom)

I wish everyone a joyous Christmas from my heart to yours & may all your Christmas dreams come true this holiday season. I am off to my family's home to enjoy Turkey dinner and lots of (spiked) apple cider. mmm....

This is one of my favourite family heirlooms. From my Mom's side of the family a manger brought back here from Germany. This has always taken center stage for me, before all the Christmas trees. As a child I always wanted to set up where Mary and Jesus would be placed in the manger and the three wise men caring gifts. I loved unwrapping them all from their tissue paper and bringing them to life & adding the final touches, sprinkling the hay.

A little side note~I would like to apologize for the lack of post this month. This is my busy, busy season and between running here and there, plus loosing hours due to sooooo much snow haven't had any time to post. I will be back up and running right after the new year. I have been working on finishing the final touches to my La marque croit le Château (pretend chateau) floor plan, so until then, may everyone enjoy the holiday they may be celebrating this time of year.

Merry Christmas too All!

Warm hugs ~Miss Kris~

Orange LOVE

I do love the color ORANGE!!! Maybe it is because my Grandparents would send me oranges and grapefruit from Florida, to here in Chicago during our cold winters. Or maybe it reminds me of getting off the plane at the Tampa Bay Airport in the springtime and smelling the orange blossoms. Simply put orange reminds me of my Grandparents and always brings BIG SMILE to my face. These are some of my favorite orange images...

I love the orange tones of this french home.

(image courtesy of Art & Decoration)

This image is so lovely to me. The ironwork is to die for!!! Plus this orange terracotta pot is pretty with the warmness that plays off the outside orange stucco.

(image courtesy of Art & Decoration)
Another Pretty image of ORANGE!!!

(image courtesy of Veranda)
Tulips are one of my favorite flowers and in this orangie blush color playing off the pretty pillow is stunning!!!

(image courtesy of coming soon)

Nothing like a ride on an orange VESPA... Although I wouldn't know, but I would love to find out. It is just too cute!

(image courtesy of Veranda)
These lovely orange fabrics I would never think would play off the natural linen, It works!!! the warmth from the orange cools a bit from the linen. I really like that! I love the little window opening outward.

(image courtesy of Southern Accents)

Orangie, blushy full silk taffeta window treatments. Enough said!

(image courtesy of Art & Decoration)

The orange glow off a candle.

(image courtesy of Veranda)

This may be one of my all time favorite bedrooms. I love the softness in the peachy striped soft walls, with the taffeta window treatments and the burl wood sleigh bed. I love the small touches of the brown on the throw and the velvet covering on the stool. It is not one thing I love but the whole picture. And I love the gilt gold chandelier. Breathtaking!!!

These little watercolors I picked up in Montmartre the last time in Paris.

They are about 5X7 and are not matted or framed yet.

This is the last of the pretty little watercolors. When I look at them it reminds me of my time in Paris. sigh......
I have a quick question...I would love to get them framed, although I am clueless what to do. Should I keep the matting and frames white or should I make them more colorful? Or should I just simply tack them up with old tacks for a different look? I would love to hear your input.

I love the pop of orange in the nectarines & on a cold blustery day in Chicago I would love to be by a warm sea.

I simply love, love, LOVE this pretty lacey table cloth.

I would love to take a break and enjoy a lovely book here at this chippy white bench against the orange glow off the sunset.

Au revoir ~ Miss Kris~

a little princess room & my first give-a-way winner!

And the winner is ~ Janie for my first give-a-way. Yeah! The elves are singing and lighting firecrackers. Boom, boom, kaboom! Soooo much excitement in the air! Congratulations Ms Janie!!!:o)

I gave Janie options for the give-a-way. She choose a acrylic rendering of her nursery. I painted her nursery a few years ago & her twins are grown and ready to have their own room and this is going to be a keepsake for her to treasure for years.

Each of the twins beds had a canopy, for the little girl a pretty pink castle and the little boy had a little brown & white dog on his. This room was so much fun to add special touches with my brushes. Congratulations again Janie and I'll get out to you a quick sketch for approval before painting your keepsake.

This last week I have been a tad busy with the start of this little princess room. I am having a lovely time ,excluding my neck %!*#ouch!!!). To tell you a little bit about this little princess, she loves pinks, lavender & blue ~which her mom says today it's her favorite color. In her room she wants a pretty princess, lots of glitter and sparkles.

This above image is of the princess' carriage, if you look through the window you will see the princess castle. I still have LOTS to do, the walls are going to have white stripes with little pink flowers. The coffered ceiling is painted a beautiful shade of lavender which I will paint soft clouds and put lots of magical stars and on top of the stars will be small touches of glow-in-the-dark paint. I am going to paint a canopy over the bed with a crown with lots of rhinestones and more glitter with some zebra pull backs & some more SPARKLES. I have a princess to paint next to her dresser, a chandelier, family dog on black iron pedestal and lastly a picture of ballerina slippers under the chandelier. I am sure I am missing something.

A close-up of the lantern on the carriage. I think I should add more dripping wax on the bottom. hmmm and maybe more glitter. More magical I think is better for this princess. She loves helping me with the glitter and the crystals.

Close-up of the castle scene. Tell me your thoughts on this room and also if I'm forgetting anything that a princess should have. Well I am off to take a long hot shower and an evening of rest before tomorrow.

Au revoir! ~Miss Kris~

~Sweet Dreams~

(courtesy of Home and Garden)

It is time to dream of pretty embroidered linens, soft floral prints, sumptuous satins and delicate laces. I love everything about this bedroom. Look at the lovely picture frame over the headboard and the painted harlequin pattern floor. I also think the canopy panels are done in a natural silk taffeta. Love Taffeta, I think I could have taffeta window treatments in every room of my home!!!

(courtesy of Home and Garden)

This lovely bedroom is covered in layers of beautiful floral pink prints. The walls seem to be painted in soft pinky peach and washed in white which seems to give it a beautiful cloudy effect.

(courtesy of Home and Garden)
Ohhhh, i love the carving and the caning of this bed all painted in white. In this volatile market we might just be able to find something close in style at a consignment shop. And with a fresh coat of white paint and some vintage quilts this might actually be achievable

I love English gardens. And this beauty takes me right there. I could definitely achieve sweet dreams here.

This room is so sweet. I love all the quilting, from the bed skirts to the bedding and the pretty soft grey blue one resting upon the white iron frame. My favorite is the pretty white lacey top sheet. This is one item I can never do without ~ white sheets. Also white towels ~ Love them!

A darling bed for a little girl. I love the baskets under the bed to place all those little lost toys for the night.


This room is so pretty and soft. For me though I need just a bit more color or umph... Maybe just a tad lighter on the walls could do it for me or perhaps a white wash strip. What do you think?



I could definitely make this my spare bedroom. I love the pops of pink, just enough umph (color).

I do love canopies, having one as a tot, I always felt safe. Do you notice the wood beams on the left side of the picture? I can almost in vision a wood burning fireplace in the corner. What a lovely!

Wow! This room is all about different textures done in whites and pinks. My favorite is the large pink check on the headboard/foot board and chair. What room is your favorite?

I hope everyone has sweet dreams this weekend!

~Miss Kris~

Holiday GIVE AWAY! yup, that's right!

North Pole

(18x24" canvas with wooden dowel and ribbons)

This is my 2008 Christmas Collection, all are hand-painted, sprinkled with lots of Love & drizzling with lots sparkles. My north pole hand-painted wall hanging was actually introduced last year & I decided to include it in this years collection. It is still my favourite.

Candy Faerie Land

(18x24" canvas with wooden dowel and ribbons)

This is my new hand-painted wall hanging, 3 little candy cane faeries, crystallized Christmas ornaments with special words like "Wish", "believe" & "twinkle" on them. Lots of sugar candies laying around in the crisp, fresh snow. Finished off in candy coated swirls. Sugar Kisses.

Red nosed reindeer

(12x17" hand-carved wood)

This little cute reindeer is surround by berries with holly and pretty white snow flakes. With a tiny touch of gold. And you can pick your own saying or perhaps a little ones name from Nana with 2008 included.

Cutie Snow Angel

(12x17" hand carved wood)

A cute snow angel with lots of snow flakes and a tiny touch of gold. You can also specify another saying instead of Happy Holidays.

Sugar Faerie

(12x17" hand carved wood)

This sugar faeries is holding a little box and is surrounded by lots of candy. Candy canes and sugar drops...mmmmm

I would love to hear what you think of my new Christmas items. I'm planning a give away from my Christmas Collection this week. All the names of those of you who comment on my items will be placed in the hat for the drawing. The drawing will close Sunday (11/17) by 11pm central time.

~Miss Kris~

A Pink Pretty

This is a Pink Pretty my Mom made and I wanted to share with everyone. My mom is a wonderful needle pointer. She spends her retired days stitching all sorts of pretties. This is one of my favorites and she won 1st prize!

My passion for painting and designing has come from her. She has a wonderful eye for color and as a tot I loved going to the stiching store to help pick out threads. I can't wait for her to get her Christmas tree up so I can share all her needle point stockings with you. They are small and sweet & come in all sorts of colours and are very eceltic.

I'd love to hear what passions you have that were helped upon the way from your parents or grandparents.

May you have a great day!

~Miss Kris~

Fairy Princess Dreams part deux

These are more images from the Fairy Princess Room ~ actually the Princess Bathroom. Way up, up in the clouds, lives lots of faeries. This magical faerie town is drizzling with crystals, sequins & lots of glitter. All the stars are finished off in a crystal and glow-in-the-dark paint. A darling bathroom fit only for a princess.

Princess Zebra Flower Clock~It's a real clock

more towers with lots of windows & a trees.

This wonderful family enjoyed the summer in Venice and they all made masks & this princess had the most colourful mask, hmmm, I wonder if this room inspired her, nope! It was the princess who inspired me. I love little ones imaginations. They have such wonderful ideas. Thank you Princess Maggie!!! Well, that completes this mural tour & I hope you enjoyed this lovely princess room?

May everyone have a GREAT WEEKEND!

~Miss Kris~

Fairy Princess Dreams

Today I finally had the chance to go back & take more pictures of this mural I finished awhile ago.

This room was completely inspired by a four year old wonderful imagination. She told me everything she wanted in her room. A few princesses, lots of animals, from elephants, rhino, hippo, zebra, giraffe, red panda (Lincoln Park Zoo has one) and so many more. Castles, rainbows and also a lovely white swan. Since this little princess loved animals I made them come to life completely dressed for the occasion, dressed in lots of jewels! In the end this room was drizzling in lots of crystals, sequin and lots of glitter. What a lucky little princess...

And more pictures!

Bunk bed topped with a beautiful tiara corona with pretty feathers, beads & more crystals.

When painting trees, on the darker leaves I suggest painting a top coat of light green glitter paint, this gives a really special effect. Makes a magical space for any princess!

May everyone have a great Princess day!

~Miss Kris~

Red,White & Blue

Don't forget to vote, Americans!

The world is watching and soon we will have a new president elect for The United States of America. It is going to be a very exciting day!

~Miss Kris~

COCO *ALERT*

Hi Everyone! I apologize if I am behind but, "Have you heard yet?" that Audrey Tautou is playing Coco Chanel in an upcoming movie expected to be out sometime next year (2009) titled Coco before Chanel. It is still in it's pre-production stage. I can not wait to see it!!! I am saying it again I can not wait to see it!

My reason why I can not wait to see the Audrey Tautou movie is, I fell in love with another version of Coco Chanel's life on The Lifetime Channel staring Shirley MacLaine as the older Coco and an actress I never heard of until now ~ the lovely Barbora Bobulova as the younger Coco. It was a WONDERFUL movie!!! So romantic and the scenes were so beautiful. I never knew too much about Coco Chanel but she had a beautiful story to tell besides just about her clothing/products etc. If you have seen the Lifetime Movie version let me know your thoughts on it.

***Spoiler Alert*** Don't read this paragraph if you have not yet seen the Lifetime movie. Coco and Etienne Balsan were so wonderful together! In that, the Lifetime version I saw. I want to believe that they would have ended up together. Someday. If it wasn't for his untimely death. sigh sigh...

Please let me know if anyone has heard anymore about the Audrey Tautou movie ~ Coco before Chanel or if you have any comments about the Lifetime Movie about Coco Chanel

~Miss Kris~

Bastide de Charme

Hi Everyone! I am sharing with you one of my all time favorite images of a home from the Bouches du Rhone area in southern France. This magazine (Maison Francaise Juin 99) has traveled with me from my time in St Louis Missouri & even sorta inspired my first mural in the furniture store I was a buyer for. I'll share that mural with you in a later post.

If my foyer had similar architecture I would love for it to look exactly like this. Not one single change. I love the iron chandelier. The tiled floor. OMG the iron railing! And I love LOVE LOVE the walls. Such lovely shades of soft greens & robin's egg blue mixed in with beautiful simple touches of gold. And the sky ceiling~so soft. I would never leave my foyer.

Plus, I would love to paint this! It would be a few days of heaven for me!

~Sorry about the images~

The soft green & robin's egg blue walls is being carried into the parlor with the beautiful gold touches again. I'm not into the bright color so much but this is stunning to my eyes. I love the double french door in a celedon wash. It just feels like HEAVEN!


The garden grounds. The statues just beautiful! The rustic iron door knocker is so charming against the lovely shade of the French Blue Door.


So lovely! I can almost feel the sunset against my face. OK, I'm just dreaming for a bit.
I love the cute lanterns reflecting off the beautiful patina of the stone terrace and the water. Lovely!

So that is it. Thank you for taking this journey with me! Let me know your thoughts of this place?

Have a great day Everyone!

~Miss Kris~