Rue de Edwardo - Paris Mural

What Timing! I start my blog and tell everyone of my love for French and a lovely Parisian cafe mural drops into my hands. Timing is everything!

This mural all started with a lovely couple (who are actually friends of the family) and they told me what they were looking for. They handed me some framed pictures of work from an artist I am so aware of Viktor Shvaiko. He captures such romance in his paintings. His work is simply amazing!

They tell me just a few things they would like to see - a cafe window scene, an awning over the bar with swags on each side and some aged walls with brick. So I go back to the studio and begin to sketch. In my original sketch I was not going to paint the door. But after careful consideration I thought it would add more dimension! So voila! I made the door into a glass door and inside I added a hand wrought iron staircase. I also added a sign next to the door "Bridgette's Boutique" This is her daughter's name and now she has a boutique over the cafe. Anything is possible with paint!
After the door was finished, she asked if I would be able to paint her family dog. "Of course!" I say, she doesn't know it but I love painting animals;) Animals have been a favorite of mine to paint since I was a tiny tot.
Close-up of Scruffy's face

One of the happiest flowers - Daisies
I painted her daughter's name in the mural and I now I need to get their son's in here as well - Edward- Rue de Edwardo. The sign at the corner is for cafe Bistro - Le Berger
The swag at one end of the bar and a flowering tree.
close-up of cafe window
This is the cafe before I put on the stucco walls and brick.

I hope you will enjoy and I hope to perhaps inspire some budding artist to create something wonderful! Au revoir!

Hello Lovely Fall!

Hello Autumn! It is the first full week of autumn here and it's time to get my house in order. So me and my family spent Saturday at a lovely place called Didier Farms which is about an hour north of Chicago. I felt I was at little town fair. Pony rides, Hugh Slides & Hay rides... Hotdogs, Carmel apples, Freshly popped corn, Elephant Ears & Sweet corn all under a big red top and right next was a old halo with little piglets squeaking for their mommy.

I ran right for the food! An ear of sweet corn... freshly dipped in butter. mmm... & decided to start looking for some pretty pumpkins. But I had to first stop at these lovely mums.
I took home some lovely orange and dark red mums.


These Radio Flyer Wagons were so cute all lined up waiting to get snatched up to fill with lots of goodies.
Some lonely pumpkins waiting for their owners to come get them!:(

These little plastic containers are filled with lots of sweets. And yes I did take some home and they are already gone! mmmmm hehe
Mmmmm...more fresh food...Acorn squash...I can not wait to bake some of these in butter and lots of brown sugar!
ohhh so hard to decide which ones to take home...The dilemmas I have ;)

I thoughts these were the most beautiful pumpkins I have ever seen! Soft grays, greens, oranges and yes, even lavender tones. I took one home to put on my dining table. I think it will look lovely with my Grandma's china & her monogrammed silverware & some antique linen made by my great great Grandma back in Germany. I will definitely post some pictures later this month of my dining table.

Happy Autumn to you all!!!

Oh my P.O.S.H!

I found this wonderful small shop that is full of unique treasures with lots of personality! It's called P.O.S.H Chicago & it's right here in Chicago.

How about a whispery pale robins-egg blue high fired ceramic ware decorated with delicate filigree & Chez Germain logo in white. They also have matching mug and plate but I would love to place this on a simple white plate...Oh and they have lots of those too...
How about a little dash of this or a little smidgen of that. Oh my Gosh! I Love these! Especially since I was not blessed with any sense of cooking or baking. he he
C'est le coeur qui fait valoir les mots." It is the heart that gives meaning to words...I still love the art of lettre writing. Wouldn't you love to receive a lovely hand written lettre on a soft pastel harlequin pattern? Directly from France! The Reservoir Absinthe Glass. They also have a beautiful Absinthe Fountain. So french...the sugar cube. These come nicely wrapped. So sweet! (lol)

How about French Farm Meal-time Set for your little one. The darling drawings of cutey animals are labeled in French!

Or perhaps a tin full of the alphabet cards in French. I would love these for me! Perhaps place them in my studio.

I definitely need to get this one...remember paint by number? This comes with 8 other pictures to paint as well. A lovely ballerina, a pretty fall scene & lots more although The Eiffel Tower painting is all I need.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

If you would like to check this place out here is the link P.O.S.H Chicago.

A "jungle" BIG boy room...

A Big Boy Jungle Room...This room began with the help of a little five year old imagination. The sweet boy sat in with his mom & I on our first meeting. He loves animals his mom told me. He tells me he wants "gorillas, elephants, snake, bear & an alligator" in his room. He also knew exactly where he wanted them. So the sketch began...

Before

Then the painting starts...This picture is at the end of Day One.

The final picture.

"I want an alligator under the window in a pond. I also want the teeth cleaner bird in his mouth."

momma and baby gorillas-nesting

Baby elephant playing in a pond

The final pictures & 4 days later...A jungle room for a little boy to grow into. I also added in the tree a growth chart camouflaged in the tree trunk to mimic wood carving in the tree. This room was great fun to paint! Best of all one day I was able to see him in his space playing make-believe with all the animals.

A great thing about a mural is that colors can be completely custom to the homeowners taste. She loved the green in the leaves. It really pops!

What do you think? What would you change or add to a jungle room?

Lavender Love

(image from - The English Home)

Love is "pauple" at the age of four. My mom let me pick out my first Big Girl Room color - it was a lovely soft shade of lavender & my carpet was deep purple (lol). I now am having a new fond love for lavender.

How about having a lavender space be a gentle fountain in a luscious garden. I love, love this picture! I would someday like to paint it.

(image from - The English Home)

Perhaps surround my fountain in Willow Veil (lavandula stoechas) scents.

(image from - The English Garden)

Maybe having a lavender lady's une pièce de poudre( a powder room) painted in a soft gray ( to duplicate the lovely fountain) & place my lavender accent in a beautiful chair in front of my make-believe antique vanity. This criss cross backing is heavenly!

I would definitely have my vanity surrounded by aromatic linen sprays in lavender scents of course.

I think I am forgetting a beautiful floral arrangement to sit atop my antique vanity for my guest to view. Maybe something simple like this...just one perfectly bloomed periwinkle hydrangea in a clear glass vase. Viola!

What would your lavender space be?

The Lovely Villa Anna...

Villa Anna

A visit to the Lovely Villa Anna Blog is a must see...Anna comes to us from across the pond in beautiful Australia. Once you step into Anna's world you will be delighted by her wonderful images.

My first visit to her wonderful blog was by happenstance when I was searching for an interior designer - Ginny Magher whose Provence Farmhouse is at the top of my all time favorite home EVER! Anna did a delightful post of her Atlanta home which is as amazing as her Provence home.

Anna's blog opened a new world for me. I spent a few days looking at her every post and sometimes even twice. I felt like a blog stalker but she has such a wonderful eye to everything beautiful! I never knew that blogs existed for us francophiles. It is such a great find! Because of Anna I decided to give the blogger world a try. Anna has also reminded me of my first love which is homes, especially French Homes and her blog has lots of them to drool over. Thank you Anna!!!

Let's Take a Journey...

I guess a formal introduction is where I should start, I'm lover of everything to do with interiors mainly French. I love chocolate, champagne, great friends and family & definitely food!!! A good foreign film, a trip to the Art Museum or a new interior book will make my day! Oh and I'm also a painter. My first art class was when I was four years old in an art gallery in my home town. I was the only little one in my class and was I in heaven! I have a formal background in Interior Design and I worked many years in the furniture industry in St Louis, Missouri. Today I am dabbling in an art profession which includes murals and some wall art.

A perfect day for me would be window shopping in Saint Germain Des Pres with a fresh Baguette in hand from Paul's Bakery or perhaps sitting at home flipping through my favorite magazines with an iced sweet tea at my side & a sketch pad in hand thinking up my perfect home or maybe painting a playful mural capturing someones thoughts onto a wall where there are no boundaries.

In my blog I'd like to share my journey with you on my life, my loves and some of my works. I hope you'll be patient with me as I learn my way around the blog world and I'd love to hear your thoughts with me as I grow as a painter and designer. xoxo Miss Kris