LaBellaMaison

A Few Random Things

If you have the opportunity to visit St. Louis you will want to check out Historic St. Charles.  St. Charles is located about 25 miles Northwest of St. Louis.  The unique setting will  make it a must see.  Main street of St. Charles has its original cobblestone bricks preserved from the 1800's.  Apparently, the street were designed for the main mode of transportation  of the time horse and buggy carriages.  The all brick buildings take you back in time in their style and architecture.  The majority of the building now house retail shops that line Main Street for several blocks along with private residences & cafes.

The retail shops are geared primarily for tourist; but it still is a fun place to visit.  There are several antique shops in the area which of course are my favorite places to explore.  And there is another historic district called Frenchtown which appears to have been booming back in the day.  With the troubled economy, there are quite a few vacant businesses but a few antique shops still open.

I was lucky enough to find these great vintage sack cloths from Francesca's:

And I was thrilled to find this book at Mattie's Heritage Antiques in Frenchtown on Second Street:

The cover of this book is beautiful but the inside pages are even more special:

I cannot wait to use this book for one of my future art projects.  Lastly, I am back to working on my art journal.  I purchased some great watercolors and acrylic paints that are so fun to use.  After visiting Pam Garrison's Flickr & her Journal Q & A I have a much better idea of which materials to use to make your journal great.  I also am enjoying following Hope Wallace in her journal journey.  Hope you might find inspiration to start your own journal today. Happy weekend!

I've Been A Bad Blogger

Well I admit...... I have been a bad blogger.  I think it is a mixture of several things.  One is that I kinda have been in a creative fog due to all the things that have been or have not been going on in my life.  Now, I know that is a confusing statement!  But, to say it simply I have been stuck in a rut trying to decide what path to take next towards my move to St. Louis.  Charlie has been working there since February and it really is time for me to join him there.....  The  problem which I have written about before is that we are waiting for our house in Seattle to sell.

Sadly, I have to report that there has been no movement in the sale of our house.  So now, we are trying to sell or rent it...... whatever comes first.  But, in the meantime we have also had to consider renting our Phoenix home in order to comfortably make the move to St. Louis.  Happily, I can report that we have found an awesome house to rent beginning in July. 

The house is exactly what I would have selected if I was building a house myself.  The couple we are renting our home from are going overseas for three years so it has worked out perfectly for us.  So now we are on to making lots of decisions about the other two homes which has been mentally overwhelming.  Thus, the lack of blogging and inspiration.........  But, now I promise to do better!

Anyway, I went to St. Louis this past week and I do have to say there are some awesome neighborhoods.  Charlie and I went to dinner one evening in The Central West End.  I really loved this area and thought it would be awesome place to live.

This area is filled with great homes, shoppes, and restaurants.  I definitely would encourage you to check it out if you are ever in St. Louis.

There are lots of other historic neighborhoods in St. Louis such as University City and Webster Groves with great homes.  I'll have to share with you historic downtown St. Charles next......

You Won't Believe This

Just wanted to let you know that The Bohemian Bliss Soiree & Vintage Vagabond Market was awesome!  It was over the top with fantastic vendors, music, ambiance, home tours, and much much more.  And best of all there were so many great artsy people there who love the same things I do. 

 I gabbed with several Bella's  who attended Silver Bella last year.  They will be back to join the party in Omaha again this November!  It was fun to reminisce about our bella experiences and the classes we had enrolled in.  Check out Maija's & Mary Smilove's blogs for more inspiration.  My friend Tricia is planning a fabulous trip in July to California to take classes at Mary's studio and a day of flea marketing at the Long Beach Flea Market.  Sounds like heaven doesn't it?

The only sad part of the evening was that as soon as I got ready to take my first picture my camera battery had died and left me high and dry..........  Luckily Tricia has some  great pictures on her site.  You can go here to Vintage Bliss & check out some of the evening's photos.  And of course Blissful Living Blog has awesome photographs.  I did purchase several goodies at the event like this for a special friend:

This beautiful bag was made by Minnie one of the Blissful Living Studio's teachers.  She and her mother were vendors at the event and her mom had some beautiful paintings I would have loved to have.  The two homes decorated by Kristin & Dan Alber were stylishly furnished with vision and forethought!  I really apologize for not having any pictures of these but perhaps when they go up for sale I can post some then?

And to make up for my lack of photographs, I will share a peek at a project that I am working on:

A little more stitching......... a sample that I am making as a tribute to my mother.  Happy Monday!