Rachel Ashwell Giveaway

 

Hey all! Just a friendly reminder that this

wonderful giveaway ends tomorrow!

One of these two books will end up in one lucky readers home!!!

Autographed!!!

Let’s make these last minutes of madness crazier!

BLOG ABOUT IT EVERYONE!!!

Visit Rachel Ashwell Blog and say hello!!!

Final, Thank you for helping me spread the word!

Debra over at Common Ground,

&

Jennifer from The Old Painted Cottage

you gals are amazing!

Good Luck!!!

Have a beautiful day!!!

Master Boudoir Sneak Peek!

 

 

My wonderful, loving, & ohh so cute hubby,

surprised me this past weekend with a private lesson in photography,

with Patrick.

Mr. T even bought me some professional lighting.  Love, love him.

He supports everything I do.

Anyhoo, to make a long session short, I finally am able to shoot in Manual Mode, and OMGOSH!!!

The possibilities are endless!!!

It made me realize how much more there is to learn about my  camera!

So….

 

This girl is going back to school.   I have enrolled in a

digital photography class this fall at a local college.  I will start from there and see where it goes…

My girlfriend Jennifer is going to be my partner in crime…

I love  my collection of vintage bibles, books and

luggage!   The stories they must have!

 All these photos are of a sneak peek into our Boudoir.

They are all shot in Manuel Mode.

It makes a huge difference and it is so much fun to photograph this way.

As I go through my class

I will share all the tips I learn with you.

Can’t wait …

You can create your own formulas on Manuel Mode.

The more you learn, the more you want to know. 

I have mentioned before I would go to school forever. I love to learn. Its fun.

I am a Interior Designer (CLSB) ,  I graduated from Culinary school

and now more than ever, can’t wait to learn more about photography.

 

This is my favorite chair! It

was a gift from my girlfriend 4 years ago.

I will never get rid of it!

I re-upholstered it and wa la!!

 I love anything monogrammed!

Shutter and pillow from here.

I have a pair of these shutters and tons of ideas.

I pulled the vintage, etched mirror out and added 

vintage French books.  I just love looking at them.

I have  a few things to do in this room.

But, I have finally found my dream bed!

She will be here soon. Lol…

 

 I am working a lot this week and hope to visit everyone!

Sorry for being so absent.

Master Boudoir to be continued…

Have a beautiful day friends!

Always,

Recipes, Thank you and More…

 

Rapini (Broccoli Rabe)  is a favorite healthy

Italian dish that only my mom can make perfect!

I think that know matter how old we are, we still want mom’s cooking...

Here is my quick version.

 Rinse and cut off stems!

I use to add red pepper flakes but, to hot for the little one.

So, just added olive oil

Chopped garlic

Salt & Pepper

Cook down until tender

I caught a picture with the steam.

You can also add Italian Sausage to this dish. Yummy.

 

Stuff it into to some sourdough rolls. ( my favorite).

This side dish is even better the next day!!!

Fingerling potatoes are the best!

Just add olive oil, rosemary, thyme and bake in the oven 375 degrees

for 45 minutes.

I try and cook for my family often. 

It is so important to sit around the table for dinner.

I was contacted by a great food purveyor recently that would

love for me to try some things out with my recipes!

Coming soon!

I wanted to thank the special and oh so talented,

 Tina from Rubies Place

and

Cathy from Mille Fleur

for helping spread the word about

 Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture

Thank you again!!!

Also, thank you to Maria from Dreamy Whites

for such a fun interview!!!

Hey, check out this great new blog!

My dear friend

Leslie !

You are going to love it.

She has a unique eye for wonderful finds!!

Have a beautiful day!
Always,

Not home today…

 

I am over at Maria’s from Dreamy Whites today

chit, chatting it up…come hang out with us…

Have a beautiful day friends!!!

Always,

A French Sink

 

Hi friends!

I love my French Sink and had to

share it with you!!

This post is a bit random so, hang on…

I wanted to Thank

my friends and true inspiration’s, all the way from Australia

Ness from Marley & Lockyer,

&

from Italy

Zaira from Little Emma English Home

&

from Norway

Anette from Anetteshus.com

for helping me get the word out internationally

about Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture!

Thank you so much!

I love, love, love this French sink. 

I adore the chippy white paint and perfect patina!

 These flowers are called Misty Blue ( light purple) and Stock (dark purple)…

ya, I didn’t like the name either.

What a weird name for such beautiful flower huh?

I added the ironstone pitchers and black and white enamel bowl.

I wanted to give you a better view of the Anaglypta wallpaper

in our half bathroom, the last post did not show it to well, sorry!

I can put this sink anywhere!!!

 

 

 

I love this shot of my crystal chandelier in the reflection

of my vintage etched mirror.

Ok, back to the sink…

I hung vintage linen from it! So cute…

 

I hope everyone is enjoying these beautiful

summer days!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Father’s Day!

Always,

Inspiration is everywhere!!!

I had some time to put together our half bathroom, using some new things

I bought and some stuff I already had.  I love to shop the house.

I have been around tons of inspiration lately! I am just absorbing everything.

I have been really busy and enjoying every minute of it.

We are never done with our homes and it is a constant work-in-progress!

I am into gold accents  for the moment.

Florentine accessories are my favorite, found some but, on the look out…

This is the way the bathroom is for now…lol

 This dried white hydrangea wreath is from The Agoura Antique Mart.

Doreen is an amazing dried wreath artist. She can do anything.

I will be doing a wonderful post on her soon.

She is who inspired me to make the one for this post.

 

I am not a fan of before pictures, so you won’t see them at my blog.

I think it mucks up the blog layout…lol

 

I bought this $5 dollar shelf at the Rose Bowl Flea Market…

 

and added some accessories.

 

I found these gorgeous vintage mirrors from Dan Marty 4 years ago.

Using antique ribbon I hung them.

Dan Marty is now with Maison Au Natural.

I love Dan Marty’s Style and used his finds when decorating the

Lake Sherwood Home.

 

 

We hung this mirror over the sink,

and used these beautiful vintage shades for the lighting.

 

I couldn’t believe I found this old etched

mirror framed in white!!!

Cameo from Dunn Edwards was applied on the upper half of the wall

and the Analypta wallpaper on the lower half to break-up the wall,

an inspiration of Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Santa Monica.

I like to play around with paint color and often use Cameo at 50 percent strength.

It is a beautiful color.

 

Perfect patina on this mirror.

Natural elements are a great addition to any bathroom.

 Cote Bastide accessories are from

The Agoura Antique Mart.

 

The darling table above is from the lovely Cheryl.

 

I found these cute gold sacred hearts

at the Rachel Ashwell Store in

Santa Monica.

You can also hang these on a wall.

It is so much fun to use things with our initials on them,

it means something to us!!!

I already changed some things in the 2 photos below

…stayed tuned for the next style!

I told you inspiration is everywhere.

I wanted to Thank everyone for helping in the announcement of the

Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture web site.

I want to Thank 2 at a time! No big list…I will thank each one of you in a post.

In no particular order.

Tara from Between You and Me!

I enjoy our lovely, genuine chats my friend,  your blog is inspiring!

Thank you!!

Anne from Fiona and Twig…

a true friend, artist, and great photographer. 

Turned 35 today everyone!!! WOW! Hmmm….I am loving life, and

couldn’t be in a better place!!!

Have a wonderful day my friends!

Always,