So Shabby Pink - When is A Pear A Real Peach?

A pear is a real peach when your name is Jennifer Froh of Pear Street Studios! :-) She is just the sweetest lady and I cannot say enough nice things about her.

I first met Jennifer when I was a part of an online shopping website. She was the graphic designer and made my special graphic so personal and to my specifications. I got to know her better through the year as we participated in chat room groups. She was always the professional but how fun and personable she turned out to be! I want to introduce her to all of you who have not yet had the privilege of meeting her.

This is Jennifer Froh, one of the lovliest women I know!



Before Jennifer started doing graphic design, she began and still owns a preschool facility. She currently cares for 120 children! Jennifer pays close attention to all that goes on there and fortunately, is blessed to have a director for day to day managment. That must be quite a task!

As if that was not enough, she has for the past 5 years been designing websites and gorgeous graphics through another business, Pear Street Studios.

www.pearstreetstudios.com/

She also has a darling business where she makes children's birthday invitations, christening invitations and baby shower invitations called Penelope J. Swenson.

http://www.penelopejswenson.com/

Jennifer is part owner and graphic designer in a trendy new online hot spot called "The Snooty Woman's Club." That has to be a name made in fun because the last thing Jennifer would be is snooty. It took me quite awhile to convince her to let me blog on her. I love her honesty and humility.


www.snootywomansclub.com/

In addition to all the above, Jennifer is a wife and the mother of 3 children. She is very blessed! My goodness! She sure must be a busy lady!

This is my favorite of Jennifer's Blog entries. It's all about her holiday home. You can see it in its entirety by clicking here . With her permission, I have posted some of the GORGEOUS pictures of her home this past Christmas.



Let's take a poll - are you one of those women who, if you are riding after dark, you tell your husband to SLOW DOWN if driving past a home that has the curtains open?? I am one of those people! I LOVE to see inside of other peoples' homes. Thank you so much for sharing these, Jennifer!



I can tell she loves all shades of white! I do too. She also said, "I love beadboard walls and weathered white painted woods. I love light shades of blues & greens... anything the ocean inspires!" She beautifully reflects this in her home and her one of a kind graphic and web designs.



Oh, this is something that is magazine worthy!



Isn't her bedroom gorgeous?


Oops! Wrong picture. I think I will leave it though. Can you tell I miss the show "The Unit?"


Jennifer loves to walk, do Yoga & Pilates. "I recently started running," she says, "but my joints aren't too happy about it! I also started reading... now that my kids are out of their dependency stage. I'm currently reading "Bringing Up Boys" by Dr. James Dobson....a book I highly recommend to anyone raising a son. " If you go to Jennifer's blog, you can also find some great family photos.

I will begin to wind down my writing today by sharing a question I asked Jennifer while preparing for this blog entry. I asked Jennifer this:

Q: Which parent do you favor that made you so pretty?

She answered:

A: "Any beauty I possess is made visible because of all the people I love and who love me... my parents, my husband and my 3 amazing boys... they make me shine. Without them I'd be a poopy old witch!"

Poopy witch? Never.... When I read her answer, I almost burst into tears. I felt my eyes get all watery and had to fight off crying. I can relate to that statement so much.

Now, with all her talent and charm, there is ONE thing I like MOST about her. In her own words,
"I hate wearing shoes. That's the first thing that comes off when I get home."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are clones!!

Jennifer can be found at these great stops on the world wide web

http://www.pearstreetstudios.com/
http://www.snootywomansclub.com
http://www.penelopejswenson.com/

Hope you will visit her soon!

Have a great week!

Peggy

So Shabby Pink - It's Planting Time !

It's planting time! I love it this time of year. Here in Texas, it gets SO hot during the summer so the temperatures are a treat --- for now.

We have trees that shade most of our yard so my plants have to be those that prefer shade or part sun.



So fresh and full of life!



I have had these old and rusting watering cans and am planning on planting in them this year. They got a good scrubbing and will be made things of beauty soon.



I do, however, have quite the challenge when planting these delicate new plants. What is it that lurks in the dark and attacks at night - so sneaky and slimey.

IT'S SNAILS!! I fed them a six pack of Impatiens this year but that is all they get. Quite a few meet an ugly fate last night. I found their creepy little bodies in a large dose of this:



That'll teach em. Picking on my sweet little delicate baby flowers.

Goodnight and happy planting!

Peggy

So Shabby Pink - Big Pin Cushion for Me

Aren't we funny sometimes......we, or at least I, blog on some of the craziest things. One of my crazier blog entries was about being chicken to use the self cleaning function on my self cleaning oven.

Today my crazy post is about my new pin cushion. I really like a BIG pin cushion. I like them kind of heavy too. I have lots and lots of fabric around and a whole pillow full of buckwheat hulls that are really great to stuff pin cushions with, so I decided to make one for myself - for a change. I am always making things for others so this was a real treat!

I have not measured it but it's probably almost 5-6" wide. This is a keeper.





Hope you all are having a good week so far. If not, I hope it gets better.

Goodnight!
Peggy

So Shabby Pink Presents The Little Rose Cottage

I would like you to meet someone I became acquainted with in 2007.

In Hewlett, New York, there is the sweetest shabby chic style shop called The Little Rose Cottage. Two lovely ladies keep the place buzzing: Nancy (the owner) and her soon to be daughter in law, Kristy.

Nancy and Kristy are like a lot of us that love pink and the shabby chic look. Nancy loved it so much that her home began to overflow with her design. Encouraged by her son, Chad, she opened her store in 2007. Kristy is her future daughter-in-law and what a wonderful relationship they share!

Take a peek at this!

















I have taken from their website (with permission) the following description of their shop:

The Ultimate Shop for Romantic Home Decor findings. This charming romantic home decor Boutique is filled with the most luxurious shabby chic furnishings. We carry many originals as well as manufactured products.

The store, located in the 5 Towns area of Nassau County, Long Island, has its original antique tin ceilings and tin walls and a charming window display.

Inside you will find an array of specialty gifts and home decor items including candles, picture frames, clocks, decoupage, wall decor, pillows, lamps, hand painted porcelain, stationary, vintage finds, mosaics, wall art, glassware and so much more. Please look through our gallery to see pictures of The Little Rose Cottage and take a virtual tour.

If you can’t visit us at the Little Rose Cottage, you can visit us at our online store. You will find our secure online store very easy to navigate and convenient to order. If you have any questions, please contact us at (516) 216-1701.

What a gorgeous place. I wish I could shop there!

Have a wonderful Monday,

Peggy
So Shabby Pink

So Shabby Pink - How to Make a Bookshelf Disappear

I sure do miss Christopher Lowell. I know many of you remember him. I was a loyal fan when his show was on. I learned so much from him and it was his teaching shows that convinced me I could "do it too." He would always end his show with "You can do it." I would love to see him on TV again.

Maybe because of what I learned from Christopher, our home is always changing. My husband never knows what he is going to find. He went to North Dakota on a business trip long ago and came home to white kitchen cabinets. This is a man who is ultra traditional and does not like change. Bless his heart. He is stuck with little 'ol meeeee....

Since my husband is so traditional, I don't go nearly as far with the pinks, shabby chic and cottage looks as I would like. I am, however, learning to mix the two so that we are both happy. He has had to learn to live with some pink though.

When we ( I ) decided to brighten and lighten up our living room, I had a big challenge. We have two large focal point elements on the same wall in our living room - the fireplace and a large bookshelf that is directly beside the fireplace.

Whenever I walked in the room, all I saw was this big colorful wall of books. It just made my head spin to look at it. Because of being positioned where it is, it took all the focus off the fireplace. Most importantly, is was not a pretty focal point.


My challenge was to take the focus off the bookshelf and put it back on the fireplace. We painted the bookshelf and the walls the same color white which made the bookshelf blend into the wall more. Placement of white and neutral colored accessories on the shelves, didn't draw as much attention as the bright books.

Here is the after:


This was a good change.


I found this nice nautical picture at a yard sale for $2.00. The frame was gray so I simply painted it the same color as the cream colored trim in the room.


I think the key to making any decorative display special is to actually populate it with treasures that are important to you. I love the beach, pink and white, so whenever we travel, I try to bring home a little something to add to the shelf.

It is important to note, however, that there is a point where you stop adding. That is really hard sometimes. I have had to take a few things off this shelf as it started to look like storage instead of display.

This is one of my treasures from a gift shop in Destin, Florida.


This redo of this shelf did satisfy the traditional in my husband in that it's neatly arranged and not cluttered. I love it because it's all neutral. Lots of white!

Thanks for reading today. Hope you visit again soon.

Warm regards to all,

Peggy