Saturday, September 12, 2020

Early Fall, Simply Stated, and a Winner

I am finding that since downsizing last year, I will pull out seasonal decor from storage and start playing with vignettes, only to take much of it away. It starts feeling overdone quite quickly when your living spaces are all open to each other and you've come off a huge purge in moving. Just several simple vignettes placed within our great room keep me from feeling overwhelmed with 'stuff'. Come on in....

Upon entry, our entire living space is built up on a two-step platform with ceilings another ten feet high. Our building is a 1907 renovated warehouse-turned-condos. My decor style is a fusion of industrial / modern / vintage, complementing the 2008 original build out (as purchased) of our space. 
Standing in the right corner pictured above, the photo below captures the angle of the great room's view. The sliding glass doors are two separate rooms (his and hers office/personal space), flanking a central cubby with electric fireplace.
Here's our living in real life, with track doors typically open:
Our dining table is set for fall, as detailed in my post this past Tuesday, here
Standing against the wall with sliding glass doors, the view looks toward the kitchen and hallway on the right, and TV and storage credenza on the wall directly in front of the sectional. Nested sofa tables and two Parsons chairs for extra seating are behind the sectional. 
Pictured below, the curio / drink stand beside the chair on left has mixed feathers in an amethyst Blenko pitcher. A vintage brass figural nutcracker and wooden carrier with fruit and flowers are on the sofa table.
You may have seen my latest MacKenzie-Childs butterscotch tartan pumpkin in my September traveling tote post. I bought it to coordinate with my Blenko "Arches" piece I bought last year after our trip through Utah's national parks
Figs are a sure sign of early Fall in my region. The faux branch in the vintage trophy stacks up to the real thing in the photo below.
Standing at the hallway beside the wall with TV, here's the view looking toward the fireplace (our kitchen counter with barstools is in the foreground, left).
If you look closely at the glass of the fireplace in the photo below, you can see the reflection of the "Arches" and tartan pumpkin on the credenza on the wall opposite.
The framed watercolors are by local artists. The one on left is of one of our previous property's trees in Fall splendor, painted/gifted many years ago by a former neighbor. The one on right was a recent vintage purchase from a local artist's estate, river birches in Fall.
The ledge below holds an antique wooden dough bowl vintage wooden filled with quilted pumpkins, fruit, and sunflower. The still on the right is a three dimensional metal on corrugated board find from a February estate sale which I'm currently fostering. A trio of antique dexterity clubs in graduated sizes are on the left side of the ledge (seen in previous picture). 
I've cast an even lighter hand with fall decor in our master bedroom and in my office, just changing pillow covers and throws (none in Mr. P.'s space, his preference). 

With much decor still in storage, it's just a matter of rotating what I have for mixing things up seasonally to fluff the nest. The beauty of utilizing estate finds is that I can always purge and sell later in our Panoply antique booths. Dishes seem to be my constant temptation that don't resell particularly well. And I still have curio cabinets mostly empty one year after moving that I'm in no hurry to clutter up. Christmas seems to be the only time I decorate with abandon, but even that is evolving.

WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT

The traveling tote tribe offered one reader who commented on my last tote post summary the opportunity to win the set of MacKenzie-Childs parchment check coasters below. The random winner chosen by names tossed in a basket was AldaAlda, you are a noreply-comment@blogger.com so please email me directly at wv.panoply@gmail.com no later than September 16, 2020 so I can arrange getting your present to you! If I don't hear from you by then, I will necessarily select another random name as the winner.

UPDATE 9-17-20: Unfortunately, Alda is a noreply-comment@blogger.com and did not respond within the designated deadline of September 16, 2020. I am pleased to announce that StampinwithAnita was randomly selected as the alternate winner on September 17.  

Thank you all for your readership. Please don't just hit and run while stopping by the blog. Let me know you were here by leaving a comment. Two-way communication is always better than chatting it up alone!
Rita C. at Panoply
A special thanks to Suzanne of Pieced Pastimes Saturday Sparks #392 and Michelle of Thistle Key Lane Tuesday Turn About # 67 for featuring this post!

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Celebrating a Fruitful Fall with St. Clement Faience Tablescape

Welcome to my blog! Today's feature is a tablescape I've created for Fall. I love tablescaping, vintage goods, and Fall (second only to Spring). Fall is for layering, right? That's what this tablescape styling is all about.

Two vintage salad plates found in 2018 and written about here were the springboard for my table. They are St. Clement (France) majolica from the early 1900s. I love the fruit motifs (even when time-faded), and knew they'd make a great fall table. I eventually found several more.
Textiles are always a fundamental element in my table styling as well. One of my Panoply sisters gifted me a set of placemats last Christmas which are upcycled from eastern Indian saris. The table runner I'm using was purchased from an artisan co-op while on a 2015 fall road trip in WV.
The rest of my table came together easily with mostly vintage finds. A MacKenzie-Childs fluted cake pedestal was purchased directly from a gal who was divesting her collection in late Spring. Unfortunately, it arrived broken, but I was able to repair it. While not food safe for direct contact, its color scheme and pattern play well with the Fall theme.
My plate stack starts with wood chargers bought from an Etsy dealer in 2016, cut from fallen locust trees. My Pfaltzgraff everyday dinnerware is my go-to for setting tables. Finally, the St. Clement majolica salad plates carry my theme through with (clockwise, below) pears, grapes, apples and plums.
The glassware used on this table is from one of my 2020 Panoply vintage finds, included as part of this post, here. These glasses are hefty in weight and so 1970s in their olive green color. I love how they look next to the wood chargers and majolica. 
The napkin rings, fashioned from leather belts, were also an Etsy purchase (2017). The place cards are collected brass horse fobs, most of which are Made in England. I simply strung a manila card with vintage plum and brown silk seam binding (the source of which I cannot remember!) and attached to each fob. The flatware has a grape cluster on each handle.
A pair of ceramic quail, wicker-covered wine casks, and two votive candles were added to the table for additional hints of Fall.
With the use of much color, pattern and texture on my table, I didn't used a tablecloth this time. Arranging flowers on the table, I ultimately opted for my completed look sans flowers.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Chloe from Celebrate and Decorate for putting together the group of stylists who  joined in this fall themed blog party. 
I encourage you to take some time to visit the blogs conveniently listed below for plenty of fall table inspiration! 

Each person behind the blogs listed has her own style and shares all the details in her post. My source list is provided below. My love of vintage is the bailiwick of my blog content and my personal home style. I love mixing old and new, fusing my own style. I hope you enjoy it too. If I've inspired you, even the least little bit, to get out and shop vintage to put together your own, unique style, then I am a happy girl. 

Celebrating a Fruitful Fall with St. Clement Faience Source List

  • Quilted spiral table runner - Pocahontas County (WV) Artisans Gallery (2015)
  • Upcycled sari Kantha placemats - Viva Terra (gift)
  • Wood chargers, napkin rings, - Etsy dealers (2016, 2017 respectively)
  • Dinner plates  - Pfaltzgraff Filigree
  • Salad plates  - St. Clement majolica faience - eBay, antique shops
  • Glassware (Tiffin Madeira Franciscan), flatware (Oneida Bordeaux 1945), brass fobs, silk seam binding, wicker wine casks, ceramic quail - vintage finds
  • Napkins - Pier 1
  • Cake pedestal (Keukenhof) centerpiece, votive candles - MacKenzie-Childs

Thanks for your visit today, and I welcome your comments. I try to answer each one individually, but will leave one here on the blog if I can't readily identify you by email  - you know, that noreply-comment@blogger roadblock. Yea, I know, I'm told I'm one also. That's why I always sign (to hopefully be identifiable) as.....

Rita C. at Panoply

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Tales of the Traveling Tote: Safely Social

 Wake me up when this is over, will somebody, please??

Ho-hum. Not much going on here. No travels, but daily walks keep us out and about, enjoying the beauty in our own neighborhood and surrounding areas, with the opportunity to be safely social. Well-groomed landscapes and small garden plots....

Scenes along the river, from both the north and south sides (where we moved from and to) catch our eye....
...capturing various flora.....
...and creatures, big and small.
A look across the city skyline outside our living room windows gives us up-to-the-minute alerts on summer storms as they pass, often literally in minutes.
Waking up to unique sunrises is the promise of new beginnings.Online shopping has generated new excitement, especially when new or previously coveted items are scored!
I've still been doing a lot of cooking and baking. If the collage below looks like the same thing over and again, that's because it is (except for that last batch that I didn't even plate off the cooling rack, lol). Baking these little jewels and freezing individual servings has become something I really enjoy. The blueberry muffins have become a favorite!

Curbside & drive-thru pickup, and eating in the car has become a 'thing' with us and, apparently, a lot of others we see out. Separately, I get out more than Mr. P., but still fairly isolated in terms of people. I continue helping my brother purge and organize, and go to the antique mall weekly at the opening hour.

I did get out to a friend's backyard for a safely social gathering at the end of July. A welcome change!

The traveling tote tribe has held a couple Zoom calls, and I look forward to those also. It's been a nice way to get to know each other more personally.

I've played 'pretend hosting' a couple times too, once in setting up a bar cart for some fun. MacKenzie-Childs had their Unorthodot entertaining line on sale, and I had a birthday coupon, so I splurged. They also had their annual barn sale online. Even though I placed a couple orders during their online event, they've not shipped yet, but I'm in no hurry. I'm certainly not going anywhere. Oh, and then there was an end-of-summer sale at a local boutique, which just happened to include all of their MC stock. I splurged there, too.

Stay the course, friends. Be safe.


NOW, ONTO THE GIVEAWAY!

The Traveling Totes Tribe is offering another giveaway and I am our giveaway sponsor this time. One lucky reader who leaves a comment on my post today will have their name thrown into the hat for an opportunity to win this set of four MacKenzie-Childs Parchment Check cork-backed coasters! 

Without further ado, here are all the links to the rest of tribe members' travels since our June 1 post. Several of our tribe have actually taken some fun trips, so be sure to check them out. 

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths
Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch
Patti with Miss Kenzie and Miss Taylor @ Pandora's Box
Jenna with Miss Coquille @ The Painted Apron
Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda
Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply (you are here!)
Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul
Jackie with Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home
Ricki Jill and Countess de Monet @The Sketchy Reader

Thank you so much for dropping by the blog today. I love reading your comments, and don't forget to leave one here for a chance at the giveaway! Come again for our next adventure, which  will be December 1, 2020.

Rita C. at Panoply
(A special thanks to Rebecca of Zucchini Sisters' Celebrate Your Story #247 for featuring this post!)