I have moved my blog to blogger triciafountaine.blogspot.com/ .  It is sooooooo beautiful (but then I am definitely biased as I created it)  I do so hope you like it!  It is full of color and pictures and great gadgets and fun design elements and so, so, so much more ME!.   I could never figure out how to create the look I wanted with my old blog… and me being a visual person…  so hugely frustrating!!!.  Here is a peak at the look of the new blog…

PLEASE, PLEASE,PLEASE  all you wonderful followers (whom I could never figure out how to show on this blog but are now front and center on the new blog) please come over and join up!  I have also for the first time been able to create a list of blogs that I follow which is so cool!  I am thinking about trying to put together my first give-away in honor of my new home so please become a follower on the new blog, read the “give-away” post which I will create today and I will put a fun present together for a lucky follower!   See you there!

Please check my

Me being the procrastinator that I am waited until the last minute to get through tons of paper work for the US’s big tax day.  I would so much rather do more fun creative things!  I did have help though…

Nipper was making sure my receipts were in order for the charity that my husband and I run called The Lucky Few.  I sure hope the IRS (for those of you not in the US they are the tax collectors) doesn’t mind a few cat hairs!

Another project I have been working on is a fun photo shoot with coordinator and designer Kelly Oshiro.  I can’t let too much out at this time but here is a bouquet from the shoot.

Just to tease you here is a severely cropped picture that shows you hopefully just enough to wet your curiosity but not enough to tell you what we were up to.  The model and the dog were adorable!…  The dog belongs to Kelly.  He was a rescue dog like all our cats (I knew I loved Kelly and not just because she is super creative and fun!!!).  For more on this very cool lady check out her web site here.

I will post the pics here as soon as I get them (it will be awhile though).  Lots of fun!!

I have also had a couple of weddings.  For anyone questioning my dedication to duty or being a team player…   here I am drying the flower girl’s dress which she had peed on right before the ceremony.  I ran and got my hair dryer from home (just around the corner) and stood behind the barn and did my best to dry it out while the ceremony was waiting.

I am making a funny face for a reason…  hot air travels up…  towards your nose…

Oh well, the show must go on as they say.  Hope you all are having a lovely Spring.  I will be back soon.

]]> http://www.triciafountainedesign.com/blog/2011/04/cats-dogs-brides-and-paperwork/feed/ 1 http://www.triciafountainedesign.com/blog/2011/04/this-old-ranch/ http://www.triciafountainedesign.com/blog/2011/04/this-old-ranch/#comments Wed, 06 Apr 2011 21:56:41 +0000 Tricia http://www.triciafountainedesign.com/blog/?p=1462 I wanted to share some pictures of the magical ranch I live on.  We feel like we live in a time warp here.  Once you pull onto the property life seems to slow down, it is wonderful!

There are delightfully aged abandoned buildings scattered about.

I would love to restore this before it is too far gone…  It was built around 1915 used to be a stable for horses.

The old wood is so beautiful.  No mater how hard folks try you just can’t mimic the look of aged wood.

It has the most glorious rafters.

A tree has grown up right through the middle…  isn’t that wonderful?  If I had the money I would make this building into the most amazing home…  and I would definitely keep the tree.

Or I guess I should say trees…

Here you can see the top of the trees, they are rather huge!

All of the buildings have such beautiful doors.

There is a paddock adjoining the building with another tree going out of the side…

Looking down the front of the building towards another paddock.  Those are the foreman’s horses in the distance.

Another view of,  it is so magical especially in the setting sun.  Part of what is so lovely here is how peaceful everything is.  Just the sound of the ocean in the distance and the birds.  As the evening comes in the crickets start to sing.  Just beautiful!

My husband is doing some work nearby and we both feel like is it almost a sacrilege to start up the power tools.

However some “noise” suits the place wonderfully…

This is Tomas, our neighbor.

He has worked on the ranch for 30 plus years.

Can’t you just hear the music for the “Milagro Bean field Wars” playing softly in the distance?

We even have old Amorante’s pig living down at the end of the street…

If you haven’t seen the movie I can’t recommend it enough!  Directed by Robert Redford back in the 90’s it is about a small magical New Mexico village and how they adjust with the modern era.  Absolutely delightful!

Gosh I love this little “Milagro” ranch…

Blessings!

We have had so much rain with periods of intense sun in between that the results are my garden has exploded into bloom!

The scent of Jasmine is beyond lovely and wafts into the house in the afternoons…  it’s wonderful!!  It is one of my all time favorite flowers!

I took these pictures right after the most recent downpour so the flowers are a bit past it now.  Of course they peaked right in the middle of the storm!  I think you can still get a sense of how beautiful they are/were.

I love how the Jasmine and Roses are intertwined.

Here the Jasmine has grown right up through a bird cage I have hanging from the avocado tree.

And through a small candelabra.  I will have to cut it back after it blooms or we’ll have a Jasmine tree…  hmm, however…

The Geranium is running rampant too!

This side has a mix of scented Geranium, Basil, Daisies and Roses, all run wild.  Oh and Jasmine of course.

Foxglove…  a proper faerie flowers!

The Calla Lilies are magnificent at the moment.

The bird bath is a bit buried…  it is more like the jungle bath

So in addition to the garden growing like mad I have been a very busy little bee.   Since we last spoke I have refurnished and decorated a 5 bedroom 7 bath home for a bride and groom that spent a week with us culminating with their wedding in the barn (which I decorated).  I also decorated a most magnificent 50th birthday party with loads of pink Peonies and Roses.  I will post lots of pictures as soon as I get them!  In the mean time in searching for goodies for the house I was working on I got to go to the Rose Bowl swap meet in Pasadena… a couple of times…  WOW!  I have been trying to go for years now.  I finally made it and my head is still spinning!  I found so many cool things for the house!  It was just like Christmas!

Here is a sampling of the things I bought for me.

A beautiful vintage wooden hat box, an old tattered silk shawl with great fringe, and a beautiful ivory fan.

Look at the detail in this fan…

Here is another lovely vintage fan.  This one is ivory and silk with a beautiful painted cherry blossom design.

Here is another one that is lace, silk and ivory.  The detail is beautiful!

Look at this great collapsible top hat I found.  That is the box it comes in.  Also some bits of embroidery and

tapestries to play with.

Also a rather dilapidated but precious Iroquois beaded pin cushion (at least I think it is a pin cushion).

The back,

The inside,

I went to the Rose Bowl swap meet with one of my future brides and her family (there’s will be the coolest wedding, when the groom was asked to describe the style he pondered a bit then said “imagine a Zeppelin crash lands in a faerie forest…”  How great will that be?!).  The bride’s parents are just as much as fun as the bride and groom.  The mom found this tea cup and had seen on my blog the collection I have of my Mom’s.  She bought it for me as a present… so sweet!

What was really neat was when I got home and added it to my china cabinet I noticed that it is different from the others.

This is the new lady above…

And below is the lady from my collection.

How fun!!  I didn’t know there was more than one style!  Now I am hooked.  I have to find more ladies!

Now for the best find!  Hang on to your socks Lisa, Queen Mab and Frick over at Medieval Muse…

Nobody knew what this was.  The man I got it from said he thought it was a couple hundred years old.  If I recollect my art history college days I think it is a whole lot older than that!

Stylistically this is medieval at the latest I would say.

I think it is of the three kings. The middle name is I believe Balthazar which in my rusty old memory I think is one of their names.

The raised detail appears to be a plaster of some sorts.

Here is the back.  I think it is from a frieze.

Anyone have any idea what I purchased?  Whatever it is I love it!  I can’t believe I get to have it!

Even though this is a long post already I have to tell you about the newest member to our family…

Meet Ms Kitty Wobbles…

We have actually had her for a few months now.  She belonged to a neighbor across the way who had to move.  He couldn’t (wouldn’t?) take her with him so we said we would feed and take care of her.  She is positively ancient, stone deaf and partially blind.  We didn’t feel it would be fair to move her so we kept going over every night to feed and check on her.  We made soft warm beds which she refused.

We kept this up for a few months and then when the serious winter chill set in we had to bring her back to our house.  She just wouldn’t go into the little houses we built for her and she definitely didn’t have a winter left in her.  So now in her later retired years she is spending her time right in front of the heater in our hall way.  She has a cozy basket bed where we place a hot water bottle every night, full bowls of food and water and even though she can go where ever she wants in the house she seems quite content to stay right where she is.  Occasionally she will join me at my desk when I am writing but overall she seems quite happy in front of the heater.

Hope you are all warm and cozy where you are!

]]> http://www.triciafountainedesign.com/blog/2011/03/gardens-goodies-and-ms-kitty-wobbles/feed/ 2 http://www.triciafountainedesign.com/blog/2011/02/our-wonderful-old-hobbit-hole/ http://www.triciafountainedesign.com/blog/2011/02/our-wonderful-old-hobbit-hole/#comments Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:37:19 +0000 Tricia http://www.triciafountainedesign.com/blog/?p=1403 I ran across these old pictures from the cottage we used to live in before we moved here…

We loved it so much, it was tiny, one room actually, divided by a large book case.  That is Micco in the pictures.

I have WAY too much stuff now to live in a place like that again.

It was the perfect little cottage absolutely adorable!  How about a second breakfast or tea?

However it was the garden that was so beautiful…

I planted it from scratch, there was nothing there before except for the trees.

There were lots of little pathways that meandered here and there…

With lots of secret “rooms” that you could curl up in with tea and a book.  That’s a window of the cottage looking out into one of the garden rooms.

The walkway to the front lawn and driveway.

Here you can see the chimney of the cottage behind the parasol.

The pathway to the front door.

Another wonderful “room”.  When the evenings were pleasant we would often sit out here.  At night when all the lanterns were lit it was like being in a faerie woods.

I think Sam Wise Gamgee would be proud.  However I have a quite a bit of work to do on my current garden.  I will keep you “posted”  Get it… post-ed?

Blessings

Sometimes I am amazed at my blessings…  To the point where it almost makes me nervous.  Is it really true, is this my life, is it a dream that I will wake up from?  When I got up this morning this was what greeted my eyes…

It has rained quite a bit in the last few days and it was rather cold last night…  so…  if only for a brief time…  snow!

My husband and I are very lucky to live on a ranch, Dos Pueblos Ranch. The top two pictures are the view looking to the north from our yard over the Avocado orchard.

This is the view looking across the street towards the west…

That is the ocean in the distance.  As much as I love England and the Smokey Mountains and would love to live in Devon or Ashville, this is pretty wonderful!  It is quiet and the neighbors are great people who obviously love rural areas too. Our foreman often rides his horse up the street on his way to his cows.  There are cats and dogs everywhere, I love it!

Our home is beautiful, my Cat Man honey and I share it with lots of cats (for full story click here).  I also have tons of beautiful things.  Being almost 50, having lots of various lives, lots of traveling and hobbies and NEVER getting rid of anything means I have loads of the most wonderful things.  I have posted pics of our home and a few of my workspace (in mid event mode) before but not yet of my office.  There are bits from my whole life in here, the parts that I love that are an inspiration to me.  It is here that I write my bids for brides, paint, draw, pay bills, practice my guitar (I have just started learning!!!  Yea!!!), read, think, dream.

From here on you can click on the pictures for a larger size.

In the above picture on top of my Indian armoire and to the right is one of the sets of wings from the faerie wedding I had so much fun doing.  I have these wings all over, I just love them so much…

This is the view from my desk…

It makes paying the bills much easier!

I was going to say these are my secretaries but really they are my bosses…  That’s Flat Top on the printer and Tiger in front with his tail on the book “A Bit Of Velvet and a Dash of Lace” by Magnolia Pearl’s Robin Brown…  possibly one of my most favorite people on the planet!  To see her lovely web and blog click here.

“Munchkin”. She is my most special companion and muse.  For more about the precious kitties we look after click here.

Below, this is my art desk, where I play…

The wings I made for the Practical Magic Blog Party.  For the story click here.

My toys…

I love the colors in Tiffany style lamps.  They glow like jewels!

Some of the results of my playing…  faeries…  lately always faeries…

A few (surprise!) non-faerie results…

The painting of the blue door is one I did from a photo in a wonderful book on India.

It sits with several of my inspirational mementos.  That is a vintage picture from India on the top left, isn’t it cool?

Below on the right is a collage I made.   For the story that is part of it see an earlier blog (here). Of course I have lots of Tolkien books.  The father of the modern Faerie Tale I think.  I wish he could have lived forever so he could keep writing wonderful stories.  But only if his lovely wife could have too.  I understand they were madly in love…  sigh!

The “taro readings” sign (above hanging on the left) is  from a Moroccan themed 40th birthday party I did.  Like I said I do not throw anything away, especially when it is cool.

Of course I have lots of lovely book-friends I dream with in my office.

That is Nipper at the bottom getting ready to jump on the computer

(what is it with cats and computers, they just have to be on them!).

I love to spend an afternoon loosing myself in great stories…  cup of tea, incense…  bliss!

Of course there is always a cat tucked in here and there…

By the way all the books on the shelves I can highly recommend.  Especially the stories by Sarah Addison Allen. They are most magical and precious, in the same vein as Practical Magic only more sweet and innocent.

More friends…

Below, vintage faerie tale books from Europe.  On top of the stack is a Navajo hogan (their style of house) jewelry box with my tiara from when I was 5 on top.  That is a picture of my mom on the left (the black and white photo, not the painting…lol!).  Sometimes I miss her so, so much.  I think she would have gotten a kick out of my life.  I inherited my creativity form her.

Its weird… she has been gone so long (35+ years) that it feels like she is a figment of my imagination.  In some ways she is like a secret invisible friend I carry around with me, like you used to do when you were kids.

OK, this is funny…  my mom hated having her picture taken, absolutely loathed it!  Every other picture I have loaded so far as been fine.  The one of my mom I had to try 3 times before it would align properly.  I told mom to cut it out, the picture was beautiful and I would put it on the blog no matter what even if it was upside down so she might as well let me do it properly…LOL!

Here is one of my beautiful Indian cabinets that hides the ugly paper work, files and such.  All through out my office I display my most precious belongings.  On top of the cabinet is my collection of Native American pots.  I gathered these during the time in my life when I had a Native American art store.  This was somewhere around 15 years ago!  Boy does time fly!  Also…  surprise, surprise, faerie wings on the wall.  Those were Bathilda Buzzwings, the reporter for the Faerie Wedding I did.

Up close of the beautiful pots…

Just in case you are curious…  from left to right there is a Story Teller from the Cochiti Pueblo, a Navajo pot (brown), inside is a Zia Pueblo piece with an Acoma pot inside.  Behind those are a Chumash basket with a vintage tourist kachina on top.  Next is a San Ildefonzo black pot (not by Maria unfortunately) and a vintage tourist kachina.  Behind these in the center is an antique tea pot from India.  Then there is a Hopi (my favorite) Nampeo family pot with another Hopi pot inside.  Next are two more Hopi pots with a plate from the Zia Pueblo behind it.  Behind the plate is a Santo Domingo pot with a Hopi pot inside and on top an old Pueblo pot of unknown origin.  Behind that is a Navajo wedding basket (whew! ).

On the doors are a collection of Native American and Tuareg fringed bags…  That’s a flint bag on the left and a paint bag on the right which has powdered ocher inside.  They are in the Sioux tradition but made by a local Chumash man.

The green bag is Tuareg and the white buffalo bag is from Taos pueblo.

Another one of my favorite pieces is a traditional wedding dress from Pakistan.

That is an Indian wedding Sari on the right.

Another thing I utterly delight in is my ridiculously large jewelry collection.  When I had my Native American store we carried tons of jewelry.  So consequently I have an embarrassingly huge amount of turquoise.

Behind the jewelry is an antique doll clothing steamer trunk.  I used to keep my jewelry in it but slowly it has all come out to be displayed so I can see everything easily.  The jewelry is just too pretty to be kept hidden.

My turquoise…  There is a mix of new and old pawn pieces.

Do you remember the scene in Amadeus where Mozart is trying on wigs before he is to meet the king?  He tried on several, three of which he loves.  He says, and I am paraphrasing, “Oh there all so lovely…  why can’t I have three heads”… and then he gives one of those ridiculous laughs.  I wish I had more arms so I could wear all my bracelets at once.

My Indian bangles…

My earrings, definitely need more ears too…

Necklaces too. at least with these the more you wear the cooler it looks…

Look at this beautiful piece.  It is a miniature Buddha shrine.

Here it is open, showing the Buddha.  That is a rather magnificent turquoise pendant behind it.

And look at this adorable mini Christmas tree.  I got it from Karla’s Cottage. A lovely lady and beautiful artist.  I couldn’t pack it away with the Christmas things as it was just too cute.

Well I think that is enough eye candy for one post.  If you have made it the whole way through…  thank you for letting me share.  Don’t you agree I am one lucky lady!

Blessings!

Have a LOVEly day!

The real star is the more petite cutie standing shyly in the wings hesitant to go out in front of so many people… or…  maybe not so shyly.

A tribute to flower girls.

Hang on to your socks…  I saved the best for last…

Here’s to the little flower child in all of us.

What do you think?

This was a girls birthday luncheon at a local restaurant.  We took over the place, moved out a lot of their things and moved in my fun props.  This was the entrance that greeted the guests.

There were beautiful fans for the ladies.

The restaurant has the most beautiful solarium that we moved my furniture and props into.  We also brought in lots of trees and green plants.

The details tucked in here and there were adorable…

The centerpieces were each different.  This one I used my Mom’s antique silver tea set.

This centerpiece had a chintz tea cup, silver tea pot and a cloche over a mini arrangement.

Sometimes you can’t even see the vase, I pack so may flowers into them.  I don’t know why I take so much time

picking the right container.

This lovely lady is a vintage candelabra that I wired flowers onto for a bar arrangement.

The party favors were beautiful Asian tea sets wrapped in fun bamboo boxes.  The cake was in the shape of a tea pot which I set on my bird bath and surrounded it with flowers.

Wishing you beautiful flowers filled dreams…