Ce n'est pas un petit travail...

...que d'accorder Sagesse et Musique

...euh... et BLOG!

Ca fait 2 heures que je pratique mon 'Anglaise' afin de pouvoir rendre un projet demain.

L'encre est de la même couleur que le torchon que j'ai teinté dans cette photo... Elle ne m'aime pas cette encre Broux de Noix. Mais je l'aurai. Elle va devoir m'obéir. Ou je vais devoir lâcher prise. Peut-être un peu des deux.

Je suis tachée d'encre. J'adore ça ;-) et je progresse enfin... mais ce n'est pas encore parfait. Il faudrait attendre encore quelques heures minutes que l'encre sèche pour vraiment étudier le résultat. Nous allons patienter ensemble. En attendant - je vous offre la planche que j'ai faite pour Séverin... Sa maman voulait qu'il RÊVE en GRAND!!

Demain des photos du nouveau travail donc ...

Et aujourd'hui?  Je vais tacher de faire des Rêves très GRANDS aussi (comme le conseil Mr F Scott Fitzgerald) afin de bien arriver à faire une parfaite 'Anglaise' et offrir une super surprise à mon FiL.

Time for bed methinks. La nuit porte conseil...

PS - les gremlins de la toile ont fait des bêtises avec ce 'poste' c'est pourquoi j'avais un peu de mal tout à l'heure... Sorry

Expect Success Tralalalala la la la LAAAAAAAA

It's a funny thing about success... Sometimes it pops up even when you least expect it.

When I was sellling my 'French patine' furniture, I learned not to do Christmas or even summer "markets" the hard way... Zero Sales! To the extent that I came home a couple of times doubting both myself and my products. Were they not pretty? People would glance at my stand and race off to buy a yellow sunflower. Hmm - maybe it was all that grey ;-)

Thinking I was too expensive (dear Niminy Fingers has written about this here), I lowered my prices for my second market. This wasn't easy to do as I had worked hard and long on each item between getting up early to find them, cleaning and repairing, then painting and finishing etc. I work fast and still didn't count all my hours. I don't think you can with hand made. Lo and behold, lowering the prices didn't make any difference. I was devastated. It appeared plain and simple. People didn't like my work!

Then I had an insight - maybe I wasn't in the right place. You know the old phrase 'location! location! location! Through friends, I was lucky enough to meet a darling lady who had been doing private sales of up market home furnishings and fabrics to a select group of clients for about 15 years. She (to my surprise and delight) loved my products and had never sold patine but we agreed on a commission price and my first sale at her home in May 5 year's ago was enough to put a smile on my face for months.  It snowballed from there...

This summer, rather suddenly in some people's eyes, I stopped Patine. It happened for various reasons including: an increasing difficulty to find unique objects at fair prices, an increasing number of people offering a similar product at similar prices although not always with the same quality or finish  (Yes friends - I am a stickler for finishing off the niggly bits and having everything perfect.) and let's not talk about the influx of cheap imported copies made by poor people in hideous conditions. But mostly it was because I had been wanting to do something more original, that was uniquely me, that you couldn't find anywhere else and that would use my calligraphy skills at last. And most importantly of all: I want to encourage and motivate.

It started by handwriting my phrases on these planks as a way of inspiring others to live their dream. In the process I'm realising that it's through personal experience and by example that one motivates. Each of the people that uttered these words quite simply never gave up whatever the cost. They lived their words. That is why they are inspiring. Whatever 'success' we may see in these people is a direct result of an unbending faith and courage in the face of adversity. Speaking of, let's get back to Saturday's Christmas market.

I went NOT expecting success. Now don't get me wrong. I wasn't blatantly being negative. It's just that I had had experiences of Christmas markets before so I was pretty sure that I wouldn't 'fit' with what was on offer, and that's pretty penalising. (oh dear, is that an English word or not?). I didn't have many really inexpensive things either - just my wishsticks and my angels. As it turned out, I was right - I didn't fit. Neither did a very talented young woman who sculpts and makes art with clay... But that didn't stop us both from having a great time chatting away with 'potential' clients. A number of people also took our cards without it being forced upon them ;-) I'm not a good 'hard sell' person.

I also know from experience that it takes a time to acquire a reputation. People are rarely as enthusiastic about your own product as you are yourself. It takes time for them to integrate something new, understand what you do, and find a place for it in their homes. Such was the process with Patine. One month it's not in the budget or in the plans, the next month and idea's taken root and ta daaaa - you get a phone call. This is why big business has sales staff...

So NO, I wasn't being negative, just practical. I'm starting out... it's only just beguuuuuuuun.

To top it off, Saturday appeared to be a day when people just plainly weren't spending. I personally have never seen a cake or food stand still half full at the end of a Christmas market which was the case here. Maybe it's the effect of the 'crise.' So you can imagine that I nearly fell over backwards when a lovely couple stopped by my stand. I could tell right away that he was intrigued with what I did. While Madame looked at the angels and wishsticks, Monsieur asked lots of questions about my work including the prices. Without batting an eyelid he said to his wife, "I would like that one for my Christmas present. I love the phrase and the colours! It's just what I needed." Wow! It was one of my personal favourites too. One I liked, full of white, cobalt blue and big orange letters and texture. Men like colour - I've noticed that before.

I sold a couple of others too - notably an 'Expect Success' one that a lady thought would be great for her son who was passing his University entrance exams that year. So there you go! If you judge success by the amount you sell, then we could define it as being pretty average: 4 planks, half my little angels and nearly all my wishsticks. If you judge success by a few other criteria - then I had a great day all up! Sold the planks, made a few people really happy, met some interesting people, found out about a new market in Toulouse for 'createurs' with a definite art/design slant to it, and had the yummiest piece of christmas cake in years!

Now if that's not food for thought!

PS, let me know if you want a tutorial for the wishsticks or the angels. They seem pretty self explanatory to me but if you need a guiding hand - I would be happy to put it up!

And THANK YOU ALL for the lovely encouraging comments.
They really do give a much needed boost when you work alone in the country!

On a wing and a prayer...

I've been bustling busy making some New Year's wishes cards out of my home made photos (yes, I am aware that I'm not a fabulous photographer like this lovely lady) and the pages of a postcard album from around the early 1900's. I sort of liked the effect and the mix of modern glossy photo paper with worn out cardboard. Still have to fix extra card onto the back to make it both writable and stable...

Then I made these New Year's wish sticks from pieces of driftwood. There's something I love about the feel of driftwood. They still have to be bundled into little groups and tied up with pretty pieces of string. That will be for some time after midnight tonight by the look of things!

My little Christmas angels, made from old pegs are still waiting for faces, text and wings...

..that'll be for after dinner I think - if I can get the messmonsters into bed in time. I'll take photos when they're finished. It'll be like a tutorial in two parts.

At least the new planks are all finished and signed,

must take photos of those tomorrow on my stand.

All I need is to put a hood on my Mac

 and to get myself a pair of these

and I'll fly through it all ...

As the French say, " Pfff, Fingueur in ze nose!"

And they DO say that!

My first Christmas market since I officially stopped 'patine.'

Wish me luck...

Don't Forget Brimont or What does 700 kg of Champagne look like?

I think I should start with a disclaimer :

First of all, I assure you, it's not all for me (and you can't even see the top). It's not even all for the family. However, this was of no consolation to the poor DHL truck driver who skidded his way down the driveway past the house and into the horse-fields below. It's been raining recently... And he had to drive back up the track... I called SkippY and we briefly thought about getting a tractor to pull him up. After much swearing and huffing saintly patience the truck arrived in front of the garage. Needless to say that on his way out, the driver very politely wished me a bubbly festive season, mentioning on the side that he hoped we would never see each other again - at least not under the same circumstances.

How did all this come about? You may well ask! It all started about 8 year's ago when Beaker, at the time a budding wine buff, happened upon a huge feature article in "Vins de France" magazine in which their expert oenologue got about comparing France's champagne brands. Luckily for us, that year the comparison was not between bottles of the same price range but about quality and taste, regardless of the price. So we found a few champagnes that were rated above such notables as Ruinart, Mumm, Moët & Chandon, Laurent Perrier : the list goes on! As such, we were able to find a selection of some of France's best champagne - at between 10 Euros and 15 Euros per bottle. Needless to say, the same feature article the following year compared brands by price range!  Who got their fingers smacked I wonder?

This of course necessitated a wee drive to Reims, Epernay and throughout the rest of the beautiful champagne region to put the tastebuds to the test! We came back from the first trip with about 100 bottles to last through the festivities of that year... You can make your own decisions as to whether we are party people or not ;-)

Since moving to Toulouse, with three messmonsters, the drive up to Champagne doesn't happen once a year anymore. But we still have our favourites from our initial selection. My personal fave being 'Forget (pronounced "Forjay" not forget) Brimont.'  Whatever you do, don't Forget it!!

I adore extra brut champagne: Those really dry bubbles with very little liqueur. How I got into adoring that is going to be the subject of this Friday's "Paris Episodes," featuring some very zany parisians with a penchant for 18th century antiques and pastels... But I digress. Forget Brimont, if you ask them two months in advance, can even supply 0% liqueur (at least they do for us, I hope I don't have to eat drink my own words later) - which I adore and which is wonderful both for apéritif and certain dinner party dishes.  Sounds dubious I know but (nodding head vigorously) "Trust me!" I've just spent the last 8 years hosting all champagne dinner parties and wine tastings. Anyone want to be invited to the next one - let me know!!

The result of all these parties has been a constantly growing fan club for Forget Brimont (and others who I will introduce you to on Friday) that now prevents us from driving our people mover to Champagne with the kids to pick it up ourselves... if you catch my drift. We nearly had to leave the poor possums in Champagne last time ;-)

And of course, I would take your order for next year... but Monsieur Brimont will have to find a new delivery company !

Well my posts are meant to be about my art, and about inspiring people. But sometimes life nudges its way back in there and there's something about a 700kg package of bubbles that I personally find inspiring anyway.

A votre santé!!

Expect Success

Determine that the thing can and shall be done and then we shall find the way.

- Abraham Lincoln

If you have been paying attention over the last few weeks Possums, what you should have been expecting, is the latest installment of 'The Paris Episodes.' And it is coming... you will have to watch this space regularly during the week but it will be before Saturday, I promise! That way I can add a bit of suspense to your week... Allez - too much routine makes Ange a dull artist!

Here at La Rivière, this festive season has been busy with the usual hustle and bustle associated with the run up to Christmas. Buying (and especially making) presents. Drinks with friends. End of school plays and recitals etc. The odd bit of footing when I can squeeze it in. Nothing out of the ordinary, it's the same for everyone the world over - with respect to your own festivities.

We get a little tiny piece of respite though in France...

Our Christmas cards...

Yep - they go out in January!

The custom here is to send New Year's wishes before January 31st. May I take this opportunity to be truly grateful and say "Alléluia" to that!! A whole month's respite! So I can now say that I am 'en avance' for preparing my New Year's wishes. See Mum! I'm not late with my Christmas card at all ;-)

I love to be very specific with mine depending on who I'm sending them to, and have just spent hours painting my 'wishsticks' for friends and family and for my sale on Saturday. I can't put any in my Etsy shop- not enough time- so it will have to be for next year. I'll put a photo up tomorrow though for Wishcasting Wednesday so you can make your own if you ... wish ;-)

So what can we wish for each other for the coming year? My whole professional raison d'être revolves around communicating 'positive:' now, tomorrow, for the coming year, and always. It's what I LOVE to do. It's the very goal of my calligraphy and my most fundamental belief. So here are a couple of my examples of work in progress.

I don't know about your friends and partners, but Beaker, and some of my other male friends seem to find the end of the year a big strain at work. Don't we all? But women in general tend to deal with it differently (I said differently not better). I know Millie's MOTH goes into overload so I guess there must be more out there than just our two. What about you Egmont?

This global end of year stress brought me round to making up some simple, hand-painted planks with the men in mind as well; at least in terms of colour choices. I also know a few of my girlfriends who could do with a bit of encouragement in their pursuits at this time (myself included ;-) so I'm in the process of whipping up some for our interiors too.

They're meant to be seen as a wee piece of positive reinforcement during those  'weak moments.' They're the perfect visual pick-me-up-take-a-deep-breath-in reminder to - Hang in there! It's all gonna be alright on the night!

Beaker, who is celebrating his birthday today, is going to receive one later as a surprise (as soon as it's finished as I've only done the first word on each piece!! Better get off this computer!). He shall be ordered to smuggle it into his office tomorrow and not come home until he has integrated it into his system: heart, mind and soul!!

Rightyo! I'm off to hit the planks.  Here are glimpses of a bigger, more complicated piece that I'll be finishing off before the end of January too. But you'll have to wish me every success!!! It'll give me the motivation to do so...

Open the door and light the way... to Christmas!

On every door a Christmas wish...

... hand made with a dash of vintage and a touch of new.

This festive season, may you

open more doors...

A splash of crimson in a vintage jam jar lends an apéritif that Christmassy feeling...

for all my French friends who are watching their weight just before the big 'feast.'

Crimson (yes, they are radishes) compliments
vintage pink champagne perfectly.

Bon apétit!

An old bonbonnière ...

(Mmm - she used to be used for making home made nut or orange wine. You know the recipe: 40 nuts. 40 sugars. 40 days etc etc? NO? Leave a comment and I will send you the recipe. But to make it as well as my MiL... takes practice. And now I have her bonbonnière...)

...Lights the way for guests in the entrance.

Tomorrow (date of the Immaculate Conception) is the Fête de la Lumière in Lyon , when every house decorates their window sills with millions of candles to light the way for the passer by. Maybe I've taken a bit of poetic licence with the number of candles used.

It's reputed to be BEAU-TI-FUL!

For more beautiful vintage Christmas decorations you can visit
  Joan at Anything Goes Here.

By the light of my bonbonnière I shall now get back to my painting.

A luminous Crimson Christmas to all!

Did you know... ?

“In the artist of all kinds, one can detect an inherent dilemma...

the urgent need to communicate and the still more urgent need not to be found.”

  Donald Winnicott

I found this very touching and pertinent quote HERE 

while on my virtual travels, 
discovering calligraphers far and wide.

My other secret is this:

I love CHOCOLATE !

For more arty secrets... go see Seth at the Altered Page!

You can't get spoiled...

...if you do your own ironing.

Meryl Streep

Oh JOY!! Today I have been working on starting finishing some commissioned projects that clients and friends have ordered as Christmas presents. Luckily, I've been given virtually carte blanche to do as I please although we settled on the inspirational quotes together first. While gleefully fuffling through my bits and pieces of old papers and stamps etc etc etc, I came across this much loved image.

I adore this photo from the 2006 Amcal calendar (which I bought incidentally for its cover!). From the time I first laid eyes on her we have never been able to part, even though 2006, and my last holiday "home," is long behind me. To me she encapsulates the meaning of life! Not because I am the housework queen in particular, I assure you!

No, it's her overall Joyful, thumb nosing, 'thrrrbbbbb' raspberry blowing, attitude in the face of drudgery!

Before Enlightenment: fetching wood, chopping water. After Enlightenment: fetching wood, chopping water ;-)

She has graced my work with her enthusiasm several times, notably in this one which I sold the other day much to Beaker's dismay. It was one of my first, and his favourite ( he's a mercenary at heart so is not really devastated that I let her go... if you catch my drift ;-).

If you look closely you'll find her in the letter A

(for Aimer which means LOVE in French):

Messmonsters back at school, the Christmas season is upon us and

I'm filled with a joy that I can't contain...

...even if I do still have to do my own housework!

The absence of alternatives ...

...clears the mind marvellously

Henry Kissinger

I have been sitting here staring at this empty page now for nearly half an hour (if you don't count diverting myself by popping off to read your blogs!). It's time to write.  After two weeks of plagued children, night and day,  clear mind or not - I need just five minutes alone with no one wanting anything. Beaker thankfully understood this as soon as he walked in from the look of sheer desperation on my face and quickly retired to his apartments for the evening. So far so good for sending all three to school tomorrow with a clean bill of health. Et moi? Just need a good footing along the forest paths alone to recharge the ol'  batteries and I'll be back to my affable self.

In the mean time, Christmas has arrived at La Rivière. Still, it just doesn't feel like Christmas. Is it because I'm taking it slower this year? Less rushing. More simplicity? Being mindful and calmly going about my Christmas shopping online so I can buy handmade as well as making my own? Is it because the Messies have been poorly? Whywhywhy???

I mean, were you to drop by La Rivière, on first observation you would think the opposite! The TREE finally arrived (photos next Monday for the Vintage Christmas party at Joan's) so we have been gleefully decorating the whole house! The kids pumped up the Christmas carols and I have gone hoarse singing 'Wombling Christmas' (Pokemon's fave),  'Santa Baby'  (Libellule's fave) and 'Silent Night' (Chickpea's fave). Don't worry - no need to call child welfare - I supplied all three with earplugs. Having said that, they were singing louder than I! So what's not right? Lemme get my list out. Now let's see...

1. Christmas Tree with that lovely pine needley smell: Check

(Beaker chooses 2.5m tree in accordance with instructions. Ange wops off 30cm of the wonky trunk that makes said tree dangerously lopsided in pot and takes with it two rungs of bottom branches..  Make that a 2.2m tree! Still - No Souci)

2. Joyful decorating and carol singing: Check.

3. Pokemon has eaten nearly all the chocolates from his advent calendar and it's only day 3: Check!

(Only one advent calendar in the house as I have been planning on making a 'très chouette hyper design' one with big pockets now for at least 3 months but never got it finished in time. MiL felt sorry for youngest so he got the Spiderman special from Carrefour! I agree, it's better than nothing - to his mind at least)

4. 6 Christmas carol CDs installed in car: Check

(No I do NOT dress my kids up as angels - the little devils ;-) were enjoying themselves wearing the decorations I was hanging in the hall! Pokemon letting himself be dressed as an angel was a photo opportunity I couldn't miss...)

Christmas time has always been a magical and joyous time for me. I remember it being magical as a child. I'm sure that mine find it magical... That's IT! No other adult around me - apart from in Blogland, is talking about Christmas! The JOY of Christmas doesn't exist yet in the grown up world I live in here... We are talking about Christmas fêtes for school and the corresponding preparations. We are talking about the drag of 'Christmas shopping.' But more people are excited about their ski holiday in February or the New Year's Eve celebrations than the upcoming Christmas ones...

Well TANT PIS! THIS is the FIRST year that I'm getting Christmas in my own house ever since it's actually mattered and I'm going to make the most of it. It will be simple! Yes! But ever so Merry! Christmas music, which you hear very little of around France has become mandatory at la Rivière!   (Note to self: Google the dates for the British Carols by candle light evening, must be soon.) 

The fresh mistletoe is going up over the front door as from tomorrow so gare à vous anybody who crosses the threshold under my sparkly mistletoey lights... ;-) Who's next?

The mulled wine is going on as soon as I find a decent recipe on the internet, or from any of you who would be kind enough to let me benefit from your excellent experiences - Lulu are you there??? (Note to self: Google mulled wine recipe ...)

Tonight at the dinner table Libellule who's 8, mentioned that we must leave some hay and a carrot for the reindeer as well as chocolate bikkies for Père Noël. Pokemon (nearly 6) agreed! Chickpea (10) looked at me with big round eyes, alarmed! Chickpea knows about Santa... "How in Rudolph's name are you going to pull that one off Mum???" I could read in her eyes.  Bit by bit I'm going to let her in the really fun secrets about 'making' Christmas for littlest ones. A bit like the time she helped me write a note in tiny writing FROM the tooth fairy to Libellule when I forgot to place 'the pressie' under her pillow in exchange for the wee tooth...

Hey! I already spent a happy hour on my roof a few weeks ago collecting moss (no rolling stones up there) for my christmas display and crêche so it could be fun climbing back up to leave a whole pile of hay there far enough away from the chimney for it to be safe... Then again - that may be taking Christmas decorating too far. And I had promised myself to keep it simple this year! That is, until the kids pounced upen the boxes of decorations. I even purposefully downscaled my wreath!

Quite clearly, Mr Kissinger, I obviously have no alternative but to sow the Christmas spirit around the French countryside!  Now, if it was just warm enough to leave the car windows down so I could bring some festive music to these sleepy country towns...

Rose hip hip hooray!!!