June 26, 2011

Romantic White & Salvage


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'Marry me today and everyday'...
This quintessential rural romantic birdhouse sets the stage for a wedding. A garden birdhouse wedding cake designed and built by "Dore" (me) Tugging from nature I created an inviting well orchestrated plan for a French inspired garden home while romancing a couples day.


Rural homes in France are built with materials at hand and Provencal houses, in particular, reflect what influence them with their local rubble. Using what rubble I had laying around rustic and romantic added to my birdhouse design for creating an inspiring soulful wood wedding cake with the best ingredients.

In my studio that creates belongs to me, my free spirit and imagination went wild creating a wedding cake for the love of wild birds and the romance of a French farmhouse wedding built to romance blending seamlessly into a romantic landscape.


Using French flea market brocante the challenge was to capture the beauty of a designer wedding cake and the intrigue of a rustic elegant out doors wedding allowing it to impress and stand out.

Measures 26" in height, each box 11x11, 9x9, 7x7 and 6" deep, heavy solid constructed for future garden heirloom.

Further detailing this romantic cake with a garland of vintage cotton ribbon, handmade fabric roses intertwined in French veiling. I added strokes of white paint to it, aging it perfectly with tattered rustic time worn charm. The crown cake topper hanging off to the side of the cake quietly sings princess. The onlooker of this wedding might be a bird winging through the arbor.

"The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration."
~Claude Monet

"Adding this piece to my designs and wedding events."

June 11, 2011

Française Gris "French Gray"


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I am painting numbers!!

I have become the keeper of treasured finds and sharing the extras. Inspired by these vintage galvanized zinc steal plaques that have taken on a soulfully aged gray patina, I could not leave well enough alone and began painting numbers on them while creating a harmonious mix of found objects recreating old world French.

Inspired to recreate French european house address numbers on the 5" x 5" 1/2 heavy gauged galvanized plaques that found me at just the right inspired moment. They have aged holes in all four corners that couldn't have been more perfect for what they were to become. Using a tinted worn black paint finish made for painting on the surfaces of galvanized metal finishes by (Val-Spar) I then got busy addressing them and became enamored with the outcome!



A perfect added element detailing your favorite meaningful numbers adding charm to the tagging of a French wire basket, or tucked in with your collections displayed in a French farmhouse hutch as well as fixed to the face of a cabinet or door. There is enormous charm in decorating with French house numbers, adding romance and visual european flea market country living.

French Bread anyone! Hanging over my desk that I painted to fit in with all things found and aged is a vintage French bread rack. This irresistible bread rack now hangs over my desk that sits in a quite corner of my kitchen where baking bread and creating is not far from my sight.

A muse to gaze upon, while holding beautiful ideas from within.



Inspiring a French address, they can be found in my peaceful etsy!