A GiveAway... With Drama

"click on photo to Théâtre enlarge details"

I have created with heirloom quality in mind knowing they will delight for decades to come. It is my wish to inspire artwork and handwork within all of us. Have you ever created something or received something that touched you so gently that you had to cry, well I was touched in this manner when I visited Anita at "castles crowns cottages" and experienced her opéra théâtre production that moved me with a need to create one of my own, this then lead me to creating many for my peaceful etsy shop and more coming soon.

“I have been creating for a lifetime; probably influenced by life itself.”

Taking a theatrical approach to creating and setting the stage for drama where the walls are marked with age and the distressing of time providing a perfect backdrop with imperfect age to what appears to be an abandoned old French theatre in France.The wire chandelier hanging over center stage is layered with textures and paints dramatically adding the right kind of rightness where this rustic old French stage echoes performances bygone. It made a whole lot of sense to me why I would love to share some theatrical drama with you in a G I V E A W A Y! and sharing the joy of being your own producer in a memorable performance of a stage production.



A Toy Theatre is a miniature stage, built in card or wood where Children perform plays on it using characters and scenes cut out from printed sheets of paper dolls and text written in a simple "playbook". The audience would normally be family and friends who view the stage. Adults too were known to use them, especially the large elaborate ones as I have now listed in my etsy shop!

Opéra Théâtre appeared in the Paris department store Etrennes catalog for many years, circa 1875. Originally crafted to entertain child's play but adults found creative pleasure in producing performances as well.
Theatre doll mice and papier goods are not included in this giveaway! You may make or purchase papier dolls or holiday lights to light your theatre and ornaments setting your stage with seasonal drama with a performance that will delight all.

Opéra Théâtre Valued at $120.00
retrieved from my etsy shop.

Théâtre size: 16" length 13"1/2 height 7" depth

GiveAway rules for 3 entries at chance to win:

(1.)Become a follower comment me you follow.

(2.)Post GiveAway! on your sidebar.

(3.)Re-post my GiveAway in a posting on you blog site you may edit to the size you want to post.

Giveaway will end at 10:00 PM on 2-17-12

You may visit my French Opera Théâtres and Théâtres at my etsy shop Here! BurlapLuxe

Salvage Inspiration & Announcing A Winner!!

"Click on photo's to enlarge inspired detailing"

Before I announce the WINNER! of my PLACE OF SHELTER sign GIVEAWAY!...

I would love to share with you my latest inspired piece hand painted artist signed by me! Dore L. Callaway. In my last posting I shared a French drop leaf table, a perfect thrift shop find that I applied a French flea market style paint finish to it. After finishing the transformation from plain to French flea market chic, I was left with two center leafs that expand the table to a much larger size then needed for,or what it may be used for in our flea market designs. What now do I do with the two leafs, I did not plan to paint and add them to the piece, and did not think the added leafs would make or break the charm of the placement or selling of this piece. Putting the 2 leaf's aside for another use and questioning what to do with them was not far from my minds thought.

I was visiting Kate, a beautiful blogger at http://salvagedior.blogspot.com and shop space at Country Roads in Southern California, at that moment I was inspired by her older postings, and a French toile accent throw pillow I came across of hers, it was divine in every way possible, this was a purchase Kate made for her personal home, would you have been inspired by its white, gray, and natural tones I sure was, it is exactly the shades I work with in paints and my personal home designs.

This is Kates divine toile pillow at Salvage Dior that inspired my wood header that can accent any place in your home with French flea market charm. If you have not had the pleasure of visiting her space at Country Roads or her blog do so, it is truly inspiring to take in her rustic charm and salvage success with everything she touches.

Kate is located in #31 at Country Roads located in Orange, Ca. and Urban Barn, Escondido, Ca.

I spend little time planning out what to design or create, I let each piece find me with authentic history, and if a find makes it into my studio of creating lacking enough age I will create it. Standing is the 48" x 9" x 1" vintage French table leaf I painted with an aged effect that became the piece Kates French toile pillow inspired, along side it is a 100 plus year old drawer face with a working key hole lock waiting for the next piece that inspires. I know someone out there will inspire this piece as well, maybe it will be you.
"Click on photo to enlarge detailing"

Can you see a piece like this over my guest room iron bed dressed in all white, gray and creams to match the art work. I will have to do one for myself with the second vintage French table leaf, because this leaf will be added to my peaceful etsy! shop. It may even make it into my shop space, or someone out there who inquires about it.



How about over your euro chic sofa or settee, making it a captivating piece of French flea market brocante inviting its way into your rustic French inspired heart. I love gracing my home with unexpected pieces, adding a find that becomes a muse of what inspires a recycled, and up-cycled cottage home. I love taking a well loved, worn and over used under appreciated piece adding something to the piece worthy of boasting a happy new life, while assuring I have done good by it for another chance at life's given journey.



SOLD!! to the beautiful Kim! Thank you Kim for buying this piece $230.00 from my peaceful shop! please visit Kim's beautiful blog at whitewhispers2u.blogspot.com

Thank you Kate for having the piece that inspired. Please visit her beauty at http://salvagedior.blogspot.com
Now to announce my hand painted SHELTER GiveAway WINNER!
Letting Random.org chose the winner...True Random Number Generator Min:1 Max:164 Result: 6 Powered by RANDOM.ORG
CONGRATULATIONS #6 The Beautiful Rosemary at http://ozmaofodds.blogspot.com Please go visit her beautiful site, and all that she inspires at her place of shelter. Thanking all my dear friends and new followers for joining in, your beautiful comments are treasured.

This vintage plank leaf Rose art, will soon be included in my etsy!

Fragments, Salvage, And Shop Keeping

"Click on Photos to show details, and the Wall treatment I created to my Shop- walls"

This is what I have been up to, finding pieces I can salvage, and restyle, while painting everything I can get my hands on, always looking at familiar objects in a different way. I have been tending to my shop space filling it with pieces that charm us, restyling for a use of design, and accessorizing our homes. Embracing a style with French flea market finds, fulfilling an understated, and elegant role that is also an integral important part of the whole home. French European style that is not attention seeking, yet receives attention deservedly. These pieces, and accessories are not lacking elegance- but elegance of use, pieces well loved in a life before they are found again, adding a touch of new all over again to them- used for purposeful use or ornamentation to them. While loving pieces that have acquired a soulful patina of age, I cannot resist painting the pieces that call out to be painted.



I stocked up on apothecary jars, and then got busy making my famous terrariums price range starting at $39.00 they just don't stay around more then a couple of days when I bring them in. I like to add sea shells, and little vintage bottles nested under a fern with a little message of love or inspirational piece of ephemera book art tied, and dropped into the bottle, it leaves you wondering what beautiful treasure should one seek out.

Hand made Columns with added altered pieces turned into candle sticks, making for a treasured piece for a French country ocean side home, created by "Judy Rael" a most dear, and beautiful artist friend who lives beach front with more than enough inspiration to fill all our poetic hearts.





Embracing old discarded frames, I take pride in cutting them just right where the personality of the piece adds grace, and balance to it, turning them into beautiful fragments, perfectly imperfect salvaged pieces of art that can also be found in my shop. I love to personally hang them over the tops of other frames in my home, as well as in wall groupings, mixing them into the things that are a muse of inspiration to me, giving them a paint treatment that looks to be mellowed with age.


Look what I have done by just painting my art with passion...
Loving odd pieces with a hidden charm, and letting these pieces find me is better yet. After an old chair was on its last leg it had been discarded, the bottom of the back rest split, and abused with little life or love to give to anything of use. Its small voice pleaded to me to except its less than perfect state, then allowing me to give it a deserving life. Letting this piece become my new muse of inspiration has shown me there is no ugliness in the little imperfections of what we look at daily, its all in what we see.


Showing the back side with a simple eye hook to hang from, I love the ever so slight bowed back to it, making this piece a teeter-totter on the wall, but I think this is what in most part charmed me. I did nothing to it to alter the life, and journey it had been on before it rested in my artful hands, I am not sure I should let this little sweet chair back go, I may have to keep it around awhile letting it tell me where it wants to rest.

"Loving odd things, adding to a poetic heart."
I feel like I have become a guardian of pieces with history.

Inspiration And Simplicity

"Click on photo to detail art"
Created by Dore Callaway (Me)
I never know what's next, I tend to wrap myself around the smallest details of creating, and wait for the outcome to surprise me. The best part of creating a piece really has no boundaries for me, I will use almost anything of interest. Things of old, used, and less valued speak to me, pieces flaking with plenty of distressing battling to find its soul is a favorite find of mine. I love collecting old house moldings, and always find something to do with it, here is one of the many frames I have created from reclaimed wood. By adding just the right amount of aged white paint to them, and distressing it to my likeness it leads me to my next love.

The candlestick from Anthropologie that inspired this piece.

I took a piece of 12" x 12" paneling and used the ruff side so it would mimic a canvas grain to it, then painting a piece that would capture a less than perfect scale to it something that evokes a feeling of French flea market artful romance. This is where Anthropologie comes in, I had purchased two vintage candlesticks both being different, and unique. After a year I had tired of them, and decided maybe I would like them better painted into a piece of art for my shop where I have sold many in similar likeness to this one. Finished size 22" x 22"



When this piece was completed my daughter Hannah was so taken with it she made a request that she would like to buy it from me, please don't let this one go, she pleaded. I rarely design around my own work in our home, and this piece was sold to my daughter for a kiss and a hug. Now hanging over her chest of drawers, this piece places attention to the unnoticed pieces with added simplicity to her French countryside bedroom.




French countryside bedrooms should always be characterized by simplicity. Simple might mean less then important, yet a French country bedroom is anything but less then. Don't mistake less then with uncomfortable, French countryside should mean simply warm, simply pretty, simplicity in comfort-and wonderful, regardless whether the room is large or small.

"Click on photo" details paint technique
This small side table chest went from dark tiger oak to me painting and distressing it with natural aged feel. It is a French white with a hint of gray,(Dutch Boy paint) eggshell finish, paint color "Spectacular" DB356-1

Inspiring simplicity and grace that carries your heart.
"What ever you paint, paint with all your heart."

Sing And Fly

"Feed The Soul"
THIS PEACEFUL GARDEN SIGN WAS CREATED BY ME! "DORE CALLAWAY" I most of all want to thank my daughter "Hannah Bailey Callaway" for inspiring me...I would also like to recap the bird story that I posted in an earlier post. I continue to marvel at the ability my daughter has to celebrate and capture her passion with beauty in an artful life, as well as her heart. She moves you to tears, laughter and will take you to a place of wanting to feed the soul. You will soon understand why I had to put these words once again to this special piece of garden art. Myself being an interior designer, also artist who works in mixed-media, altered art, paper and paint, needed to put my daughters artful words in the likeness and style of this art piece. Her words as a child inspired me to do something with bird stories, words put to an art sign peacefully and poetically.


Being inspired to do this garden art brought back a dear memory of my daughter when she was age 4... Now she is 16 and graduating senior, year 2010. I was amazed at her heart and her fond love of caring for her wild birds. They were hers because they were loved from her heart, making sure that they all ate more then there fair share of 40 pounds of seed monthly. One afternoon one of her dear wild birds had flown into the glass door and fell to the ground; she cried yelling for my help and ran out to care for it. As she picked it up stroking it's head with her tiny 4 year old finger she told it to sing and fly, you can only imagine what that did to my heart. The little bird was soon not in shock from it's near fatal crash into the glass door, and flew from her soft grip. She really believed it was her love that helped it to sing and fly. So now you can see why I had to do this poetic garden art and how the words Sing and fly were perfect for this piece.

WHO CAN EXPLAIN the nurturing, sustaining role art plays in all our lives? Perhaps it is the dream-like quality of art, and it's ability to engender ideas that makes art so important. Peaceful inspiration that is provoked by reminding us the way nature intended it. I hope my art shows a celebration of love, "The bird was hers from the wild."

I hope this inspires you to "SING AND FLY" daily.
You will find this for sell on my ETSY Peaceful Shop