Making new friends...

Two weeks ago (I think it was on a Thursday,) my cell phone beeped with a new text message. My dear friend, Julianne was up with the sun and wanting to do something. So I called her and we decided to meet for coffee on my patio.
I had just put the finishing touches on my wood awning

( I blogged about this in an earlier post) and she wanted to see how it had turned out. By the way, Julianne is an amazing artist, she has a degree in graphic design and is an accomplished painter so I was eager to see what she had to say.

So we sat and chatted over coffee and watched the antics of my two favorite furry people, my pooches Ollie and Otter.



With coffee finished, we decided to go visit one of Julianne's favorite furry people, her gorgeous horse, Rio. So not fair!

After working with Rio for a bit we decided we needed some nourishment because our day so far was really quite hectic. LOL! Off we went to our local cafe, Chandler's.

Up to this point my day was laid back and quiet. I was totally unprepared for what happened next. Adjacent to the cafe is a lovely little boutique called Canterbury Home which is owned and operated by the very talented duo Michelle Bassett and her mom, Bev.





The shop is filled with vintage treasures in the shabby chic flavor. From hand crafted jewelry to French inspired antiques it is like a trip to the candy shop, simply scrumptious. Michelle has also been kind enough to take some of my paper mache creations on consignment.


If you can't visit her store in person you can shop the boutique online at www.canterburyhomeandgarden.com. It is definitely worth the trip.


Like I said my day up to this point was pretty normal, but when Julianne and I decided to go over to the boutique, everything changed. Michelle was just wrapping up a three day photo shoot of her home and store. It will be featured sometime after the first of the year in the national magazine Romantic Country. Wow, how awesome is that?! Trust me, I have seen pictures of her home - you won't want to miss it.

Michelle introduced Julianne and I to the magazine's editor, Fifi, or as she is known on her blog, as the Fabulous Fifi and fabulous she is. We chatted briefly and I asked her if any of the magazines she worked for featured artists. She said, "Yes" and to send her some photos of my work and she would gladly pass them on. Hurray!

Fifi asked if Julianne or I knew of anyone in the area with a shabby chic style house or studio. I was thinking to myself Julianne's house is super cute and she has an amazing studio, but before I could speak, Julianne was inviting Fifi over to my studio (stinker bell.)


This is a photo of my studio on a clean day.

Ugh! Did I mention I was goofing off all day and my house looked like a hurricane went through?! Well it did and that hurricane was me. My husband's nickname for me is Hurricane Mary. LoL. Before I could utter the words "No, my house is a disaster," Julianne, Fifi and Michelle were out the door and on their way to my messy house, ugh! I was horrified that an editor of a national magazine was on her way to my house, HELP!
(Did I mention it was messy?)

I am lucky I wasn't arrested because I broke every traffic law known to man to buy myself some time to beat them home.

Fifi took lots of pictures and answered lots of questions. She is gracious, warm, giving and a very talented lady. Her blog is beautiful and inspiring and she was kind enough to mention Julianne and I in it. She also posted some of our work and a link to my website! What a sweetheart!

Thanks again, Fifi. We will never forget the day we met you and we will forever follow your work.

Wow, what a wonderful wacky day.

Take care and thanks for letting me share,

Hurricane Mary