Annechovie.....regifted

I wrapped up one of my Jo Malone boxes {click here to go to original post on regifting logo boxes) for someone lovely and special. A heartfelt and virtual thank you to Anne Harwell at Annechovie for the lovely mention on my Oooh la la Cadeau website in her blog post yesterday {click here to read }. Just so you know, I won't put just anything on a Jo Malone box (to cover the logo and re-use) but I love the idea of using Anne's chair card on the front, it certainly is Jo Malone worthy and it's striking image can carry this gift all by itself. I simply glued the card right to the box and wrote my thank you inside. I placed my bows and ribbon "tails" off to the top so they wouldn't interfere with the classic Annechovie chair image. I folded a bit of stitch ribbon to make a little bolster cushion (just for fun Anne, it really doesn't need it). Sometimes the cards are so wonderful that it's a shame not to show them off a bit from the get-go and make them part of the presentation. Certainly the case with any of the gorgeous cards from Annechovie. If you haven't taken a peek, you must do so, you'll be inspired. If you missed my post last month, click here to read about Anne's generous style and talent. I know, lots of links today, but if you want to get up to speed on her story.......off you go.

You can see the card flap open a bit and it doesn't bother me a bit. The more I think about it, the more I like this variation......see her artwork has inspired me to look at this recyling-boxes in a whole new way. The card becomes part of the gift in a way that isn't possible when it's off to the side in an envelope. When the card is this fabulous then let it help you along in your gift wrapping palette. I do like to have long ribbon "tails" on some presentations, makes it a bit decadent but not wasteful, they will hopefully get re-used when you are generous with your ribbon lengths.

Here I took the same box, centered the card and used a stitch cotton ribbon on top and bottom for a simpler version of the same idea. I do this because I know what you are thinking when I use lots of ribbon. And yes, I like both versions.

Thank you Anne, again. You really are the best.

All photo images by Sande Chase ~ A Gift Wrapped Life/Oooh la la Cadeau

Gorgeous File ~ Glam Monday

Isn't this a glamorous pose? This is an image from Vogue from 1948 photographed by John Rawlings. Look how they used the pale blue gloves with this black taffeta dress. I love that type of collar on a party dress. I don't know about you, but gloves are making sense these days, especially in airports. It's about the only fashion item that hasn't come back in full force (I'm not talking about winter gloves), maybe they should?

I always have to borrow some glam from Judith at Paris Atelier, she posted this image last week and said it reminded her of me, it gave me a good chuckle and let me guess is it the colour or all those bows? The funny thing is.....my friend and I started a few of these wired ribbon dresses (my friend was looking to use up all my ribbon cuttings) a few months back but we didn't think of bows! We spent the afternoon layering and glue strips of ribbon into dresses on mini forms. Oh my.....Judith has me thinking in a whole new direction. Though I might need a larger dress form for all those bows.

Ooooh.......I love this dressing area. I always thought vanity areas should be as glam as you can make them. Nothing like paneled or fabric-tufted walls, satin drapes, fur throw, and mirrors to make it all happen. And it sure is happening in this gorgeous setting by designer Graham & Greene.

Fuchsia metallic pink and those signature red soles, that Christian Louboutin loves women doesn't he?

So gorgeous in it's simplicity.

The refined glamour of pearls, this 16-strand is from Slane & Slane for $3,850.00. I have a better idea, I'll just use what I have and put them all together, I must have at least 16 strands from the last 30 years, all sizes and lengths, and most of us do I bet. Wouldn't they be perfect with this Stephen Dwek ring? At $490.00 not too outrageous I didn't think, not that I'm buying a ring right now.

No you won't believe it either, but this flirty dress was created with pages from a phone book. Artist Jolis Paons is thinking outside the box (or would that be in-the-book?) to create this exquisite creation. Another paper dress from French Blue blog, you know how good she is with finding these paper creations. And how good I am at borrowing dresses.

Gorgeous is a shoe that you can't stop staring at......of course I can't wear them! I don't need to, I just like looking at them. Feathers and a duplex satin ribbon......to say nothing about the colour! So inspired.

Gorgeous is this dress from the wild side. When I saw this glorious creation on the Coco & Kelley blog this week, I knew I had to borrow it from her for the day. Look at the shoes with this dress! And I love that touch of turquoise in the bracelet. Dress is from a current Marie Claire photo shoot.

Gorgeous is the simple shape of this candle by Modern Alchemy, especially since it has a black satin bow on the box. I love this type of product presentation....it's make for a special gift for that woman of refined taste.

I don't know if it's the swan topiary, the blue sky, the white cotton, or those well-behaved and manicured dogs...........but I find this July 2005 H & G Fantasy Garden so outdoor glam. We were hoping to do our veranda more glam this year, but we are in ground-zero of a major road construction that will have us spending more time indoors. I am not happy about this at all, I repeat, not at all happy. And yes, the relentless dust even gets indoors.

Gorgeous is a thoughtful friend who goes out of her way to find another Laduree shop in Paris (as the first one was a long, long line-up), then carries home two boxes of fresh macarons, gets her jet-lagged body out of her cosy bed the next morning and brings them to my door and stayed for some lovely Paris chat. Not so fabulous is my nocturnal son who ate most of them that night while I was sleeping. He thinks they are the best thing ever and says he couldn't stop himself. He really likes my friend, he coached her into getting a hole-in-one on the links one day so they have that golfer bond. And now she brought him macaroons.

Nothing more glam that a good reading area. I wouldn't care if the sofa is white, I'd be curled up nice and cosy for days. Our married-student life loveseat was a green leather version of this style and it brings back happy reading memories, something to keep quietly occupied while my husband studied. We should have kept it and recovered it as above. It is a classic style.

Since it's gorgeous Monday I would want to glam up the comfort level while I read-and-recline with this

gorgeous silk pillow from Annechovie, the queen of stylish chairs. It would look sublime and scrumptious on that tufted white sofa. Anne shared this Etsy pillow find {click here to read her post}.

A glam way for event designer Preston Baily to go from job to job. When I see this photo I always think to myself "if I was driven around like this from job-to-job, I would still be in interior design". No wonder he's smiling. I think he should give the wild-girl outfit a ride, that outfit would look fabulous in this setting.

All photo sources listed with image except for 4th from bottom (two ladies) .Photo from PhotographersLimitedEditions via Beautiful Things To Share

Artful Anne

Courtneys Favorite Things- a private commission piece by artist Anne Harwell.

12" x 12" Giclee on matte canvas, ready for display. She accepts private

commissions, have a lovely corner, a setting, or house you want drawn?

She's your girl.

Yes, you may have seen this photograph before (on my very first post) but this time I want you to look in the upper left corner and you'll see a wonderful notecard image with a fabulous chartreuse chair. I had just received my first Etsy buy, these most wonderful notecards from a most stylish artist....... doesn't her Courtney Barnes chair look perfect sitting on top of all those colourful wrap papers? I'm a newcomer to blogger land, but even here it doesn't take long to know who the really nice bloggers are, they comment, they promote other talent, and they just have a positive tone to whatever they do. But blog land aside, Anne Harwell has some serious talent for someone her age and I just adore what she does with all of it. She draws, she blogs, she has an Etsy store, a Zazzle gallery, a Flickr photostream..........

I'm at the bottom of a long list of people who have written about Anne, her blog and Etsy shop, both under her beautiful ANNECHOVIE banner, are hugely popular. Her iconic Courtney Barnes chair artwork is also available in a framed format for 75.00 US.

I also Etsy ordered these scalloped flat notecards for a friend, but little secret.......I kept them for myself. It seems a designer can never leave their old life behind, how could I resist? A boxed set of 8 cards and envelopes is 16.50 US. A wonderful gift for the friend who sits at the top of your gift list.

A more recent collection of her Chair Silhouette boxed notecards.

The colourful set gives you 4 images (8 cards total) for 16.50 US.

She also has a gallery at Zazzle where you can buy her fabulous chair images
on postage stamps, coffee mugs, aprons, and mousepads.

I told you she was a clever girl!

Photo images 1, 3,4, and 5 from Annechovie/2nd photo by Sande Chase