the easter tablescape blues

Happy Saturday!

I’ve spent most of the day

Spring cleaning, decluttering the house

and rearranging my backyard furniture,

so it was fun to get back to my photos and

edit them today!

Over the last two weeks I’ve been playing around

with some different color combos that

accentuate my blue and white plates.

A few little kumquats look amazing  

contrasting the complimentary colors

in the tablescape perfectly!

My neighbor Susan has a kumquat tree with

probably tens of thousands of kumquats

on it right now!

She has so many that she actually

sells most of them to our local farmer’smarket.

Anyways, she was kind enough

to let me snip a few branches for my table.

Thanks, Susan! 

If you’ve never tried a kumquat,

you must, if you have the opportunity.

They’re little citrus fruits that you eat whole,

and they have a very sweet rind and are sour inside…

yum! 

A subtle contrast of baby blue also works well

with blue and white plates in the indigo color family.

White ranunculus in vintage creamers

soften the look of the table.

I was really flattered last week when

Home Goods shared my cabbage leaf table setting

on their instagram page!

I absolutely love how the cabbageware

looks with the gorgeous blue plates,

both from Home Goods!! 

Switching things up a bit,

with a few different accessories…

My brother-in-law, Rob brought me

these vibrant orchids last time he was over,

and I sprinkled a few flowers on the table

for a fun contrast in color!

The best of both colors really

comes shining through, 

don’t you think?

Same with the bright yellow daffodils and tulips…

so, which color combo should I go for on Easter?

ciao! fabiana

my favorite and best framing

From the moment I saw it, I immediately fell in love with this large photograph of Santa Monica beach by Jessica Cardelucci It brought back fun memories of when my husband and I were dating, and we’d frequent this same beach! 

Jessica’s an acquaintance of mine, and I’ve always loved her beautiful photographs, so since I was already a fan of hers, I knew I had to have one of her amazing beach shots, and this one was perfect! Well, that was about a year ago 😏, so...

Fast forward to earlier this year, and my poor beach photo was still sitting in the closet, all rolled up in a cardboard mailer. My husband had recently had a few things for his office framed so he suggested I go to Best Framing in Costa Mesa.

Everyone at Best Framing is super friendly and knowledgeable, and they suggested that I have this piece framed with what’s called a "raised float" effect. Samples with similar beach photos were on the wall, so I could see exactly how it was going to look. This technique is so cool that I wanted to share the step by step visual account of how my piece was framed.

With a raised float, the artwork is dry mounted to an acid free foam board to keep it flat, then it was raised a 1/4" up off of the matting to give it a floating effect and reveal the torn edge of the artwork. 

The print doesn't sit up against the glass, and what’s really cool is you get sort of a shadowbox effect. The end result is a very unique modern look.

The white on white combination with a bright print really makes the artwork pop! Since my photograph was dry mounted and completely flat, it gives a very crisp look to the finished product. 

The raised float does cost a little more than traditional matting, since it’s a pretty labor intensive framing style. The artwork is built up and with custom spacers on the inside of the frame to keep the artwork off of the glass. 

What's nice is that this style reveals all the way to the edge of the artwork where traditional matting needs to cover about 1/8" all around. 

Artwork with deckled edges or images that go all the way to the edge of the paper look great with this kind of framing style. I especially love watercolors framed this way.

They can also do a raised float with or without the artwork being dry mounted. When it’s not dry mounted, you often see a "wave" to the artwork which can be a nice way to reveal texture in the art piece.

For my large piece which was over 32 x 40, it added about $45 to the total cost. Not too bad for this fabulous look. So now this favorite photo is front and center above our fireplace in the family room. It adds a whole new vibe to the room, and we love it!

ciao! fabiana

For all your framing needs, check out:

Best Framing

1671 Placentia Avenue

Costa Mesa, Ca

949-791-8780

BestFraming.com

more easter tablescape inspo

Do you ever feel like you get pulled

in lots of different directions?

There are only so many hours in a day,

 and so much to get done!

the struggle is real!!

😊

Today was a great day to check

lots of things of the list…

ü getting Easter candy at See’s

ü planning the Easter menu

ü shopping for Easter groceries

ü setting the Easter table

ü clearing the clutter around the house!

As you’ve seen the last couple of weeks,

I’ve styled a few different Easter tables settings

just for fun

and

also to get an idea of what direction

I want to go for on our actual Easter table.

This one with the moss bunny was a favorite,

I have a few different sets of cute bunny plates,

so I started with those first and then 

accessorized around them.

And I love these little vintage egg cups…

they’re super fun to include on the table.

but sometimes, I pull myself in a different direction!

 Don’t know what it is,

but I’ve been obsessed with cabbage plates lately

and then

I found four panels of this amazing

shabby chic chintz fabric the other day…

so

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...

cabbageware and chintz!

Stay tuned for the final table reveal!

🐇

 ciao! fabiana

an Easter table with a twist

Inspiration is one of my favorite words.

I think I do use it a lot here on the blog,

but it’s a big part of my life.

I love finding inspiration in the littlest of things…

I usually get inspired by something, and then something else, so sometimes I end up with an quirky combo of ideas. There are times when I really have to reel it in! 

For this tablescape, I had several points of inspiration... Easter, vibrant yellow flowers contrasting with classic blue and white china, and (here comes the quirky part) some of my favorite vintage souvenir plates. 

And to finish off the look, I also wanted to throw in a few blue and white odds and ends that were adorable thrift store finds, like these mismatched creamers and sugar bowls. I thought they'd be really cute down the center of the table filled with yellow flowers.

Of course, this time of year, Trader Joe's has little daffodil bunches for I think about $1.49! 

They're so perfect for spring and and for me are an instant mood booster! 

I love collecting souvenir plates of some of my favorite places, and La Jolla is definitely near the top of my list!

Seattle is another one of my favorite destinations.

Chicago, yes!

This plate is a little different than most of

the ones I have and it features

 the Brulatour Courtyard in New Orleans,

from a series of plates called

“Scenes of Old New Orleans”.

I’ve never been to New Orleans.

but it’s on my wish list!

This New York plate is a little different too,

since it’s not blue and white transferware,

but I still fell in love with it!

I’m really looking forward to Easter!

We’ll have the family over here for brunch

and then host a fun egg hunt for the little ones.

What are your plans?

ciao! fabiana