A Visit with Sharon from My French Country Home

*My French Country Home*

www.sharonsantoni.com

I have been a follower of Sharons stunning blog for some time now. She is truly living the dream residing in an incredible country home in Normandy with her family , friends, animals and surrounded by the amazing beauty of France.

So grab a cup of tea and enjoy a glimpse into

a life most of us dream of

Hi Sharon , This is so much fun I am so happy to be Blogvisitng with you

Hello Dear Pam ,

First of all thank you again for offering to interview me - I am very flattered, and was thrilled to receive such a warm invitation. Your White Ironstone Cottage is such a pretty blog and you take beautiful pictures.

Thank You so much I feel like a kid in a candy store I am not sure where to begin so I will ask you The first question I always ask new friends what is it that you passionately collect?

Well Pam I have to admit that I'm not very good at having lots of tiny objects to dust in my house! We're a big family, we live in the country and life just seems too short to fit it all in!

My husband and I love to buy a painting every now and again. In fact we bought our first painting before we bought our first table and chairs! That must tell you something about our priorities! I also love to collect vintage and antique linens, so much so that I'm running out of storage space!

I have a new shop called

My French Country Brocante

www.sharonsantoni.com
and there's a giveaway

on right now, featuring some of my vintage linen.

In a recent post you had the most amazing pictures of a table with White Ironstone

Do you collect White Ironstone?

I love White Ironstone jugs and vases,

flowers always look so pretty against white,

and I love how no two whites are exactly the same.

For the summers

I have a lot of very big serving dishes in

white ironstone that we use when a big crowd is eating outside.

Do you have a favorite place to shop for treasures?

Without any doubt all the little brocantes and yard sales every weekend here in Normandy.

I have four children so I rarely go alone. At the moment the youngest son is as keen as me to go to these sales.We often leave the house on tiptoe at around 6.30 on a Sunday morning and scoot off along the valley till we come to the first brocante sale. Our favourites are those in fields or in tiny villages, and although he's only 13 he's picked up on how to spot a treasure and charm the vendor into a better price

This seems like a crazy question seeing where you live but if you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

Actually I've lived in several different countries, both in Europe and elsewhere. If that has taught me anything, it's that there is no such thing as the ideal place to live.

Here in Normandy I enjoy the climate, the space, the proximity to Paris, the landscape and of course our home, but I know that if we had to pick up stakes and move we could be just as happy in many other places. It's all about seeing the beauty around you.

Please tell us about your guest house and how we could all have the chance to see your beautiful home?

We are very lucky to have our guest house, it has brought us so many charming visitors from all over the world. The building was originally the bread oven to the main house. The last owners enlarged it and we renovated it to have a cottage to offer family and friends. I am happy to say that my blog has brought us many visitors. In the summer guests come for a week or two, but at this time of year quite a few just come for the day, or a day and a night, while they're visiting Paris.

I offer tailor made days in the country and our guests love the fact that - just an hour from Paris - they can taste family life in a real French home, and enjoy home cooked meals and see something of our beautiful valley. Some people want to learn how to make a French apple tart, some ask to ride in the forest, others want a private visit to a local chateau - I always try and fit in everything they ask for.


What has inspired you for the Holidays this year?

I am pretty traditional when it comes to Holiday decorations. I store our decorations very carefully and I love the moment in December when we open the boxes to retrieve them .

We buy a few new decorations each year but I never go in for a whole new look.

This year I am very happy because the house is going to be full of family for the Holidays, and two weeks before Christmas we will be hosting our traditional Christmas brunch. It's a joy to hold open house for our friends from morning till evening. Good music, good food, good wine. Friends catching up with each other, dogs running between our legs, children all over the place ... it's almost the best bit of Christmas to us!

Thank you Pam for inviting me over to your lovely white ironstone cottage, I've enjoyed chatting with you.

Thank You Sharon so much for your visit , it has been so fun to blogchat with such a kind, wonderful new friend, your blog is inspiring and it is easy to see that it comes from a beautiful heart. I am grateful for the chance to get to know you better.

I know you are all excited to visit Sharon's blogs I have them highlighted and don't forget about her giveaway too.

Blessings

♥

Pam

I almost forgot for those who voted pink or white for my header

so far it is

2 votes pink 4 votes white

there is still time to vote polls close friday night.

http://www.sharonsantoni.com/

White Wednesday Vote

Happy White Wednesday

As you probably noticed I made some changes to my blog

I took some pictures of my dining room and these gorgeous white hydrangeas in my

favorite White Ironstone Pitcher

Then I took some pictures of my dining room so

you could see how beautiful the

grey walls look with White trim and White Ironstone

The pictures were so pretty it inspired me to change the header on my blog

Now I need your

VOTE

I know you thought you were done voting yesterday LOL

Please let me know which header you like best?

Pink or White

The pink header is on the right on my sidebar if you need to see it again

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday

and Thanks for voting

Blessings

Pam

Shopping with Heart

Happy November 1st Everyone

Isnt this a fabulous outfit, it is new on the runway from

Ralph Lauren

It is on my inspiration board

I have the jacket and the shoes I just need

to shop for the amazing skirt and the big silver belt buckle.

I would like to wear this outfit to the next

Magnolia Creek and Co Atelier

upcoming sale

Above is the fabulous invite

♥

This event is filled with charity as well as beauty
Owner Robyn Wexler is honoring
Keep-A-Breast.
The KAB foundation is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.
Their mission is to help eradicate breast cancer by exposing young people to methods of prevention, early detection, and support.
You can even pick up an I (heart) Boobies! bracelet for yourself and all your friends.
♥
In addition Bethany Jensen from m*o*m will have a Photo Booth set up so you can step in front of the backdrop created especially for the event and shine your biggest smile for the camera
This will be a wonderful day don't miss the fun mark your calenders
and save the date

Magnolia Creek & Co. Atelier

Sunday, November 14th, 10am - 5pm
31339 Valley Center Rd.Valley Center, Ca. 92082
mobile: 760-486-4843
email: robynwexler(at)aol(dot)com

Blessings
Pam

She is a thing of Beauty

The past few weekends I have been up in Santa Barbara

watching our son play in showcases for different college baseball teams.

I took a walk in between the 2 games he played on Sunday

and look what I found next to the baseball field and the street.

I don't know how old she is but isn't she

beautiful

I wanted to take her home and put her in my garden

I think I might have been in need of female conversation and I found her to be a fabulous listener LOL

so I am happy to share her with you all

a thing of beauty is a joy forever so true...

Blessings

Pam

♥French Silver Ladles♥

These 3 French silver ladles I

found at a flea market in Paris.

I was walking past and stopped in my tracks

My heart skipped a beat. I tried not to act too excited

Then I had to make a decision which one of these fabulous ladles to buy.

This one is gorgeous and even has a monogram

How could I resist this one?

♥So...I stood there holding all 3 in my hands trying

to decide between the larger ladle,

the monogrammed ladle

and the filigree ladle.

Then my wonderful Husband said why don't you just get them all.

Yippee

What a great idea

He was so hungry he just did not want to wait any longer LOL

We had taken the train to the flea market and on our way back to the Hotel we got off at the wrong stop but we found a great restaurant called

Chez Clement

yummy and delicious

I loved the decor of the restaurant then I noticed

On the walls were

Silver Ladles

Sometimes getting lost can be so much fun especially in Paris

Which Ladle would you have picked?

♥

Blessings

Pam

Halloween Decorating Magic

Hi All,

Happy Sunday before

Halloween

I am so excited to share with you the picture

I received from a sweet follower who was inspired

to decorate her mantel from the picture above.

Here is the Mantel I decorated with

white pumpkins

And here is Cindi's artistic flare.
Love the richer tones of her mantel more traditional
I like the spider webs hanging down

spooky and fun

Thank You Cindi for sharing your design pic I love your ideas

My BOO pumpkins and yes a little orange too
♥

and here is the inspiration picture again that I found in Country Living magazine
I love that Cindi and I brought our own artistic ideas to the
design of our Halloween mantels.

Thanks to all of you for your comments and emails
It is so fun to hear that you have been inspired to try a new idea.
Only one week to go
are you decorated and ready?

You still have time to decorate and create a little magic

♥

Blessings
Pam

Debi from Out of the Blue

This is beautiful Debi

You may have seen her in

Romantic Country Magazine recently

when we got a glimpse of Debi at her shop

Out of the Blue

Debi also hosts a fun Mermaids Mercantile

the last weekend of every month at her shop.

It is filled with fabulous vendors and treasures

315 South Cedros Avenue

Solana beach, Calif 92075

Debi is one of the sweetest and most talented women I know

For the next 2 weeks
Debi and her Mom are collecting blankets and clothing for an orphanage in Mexico.

Please stop by Out of the Blue and remember to donate.
What a Blessing

Here is the smile that greets you at Out of the Blue
You can also visit Debi's blog at
http://themermaidsmercantile.blogspot.com/
for more fun pictures and information
Have a great day

Blessings
Pam

Air Kiss

♥

Look at these fabulous pictures of

White Ironstone
They were taken by Lara at Air Kiss

I am so excited to be visiting with her

Welcome to
White Ironstone Cottage
I love your blog and the name is adorable

How did you decide on the name 
Air Kiss
I wanted the name of my blog to represent

the color white somehow and I often think of white as being light and airy.
One day, I started to remember the name of that lip gloss
that usually came with all the Clinique gift-with-purchase kits
~ Air Kiss~.
I've always loved the name of that lip gloss, so
I decided it would be a cute blog name.

What do you Collect?

Some of my favorite vintage items to collect are 
white ironstone, linens, lace and old buttons.
I also will buy vintage postcards if the art or
photo is adorable and what I read on the back makes me smile.

Do you have a favorite place to find Treasures?

There is an incredible Antique Centre in the next town
over from where I live that I frequent often.
It is one of those stores that goes from
room to room and so on, including a basement
where everything is marked at 50% off!
I call it my happy place and like to escape
there to find new treasures and of course, inspiration.

What is inspiring you for the Holidays?

I am very influenced by the Swedish "Lantlig" look
right now. So of course, lots of simple whites,
but I am also trying to work in some simple accents of red.
I think a bit of red makes everything pop esthetically.
I also am looking to Jeanne d' Arc Living magazine
to get some inspiration rolling for me.
I'm excited to decorate with sprigs of pine greenery, pinecones..
rustic things from nature as well as vintage ornaments
and simple Ikea holiday bits 'n bobs.

Do you decorate with White Ironstone?

Absolutely. I love to display my growing collection
on a white wooden wall shelf and around
the house in small vignettes. I'm always
searching for ironstone decorating inspiration.
The cool hue of white ironstone is so
pleasing to my eye - both to look at in person and in photography.

♥

Lara and I have so much in common.
She is a new kindred spirit
Please visit her blog you will love her photos and her wonderful sense of humor too.
Thank You Lara
  so much fun getting to know you better
love that you love
White Ironstone
too

♥

Pam