Harrison’s Guest Suite…

We were commissioned by Design for Living, Inc. to incorporate hand painted toile scenes that were taken from the custom bedding and drapes.  I brought in Tara Buttons of Murals by Tara to paint the scenes for us, as I am not a fine artist and know my limits!   In the bathroom we glazed the walls to give a soft background for the artwork and we antiqued the cabinets.  In both the bedroom and the bathroom we added drama by painting the ceilings red.  We then used the design from the fabric that covers a chair in the bedroom to create custom floor cloths to bring the room together.  This is such a lovely space for guest to relax and enjoy thier visit with the Harrison’s!

Harrison Guest BedroomHarrison Guest BathroomHand painted ToileFloor Cloths

Harrison Guest BathroomHand painted ToileFloor Cloths

Hand painted ToileFloor Cloths

Floor Cloths

Sid Dickens…..

Have you ever had a love affair with an inanimate object?  You know, something that just gives you a feeling of great joy, inspiration or even goosebumbs?  Well, this is the kind of love affair that I have with the Memory Blocks that are created by Sid Dickens!  He is an amazing artist and has created these blocks that have become world renown!  I discovered them through one of Baton Rouge’s interior designers, Mrs. Camilla Ford of Design For Living on Highland Road.  Camilla asked me to create a wall in her shop to display a collection of the memory blocks….and I’ve been hooked ever since!  The photo below only depicts a few of the many blocks that are offered, and although they look small in this picture they actually measure 6″x9″x2″!  If you’d like to see why these blocks are adored by so many fans, I’d like to invite you to her gift shop, Gabriella Rothschild’s located at 7384 Highland Road or online at www.gabriellarothschilds.com  and remember that she can have them shipped worldwide…and they make awesome Christmas presents!!!

A Fab Kitchen!

A Fab Kitchen!

Here are some pictures of a kitchen I was commissioned to finish in Sorrento, Louisiana.  The pyramid ceiling was a plaster finish with an overglaze applied.  I cut my finger to the bone on that ceiling with my trowel and my friend Renee Holder from Arkansas (www.artistryinfaux.com) who was down here working with me had to assist getting me to the local doctor for a few stitches!  We also did a plaster finish with an antiqued bronze finish on the range hood, and we antiqued the kitchen cabinets.   I love this kitchen!

Before pic & Close Ups

Mardi Gras Ball 2009

I’m a member of the Krewe of Iduna and every year we have a Mards Gras Ball!  We were fortunate enough this year that our daughter, Rachael Hallack was chosen to be a Maid in the Royal Court!!  This is a big deal in the Mardi Gras world!  Rachael chose my husband, her step-father, to be her Duke to escort her…he was very honored and made an outstanding pirate!  Rachael’s gown projected her as a Mermaid, as our theme this year was  “YoHo, YoHo…A Pirate’s Life For Me!”!   Watching the Royal Court being announced and parading through the coliseum is thrilling each and every year, mainly because until this magical night the entire court is kept as a huge secret!  It was really hard to go a year without being able to tell anyone that my daughter was a participant!  Here’s a few pics of our wonderful night sharing good food, good drink and wonderful company!

Mardi Gras Ball 09

Above is my oldest son Ben, me, Rachael, and my husband Robert Carroll.

Cindy, Ben, Rachael, Robert

Above is Ben & Rachael with their father Robert Hallack and step-mom Cindy Hallack!

…and a few of our wonderful friends below!

Bobbie & Renee Holder

Jackie & Lori Anderson

Steve & Renee Hennigan

I wish I could post pictures of all the hundreds of peeps who where there, including more of our bunch….oh the gowns, the tablescapes and the dancing…can’t wait until next year!!

A Few of my friends….

Sisters...9 outta 10 of us!

I thought I’d share a few of my friends with you.  We are all faux finishers/decorative painters from across the country!  This group of ladies (including one more not shown) makes up our group called SistersHands …you can check us out at www.sistershands.com!

Where to begin….

For the past year I’ve been reading blog after blog after blog and loving it!  I kept saying that I would like to have a blog to share all of  lifes wonderful experiences, both personally and professionally, with others.  However, out of fear, I kept putting it off!  So it’s taken me a while to figure out where to begin and how to blog.  I’m sure I’ll stumble along the way and there will be a few learning curves, but I’ll get there eventually!   My hope is to share with those who have similar interest, to inspire where I can, and be inspired by so many of you out there!  I’m all about home, family and my business of decorative painting (Fauxscapes.com)!  I love to repurpose items for my home and garden….everything in my life is very eclectic….so you’ll see that my tastes has a very wide range!  I’ll even get to post some pics of my clients beautiful homes and projects!  I’ll share “how to” instructions on projects that I work on…some from the past, present and future!  I’ll share information and answer questions regarding the Caromal Colour Artisans Collection of decorative paints that are featured in Country Living Magazine, as I am the first Certified Independant Representative in Louisiana!  If you’d like to see their online store, just click on the Country Living icon in the top right corner of my blog….and don’t forget that if you place an order to use my code: MartiC, this gives me credit for the order and you get a $$$ discount on your shipping!! 

I love living in South Louisiana….tropical climate (most of the time)…LSU…my 4 kids (and all that entails)….Mardi Gras…family….friends…food…LIFE!!  So follow along and let’s see where this journey can take us!