Maigirlz Madness

The Ultimate Compliment....

I made this in a class I took at Mystic Paper yesterday.  The teacher, Mike Putnam is an extraordinary teacher and he makes everything so easy!  He provides you with all the elements you need to create the art, but there is plenty of room to express your own personality and style.  Plus he rocks and he is a clever artist!



The Ultimate Compliment?

Hubby liked it so much, he asked if he could put it in his office at work!!!

The Last Photos of Paris...

The ceiling of St. Chapelle- I laid my camera on the floor and shot up:


A portion of the lower Chapel:

For my girl Dawn, who adores fleurs-de-lis:

Why didn't I rotate this?!?!

At the base of the Eiffel Tower.  I love how Al looks in this photo- I must have been trying to boss someone around:

I wouldn't go up- I'm afraid of heights and it becomes nearly physically impossible for me.  Al tricked me on Notre Dame so I became very weary of his suggestions.  He's already been to the top of the Eiffel Tower so he was ok. Next time we go, we have to go back at night.

The Arch de Triomphe

We didn't climb to the top of this, either- my feet and legs were like rubber at this point!

Laduree on the Champs Elysees- sweet heaven!


The next day

Food was a challenge, not knowing how things translate.  This day we ordered a grilled ham and cheese with Blue, and this is what we got:

It was flipping delicious, though!

Napoleon's Tomb:  This enormous marble casket is located in a special crypt just for his tomb!


Street scene on the leftbank- Latin Quarter:


Loved this street vendor:

Because he made me this:

It took me 2 days to eat it!

The on to the Pompidou Art Center.  The building is cool- we took and escalator to the top, and it's on the outside of the building. Look at the city behind us- we are so high up!

I don't get modern art:

This is an installation- rocks and a manhole cover-WTF??  The gift shop was very cool (thanks for the tip Martha!)

Shopping!!!

Bought this set of jammies for my little nephew at Petit Bateau- I used to work for Petit Bateau USA in the early eighties.  One of the things I did for them was open a boutique in Boston on Newbury Street- with their money!

My SIL speaks some French, so we picked up the book as well.  I also bought a Petit Bateau LS tee shirt for myself for 12 E (about $18) - I can't believe I didn't buy more!  They retail for about $60 in the US if you can find them!

Paris Flea Market
Puces deVanves

I selected this particular flea market because it is smaller and the prices are are rumored to be lower with items very desirable.  It's all VERY expensive plus the lowe value of the dollar made purchasing things very difficult.  There was some very cool  stuff, that can only be found in France I would have paid a lot for if I could have gotten it home! My shopping scores:

These vintage etchings were 3 euros each ($4.50).  Normally we buy art from street vendors, but they were asking so much for their street art- like 40 euros!


A small stack of papers for $4.50:


Vintage French postcards- $1.50/each:

This really cool slice of vintage paper for $1.50:


I loved this litte vintage spool and spent $3 on it!:


My favorite purchase of the day!  This vintage french children's book caught my eye- I loved it so much I paid $12.00 for it! The covers are textured and the pages inside are so yummy!


And my best buy of the day was this little silver mesh coin purse:


We arrived late to the flea market.  As we strolled, I saw thse little purses for 65-85 euros.  Of course I thought that was ridiculous.  A little latter, I asked about one and the vendor would seel it to me for 50 E, and another for 45 e.  The market was closing and the vendors packing up when I stopped again to look at one.  First the lady offered it to me for 35 e (about $50), but I didn't want to spend that so I said Merci and turned to walk away.  She grabbed me and said I could have it for 20 e- sold for $30!!

The rest of the photos are HERE!

Postcards and Postage were extremely expensive!!  It was hard to find a post office and once found, the lines were slower than in the US!! So, I didn't get to send out all the postcards I had planned on.  I 'm still waiting for a postcard for one of my sons to arrive!  Sorry if you know you should have recieve one and didn't!  My intentions were good!

To honor everyone's love of all things
Marie Antoinette
A Giveaway!

Some little paper goods straight from the gift shop at Versailles!!  A bookmark, large postcard, a ruler and some sweet cinnamon pastilles.  Just leave a comment by October 3!
Thanks again for looking at my photos!!

Non-Paris Post

More Paris tomorrow- it takes a long time to load and tag those photos!

Been playing with the little bisque dolls:


Made this using tips from the Sweet Six Studio Online Retreat:


RUN and get these darling custom bookplates from The Paper Princess!!  They came in a tin just for me!  I also purchased those way cool gift tags (I'm showing a couple- there's more) and the Paper Princess herself sent me the little notebook and mini calender pages.



And, my treasure from the "I Want Candy" book hosted by sweet Natalea- look at the rock candy she sent!  Other girls sent the candy necklace and the yarn lollipop!

A Day of Museums....

First, click on this photo if you'd like to see the charming apartment we rented in Paris:


This was a very long day, as we visited so many museums:
First stop was the Orsay.  What a collection of Impressionist art!!  This was one of my favortie paintings, and I can't even remember who the artist is!

9/23 - Thank you to my friend Lili for letting me know this beautiful painting is called
"La Belle Angel" by Paul Gauguin!
Of course, we had to stop for a cup of coffee:


Then on to the Orangerie, established to house a collection by Monet that he donated to the French government:


Then a stroll through the Tuileries Garden as we head toward the Louvre.  We stop for coffee and a crepe.  I love crepes, but they gave me a belly ache!  Ate it anyway:
It was so warm and sunny!


Then we strolled along the Rue de Rivioli checking out some of the shops.  We stopped at a boutique called Soizick where Al selected and purchased this beautiful perfume bottle for me.  It's hand crafted with porcelin and Swarovski crystals:



Next was a stop at the Musee d'Arts Decoratifs (sp?) because there was a very special exhibit about him:  Very cool- there was even the necklace he's wearing in this painting.



Then finally, the Louvre- it was open late the day we were there, so we stayed until closing, around 9PM:


Al, playing in the garden:

And we got to gaze upon more paintings of Josephine:

And this interesting egomaniac:


More photos here, if you'd care to look!

God, I hope someone is looking because this takes so much time, but it is SO worth sharing!

More tomorrow!

The Fat Files have been updated!

Versailles and other Stuff

I want to share some goodies first:

Beautiful birthday gift from my gal pal, Kecia:

Shoes I am lusting for:


A sampling of deliciousness from Gilding the Lily:

The gorgeous print from darling Kelly, finally framed:


On My Nightstand:


That's little Scout made for me by Claudine Helmuth and the orange kitty a creation of LK Ludwig.

I'm struggling through "The Shack".  I'm not much for the "coming to Jesus" type books.
"The Snake Charmer" was written by some family relation to my friend Sally Turlington-  fascinating reading- I'm not finished yet.
My star choices:  "Promise Not To Tell" and "Island of The Lost Girls" written by Jennifer McMahon.  Wow- these were page turners that I couldn't put down!  I love how she weaves the stories through time.  Easy and quick read (about a day each), captivating and entertaining.  I really enjoyed them for a quick and easy!

Versailles:
It was a beautiful day, so we took the train from Paris to spend the entire day at Versailles.  We toured the Chateau, then strolled through the gardens, walked through Marie- Antoinette's summer house, Petit Trianon and wandered through her playground Hamlet.  My camera battery died right after the tour of Versailles.  I was pissed.

Here we are, in front of Versailles:
 
There was a special exhibit by the artist Jeff Koons being displayed in Versailles:


Check out the lobster hanging from the ceiling in the King's apartments:

Enormous, magnificent chandeliers in The Hall of Mirrors:

The details are intriguing:

The Queen's Bedchamber- check out that bed!

My favorite female character from French history, the amazing Empress Jospephine:
(This is a small piece from The Coronation by David).

I actually really liked this enormous piece by Jeff Koons as we were leaving the chateau:

Those kings really dug themselves!

Look at the wood detailing in the Dauphine's private chamber:

The usual, coffee and journaling:

Found this cool store in the town of Versailles- I worked for Petit Bateau USA in the 1980's (more later on what I purchased there):


These scenes made my heart race:

The beautiful gardens at Versailles- right before my camera pooped out


More photos of Paris- Versailles can be found HERE.
That's all for today!

The Day we Arrive....

We left Phoenix around 7 am on September 10th and arrived in Paris the following morning around 9 am.  Once we got to our apartment in the 11th District, we were off and running!
Street scene:

My very first view of the Seine with Notre Dame in the background: 


Gardens at Notre Dame


As we waited to climb the tower, I had my first crepe! Nutella and banana:



After climbing about 400 million stairs ( I was cussing a little at Al for making me work so hard), but the gargoyles and the view of Paris was so worth it!



Look at the scroll work on the gigantic doors to the entrance of the Chapel:

And inside the cathedral were little alcoves and look at the design inside of one of them:


We drank a lot of coffee!  We traveled everywhere by foot and metro, just getting lost and found all over Paris.  This day took us into the Jewish Quarter, which was so clean and very family oriented.  It felt like a little city within the city. 
Sitting on the sidewalk and having cofffee was very expensive, generally $5-$10 a cup, depending on how close you were to a monument!  It was out time to sit and relax, decide where to go next and just celebrate out time together.  My man at a cafe:

We pushed ourselves to stay awake all day to force our bodies to adjust to the time difference.  Around 8 or so we went back to the apartment for much needed sleep.  Here is a view of the apartment building courtyard from our 4th floor (walk up) window:

More photos HERE if you'd like to take a look!

I Love Paris!

It wasn't all about this:


Rasberry Tart

"Negresco"

Cookies!


And it wasn't all about this:


Cafe Creme at the non-existent Bastille

Cafe creme at Versailles

Cafe Creme at the foot of Notre Dame

It was all about Paris!!

Such a beautiful old city, so rich with beauty and history.  To see, in person, pieces of art I have only read and dreamed about.  To stand where Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of France....it rocked!

Here is a very tired me getting ready for take off on our trip home:

More to follow!

Paris here I Come!!!!

Wheels up at 7:05 tomorrow morning!

Finished up a few things:

A charm for Ties That Bind:



A collage:


A cabinet card:



And some way-cool cookware I'm lusting for:

My Name is Maija and I Am an Addict....

But you know that already.  My heart flutters and I tingle with delight every time this box arrives:

Every time Janice at Papier Valise gets new merchandise, I've gotta get me some!

Vintage french pharmacy labels, vintage coins with crowns, beautiful metal blue flowers, vintage mushrooms.........

My page for Natalea's  I Want Candy Swap book.  It's actually really glittery and much prettier in person:


I was channeling Amy Tan (queen of cute tee-shirts) using my Emily Martin designs for embroidery and I put one on the back:

And this on the front:


I made this for my Peep Tanya- I couldn't finish it while she was here:

Tanya always gives me angels and crosses to remind me of God and my mom looking out for me.

Andrea of the Vintage Bella Studio hosted a fabulous Crinoline Tag swap:


To see all of them just click on the photo!

PARIS COUNTDOWN 4 MORE SLEEPS!!!

One of my Favorite Places....

Right here, with these girls:


Photo stolen, without permission, from the blog of Kelly Snelling.

The party photos are up- to see Sylvia's amazing home and collection, visit
 Kelly's blog!

I received this precious gift from Kelly:

I fell in love a while back with paper cuts. Kelly, always in tune with what people like, founf this fabulous artist who turned her paper cuts into prints and presented it to me for my birthday!  Look at the detail:

I was going to wait to show it when it's framed, but framing is taking 6 weeks!  I just know you couldn't wait.....

PARIS IN 5 DAYS!!!