An Elegant Lunch in a Beautiful Home

As promised...here are a few pictures of the lovely home where Charlotte Lyons arranged for us to have lunch on Saturday.
It is the spectacular home of her brilliant friend Suzanne, who is a caterer and clearly a talented decorator....



The home sits high on the hill overlooking the Hudson River...
I wished that I had asked more questions about its history...Charlotte did tell us that Suzanne and her husband put a lot of work into restoring this grand old home to its former glory.



It boasts beautiful spacious porches...
(love the pale blue ceiling...)



Walking through the front door we found ourselves in a huge foyer...with a staircase at the far end. (Please forgive these less that perfect pictures!)



Looking back to the massive double door we just entered and the window seat where our purses were piled...



The beautiful mobile was made by Suzanne's husband with found driftwood...



There was a lovely organic and natural feel to Suzanne's decorating...



This fireplace is in the huge foyer as well. Originally the paneled walls were dark wood but I think it all looks beautiful painted white...Notice the detail in the ceiling...there is fabulous detail in the woodwork and moldings throughout...



This is one of the beautiful parlors off the foyer...
... It is decorated in creamy whites with a touch of lavender...



The window seat in this parlor looks out over the porch and the grounds...
... with the Hudson River down below...



A beautiful collection of amethyst colored glass bottles and coral...
...the river is reflected in the glass protecting the framed map...






The parlor on the opposite side of the foyer was also filled with objects from nature...seashells and an artful arrangement of fungi and driftwood on the mantel...
...beautiful paintings...







This elegant and gracious home is welcoming and comfortable...



The dining room was bright and sunny ....with another lovely tiled fireplace....
(I counted 6 fireplaces on the main floor!)
The two tables were beautifully set with fresh flowers...





Suzanne made one of her signature dishes for us...Coronation Chicken! It had the most delicious sauce...and I hate to admit it but I had a second serving! She served it with a salad composed of hydroponic watercress, frisee, organic radishes and Persian cucumbers in buttermilk chive dressing. Delicious! A side dish of couscous mixed with saffron, toasted almonds and golden raisins completed the menu along with fresh warm rolls...



An eye for details and a love of nature....
...notice the butterfly on the crisp linen napkins tied with brown and cream grosgrain ribbon...



Dessert was a scrumptious red velvet cupcake with a cream cheese and butter frosting.

So, you can clearly see that we were treated royally and that not only did we have a wonderful time crafting and enjoying each other's company but we were able to do so in two beautiful and gracious old homes.

Thank you Charlotte, Jane and Suzanne for your gracious hospitality!

Sweater Craft Session

My Sweater Craft Session was nothing less than fabulous! I was up early yesterday morning and finished up the "goody bags" that I was bringing along to share with the other participants. Since we all know about my limited crafting abilities...I decided to photocopy some vintage Valentines Day postcards to share so that these creative folks could use them in their artwork.

Are you ready? This is a very long post!



Irvington is not far from me...just across the Hudson River...a charming little river town...



The day long session was held in the beautiful home of Jane...Charlotte's close friend.
Sweet Charlotte greeted me at the door with a warm and welcoming smile and a big hug...
I was immediately comfortable, happy and excited!



Three tables were set with vintage pie plates full of goodness and these wonderful sweater covered paper coffee cups...
(click any photograph to enlarge for details!)



I found my spot!



Look at all the little bits of trim inside my cup...



I LOVE these vintage French red and white number tapes supplied by Papier Valise , one of the sponsors ...
...in fact, on Friday I had just received three in the mail that I purchased from Corey Amaro's online shop, Tongue In Cheek Antiques.

Charlotte gave me number 55....pretty close to 52! :)

Tinsel Trading trims and treasures to use in our creating...





...and baskets of beautiful felted sweaters were set about the room waiting for us to create!





Samples of things to make were displayed on tables and benches...





And then there was a large table full of "door prizes"...

















...Be still my heart! Many of the above items were made by Charlotte and others were made by Rebecca Sower, Denise Sharp and other talented artist friends of Charlotte...
...of course the book was one of Charlotte's!

Next....the creative artists and crafters who were taking the class with me distributed the most amazing little handmade treats and gifts...









These little tin cones were dated 1949 and were given to us by Melissa McCobb Hubbell of thegardenofpinkshadows.typepad.com
She got them on Ebay....I LOVE them! Perfect to hold posies or upside down as a tiny party hat!





...and that was just some of the goodness that was shared!

These lovely women were not only enormously talented but so willing to share their talents and skills...



This is the start of the embellishment process of the sweater tote being worked on by the talented Amy Powers of Inspire Company who, along with her two sisters and mother were seated at my table.



We started off the morning with coffee, tea and hot scones....
...delicious!





Charlotte gave us a run down of all the wonderful projects we could choose...
...she had lots of no sew projects for those of us who, as Stacy put it...were "virgin crafters"...
...(I think I was the only one of those...)



This is a wonderful Valentine mobile....perfect for me...no sewing required and besides I have about a zillion of those embroidery hoops which I can't resist picking up for a dime or quarter every time I come across one at the thrift store.
... They have been siting all together in a huge basket looking so cool ...
...I just knew I would find something to do with those things one day!



Now these are two finished projects that I MUST try....I took the pattern with me....
The necklace above was made by Meleen...



This one was made by Danielle Muller of The Vintage Dragonfly.
Aren't they both stunning!?!



Amy taught us how to make little rosettes....
I believe that this necklace was made by Loretta Marvel of Pomegranates and Paper...



Jessica was sitting next to me....lovely manicure... and she is working here on a bracelet put together with wire and sweater rounds...pretty greens!...
Jessica also prevented me twice from cutting into my sweater tote as I was cutting out small wool rounds with Amy's fabulous scalloped pinking sheers...Thank you Jessica and Amy!



This was Charlotte's charming sample bracelet...



Here is one of the pretty sample sweater totes that some of us chose to try our hand at...



and this is the finished project of one of the other talented ladies...



...and another... this one was crafted by Marlene Haveron of Bee Serendiptous ...

I hope I have everyone's names and projects correct...please let me know, ladies if you are reading this and I have mixed things up!! I want to give credit where due!



...and another in progress...Debbie Jones' work!



Another of Charlotte's beautiful sample sweater totes...



Amy and her finished sweater tote...
...Beautiful!... both of them...



...and a closeup of it under construction...



OK, this is mine.



...a little lopsided...the stitching on the left is a different stitch than the stitching on the right...
...Oh, and thanks to Jennifer for threading my big old needle... I'm not kidding...with my funky old thread...
...And I apologize about that vintage 1962 tacky glue...



I'm not done with it yet. I did discover this wonderful product though...it's called fabric glue.
Who knew?
... I guess you all did.



But this spectacular creation is done!
Now, this was the easiest of all. A simple round of sweater wool, batting and a simple running stitch around the edge .... and Voila!...a charming pincushion!
... Charlotte provided the little vintage cups and saucers...
...I made my cushion in class and decorated it at home with odds and ends around home here.
...I love it!





Oh yea....I was good at the pin cushions!





...And this was my door prize....a beautiful creation by Denise Sharp!
Gorgeous!

So....I have not told you yet about the delicious lunch prepared by Suzanne and the beautiful Victorian home she so graciously opened up to us....I will save that for tomorrow!

As you can see, the day was full of fun, companionship and beautiful things! Many thanks to Charlotte Lyons and to all those gracious ladies who had so much patience with me!
We had tons of fun at our table...

I am so glad that I decided to try something new! Felted sweater crafting is fun!

Have a great night!
:) Laura