Thank You Better Homes and Gardens....Florabella Actions

Hello!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Today I wanted to say a special thank you to Better Homes and Gardens for featuring our home in their December issue that is out on newsstands now....

Last April we had the honor of having Better Homes and Gardens come and shoot our home for their Christmas issue....

I have loved Better Homes and Gardens for so many years and 

I have looked to Better Homes and Gardens for inspiration monthly.... The magazine has played a big part in helping me develop my own style throughout the years.....

I never dreamed that our own home would be featured in the magazine....

I was contacted by Janna Lufkin last December asking if we would be interested in having our home featured in the December 2012 issue of Better Homes and Gardens....

JoAnna Linberg had to first submit pictures of our home to see if they would want to feature our home.

I really didn't think we would be chosen for the feature....

I was shocked after I got an email from JoAnna Linberg stating that our home had been chosen 

to be featured in the Christmas issue.....

Panic set in and I began cleaning my home like crazy and basically repainted my house...... My sister began sewing fun projects that we hoped they would use in the story...... Such as the dog beds.... We were so excited that they loved the grain sack dog bed and used it in the story....

They sent a very talented team of people out to our home for five days to get it "Christmas" ready for the shoot.

Our story was produced by the talented Jessica Thomas.....

I discovered that Jessica had produced and or styled some of my favorite stories from Better Homes and Gardens..... She was so fun to work with and made me feel at ease...

You can visit Jessica Thomas's website to see more of Jessica's beautiful work....

Leigh Noe was the stylist for our shoot....

I fell in love with Leigh's beautiful styling and learned so much by watching her work her magic in our home..... You can see more of Leigh Noe's beautiful work by visiting her website.

Ray Kachatorian was our amazing photographer...... Ray Kachatorian is such a talented photographer, I was so excited when I discovered he was the photographer coming to shoot our home.....

My kids loved him and he made all of us feel at ease....

You can see more of Ray's beautiful work by visiting his website.....

It was a once in a lifetime experience and something our entire family will never forget.....

Thank you Better Homes and Gardens!

Thank you JoAnna Linberg, Jessica Thomas, Leigh Noe, Ray Kachatorian, and Janna Lufkin.

Hope you get a chance to look at the December issue of Better Homes and Gardens.....

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I had stated before that I only use Florabella Actions.....

Some of you wanted to know which actions I am currently using and what actions are my favorite.....

I was using the Florabella Spring actions up until recently...

The Florabella Collection released some new sets of actions and I love all three sets that I purchased.....

Classic Workflow

Colorplay

Florabella Retouch

I love both the Classic Workflow and Colorplay sets.....

I don't think you can go wrong with either set if you had to choose just one....

The Florabella Retouch is a great set of actions designed to give your portraits a finished touch.

There are instructional videos included with this set of actions and I found them very helpful, it made retouching an image very easy.....

The above image is an unedited image I shot of Bethany holding a vintage French leather bag....

Bethany is wearing a sweater from Anthropologie......

Here I applied a few different actions from the Colorplay Set.

I usually like to add two or three different actions and lower the strength of each action....

To me it is like painting a picture.....

Here I applied the Hazy Hazy action that is included in the Colorplay Set....

This is how I ended up liking the finished image to look.....

As you can see in the set of images below you can create an image that has a hazy look, a faded look, and or a clean crisp look....

Really the possibilities are endless......

The actions are very easy to install, if I can do it anyone can....

They are very easy to work with, and I honestly can't live without them : )

You can visit the Florabella Collection's website to find out more about these amazing

actions....

Florabella Collection.....

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On a final note....

I have been able to get a few new products listed in the shop........

I also wanted to share a few pictures of some french farmhouse finds I just recently shot....

This is my favorite time of year to photograph products for the shop....

It is so much fun to photograph items that can be used during the holidays......

Monday evening I will be back with our French Farmhouse Christmas items....

I will have a selection of French Farmhouse vintage finds that can be used during the holidays along 

with some fun handmade Christmas items!  

A special thank you to Heather Bullard for taking the time to teach me how to make a collage using 

pictmonkey : )!

Enjoy the rest of your week!
Take Care,
Maria
Dreamy Whites Shop
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French Farmhouse Finds, and Happy Thanksgiving

Hello!

I just wanted to do a quick post today.....

I just wanted to show a sneak peek of a few french farmhouse finds that will be available in the shop soon.....

I am sorry I haven't been able to get new items up on the site yet...

Thankfully I was able to hire my sister in law Nancy to help me load items to the site this week....

Our vintage french farmhouse items will be available for purchase this weekend.....

I love this vintage french blue bucket.....

I thought it would be perfect for holding a miniature Christmas tree during the holidays.......

The white fir Christmas tree came from Aimee at the Antique Gardener....

Thank you Aimee!

This vintage zinc milk jug is one of my favorite finds....

It's a bit rusty and worn, however I love it...

I grew up on a small dairy in Montana and I can't tell you how much I LOVE vintage milk jugs.....

They always bring back childhood memories.....

I also want to say thank you to everyone for being so patient with me during this time of the year...

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your patience during the holiday season as it is just my 18 year old daughter, Nicole and I working in the shop....

Nicole does all of the shipping labels and often times helps me pack orders in the evenings.....

Love you Nicole! 

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I also just wanted to say 

Happy Thanksgiving!

These are pictures I took last year.....

I wanted to do some fun product pictures for fall last year so I put this table setting together....

My in laws were here visiting so we got to enjoy an evening dinner at this table...

It was a dinner we will all never forget...

I think my father in law thought I had lost my mind.....

This old french door on sawhorses doesn't make the sturdiest table, but I love how it looks....

My husband and father in law were worried it was going to fall apart on us.....

and it didn't : )

I had found these vintage french baker cups and decided to fill them with flax seed....

The mini taper candles are from Williams and Sonoma.....

We will also have vintage grain sack runners back in stock on Monday.....

I hope  you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Take Care,

Maria 

DREAMY WHITES (SHOP)

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Making Your Own Gift Cards, Whimsical Gift Wrapping, Grain Sack Dog Beds, and My Talented Niece

Hello!

I hope you are all enjoying your day!

I was able to work on a few product pictures this weekend, I will be listing a lot of vintage french farmhouse finds over the next couple of days........

My sister Liz Lazaro designed the grain sack topiary tree cover last year, we will be selling the grain sack covers as part of  our French Farmhouse Christmas Collection ...... The collection will be available November 26th.

We will also be hosting our giveaway on the 26th as well....

We had hoped to have our items ready sooner, unfortunately we were unable to do so, we are sorry for the delay.....

I wanted to share a sampling of vintage French Farmhouse items that will be listed in the shop over the next couple of days.....

Vintage Ironstone Plates.....

Vintage French Baskets.....

Grain Sack Runners......

And a lot more vintage french farmhouse finds : )

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I also wanted to share an easy way to make your own gift tags for the holidays....

If you follow me on instagram or facebook than you have already seen our gift tags.....

Lately I have been trying to make use of all the photos I take....

I have been printing my own cards and tags....

I will be carrying a few different styles of these gift tags in my shop for the holidays, I also thought it would be fun

to share how to make your own as well.....

I am always looking for unique gift tags to use during the holidays....

I guess the one way to make your gift tag unique is by using one of your own images : )

I thought it would be fun to have a set of gift tags that featured different styles of wreaths that I have photographed over the years....

Like a traditional green wreath along with this anthropologie wreath that I photographed with our grain sack ribbon (also part of our French Farmhouse Christmas Collection).....

What you will need....

 cutting mat

 rotary cutter

straight edge

card stock

hole puncher

To and From stamp

red ink pad

twine ( I used our dutcher butcher twine)

a printer

I like to use a heavy weight card stock that is made for inkjet printers....

I set my printer so that it will print 16 images on one page....

Cut out your images, stamp the back of them, and loop

the twine through and then you will have a unique gift tag....

You can also purchase gift tags though my shop starting November 26th....

Our dutch butcher twine is now on sale for the holidays.......

I also wanted to share some fun whimsical gift wrapping materials with you as well.....

 

My daughter Bethany has been crocheting garland.......

We will be using this to tie around gifts....

We also have a few other ideas that we would like to do with her garland....

 Bethany's handmade garland will also be apart of our French Farmhouse Christmas collection : ).....

Anthropologie has some colorful whimsical ribbon available....

It reminds me of when I was a kid and we would tie ribbon like this at the end of our braids.....

I also love Anthropologies' wrapping paper.....

Handmade paper with pompoms......

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I wanted to share a quick update on our dog beds....

We are listing the dog beds in the shop again, however there is a two week wait from the time you place your order to the time your dog bed will ship.......

The forms that come with our dog beds are made from 100% premium polyester fiber fill 

and are made in the U.S.A.  

The grain sack covers and forms are both machine washable.

We do however recommend that you line the grain sack covers, so that they will last longer.....

We hope you and your pets will love the dog beds as much as we do : )

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This week I will be sharing some Thanksgiving decorating ideas.....

Filling a vintage french tian bowl with apple votives is

 a fun way to make your home 

feel festive during the Holidays...

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On a final note.....

I had to share an image my talented 16 year old niece, Bernadette recently shot of her friend Rosie.....

Bernadette is in the above image on the left and her friend Rosie is on the right.....

These two beautiful girls make quite the team.....

I LOVE this image Bernadette shot of Rosie....

I can't wait to share more of Bernadette's work with you in the future.....

Have a great week!

Take Care,

Maria 

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French Farmhouse Christmas Coming Soon.... The Beautiful Souvenir Lifestyle Holiday Issue is Here....

Hello!

I hope you all had a great weekend....

We finally got some chilly weather here....

It finally doesn't feel like summer anymore.....

This weekend I worked on photographing our French Farmhouse Christmas Line,

along with a few product pictures, like this vintage french laundry basket....

You can find out more on the basket at the end of the post....

I first want to tell you about the Holiday Issue of Souvenir......

I am excited to announce the issue has been released today and you can visit the Souvenir website

to purchase your digital copy.....

You also have the option to purchase the magazine in print as well....

You can visit Souvenir's website for all of the details.....

Thank you to Heather Bullard for choosing one of my images for the cover....

It is an honor to be apart of such an amazing team of contributors....

If you click on the above image, you will be able to view a generous free preview of the holiday issue, 

this will give you an idea of what you can expect to see in the issue.....

These are a few of the sneak peeks of the holiday issue....

I read the magazine for the first time this morning, and I have to tell you it is a stunning issue, filled with inspiration and holiday ideas that you can actually do at home yourself.....

I wanted to say thank you to Aimee Peterson from the Antique Gardener for letting me take over her porch for my Souvenir story.....

The house shown in the Souvenir sneak peek is a charming 100 year old home in Sutter Creek, CA....

Aimee also provided me with the tree, which was from her family's Christmas tree farm and made the wreath for the story.

Thank you Aimee!

All the grain sack Christmas items from our story in Souvenir will be available in the shop soon.........

Congratulations to all of the contributors and congratulations to Heather Bullard!

I hope you all enjoy the issue as much as I did.....

SOUVENIR LIFESTYLE

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This year we tried to come up with some fun new ideas using grain sacks for our French Farmhouse Christmas line....

This bow made from grain sacks is part of our French Farmhouse Christmas line....

These will be available in the shop soon....

If you would like to make your own ribbon using grain sack, you can find the instructions in the Souvenir Magazine : ).....

There are so many reasons why I am crazy about grain sacks, one of the things I love most about grain sacks are the stripes......I am especially fond of red stripes....

The fact that they were hand loomed using hemp linen and date back to the late 1800's is also one of the many reasons I love grain sacks.....

We will be listing our French Farmhouse Christmas line in the shop soon....

I hope you will come back next week for a fun French Farmhouse Christmas giveaway!

The wreath is from Anthropologie : )

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On another note....

I recently photographed this vintage French laundry cart this weekend and wanted to share a few pictures with you....

It is one of my favorite Antiques From France finds!

(This is just a sampling of the vintage french finds you will find at Terry and William's warehouse sale this weekend.... I posted about their sale here....

I will be sharing more about Terry Littman (Antiques from France) in my next post....

I will be listing this cart in the shop....

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On a final note....

I often get asked what type of editing software I use......

I have been meaning to post about this subject and haven't had a chance to do so.....

I use photoshop elements

and the only actions I have ever applied to my images in the past two years are

the Florabella actions....... 

They truly are my favorite to use....

They are also very easy to use....

I will be sharing a post with you soon, showing you a few of my images with and without the Florabella actions....

I hope you all have a great week!

Take Care,

Maria 

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