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Palms Sanctuary is all about things having to do with Palm Trees
HOME DECORATING IDEAS, vintage clothes and jewelry, artwork,
stories, teachings, nicknacks, and more. Be sure to check on "Older Posts" near the bottom of each page so as to not miss any ..
Also, at the bottom of this page you will find other blogs I have .. 18 in all .. just click on the picture to the left of the blog name and it will take you right to the blog.. enjoy!

Elim was a place of rest in the bible, where Palm Trees surrounded an oasis.
What a welcome relief for travelers in the wilderness. This
cluster of trees brought shade and protection from the
elements. The weary sojourners found refreshing from
the heat under the palm trees, and rest for their weariness.
Are you feeling dry, tired and worn out from all the
experiences life throws at you?
Come to the oasis sanctuary under the palms and be revived.





(New American Standard Bible) Edodus 15:27
Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs
of
water and seventy date palms, and they camped there beside the waters



Tuesday, November 15, 2011

THE GREAT ROOM ~ WELCOME TO OUR SANCTUARY!



THE GREAT ROOM ~ Welcome to our Sanctuary!
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS ... a common statement. 


Our little pocket toy Gidget thinks she owns this place and everyone comes here to visit her! LOL

I think some people are more attached to their homes than others.  I for one, just love decorating my home and making it a sanctuary from all the outside world.  I love filling it with things I love and cherish, and I want it to be a reflection of my husband and myself.
I want for my husband to find solice and peace here.  I want it to be a place of love and one where he can unwind and be restored.

Years ago I did some home decorating and also worked with women who wanted to have their homes look great, but were working on a budget... most of us are on budgets!  So, I would take them with their notebooks and cameras in tow... to very expensive furniture stores and ask them to take pictures of what they really loved..
I asked them to not worry about style or period of furniture.. just take pictures and note what they loved and why they loved the pieces.
Many times afterward we would all go out to lunch and discuss their favorites.  When I worked with them (all volunteer basis which I loved doing) one on one, I would meet with their husbands if possible and find out what where each of their favorite colors and the things they liked to do together as couples.  What inpsired them, where their favorite places were to get away (mountains, ocean etc..)  Over the years, I have helped people decorate even their whole homes room by room.  It has been rewarding and so much fun!  I love helping people find out who they really are and to see them begin to reflect that in all areas of their lives.  Some people go their whole lives without really capturing the essence of the true "ZOE".. zestful life.  They never find out who they are, why they are here and what their calling is.  They are "asleep" for all intensive purposes and have not tapped into their potential.. and are unsatisfied and lack the joy that God has intended for them.  Nothing gives me more happiness than in helping people find their passion.
I urged them to come up with a theme for each room in their home.  For example our great room is "the Holy Land".  We have pieces we have purchased together such as Christian art we purchased on our honeymoon in Gatlinburg, TN, and during our other travels to Jewelry shows and such. My house is small and I love little treasures I have found along the way in life, so some may say my home is "chachka heaven"!!  Here are some pictures of our Great Room..

An empty palette!!  Right after house closing 6/2004

And with a little Fairy Dust added.... Voila'!

View from entrance way... the sliding doors lead to our patio and lake

Great Room
entertainment center

Trying to find your own style is difficult at times.. It is like trying to find out who you are!!  Many people live their whole lives and don't come to find out who they are ... and it reflects in their fashion clothing choices, jewelry, and homes. 
I for one am more eclectic and enjoy many different styles and I love mixing colors, fabrics, media and many different period pieces.   My daughter has so much my same taste and just for example when we went to Greenwich Village one time to a jewelry store, we both took baskets to place our finds in .. she went one way and I went another and when we were to check out we both laughed at how similar the things we had picked out for jewelry making were! 

She is really much more creative than myself .. she also sew which I do not and oh my!!  she is just amazing.. I so adore her and I love her inside and out.   She is the only one of four children that does not now live nearby.  She still is living in NY and so our times together are very precious. 



My daughter Keri and myself at Key West.. my friend and shopping buddy!!


Before
A caption of some of the work my daughter does... she is amazingly talented
845-721-7173
Before

Finished.. I love it!! 


Here's my creative daugher at work!



I love the door on this unit

Some of my fav things shells, crown of thorns my faux Jonah jaws!!
 the fur Adam and Eve were given in the garden to cover their nakedness!

Holy Land ferns, gossamer lights, pineapple header assorted shells


I love these shells and my shofar


Our faux mantle with our Fontanini figurines


carpenter (Bart had been a cabinetmaker/carpenter, women at well, angel


Village life with chicken coop! 
Wedding at Canna .. working mule John Baptising, the fig tree


Foyer wine display with marble top, our giraffe plant stand


View from entrance way
Screen separating Great room from Office


One of our flaming rock oil lamps that we sell in our store
http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/OHMYCREATIONS
Ten Virgins.. I purchased this on the PA border Antique shop.. it is old and has a story

My late husband Bart was a military collector.  Much of our spare time was spent combing antique stores and auctions for his "finds"... it was a way for him to relax and unwind.  I enjoyed reading in the car while he went on his "adventures for treasures"!  I did go through a collecting time though and had a quite extensive amount of 1950's all original dolls.  Bart loved going to the doll shows with me and surprising me with dolls that delighted me no end!  Sometimes he would buy more than I did!!  I loved bringing them home and cleaning them and fixing them up and looking for original outfits and bringing them back to what they really looked like.  Sometimes I would join Bart in the antique shops as we always loved being together.  I happened to go to an antique shop up the street from where he was and fell upon a huge very old book with very large Christian pictures depicting different stories in the bible.  There were only a few of the pictures still left in the book and I asked the proprietor how much for the prints which were numbered as I remember.  He said $10 each.. I said I would take them all and asked if I could get anymore.. He called the owner of the prints, but they were not willing to sell them.  So I took my finds home knowing either Bart or myself could use them as a visual for some of our sermons. One was the one shown above, another was the sick man being led down on a stretcher, into a house.. through the roof by his friends so he could be healed.

Over the years we did use some of the prints and I always loved the one with the ten virgins. After my husband Joe and I were married I showed him the prints and he was taken by the one with the Ten Virgins. We contemplated this picture and the Scriptures that went along with it. The story of the ten virgins. Matthew 24-25 is speaking of signs of Christ's return. God gave my husband a revelation I believe on this story and we were so enlightened, we felt compelled to hang this picture over our mantle to remind ourselves about trusting God in these days, and the days coming.
Keep you lamp lit!

Updated Great Room Pictures:


Our new couch we found it at an auction .. it is custom made I love it!!

I love the pineapple decorator pillows I found at Bed Bath and Beyond
Joe and I purchased this print in Tennessee on our honeymoon
the best depiction of the Last Supper I have ever seen James Seward

Jesus on Palm Sunday the detail in incredible in this print
James Seward Print  Hosanna


This is My body by James Seward
http://shopping.artofthesouth.com/s-25-seward-james.aspx

Framed Print  ...All were satisfied by James Seward

Cute Chanel again she was one of our models for our upscale
 Oh My Creations Dog Necklace line

We are selling this custom made lounge chair with 2 pillows.. I have extra pillows too!
contact us at 772-621-9951  The material is stunning Faberge' Eggs $450 + S&H

 
Please ask permission to use photos .. thank you!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

THE OASIS ~ OUR HOME


 
DECORATING OVER THE YEARS


OUR HOME PORT ST. LUCIE, FL.      
 JUST BEFORE WE PURCHASED IT
MY DAUGHTER IN LAW CJ WITH LISTING AGENT\

OUR HOME SEE THE RAINBOW
LOOKING OUT FROM OUR PATIO?

Our Oasis

It has always thrilled me to provide a warm and inviting atmosphere for my mate and for those I love. It is just me.. I love color, texture and I do so love the seasons. Life is to be lived to the fullest I believe and that means not getting in a rut. The different seasons open up doors of opportunity for us to decorate our world in new and wonderous ways. We can let our imagination go wild with things to do to make each day special and unique so that we can look forward to all its joys and I so enjoy decorating. I have found that life is very short. I can speak from experience after many many losses of best friends, and mentors, relatives, parents and a husband. I have come to realize each day is a gift. It is important for me to help others through their rough times and perhaps bring a bit of love and color into their lives.

Many years ago while living in New York, I worked for a Home Decorating Company for a short time, I have always had a love for creating my own space. And my husband calls me the Crayola girl as I just adore colors and have what he calls instant color recall!!! I think in color and even dream in color.. LOL!! Over the years, I’ve learned several tips on how to make your home your own dream place. I would love to share those tips with you. I have also helped many women over the years in what I call “Decorating on a Budget” which we will talk about later in this blog.
 
Over the years, I have been blessed to have many different home themes such as Eclectic Country Modern, Country French with pine furniture, (we converted barns into a home in upper NY State.. we did this as a family project… it took years). It was very hard work, but very rewarding. We also had a sleek NY contemporary décor in a mainly cream/white and black palette at one time.

My late husband and I then moved to Charleston, SC area where we pioneered a church which started as a home church and our theme was “Rainbow Row” Charleston, SC in pastel colors, mixed with Charleston green which we loved. When my husband passed away, I moved to Florida to be close to part of my family and decided on a total new start. I purchased a darling model home on a tiny manmade lake in a gated community. I needed a completely new start with entirely new life, after the trauma from such a loss.

MY FORMER HOME IN SOUTH CAROLINA ABOUT TEN YEARS AGO
MY GRANDSON BRANDON IS NOW 16


Over the years, God had taught me the importance of inviting His presence into every area of my life and to ask not only His blessing upon our home, but to ask Him to name each room. As I began to pray about my new home I (which is very small), I felt it was to be named “Jehovah Shalom”. To my surprise, this was the same name He had given our home in Charleston, SC. It means God of Peace. How fitting. After losing my dear husband, I really needed peace. I wanted my home to reflect not only peace, but a feeling of being in the Holy Land. I had accumulated some different pieces through having our church that reminded me of stories in the bible or scriptures etc… When I met my new husband, Joe.. our love for God and the bible meshed as we started to add our own touches.

MY DEAR HUSBAND JOE RELAXING IN OUR HOME
WITH OUR POCKET TOY YORKIE GIDGET
I love so many different types of themes, I used to change my decorations every two months, not only Seasonally, but different themes for each bedroom. A large part of our ministry was in counsel, especially those in leadership, who would come for weekends for healing and such. Our home had two extra guest rooms and we decorated one in an Ocean theme, and the other in a Mountain theme with total seasonal change-overs within those themes. This way those we ministered to had a choice. I had the vest and my late husband had the cap.  The rug with this set is costly, but it is so so cute.

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF OUR MOUNTAIN GUEST ROOM FALL DECOR


PINE CONE QUILT ENSEMBLE BY PATCH MAGIC- Decorate your master suite, guest room, ranch house or lodge with this Southwest and Lodge and Western fashionably styled quilt ensemble. Pinecone has a block style quilt with designer styled blocks of assorted appliqued pine cones and adorned with an appliqued pine cone border with subtle earth tones that create a pleasant atmosphere in any room and brings the forest into your home decor. Pine Cone quilt has tonal shades of greens, golds, rustic reds and neutral shades. The applique and patchwork is artistically hand done by artisans in India on premium cotton and cotton filled. The dust ruffle, euro shams and draperies available is a fabric contained in the quilt that is a rustic red and black plaid
http://www.csnstores.com/Patch-Magics-Pinecone-Collection-X57683.html

THIS WAS OUR BARNYARD ROOM IN
OUR FORMER HOME NEAR CHARLESTON, SC
THIS WAS OUR MASTER BEDROOM DECOR FOR
THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER!

SORRY, THESE WERE TAKEN BY ME AND NOT CLEAR
SEE THE GOURD BEEHIVE OVER THE BED?  TOO CUTE HUH??
THE PRINT WAS A FOLK PRINT OF A FARMYARD SCENE
AND THE SCONCES WERE TIN CUT OUT SUNFLOWERS

TO THE RIGHT AND ABOVE THE TV
THERE ARE REDNECK CHIMES!
MANY OF THE DECORATING PIECES
 WERE FOUND IN LITTLE SHOPS ACROSS THE US
I SO LOVED THIS ROOSTER RUG PATCH MAGIC
 IT MATCHED THE WHOLE SET
BARNYARD DECORATING PIECES .. HOW I LOVED THIS SET
SOME WERE PURCHASED AT HOMEGOODS
SOME WERE FINDS AT AUCTIONS
MANY PIECES WERE FOUND IN OUR TRAVELS
ALL WERE BOUGHT WITH LOVE AND PLACED WITH CARE
EACH PIECE WAS A LITTLE PART OF ME
HOW I LOVED THIS SET... IT KICKED OFF MY FAVORITE TIME OF
YEAR BEING MY SEPTEMBER MASTER BEDROOM ENSEMBLE
** IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN USING MY SERVICES FOR DECORATING
PLEASE CONTACT ME: