Yup -This is it.

 It’s a moment in time .

 I find myself at the crossroads of work and retirement. I have thought about this day, planned for this day, and even, yes even fantasized about this day! Now that it is here I have a tiny little confession:

I  AM TOTALLY ESTATIC!

 Okay – maybe I exaggerate.

The truth is exactly what you might expect . . . I have completely mixed emotions.

 As I look back over my shoulder I see reflections of 40 years of being someone’s employee.

 I have been quite lucky because my places of employment have been extentions of my passions. That counts!

But now I really am looking forward to the next chapter of my life.

I may continue blogging -

I may work part time for another design store -

I may sell jewelry-

I may take a graphic design class -

I may take naps – or spend hours on a floatie!

I also have visions of doing some type of artwork projects with people who are drinking wine at the same time!   Hey! Did I just invent a new career?!

Oh wait,  I think Jackson Pollock already did that.

Today, however I just want to say thank you to my readers and to my family of co-workers.

Know that you will be dearly missed.

It’s time for me to smell some yellow roses!

Dianne Ross

Interior Designer / Phelan’s Interiors

363-9634

The joy and the beauty of the season are upon us!

I have never tried this before, but one of my friends ( and fellow blogger) and several  others  linked up to share their holiday decor. (I hope I have you linked up correctly)

These homes are really fun! They are very creative, some simple and some over-the-top. But these are women who love decorating for the season and are willing to share with all of us.  I couldn’t wait to pass this along to my readers, as well.

Grab a cup of Christmas tea ( or a bottle of holiday cheer), sit back and enjoy the tour of these Christmas homes just as I did. The tour begins with a blog called Cottage and Vine.

Enjoy the beautiful labor of love you are about to see.

http://cottageandvine.blogspot.com/2011/12/welcome-to-room-by-room-christmas-tour.html

I have mentioned this before but I believe it bears repeating; there is no other time, or season, or event where people decorate everything! And we do it, simply because it is beautiful.

We do it for beauty’s sake!

 LOVE that!!

Merry Christmas !

Dianne Ross

Interior Designer / Phelan’s Interiors

363-9634

The beautiful child in the Christmas photo above?

 My Grandson.

Following a Christmas-List reality check this week, I came up wanting. I was horrified to accept the fact that it may not be possible to accomplish all of my tasks. Only on Thursday did I begin shopping for gifts . . .

No cards written, addressed, or mailed, but the house is looking fairly festive.

No baking done, but I know where the cookie cutters are.

No gifts wrapped or embellished, but I did find a Tupperware container filled with 8 scotch tape dispensers and a 7 inch strand of wrinkled ribbon. The container was in the cupboard behind the cookie cutters.

Stocking stuffers? No comment. But, I digress . . . BACK TO THE LIST!

And to exterior design. Well, uh,  I don’t have any outdoor lights up yet, either. But it’s on my list.

When I shot this photo in my courtyard, the glitter of the snow was as fresh as my ambition to design my own Christmas cards this year. Talk about excited! Instead, what I did was sprinkle salt (ever so artfully) on the front step and then I scooped the sidewalk.  Exterior design. I ran out of steam and I’m running out of time.

TIME. It also occurred to me that my story might very well be your story. Our holiday lists apparently have no end! So here’s a thought, if you will, and a generous gift to give yourself. It’s the gift of awareness. . . .

To see the beauty of glitter on the snow,

To hear the somber tolling of bells,

Give yourself the gift of TIME . . .

To stop long enough to behold the spirit of the Christmas.

This year give yourself the gift of time for awareness.

(it’s on my list!)

Merry Christmas!

This is a re-post from 4 years ago but it speaks to me today.  After losing two beloved family members this year I would like to add one more thought for the gift  list. . .

This year give yourself the gift of TIME. . .

to cherish those you love.

 Give yourself the gift of awareness for a grateful heart.

Dianne Ross

Interior Designer/Phelan’s Interiors

363-9634

 Enjoy!

Below are portraits of Santa IF they had been done by various artists that you’ll recognize!

Because I live in Iowa, the number one winner is:

American Gothic Santa, Grant Wood

Santa (however, this is my personal fave) Van Gogh

Santy Warhol

Santa at the CORNER: Hopper

Santa’s Whistling mother

And, without a doubt –  Picasso Santa

Are you smiling?  All of these images were on-line found at Circa Arts Gallery!

Fa la la la la la la la la!

Dianne Ross

Interior Designer/Phelans Interiors

363-1332

From Wikipedia: “The Candy Cane was first manufactured in the 1920’s when Bob McCormack in Albany, Georgia first started making them as Christmas treat, giving them out to children, family, friends, and co-workers.

(phot0  from room envy)

Candy Cane production was a labor intensive process, done only by hand, until the candy cane machine was invented in the 1950’s by Bob McCormack’s brother in-law, Gregory Keller, who was also a Catholic priest.

 This machine made it possible to ship candy canes and it made the production of the traditional Christmas treat a lot easier. The candy cane machine transformed Bob’s Candies Inc. into the largest producer of candy canes in the world.”

Today the Candy Cane pattern is used on very non- candy, non-typical things.

Interior designers love it!

The house of Hanna shows us this understated, but festive, candy caned colored foyer.

Or, how about investing $80.00 for your little Christmas toddler’s Candy Cane feet?!

Oh what fun it is to  -  see this playful take  on a teen bedroom.  (From ideasBest)

Packages wrapped in white never get tired when they have the energizing zing of candy cane color.

 Or, if you dare –  you could try your personal kitchen variation on the candy color scheme.

OR, for some real Christmas cheer, you could pretend that you are me . . .

Okay, maybe that’s not really me.

But the candy cane phenom is real!

Enjoy as many variations as you can think up!

Dianne Ross

Interior Designer / Phelans Interiors

363-9634

As promised I will divulge a pumpkin dessert recipe that is tried and true.  I have learned that when I bake this for a gathering I just bring printed recipes with me because it has been a proven crowd pleaser for years.

 I first ate this dessert at a holiday shower and the hostess was kind enough to share the recipe with me.

   Having only have a handful of  “everybody loves this”  recipes,  I am so delighted to share this one with you.

 First, I want to talk about the results of my first batch. Even though . . .

the dessert is so delicious that my husband and son ate the entire pan of it .  After all the praises I’ve been singing, you  are probably thinking to yourself  ”not surprised“, right?

But here’s the back-story: It was only after I placed the pan in the oven I noticed the eggs were still on the counter.

Panic attack!

I grabbed that baby out of the oven, scraped off the topping, whisked up the eggs and poured them into the pumpkin filling – or tried to, anyway.  I sort of had to poke it in.  Then I replaced the topping and set the timer.

Have you ever seen scrambled eggs streaming, like olympic ribbons, through a pumpkin pie?

It’s not pretty.

The pumpkin was thick and gooey. The crust was soggy and saturated from the combination of over weight pumpkin and egg shrapnel.  However, all was not lost! T he  topping was still crunchy and pretty good. I left it on the counter while I headed back to the grocery store.

Hey – it’s not like I served it to them or forced them to eat it.

No! They just sneaked a piece now and another later – until it was gone.  They loved it!

 Now you know I speak the truth when I repeat: this is a good recipe.

Okay, no more stories. Here is the recipe. 

Seriously, you will want to smooch me for this one! 

Plus, today you get a bonus.  No – a double bonus!

Here are TWO ideas for pumpkin recipes sent to me by one of my readers, Chondra!  Thank you SO much!

This first one she says, “is the best of both worlds: pumpkin pie and pecan pie, combined!”  Tempting, indeed.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/pumpkin-praline-pie/detail.aspx

Here is the second recipe she sent and said it’s from another blog “Spoon Fork Bacon”! You just get the feeling it will be scrumptious. Thanks again , Chondra for sending these recipes to my lucky readers.

Pumpkin Butter

Makes 3½-4 cups

Ingredients:

1 (29 ounce) can pumpkin puree

1 cup 100% apple juice (unfiltered pressed apples are best) ¾ cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

¼ cup pure maple syrup

2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon all-spice

1. Place all ingredients into a medium pot and place over medium heat. Stir.

2. Allow the mixture to reduce on medium to medium-low heat for 30 to 40 minute or until slightly thickened (the mixture will thicken more as it cools).

3. Transfer to sterilized jars and store until ready to use.

4. Serve over toast, muffins, scones, etc.

Dianne Ross

Interior Designer / Phelan’s Interiors

363-9634

We have now entered the second half of pumpkin madness in the USA! The illuminated version of the pumpkin – Jack o Lanterns, which I love , are gone and now we can get down to the serious business of eating pumpkins!  I think I love this tradition even more. 

We have carved out pumpkins and decorated with them, so what does November offer?  We eat them!  Today and maybe next week I am going to share delicious ways to eat pumpkins, aside from  the iconic pumpkin pie.

This is Pumpkin Bisque.  All I am going to say is, “Yum.”

Pumpkin Bisque Cooking time:25 minutes

 2 tsp (30 mL) olive oil

 1 small onion finely chopped

 3 cloves garlic, minced

 1 small sweet potato (about 6 oz / 170 g), peeled and thinly sliced

 2½ cups (625 mL) water

1 can (15 oz / 416 g) pumpkin purée

1 tbsp (15 mL) light brown sugar

1 tsp (5 mL) salt 3/4 tsp (3 mL) ground pepper

 ½ tsp (2 mL) rubbed sage

1 cup (250 mL) fat-free half-and-half

 2 tbsp (30 mL) grated Parmesan cheese

 4 pinches cracked pepper

 Directions 1.Heat oil in large nonstick saucepan over low heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is tender, about 5 minutes.

2.Add sweet potato and 1½ cups (375 mL) of the water to pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until sweet potato is tender, about 10 minutes.

 3.Stir in pumpkin purée, brown sugar, salt, ground pepper, sage, and remaining 1 cup (250 mL) water, and bring to a boil.

 4.Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until flavours have blended, about 5 minutes. Working in batches if necessary, transfer to food processor and purée until smooth. Return to saucepan and stir in 3/4 cup (175 mL) half-and-half. Cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.

5.Spoon into soup bowls. With a spoon, drizzle remaining half-and-half over soup. Use the tip of a knife to create a pattern.

6.Sprinkle Parmesan and cracked pepper on top. Serve with Italian breadsticks and follow with roast poultry and steamed spinach.

On a personal note, I ate a version of this in New Orleans at Emril’s and he added bourbon. Bam!

Let’s hear it for the pumpkin!

Next week I’ll share a fabulous “pumpkin pie” cake recipe. You’ll thank me.

If you have an unusal, tasty pumpkin recipe please send it to me!

Let’s spread the joy!

Dianne Ross

Interior Designer / Phelan’s Interiors

363-9634

Right now Ikkat is the absolute “must have”  fabric/pattern in the interior design world. It is showing up everywhere and on nearly everything from shoes to sofas! The word itself means “to bind.”

This collage was on design sponge.

Wikipedia gives us this definition: Ikat, or Ikkat, is a dying technique used to pattern textiles that employs a resist dyeing process similar to tie-dye on either the warp or weft fibres.

Actually the process is really NOT like tie-dye because the fibres are dyed before they are woven into fabric.  The color variation exists in the threads first.  When something is tie-died the fabric is bundled (tied) together and then dyed. Take another look.  This collage is from

Haley on home design

What a beautiful technique!

And old – very old! Some antique patterns come from South America, India, as well as in the caucuses. If you decide that you are in love with these rare and hand-made delicacies be prepared to spend some serious cash. To make a proper Ikat fabric is labor intensive and time-consuming, hence the large price tag.

 But if you are like me and really love the look of variation in colors and geometric patterns, as shown above in the collages, many companies produce look-alike knock-offs.  And, as far as I can tell, either spelling – one K or two, is correct.

This shows a piece of original IKAT fabric.

We have several gorgeous Ikkat patterns available for sofas and chairs from vendors like Thomasville and Norwalk.  All  the fabric lines ( Kravet, Robert Allen, Fabricut, etc) offer  a tempting aray of colors and patterns. Obviously adaptable down through the centuries, the design characteristics of Ikat can be playful, loud, subtle, soft and or sophisticated.

Photo from style-files.

Once you fall in love with these patterns you will want more, more, more!

So what is Ikat?

The quiz is coming! 

But, no worries.  You know all about it now.

Ikat shoes from Zazzle

Enjoy the wonderful weekend everybody!

Dianne Ross

Interior designer / Phelans Interiors

363-9634

BUT – I decided to do just one more “summertime” post. These are some images that remind me of summer colors and summer energy, so I’ll just share them with you before I get ready to order up my October pumpkin flavored latte.

Enjoy the sights!

How can you tell  this is not a  photo of me?

Right – I don’t own tennis shoes, but I do have about 40 paint decks!

Below are “summer ” colored night-light tables.  Aren’t they (ahem) just a blast!?

Cupcakes are craved all year long, right? But these colors and the confetti just  sing out “summer!”

I can hear the heat of summer two-stepping!

Betcha don’t know what these are?!

Well, if you ever feel like you’d like to light it up in the bathtub, these citrus discs can be purchased from HimeyaShop to accomplish just that!  They’re from Japan and, floating in the tub they REALLY do shoot light throughout the bathroom.

I hate to say it, but it’s that time.

Time for me to let go of  all summertime thoughts and images. . .

Time to kiss summer goodbye.

Goodbye Summer. I’ll miss you.

Dianne Ross

Interior Designer / Phelan’s Interiors

363-9

What a phenomenal photo!

Katharine Hepburn didn’t make or endorse furniture but when you hear her name, inevitably the word style comes rushing at you.

For reasons unknown to me, today she is on my mind.

So, here is a bit of Katharine and a bit of my mental wanderings.

The  photo, video, and quote below can be visited on-line . . .

“Katharine rarely granted interviews (even in her early career, she refused to sign autographs) but when she did grant interviews, she wanted them done her way. In 1973, Katharine was a guest on The Dick Cavett Show and she decided that she didn’t like the arrangement of the furniture. So what does she do? Rearranges it to her liking of course!”

She wore men’s slacks because they were “practical” and suddenly women everywhere decided they were oh-so-glamorous.

She rearranged furniture on a set to make it more functional and intimate for a personal interview.

And she gave us one of my favorite quotes:

“Trying to be fascinating is an asinine position to be in.”

Thanks, Katharine.

It leaves me wondering what kind of furniture line she would have a passion for. If you are feeling especially self-confident today, add your interpretation, Katharine Hepburn style, to your interior design life!

Keep it simple in form and keep it bold in emotion.

Dianne Ross

Interior Designer/Phelan’s Interiors

363-9634