Weekend at Last...

ahhh.........Weekend at last! May you all have a nice and relaxing weekend.

~Miss Kris~

The Intruders - I'll Always Love My Mama

The Intruders are a cornerstone of the Philly soul scene. They shaped the sound of Philly soul by starting as a doo-wop act and adding elements from gospel and later from the sound of Gamble & Huff. I'll Always Love My Mama is a classic soul/disco tune penned by Gamble, Huff, McFadden and Whitehead. When you have such an all-star team as writers and The Intruders performing, there's no way you could go wrong. This masterpiece was originally released in 1973 but I've the 1977 reissue that features couple of classic Billy Paul tunes on the flipside. The 1977 version is an extended mix by Tom Moulton. It was released to promote a compilation titled Philadelphia Classics.

The Intruders - I'll Always Love My Mama [320 kbps, direct link]

Soft Shimmery Pinks...

Ahhh...This bed is heavenly! So fluffy and soft, almost seems up in the clouds.

Look at the delicate headboard. And the dainty white linens. So breathtaking!!!

So pretty and simple. Besides the vanity sink, I love this faucet. A closer-look at this faucet. Beautiful!:)

This is bowl is so soft and creamy looking.

(images courtesy of Country Homes & Interiors)

Getting ready for some dinner.

I love this pretty home, so soft and feminine! I'll take one of these. Do you love this home as much as I do?

~Miss Kris~

Natural Four - Baby Come On

I've been thinking that there should be a music genre called sunday soul. Well, maybe there is. I just don't know it. Anyways, if you looked up sunday soul from a dictionary, there should be an image of the front cover of Heaven Right Here On Earth. It's probably my all time favorite sunday soul album. Heavenly sweet soul in the spirit of Curtom Records from start to finish. Beautiful vocal harmonies and solid prodution by Leroy Hutson and Rich Tufo.

Natural Four - Baby Come On [320 kbps, direct link]

Frontline Orchestra - Don't Turn Your Back On Me

Here's a certified boogie banger for you the dance the night away. Excellent vocals and a really solid bass line. This one came out originally on Eddy Grant's ICE Records in 1981. Larry Levan made a massive remix of this which was put out by Quality Records a year later.

Frontline Orchestra - Don't Turn Your Back On Me [320 kbps, direct link]

Happy Weekend!

Hi Everyone! This has been a busy last few weeks for me, I have been refinishing some kitchen cabinets, to be exact over 30 individual pieces. They are painted in a really pretty soft white with some antiquing done on top. I'll be sure to post the before and after next week.

So this weekend I decided I am going to have a little R & R. I have scheduled an appointment for another deep tissue massage tomorrow afternoon. I know this seems to be a regular event, at least once a month. But, after a massage and a weekend filled with lots of R& R, I recover quite nicely. Like for instance tomorrow night I rented Nights in Rodanthe. I really can't wait, it looks like such a cute film.

It is time to put on some pretty slippers and enjoy the weekend!

~Miss Kris~

Fuchsia, aqua & a little monkey business!

(designer guild)
These are some fuchsia and aqua pretties! Fun & Whimsical. What do you think?

(Degas)

(vintage weave)
I'll take a few of these candle votives. Would be lovely going up a winding staircase all lite up. Also I highly recommend checking out Vintage Weave. Their store is filled with lots of goodies.

(designer guild)

(vintage weave)

A toast to you!

(vintage weave)

I love fleur di lis, but I really love this chippy blue door

(Monkey Business)

I watched Monkey Business last week once I finished these next two watercolours.
I'm not sure if anyone is a Cary Grant fan, growing up, my Dad got me hooked. My favourite Grant movie is Father Goose with Leslie Caron. What's yours?



(painted by moi, available at my ETSY store)

My monkey business watercolour

(painted by moi again, available at my ETSY store)

May everyone have a GREAT day!

~Miss Kris~

Kings Go Forth - One Day / You're The One

Milwaukee based 10-member band Kings Go Forth released the best 7" release of the scene last year. This limited edition 45 (500 copies, all pre-sold) features two raw funky soul monsters that will cause serious dancefloor mayhem whenever played out. Just amazing stuff. Too bad the pressing was so small and now the record already trades as high as $ 200 on ebay.

We've seen a lot of retroish soul/funk combos come and go during the last couple of years but what sets Kings Go Forth apart from all the others is their amazing vocal harmonies. Sure they have an amazing analogue sound with an excellent rhythm section and great horns but their soulful harmonies by three male vocalist are unbeatable.

Don't sleep on their upcoming 45 release featuring massive tunes Now We're Gone and High On Your Love. The single will be out in late February/early March but luckily it won't be limited like One Day b/w You're The One. Their debut LP is also on its way. Really looking forward to that one.

Kings Go Forth - One Day [320 kbps, direct link]

Kings Go Forth - You're The One [320 kbps, direct link]

Dreamy Interior~

(all images courtesy from Country Homes & Interiors-British)

Knock knock, please come in and take a look at this Dreamy & Sweet home. Filled with lots of clean whites and pretty blue accents. So Pretty!!!

I love this home!!! Do you like this house?

~Miss Kris~

Fusion Beats Vol. 2 - Bozo Meko

Fusion Beats Vol. 2 is a classic Bronx cut and paste battle track/megamix supposedly recorded by Afrika Bambaataa, Afrika Islam and Jazzy Jay. Originally this came out in 1981 but I think it's taken from a cassette recording put together earlier. The rip that I'm sharing is taken from this unofficial reissue that came out a few years back. A-side features an unlicensed live cut of Flash It To The Beat. Like I said, it's a bootleg from a cassette tape so that tells you something about the sound quality.

If Fusion Beats 2 was your cup of tea, make sure to check out Afrika Bambaataa's classic Death Mix. It's available for download here thanks to the Top Billin crew. An excellent blog by the way. Lots of cool new stuff and gems from their crates.

Bozo Meko - Fusion Beats Vol. 2 [320 kbps, direct link]

Al Hudson & The Soul Partners - Spread Love

Here's something for the Valentine's day. I guess a classic slow jam would have been more on point but instead, I picked a sweet classic uptempo feel-good tune. Have a great weekend!

Al Hudson & The Soul Partners - Spread Love [320 kbps, direct link]

Miss Emily

Hi Everyone! I'm Kris' Miss Emily. I know, I'm really, really cute! Krissie was scared this week because I got a little sick, I had to go the vet and get some tests. I was filled with fluids because I needed to wait to eat until all the test came back, which was five hours later, that is five hours without food or water. Yikes!!! What is a girl to do? But, I'M OK! Yeah!!! I can eat and get treats again. Krissie says I'm a really good girl and she LOVES me soooo much. Sometime Krissie says I'm a little Frenchie but I'm a British Bull true and true. My real first name is Lady because I'm so gracious in my movements. Smile, blush... Everyone calls me Emily except Krissie's niece, my cousin, she calls me Emburlee. It's really cute! Plus she is my size, we are best pals.

I wish everyone a great weekend and take your owners out for a walk, you know spring is right around the corner and the daffodils are trying to come up in the front yard. Krissie laughs, because next week we may get snow. See you back here next week.

~Miss Emily~

Chase & Status feat. Kano - Against All Odds

Great video and great usage of the Apache break.

myspace.com/chaseandstatus

myspace.com/ramrecords

Coup de coeur

(image by François Boucher)

I'm "LOVE STRUCK" with this romantic beautiful room. Can you imagine being commissioned to paint these lovelies for someone. How proud François Boucher must have been after painting these most amazing paintings! Romantic indeed! Some day I would love to paint a panel this large and this intricate...I'm talking months of painting. I would want to hire a woodcraft man to add more intricate details. Oooo...sounds like fun to me.

Another lovely by Boucher titled Birth of Venus.


les genies des art - translation is the art genies. Oh, Ilove it!!! Look at all the little genies at work. Makes me wonder if there is a little truth behind this. I often wonder how great masterpieces were done and now we know. haha.

My first mural, at a showroom down is St Louis I was a buyer for. After going to market (High Point) you come back fully inspired with so many ideas. My favourite showrooms to visit, wait, the anticipation, Lexington. Go figure. They once had a display which was a Swedish collection and literally had snow falling from the ceiling. All the furniture was in lovely soft shades of whites, creams and grays. Ooo...It was amazing. So I came back to the store and went at it. These walls were my first attempt at a faux finish. The base coat was a lovely shade of blush, after it was fully dried I went on top with bubble wrap dipped in a creamy glaze and also back into the original colour in a twirly dab here and there. Yep, that's right, bubble wrap. After this was all dry, the top coat was done in a watered down golden yellow brown (ugly colour) dipped with a feather duster and I softly feathered the walls. It added just the right amount of a golden sheen to the walls. It turned out so pretty and was in St Louis Bridal magazine that month. Smile blush... plus I had so many people asking me to come out and do the same to their homes. It was very exciting time for me.

This is the close-up of the urn and flowers I painted. After it was finished I sanded which gave it more of a fresco effect. ( The flowers and urn I used to paint this was in another vignette, I loved it and placed them on the armoire for the visual painting.)

My little cherub, inspired by this romantic time of year. Titled ~ le chérubin l'un. This little watercolour has splashes of acrylics and tiny touches of gold. This little painting is ready to be framed and a little reminder of romance.

Le chérubin deux ~ this is the second cherub I painted and yes, both are for sale in my Etsy store. Let me know your thoughts on my little cherubs and what has you "Love Struck" or Coup de coeur.

I also saw today that Fifi, from Fifi flowers was enjoying the day with a little snow, in California! I feel so lucky today in Chicago to actually have a winter warm up with 60 degrees. I know, next week we will be back in the twenties but I do know spring is right around the corner and with that thought my design book has been filling up very quickly and I hope to have some new designs to share soon.

I can't wait to hear your "coup de coeur" stories.

~Miss Kris~

Kenny Smith And The Maximum Feeling - Skunkie

I went record shopping yesterday though I should have saved some money. Well, among many others I picked up Skunkie b/w Everybody Knows I Love You by Kenny Smith And The Maximum Feeling.

Skunkie is a great instrumental funky charger with an amazing drum break and a hilarious appearance by a guy who's high on helium. It was originally released by Kogan Records but there's only a few known copies around so Dopebrother Records reissued this gem back in 2006. Everybody Knows I Love you on the B-side is a nice soulful uptempo love song.

Kenny Smith And The Maximum Feeling - Skunkie [320 kbps, direct link]

More Lavender Lovelies...

(image courtesy of Victoria)

Stone old walls are lovingly holding up this wonderfully scented wisteria. This is a lavender loverly!!!
Or in another part of the garden, little lavender and purple flowers carpeting the ground below a stone statue.


(image courtesy of Veranda)
Or flowers in beautiful terracotta and stone pots lining the breezeway. These lavender pretties are quite lovely up against the yellow stucco home.

(image courtesy of Veranda)
Or a simple lavender pillow on the gray linen wrapped chairs on the Veranda. Again the lavender and grays mixed together. I love it!

(image courtesy of Victoria)

I love this garden pond with the wisteria reflecting off the water.

(image courtesy of Veranda)

Oooo...Love this bench detail

(image courtesy of Veranda)
Or my new chateau with the lavender flowers flanking the grounds and moat. lol. A girl can dream. Some how I need to get a lavender room. So the question is... a spare bedroom or in a garden? What do you think?
I would love to hear you input,

~Miss Kris~

Harvey K-Tel - Boops Apocalypse

I've been mad busy lately and things will continue like that for some time. I'll try to keep updating the blog but you might not hear from me as often as before. Anyways, I got something for you for the weekend. Two great reggae blends/edits from a UK-based producer Harvey K-Tel. These tunes were released last summer on a 7" by Music For The People but I think you can still find it somewhere. Boops Apocalypse comes highly recommended. It takes elements from the live version of Woman Of The Ghetto and backs up the vocals with a solid reggae rhythm. Niceness.

Harvey K-Tel - Boops Apocalypse [320 kbps, direct link]

Harvey K-Tel - You Make Me Feel So Good [320 kbps, direct link]