RJ Treleaven

Happy Pinktober, My Lovelies! I hope you are having a lovely October so far. Today I'm participating in a Halloween Tablescape Blog Hop hosted by the Lovely Rita from the Panoply Blog.

Thank-you, Rita, for organizing and hosting these tablescape blog hop parties throughout the year. You do an excellent job, and I always look forward to them.

This year my theme is "Happy Pinktober" for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I would like to invite you personally for tea and pink, strawberry-flavored petits fours.

I'm a breast cancer survivor, and I'm so thankful for early detection, my tumor board, chemo nurses (who are angels on earth), and God, who Heals us of all our diseases (Psalm 103:3).

I'm using some of the same decor from last year, and I've add a couple of elements to it as well. First let's take a look at my plate stacks:

The bottom plate is Venetian Lace, and the top heart-shaped plate is in the Rosy Check.

The napkin is from Shabby Chic, and the ribbon napkin ring is from LoveShackFancy.

Many of the decorations on the table are from Michael's Enchanted Forest collection from last year. I purchased a few things like the botanical candle holders at the end of the season.

The candle holders might be my favorite from the Enchanted Forest collection.

The table has two pumpkins on it, and both are pink.

Top to bottom:

The white florals are in a vintage crystal vase. The Rosy Pink check pumpkin is from MacKenzie-Childs.

I like the witch's broom from the Enchanted Forest collection, too.

The pink floral pumpkin is actually a pillow from LoveShackFancy.

The large Think Pink roses are from Trader Joe's. They opened-up so prettily!

Here are some more of the details, top to bottom, left to right:

I love the flowers with the collection. They have pretty butterflies and incandescent orbs in the arrangements.

The "Freaks like me drink tea" teapot always makes me smile.

The roses and spiders' webs trays with metal lacework are fun, too.

I love mushrooms, and the beaded mushrooms in the collection were a must. The white violets are my sorority's flowers. Our philanthropy is breast cancer education, and the peer pressure of mammogram reminders from my sisters saved my life.

I have pink votives and roses on the table for Pinktober, and the specimen test tubes add mystique to the enchanted table theme.

Pink petits fours are festive for our tea party.

I hung bunting that has "Happy Halloween" on one side, and a pretty floral print on the other side. I am enjoying it while in my art studio.

I also decorated our Welsh dresser with pink ribbons and pink moths that coordinate with the butterflies and colors on the dining table.

Resources:

Many of the elements on the table and Welsh dresser are from Michael's Crafts. Assume something is from Michael's unless otherwise noted.

Moths on Welsh Dresser: Moth and Myth

White tablecloth: Williams-Sonoma

Ruffled and crochet-edged table runners and napkins: Shabby Chic

Napkin rings, Halloween bunting, and stuffed pumpkin: LoveShackFancy

Venetian lace plates: Juliana Collection

Rosy Check heart plate, pumpkin, and creamer and sugar set: MacKenzie-Childs

Pink wire coasters: World Market

Crystal vase: Vintage American Brilliant Cut Ruffled Edge Vase

Small pink votives, pink salt votive holder, and white violet: Leaf 'n Petal

Roses: Trader Joe's

Spoons: Horchow

Blog Hop Participant Links:

Panoply - Spellbound Halloween Tablescape

Home is Where the Boat Is - Stay for a Spell

Everyday Living - Fo(u)r the Love of Treats

Hyacinths for the Soul - "Caw, Caw" ~ Spread Your Wings for Halloween

Me and My Captain - Harvest Moon? We Have A Ghost Of A Chance To See It Tonight!

Life and Linda - Haunted Manor of Dark Secrets

The Little Yellow Corner Store - A Witch's Brew Tablescape

My Thrift Store Addiction - Frightfully FAN-tastic Wine and Cheese Buffet

The Cat's Whizkerz - We're All Batty Here

Red Cottage Chronicles - Spooky Halloween with Cheesecloth Ghosts

Corner of Plaid and Paisley - A Little Bit of Ghoulish Glamour

Olla-Podrida - A Hauntingly Charming Halloween Tablescape for Two

The Bookish Dilettante - Happy Pinktober Tablescape

Since I am the last link for this blog hop, please take this time to call and make an appointment for a mammogram if you have not had one during this past year. Early prevention is key for your survival.

Until next time...

Happy Pinktober!

Ricki Jill

Happy Pinktober Tablescape

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Happy Tuesday, My Lovelies! Did you have a nice Labor Day yesterday? I hope you had a nice time grilling out with your family. And if you didn't grill, I hope you had a lovely day and ate something delicious!

Today I'm joining fourteen other stylists as we share our Welcome Fall Tablescapes!

Sweet Rita from the Panoply blog hosts our blog hop parties.

Thank-you, Rita, for your hard work in hosting. You're the best!

I wanted to use these fairly new napkins on my table. The neutral seersucker ones were purchased from Anthropologie, and the bright yellow check napkins are from Farmhouse Pottery.

When I was looking around for table linens and tableware for this tablescape, I decided to go with mostly neutrals and yellow. I think these colors are reminiscent of autumn, especially the browns.

The yellow cabbage rose tablecloth is the most summery thing on the table. But this table is definitely a transition from summer to fall. The checked table runner with the bright yellow stitching complements it.

The little salt and pepper shaker set is definitely a nod to autumn. I like how it matches the table runner.

I chose chrysanthemums and sunflowers for the centerpiece. Sunflowers are so plentiful this time of the year, and I love the colors of the mums.

For the past couple of falls I've taken out this espresso set. The colors remind me of fall.

I also like how the cups and saucers look with our Longaberber stoneware.

I love the bright sunflower napkin rings. Yellows and golds are lovely colors for fall!

Resources

Tablecloth: Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic

Table runner: Terrain

Seersucker napkins and salt and pepper set: Anthropologie

Check napkins: Farmhouse Pottery

Napkin rings: Pier 1

Plates, bowls, mugs, and tea light holders: Longaberger stoneware

Cutlery pouches: Smith's Variety

Green cut glass tumblers: Green Row

Coffee press and espresso set: Target

Vase: MacKenzie-Childs

Flowers: The Fresh Market and The Piggly Wiggly

Below are the links for the party. Thrifting Wonderland is next if you're linking in order.

Panoply - Shuffling Seasons with an Early Fall Tablescape

Home is Where the Boat Is - Woodland Friends and Harvest Plaid

Everyday Living - The Colorful Bliss of Autumn

Hyacinths for the Soul - On the Cusp of Autumn

Celebrating Everyday Life - Welcome Fall with a Cozy & Elegant Tablescape

My Thrift Store Addiction - Curated Charm Autumn Breakfast Table

The Bookish Dilettante - Welcome Fall with Neutral and Yellow

Thrifting Wonderland - Thrifting for a Welcome Fall Tablescape

The Cat's Whiskerz - Hydrangeas, Sunflowers, and Pumpkins for a Fall Tablescape

Red Cottage Chronicles - A Cozy Autumn Dinner

Dinner at Eight - Leaves of Green - and Gold, Crimson, Rust and Bronze

Life and Linda - An Enchanted Fall Faerie Tablescape

Me and My Captain - Another Fall...Another Turned Page...in New Mexico

Corner of Plaid and Paisley - A Little Taste of Fall Tablescape

Mantel and Table - An Intimate Al Fresco Tablescape: Cozy & Beautiful Fall Dining

I love the color of these light yellow sunflowers from Mississippi.

I just wanted to share them with y'all!

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Welcome Fall with Neutrals and Yellows

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Hello, My Lovelies! Welcome to the 44th Tales of the Traveling Tote. I have not been traveling much or even going to the lake recently. I have had family obligations keeping me busy, but my family held an intervention a couple of weeks ago and insisted that I get away for a quick weekend to my favorite city, Chicago. We planned to visit my two motherships: Wrigley Field and The Art Institute of Chicago.

We enjoy staying at the historic Palmer House because it's within walking distance to the Art Institute. Below is the pretty ceiling in the lobby.

On Friday night we ate at a fantastic Mediterranean restaurant called Avec. Everyone loved it, and we particularly enjoyed the family-style presentation.

Saturday morning, we ate breakfast at our favorite bakery and coffee shop, The Goddess and the Baker. They have the best breakfast pastries in Chicago! Then we headed to Wrigleyville. Shanley Belle and I visited a romance-only bookshop called The Last Chapter and had a ball. We like visiting Indie Bookshops while traveling.

After the bookshop, we met up with Christopher and Trip at the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field.

Unfortunately, La Countess de Monet is too large to get into the stadium. Miss Square Peggy and Miss Candy Max are also too large. The dimensions must be no larger than 16" X 16" X 8". So I carried Miss Check You're Out! because she is petite at 16" X 11.5" X 4". She loved the game!

Clark the Cubbies' mascot before the game. We had great seats behind the dugout on the third base side.

The Cubbies beat the Pirates 3-1, so the W flag was flown!

Saturday night after the game we ate dinner at our favorite pizza place in the city, Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinders. They have the best pizza pie in the world! I always order the individual mushroom one.

Sunday morning we ate breakfast at The Goddess and the Baker again because we love it so much. Then we walked to the Art Institute for the Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World exhibit. Since we're members, we were able to visit an hour earlier than the general public, so we saw the exhibit almost by ourselves. For the Sunday before school started on Monday, there were few people at the museum. I think it might have had something to do with the flooding rains on Saturday night.

Gustave Caillebotte was an independently wealthy Impressionist. He was good friends with Renoir, and he painted pretty much what he wanted to paint. During this time, painters usually painted lovely young women, but Caillebotte preferred painting men.

One of the lions in front of the museum.

I wanted to share with you two paintings, one by Renoir and one by Caillebotte.

I chose the mums by Renoir for autumn.

Chrysanthemums

Pierre August Renoir (French, 1841–1919)

1881-1882

Oil on canvas

21 5/8" × 25 7/8 "

I chose the Caillebotte painting (below) because I thought the perspective was neat.

The Boulevard Seen From Above

Gustave Caillebotte (French, 1848-1894)

1880

Oil on canvas

25 3/5" × 21 3/10"

We enjoyed the member's lounge and a late lunch of Giordano's Pizza. Before heading to the airport, we went to the world's largest Starbucks, the Starbucks Reserve. The four-story shop is truly something. We had the Chicago blend, and I brought some home with me.

I also purchased a beautiful book of the Van Gogh bedrooms because we saw the exhibit in 2016 at the Art Institute. I was so happy to have a lovely reminder of that trip, too. The Caillebotte brochures were really large, so I didn't buy one of them.

I love how the page folds out to show all three bedroom paintings.

This book is so nice, and it also features other paintings shown at the exhibit.

I hope you enjoyed my post on my whirlwind trip to Chicago. I literally have nothing else to share!

I'm sure the other Traveling Tote Ladies have much more interesting posts than mine, so give them a visit using the links below!

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Bookish Dilettante

This TTT giveaway is hosted by Sarah. Please make sure to leave a comment on her post in order to be entered.

Join us for our next adventures in December!

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Tales of the Traveling Tote: My Motherships

Monday, September 1, 2025

Happy Monday, My Lovelies! I hope you've had a wonderful summer. Mine has been....busy. And not for a good reason.

My mother became ill in March, and she has been in two hospitals, two skilled nursing facilities, and one assisted living facility. It has been difficult because one moment she seems fine, and the next, she isn't.

Because I'm an only child, her care is solely on me. Mr. Bookish, and our daughters, and our son-in-law have been very helpful and supportive. I don't know what I'd do without my family.

We have only been to the lake twice all summer because we've spent a lot of time in my hometown settling her estate, selling her home, etc. She was released from the hospital Friday and sent to another SNF. I feel badly for her, and I'm hoping she can get the care she needs to improve her quality of life.

I miss being home because I'm such a home bird! My dogs have missed me a lot, and they have not been happy with my absence. I have missed working in our back garden, but fortunately for me, the annuals I planted haven't needed a lot of attention, and we've had so much rain.

This is my favorite time of year to be home, and the following is what I like most about it:

getting in the back-to-school mode (i.e. back on a schedule) even though no one in our home is in school right now
hearing the school buses driving up and down the hills early in the morning
making lists for buying new art supplies, pencils, and planners
planning trips to local art supply and stationary stores
getting up earlier with the school buses and reading my lessons for my Bible study that starts in August
cleaning out and organizing my menu/blogging desk in our kitchen
reorganizing my art studio

Speaking of school and art supplies....In late spring I applied to be a member of the Koh-I-Noor Artist Team. Koh-I-Noor is a company from the Czech Republic known for manufacturing pencils. The company's founder Franz Hardtmuth defined a total of 8 types of soft and hard pencils, two medium hard and one type for natural graphite. He marked the soft ones from B to 8B, with 8B being the softest and the 9B mark is for natural graphite. The marks of soft gradations were based on the same principle as for hard gradations, just with the letter H. Later, a number of gradations H - H8 were extended by H9 and H10. According to the personal notes of Franz Hardtmuth, the marking of pencils using the letter H originates from the family surname Hardtmuth, B means Budweis, or Budějovice in Czech language (a Czech city), and F refers to his first name Franz. This 21-degree gradation marking system for graphite cores is still used by most pencil manufacturers around the world. Most of you have heard of the number 2 pencil: That one is actually a "2B."

I was accepted, and I wanted to share the projects I shared on Instagram.

I drew these peaches with Koh-I-Noor's Tri-Toned Colored Pencils. Each pencil has three different colors in it. I think It makes drawings very interesting because the artist can't control when the colors change from one to another.

I like to make bookmarks for my favorite books and place them in my reading tag journals.

I drew this one with the Mondeluz gray-toned colored pencils.

When I applied for the Artist Team I had no idea that my mother's condition would decline so rapidly. I have not drawn anything this month, and I'm feeling the pressure because I believe in honoring my commitments. If I had known that my mom would require another hospital and SNF stay, I would not have applied.

We have been planning different major projects around our home. I have met with a decorator and carpenter. We are postponing our planning meetings until after Labor Day because I have too much going on right now to meet with them. Because we are saving for these projects, I haven't been spending a lot of money "fluffing" the house this summer. I did purchase one thing during the MacKenzie-Childs Barn Sale, though, and I hope to use it soon.

This is the Piccadilly pie plate. I wanted to bake a tomato pie in it before summer ends.

I hope I can!

I would like to get back into blogging, but it's hard because I haven't been home much to blog. I have posted on Instagram because it's easier to do so on the run. If you would, please follow me on Instagram, and also please, if you do follow me, like and comment on the posts for Koh-I-Noor. They were so kind to send me beautiful pencils and paper for my art in exchange for posting on IG. I would really appreciate it. Click on the graphic below to follow me.

I haven't been reading as much as I normally do, but I will try to put together a Summer Reading post in mid-September and feature my favorite books of the summer.