All Things Pretty...

Beauty in the sunlight....

Many of my favorite little shops around town were visited this weekend. Little things of beauty, both new and old, made their way home with me.

On Sunday morning, I couldn't help but notice the gorgeous sunlight streaming in through the bay window in my living room.  

I grabbed my camera and clicked away to my heart's content.  My newly acquired little treasures were the subjects.

 

The gorgeous "Paris" paper in the background is new and came in a scrumptious shade of peachy pink.

The tiny flowers on the top and the blue ribbon roses were removed from an ugly "mop doll" purchased at the thrift shoppe for 29 cents.

The peachy chenille came from my favorite needleshop....   I resisted the temptation to come home with 3 yds. in every shade (my purchase total would have surpassed $50 just for the chenille!)

The dainty creamer is also a thrift shoppe find.

 

Another precious creamer... this one in white (the visible damage on the inside did not deter me).  I have a weakness for white creamers.

The velvet violets spray is new but has the same look/feel of vintage millinery.  

 

A closer look at the tiny blue ribbon roses...

My heart was craving flowers....  can you tell?  

Most of the purchase I made this weekend were florals.

But then... that always seems to be the case...

 

This is what is left of my anniversary bouquet from last week (24 years).

There were some gorgeous Casablanca lilies (my favorite) which have wilted...what is left now are asters and mums.  Still pretty.

 

I'm sharing my pretties in the sunlight with White Wednesday party over

at the Faded Charm Cottage; stop on by for gorgeous white inspiration.

Doilies...hearts...ribbons....

I'm having a great time in my studio these days!  

My work area has been invaded by heart of all colors, shapes,  and sizes... sweet vintage Valentines.... doilies... laces and more laces....  ribbons... buttons, sequins, pearls, vintage beads, millinery.... (and hundreds of other little things that I have no clue how they got there).

Several of my Valentine swaps are finished and enroute.  Here's a sneak peak at the sweetness...

For art JOY stuff's Valentine Swap, we were to create five Valentine ATCs and send them to our hostess, Kimberly.  

We will receive five ATC's in return; how fun is that?

My ATCs were individually and  lovingly wrapped in a doily envelope...

 

And inside each pretty doily, my swap partner(s) will find any one of these...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And although I may be spoiling the surprise just a bit by revealing them now, I don't know which five participants will receive my ATCs, nor which ATC will go to whom... so still a surprise for the recipient!

For this group of ATCs, I finally broke down and "cut" (gasp!) several of the vintage greeting cards from my stash (I must own hundreds that I've collected over the years).   Thank goodness for scanners, as I will have a digital image of each for future use.  My husband asked me if (maybe) I wasn't going about this backwards...   1. scan the image,  2. use the scanned image (not original)....   Makes sense, right?  

But I really wanted to use the "real" stuff on these; it made them feel all that much more special, that a little piece of a card made in the 1940's, 50's or 60's made its way onto an ATC in 2012.  I bet the American Greetings and Hallmark folks back then would have never, ever guessed that this is how their cards would end up 60+ years later!

*   *   *

Another package on its way to the recipient contains ribbons; yummy ribbons in all sorts of colors, textures and widths...

 

 

 

 

The assignment was to share 6 different ribbons (in 2 ft. lengths) with our partner.  

This clever swap is being hosted by Elysia and is my very first ribbon swap.  

One more pic, but I have to be careful not to spoil the surprise!

 

 

 

 

"The Colors of Spring" ribbon collection

Hope my Canadian partner likes her gifts!

*  *  *

 

linking up to Beverly's Pink Saturday!

 

* * *

h.e.l.p.

ON A SEPARATE NOTE, I RECENTLY PURCHASED ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS AND AM FIDDLING AROUND WITH IT.  HOWEVER, IT IS SLOW GOING AND I'M FEELING A TAD INTIMIDATED BY THE WHOLE 'LAYERS' THING.... SO, PLEASE PLEASE COMMENT OR EMAIL ME IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS ON STRAIGHT-FORWARD (AKA "EASY" AND "clear") TUTORIALS YOU KNOW OF!   

 

 

Hats that tell a story...

I confess, I can't pass a pretty vintage hat without touching it, picking it up, looking at the details of the netting, millinery...  Most of the time, I put it right back in its place because the price tag is either (a) overpriced or (b) ridiculously overpriced.

But every once in a while I get lucky and find one that is beautiful and affordable.  Not too long ago, you could find these for under $10... now, even rummage sales want way too much money for them (at least here in Minnesote).

I'm mostly attracted to the pinks...

 

 

(no surprise there~!)

If I happen to find one with berries....  

my heart beats just a tad faster.

 

Next, come the lavenders, pale blues and other "Spring" hues...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those dainty little flowers call out to me... "touch me" they say.. and of course, I always obey.

 

 

 

 

Once in a while I will run across a beautiful large bloom...

 

 

 

 

One time (and only once), I found a very old crushed velvet hat with black plumes - it even had the original hatbox!  Both were found at a local estate sale and I was giddy for two days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(I should have played the lottery that day!)

 

I am always ALWAYS on the search and hunt for these lovelies.

 

My newest acquisitions:

 

 

 

 

Lovely details on both, but alas, they have been put on the chopping block, per se (available thru my Etsy shoppe), since they didn't come in my favorite color(s), or have hundred of tiny little flowers!

Do you have a favorite vintage hat?

 I'm joining the parties and sharing my hats!

White Wednesday at Faded Charm Cottage

Show and Tell Friday @ Romantic Home

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Vintage Inspiration Friday @ Common Ground

 

Winter Wonderland... and other things January brings

I'm participating in Tee's "A Blog a Month Swap" at The Altered Paper, where we create a different tag for a new partner each month.  At the end of the year, we will have a lovely tag book comprised of 12 different tags showcasing the talents of 12 different artist!  Sounds like fun?  Absolutely!

January's theme was "winter or New Year's"... I decided to create a winter tag for my swap partner, Judith.  

Judith lives in Australia and their seasons are the opposite of ours; so needless to say, she's not celebrating winter or snow right now.

 

 

The skater image came from a vintage playing card received in my "25 days of Christmas" swap and I thought she would be the perfect star for this theme.

She skates amongst a background of snowflakes if all shades of blues and teals, with snowdust, silver and pearl accents.

 

No sooner had I put the finishing touches on my tag, packaged and posted, when a few days later I received Judith's envelope.

My heart beat a bit faster when I opened the envelope and fosaw this mini tag attached to the wrappings:

How sweet is that?!?

This is the amazingly beautiful tag I received...

All the details are superb... the layers of lace, the gown with just the right amount of irridescence, the white feather with the "2012"    Exquisite.

Thank you, dearest Judith, for my beautiful tag!

Belated THANK YOU...

I just realized that I had not shared a few of the Christmas and holiday gifts received...

Once again, my blog friends and swap partners amazed me with their generosity and creativity.  I thank each and every one for their friendship and look forward to a "2012" full of fun, sharing and creating!

Note to self for next Christmas:  do not join 10 swaps if you are planning to travel during holidays!

*********

I participated in JoAnne's Secret Santa Swap (read my post about it here), and received 25 little gifts, each individually wrapped and tagged.

Starting December 1st, I would awaken each morning and after grabbing my cup of espresso, would delicately open my gift for that day.

Each was a sweet surprise to open...  There is something extra special about opening little tiny gifts - don't you agree?  I love the thought and care that goes into selecting the items we send to our swap friends.  

My Secret Santa had put together a wonderful mix of new, vintage and handmade.

Of course, I didn't find out that my Secret Santa was Peace until January 2nd, when I returned from my holiday trip.

I had left the final little package to be opened upon my return.  This one would reveal (finally!) the identity of my Secret Santa.

I just love this ATC Peace made for me!

Thank you, dearest Peace, for making my December so special.

* * * * *

A very generous, sweet and creative friend I made this past year through blogland was Karla.  As we exchanged emails, ATC's, and swap gifts, we realized we both celebrated Three King's Day (or as we call it in Spanish, Dia de Reyes) on January 6th.

Sweet Karla sent me a boxful of lovely gifts, each individually wrapped.  One gift to be opened each day between December 25th and January 6th.

I took gifts for December 25-31st with me on my trip to Spain... it was so much fun to open one each morning while sipping espresso or chocolate a la taza in a sidewalk cafe... little did Karla know that some of her gifts would travel all the way to Barcelona and Mallorca Spain!

 Every item was beautiful, like this religious tag she made for me...

See the "crackle" effect?   It reminds me of the beautiful stained glass seen in all the churches we saw in Spain.  

Another day, I opened my little package to find this cube.

Karla also sent me a couple of assemblage ornaments created by artist Sandy Jackson (www.some-assembly-required.com).  I had never seen these before and was thrilled with the artistry and ingenuity behind them.  I can see getting addicted to either collecting or (yikes!) even attempting to make them!

Another handmade lovely by Karla.

 

Books, ornaments, a vintage bell... the fun continues!

Darling Karla outdid herself!   I am utterly spoiled and smiling.

Thank you, dear friend.

* * * * * 

And most recently, I received this ATC from Patti, for Wendy's Blissfull ATC Swap.

 

Patti creates beautiful digital art... and I've enjoyed browsing her blog for inspiration.  (My husband gifted me Adobe Photoshop for Christmas and I have quite a lot to learn about digital art!)

Thank you, Patti, for my lovely ATC!

 

Soller, Mallorca Spain

Happy New Year!  

We are seven days into 2012 and I have yet to post about my holiday trip to Spain.  

One word to sum it up:

 a

m

a

z

i

n

g

Of course, the very best part was seeing our daughter, Bianca.

 She was a wonderful hostess and guide, enabling us to see Spain through her eyes.

I'm still going through photos (800+) and selecting favorites for sharing.  However, today I want to focus on a little town in the island of Mallorca.   It was a 50 minute bus ride from Palma.... and is called Soller.

The views on our way up to Soller were breathtaking.

Our first glimpses of Soller literally took our breath away!

 Like something straight out of a story book.

The little town Plaza was decked out for the holidays.

And everywhere,

absolutely EVERYWHERE,

you looked there was something beautiful to see.

 

The windows, doors, little vignettes along the sidewalks....

My thumb was hurtin' from all the photo snapping...

And just when I thought I had gotten over all that beauty, we came upon this iron fence.

 

And behind it... this lovely private garden~

And as my eyes wandered, identifying known plants and trying to figure out what others were, I spotted one.   

A pink rose!

I crammed my camera between the fence bars, zoomed in, trying to get a better shot.

Still a bit blurry, yet magnificent.  

A total surprise!

But wait.... is that?  

another pink rose?!?

Lovely.

The perfect little town.

The perfect day.

And a perfect glass of Spanish red Crianza before our ride back to Palma.

Perfect.

p.s.  I'm slowly but surely getting back into my real life (lol).  

Linking up to Beverly's Pink Saturday party and sharing by Soller pink roses.