The Official Heralding of Spring.....

Today was the day my husband and I and my Mom took the long-awaited trip to the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh. We have not been to this wonderful Victorian style conservatory in quite a few years. Additions have been made to its "mastery of glass", and with bated breath, we entered its doors!

The flowers alone were enough for me. But the urns and statues holding precious flowers of all shapes and colors were nothing but jewelry for these vintage and lovingly cared for pieces. The angel on this urn above is just gorgeous!

There were waterfalls, a new rain forest wing, and oodles and oodles of flowers! Such inspiration, such color. It made you want to go home and tear up the dirt! And of course, make that annual promise - "I will plant more bulbs this fall!".

Here is a picture of the main conservatory, not showing are the three wings that go out behind and to both sides of this wonderful structure. There are gorgeous blown glass pieces intermixed in the display with the flowers, and a night show, is definitely on our agenda.

The orchid room is nothing but fabulous. Here is a sampling of these beauties....

Enjoy the rest of the show. I know pictures don't do nature justice, but my words sure do fall short.

And in my Etsy store, I have newly listed these fabulous paper doll books. They are in great condition, for those of you loving vintage fashion and, of course, Marie Antoinette.

Hope you all have a glorious week. Talk to you all soon....

Blessings

Kitty

xox

Buttons, Baubles and Beauties

I was rumaging through my pictures, and saw an image of my button box, which, I realized, I had never shown you. It's not an amazing work of art, by any means, but it is how I remedied a scratched surface on an old plastic box filled with buttons. Inside, it was divided with compartments, filled with normal, every day buttons, nothing special. But, it intrigued me, because first of all, the organization appealed to me, and second of all, you don't find all that many boxes of the old, hard plastic, of the 60's. The dilemma was the top was discolored and scratched.

So, I took a piece of scrapbooking paper (before I had a collection of nice old wallpaper), some trim and Martha Stewart glitter letters - and I glued until I got this result. So, a happy home for my crafting buttons.

This image is of a grouping of porcelain, hatpins and knick knacks that are in my guest room. The kitty-cat statue is the item I bought at an antique show that inspired me to begin selling antiques. The lady that sold me the cat told me I would never be sorry in the decision to sell antiques. And, I wasn't, until the bottom dropped out of the antique market! LOL! LOL! LOL!

These sweet gold buttons are ones I cherish. Madai Rodgers of Forget Me Nots from Wren Cottage sent them to me in a swap. Love them, Madai. I love how the different hues blend so nicely together. And isn't it sweet that they were wrapped up in such a textured cloth?

Heather, my daughter from Pretty Petals had been looking out for strawberries for me, when I had started a collection. Here are a few from that collection. Grab them up! The vintage ones are so hard to find. There are some very nice new ones out there that ladies have been making, as well.

These buttons are from an excursion Heather and I took up to northern Pennsylvania, headed to a show that did not happen. But, the day was not lost as we discovered all these lovely buttons. It is a "rich day" when you can turn disappointment into delight!

I absolutely A-D-O-R-E this cupid pin! What sweet friends, eh? And the little mesh purse is on a very long chain, so I am assuming it was worn about the neck? And who can resist cameos?

Just a quick note about my Etsy shop. I have printed some small Marie Antoinette picture packs on high-end, soft-gloss printer cardstock. These are great for paper crafts of all sorts. They are definitely priced right. Should you want larger sizes, just send me an email, and I'd be glad to oblige.....

Have a wonderful Spring Day ladies, and for my dear friends in the southern hemisphere - have a beautiful Fall Day!

Blessings,
Kitty
xox

Cherish The Children

I was reading a poem in a vintage children's book I have about "Baby Gets A Tooth" by Edgar A. Guest, and it reminded me of my 7 year old grandson, Christian, and the recent loss of the 2nd front tooth! He was very happy it was out, as it was loose at such an odd angle, but he was extremely concerned with the slight bleeding that goes along with the loss of such an important tooth.

Children fill our lives with such joy, no matter what the generation, and especially those grandbabies! This reminded me of the children's books I was accumulating, so, I gathered up all that I had. It seems I have a little collection beginning, and the little poems and stories are just delightful!

I just LOVE this verse (above) from the poem by Robert Louis Stevenson's, "A Good Boy". I can see in my mind's eye an angel keeping watch over my very own grandsons, all through the night.

I have purchased some of these books at antiques fairs, Heather, my daughter from Pretty Petals, has given me some, and Madai, my sweet friend from Forget Me Nots from Wren Cottage, has given me a few. All together, they make the start of a nice little collection.

But, I did not stop there, I thought about the trading cards and images I had of children. So I gatherd these, and put a few on this post to share with you.

No matter what the age, our children are the light of our lives. My daughter is 30-something, and she is still the light of my life. It is now, so wonderful, to share things with her as an adult, that I could not, when she was a child. But, those childhood years are so very precious.

In the picture above, I gathered together some baby shoes, laced with vintage seam binding, a few postcards, the camiosole of a child's slip, and one of Heather's baby pictures. This is my favorite picture of her as a baby. Her little eyes full of wonder, and dark hair, just like her Daddy. Such a sweet memory.

In the picture below, this is an album that Heather bought for me. It is filled with presidential newspaper clippings, but I just love the cover. Two sisters, for sure. How they look alike! I wish they would take pictures like this today with children....

And didn't they just make the covers of the books so enticing! Such beauty in just that part of the book, alone! Madai recently gave me the Alice in Wonderland book in the middle. Thank you, Madai. I just love it! The images inside the book are amazing, as well.

"The Summer Children" is a poem by Edgar A. Guest, which I adore. And another by Guest called Boy or Girl.

But of all the poems that I have read and love, I have to say, This little note that was given to me when Heather was born will always be my favorite.......

Cherish Your Children, today they are small

The toys, the clutter, sticky hands, and all!

For tomorrow will come and time does give way

Those beautiful memories in your heart will stay.

Blessings,

Kitty

xoxox

Fabulous Favorites....

I've been struggling with my new camera, trying to find the place to turn off the date. Finally - I found it. So, some of my pictures may still have some dates, so please just ignore. I love all these techy toys, but sometimes, I just feel very mentally challenged! LOL! LOL!

I took a few minutes to take a few pictures and share a few old ones with you. Of just some items that I love, and some pictures of things in my home. Early spring is here, and I saw my first crocus today! I jumped for joy. I was going to share a picture with you, but, it's too late in the day and that sweet little purple flower closed back up. A picture for another day....

The above picture is just a few of my favorite things. A few of my journals, bits of old lace and ribbon, buttons and flowers. My favorite shoe pin holder. Bits and bobs, as they say.

Just for fun, here are some Marie Antoinette pictures (above) that I printed on my soft gloss cardstock. The colors just jump right out at you. I'll be adding some of these to my Etsy store in the not too distant future. The crochet trim was a new purchase from Clara's. The store I told you about in the last post.

I decided to show you some of my ironstone collection, I just love the simpleness of the white and can't pass up a good piece. This cupboard is in my bathroom and holds the little pitchers lined up, just like little soldiers. They don't match, but seem to love being together, anyhow!

Heather and I went to the antique store the other day, and with being such a sucker for ironstone, I found this little pitcher. Small sizes are sometimes harder to find, and in good condition She's just a cutie. A very sweet marked, English Ironstone pitcher. Probably part of a set. It looks just right with the bigger ones.

Ah, yes, ribbons. The favorite of alot of us, eh? Just a candid shot in one of my ribbon boxes. The pink ruffled velvet is a specialty of Heather's in her Pretty Petals store. It is so sweet the way she gathers it up after she hand dies it. The blue and pink satin are vintage ribbon for baby blankets. Remember all those blankets of days gone by with that soft edging? The white ribbon in the bottom right corner is Heather's silk ribbon, and the pink tea dyed velvet in the MA picture, above, is also Heather's. She really does have the best ribbon.

This is a corner of my bedroom, where I have my beloved "dry sink". For those of you who aren't familiar, they used these recessed wooden cupboards in the kitchen to sit their dish pan in. It's one of my favorite pieces. The wicker basket was given to me by Heather for my birthday last year. She "fuffed it up" with millinery on the front. I just love it. I have some old books in it and have a star with German glass glitter and one of Heather's "Dream Stars" sitting in it. The vintage porcelain jug I got at an auction many years ago. Again, a favorite!

Well, that's a short tour of some of my favorites. There is always more for another day. I'm off to bounce around and see how all of you are doing. It's been a busy, but good weekend. Lots got done, and of course, the weather was great! Many blessings. Talk to you all soon.

Kitty

A Tisket, A Tasket, A Sweet Little Basket.....

Well, my little fingers have been flying in my little work area. Creating some treasures for my Etsy Shop. I also made a trip to one of my favorite spots to pick up little treasures, "Clara's".

Clara is a sweet older lady who is a dear to visit and always has something that I have to go home with. Last fall, Clara, who is probably in her mid 80's, decided to stop dying her hair. She thought it might be time to let it go naturally gray. So, she announced this to Heather and I, and we told her, it was an excellent idea! This hair dying, perming, coloring, foiling, frosting, etc, etc, etc, gets old! After a long winter of Clara holding up in her 2 story home, she finally opened again for business. I drove by and saw the "OPEN" sign, and nearly did a "U Turn" in the middle of the road! When I walked in to say hello, Clara, was back to being an "auburn beauty"! I guess no matter how old we get, we still want to think we look our best!

Well, back to the baskets.....
I decided to finally do something with some of that wonderful wallpaper that I've bought and Heather, my daughter from Pretty Petals, has given me over the last while. (Which by the way, Heather has new wallpaper parcels for sale in her shop!) So, little baskets, I've made. Filled to the b*r*i*m with little treasures, and supplies to create your own sweet creations.


The baskets themselves are glittered up with high-end rose quartz glitter, edged with a pink German foil border, and the handle is adorned with a vintage millinery flower and lots of ribbon and lace.


I've filled the baskets with a foot of vintage edging wallpaper, 1 pair of pearl earrings, 5 vintage rhinestone buttons, 1 vintage shell button, 2 vintage pink millinery flowers, 2 velvet white millinery flowers, 1 stem of vintage while millinery flowers, 1 pink vintage reflector, 1 blue vintage reflector, and the cutest spool of vintage white lace (4 feet). I'm hoping that is enough to inspire for a new spring project!

Wishing you all a wonderful spring! Hoping you all can fill your baskets with all the things that make your heart sing!

Blessings,

Kitty xoxo

Happy Spring????!!!!!!

It has been Way-y-y-y-y too long since I've done a post and touched base with all my blogging friends. So, I am sorry I've been away so long. But, it is good to be back, and to have some time to enjoy catching up with all of you!

Might I say, "Happy Spring?"!!!!!!! Is it too early? Dare I say that? Either way, the birds are singing, the male cardinals are getting brighter, the days are getting longer, and that wonderful sun is shining! ALL the snow is gone, and my daffodills are poking through the ground! I just can't wait for those to bloom, and see the first signs of the crocuses.


I've been putting a few new things on ETSY for Spring/Easter, and am adding some pictures for all of the paper art fans. You'll find vintage pink Easter baskets, vintage wallpaper heart tags, cupid tags, and some images for use in your collage and mixed media arts.

The pictures that I am selling are framable, as they are printed on a high-end soft gloss card stock. Should you want them printed on regular card stock, that is possible, just let me know.

Here's a little poem that goes with the "Sweet Pea" pictures I have for sale on Etsy. It is from a Victorian trading card. Oh, so sweet! Perfect for Spring!

I wonder if you'll find me behind this tall sweet pea?

I'm 'fraid if you should look here you'd get a peep at me.

There's something on your doorstep, and I just rang the bell.

O dear, what am I saying, what made me go and tell?

I'm going to pop over now and see some of you. Hope you all got through the winter fine, and for my southern hemisphere friends, I hope your summer was absolutely divine!

Happy Spring to All!

Blessings,

Kitty