Heart Palpitations

It's a dramatic title, I know, for a post that's really only about a bunch of vintage linens, but perhaps some of you will understand. A dear friend of the family called me last week and said she had some boxes of linens for me. Now, few things are as exciting to me these days than hearing "boxes" and "linens" in the same sentence (if she'd said "boxes of lace" I might have needed CPR). Turns out, she's downsizing, and wanted to pass along some linens from her mother and grandmother.

While I was of course excited to get them, I tried to convince her to keep them. I guess I just think people should hold onto such things. But she would not change her mind, so I became the lucky recipient! Among the items was a vintage box full of hankies! Good grief! I was so excited, I couldn't believe it. The best may be the wonderful quilted silk box itself, in the most fabulous faded shade of pink!

I told my friend that I felt like I'd won the lottery. She looked at me like she was worried about my sanity. Oh well.... like I said, I know some of you out there understand!

Paper Flower Wreath (or: what I've been doing while watching the Olympics)

I came across this wonderful wreath tutorial on April Meeker's Secondsister blog, and just had to try it! I'm in a springy mood these days (despite continuing really cold weather here in the tropics of southeast Texas), so I pulled out my old stash of favorite paper, and got to work. This wreath was very time consuming -- it took me several night's worth of Olympics watching to get it done. I decided while I was working on it that I wanted to glitter it, but I didn't want to individually glitter each flower. So, once it was finished, I sprayed the whole wreath with spray adhesive and dusted it with 2 kinds of glitter. This may not be the best method, but it sure was speedy! Anyway, I'm thrilled with the way this turned out! You can find the wonderful tutorial for this wreath here, and you can find April's delightful handmade items in her Etsy shop, SecondSister.

Valentine's Hearts from a Guest Artist

My littlest little one created this Valentine's masterpiece for me. It now graces my office door. I love the sentiment of it, of course -- the word "love" written so many times and all of the green hearts. But my favorite part is the heart in the center, which she embellished (all on her own) with a paper lace doily and jewels! What a chip off the ol' block!

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!

Vintage Victorian Calling Cards

A short while ago I fell in love .... with Victorian-era paper. My love affair began when I found some fantastic antique holy cards (which I blogged about here) at an estate sale, and was entranced by the vibrant graphics, delicate paper lace and intricate die cuts. Since then, I have started collecting vintage Victorian valentines as well as calling cards.

The calling cards are so fantastic, for so many reasons. First, they're just so pretty! The colors, flowers, amazing edges -- I could go on and on. Second, the ones have have hidden names are so intriguing to me; I love seeing the name of the person who ordered and owned the card. Third, they're so romantic! Who wouldn't love receiving one of these cards that says "Remember me"?

So, here for your viewing pleasure are a few of my latest finds. You'll see that one of these cards belonged to someone named "Hedwig." Love it!