Beautiful Vintage Photos

Hello dearest friends. I hope that you are having a great week!

Last week I received the most beautiful vintage photos that I had ordered from Etsy, and thought that you might like to see them. Of course, they deserve to be displayed in a lovely setting, at least for a little while..

Who can resist these beautiful little girls...

...or these lovely dancers?...

This little lady is one of many that I have

depicting little girls wearing big bows...

...and likewise, one to add to my collection

of little girls holding dolls...

That I now own this photo of these pretty

little blonde sisters makes my heart sing.

Don't you just love that they are holding

twin dolls?...

Of course, this charming group

 was added to my collection

of photos of dancers...

...but this little fairy girl dancer 

is just stunning...

And, as friends often do,

we share things,

so here is one for you...

Right click and save, and use as you wish.

This photo is so old I can't imagine that

there is any copyright protection afforded

to it.

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Today I am joining Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday Party.

Why don't you pop over there and join the fun!

You can find Wen's blog here.

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Dance through the week,
and find some creative time!

We are headed up to The Wren's Nest
to add some finishing touches
and to start getting her ready to be closed down
for the winter.

Thanks so much for coming by!

Old Books, Hooks, and Baby Shoes

Hello dear friends!

We just got back from The Wren's Nest, our little place in the mountains, where we spent most of our time trying to finish the bathroom remodel before we have to close it down for the winter next month. Consequently, I haven't had much time for being creative in the way of any artwork.

So, I thought that I would take out a few of my pretties and post photos of them today.

I love Victorian baby shoes with their

tiny little buttons.

They look especially pretty when

sitting on top of a couple of vintage books...

Recently, I stumbled upon my newest collectors' item.

Did you ever wonder how the Victorians managed to

fasten all of those tiny buttons

while their little ones were squirming around?

Well, they used boot hooks, 

some of which you can see in the next two photos.

Boot hooks came in all different sizes,

some for children's shoes,

and some for those of the adults.

Some of them had celluloid handles.

And some, made of steel,

were given away at shoe stores as freebies and stated the name

and location of the manufacturer of the shoe.

The three below happen to have mother of pearl handles,

and not everyone likely afforded them.

They are so beautiful in their own right...

Here is a pretty little black shoe with lovely cutouts on the side,

and it has laces rather than buttons.

I also have the mate to this beauty.

Sometimes, though, I buy shoes 

that are missing their mate.

Not everyone and everything has to be

part of a pair to be beautiful!

And isn't the cover to this old poetry book gorgeous?

When buying old books,

I do indeed "judge the book by its cover"!

Even when falling apart I see such beauty in old books...

Of course,

you know that I also have a huge collection

of vintage photos, and couldn't resist

sneaking a couple into these vignettes!

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One of these days I will share photos of some of my other

old books, hooks and baby shoes.

Do you have any special collections?

I would love to hear about them. 

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Today I am joining Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday Party.

Why don't you pop over there and join the fun!

You can find Wen's blog here.

Thanks for coming by!

Fabric and Lace Collage: The Sweet Girls

Hello dear friends. Not too long ago I started these two little fabric and lace pieces and finally got around to finishing them. I think that when you look at the faces of the little girls in the images, you will know why I call them "the sweet girls". I purchased these images on Etsy, and the shop is NostalgieGrafikland. She has beautiful images that you would love, and you can find her here.

I apologize for the photos not being very good, but when I took them we were having a rainy week and the lighting was terrible. 

Today I am linking with Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday Party.

Why don't you pop over there and enjoy some lovely eye candy.

You can find Wen's blog here.

Thanks Wen!

Ghosts: A Halloween Snippet Roll

The moon is hidden behind a cloud...

On the leaves is a sound of falling rain...

No other sounds than these I hear;

The hour of midnight must be near...

So many ghosts, and forms of fright,

have started from their graves to-night,

They have driven sleep from mine eyes away;

I will go down to the chapel and pray.

--HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW--

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Recently I purchased some Halloween digital images on Etsy, and decided to make something fun with them. There were seven cool ghost images on the sheet, and I didn't really have the time to make seven different art pieces with them, so decided to create my version of a snippet roll instead, using up bits and bobs of things that I had left over from other projects. Some time ago I had purchased a couple of rolls of burlap ribbon and never used them (what else is new?). Since it was about 5-1/2 inches wide, I decided that I would see what I could come up with. Below are some photos of the result.

Since this piece was a little more than

three feet long,

and I don't have a wide angle lens

for my camera,

this was the best that I could do

to capture the entire piece...

So below are some closeups of the

different sections.

I love these images which are from 

DigitalAntiques on Etsy,

and you can find them here.

I used the burlap ribbon as the background,

adding the images, lace,

old buttons, crinkled seam binding...

...black polka dot netting...

...and some vintage rhinestone bling, scrim,

and ribbon woven through an old

mother of pearl buckle.

After all, even ghosts deserve a little beauty...

More fabrics, laces, buttons,

crinkled seam binding,

and a black fabric flower...

...seen a little bit better in this photo...

At the bottom I sewed on a lovely piece 

of black floral lace,

and fringed the edge of the burlap...

Since it it not a snippet roll in the truest form,

as it is too bulky to wind up on a spool,

I created a hanger with this lovely 

black and tan twine...

I did not back this piece since the burlap

was so loosely woven and I wanted the light

to show through.

To give it a little pizzazz, though,

I used a circle punch to cut pretty

scrapbook paper into circles

which were glued on behind the buttons, 

buckle and flower to reinforce them...

The best part was that I completed this whole

project in less than a day's time,

and used up a lot of stuff that I just

had hanging around!

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Today I am linking with Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday Party,

and you can find the fun here.

Please be sure to check out the contributions by the 

rest of the folks who participated!

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By the way, do you believe in ghosts?