Assemblage Art: "A Little Bird Told Me"

Good morning friends and happy Sunday!

We returned home earlier this week after 10 days at The Wren's Nest, and it has taken me this long to catch up on laundry and garden work, so here I am at last. Doesn't it seem like there are never enough hours in the day?

We finally hung up an assemblage piece that I started a while ago, and finished over the winter.

Here is the piece, which has been hung

next to the window in the living room.

We actually managed to get in the last

two new windows this trip.

More on that saga later this week!

You may recall that we had completed

16 of the 18 but work came to a

standstill last June when the issues

started with the Mister's foot.

We even put up our first curtains,

which are a little more "printy" than

what I would used here at home,

but "cottagey" enough for this place

without being too cute!...

This was a generic Michael's wood shadow

box that I originally purchased for I-don't-know-

what and painted with Waverly Chalk paint

from the craft section of Walmart.

The color is "plaster".

The inside of the box as purchased

was lined with beige fabric.

Of course, its so hard for me to create

something without using an old photo...

The feathers were found in our yard some

time ago. As I always do with found feathers,

I placed them in a zip lock baggie with

bug spray, sealed it shut, and let them

sit in there for a while, ensuring that any

mites on the feathers would be dead.

The nest was a vacated real one found up at

The Wren's Nest when we cut down some

old bushes up there, and was also treated

the same as the feathers.

Because it was crumbly,

I sealed it with spray acrylic

and carefully glued it to a background

of wax paper to make sure that it

didn't crumble further once placed in the box.

The eggs are little paper eggs that I

think were part of a home decor set once

purchased at Target.

You can read more about the actual nest here...

A copy of some vintage sheet music,

and some paper flowers fastened with

brads,

along with some twigs,

seed pods from daylilies here at home,

and game letters...

But my favorite part is the old rusted doorbell

that I bought a long time ago and was

waiting for the perfect place to reside.

It's all about home!...

What have you been up to lately?

Thanks so much for coming by!

Edwardian Postcards: Grete Reinwald

Hello to all and happy Tuesday!

Prior to the start of the holiday season, I was doing a search on Etsy for Edwardian seasonal postcards featuring children. I happened upon quite a few of one particular little girl who was just beautiful, and wondering who she was, I finally found some that were labeled with her name.

She was Grete Reinwald (May 25, 1902 – May 24, 1983), a famous German child model when she was young, who then went on to become a stage and film actress. She had the sweetest face when she posed for the postcards, so I couldn't resist buying a few, seen below, and will hopefully use them in some future art pieces. I think you will agree that they are so pretty, and you may even already own some postcards with her on them.

You may find additional information about her on the internet, but I found a one-time blog post particularly informative, and you can read it here.

I love these and thought that they will make

some lovely Valentine Day's and spring, or Easter,

greeting cards...

These Christmas cards are stunning, I think.

Of course, I love the sepia-toned variety...

...but the hand-tinted ones,

with just a trace of color,

are also so lovely...

A real collector of post cards probably wants those

of the mint variety, with no writing on the back,

but I am partial to ones where I can see the

postmark and stamp,

not to mention the beautiful handwriting of those

who lived so long ago...

Though in the past I have not been a fan of some of the

Edwardian postcards because I thought the children

looked too "posed" and the coloring too fake,

this season I revised my opinion of some of them,

and treated myself to these few as a Christmas present to myself.

Have you bought anything new lately for your self?

If so, what was it, and how will you use it?

As ever, thanks so much for stopping by to visit.

Antique French Letters and Documents

Hello dear friends.


In my quest for beautiful materials to use in paper collage I discovered a lovely Etsy shop in Canada and purchased some of the prettiest antique French letters and documents that I currently own. They were waiting for me when I got back last week, and I was so glad that they were!

First of all, I could barely bring myself to open up this beautiful

packaging.

The seller must have taken so much time to cover this 

standard shipping envelope with such gorgeous collage work.

Even the postage stamps were chosen with such care.

(Pardon me for covering up the seller's and my adresses

with ugly sticky notes,

but you know how it goes on the internet!)...

I tried to capture in my photo that these items were all

glued onto the scripted background paper.

I hope that you can see that the hat is dimensional...

Even the back of the envelope had more ledger

paper on it,

along with pretty coordinating black and 

white striped washi tape to hold it all together...

  I very carefully cut opened the envelope to

remove the contents.

As you can imagine, I saved the envelope! 

And inside was the most beautiful collage material wrapped 

together as shown below

and tied with delicate twine.

A freebie postcard copy was on top,

with a thank-you written on back...

Do I love this beautiful bird-themed beauty?...

I had ordered two different sets,

and each was tied up separately...

I love the stunning blues of this one...

And the creamy color of  this set, 

along with the stunning blue stamps and postmarks.

They were all unusual in that the envelopes were

the outside parts of the letters themselves. 

Don't you love the gorgeous handwriting on them?

If you are interested in checking out this shop,

the link is here.

Will I ever use the originals of these in any kind of art?

Nope!!!

But I will make copies of them!

Have you found anything stunning lately?

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We will be heading up to The Nest shortly,
so you may not hear from me for a bit.
One of these days I will master posting from my cell phone or iPad.

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PS. Is there anyone besides me that finds that spacing after paragraphs
in Blogger has gotten wonky lately?

Architectural Salvage: Three Windows and a Door

Hello to all!

Last week Hubby and I went to Vintage Village on a mission. And we came back with exactly what we were looking for. Imagine that. No shopping around. No waiting to find them. No stress. They were all just magically there! And discovered in about 30 minutes.

Three old windows.

The one in the middle is just slightly different, 

but close enough...

How could you not love these?

Pardon our legs reflecting in the glass!!

But the best part was the old salvage door.

Exactly what we were looking for.

Don't you love the rope "doorknob"?

Was this thing a rest room door in a bar,

or perhaps on the side of a red barn?

A cool shade of red, 

but not for us...

We love that the panels run length-wise,

but best of all is the reverse side...

Just look at that patina...

...a closer view...

Here is the door propped up 

over the windows...

And they are sitting in our very own garage. 

Not just on a photo on my cell phone.

My, oh my.

Whatever are we going to use these for?

Stay posted!

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Have a great day!

Buying Milk Paint: Along the Way

Hello readers!

Continuing with my previous post, I did go to pick up my Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint on Wednesday. It is sold at SuzAnna's, the larger shop at Vintage Village, which consists of several booths run by different vendors. This shop is the furthest away from the parking lot, so "along the way" I couldn't resist taking these photos.

Two Old Birds,

a great shop where I buy...

...all of my Annie Sloan Chalk Paint...

always has cute little things out in front...

and a black bird on the fence. 

But alas, no chalk paint this day.

Keep walking, Sue...

Another shop.

Not sure of the name,

but a sweet little building

chock full of great finds...

Also along the way,

a section of salvage from an old farmhouse...

And finally, I got to SuzAnna's,

where there was this very creative

display of old hankies...

...and then some...

...more...

Another booth featured this lovely

bird assemblage.

Why can't I be this creative?...

This was from a lovely booth

that was just re-done to feature

pink things...

And this display in another

shop featured purple,

even the cowgirl boots!!...

Here are some lovely sachets.

They were wrapped in cellophane,

so didn't photograph too well,

but gorgeous nonetheless...

And some glittery lavender birds

in a chippy iron bowl...

...with one on this pretty plate...

But I stuck to my target, 

forged on to my real destination

and purpose of my visit

(to spend my Christmas gift certificate)...

...and bought my Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint

in Farmhouse White!

Along with a stirrer, since this paint comes in

powdered form and you mix it yourself.

And some bonding agent so that the

paint will cover the highly varnished 

piece of junk dresser that I will use it on...

Oh, of course some wax

and a waxing brush...

Bye-bye gift certificate!

Hello painting adventure!

Do you have any furniture that you will re-finish?

Have you used MMSMP?

If so, I'd love to hear about it!