Hearts: Gifts from the Sea

Happy Valentines Day!

My gift of hearts for you.

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Driftwood...

Sea Glass...

Stones...

Love and beauty are found everywhere!

Have a wonderful day!

A birthday card for a dear friend...

Hello. Early this month I found out that one of my sweet blog friends was about to celebrate a birthday. I happened to have her address because I bought a piece of her art not too long ago, so I made her a card and hoped that it would get there on time. She let me know that she got it and liked it, and I was thrilled because she is a much better artist than I!

I make it a policy to protect the identities of the innocents, but here are a couple of photos of the card that I made.

I love the little girl in this photo postcard,

which still had the original postage stamp

on the front...

Is that little face too precious or what?!...

Creating things for special people

makes my heart sing.

Signs of Spring at Plum Tree Cottage

Good morning my friends!

Yesterday we had some really pretty weather, being in the high 60s, with today expected to be more of the same. So, while walking around the yard I snapped a few photos of the promise of spring.

The first pretty white blossoms on the Plum Tree.

Yes, this house is named after her!...

One of the Hellebores (Lenten Rose) blooming in our fountain

garden in front of the deck.

She actually has been in bloom for almost a month now,

and will continue to do so until the really hot weather begins

in the summer...

Seen against the Carolina sky is the beginning of

the buds leafing out on one of our Crabapple trees...

And of course, always early are the daffodils

poking through the debris still in the garden

from its winter rest...

I don't imagine that I am looking forward to spring

and time spent in the garden!

Are you seeing any signs of spring where you live?

Goat Cart Summers

Happy Saturday! I hope that your weekend has gotten off to a great start.

You have all seen vintage photos of little kids in coat carts, taken during the early part of the 20th century. The roving photographers of the time used their goats and carts as a gimmick to have parents pay for photos to be taken of their children, similar to the same way that the photographers brought along ponies. For a while I have collected these little goat cart photos.

Some time ago I did a post about a project that I was getting ready to start. The original post is here if you missed it. I didn't say too much about what I was making because I actually submitted it to Somerset Studio for publication in their January, 2017 issue, "All About Olive". (I did not use the old quilt piece that I showed in that post.) I got it back the other day as it was not published. You win some! You lose some! Though, I must say that the artwork that was published in that issue was so superior to mine. So I thought I'd share a few photos here.

I created this piece in a shabby kind of manner, along the same lines as a Halloween piece that I shared with you a couple of years ago. It is basically a long fabric roll done on a 5-inch wide length of burlap. I thought the olive and pink colors were suitable for a summer theme.

It is about four feet long, including the hanger.

These photos are pretty bad as I didn't have a suitable place

in the house to take them due to the length of the project

and lighting issues in the house.

Here it is displayed on Miss Grace...

 The hanger is created from sari ribbon,

and the metal piece is an old drawer pull...

...which sits on top of an old doily that has been

folded in half...

Lots of fabrics.

Silk, velvet, and cotton prints,

along with buttons, laces and ribbon.

And a mother-of-pearl buckle and

grosgrain ribbon and a little rick rack...

The photos had been printed onto fabric,

and I hand-sewed them on...

A pink glass button from my stash,

and more hand stitching to hold the scraps of fabric

together.

On this photo and above I used buttons to replicate

wheels on the goat carts...

I used colored scrim in sections,

and at the bottom is a vintage

crocheted hankie...

This piece has special meaning for me,

because while my husband was in the hospital before and after

his surgery in August, I did the hand sewing portion

whenever he rested.

And the best part,

it matches my studio colors of pink and green.

My studio is the only girly room in our home,

and is a hangover from my single days in my townhouse in Florida,

where shabby chic ruled!!!

Greeting cards with pretty digitally downloaded photos...

Hello and happy Thursday!

The other day I purchased a few digital downloads from one of my favorite shops on Etsy, Ireland Rose Studios, found here, and incorporated them into a couple of cards.

I love the little girl in this photo with her big stuffed bear.

Because she looks a little sad,

I created a card that could be used for various sentiments,

such as Get Well Soon, Thinking of You,

I Miss You, or Sympathy...

I think that the mom and child in this photo are beautiful.

What better image could you use for a Mother's Day card?...

The image used in the card below was from a shop on Etsy called

MDR Grafix Postcards,

and I bought this a few years ago.

It seems like she is no longer in business,

but she also had some stunning images.

I actually made this one a couple of years ago,

and found it yesterday.

I think I made two of them at the same time,

one for my husband for Valentine's Day and one

for whatever...

All three will be listed in my shop today.

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Have a wonderful weekend!