Published? A Gasp Moment

I'm behind...I admit it.  I'm behind in mending, in sorting, in cleaning out things...and in reading all of my magazines.  I subscribe to Tea Time, Romantic Homes, Victoria, and Romantic Country...and I just love every one of them.  They are inspiring, beautiful, and a delight to read and look at.  Life happens, and I've just gotten behind in reading these. In receipt order from oldest on top to most recent on the bottom, they are in a nice neat stack on the corner of our bathtub.  I love to read them when I take a bath, and let's face it....it was an awful hot summer to be lingering in a hot bathtub reading these (but that's beside the fact).  Well, today....TODAY...I picked up my August 2012 issue of Romantic Homes and had a total **GASP** moment when I turned a page and saw this...

These are my vintage jewelry thumbtacks!  I was shocked...stunned.  I SO wish I had seen this months ago when it arrived in my mailbox.  But better late than never, and I'm very, very thankful for Jacqueline putting these in a beautiful picture in the magazine with a shout to my Etsy shop. 

What a blessing! The funny thing is that I had originally sent these to a previous address of Romantic Homes, and I was really disappointed when they were returned in the mail.  So, I did more homework and found their current address and sent these again.  I'm so glad I did!

Hot Tea Month Giveaway

As promised, I'm having a giveaway in honor of January--Hot Tea Month.  It certainly has been cold here lately in Wisconsin, and today we are expecting more snow.  This is definitely a day for a hot cup of tea (or two...or three).  I'm giving away a pretty teacup and saucer found on one of my hunts for vintage treasures.   It has pretty scattered bunches of flowers and roses on a white background. 

The package of hot tea is new, of course, and is a yummy red tea that I recently discovered (I take mine with a dollop of honey).   Finally I've made four thumbtacks.  Three are reproduction tea labels and the fourth is a 3-D vintage brass teacup charm with a brown glass cabochon in it to look like it is full of tea. 

Here are the details:  Due to rising postage prices, I'm so sorry to my out-of-country friends, the giveaway this time is for US addresses only.  I will choose a name randomly on Monday, January 30.  Please make sure I can contact you to get your address for shipment; otherwise, I will choose a different name.  You may enter once or up to three times total by doing the following:  1)  Leave a comment below to enter.  2)  Blog about this and leave a separate comment with a link to your blog post below telling me you did so.  3)  Go to my shop--HERE--and tell me something you especially like from there in a separate comment below.  Thanks for entering!

Sea Glass Push Pins/Thumbtacks

As promised, here is what I've done with some of the beautiful pieces of sea glass that we found in Maine.  I made push pins out of them.  These pieces were a good size, in pretty colors, and had interesting patterns/shapes.  I like the ones that were part of the bottle's mouth, the faint purple one with the designs in it, and the brown one with part of the word "quart" on it.  Sea glass is getting harder to find--especially the pretty blues, turquoises, and light greens.  I noticed this especially on this past trip.  Anyway, these would be perfect for a beach cottage or ocean themed memory board, inspiration board, or bulletin board.  I've listed them in my Etsy shop.  Enjoy!

Vintage Image Fish Thumbtacks/Push Pins

I had great fun collecting the vintage pieces to make these vintage image thumbtacks/push pins. I made a set for hubby for the bulletin board at his desk at work...sneaked them into his lunch bag for a surprise. He liked them! I'm pleased with how they have turned out and have listed this set in my Etsy shop...would be a great Father's Day present.

William and Kate Royal Wedding Swap from Me

Heidi at Foxgloves, Fabric, and Folly hosted a "William and Kate Royal Wedding Swap". My swap partner was Kathleen of Set to a Tea. We were supposed to spend a certain amount and put together a swap with a royal, wedding, and/or English theme. I had a great time scouring antique malls for pretties for Kathleen. I know Kathleen has a tea related business, so I tried to think of different things for her that she could not get through her business (other than those Walker cookies, I suppose...but can one have too many shortbread cookies?). What better things than those that are vintage and/or one-of-a-kind handmade.
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First of all, I wrapped everything up in gold boxes and pink tissue paper tied with English garden style floral organza ribbon. I made a card with two postage stamps (compliments of Jan from England and my nephew, Luke, from New Zealand), a rhinestone crown, and big sapphire rhinestone to mirror Kate's ring.



The show piece is this beautiful vintage teacup and saucer. It was pink on the saucer and outside the cup and had a beautiful fruit pattern inside. After I bought this, I really wanted to keep it because it is so pretty...but I sent it along to Kathleen.


Here is a porcelain rose pin from England--a vintage find--and a pair of vintage white gloves. Also, I had great fun making especially for Kathleen this British and wedding themed zipper/purse clip. It has tiny jewelry pieces in it all secured with resin--rhinestones, faux pearls, a cameo, a crown, and a pretty piece of teacup.


This is a "Woods of Windsor" vintage powder tin and a souvenir handkerchief from England.


I made these "royal jewels"--vintage jewelry thumbtacks in rhinestones with pretty jewel tones as well as an old piece with a crest.

I hope Kathleen enjoyed receiving her things as much as I enjoyed putting them together.

Cottage Charm Giveaway

Announcing my giveaway goodies for The Twice Remembered Cottage's 5th Annual Cottage Charm Giveaway. I participated the last two years and couldn't wait to participate again this year. There are a number of others taking part in this, offering some beautiful cottage style items. Please click on the link above to see what else is being offered. Here is what I am giving away....

1) A special commemorative edition of the King James Bible. As said in the post above, this past week on May 2 was the celebration of the the KJV's 400th birthday...it's translation completed in 1611.
2) A pretty, decorative, cottage-style California Perfume Co. powder tin.
3) A little gold tone box with a lady and gentleman painted on enamel set into it. It has a spring-type hinged top. 4 & 5) A glove clip and some vintage jewelry push pins/thumbtacks (those push pins made by me).
The rules are simple... 1) You must be from the U.S. and have a U.S. address only. 2) Please leave only one comment on this post to be entered. 3) I will draw a name sometime during the day on May 29, so please add your comment by midnight May 28. The winner will be announced on May 29. 4) You must accept the entire offering, and I will ship all of the items pictured above. Please email with any questions. I hope you like these cottage offerings. Please hop on over to The Twice Remembered Cottage to enter the other lovely giveaways. Thanks for entering!

Vintage Style Valentine Giveaway

This giveaway is for the vintage romantic at heart! Included in the giveaway is a pretty vintage handkerchief with red and pink flowers and a blue ribbon in a cut-away pattern. There are also three thumbtacks--one vintage jewelry piece, one vintage guilloche piece, and one vintage image piece.

Also there is a vintage image Valentine pin with a French boy and girl, plenty of pink roses, and the words "Love's Greeting" on it. It is enhanced with superfine glitter in pink and green on those roses. Finally there is a dangling pair of vintage screw-back earrings that feature white plastic flowers with rhinestone centers.

The rules to follow are simple (international friends are most welcome!):

1. Leave a comment below for one entry.

2. Follow my business Facebook page (see link on the sidebar to the right) for another entry and leave a separate comment saying you did this.

3. Blog about this (feel free to use the top picture here) for another entry and leave a separate comment saying you did this.

I will pick a name sometime on February 1. Make sure I have your email address so that I can get a hold of you. If I cannot...I'll have to pick another name. Thank you for entering!

Romantic Country Magazine Spring 2011 Issue

I so enjoy Romantic Country. It has been a favorite magazine of mine since it's first issue...then when it comes in the mail, I grab it up and can't wait to read through it. I've already gone through the entire spring 2011 issue and enjoyed every page. I hope this post acts more like a "teaser" for you to get your own issue to enjoy rather than me telling too much about it.

First of all, I loved the article about Sunday Hendrickson's office. Ever since I was a child and my father insisted that I make sure I read who the author and illustrator of a book were before I read the book (much to my impatience at the time), I still today look at who wrote magazine articles, who styled them, who photographed them, etc. I know Sunday's name comes up as a stylist a great deal in several magazines, and so I was interested in this article about her office. Very nice.

Then the article about romantic vintage roses is beautiful in every way. I love roses and decorating with them. The article offers some beautiful ideas.

Then the article about Liz Davis' home/shop was a pure delight. As you can see here, she puts up the lace valences in this bedroom withpush pins....I thought how extra special they would look with some of the thumbtacks I make pushed in to add extra sparkle and glamor (like the ones below).

I hope I've encouraged you get the magazine for yourself. It is a beautiful publication, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I have.

A Few New Things Added To the Shop

I've added a few new items to my shop lately. This little brooch is just in time for Thanksgiving--a sweet pilgrim gal.

This French handmade coin purse and eye glasses case is a beautiful vintage find. It is hard to sell them since I like them so much--they are exquisite with gorgeous embroidered/tampour detail.

These are thumbtacks that are public domain music scores of favorite hymns--a perfect gift for a church music leader, or a music teacher, or for someone who just loves hymns.

A Eureka Moment

My Eureka! moments are pretty far and few between, actually, but the idea of turning some of the vintage jewelry pieces I have acquired and can't use for other purposes into thumbtacks occurred to me a few weeks ago. I just had to order some base thumbtacks (from a fellow Etsian, by the way) and work on the pieces right away. I haven't seen any of these anywhere. I decided to do color themes for each grouping. The idea of presenting, say, four pieces that were very pretty and two that were mediocre was not what I wanted to do. If someone is going to pay for these...they ALL have to be pretty. Anyway, I think these would make a pretty, unique, and elegant office gift for someone for less than $20 (remember my shipping to US addresses is free). Anyway....I hope you like these.