Valentine Swap--To Sandy from Me

For Sandy's Valentine swap, I read over her blog and business to try to figure what she likes and what colors she may like.  She was into needlework things....her site has the colors of pink and brown...and she likes cats...so, I made her this needlebook.  Oh, and it has the required "heart on it" that the swap rules stipulated. 

Yes, other than tracing a cat head from someone, this is my own design and idea (I'm working on another one to sell in my Etsy shop). 

She sounded like she liked it...hope you do too. 

Valentine Swap--To Me from Sandy

Well, today is February 14th, and I could open my swap item.  It came all the way from Sandy in Australia.  She was also the hostess of the swap.  We were to make something; it had to have a heart on it; and we could open the item from our partner on February 14th. 

Sandy made me this beautiful heart ornament.  It has variegated thread stitching on the front and pretty pink toile on the back. 

I like how she put the bird on the front, then the toile on the back has birds and birdcages.  Just lovely!  Thank you so much, Sandy, for hostessing this and for my pretty, pretty ornament.

Spoolie Swap--Part 2--From Me

The spoolie I gave to Amy in Joanne's (from Vintage Dragonfly) Valentine spoolie swap was great fun to make. 

I took a vintage wooden spool and covered the center with pretty pink and white patterned paper, painted other areas of the spool white, and added lots of glitter.

I found the darling wee vintage porcelain girl at an antique mall.  I thought she was just perfect for the top of this spool.  Since she had a purple flower and not a pink one, I added lavender elements as well as pink to the whole thing. 

The flourish behind her is a cupcake liner that I folded, fanned out, and tipped in glitter.  I had some pretty lavender lace from which I hung little purple-pink shiny hearts.  I poked a hole in the tops of the hearts and tied them onto the lavender lace with green embroidery floss.  The green matches the green on the little porcelain girl. 

This has been a very fun swap.  What a unique idea to make these!  Thank you again to Amy for being my swap partner, to Lynn for the inspiration behind the swap, and to Joanne for hostessing the swap.

Spoolie Swap--Part 1--From Amy

I participated in Vintage Dragonfly's Valentine Spoolie Swap.  I had no idea what a spoolie was going into this, but Joanne directed us to an Etsy shop, Trash to Treasure, and Lynn's spoolie creations.  They are embellished thread spools with a mixed media flourish at the top. These were the inspiration behind the swap.  My partner was Amy of Ruby Moon Art.  She sent me a wonderful spoolie!

 

It is beautiful no matter how you look at it.  She also included a little pad of paper and some heart rubber stamps. 

I love the festive yet vintage look of it. 

The vintage trim with "Dream" on the end was a great touch.  Thank you so much, Amy!

Sweet, Simple Swap

I just joined a Valentine swap...it is sweet and simple. All we have to do is making something for our swap partner with a heart on it. Easy peasy. Click HERE for all the details. Thursday the 10th is the last day to sign up if you are interested.

Better Late Than Never....

Happy "Heart" Day to all.  This was stitched by a dear new friend and given to me in a swap.  Thank you, April; I hope you had a great day, too.

Hearts and Roses

You know I can't resist hearts and roses--especially guilloche pieces and pink!  I added these to my shop recently....one is a rather large guilloche piece.  It was designed as a pendant and could certainly be used as one, but I put it on some ribbon so that it may be seen to be used as an ornament as well.

Then I played some with my new rose beads and made this pretty pin last weekend. I really do like these beads and thought they worked well into this setting.  I love the detail and the rich pink coloring.

Hope you like them too.  Enjoy!

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!

Vintage Valentine Pins

I remember when I was young, my dad came home one day with a sweet plastic valentine pin for my mother...and a little one for me! I was delighted! To think that while Dad was thinking of Mom, he included me as well. It meant a great deal to me--that I was special too to be in on this sweet surprise. Dad has always been very, very thoughtful...I realize this more and more as time goes by. Anyway, I think I have that little pin tucked away (for some reason) in my cedar chest which I'll have to dig out sometime...and wear again. (All of my special memory items go in there.)

These pins that I finished recently reminded me of that Valentine's Day years ago. They are all made from vintage pictures (postcards, etc.) and embellished with glitter.

Thanks, Patti--Valentine Swap Box

I had fun participating in Linda's "A Swap for All Seasons" Vintage Valentine swap. My partner was Patti of Creative Cottage Dreamer. The box was full of yummy, handmade, fun, creative, and vintage type goodies--all beautifully wrapped.
Patti is one creative lady who can do so many different things--like the cross stitch, the paper art, and even the beaded bracelet and earrings. I'm impressed! I know she worked hard at making the box extra special--and it certainly was. It was a great swap. Thank you so much, Patti! ; )

Just Because...

Dear hubby brought these home yesterday...just because! Isn't he sweet? I'm always thankful for a bouquet of roses (you know I love roses)...especially when they smell great too as these do. Speaking of "just because"...in case you haven't signed up for my vintage Valentine pin giveaway, visit a few posts down and sign up. The drawing will be held on Wednesday.

Valentine Giveaway!

I made an extra brooch from this vintage image to give away to someone in time to either give away or wear on Valentine's Day. It features an adorable boy and girl surrounded by roses with "Be My Valentine" at the bottom. I have added superfine glitter in pink and green to the image for extra sparkle. All you have to do is the following:
1) Visit my shop--Glass Bead Treasures--return here and leave a comment telling me one thing that you like (and an email address if it is not in your blog profile). P.S. Thank you, Susie, yes, this is for international friends as well. ; )
2) For an extra entry, blog about the giveaway (feel free to use the image above) and come back and leave another comment saying that you did it.
Easy! I'll draw a name sometime during the day on February 3 and will mail it out as soon as I have an address.

Lollishops Bits and Pieces Collage Group Challenge

Well, I couldn't resist this challenge (see post about it here) because of several reasons. First is because it is for Valentines' Day. Another is because I love little itty bits and pieces of things--anything in miniature appeals to me. Next, I couldn't resist a challenge and wanted to participate. Also, embellishing is just SO fun. Finally, I wanted to try my hand at doing some "paper art"--something I have little experience with and know little about. Now, scrapbooking and paper art is something that I don't do and haven't done much of in the past. I don't know all of the details of what type of paper to use, what kind of glue to use, whether to seal over your work or not, or how the details should be put together. Regardless of my lack of knowledge, I decided to do this and had a ball doing it. I really do respect people who make tags and scrapbook goodies all the time, since I had glue and scraps of paper all over me and my kitchen. I know this doesn't look as professional as many you may see, but this is my version!
I decided to do a tag. We're supposed to put these in our Lollishop/on Etsy...but, do people really buy things like this? I have no clue what to charge. These certainly aren't my area of expertise. I worry about the embellishments and bits falling off. Anyway, the size of the tag is 4" x just short of 2-1/2" . I divided the main part of the tag into 8 main sections and glued different coordinating papers into each section. I trimmed out each section with glued sections of "pearl" trim....then embellished away. You know me, I LOVE to embellish.
Since I love tea and roses and sparkles, these had to be a part of the collage.
Then I finished off the tag with a bright pink organdy ribbon with a little lace flower and my signature and date on the back just to make it extra special.

Antiquing and Thrift Store Hopping

Since Mom and Dad have moved closer--much closer--to us, it has been great fun "buzzing" about with Mom. During the short time that they have been around, we have hit thrift stores and antique stores, and it has been such fun. Sometimes just Mom and I go, and it has been nice to have a little "breather", so to speak--to have a few hours away, from the kids who I am around basically 24/7 (remember, they are homeschooled). While I love my children dearly, it is nice once in awhile to look at things in an antique shop and actually be able to concentrate on what I'm looking at! Anyway, yesterday Mom and I discovered a new antique mall where I found this little heart box and fell in love! It is vintage and was made by Dennison and even had the jeweler's box that the heart box came in with it. It is a ring box and is in great condition. I am just imagining what the ring was that came in this box and how the recipient reacted and what the occasion was. Although I'm trying to resell it, I won't mind if it doesn't sell because I DO like it. While antiquing I also found another little box of treasures, but I'll have to post about that at another time after I get a good picture (too cloudy out today).

Givaway Package Arrived....

....from Linda of A Swap for All Seasons. Thank you, Linda!
What goodies! What inspiration! I have been contemplating doing the Lollishop's "Group Challenge" of creating a "bits and pieces collage". Well, papery goodies are not my area so to speak, but I love paper and little things, and with Linda's goodies...I'm going to give it a try. I think I'll work on some tags. The red heart ribbon Linda tied the treasures up with was beautiful. I truly love and appreciate pretty ribbon.
Also, I felt like a little kid going through the tin of buttons Linda sent along. I love buttons, and there are some beauties here.
I'm tickled pink. Thanks again, Linda!