Perfect Roses...

Is there anything more perfect in life than a beautiful rose? As a true romantic, I would be hard pressed to find any object of nature as pure and exquisite as this treasure from the garden. This is a very special rose bouquet to me. You may recall that a dear childhood friend gave me this pink bouquet when she stopped in to visit this past week.

I must admit that I have been prone to throwing away my roses lately when they have withered on the stem. My house was becoming a sort of dried florist shop with bouquets of old roses gathering dust and dare I say, a few stray cobwebs as well. Have you ever had flowers like that? They have been hanging around for years, stuck in old vases, on shelves and laying as objects of "vintage art" in among your collectibles and vintage treasures. I would have to say that even dried roses start looking tired after a few years. I had become stuck on keeping all of them...they held memories for me...and now a telltale layer of dust too! I finally cleared these old blooms from the past out of my house and I think that my home looked the better for it. Yes, I still have a few special bouquets tucked in here and there...you caught me!

This is a special bouquet that I decided to keep and dry. I love the way they start out fresh and change color after a few days. Each day finds them slightly different in appearance until they are completely dried. It is a marvel to me how they start out so fresh and perfect, yet in their final state they hold an air of incredible beauty. The faded color of the petals, the brown crinkles around the edges and the way the leaves shrivel and dry make me love them as much as when they are freshly picked. In a few short days they go from being new to having a past...a history...and that is why I shall treasure this beautiful bouquet and have a warm spot in my heart for the old friend who surprised me with them one Sunday evening. Until next time, ~Stacy~ xo

Pink Pompoms & Vintage Rickrack!

Vintage textiles are such a treat to come across in my travels. I never seem to have much luck with finding neat little goodies such as this, but I was overjoyed to find this absolutely perfect bolt of vintage PINK pompoms the other day at one of my favorite thrift stores. This trim is the perfect lovely pink color and cost just 29 cents per yard as the label shows. I haven't taken it off the bolt yet, but there appears to be about four yards or so of this lovely stuff! The label on this is very interesting too ~ Bates Fashion Fringe. I am positive that it is the same trim that goes on those lovely Bates chenille bedspreads. It looks the same to me and the name...Bates...it has to be! There is a number on it and I'm wondering if it's a date...35 4-5. Could this be from 1935? Goodness I wonder!? Maybe that's a long shot. I also found three packages of cute vintage rickrack from Penney's. 13 cents per package...I'm thinking that this was bought quite some time ago! (*_*)

You may remember a short while ago I did a post on a sweet altered art fairy dome in the shape of a glass teapot. I found another cute glass dome (at the thrift of course!) for $1.00. I'm not sure what I will put inside, but the fake pink flowers will do for now until inspiration strikes me! Something cute will turn up! Now what to do with this gorgeous fringe...! Until next time, ~Stacy~ xo

Cool New Stuff!

Just a quick little post tonight to let you know that I've listed some really lovely new items in our Cottage Treasures Boutique. The vintage style doormats that you see above are truly gorgeous and there are also very charming garden statues and other goodies to tempt you! Be sure to stop in to the web site and have a look! Until next time, ~Stacy~ xo

Cute Shoes...

I was browsing through another issue of Somerset Life today and came across this sweet article about vintage baby pincushion shoes. I immediately recognized them as being very similar to a pair of very sweet vintage pincushion shoes that I purchased some time ago during one of my thrift store expeditions. They are pincushions that are not actual shoes, but made to look like them. The work on these is so incredible...the lady who crafted them used clear plastic with adorable cutout floral designs. They are stuffed with pink taffeta fabric and hand crocheted around all of the edges. Look at the sweet pink flower ribbon in the center of each shoe with the sequins in the middle. Can you imagine the work that went into these little darlings!? She sure must have had patience!

While I'm on the topic of cute vintage shoes, this other pair is an adorable pair of vintage leather baby shoes in a perfect pink color. These were sitting in one of my favorite antique malls for quite some time until I caved in and bought them several years ago. I think they were over $20.00, but I had to have them! There is even wear on the pink metal eyelets. I'll bet the little girl that wore them looked sweet! Until next time, ~Stacy~ xo

Short, But Sweet...

To me, there is almost nothing sweeter in life than a cherished childhood friend. It amazes me that after so many years, well...over 30 at least!, that no matter how far apart we are or how often we get in touch with each other I am still the best of friends with my childhood BFF Trish. We met in the first grade at the bus stop. The first day of school. I called her a name. Her Mom called my Mom. A friendship was born! There have been many years that we have been out of touch, then in touch again, then out. Now she is moving from Portland back to South Carolina for the second time. Her husband took a transfer there (again!) so they were going through Salt Lake yesterday and stayed the night. It seems kind of funny for two girls from a small town in Canada to end up in the states, but here we both are.

It was a wonderful, very fast visit. We had a BBQ and stayed up until midnight, but they were hitting the road at 6:00 a.m. because they were going to try to make it to "somewhere in Kansas" today. When she arrived she came in the door with a dozen absolutely gorgeous pink roses, a sweet little bamboo plant with added pink orchids and a bottle of wine from Washington state. Sweet!

I dug up these funny old pictures of us...in the first one I am on the left (Grade 7 I think!) and in the other picture I am on the right. We were dressed up in old fashioned dresses for when we attended Klondike Days in Edmonton, Alberta when we were about 13 years old. That was quite the trip! These pictures are so grainy and yellow...does that tell you how old they are...

Through thick and thin we've always been around for each other and now she is driving her way across the country to South Carolina with her husband and two cute little doggies. Safe travels my sweet friend! Until we meet again... ~Stacy~ xo

Floating On By...

I absolutely love to fly! I love everything about it. Most people think I'm nuts because I seriously love airports! Yes, crazy! I love checking in, walking around, visiting the gift shops, getting ready to board, getting on board...the whole thing. I especially love the smell of jet fuel. I know, I'm seriously disturbed! I think it must come from doing quite abit of overseas traveling to various locales in the South Pacific when I was in my 20's. I went on three fabulous trips for extended periods of time, my longest was one year, and spent alot of time in airports, sleeping in airports...you name it. It was actually pretty adventurous and I realize how much travel has changed since then especially the safety aspect of it. My mode of transport for the most part was my feet in most countries. I did alot of hitchhiking in New Zealand and it was incredible! In Australia I bought a car on two of my trips. That was great! It would be so nice to go back there someday. That part of the world is so amazing and so beautiful. The people are so friendly and warm.

I took the picture above on my way home to Canada in March. I guess I'll have to be content with that for now. With the price of fuel, it's a miracle that anyone can afford to fly. But I guess it's better than walking... Until next time, ~Stacy~

Sweet Fairy Teapot Dome

Some of the most inspirational magazines on the market today are Somerset Life, Somerset Home and Somerset Studio. The incredible artistry, inspiration and joy that I derive from these gorgeous publications is just endless! Every time I open up one of these delightful periodicals I am transported to lovely homes, beautiful projects and darling home accents that truly gifted artists and home enthusiasts across the country share with us all.

With this being said, I absolutely love altered art! I have not done any paper crafting or calligraphy myself for awhile, but when I see the incredible treasures that gals out there are making it inspires me to get out my gear and get to work! One day when I was at one of my favorite thrift stores I came across this absolutely adorable little glass teapot dome. The flowers inside were not so adorable, but I saw definite potential and snapped it up!, not that any one else wanted it! Those old dried flowers looked pretty dreadful!

I had just purchased an adorable piece of altered art off Ebay from an exceptionally gifted artist named Auzuree'. Her Ebay id is "vintagegypsy11" and if you love altered art treasures, then I encourage you to check out her work as it is just the most adorable that I've ever seen and it's so well done. When I received my darling little fairy block from her, I just hoped and prayed that it would fit inside my little dome. When it arrived I excitedly pulled it out of the box and tried to fit it inside. Alas it was a tiny bit big, but I managed to sand down the corners a little and it just fit! I added some wallpaper to the bottom of the dome and then some baby pink rickrack and then larger darker pink rickrack. It turned out so adorable and is now sitting on my desk so I can enjoy it every day!

When you are at your favorite thrift store, keep an open mind and don't automatically discard something because it's not quite right. This glass dome was perfect except for the flowers and when they were gone it was turned into an absolute treasure! Now I'm on the hunt for more cute things to turn into new found treasures. It's time to get inspired! Until next time, ~Stacy~ xo

My "French Country" chairs are done!

I am so happy that this task is finally behind me! My dining room chairs are done and I couldn't be happier with the way they turned out. I bought my dining room suite and matching hutch at an auction a few years back, but the upholstery was, shall I say, quite hideous! The set is light in color as you can see, but the chairs were upholstered in black, gold and red stripes. I'm not sure how that went with the hand painted floral sprays, but that is how they were and I was bound and determined to reupholster them myself. The seats were professionally done and the job looked amazing...but the fabric just didn't cut it!

I searched around and found some fabric last year, but decided I didn't like it after all so I was on the hunt for new fabric! I am going toward more of a French and French Country style in my home, especially in my kitchen/dining/family room, so I decided that this was a great moment to seize the opportunity and "French" up my chairs a little. One day while I was wandering down the aisles of Joann Fabrics, I came across this absolutely heavenly fabric by Waverly called "Saison de Printemps" or Season of Spring. I just love it as it's decorated with beautiful ovals with roses and scrolls, chickens and roosters and flower baskets with flowing bows. It was a little pricey at $30 per yard, but all of their decorator fabric just happened to be on sale at 50% off. Bingo! I purchased three yards and off I went. By the way, I also happened to notice in the new JCPenney catalog that I just received they have curtain panels and valances to match this fabric. Hmmm...

It was abit hard with the way the designs were placed to not waste a tremendous amount of fabric so I opted for a random look on the four chairs that are in the middle of the table and I had placed one of the larger ovals on both of the captains chairs on each end. I also have two barstools that sit on the other side of the counter so those I covered with a lovely, large rooster in the center. It was a nightmare getting all of the old piping, etc. off and when it was finally done I spent about 12 hours doing these seats, but it was definitely worth the backache and the sore arm from stapling and hammering in the staples! I love the way they look now and it gave me confidence to get going on a pretty little chair for my bedroom that I've had sitting in my garage for quite some time. It was a job well done and much easier than I thought! If I can do it, anyone can! Until next time, ~Stacy~ xo

Hot Cottage Collectibles Book

This spring I was absolutely delighted when I was contacted by Dianne Zweig to be a contributor to this lovely new book, Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. This is Dianne's second book and hopefully it will be as well received as her first book, Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s. I see many of my friends are included such as my dear friend Jo from Vintage Rose Collection, Sanya from In The Pink Antiques and Cherie from Bella Rose Design just to name a few. I have no idea how many of my photographs were selected nor do I know what this book looks like inside yet so I'm pretty excited to see how it all turned out. I'm very honored to be asked to contribute to such an exciting project! To preorder your copy go to amazon.com. It is being published now and will be available sometime in October. I hope you enjoy it! Until next time, ~Stacy~ xo

Marie...

I must admit it...I am a serious Marie Antoinette fan. The whole story of this wispy girl from Austria who was to become the Queen of France is utterly fascinating. It makes one wonder what it was actually like to experience life from her standpoint. When the movie starring Kirsten Dunst was made, it was a fictional look into what her life might have been like. The absolute decadence in this film is amazing. It is probably over the top, but from what I have read in biographies about this Queen and her husband, it may have been closer to the truth than not. Such a feast for the senses...the costumes are lavish with incredible detailing and designs...the palace decor is out of this world. Everthing about this film oozes opulence!

It has been a dream of mine to visit France and perhaps I will one day. My darling niece Shelby recently returned from an 11 day visit to France. I haven't had a chance to speak with her about it yet, but I know that her trip included visiting the Palace of Versailles and Marie Antoinette's little holiday house away from the Palace, the Petit Trianon. Boy, what luck to be able to go to France with your Grade 9 French class as an end of the school year trip!

Once in awhile I wish that I had a costume from this movie. Wouldn't that be something! I would put it on for the entire day and do all of my daily routine wearing it!, well, except for maybe going to the gym! (*_*) I would sweep the floors, make dinner, go out and get my mail, maybe even go down to the grocery store in it. Okay, maybe not! People would think that I was mad...not that I have ever cared about that! It's a nice thing to dream about though isn't it...living in another time and place, although I'm not too fond of the head being chopped off part. Come to think of it, I think I'll just settle for watching the movie... Until next time, ~Stacy~ xo

Happy July 4th!

This morning I am up early, well...early for me! I have to get things going on the stove for the potato salad I am making for this evening. The family is coming over and we are have a BBQ and then we'll be shooting off fireworks. July 4th is always sort of a different day for me. Americans celebrate their independence all across the country and it's such a wonderful thing. I get caught up in it all and feel happy to live in such a fabulous country. Here's the tricky part...I am Canadian and I am actually very proud of my British heritage and being part of the British Commonwealth. Having a Queen is still very important to me. I guess it all depends on where you grew up and what you are used to. Without getting too political, sometimes I do wonder about independence from the Commonwealth. Really, in Canada, the Queen is pretty much just a figurehead these days, but we all still adore her. Most of us anyway! Just don't get me started on Prince Charles...that's a topic for another day! I hope you all have a wonderful day whatever you are doing! Happy 4th! ~Stacy~ xo

Just For Me...

A strong wind blew in today and look what it left...a rose petal carpet just for me! As my Mom would say "you can't get more shabby than that"! And I agree....

Until next time,

~Stacy~