Happy Valentines…and a Winner!

Hello, my friends!

Another Valentine post…it’s coming fast and I’m trying to get a few done before it’s too late!

Here’s my  first project from the heart…

…a little Valentine collage, featuring Cupid—a.k.a. my grandmother, Velda.  Taken about 1917, she was about two years old in this portrait..

…it’s one of my very favorite things, and she always reminds me of an adorable, chubby little Cupid in it, and so she is…

Beautiful graphics and music print from Crafty Secrets’ new downloadable {and VERY affordable—$5!} Vintage Valentine Kit.  The vintage envelope was found online.

Lovely handwritten letter…a copy from one sent long, long ago…1849 was the date, if I remember correctly~it started with the word “Beloved”~seemed perfect for me to use on this…

…rumpled seam binding, dyed the perfect Valentine red using some Glimmer Mist, and a beautiful bronze key from the Tim Holtz collection.

Next~

Another love-inspired collage, again using the new Crafty Secrets Valentine kit….isn’t that pink background paper lovely?  

A miniature envelope, also included in the digital kit, holds a couple of “sweetheart” tickets, a bit of old lace and a trio of vintage millinery flowers—just touched with iridescent glitter…

I whipped up another of the envelopes so you could see it as it’s meant to be…gorgeous.  A little button closure and some glitter on the roses seals the deal…

And speaking of sweet things, just look what I received in the mail last week—a complete surprise!

The lovely Sheila from “Blessed and Distressed” sent this to me, simply because she’s a kind and generous soul…and this isn’t the first time that I’ve seen her quietly do something like this for other women in Blogland…

…what a talented angel.  I’m just tickled pink!  I’ve never had a personalized charm before—it’s hardly come off of my neck since I opened the package—thank-you SO much, Sheila…I absolutely love it!

And one last thing…the winner of my big 5-0 birthday drawing is:

*** Jingle of Just Jingle!  Please send me an email with your address and I’ll get your package on it’s way!***

Thank-you all for playing along & for all your sweet birthday wishes…you made turning 50 hardly hurt at all!

See you soon with something new…

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: Valentines,Crafty Secrets,Blessed and Distressed,Velda Stapley Ostlund

Valentine Greetings

Hello, my friends!

Just a quick little post today to share some sweet little Valentines with you…

{a re-purposed glass spice jar given new life filled with sweet Valentine treats}

…a couple of easy peasy projects for loved ones made with images from Crafty Secrets' new, fabulous & downloadable Vintage Valentine Kit…

…topped with some soft pink seam binding and a pretty vintage button, nothing could be simpler…

…just a bit of baker’s twine from Vintage Street Market around the ribbon for a bit of texture & color…and that’s it!

And now for a very vintage Valentine…

{don’t you just love fairytale cottages?  I do!!!}

This was made using the GORGEOUS free downloadable image from Crafty Secrets available here…it’s an Art Deco lover’s {me!} dream come true!

I added a lot of iridescent sparkle to the flowers on the image which you really can’t see here…another gloomy, almost-rainy day here in California…

…vintage mother-of-pearl buttons, very old & velvety millinery flowers and a bit of lace finish it off…

“You make my heart sing”, it says…and that’s a pretty good thing, isn’t it?!

That’s all for me today—I’ll be back later this week with some more Valentine ideas & the winner to my birthday giveaway—it’s not too late to enter if you’re interested!  {and thank-you all for the very sweet happy birthday wishes!}

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: Crafty Secrets,Vintage Valentine Kit,Valentines

My BIRTH Day

{wreathed baby and bluebird copied from my baby book}

A dark, cold and snowy January in Boston…the new mother-to-be, realizing the time was finally here, was escorted to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning by her young husband and her mother…

Being placed on the elevator—the old-fashioned kind with the metal gate closure--she had to head up, up, up into the waiting maternity ward of  the old Boston Lying-In Hospital…leaving husband and mother to go home and wait…husbands not allowed in those days!

{started in 1832, the Boston Lying-In Hospital was one of America’s first maternity hospitals}

“I remember going up on the old elevator and seeing the top of Clayn’s head disappear”, she writes…”and I thought, ‘the next time I see him, he will be a father!’”

And so he was.

On this 50th birthday of mine, I wanted to do a little something my parents would appreciate…hope you don’t mind! 

  {I wanted this page to be very pink…I think I succeeded!}

A new page made for another heritage book in the making…a picture book of my childhood.  Something my children will appreciate someday…and that will be fun for me to do now!

Using a few charming vintage elements from my baby book, I put my page together…

{a copyright date of 1949 for this little gem}

…the sweet, lightly stained pink satin covered baby book…

 

…the opening page of the book, lovingly filled out in my mother’s beautiful handwriting…

…the very first picture of me.  This one seems to have been laminated and cracked—and the remnant is stuck to the photo, so there it will remain…

{little pink bow is found in Crafty Secrets’ new “Creating with Vintage Illustrations” CD}

{pretty rose print also found on Crafty Secrets’ CD}

Some yummy, soft pink seam binding—all tied up in a messy bow, paired with some vintage aqua millinery flowers...

{the pins look a little dark here—not the best lighting today…}

…a pair of chipboard diaper pins covered with real silver shavings glitter…just look at that sparkle!

…and two little bluebirds copied and cut out from my baby book.  Aren’t they so sweet?!

And last, but not least, a little family tree from my baby book.  See?  I can’t help my love of family history—I was started on this journey from day one…

My happy, very young and beautiful mother, Karen holding her new little me.  That bedspread still lives—somewhere in one of Mom’s closets…

Just one more little story. Dad was a graduate student at Harvard Business School when I was born.

They say I was a bit colicky in the beginning…made it hard for this student to study!  But, my Dad is quite a genius.  He simply tied his foot to my cradle and gently kept me calm—and rocking--while he studied.  So happy we have this picture!

Well, that’s about it for me today!  Thanks for stopping by…and to you, Mom and Dad…

Happy 50 years of the most wonderful parenting in the world!  I could never thank you enough…

Love,

Julie

P.S.  Don’t forget my giveaway in my previous post!

LiveJournal Tags: Clayn Riggs Smith,Karen Ostlund Smith,birthday,Boston,baby book