A Tea Party Afternoon

My sweet friend, Barb, had a wish this last week…

…to invite all of the young ladies she knows and loves to have a tea party in her beautiful garden…

…her plan was for them to come—dressed in their best—and have an afternoon together with good food and good company…

…surrounded by nature’s beauty…

…while they learned a little more about graciousness…politeness…how to be ladies…

She was kind enough to ask my daughters and I to help her set up before the party…my daughters love her, and were so happy to help!

 

Spray-painting poles in lavender and gold…

 

…pounding the poles in the ground the day before the party…hanging beautiful old muslin—yards and yards and yards of it…

 

…hanging, draping, swaging…till THEY, not her, were happy with the way everything looked.  Always asking for her approval…”You decide”, she would tell them—every time…

Teaching them a bit of garden glamour and design in a loving, easy way…how to make it billow and blow beautifully in the wind…

…how to tie the lovely, hand-dyed ribbon on so it would look “just so”…but THEY, not her, were able to decide when it was “just right”…

We came early the day of the tea party--with homemade scones ready to share--to set the tables, finish any details…and enjoy…

Here the girls are putting the finishing touches on the tables…

Perfectly mismatched place settings…

My youngest daughter, Annie, had the idea to put sugar on the rims of all the goblets—just to make them sparkle a bit more…and Barb led her to the sugar bowl and let her do as she wished…

Then, the girls sat for a few minutes…looked out over all they’d helped with…and were very, very pleased…

And before it was time for the guests to arrive, their playful hearts took over…

…and the younger two of my three girls climbed up in the amazing, Swiss Family Robinson-style tree house, built by Barb’s oh, so talented husband…

 

…and they were silly little girls, for just a little while longer…

…until their oldest sister, my college girl—now changed to her tea party clothes—called them down…reminding them that it was time to transform…

…into young ladies invited to a lovely garden tea party…

A little card made…

{This beautiful vintage-style teacup & saucer stamp are from Unity…one of their earliest stamps, if I remember correctly…}

…a sweet reminder of a lovely afternoon…

The kindest invitation from a wonderful friend…but it was so much more for my girls than a delicious luncheon shared…

…working side-by-side with this wonderful friend of ours taught them so much—about service, letting them grow confidence that their thoughts and design choices were good and  worthwhile…

…and a little bit about graciousness…and the art of being a lady…

Thank-you, dear friend, for more than you know…

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: Tea Party,garden,Barb Romero,Unity Stamps

Fathers

With Father’s Day on the horizon, my thoughts have naturally turned to my wonderful father…the man who’s given me…everything.

A few weeks ago, my mother asked me to make her something to display for Father’s Day—something to commemorate our fathers…here’s my first installment…

If I were keeping this for myself, it would go into my heritage album, of course…but I think I’ll frame it for Mom…and I know exactly where she’ll put it…

My idea was not just to focus on my own father, but on his, as well…

I love this young portrait of my father…such a handsome young man…just starting out in life.  What a perfectly amazing husband and father he became…I could never imagine a better one. 

A skilled businessman who still commutes between Los Angeles and his home in Utah each week for work (his boss won’t let him quit!)…but one of his greatest qualities, I think, is his quiet, loving service given to others…an example to all in his family…

His father--my dear grandfather—was such a wonderful influence in my life…but his greatest gift to me was that I always knew how much he loved me…

Another youthful portrait—long before his father and grandfather years—full of hope, full of life…a farm boy who grew up to be a businessman, a builder, a wonderful help and example to so many…

And his father…Asahel, the farmer.  A quiet, hard-working, loving husband and father.  I chose to portray them all when they were young on this page…such handsome men…so easy to see the resemblance between them in these portraits…

I love layering my pages…something about depth and texture I just love…

The vintage diamond pattern paper and the old journaling sheet are from Crafty Secrets’ new  “Vintage Paper Patterns” CD (it will be available VERY soon!)…

My daughters assured me that a lovely crinkled seam binding bow would be inappropriate here, so I went with a simple bit of ribbon and one perfect vintage wooden button…just right.

Vintage photo corners stamped on Kraft cardstock are found in Crafty Secrets’ gorgeous “Photo Studio” stamp set  (one of my favorites!)

And this fabulous pocket watch image is also from the new “Vintage Paper Patterns” CD.  I covered the watch face with Glossy Accents & cut out another watch frame to add some depth…almost looks real, doesn’t it?!

{the pretty flourish stamp at the bottom of my page is also from Crafty Secrets’ “Photo Studio” stamp set…}

Three of the most wonderful men…all three born in the same small Arizona town of Snowflake…my father and his father were even born in the same house there…

We’ll be visiting that beloved little town in a few weeks.  I’m so looking forward to revisiting those places where my fathers walked for so many years…from baby steps to prankish boyhood steps to a man’s confident, purpose-filled steps…all in that quiet little town…

…more stories for other days…

So much I could –and will--say in the future here about my father, but for now, I’ll just say…

Thank-you, Dad…I love you.

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: Father's Day,Clayn Riggs Smith,Rudger Grant Smith,Asahel Henry Smith,Crafty Secrets,heritage scrapbook

Retro Birthday Tags

Hello, my friends!

Another beautiful morning!  We had rain all weekend, which is SO unusual for us here in our area of California in June!

Just a little to share with you today…a fun and easy project using Vintage Street Market’s wonderfully nostalgic “Party Games” Paper Sheets & Tags kit…

This is a LARGE set!  The paper sheets, shown below, are  24”x36”—perfect to cut as you wish, or use for large projects—even wrapping up a fabulous birthday gift!

…it includes this fun cardstock sheet full of tags to use on your projects—so much retro fun in this kit!

Yesterday I made a couple of big, colorful birthday gift tags—just perfect for your favorite boy or girl…

…a colorful bunch of streamer-like ribbons stick up at the top—a combination of grosgrain & gingham ribbon, clear cellophane ribbon, and fabulous Baker’s Twine…

…a bright yellow rosette made with the crepe paper sheet included in the kit…topped with a big, fun chunky button, threaded with more of the Baker’s Twine, with a little tag punched out from the Tag sheet—“To You from Me”…

…sweet little boy and girl scenes cut out from one of the paper sheets…

…and a bit of the “Numbers” Tinted Tape as a border along the bottom of the tags…

 

…and wrapping it all up is a finishing touch with my favorite Platinum Stickles…

…and that’s about it!

So glad you stopped by for a visit today! Hope you have fun creating some vintage-inspired birthday treats for your favorite boys and girls!

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: Vintage Street Market,Party Games Paper Sheets & Tags kit,birthday,retro