Thoughts from Alice W.

Summer Reading...

You can find today's post over at the French Cupboard's Vintage Journal.

I have given my list of French inspired summer reading...hope you will pop over and say hello!

Click here to read the post.

And if you don't yet know about the French Cupboard...several months ago, I had the honor of designing the site for Polly and her husband, Steve, of Counting Your Blessings. It is a great source for shopping, connecting with other business owners and advertising for your own shop if you have one. Do check it out...you will surely find inspiration there...

Hope you all have a lovely day...

oh and...

my two year blog anniversary giveaway will be coming any day now...so check back soon ;)

Summer Adornments

When summertime comes, I love to pull out all of my skirts and cute dresses {not a huge fan of shorts...although I bought my first pair in about tens years the other day!}...and adorn myself with pretty jewels.

I have been working on my summer line of jewelry {and while this may bore some of you...my apologies for that}...I wanted to share some of my recent creations with those who have a flair for fashion. I thoroughly enjoy photographing these pretty things and hope you will enjoy them too...

{To view any of these on our site, simply click on the name above}

Out of the Shell...

Drop Leaf...

Enchanting Whispers...

Strawberry Wine...

As per customer request, we will now carry hairpins...and plan to have a variety of styles available this summer. For now, you can find our favorite Lotus style available in a variety of colors...more coming soon...

Lotus Almond...

Lotus Sage...

Summer Bouquet {Teal}...

Summer Bouquet {Pink}...

Summer School...

Gray Blossom...

Lotus Honey...

 

To view our full line of jewelry click here.

Hope these inspire you to adorn yourself this summer as well...

Till next time...

La Crème de la Crème...

Recently, I had the honor of participating in Natasha's Fabric Cuff Swap. When I found out that my partner would be Stephenie of Just a Little Bit Pink, I was giddy like a school girl. If you don't yet know Stephenie...you must get to know her...

She is a beautiful soul who has an exquisite home, collections, and creative talent. {She also has some really cute dogs!}

Today, we both received our cuffs. When I opened mine...I was...well there are just no words to describe how my heart was leaping in my chest...I was amazed...stunned...mezmerized...

I didn't give Stephenie any real direction in where to go with my cuff. I trusted her completely, and I actually do have a bit of an eccentric side in my wardrobe...so I knew whatever she came up with, I would love and wear.

Now...imagine my delight when this is what I found inside the box...

I have been staring at it all afternoon {when I am not wearing it that is!}...makes cute decoration too...

The detailing is exquisite. I adore the lace over the sheet music...and the delicate millinery flower with a hint of green is so perfect...not to mention the amazing jewel! It fits my style perfectly...and I simply cannot wait to dress up an outfit with this perfect adornment...

Stephenie was so kind to throw in lots of other lovelies including some very beautiful printed images and this pretty set...

and while I think the cuff that I made for Stephenie pales in comparison...I will share it here as well...

She specified liking whites, creams, pale blues...and touches of pink.

 

I knew that she loved millinery flowers as well...and had this pretty velvet one from a previous swap given to me by Dawn...and thought it would fit perfectly with the delicate cream fabric and trims.

 

I added a vintage lace doily underneath it for some romance.

This was actually a fairly simple sewing project, as I recycled a button down shirt cuff from a favorite shirt that could no longer be worn {so it already had the button and button hole...not my work!}. I had to sew pleats to make it fit nicely around the wrist and added pretty trims to the top and bottom.

I do hope that you enjoy it Stephenie! You can read her post about the swap here.

And again...I cannot say thank you enough Stephenie...you truly are la crème de la crème as is my beautiful cuff...

Till next time...

 

Cultivating Beauty...

If a simple phrase could sum up my plan for the summer...this would be it...

To cultivate beauty in all that I do...

I have recently been working long hours to fill up the shop with many new items to help inspire others to do the same. I hope you will allow me the honor of sharing some of them here with you...

As posted previously...I have been working on a new line of accent pillows...currently mostly burlap...but plan to add many more styles throughout the summer months. Here is the first batch that you can find over there now...

Each one is uniquely embellished...

and this sweet one has already sold to a dear friend...

Inspired by my pillows...I also began creating collage art with fabric and images...this being my first piece...

Embellished with vintage buttons, a beaded jewel and an antique lace cuff...

Also as previously mentioned...I have been smelling lavender all around me lately...and these are why...

My new line of sachet cones...

These cones are made of various fabrics including linen, tea stained muslin, toile and ticking. And each is completely filled with English Lavender grown in the South of France. Allow the rooms of your home to fill with their fresh fragrance throughout the summer months and beyond...

Exploring with altered art a bit again, I transformed several glass bottles into shrines of the sea with my new Ocean Relics Collection. Each bottle is embellished with vintage items and bits of the sea...as well as more lavender...

And for those of you who may recall the pomander ball that I created for my last giveaway...I recently whipped up a tea-stained paper posy wreath to adorn your home...

For those who enjoy inspiring supplies...

Rolls of vintage papers tied up so pretty you may just want to leave them as is to add to a vignette...or open and use them in collage art...

And bundles of vintage recipe cards tied up with muslin...for summer experimenting in the kitchen...or artistic creations...

This is only a sample of what you will find in our Summer Collection for 2009. I hope that you enjoy our offerings...and thank those of you who have already popped in to take something(s) home with you. We have several categories dedicated only to our new offerings for the season and each one is being filled. Our jewelry is stocked full...and I will try to share photos of it later on, as well as more of our new lines...

Click here to visit the shop and look around...

Till next time...

Little of This, That and a Sneak Peek...

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been keeping very busy preparing our new summer line for the shop...and amidst all of the creating...there has been a little of this and that happening along the way.

First, I have been smelling lavender almost everywhere I go in our home.

If you love lavender, then you will surely love our line of handmade sachets...created right here...by moi. You can get a little sneak peek of the linen ones below...

I have also been busy "decorating" our garden {I use the word loosely...as I have only gone out to arrange things when I want to photograph}. We live in townhouses and do get some freedom with planting, but this year I decided not to do much...just enjoy the roses planted last year...

And the vines {err...weeds }growing wild in the backyard...

This one actually started to wrap around the white lights we have around our door and was looking so pretty..

Until the landscapers came and chopped it down...

Sadness. Now the backyard is empty...no blooms or growth...sigh...

While I tried to put my sadness aside about the pretty vine, I continued creating...with something special in mind.

My mother's birthday. It was yesterday, and since I have been working very diligently on a new line of accent pillows for the shop, I decided to create one to coordinate with my mom's bedroom. When I finished, I decided to throw them all together for an impromptu photoshoot...so now you get another sneak peek at what I have been working on...

Each one is unique with embellishments and/or canvas prints or hand painted text. I will have many different styles available within the next few weeks and hope that you will enjoy them as much as I enjoy creating them for your homes...

This one was made specifically for my mother...

She loved it and put it on her bed right away.

And for those of you who like thrifty gift wrapping ideas...here is how I wrapped it up for her...

I took a large paper bag that had a store logo on the front, covered it with a piece of old sheet music and a cut-out fashion print image. Then I simply tied up a stamped, tea stained tag and a bit of nature...and voila. I wrapped some vintage pattern paper around the pillow and tucked it inside. Simple and easy...and my mom enjoyed it too...

If you feel so inclined, you can visit her blog to send her some birthday wishes...I know she would love it.

My goal for this week was to get a majority of the projects for the shop completed for an outdoor photoshoot today...but alas...it is projected to rain all day.

So, I will be putting that off to spend another day creating. I hope to get the shop stocked up starting Monday at the latest, and I do hope you will come by next week to see everything else that I have been working away at...

I hope that you are all enjoying your week, whatever it is that you might be keeping busy with...

Till next time...