My Wee Scone Ballerina

This sweet little gal arrived in the mail yesterday. She is a Wee Scone Bear made by Diane Kennedy. Diane is an amazingly talented Teddy Bear Artist. This Ballerina Bear was made in 2007 and I missed winning her then. To my surprise, she was up for sale on eBay last week by her first owner.

I guess it was a dangerous afternoon of browsing, LOL.

I found her with only one hour left to go on the auction.

She had no bids at that point. I thought she must be mine : )

I bid a few seconds before the end of the auction and I won : )

I think she has such a pretty face. The lace tutu and cream velvet is adorable.

I am thrilled she is mine!

Edwardian Clothing and Millinery Brooches

Isn't the lace along the top of this Edwardian Camisole so pretty! If only I was still a size small, LOL. Ah well, those Victorian Gals were squished into their corsets . . . right? Some "young thing" shopping on Etsy will fit into one I hope : ) I think the delicate tops look great with jeans. They can be worn over a tank top ~ or perhaps a pretty dress form will be lucky to wear one.

I made many Millinery Brooches yesterday and will sell them with the vintage tops, blouses and camisoles I am posting in my Etsy Shop.

They sell brooch pins at Michael's so that made it pretty easy to adapt individual flowers into jewelry.


Looks pretty against the lace . . .

The delicate cottons . . .



and the hand done Crochet.

I love the pin tucks and Mother-of-Pearl buttons on these long sleeves.

I may have to pin the brooch in the center of this blouse, above the button holes. The sheer cotton is quite delicate. The flowers are relatively light, so that helps.

So Pretty with the Irish Crochet.

Well . . . back to more listing : )

Thanks for stopping by.

Millinery, Lace and Tea

I was busy playing with tea yesterday. I had all these wonderful beige and cream flowers that were crumpled, folded and in a heap. Lovely neutral shades. It was certainly worth a try to flatten them out. I figured a quick dip in some hot tea would soften them up and not hurt their colour. Once they were wet I could restore their shape. They filled a cookie tray and fluffed up wonderfully. My son was a little concerned, however. What are you baking mom?

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The pretty shades of taupe and ivory look great with the Edwardian blouses I will be listing later this week. I may make a floral brooch or two for each blouse. Pretty embellishments.


I also finished a brown bear this week. The vintage wool sweater was a bright mint green that took on a much softer tone with a 10 minute soak in some hot tea. Tea is a great fixer!

I was inspired by Earth Day to finish this little bear in gentle shades of Brown and Green. I have named her Terra. Her vintage sweater is 100% wool. It is a recycled and re-dyed doll sweater. Her eyes are old fashioned boot buttons. Her mohair is also hand dyed and her necklace is made from Raffia. Her key hopefully holds the secret to a greener, happier planet. I will be listing her in my Etsy Shop later this week.

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Enjoy the rest of your weekend! It is almost May !!! My favorite Month of the year : )

Cute Collie Print

I was helping out at an Auction today. I bought this cute print. I guess I am a sucker for Collie prints. There is always room for one more picture : )


Cider went for a check up last Thursday. The Vet didn't invite me into the "procedure room" this time. Gee . . . I wonder why? He did however give Cider a bright yellow bandage to match the yellow sweater I was wearing that day. Everyone in the waiting room thought that was cute.

We are told her leg is finally starting to heal nicely. Likely a few more weeks of "the cone" however. I can't say Cider is too impressed with that decision . She does have a few supervised hours every day without the cone . . . but can't seem to leave her bandage alone for more than a couple of hours. At least sleeping helps to pass the time.



We also go for car rides with the windows down . . . just a bit (as that cone catches a lot of air!). Cider seems to think that is a pretty good virtual walk. I think I'll go buy some new chew toys tomorrow so I can distract her from her bandage. New toys that don't encourage running are what we need. Time for a new Kong Chew toy I think. You can fill them with peanut butter for hours of fun : )

Happy Easter !

We will be having Easter Dinner on Sunday evening. My Hubby and children are in Toronto today at a 25th Wedding Anniversary Party. Cider is not up to traveling (a 5 hour drive each way) and the dog kennel just isn't an option right now. We will stay home and enjoy dinner and a chic flick with a girlfriend tonight. Girls night in : )

Monica's stunning Easter wreath in on my front door!

(a beautiful day today ~ but I will bring it in at night)

The Easter Bunny is Ready . . . .

And I will try and save some eggs for the kids, LOL.

Happy Easter !

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Finally finished a Teddy Bear

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Well, yes, I am the slowest bear maker in the Universe. Probably because I never really call them done . . . I just keep changing how they look and what they wear. This guy was very hard to photograph because of his dark blue mohair, dark eyes and dark embroidery thread. This is his 3rd photo shoot, LOL.

The polka-dots make for a fun background I think and contrast nicely with his dark mohair. Thank you Nancy for the lovely box ~ Multi-purpose : )

I hope to have him listed in my Etsy Shop later this evening.

Cider's Progress

As many of you know my dog Cider had a pretty significant operation on March 19th. Although the operation itself was successful (cancerous lump removed) the healing process has been rather challenging. Canine legs are just too mobile . . . and very slow to heal. Even two weeks after the surgery, my dog's leg had not even begun to heal in one area. When I was feeling the most uncertain about what to do to help Cider . . . I happened to meet an individual at a pet store that suggested Manuka Honey Treatments. Isn't it amazing that you can go to one specific place, at one specific moment in time and bump into one person that has the information you need : )

I had never heard of Manuka Honey before, but you can read all about the medical bells and whistles here. It has been studied for over 20 years, with successful results in both humans and animals.

http://www.naturaldoghealthcare.com/manuka-honey-in-medicine.html

Needless to say I made an appointment to talk to my Vet immediately and he approved. Although my favourite Aussie Vet is currently on holidays in Australia and will not be back until May, I am encouraged by this New Zealand Honey. I think the theme of Cider's healing is certainly in the land Down Under : )

We also got lucky and found this amazing New Zealand Honey at a local Health Food Store, here in Canada. We did not have to wait for a mail order and could begin treating her with honey on her bandages right away. Yes, it is as simple as that.

I am happy to report that Cider's progress has been quite significant in just 5 days. I am no longer "fainting" at the site of her leg. She is also much more content and we can now see the solution ahead of us. Medicinal Honey . . . I call it Magic in a Jar : )

Pretty photos ~ New Mouse Pad

A little while ago Natasha did a post with a great suggestion . . . take a pretty photo and have the image made into a new mouse pad. Looking at my scruffy DELL blue-grey mouse pad with the missing corner (UG) I thought I should follow-up with that idea myself, LOL.


Here are some images I am thinking of using. The pink and white dresses were made by my Nana in 1966 when I was a wee little thing. My Nana did the smocking on the white dress by hand. I wore the pearls on my Wedding Day and the small Cameo was given to me by my Aunt Brenda on my 16th Birthday. The lovely blue dress is a vintage gem too. Maybe I'll save it for my first Grand-daughter (not needed for a least 10 years! Just in case the "Careful what you wish for Gods" are listening).



Maybe I'll use the angled picture, which is just about the right angle for viewing (when I am using the keyboard to the left). I'll look into online options tonight. I am sure our local photo shop at the grocery store can make me one.

Fairy Tale Gems ~ Rare 1920s Book

Sometimes you just know something is special. You don't even have to look for the name of the Artist, the printer, the year of publication . . . . you just know : )

That's what happened when I saw this sweet little book.

FairyTale Gems ~ By Jennie Harbour

It is an accordion style book that is only 4.5 inches tall with images and stories on both sides.

Superb Chromolithographs in perfect colours ~ framed with scrolls and roses.

Each picture is a miniature work of Art



I can imagine how thrilled a little girl in the 1920's would have been to own this treasure.

It folds up neatly, ties with a lace ribbon and fits in its original box. Just wonderful!

After doing some research on Rare Books I have found that is indeed a Scare book and even more rare with the original box. It is currently listed in my Ciderantiques ~ eBay

These wonderful lithographs can be digitized. Stunning prints for your mixed media creations.