Vintage Baby Shower ~ Printables!

My sister-in-law is expecting...

Baby is due early December!

I was honored (and excited) when

she asked me to help plan her

vintage-themed shower!

The more I looked around at beautiful

showers, the more I felt inspired to create a

few things with Victorian images... hope you

can put them to good use!

4" round graphic... 

The original postcard graphic

only came in a baby girl version...

I hand-tinted the ribbon

blue for the baby boy.

 This is such a cute idea... cards passed out

to guests to write well-wishes for the baby.  Here's

the original printable, which inspired mine.

Here are the free graphics 

used in my artwork:

*Vintage Images*

Stork & baby girl

*The Graphics Fairy*

Round frame

Back of an old photograph

*The Feathered Nest*

Twilight Dreams cover page

*Antique Images*

White roses

*Lilac & Lavender*

"Antiqued" lined paper

Thanks so much 

for stopping by!

Light-enchanted Sunflower

  "Light-enchanted sunflower, 

thou who gazest ever true and tender

on the sun's revolving splendour."

 

~ Pedro Calderon de la Barca ~

“Keep your face to the sunshine 

and you cannot see the shadows.

It's what the sunflowers do."

~ Helen Keller ~

Here are the free graphics

used in my artwork:

*Lilac & Lavender*

Sunflower postcard 

"Antiqued" lined paper

*MudBay Images*

1792 Farm sale document

*The Graphics Fairy*

Round frame

*Shabby Blogs*

Post divider #7

*Deviant Art ~ Sagawa*

Old paper texture

 *Altered Bits*

Grungy texture

 Here is a birthday postcard from 

my personal collection, which I used

in a few of the above images: 

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Romantic Red Roses

My love is like a red, red rose

that's newly sprung in June.

Oh, my love's like the melody

that's sweetly played in tune.

~ Robert Burns ~

I realized this morning that I haven't done anything with really deep, red roses.  So I did some looking around, and found two Victorian scrap beauties.  Hope you like the stationery, bookmark (shouldn't everyone enjoy a good book here and there?), and little tag!

Here are the free graphics

(and free font)

used in my artwork:

*Vintage Images*

Red rose

Red rose with bud

*Just Something I Made*

1891 book cover

*Shadowhouse Creations*

Softly aged sepia

*Vintage Ephemera*

French script, 1816

*Dafont.com*

St. Nicholas font

Thanks so much for your visit!

The Light of Life

For at one time you were darkness,

but now you are light in the Lord.

Walk as children of light.

~ Ephesians 5:8 ~

Last evening, as my daughter walked ahead of me, she spotted one of the most treasured of summertime creatures... a lightening bug.  She called out, "Did you see that, Mom?  The lightening bugs are out tonight!"  Just like that, her walking turned into bouts of chaotic running, jumping and diving... until, yes, she'd captured one!  She carefully cupped her hands the way children do, and brought him over for me to see.  "Let's take him inside for awhile... please?"  It was a beautiful time of day, glowing dusk after a day of welcomed rains, but on mugginess I happily closed the door.

My daughter wanted to draw, and so put down her little treasure... and soon discovered, "Mom, I think he's got a hurt wing.  He's not flying very well."  In fact, he fell off the bench where he was roaming, onto the carpet because of lost footing.  No harm done.  She found a potholder with an open pocket, and placed him inside.  "I just want to keep him safe."  She started drawing away, but every few minutes she'd check inside her potholder to make sure everything was as she'd last left it.

Daddy and brother soon walked through the door, and before long it was getting to be bedtime.  My little girl came to me, with her delicate treasure once again blinking in cupped hands.  "Mom, would you please let my lightening bug go?  I don't want to keep him from his friends."  She ran upstairs smiling, ready to be tucked in for the night.

As I stood in the doorway and opened my hands, I watched as the little bug walked to the tip of my finger, and flew off...

This morning as I was on the verge of waking up, a song from childhood entered my thoughts.  "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine... This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine..."  There are a few other verses to the song, but this is what I remembered next: "Hide it under a bushel?  No!  I'm gonna let it shine..."

I opened my eyes and thought about how selfish it would've been to keep the little lightening bug inside (in a potholder no less!).  It wouldn't have been able to share it's light with the world, as it was created to do.

 

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying,

“I am the light of the world.  Whoever 

follows me will not walk in darkness,

but will have the light of life."

~ John 8:12 ~

Once we discover the light of the world, we receive our most precious gift.  I pray for opportunities to share it with others... because I believe it's something we all were created to do.  After all... who wouldn't love to enjoy the light of life? 

"Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness,

to pull another hand into the light."

~ Norman B. Rice ~

Those Old-fashioned Roses

"One comes back to those old-fashioned roses

 as one does to old music and poetry. A garden needs old association, old fragrances, as a home needs things that have been lived with."
 

~ The Rosa Annual 1928 ~

 Full printable stationery pages above, note cards below...

Facebook timeline cover photo...

Sweet tags...

Here are the free graphics

sources for my artwork:

 *Vintage Images*

Springfield, Ohio red roses

*FREE ViNTaGE DiGiTal STaMPS*

Pink & white polka dots

*The Graphics Fairy*

French sheet music

Torn paper texture

Back of an old photograph

*The Feathered Nest*

Twilight Dreams cover page

*Altered Bits*

Grungy texture

 *Vintage Moth*

Antique ledger page

Thanks so much for your visit

and kind comments!

Honey Spice Cake & Caramel Icing

"The bee is more honored

than other animals,

not because she labors,

 but because she labors

for others."

~ Saint John Chrysostom ~

Hello again!  Not long ago, I shared a story about

a few recipes given to me by my neighbor, Glenna...

well, here is another one of those vintage recipes!

I would've just scanned the original card and embellished it

with honey bees, but as I was making this recipe myself the

other day, I realized there was something kind of important

missing from the ingredient list.  Can you see what I mean?

(Click on the recipes to enlarge)

  No measurement for flour... and I already had

everything else mixed up.  That, my friends, is why it pays

to read the entire recipe through... beforehand!  So I was

not going to let a full cup of honey go to waste, let alone

the other ingredients.  I added one and a half cups flour first.

The batter seemed too thin... so I added another

half a cup for 2 cups...

It worked!

I chose to make cupcakes ~ here's how they turned out.

(By the way, I wish you could've smelled my kitchen!)

The last thing it says on the card is...

Honey cake does not need much frosting -

a thin layer of caramel icing is best.

Here's the original recipe for Caramel icing:

and here's my version:

If you make either recipe,

let me know how they turn out!

Thanks so much for stopping by...

have a sweet day!

Faded Rosebuds & Polka Dots

 "What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade."
  

~ Gertrude Jekyll ~

The tags and stationery here were inspired

by the sheet music above... the title is

"Only a Faded Rosebud."  It was composed

100 years ago, and was ragtime music!

Here are the free graphics

used in my digital artwork:

*Flickr*

Only a Faded Rosebud

*The Vintage Moth*

Pink Roses

*FREE ViNTaGE DiGiTal STaMPS*

Pink & white polka dots

*The Graphics Fairy*

French sheet music

*Altered Bits*

Grungy texture

Thanks for stopping by! 

 

"Be well, do good work,

and keep in touch."

~ Garrison Keillor ~

Box of Treasures

My children and I stopped by

for a visit with our neighbors,

and came home with

a box of treasures...

I was thinking we should stop by and visit our neighbors,

 and then as we drove by their home, Glenna happened to be

 out in the garden... smiling and waving at us.

It was my sign to take the kids down for a visit!

We walked down the strip of grass between the pasture and road connecting our properties, and soon had dogs barking at us... Glenna was back outside, smiling and ready to give out hugs!  We sat on a front porch glider and talked as my kids played with their dogs...

 Inevitably, the kids (and dogs!) were thirsty, so we made our way inside to the big farmhouse kitchen.  Olivia motioned to a small cardboard box, and Glenna told her it was full of old recipes.  

She looked at me and asked, "Do you want them?  I was going
to bring them to you, but since you're here..."  She told me they were from one of her long time friends, and neither one had use for them.

As you can see, I happily accepted her offer!

Later, we said our goodbyes and walked back home... me with my treasures, and the kids with theirs (candy, of course!).  Once in the kitchen, I began sifting through the hundreds of recipes... a labor of love... much like the effort it took to create the cards in the first place. 

Most are typed, others hand-written.  In fact, mom says

the hand-written ones remind her of my grandma's handwriting... very pretty.

I've included 3 recipes in this post,
but anticipate sharing more soon.
For now, I'll leave you with...

 Here is the back...

I also scanned a plain lined recipe card,

and added aged, torn paper texture

I made with an image from

The Graphics Fairy:

For fun, I added a collage I made a while back...
French script and white roses...

... and a yellow Catherine Klein rose.

Hope you enjoyed your visit here!

Have a great day!!