Alight with laughter ~ Heart's ease

For pansies are, I think, the little gleams
of children's visions from a world of dreams.
Jewels of innocence and joy and mirth, alight
with laughter as they fall to earth.

~ R.C. Lehmann ~

The pansy image featured in this
notecard & bookmark set, was from
the book Heart's ease, published in 1909.

The definition of heart's ease: 1. peace of mind
2. the pansy or other plant of the genus Viola...

In Victorian times, pansies meant thoughts or
remembrance.  If you received a bouquet of
pansies, someone was thinking of you.

Here are the sources for

free graphics used in my artwork:

*The Old Design Shop*
Pretty cluster of pansies

*From Old Books*
Octagonal border with starbursts

*Kim Klassen Cafe*
Lola texture

*TuckDB Postcards*
Art Deco birthday postcard


Make sure to let someone special
know you were thinking of them today!
Thanks for stopping by!!

2013 Calendar ~ Vintage Lilacs

The spring is fresh and fearless
And every leaf is new,
The world is brimmed with moonlight, 

The lilac brimmed with dew.

~ Sara Teasdale, exerpt from May Night, 1920 ~

I found this Vintage 2013 Printable Calendar 
at Call Me Victorian yesterday ~ truly beautiful site.  I love the graphics and fonts used in the calendar.  Hope you like how I've paired it with these pretty lilacs from a 1908 postcard.

 

Free for personal use ~ please enjoy!
Thank you for stopping by!!

"Approach the New Year
with resolve to find the opportunities
hidden in each new day." 

~ Michael Josephson ~

A Renewed Family Tradition

"The perfect Christmas tree?
All Christmas trees are perfect!"

~ Charles N. Barnard ~

I used to love having a real Christmas tree.  Growing up, it's all my brother and I knew...  Mom would bundle us up, and out we'd go for our annual drive down winding gravel roads.  It felt as if we'd never get there, but then... there was a white sign with a green Christmas tree.  We'd park near the farmhouse, get out and start walking... and walking.  Up and down rows of seemingly endless trees.

At last we'd find 'the perfect one' and stand guard while Dad went to find someone to dig it up.  See, we not only had real Christmas trees, we had real live Christmas trees.  Every year after Christmas, it would take it's place somewhere in the yard with our other special pines.  When I was about 12, we moved from my childhood home to a new one.  It was exciting in many ways, but there were, of course, things we were sad to leave behind.  Among them, our Christmas trees.

After moving into our new home, we eventually changed the tradition of visiting a tree farm.  We instead had a beautiful Christmas tree that could be put up the day after Thanksgiving, didn't need water, had needles that never fell, came with perfectly placed lights, and could be used again, year after year... and I came to prefer this kind of tree.

I bought a beautiful Christmas tree for my husband and I to use, 8 years ago.  Occasionally my husband would mention having a real tree, but I thought it'd just be a big hassle, with us having young children.  Finally, I gave in 2 years ago...

Cold, rainy, muddy memories come to mind.  Our children were ages 4 and 5.   It was hard for them to keep up, and they just wanted to leave.  We chose a traditional Scotch pine, which wasn't my favorite, but time was up ~ according to our kids.  After getting it home, my husband realized we'd bought a crooked tree... he had to use nails and tie on rope to keep it straight and stabilized.  It's one of those stories that we laugh about now...

This year, my husband kept hinting it could be nice to have a real Christmas tree again.  I was pretty doubtful, but kept it to myself.  Now I'm glad we went back.

We arrived just in time to be taken on a hay ride through the pines.  Pulling the wagon were 2 beautiful Clydesdale horses, outfitted with sleigh bells.  We jumped off to begin our search, and after walking... and walking, we chose a Frasier fir.  We hitched a ride back the same way we came ~ my husband and daughter sat with the man driving the horses.  My son sat close to me and kept saying how happy he was we were there.  What a difference 2 years makes!

I had to buy new lights, as a string I used 2 years ago would only light halfway.  Needles constantly litter the carpet, and I have to remember to water the tree daily... This year our tree is straight (thank goodness!) but still isn't store-bought perfect... 

The perfect Christmas tree?  All Christmas trees are perfect... Yes, and for our family, it's the one in our window tonight, shimmering with white lights.  I'm so thankful for my husband's persistance, the memories that were made... and for a renewed family tradition.

Peace on earth

Oh! lovely voices of the sky
Which hymned the Saviour's birth,
Are ye not singing still on high,
Ye that sang, "Peace on earth"?

~ Felicia Hemans ~

Winter church snow scene

approx. 5" round graphic

Winter church snow scene
round graphics, approx. 3.5"

Both images used to create this artwork
came from The Graphics Fairy... thanks!

Winter church postcard
Round French label

Thank you for visiting ~ and may you
have a blessed & peaceful Christmas season!!

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus...

"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
He exists as certainly as love and generosity
and devotion exist, and you know that they
abound and give to your life its highest beauty

and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world
if there were no Santa Claus."
 

~ Francis Pharcellus Church, editor ~

Read the complete question & response
in The Sun, September 21, 1897

Vintage Santa, taking a last-minute call
approx. 5" round graphic

Vintage Santa printable
round graphics approx. 3.5"

Both images used to create this artwork
came from The Graphics Fairy... thanks!

Vintage Santa
Round French label

Thank you so much
for stopping by!!

Winter is... the time for home.

"Winter is the time for comfort,
for good food and warmth, for the touch
of a friendly hand and for a talk beside
the fire: it is the time for home."

~ Edith Sitwell ~

Winter cottage
approx. 5" round graphic

 
Winter cottage printable
round graphics approx. 3.5"

Here are the sources for
free graphics used in my artwork:

*Wordplay*

Winter cottage

*The Graphics Fairy*
Round French label

 "The light is what guides you home,
the warmth is what keeps you there. "

~ Ellie Rodriguez ~

The Greatest Glow

"When we recall Christmas past,

we usually find that the simplest things
~ not the great occasions ~ give off

the greatest glow of happiness."

~ Bob Hope ~

Gold Merry Christmas

Silver Merry Christmas

Hope you like the silver & gold glitter
in these images!  Please note that I've also
included the quote featured at the top of
this post on the printables!

Here are the sources for the free graphics,
photos, and template used in my artwork:

*Aquastock on DeviantART*
Gold glitter paper ~ stock photo

*Bird's Cards*
Label set 4
(used first image as my template)

*Tuck DB Postcards*
Holly leaves & berries

*The Vintage Moth*
Victorian ornament

1869 Newspaper Advertisements

*Lilac & Lavender*
Letter and postmark stationery

*Altered Bits*

Grungy texture

I sincerely thank you
for stopping by!!

Welcome Merry Christmas

Be merry all, be merry all,
With holly dress the festive hall;
Prepare the song, the feast, the ball,
To welcome merry Christmas.
 

~ William Robert Spencer ~

 

 

Victorian ornament

PNG format (transparent background)

 

 How do you welcome

the Christmas season into

your heart & home? 

Here are the sources for  

free graphics used in my artwork:

 *Tuck DB Postcards*
Holly leaves & berries

*The Vintage Moth*
Victorian ornament

*Lilac & Lavender*
Letter and postmark stationery

*Altered Bits*

Grungy texture

Thank you for visiting!!

Christmas Eve was...

"Christmas Eve was a night of song

that wrapped itself about you like a shawl.

But it warmed more than your body.  It

warmed your heart... filled it, too, with

melody that would last forever."

~ Bess Streeter Aldrich ~

This Merry Christmas graphic has a white background:
 

 The graphic below is a PNG file
and has a transparent background:

One of my favorite Christmas traditions

is attending a Christmas Eve service.
I love the songs, the feeling of anticipation,

the soft candlelight. It's beautiful coming together
to remember the true meaning of the season.

 Here are the free graphics
and sources for my artwork:

*The Graphics Fairy*
Winter church postcard
Back of an old photograph
French sheet music

*Public Domain Clip Art*
Currier & Ives "Merry Christmas"

*Altered Bits*
Grungy texture


"Christmas is a time to

open our hearts to God and his gifts.
Just like the rest of the year."

~ Author Unknown ~

Thank you for stopping by!!

A Wintry Flower

“I wish I might a rose-bud grow

And thou wouldst cull me from the bower.

To place me on that breast of snow

Where I should bloom a wintry flower."

~ Terry Cooke ~

"The color of springtime is in the flowers;

the color of winter is in the imagination."
 

~ Terri Guillemets ~

 

 

Here are the free graphics

used in my artwork:

*Vintage Images*
Red rose

*Tuck DB Postcards*

Holly branches

Holly berries

*Vintage Images*
White blossoms

*The Graphics Fairy*
Back of an old photograph

Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving!!
Thank you for stopping by!

Think on These Things

This verse was on my heart this evening.
It's a reminder that our thoughts should be

directed toward the good things in life... the

things we should be thankful for every day...

not just around the holidays.

8" x 11.5" full page printable

Free graphics and font sources:

*The Graphics Fairy*

Blossom frame

*Shadowhouse Creations*

Soft aged sepia texture

*Dafont.com*
Janda As Long As You Love Me

Thank you for stopping by!!

Printable Chalkboard tags, labels, and more!

If you love all things chalkboard,
you're definitely in the right place.
I found the original chalkboard texture

 graphic at Knick of Time, along with
a few of Angie's own free printables.
Thank you, Angie!

~ Small tags printable ~

~ Blank oval labels printable ~

~ Rectangular graphic or tag ~

~ 2 French advert labels ~

~ 2 Gift card or money envelopes ~

~ 2 Oval labels in PNG format ~

~ Blank & French lavender tags printable ~

Okay, so I know that's A LOT, right?
As if that isn't enough, I have one more printable
(and one more Christmas graphic, with snowflakes)
on Lilac & Lavender's facebook page!

Here are the sources
for free graphics used:

*Knick of Time*
Chalkboard texture graphic

*The Graphics Fairy*

Eau de Lavande label
Round label
French chocolate advert
French fabric advert

*Lilac & Lavender*
Letter & postmark stationery

*Lost and Taken*
Grungy wallpaper texture

*Free Trinkets and Treasures*
Christmas typography

*Ma Maison Landliv*
Border Fresh Tomatoes label

*Old Design Shop*
French postcard back

*The Feathered Nest*
Twilight Dreams

*Vintage Feedsacks*
Ornate oval frame

Thank you so much for stopping by!!

Let's all be Jolly!

 Sing hey!  Sing hey!
For Christmas Day;
Twine mistletoe and holly.
For a friendship glows
In winter snows,
And so let's all be jolly!
 

~ Nursery Rhyme ~

  

This little girl image (above) would be

sweet on a holiday card, or used as a label...

and I've incorporated this image,

as well as a few others, into tags for you!

I've also put together a sheet of tags ~ note
the green patterned tag is not on this printable.

 Finally, here are 2 rather large round graphics.

You could decoupage them onto a round gift box,

or use them to spruce up a plain gift bag...

Enjoy!!

Here are the free sources for
the graphics used in my artwork:

*The Graphics Fairy*

Little girl with topiary

Pine branch

*Vintage Printable*
Floral patterned paper

*Wordplay*

Red & gold star

*Altered Bits*

Grungy texture

*Free Vintage Digital Scraps*

Polka dot digital scrapbook paper

Thank you for visiting!