Recycled Heart Art

Hello, a little post from http://www.hopetreestudio.blogspot.com/. A little about me. I love recycled art and repurposing items. I sell many of my items at Serendipity in Temecula California and on Etsy. At one time I had 3 shop-spaces in Carlsbad, Fallbrook and Temecula. I must have been crazy. I can't tell you how many things I've painted shabby chic over the years. I wanted to share a little recycled heart art with you. Really a simple project anyone can do. I used some old rulers and some old wooden drawer handle carvings. I have to say I love the water handle in the middle. It's very faint in the picture but it says "to hope" in french in the top photo. Well my friends enjoy your weekend and come sign up for my giveaway at http://www.hopetreestudio.blogspot.com/. Hold hope in your heart. Denise Elizabeth

"From your Valentine"

Wool heart by Angela of DodadChick.etsy.com

Paper Hearts by Marilyn of MemrieMare.etsy.com

Crafty sewing by Lori of notforgottenfarm.etsy.com

Heart by Loribeth of maminkagirl.etsy.com

Heart by Eunice of littlethings1.etsy.com

I'm so happy to be part of the Vintage Journal Team - thanks so much Denise for inviting me! Last night I stayed up late sewing vintage hearts while my son was studying for an exam on ancient Rome. Today I was exploring the history of Valentine's Day, and I discovered that its origin is VERY vintage: ancient Rome! I've also found some gorgeous hearts handmade by Etsy crafters; just click on the photographs to travel to their shops.

Heart by Barb of thevintagethread.etsy.com

Herewith is a brief summary of some of the legends surrounding Valentine's Day from ancient Rome all the way to the "Mother of the Valentine", American Esther Howland, who created the first commercial valentines in 1840 out of lace, ribbon, and scraps of this and that. What a timeless thing we do - to express our love we look around our homes and create something special out of our humble stashes of materials.

Hearts by me! lesliejanson.etsy.com

Valentine was a third century Roman priest. Legend has it that Emperor Claudius II was looking to increase his army and decided there would be more eligible young men if he outlawed marriage. It is said that Valentine continued to marry young couples until he was caught and imprisoned. A separate legend says that when he was imprisoned he either tried to help Christians escape, and/or he fell in love with the prison guard's daughter and wrote to her, signing "from your Valentine". In 270 A.D.!
Valentine's Day may have been the Church's attempt to Christianize a Roman (pagan) festival celebrating the ides of February (the 15th) which was the first day of Spring in Rome. This festival, called Lupercalia, was all about purification of citizen's homes - Spring cleaning - as well as a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the God of agriculture, and to Romulus and Remus.

Pope Gelasius declared St. Valentine's Day in 498 A.D. Before the Christian Church outlawed it, eligible Romans were enjoying their February dating "lottery" system wherein eligible young women put their names into a giant urn. Bachelors would choose names from the urn and date their chosen woman for a year which often led to marriage.

In the Middle Ages in France and England, February 14th was known as the first day of the mating season for all birds, and it was celebrated romantically. By the 17th century, Valentine's Day was celebrated by most English citizens.

So we crafters follow a VERY vintage tradition of sewing our love and affection into Valentines for our loved ones. I wish all of our readers happy anticipation, and a joyful February 14th.

All my best wishes,

Leslie

lesliejanson.etsy.com

Ultimate French Vintage Shopping Trip

Thanks to Denise for asking me to be a team member! I am Valarie, and I'm a co-owner of Red Shed Antiques AND Riverside Travel in Grapevine, Texas. Believe me, it is never a dull moment when you have TWO full time jobs! We mix our love of collecting and selling, with our love of travel, by taking groups of ladies on trips to our favorite flea markets and antique fairs. I asked to post about this today because we have ONE spot left on our trip to Paris (yes France, not Texas) in April. We have a wonderful lady who is looking for a room mate, so if you have been dreaming of visiting the Paris Flea Markets, please join us!

The flowers in Paris are GORGEOUS this time of year........ (That is cute Michele M., one of the other Red Shed Girls)


The scenery is, of course, breath taking.........
But the shopping..........Oh....... a couple of displays from our last trip......

Just a few of the many, many, many treasures we brought home last year...

A "petite" trash can for your table.

A set of French Canisters.

French documents, perfume bottles, Soaps,

Hand carved clock faces.My all time favorite, I found in the mud at one of the small markets, a porcelain milk pasteurizer. It was so fabulous and beautiful when it was cleaned up. I don't know what I was thinking when I sold it......the one thing I wish I would have kept.

This is really a trip of a lifetime. There are two days of flea market shopping, lots of tours, dinners, cocktail parties, and even a cruise included! If this is your dream, it's time to make it a reality! There has not been a better time to go to Europe in years. The Euro is low, so your dollars buy more. Join the Red Shed Girls in Paris!

For more information and prices click Here on Paris 2009.

To see our Blog Journal and Photos from last year's trip go to Paris 2008.

Best and Blessings

Vintage French

These pics are all from a store called South of Market, specializing in French antiques and amazingly unique accessories, located in Charleston. I'm fairly certain I went from admiration to coveting in 3 seconds flat! Enjoy the feast, and if you need more, visit www.southofmarket.biz. (Locations at Atlanta and Virginia Highland as well)






And congratulations to Margaret Cloud, winner of the giveaway from Vintage Scraps! Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by and left such nice comments :)

Talking Trash And Smack in Downtown Malakoff

Hey y'all! This past weekend Cat Daddy and I went to the grand opening of the Junk Palace in Malakoff, Texas. Three words-Fab U Lous!!! In case you don't speak trash talk that translates to Wow Wow Wow!!! We're all looking for new places to shop and if you love the same things I do, well look no more.Lillie is the proprietress of this lovely new establishment and with the help of an amazing crew, she transformed a wonderful old building in downtown Malakoff into a shopper's Disneyland. Some of you may already know her from Canton First Monday, where she with her talented friend Maggie share a building. Maggie was on hand for all the festivities Saturday. It was my understanding they had been pulled down off the ceiling and ladders just in time for us. You would never have known because they both looked like the shoppe...beautiful in white.

This etagare' was one of my favorite things in the store. Don't you just love it? It does have shelves, but I think it's more of a statement piece the way Lillie used it. Do you agree? Just say yes and keep me happy thinking my opinion counts.

While it was cold outside and we were dressed in several layers including, but not limited to, longhandles, the cold wasn't a deterrent to the intrepid shoppers joining in on all the fun. And speaking of layers, how fantastic is the layering in this photo? All in agreement? Good, now you're getting it!

I'm not sure what this was in its former life, but this is a dream of a display cabinet. I love that the glass is all around so that what it cradles can be seen from any direction. How uber-cool!

Layers, layers and more layers, just waiting to be lifted and taken home. If you have a hankering to see more pictures(and I know you do) of Lillie's fantastic shop just click here. Her store hours are Thursday-Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm. If you're going to East Texas any time soon, be sure to drop in, buy something and tell her Debbie sent you. Dropping my name won't get you a prize, but it sure will make me feel good. Later y'all! Debbie

Happy Friday! Here's a fun salvage project for the weekend...

Umbrella Stand made from

salvaged architectural balusters

just add a wood base & top

and you have a new umbrella stand!

or you can find it here

Do you have any fun salvage projects?

Let us know... we'd love to hear from you!

Happy Weekend,

Christa

Black Dog Salvage

A Vintage Give Away!

It may be my birthday today, but you get the present. I'm a new team member, Meg from Vintage Scraps, and to celebrate my birthday and my first post on The Vintage Journal, I'm giving away a, well, vintage journal! Just visit my store by way of the VintageScraps etsy icon on the left (make sure you go to the right store! There are several on here) comment here or at http://vintagescrapsbymeg.blogspot.com/ by Jan. 27th which journal you like best, and you may get it for free. Hooray for vintage!

Sharing Blessings

Hi everyone. I'm so honored to be part of The Vintage Journal! What a fun thing we get to participate in. My name is Polly and my blog/website is Counting Your Blessings. I've been blogging since June of 2007. What started out as a way for me to break the cycle of fear of my ex-husband, blossomed into art and friendships and sharing blessings.

I haven't always been a junker. I know, gasp & shock! 12 years ago, when I was pregnant with my second child, all of sudden I got creative (or artsyfartsy, as my co-workers said). I started making faux flower arrangements, painting ceramics and watching HGTV 24/7. Everyone who knew me was shocked! No one was more shocked than me when, after the baby was born, cupid's creative arrow stuck.

With 4 kids, 2 dogs, a dreamy husband, a historic farmhouse and homeschool, these days it's pretty hectic but creating is still something that I look forward to. One of my current projects is our 3rd floor attic. I've been told that nearly a century ago it was the servant's quarters so we've named the attic studio/classroom The Servant's Quarters. You can watch the progress HERE.

I've been making lacy lampshades for the studio (because this room really lacks good lighting so I have lamps everywhere). It quiets my mind to stitch the old chantily or quaker lace to the frames while we watch tv at night.

Do any of you have the Can't-Do-Nothing affliction like I do? Even when I'm resting, I'm usually doing something. I can't wait to get to know each of you a little better and share our vintage-y projects. Thank you, Denise, for letting me be part of this! Blessings.. Polly

Talking Trash And Friends

Hi y'all! I'm very excited today to be publishing a post as part of The Vintage Journal Blogspot Team Member. When Denise first approached me about being part of this great team, I was a little apprehensive. I'm a little bit, or maybe more than just a little bit, of a mutt in a fantastic litter of talent. I don't have a shop and only do the Antique Fair at Zapp Hall twice a year. But I thought I would give it a try and see if I could add something to the mix.My name is Debbie and my blogspot is Talking Trash for those of you who haven't met me. My blog is about junk, antiques and whatever else I can find to ramble on about and believe me, I can ramble!

I also have a second blog called Trash Digging. Here is where I post photos of items that I think folks might be interested in purchasing. It's just a little fun shopping post and I try to keep most of the items shippable. When Cat Daddy and I aren't doing the Zapp show, we like to travel around looking for treasures. I like to call our adventures "Driving Miss Lazy". Sometimes we go to auctions(which I'll be showing some of these in future posts), shoppes and shows. We have a lot of friends in this business which makes it a win win situation for us. We can work and still manage to have a lot of fun doing it. I'd like to show you a few of our friends and some of their artistry. These are also some of my own personal favorite posts that I have done.

Theresa at Garden Antiques tops my list as a friend above and beyond the call of duty. She's the reason I started blogging and I'm sure I'm not alone on that one. She's helped more people get a blog up and running. She's also a great source for places to go and people to see. She does several shows a year and below is a shot of her space at Zapp last fall. She also is the hostess of a Blogger Party during Antique Fair week which is a great opportunity to connect with other bloggers.

Another wonderful couple who have made quite a name for themselves in the business is Linda and Ludmil of Willow Nest Farms in Burton, Texas. I don't know of anyone who is unfamiliar with their trademark style and now that they have opened the shop and B&B, I'm sure they'll become even more of a success.

A favorite haunt of mine for fun finds is The Funky Monkey in Keller, Texas. Amy sells an eclectic look with everything from bangles to bowling balls. Her shop is a mix of new and old. The blending of the two makes for fun shopping.

Her style is quirky, light and just plain happy go lucky. She, herself, is a unique blend. She's cute as a button, delightful to talk to and so thin I just want to shoot myself. Go see her when you're in the mood to buy for your shop and yourself.

There just are no words to describe Cloverleaf Boutique in Oklahoma. Heidi knows no decorating bounds. It's only onward and upward. It's a feast overload for the eyes. She has 2 locations-Ardmore and Oklahoma City. I didn't know there was that much pink in the whole entire U.S. Her stores bring out the girlie in all of us (maybe even Cat Daddy)!

Heidi and Fergie are always up for a visit and a party. As soon as you walk in the doors, you'll think you're at the fair and will start looking for the cotton candy. Voila, you're a kid again.

She truly is one of a kind and so are her shoppes. It just has to be seen to be believed. She puts the top in over-the-top. It's a pixie mix to be sure.

Just revisiting some of these stops of ours has worn me out. I think I'll sit a spell, let you catch your breath as well and just tell you this is what I hope to be bringing you more of in the future. If you liked what you saw, please let me know and I'll work really hard to see that I deliver what I promise. Debbie