Heart & Soul Jacket by Janna

There is so much talent out there in each of us! I wanted to show you my new little treasure created by Janna of http://collectedtreasures.blogspot.com/ She has the most wonderful Antique Store/Mall in Arlington, Texas. Jana has a treasure trove of vintage lace, ribbons, buttons, fabric,table linens & she uses this private stash to create wonders like this. She started out with a vintage tablecloth & started adding other pieces of vintage crochet to create the sleeves... Magic!!!!!! A feminine little summer cover up.

This is a view of the very front & the two big white vintage buttons she added. And who could miss the wonderful ribbon technique used down the front of the jacket. Hundreds of little tucks with this luscious deep rusty coral colored ribbon.

Here is a view of the back. Are you in Love yet?

Detail of the ribbon treatment around the back collar area. If you look closely you will see that she has used a beautiful deep green fringed ribbon under the looped coral ribbon to create the look of greenery under flowers.

And this is a closeup of the back bottom section. Not one ruffle of antique lace but TWO added to the bottom edge to give this feminine little flourish. And satin ribbon running through it.

A side view shows the ruffled collar & you can see she has connected yet another set of vintage lace crochet mid arm using a green & pink floral ribbon. This section is made of a much closer crochet which then opens up to another more open one that comes to a point just over my hand.

Here is a close up of the point of the sleeve. It creates the most wonderful focal point. And Janna used that wonderful deep rusty coral colored ribbon along with another deep green. I think this may need a special set of jewelry designed for it. What do you think? This whole jacket has such a Magnolia Pearl http://www.magnoliapearl.com/ look to it doesn't it? Did you see Robin's wedding featured in Summer 2009 Romantic Country Magazine?

Thank you Janna my very talented friend for a piece I will treasure forever! I know I will LOVE wearing this & I will think of you each time I do. Happy Creating!

PinK Saturday & Promised Photos of Nell Hill's & Central Texas Trip

Happy Pink Saturday. You know the drill... click on the button on my sidebar to go visit Beverly our lovely hostess & all the other Pinky's. In the mean time I am getting around to posting a few more shot of our trip to central Texas (to see the some more of these check out here http://myheartsease.blogspot.com/2009/06/fun-in-central-texas.html )
The gorgeous fountain at International Festival-Institute. This place is amazing & I will share more photos of it in another post. But, isn't this perfect for the opening photo of Pink Saturday?

Some moss rose in the gardens of The Antique Rose Emporium.

And more Pink!

Switching gears & back to Nell Hill's as promised for the PINK bed photos that JoAnn got for us!

Is this display over the top enough for you? And see that PINK on the bed in the background? JoAnn said it was very hard to photograph in there because the entire building had huge floor to ceiling windows & the light just pours in!

Pink Princess sleep here! :) Happy Pink Saturday & remember to keep those rose colored glasses on. Almost everything looks better in Pink!

Tablescape Thursday/ Nell Hill's

Welcome once again to Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ Today all photo credits go to my good friend JoAnn who went to visit a wonderful shop called Nell Hill's near Kansas City. JoAnn thinks she had read about this wonderland at Naps on the Porch in a previous post. Anyway, she took these wonderful photos & I loved this tablescape. Just look at the silver platters that were used as the chargers for this place setting. Do all of you have a spare 4-12 silver platters for this purpose? Notice how they used a little garden urn with a little bird sitting in it. To see the details better click on any of the photos & they will open & enlarge. Follow this urn & garden theme...

Here is another view of the whole table at a distance. A little hard to see because of the light from the window.

This is the centerpiece. A bird bath with a hurricane that has another concrete urn inside of it.
Who would have thought!

And another shot of the table from a distance. In this photo you can see the walls painted this vivid green color. JoAnn said that this is one of the key or signature colors for Nell Hill's created by it's owner & sold through the store. I simply LOVED the little greenhouse built for display right in the middle of the store. The birdbath centerpiece is not looking quite so HUGE from this angle.

Here is an outside shop of this wonderland. It is HUGE! This whole building (both floors) is FULL of tons of goodies!

This view is from the parking lot (store corner to the left) overlooking a bluff with Kansas City in the background.

Here is another table in the store. It is not a true tablescape in the fact that it is not set for a dinner but to display many tableware items.

And another table. This time note the chargers are a bit mossy. And yet another urn theme goes on.

And for the last photo I wanted to share the book that JoAnn bought for my birthday present. Inside she had it personalized with an autograph from the owner Mary Carol. Thank you for sharing you photos with all of us & for my lovely gift. I hope all of you will join me in the next day or so to see more photos from this exciting store. Be sure & go see Susan & all the others. And Susan, thanks for being the hostess with the mostess! Happy Tablescaping !

Pink Saturday & George Bush Presidential Library

For those of you that saw yesterday's post, you know I am sharing my trip to central Texas with my DH & our French neighbors Daniele & Pierre. Today, I want to welcome you to the George Bush Presidential Library & Beverly's Pink Saturday. Please click on the link on my side bar to join all the other participants.

In the meantime, this is me (not a good photo because of the lighting) welcoming you to the exhibits(the car in the background is the car George & Barbara loaded the boys in & drove to Texas as a young family just starting out).

And this is where the road took them. To the White House. Above is the photo backdrop of the Inaugural Dinner (superimposed) & a table set exactly as it would have been for that dinner. To each side of the table is the outfits they wore that night. Note... hers is very PINK!

Here is a close up of that gown.
And the flowers on the table fit right in with today's Pink Festivities! The Library is located on the campus of Texas A&M University. No matter your political views, I think we all have to appreciate the fact that we can visit these wonderful museum's & enjoy seeing exhibits like this preserved for our future generations. Now, I hope you will go visit some more Pink at Beverly's.

Fun In Central Texas

There is a magical garden in Central Texas called the Antique Rose Emporium. It was a dream of one couple that bought property in this area & went to old farm properties to collect specimens of old or antique roses. Sometimes the old farm houses were there & sometimes not. Out of this dream they have created this: This is the patio & the entry! Do you LOVE this little arbor entry?

Made out of old pots... Some of you really talented crafty girls could do this!

And I'm sorry the light on this photo is not perfect but, I thought this view of the gardens, the windmill & that beautiful BLUE TEXAS SKY was to perfect to pass up!

Walking along in the gardens I spotted this little fellow & thought he had a lot of charm & character. All made from recycled metal cans & misc pieces.

Here is another clever little clay pot fellow pushing a garden cart. I can almost see the garden fairies dancing about. Can't you?

They had an old church moved to the property & they often hold weddings on site. Can you just imagine a bride at dusk in this beautiful garden?

This photo is of their home. If you follow the winding path you see... away from the church, past the gazebo (that photo did not turn out well) up this path, you find this old vintage cottage they moved to the property. It has wonderful wrap around porches & they have built rose covered arbors all around it. Lovely to behold. Can you imagine living in such a wonderland? If you would like to visit it is located in Independence, TX. They have a retail shop & you can go online to see the many items at http://www.antiqueroseemporium.com/ This is a plaque that explains the history behind The Bottle Tree. They have a wonderful bottle tree in the gardens. So now you can read the history & enjoy the tree. I would love to have one. How about you?

I would want mine to be a bit different than this one but... the idea is fun don't you think?

I hope you enjoyed the Antique Rose garden with me. I will take you to a few other sites in the area in my next post. I think it is so much fun to visit places from the comfort of our chairs sitting at home just drifting through Blogland. And just think how much $$$$$ we save when we do it this way. Tootles............................ for now.

Gifts Come In Many Disguises!

Some GIFTS come in the form of information or learning...

If you are new to blogging or if some of this technical stuff with blogs makes you eyes roll back in your head & your brain fog... Susan at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2009/06/welcome-to-21st-metamorphosis-monday.html has done a FABULOUS post on sizing your photos, blog backgrounds, music, & many other interesting things that may be bothering you. TONS OF GREAT INFORMATION! Check it out & let me know what you think Thanks again for sharing your wonder Susan!

NEXT! Some gifts come in the mail like the beautiful Tag created by the very sweet & talented Blanca http://magicmoonlightstudio.blogspot.com/ She sent one to EVERYONE that entered her first give away. Can you imagine all the TAGS she made & mailed? That is truly as giving soul.

This sweet little face just smiles such a knowing smile. And how could Blanca know I have an obsession with old keys? This little key charm was right up my alley. And I loved the colorful ribbons that tied the top. Please go over & visit her. She said she plans to have a give away at least once a month. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH BLANCA! What a spirit of generosity you have.

As promised, here is a photo of Vicki,JoAnn, & I at the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington TX. I told you last week that I was so excited that we got to see Vicki again. Vicki flew in from her home in Nebraska to work in the Crafty Secret Booth with Sandy & Scott. Please excuse the less than wonderful photo because it was taken LATE in the day & that place gave a new meaning to the word HOT! We all went to dinner at Pappadeaux's & we sooooooooooooooooo enjoyed the cocktails & wonderful food. Check out Vicki's blog for photos of the YUMMMMMY because she took photos http://vickichrisman.blogspot.com/2009/06/crafty-secrets-dt-challenge.html

I borrowed this photo of the cute little shadowbox Vicki did for the Crafty Secret Booth, it is one of my favorite things I saw there. It is on their website. I MEANT to photograph it when I saw it at the show but, I was so hot I couldn't even think! Check out the website & see all the awesome products. http://www.craftysecrets.com/

I am blessed by many gifts today & one of them is YOU! Thanks for stopping by. Please leave me a comment & let me know you were here. Also, visit the other girls & tell them Charlene sent you.

Pink Saturday for June 6

For the love of Pink!

Can you believe it is time for Pink Saturday already? Go to my side bar & click the link to take you to our wonderful hostess Beverly's site to see who else is playing this week. Thank you Beverly for once again hosting Pink Saturday!

It has been a busy week & the time has flown by. I celebrated my birthday on Monday & it seems like I celebrated for a week (see the other posts) now, it's Saturday again & another week is gone. I showed you these hydrangea's ( I saw some yesterday in arrangements that were so very purple & they looked so different than mine) in back yard a couple of weeks ago. They were just starting to bud out but, they are in full glory now. Enjoy the Pink!

Some Give Away Love to Pass Along

Can you believe that sweet little face? When I saw this sweetie that Lisa http://pupylov.blogspot.com/has created I KNEW I HAD TO SHARE the love! Hop over before June 24 to be sure you are included in this Give Away. Be sure to tell her Charlene sent you! And while I was over at Lisa's I saw that Sandi http://waysidetreasures-sandi.blogspot.com/ was having a Give Away for all these bird goodies(Be sure & go enter today) ! I am soooooooooooo into bird stuff these days. Sad story to tell about bird goodies... I had found a sweet little egg that had fallen out of a birds nest in my front yard. I picked it up (knowing it would never hatch) & put it in a little dish up near my kitchen sink. I enjoyed just looking at it when I would stand there doing dishes. In the back of my mind I wondered if I should empty the egg but, just never did & really it posed no threat since I didn't mess with it. WELL... boys will be boys no matter how old they are! My 37 year old son was over with his family yesterday & he saw the egg. He picked it up to inspect it a little closer & accidentally dropped it in the sink. The word stink does not even begin to describe the smell. So, beware of little gifts. :) Sharon at http://shardonexclusives.blogspot.com/2009/05/one-year-old-100th-post-giveaway.html is celebrating a blog birthday as well as 100 Posts! Congratulations!!!! That is so exciting. She is another lovely soul that Dawn of http://the-feathered-nest.blogspot.com/ encouraged to start a blog. Do you notice how many of us thank Dawn. She is such a supportive friend to soooooooooooooooooooooooo many of us. But, back to Sharon, we are glad Dawn got you on board & we wish you a happy blog BDay & look forward to 100 more posts.

The list of wonderful give aways just won't stop!!!!! Am I giving you tooooooooooo much information???? No, I didn't think so! And one last fun give away by KC http://kcwillis.blogspot.com/2009/05/just-another-manic-monday-and-another.html Can you believe this wonderful piece is hanging in the Cow Girl Museum in Ft Worth! Wow close enough I could go & see it! I might just do that KC. Go over & visit & sign up on each of these wonderful sites. Please be sure & tell them that Charlene at http://myheartsease.blogspot.com/ sent you! Good Luck!