Jimmy Plays A Kate Greenaway Trick On Me

I love Kate Greenaway's art and books. This morning, my Jimmy went off to an estate sale. I didn't go with him as I had some things I wanted to get done. When he got home, he was telling me that he overheard some ladies talking about a Kate Greenaway exhibit. I asked him if it was coming to Portland and he said he wasn't sure. I went online and was trying to find some information. I couldn't find anything. When I went into our bedroom, I saw this book on my bed stand. Silly Jimmy...it was all a joke! I got a great Mother Goose book out of it all and he is still laughing at me.

Kate Greenaway was born Catherine Greenaway in London, England on March 17th 1816. She was an illustrator, a painter and a writer. Her father was an engraver and her mother was a seamstress. She was greatly influenced by both and allowed to develop her artistic skills. Her fashion style is Regency with high waisted dresses and pinefores with lots of bonnets. I love the style. She was homeschooled, and trained at the Heatherley School of Fine Arts. She died at the age of 55 on November 6th 1901.

Don't you love this tea time work? She was interested in nature, which can be seen in her many works.

I would love to  have this book. Another tea time piece is from this birthday book. Charming!

Being a dolly person, I came across an English doll maker named Peggy Nisbet. She had a line of Kate Greenaway dolls.

These are porcelain and oh so pretty. They were issued by Royal Doulton.

Tea Time Thursday #34 Valentine's Mail Before ♥ After ♥ and Inbetween ♥

Those of you who know me, know that I like to save up my Valentine cards until February 14th arrives. I belong to a few groups that do exchanges and also have some really nice friends and blogger friends who send me cards and such. Sometimes, I get a bit behind and the cards have to wait. I just like to have a quiet time to open the arrivals and really enjoy them. So much time and thought goes into all of this and I want to really appreciate it all. So with all the birthdays that have been celebrated, I just got around to opening my goodies last night! Shame on me! Here is the before and......

here is the after! Such a basket full of love and delights!

I wanted to share all the cards from my tea group for Tea Time Thursday this week. I belong to a great and very active tea group~AFTERNOON TEA ACROSS AMERICA.  You can find it on Facebook if you are interested. It is a closed group, but LaDonna would be happy to help you join. If you love tea, this is just a great group. Lots of interesting stories, recipes and information. For our card exchanges, we send a card, a tea bag of sample of loose tea, and some tuck ins! I always love to see how creative the gals are with their little goodies that they add...stickers, recipes, cup cake papers, tags, ornaments and bookmarks.

This is a very cool tuck in about the Legend of St Valentine. It's a postcard and a little ornament you can hang.

More tea time cards and treats. Thank you to everyone on the group who participated. It was really fun.

Of course, I can't forget my Tasha Tudor group exchange! Not many joined this year but it was still fun for those of us who wanted to play. Thank you Nancy for the lovely embroidered napkins!

You know, Annabelle gets Valentine cards from her dolly friends across the country. Here she is checking the mailbox to for her cards! Oh, one from Canada this year.

She had her table set for tea too. She loves tea as much as I do! She really wishes her friends lived closer.

More sweet cards from friends. My friend Sha sent me the cutest item...a wooden puzzle that is called a Church Puzzle. Years ago, the parents would make them for the children to keep them busy and quiet at church. I have heard of hanky dollies for church, but never puzzles. This on has a Valentine theme.

Christine sent a darling little envelop filled with her wonderful paper creations and of course, a Valentine for the dolls. She made my Maggie doll and has such a fun style that I so enjoy.

I can't for get my blogger friends out there! Denise made me a great hanging card and sent a vintage quilt block! Very special.  Shawn makes lovely cards and sent tea and a lavender sachet. What a surprise. And I can't for get sweet Stephanie. I'm sorry this phot didn't really show her items too well.
She makes the sweetest little goodies. Bookmarks, a magnet, cut out hearts, glitzy paper clips and a little spool hanging heart mobile. It's all wrapped up in this photo but it's really neat. Thank you blogger friends for your treats and cards.

So February is almost over an I always hate to say goodbye. It's a busy month for us with one more birthday to celebrate.It's been so fun. I know most of you are sick of winter but I hope you had some fun this month too.

Nancy's 60th~ I mean 6th~ Birthday!

My good friend Nancy turned 60 this year. I wanted to do something special for her big day and I came up with a way to celebrate her big day. Nancy is a kid at heart, so I decided I would treat her like she was turning "6" instead of 60! I lined up a date with her but didn't tell her what we would be doing. I picked her up at 10 AM Saturday and told her it would be an all day event!

When we were about 10 minutes from our first stop, I gave her the first envelop. Inside the kid's birthday card, she found a flyer for the DOLL SHOW and the money for admission. I had told her that she would need to bring some spending money. I love this doll show! Nancy loves dolls too so she was really excited. She had never been to this one put on by Crossroads. It's excellent.

We both enjoyed just looking at all the dolls and of course, we found a few goodies to bring home.

Pretty babies, pretty in pink! We were in there for about 2 1/2 hours! It was so much fun and it was really fun to feel like a 6 year old.

It was time to leave, so I gave her envelop #2. We worked up an appetite after the doll show. I took her to McDonalds for a HAPPY MEAL! She was a good sport and went along with it.

It was time for the next envelop. It contained a gift card for Michaels! What kid doesn't like to go to Michaels with gift card to spend on anything that looks like fun? We were in the store for over an hour. Of course, we both left for with a bag full of goodies.

Here's the car full of a "few" bags of goodies from the doll show and a trip to Michaels!

When Nancy opened the last card, it told her she was gong to my home to see my craft studio, play with paper dolls, color and have a little tea party.

It was still Valentine's weekend and Mary Engelbreit has lots of hearts in her designs. It was fun to share my studio with my friend.

Just a few treats for the birthday girl....peanut butter squares and chocolate dipped strawberries! YUMMY.

I think the day was a big hit! She looks pretty happy here!

Of course, a birthday girl has to blow out the candles on her cheese cake! We had a lot of fun with everything all day. She was super surprised and super happy!

Tea Time Thursday # 33 Valentine Cards

When I was a little school girl, many years ago, I always bought the Valentine booklets that you had to cut and paste....even the envelopes. I guess I haven't changed too much as I love to participate in various Valentine card exchanges. This year I joined two exchanges. Here's a look at one of this year's project.

I cut out large tea cups from fun scrapbook papers and added some lace doilies and other little embellishments. I kept them kind of simple this year, but liked the way they turned out. Of course, I had to include a Valentine tea bag!

As this is Tea Time Thursday, I thought it would be fun to post some vintage Valentine cards that have a tea time theme. Victorian Valentines are my favorite, but I do love the mid century cards. Enjoy.

Can you believe that tomorrow is Valentine's Day? I have saved all my Valentine's from my Tasha Tudor group and my Afternoon Tea Across America for February 14th! I will have lots of cards to open. I will need a cup of tea or two! 

Vintage Crocheted Pincushions and Thimble Holders

I know some of my blogger friends collect the crocheted pincushions with ribbon trim. I think they are wonderful but I have been collecting pincushions that are a bit different. These are also crocheted, but  have chicken wishbones in the center that help to hold thimbles. Sometimes they are called "make-do's" . All three of my examples ae a little bit different.

You can see part of the wishbone if you look carefully. See how it forms a little cradle to hold the thimble? Isn't that just sweet?

A little different design, but still a pincushion and a thimble holder.

Another pink sample. The heart below does not have a pin cushion, but it does have a nifty thimble holder.

When I was doing a  bit of research, I found this little crochet book for"Gift Novelties".It was published in 1938.

It included a page with the instrucions for making a simple wishbone thimble holder.

I got to watch my grandbaby Otto this morning! I just love that little guy, but he sure is growing up to quickly.