Tuesday, June 29, 2010

White Wednesday: Spring Time

I've always liked the dreamy quality of this late 19th century lithograph. From her white gown to the wild flowers beneath the tree, the artist, Philip Calderon, captured all the details perfectly.

Called Spring Time, she stays out all year. In fact, can you spot her in the Christmas photo in the blog post below?

Be sure to visit Faded Charm for other lovelies in white.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Six Months Until Christmas!

Hard to believe that it's only six months until Christmas -- that means decorations come out even sooner! Above is one of my favorite shots of one of our trees all lit up with a roaring fire. The mantel has a snowy village scene with clusters of vintage decorations -- spun cotton animals,
pine cone carolers and snowmen, bottle brush trees -- mixed in with putz houses and tinsel trees. Ah, decorating... I can't wait!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

White Wednesday: Vintage Millinery

I can't get enough millinery! This time of year, when the garden suffers from summer heat, paper and fabric flowers decorate the house as everlasting bouquets. Above is a group of vintage sprigs from Japan displayed in a footed cloisonne vase. The beach scene in the background is a painting from several Christmases ago; it's my absolute favorite place in town besides home.

Zooming in... made with meticulous attention to detail, these blossoms are nearly as good as the real thing!

They're also displayed in an antique sterling pitcher. I just love the handle featuring Mercury.

Be sure to visit Faded Charm for more pretties in white!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Christmas is Coming!

This time of year, with our workshop in full swing and supplies all over the place, I start to get super excited about Christmas. How I'll decorate, when I'll do it, where the tree will go, and what gifts I'll make are all on my mind. I wanted to share a few of my favorite Christmas supplies with you, just in case you're also thinking Christmas.

Above, vintage mercury glass beaded garlands are a staple on my trees.


Above we have Dresden flowers, a vintage holiday pick from Japan with the most beautiful composite berries and a group of blown glass Czech beads.


Next are three of my very favorite sheets of Santa scraps.

Last but not least, we have a group of spun cotton mushrooms from Germany, a trio of multicolored bottle brush trees and lustrous embossed foil trim that looks so gorgeous lining shelves or on a mantel.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

White Wednesday: Mismatched Plates

Over the years I've seen so many beautiful dishes that strike my fancy, it was inevitable I'd become a dedicated mix and matcher. These two are part of a small luncheon set I couldn't resist, made in Limoges, France by Haviland.


They fit in well with my other dishes' mostly blue and white coloring and make appearances throughout the year.

This turkey always makes his way into the rotation come fall.

And this cow! He's one of my very favorites -- I love the way he's curled his hoof under.

Be sure to visit Faded Charm for more pretties in white!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Quiet Village


For the last few days construction has been in full swing on more putz houses, this time a group of green village cottages. Above, a shot of my work table with the group freshly painted and assembled . The next step is adding fences and trees, then snow. In a short time they'll look like this:


Tuesday, June 8, 2010

White Wednesday: Kitty Bank & Bunny Nodder

It's not uncommon at all for us to keep holiday pieces out all year, like the Victorian bunny nodder above. He makes his way around the house, mixing with other favorite items, but never finds his way into the closet to be put away. Currently, he's hanging out with a still bank and a Victorian yardlong of flowers and music. The kitty bank has been a favorite of mine since childhood.

Here's a close up. I love the little ribbon around his neck.


And zooming in on the yardlong. White daisies like these are blooming happily in my garden right now.

Be sure to visit Faded Charm for more pretties in white!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Making Putz Houses

We have Christmas on our minds all year -- planning, creating, prototyping, collaborating -- but as soon as summer begins our Christmas activities go into overdrive. This time of year we create most of our stock for the upcoming season and our workspace goes from relatively organized to a whirlwind of sparkle, supplies and finished pieces.

The photo above is a view of part of my worktable yesterday. It might be hard to tell, but I was working on these:


Once we decide on a design, we create its pieces and cut them out of sturdy paper board. Next comes painting, putting cellophane in the windows and gluing pieces together. Then we add one or two bottle brush trees. After all glue has dried, we apply "snow," Dresden trims and mica, plus vintage glass beads to decorate the trees.


All in all, it takes about one full day to make one complete house. The most exciting part is waiting for it to get dark so we can put a battery-operated tea light inside and see our finished work!

These two styles aren't listed on our website yet, but you can see what is listed HERE.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

White Wednesday: Shells in Box

Can you ever have too many seashells? I think not! It's easy to find pretty ways to store them -- jars, bottles, boxes. Here are some of my all time favorites stored in a vintage seed box with tiny iron animals keeping watch.

We're having a giveaway this week -- click HERE or scroll down to the next post to enter to win one of three handmade journals.

Zooming in on the box, above and below.

Zooming in a bit more to see the shells.


Be sure to visit Faded Charm for more pretties in white!