SERENDIPITY

Serendipity

Recently I made this sweet little Blue Bird.  She started out as something totally different and she ended up better than I had thought she would, so I named her Serendipity. 

Here she is without her bonnet. 

Her bonnet is made from felt and it ties around her neck so that it can be removed.  I may have to make her other hats later.   Her head moves so I can pose her.  I also made a white wool felt nest for her and I gave her a sweet pink egg cup so she would have her very own home. 

Here she is from the back. 

She has a vintage seam binding ribbon bow around her neck with tiny vintage flowers.  I love how her needle felted eyes turned out.  She really reminds me of the bluebirds you always see in Disney movies although she is my own creation.  

Still having fun with my needle felting.

Hugs, Beverly

Tea Cottage Pretties

BOTTLE BRUSH TREES

Here are my new bottle brush trees. I found these on clearance and I had to pick them up. I have three and they are all different sizes. The tallest one is about 14" tall I think. They each have a vintage putz styled paper house as a stand. My DD said that they were weird - who puts a tree on their house? teehee I had to laugh so I told her that the houses were stands and she say oh okay. I think she still thinks it is weird but I love them. Somehow somewhere along the way I have collected quite a few bottle brush trees. I just love them and I have a hard time passing them up.

 This is not the best picture but at least you can get the idea. The smallest one has a pink house, the middle sized one has a blue and the large one has a white house. Toooooooo cute!

SOMETHING NEW BUT OLD

Vintage Knee Hugger Bunny Elf Dolls


I have wanted these little cuties for some time now. Just like everything else I usually want these go for a lot on eBay. I found these precious babies in an online shop and I jumped on them. I got them for a great price and I am happy to have them. These are kind of like the Elf or Pixie Knee Huggers that we all had on our Christmas Trees back in the 60s. However, these are sweet pastel bunnies that are sleeping. I have a precious pink, blue and yellow. I just love these babies.

MORE NEEDLE FELTING - BUNNY AND A BIRD

I had to play with my wool and needle felt some more babies. Here you see my new yellow bird. She has her own nest and lots of sparkle eggs and flowers. She is a very light yellow so it doesn't show up in pictures very well. 

Here is a close up of my bird.

This is a picture of my bird with her purple Bunny friend. Aren't they sweet together?

Here is a close up of my purple Bunny. She has a ducky Easter basket and lots of flowers and beads. She is a cutie pie for sure. Her name is Candy.

Last but not least here is a new picture of my Easter Shelf (that is what I am calling it now) with my new babies on it.

LITTLE VINTAGE SNOW GIRLS

Well look at these little cuties. I found these recently and I could not resist. They are so sweet. They are made of Styrofoam, spun cotton, paper and fabric. They are flocked as well. These little cuties are from the 60s and I am so happy to have them.

MY PIXIE BABY

While taking pictures of my wreath today I had to stop and take one of my Pixie Baby. She is holding all sorts of Valentine's Day goodies. She is a vintage doll that I got off eBay. I love this little girl. 

VINTAGE BOTTLE BRUSH WREATH

Vintage Bottle Brush Wreath 

Just a short time ago, I posted pictures of my new vintage pink Harold Gale Santa and I said that I hoped to find a pink bottle brush wreath to go with him.  Well I did find one recently and here are some pictures of it.  It is a beautiful wreath but I must say it was not so beautiful when it arrived.  Although it was in great shape it was extremely dirty.  Matter of fact it did not even look pink.  The flocking was almost brown and the wreath looked like a dirty tan color.  Anyway, I cleaned it up but unfortunately the flocking could not be saved.  It was terrible.  So I re-flocked it and gave it new mica . I think it turned out lovely.  I do plan to do more work on the flocking at a later date.  Here is my wreath with my pink Santa. 

Here is my wreath hanging on a vintage bird cage stand.     I think I will keep this beauty out all year round. 

And I am one happy girl,

Beverly

Tea Cottage Pretties

WOOL ROVING FOR FELTING

Here is an image of the roving I use to make my felted chicks. It is in strips that have been carded. I love these colors.

Here is an image of my roving rolled up in a dish waiting to become something wonderful.

HANDCRAFTED EASTER ITEMS

Here are some more images of my handcrafted Easter items.

Here is my little chick June Meadow tucked away in a dish with beautiful speckled Easter eggs.

Here you see Spring Sprung sitting next to a crepe paper basket which I made to place my chenille chicks inside.

Next is the dish that June Meadow sits in with my pink pom pom bunny. They have found a home on a shelf in my family room.

Again here they are from a different angle.

Here is the entire shelf. It is a wood shelf that I painted the most beachy (is that a word?) shade of blue and then I added crystals to dress it up. Don't they all look so beautiful together?

EASTER ARRANGEMENT

Here is a sweet arrangement I made. I found this paper mache basket and I knew I had to fill it with something. I had these beautiful flowers and these cute little flocked bunnies. They all seemed to just jump right in. Now the only questions is do I keep it or sell it? It sure is cute.

NEEDLE FELTING

Well I have decided to try my hand at needle felting and I must say I LOVE IT! I purchased the things I needed a few days ago and I have mange to make 2 chicks. This process take a long time but the results are fabulous. Just check out my pretties...

In these 2 pictures you can see my pink chick - June Meadow. She is adorable. Of course she is 100% wool and some of her trims are vintage. She turned out absolutely adorable. I am most pleased. Here you see her in a dish with my pom pom bunny and some bottle brush trees that I hand dyed and covered in glitter and or mica.

Next is my sweet little blue chick - Spring Sprung. He is a bit of a clown don't you know! He wears a very cute felt hat with sparkly trim and sits on an egg in a bucket. He is such a show off. He sports his vintage ribbon bow and vintage flowers. He is a charmer. I may have to keep him away from June Meadow. I hope to make more goodies soon. I will post them when I do.

VALENTINO AND VALENCIA VALENTINE'S DAY DIORAMA BOX

Valentino And Valencia
Valentine's Day Diorama Box

This is the second Valentine's Day diorama I have made.  I used vintage cupcake picks and made their bodies out of craft pipe cleaners.  I made their clothes out of crepe paper and little pieces of lace, beads, etc.  Each little doll is holding a Valentine's Day cupcake pick.  The girls is holding a card to present to her sweetheart and the boy has flowers for her.  Aren't they just so adorable....

Happy Valentine's Day

Beverly

Tea Cottage Pretties

TODAYS CRAFTS

Here are my projects for today. I made a very cute Valentine's Day Paper Lolly. I got the sweet face from a card and I put the rest together from things that I have in my stash. She turned out very sweet. 

Next I made what I call my Teacup Chicks. I took an old Limoges teacup and created a really sweet scene of a Mommy Chick and her Baby Chicks. I hand dyed the pink tree and added glitter, tiny eggs, flowers and bows. I hand cut the green grass and made all the frilly paper you see. This is so adorable.

Both of these items are for my booth. I hope they go to a good home.

RECENT FIND - MAUD TOUSEY FANGEL BABY

Maud Tousey Fangel was a very prolific artist. Her subject matter was for the most part Babies. She was a fabulous artist and has left us some of the most beautiful images of Babies. Maud Tousey was born in 1881 and she did most of her work in the early to mid 1900's. I found these beautiful lithos and they were only $8.00. Well of course I had to bring them home. I am not sure what I am going to do with them but I could not pass them up. They are signed and they are marked by the Litho company.

One of her most famous works is the little boy on the box of Cracker Jacks. He was actually a painting of her own little boy.

A BEAUTIFUL GIRL AND SOME RAIN BONNETS TOO

Here is a sweet little girl from days gone by!

I found this gem at an antique shop that I stop in every once in awhile. It is one of those shops where everything cost a pretty penny. However, I got this girl for a wonderful price, she was $8.00. She is in mint condition with no flaws or defects at all. The little white area you see one her foot is actually the underside of her foot. I keep my makeup brushes in her. I know, but how better to enjoy my things than to use them and see them everyday? Sometimes we just can't worry so much about our pretties.

If you look beside her in the picture you can see my two jars. These kind of jars are great to hold your small collections. In one I have my Juicy Couture samples and in the other - I have the most fabulous vintage rain bonnets in their cases. The cases are decorated with Roses. I remember these from the 1960's and when i saw them I had to have them. Aren't they the sweetest little things? The best part is that they all have their bonnets and they are in new condition. I guess we would call this old store stock?

SAVED VINTAGE DROP LEAF TABLE

This is a drop leaf table that I found for a few dollars. It was a terrible mess when I found it. The top laminate was coming off and the finish was all but destroyed. I took it home and worked for a long time on it. I had to get all the laminate off the top and then sand and prime the top. I did this to the rest of the table. Then I painted it a very shabby white. I love blue stripes so I decided to add them to this piece. I painted little Roses and birds.

In the above picture you can see the cabinet doors. There is a door on both sides of the table. You can also see the wood work on the door which is an Art Deco type decoration. This table appears to be from the Art Deco Era.

Here is a picture of the front of the table. You can also see my vintage little chairs that are just the right size for the table. I had actually redone this table with the intent to sell it. Well I never did and it has been in my home now for about 2 years. I just thought it was time for my table to have it's place on my blog.

PINK LADY MANNEQUIN SHELVES

This is the coolest thing. When I found it I had to have it. It was a beige color and had no embellishments what so ever. I brought this beautiful lady home and painted her the palest pink. Then I added all sorts of trims and embellishments. I used two vintage (early 1900's) Limoges Button Studs that are beautifully hand painted. You can see them up close in the second picture. This beauty watches over all my perfumes for me.

WINTER ROSE - A SNOW PERSON

Meet Winter Rose. Rose is made from a cupcake pick and chenille stems. Her clothes are made out of crepe paper. She comes complete with her very own pearl tree. She is holding a beautiful pink paper Rose. I think she can hear the birds chirping from far away.

SWEET SUGAR EASTER COTTAGE

Here is my new little Sweet Sugar Easter Cottage. I made this yummy cottage for my booth. It will be for sale and I so hope it goes to a good home. I painted a plain paper house the most beautiful and perfectly shabby chic pink and aqua colors. Then I added all sorts of glitters and adornments, to include a bottle brush wreath and tree complete with Easter Eggs. It turned out precious. Happy Easter Little Bunnies Everywhere!

Here is a view from the front. LOVE IT!!!

VALENTINE'S DAY BOX - VALENTINO AND VALENCIA

Valentine's Day Diorama Box

Valentino and Valencia

This is my new Valentine's Box. I am pleased to introduce Valentino and Valencia. They are all dressed for Valentine's Day and they have gifts for each other. Isn't love sweet.

These cuties are made from vintage cupcake picks, chenille stems and crepe paper.   Each one was crafted with much attention to details.  The inside of the box is decorated as well as the outside.  They are holding some vintage items. These are time consuming from finding just the right items to putting them together.   Much planning goes into each set I make.  I am so happy with the way they turned out. 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Beverly

Tea Cottage Pretties

POMPOM BLUE BIRD

This is my new POMPOM BLUE BIRD.

The first picture shows his underside so you can see his cute little feet.

Next you can see him sitting up outside his nest. Isn't he the cutest?

Last you can see him tucked into his nest. He was made using yarn pompoms that I made. These are not your Mother's Pompoms. These pompoms take a very long time to make. They are very thick and then they are each sculpted until I have them just right. This guy took hours to make and he is of the highest quality. His nest is adorned with high quality flowers and trims. Some of the trims are vintage. I like to use new and vintage items in the making of my goodies. I put a lot of love into all my projects. I love how he turned out.

Thank you for sharing my art with me.