PICMONKEY

PicMonkey

Looking for an easy and free photo editor I found PicMonkey thanks to one of my FaceBook friends - Checkered Past. This program is fabulous and I wanted to share it with everyone. It is super easy to use and you can make all sorts of fabulous photos to share, use on your blog, facebook, etc.

Here is a photo I edited on PicMonkey:

I was just playing around and this took about 30 seconds to create, 

so go check them out and have some fun!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.picmonkey.com/#

PicMonkey is a very powerful photo editor. Here are some examples. 


The first row shows a photo of me and then one edited on PicMonkey 
using Airbrush, Eye Tint, Eye Brighten, Mascara, Highlights, Lip Tint and Tan....
 This is WAY over done but it gives you an idea of what you can do with PicMonkey 
and what they do with Magazine Photos.
 I look more like a doll than a real human although the original picture was very light. 


The second set shows a vintage photo of me as a child that I restored by adjusting the sharpness, contrast and tinting the photo. Much better photo to pass on to my children. 

Tea Cottage Pretties is now up to 35 followers!!
Welcome and Thank You!!!

#18 #19 and #20 LIMOGES CANDLE STICKS

#18-20 Limoges and Instagram

OK so you must forgive me but I think this will be a learning experience.  I have decided that I am going to use my Instagram App that has been on my phone for a couple of months now. I am going to attempt to take some pictures of a few Limoges items to share with everyone.  I will update this post as I work on this new adventure. So for my first attempt here is a picture of 3 of my Limoges Candle Stick Holders. Please stay tuned for more.  

#18 Limoges Candle Stick with Handle.  

Marked William Guerin

 (WG&Co.)

1891-1900

#19 Limoges Candle Stick and/or lamp Column

This Limoges Candle Stick is very unique because although it can be used as a Candle Stick it is also fitted for wiring. It has a place on the bottom for an electric cord and it is hollow so you can put you fixture through it. I have never gotten around to making it into a lamp but it is my intention to do just that. It is beautifully hand painted. 

Marked Union Ceramique

1909-1938 

#20 Limoges Candle Stick 

Marked  Bernardaud & Co. 

1900-1914 

My beautiful Limoges Candle Sticks!

As it turned out I was not happy with Instagram and I have not used it since this photo shoot.  I am editing my photos with PicMonkey now and I love it. 

See you soon with more Limoges.

Hugs, 

Beverly

MY SECRET MOM

My Secret Mom 


OK so I did not have a Secret Mom but 
I do have a Mom and she loved Secret Deodorant back in the 60's.

As a little girl I was always intrigued by my Mother's things. I loved her clothes, handbags, shoes and all the products she used. I even loved her key chain case that the ladies used back then. Oh and gloves and scarves and just about everything.  I am not sure why I liked them so much except that they were part of her and they were so beautiful,  just like her. I admired them so much that I wanted to play with all her things. I had to smell all her products and even try them out if I could. One product I loved the best was Secret Deodorant. I loved the white glass jar and metal lid and oh how I loved how it smelled. It seemed ladylike and proper to me somehow. I wanted to use that stuff when I grew up.  However, as luck would have it by the time I grew up they no longer made that type of deodorant. They did make something that smelled just like it but that was many years ago and Secret has long since stopped making it. So the memory lives in my mind but the product itself does not exist. I have been feeling a bit nostalgic lately so I found some images of Secret from the 1960's.

Enjoy......

Here are some picture of my Mom circa 1960

Photo below created with PicMonkey

Here are my originals

As of today 6/21/2012 I now have 30 followers!!
Thank you and welcome to each and everyone of you. 
You are appreciated....
Hugs

MAKING MY WAY BACK

Making My Way Back

I took a little leave from my blog but I am now back. I traveled to North Carolina for my brother's Memorial and while there my mother loaned me tons of beautiful old photos. I told her I wanted to make digital copies of them to preserve them for future generations. It is no small task but one I am delighted to take on. It is actually a honor as I have always treasured our family history.  Looking at all our beautiful photos makes me feel very nostalgic. Longing for those simpler and most precious of days gone by. Memories are perhaps made sweeter by time but they are still none the less sweet. I love my family very much and looking at all our pictures just warms my heart and makes me smile. I needed that in my life right now and it seems to help as 
I make my way back.  


Today I want to share a few vintage pictures of my Christmas of 1966.

Christmas 1966 - When I was very small. The big doll in the picture was a Pippi Longstockings but I called her Ugly. Yeah that was her name and I loved her to pieces both literally and figuratively.  The Penny Brite Doll was my sister's Santa. I remember I use to love to play with her but I named her Cutie Carol. I have no idea why I called her that but I always gave dolls a new name. 

My beautiful sister Patti with her Yogi Bear Punching Bag and Penny Brite.

Next is a picture of my brother Jeff with his Christmas Toys. 

And last but not least, it's me with my Ugly Doll.

I will get back to posting my Limoges 

and other goodies here very soon.

THANK YOU

Tea Cottage Pretties will be back in a week or two,

 until then I wanted to say thank you to all my new followers.

 I appreciate each and everyone of you.

 There is much more to come.

We will see you soon, Beverly

CIRCLE OF FOUR

Circle of Four

Where once there were four,

now there are three.

Four no more,

how can that be?

Our circle broken,

for you are not here.

All the words not spoken,

we cry a tear.

We’ll hold in our heart,

forever more.

For now apart,

precious memories soar.

We must bid you farewell,

on this sad day.

Our emotions swell,

our hearts in dismay.

Goodbye my little brother,

may you sleep well.

There is no other,

of this I can tell.

Where once there were four,

now there are three,

Four no more,

how can that be?


In Loving Memory....

On June 6,2012 our baby brother Paul Nealy went home to be with our Lord. 

Paul was 41 years young and left us to soon.

This is a poem I wrote for my brother today. 

Paul Jacob Nealy
February 6,  1971 - June 6, 2012


A Memory Box I made for my baby brother. 

Beverly -  Tea Cottage Pretties

We will return soon.


With more Pretties
and Limoges
To see....

LIVING WITH PRETTIES AND A DIY HEIRLOOM PILLOW

Living With Pretties

I like to decorate and live with the things I love.  Sometimes, because things are fragile, things get broken and I am heart broken but I manage to accept it and move on. That is the price you pay for living with your pretties but I would not have it any other way.  I am very careful about things, for example I would never sit an expensive piece of Limoges out on a side table where it would get knocked over.  Other than that I live with the things I love all around me.  If I love something I will find a prefect place for it and there it will stay.  So today while cleaning our bedroom, I was thinking about some of the things we live with in our room.....   

My camera has been acting up and I wanted to test it out to make sure it was working well, so I decided to take a few pictures of some of my things in our room. I took a series of photos and most of them came out pretty well.  This post will mostly be pictures of the things I photographed today. Hope you enjoy!

First I wanted to share my Shabby table and chairs. I found this adorable set at my favorite little shopping place- Homestead Handcrafts in San Antonio, Texas.  I love all the scroll work on it. The background is our curtains that I bought a few years back. They go with all my Shabby Chic items so well. 


One day I am going to make cushions for my chairs. 

Next is my vintage blue velvet round pillow. 

The next pillow is one I made from my daughter's outfit from when they were very small. I so loved this outfit and I could not part with it. They actually had it in 2 different sizes and they both wore them.  Once they got bigger (babies do that you know) I made a pillow so that I could always remember them and how beautiful they were in this outfit. I think it makes a very nice heirloom type piece to pass down. I will follow with instructions on how I made the pillow. It is a very easy DIY pillow. 

Next is a Sadler pink tea set.  I absolutely love this little set.  Matter of fact I keep very few pieces of porcelain that are not Limoges and this is definitely a keeper.  It is the most yummy delicious color of pink ever. It is trimmed in gold and it has a very expensive feel to it.  It is just precious. It sits on my table and on a vintage mirror that I painted white. 

Here is my Candelabra from Target.  Target offered this piece a few years back and it is just so lovely. I believe it was sold in the Rachel Ashwell line of Shabby Chic products. It has glass holders for the candles and lots of crystals. I did change the crystals because it came with plastic ones and I could not have PLASTIC crystals.  Glass I will do but not plastic. 

  

Next are 2 of my Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic jars from the Target line.  I have several of each of these because they were so beautiful and I got them at a great price. 

Another Shabby Chic dish and a vintage shaker that has been re- purposed for powder. 

For my last picture today I wanted to share a vintage fan that I painted pink.  It is an oscillating fan and it still works however, because the fan is a little dangerous I very seldom turn it on.  Your fingers can fit through the fan and well you know, it would not end up very pretty. 

Hope you enjoyed my pictures of some of the things I love and live with everyday. 

Heirloom DIY Pillow

How to make the pillow

Now for the pillow made from my daughter's outfit.  You can make these from dresses or those one piece pant outfits that little girls wear.  That is what mine is made from.  I simply cut the bottom off and hemmed it.  Then I flipped the outfit right side out and stitched the sleeves and the neck closed. I used the back button opening to fill with stuffing and buttoned it.  That was all there was to it and I now have a beautiful pillow and sweet memories. 

My next post will be more of my Limoges Collection.....

PRETTY VINTAGE PORCELAIN AND MEMORIES OF YESTERDAY

Pretty Vintage Porcelain

and

 Memories of Yesterday

Every now and then I find a piece of porcelain that is so pretty and priced so well that I just can't pass it up.  This platter was found in one of my favorite little spots in the world - Homestead Handcrafts in San Antonio, Texas.  It is a piece of beautiful pottery that has a lovely light pink background and sweet little flowers in shades of pink.   It is trimmed in gold and in very good condition.  What is neat about this piece is that it apparently was a piece from a Grocer.  When I turned it over to take a look at the back I found it was stamped:

Frank Ranalli & Son

5101 Kershaw Street

TR7-7415

Meats, Groceries & Produce

I do not know anything about this piece except that I adore it.  I thought at one time I would resale it but I have never been able to part with it.  It is beautiful and somehow it just speaks to me.  It speaks of a time when I remember the Grocer would offer porcelain and/or china pieces at a very low price.  Each week you could add a little something to your collection until you had a full set of china.  This was the only pretty china we ever had when I was a child.  I don't think my Mother ever managed to collect an entire set but I loved the pieces she had just the same.  I think this particular piece is an earlier piece than even those that I remember but it still brings back those nostalgic feelings and longings for a simpler and more pleasant life.

Today we have places like Wal-Mart and everyone flocks there, it all seems to rushed and almost rude.  I miss the little grocer I would visit with my Mother and my Grandmother.  I miss the beautiful smiles and happy greetings and well wishes as we went through our day.  I see people today and how they behave and I think of those yesterdays.  Maybe times does make our memories sweeter but still it just seemed more pleasant and happy.  I miss those days......

My Pretty Piece of Yesterday

Maybe that is why I have not been able to let this piece go....

I miss my beautiful Grandmother for I loved her very much.  

Thank you for the memories Grandma and the biscuits.

 Here she is with my Grandfather back in the mid fifties. 

My Angel, then and now and always.....

Elbert and Willow Batton

On a different note,  I added a background to my blog. I made this background using an actual piece of my Limoges porcelain. I know this is probably no big deal to most but to me it is a milestone.  I finally got a background and I made it all by myself! 

 Below is the Limoges Tray I made the image from:

And I saved the BEST for last!

Drum Roll

I now have 16 Followers and I wanted to thank each and everyone one of you.

You made my week!!!

 make that 17!

18 and now 19 and 20 and still counting!!!

Thank you everyone so very kindly for spending time with me here at Tea Cottage Pretties. 

I appreciate each and every one of you and

thank you for adding me. 

Hugs, Beverly

Tea Cottage Pretties

PRETTY - MY VERY OWN TEA COTTAGE PRETTIES BLOG CAT

Tea Cottage Pretties Blog Cat

My June Bug loves to draw with Paint and she makes fabulous kitty cat characters.  So she asked if she could make me a Blog Cat and I said of course you can.  So she made me this beautiful kitty named Pretty just for me for my Blog!

Thank you my sweet June Bug!!!!