KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON

Keep Calm and Carry On

Okay ladies unless you live in a cave or have just not been on the interwebs lately, you have probably seen this saying (or some form there of) ALL OVER the place. Being an inquisitive person I had to KNOW where this saying came from and/or what was the story behind it.  So I went looking for the origins and I found out some very interesting things.  First of all this a  very old saying that was used during the beginning of the Second World War in the United Kingdom, dating around 1939.  The intent was to boost the morale of the British people in the event of an invasion and/or disaster.  Oddly enough it was very limited in distribution so until around the year 2000 it was almost unheard of at all.  In 2000 it was unearthed and has since risen to great popularity.  Published by the Ministry of Information over 50 years ago it was now public domain. 

Now why do we seem to love this saying so much? Maybe it fits us today with all the political and economic troubles that have plaqued most of the world over the last few years.  It reminds us to stay calm and continue to live our lives and we need that right now I think.  Plus, it does have a fabulous little crown on it and we all love crowns and tiaras. It lends itself well to small changes that make it fit just about any situation or idea that we can think up. Best of all we can use it without any worries about a copyright or in this case crown copyright. 

So I wanted to make a few different ones for my own personal use.  I found a photo copy of the original image and I edited it in PicMonkey.  Of course loving all things shabby chic I had to make mine in a Vintage Chic style. I also wanted to share them for anyone that would like to have them. They are free and you are welcome to copy and save them your computer. Hope you like them.

Hugs, Beverly

Now that we know the origins of this saying we can all

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON

For all the BIG BANG fans

#2 UNKNOWN MAKER THREE TIERED PORCELAIN SERVER

Porcelain Three Tiered Server

Well I am still feeling pretty sick but I am trying to come around at least a little. I haven't been able to take a lot of photos but I did manage to photograph my three tiered server. This is a pretty server that I have had for a few years. It appears to be bone china or at least a very similar type porcelain.  It is beautifully hand painted with both pink and blue flowers so it goes very well with my Shabby Chic decor. I originally purchased this to sell in my little shop I had a few years back and I could never decide rather to sell it or not. It is so lovely that I  am still struggling with that question. Anyway, I am still in the process of trying to photograph all my porcelain so today it was the sever. Such a lovely piece, can't you just imagine it being the centerpiece at your next Tea Party? 

This piece may be offered for sale sometime in the near future. It appears to be a newer piece and there are no markings on it. The metal pieces are not as well made as I would like them to be. For some reason I see this piece with scrolly white metal so it is just me I am sure. At least it is metal and not plastic like I have seen lately. The porcelain is beyond stunning and seems to be a very nice quality. Just a very lovely piece. 

LIVING WITH FIBROMYALGIA AND PERNICIOUS ANEMIA

Living with Fibromyalgia 
and 
Pernicious Anemia

Although I do not usually talk about it much I live with two very debilitating and life altering disorders.  I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia for over 15 years and more recently with pernicious anemia.  I also have a severe vitamin D deficiency and hypothyroidism both of which are well manged at this time. I have good days and bad days and sometimes terrible days.  My bad days seem to come as they will with no particular triggers. I wake up in the morning and I KNOW if I am going to have a good day or a bad day.  I have often wondered what is really wrong with me and how can I be so very sick? When I am terribly sick I go to bed at night wondering if I will make it through the night and I wake wondering how will I ever make it through the day.  No one can see my pain nor can they feel what I feel. Being sick like this is a very lonely place to be at times.  Now mind you, I am not upset that others don't "get it" and I certainly would not wish this on anyone. However, I often think that people see me and they think oh she's fine, she doesn't look sick at all.  Yet, I know they will never be able to understand because they can't see my fibromyalgia or my pernicious anemia and there is no way they could know. 

I often wonder how two such disorders could make someone feel as I do?  I have been tested for all sorts of things and it always goes back to fibromyalgia and pernicious anemia. On my bad days I think there has to be something else wrong, I just can't be this sick.  But alas, I am this sick and somehow I have to find the strength to get up and keep moving. Then there is the guilt I carry due to the fact that I can not always attend the many functions I should attend.  You know the trips to the park with my daughter for school, the fun organizational days for my husband's work. You know things like that and it is hard because what do you tell people? I usually tell them I am just very sick and I try to leave it at that but that leaves a lot missing doesn't it? I do not know how or why I came to be so sick but I am and it is a struggle sometimes just to keep moving. 

Over the years I have learned to manage the fibromyalgia and now I am trying to understand the pernicious anemia.  I have to plan way ahead and rest a lot in order to make appointments and things like that, at least for the fibromyalgia. Now for the pernicious anemia I am trying to understand how it works for me and it is my hope to learn how to manage and cope with this new disorder.  For the moment I have learned to find comfort in the things I love most. First and foremost my family, my beautiful children and my wonderful husband. My home and the things I love to look at and I love crafting, collecting and sharing. Crafting works because I can sit somewhere and be as comfortable as possible and make something with my hands. I feel accomplished and I even sometimes forget just how bad I am feeling. 

This past week was a  very bad week because I was incredibly sick and I could not seem to come out of it.  Finally on Friday I started coming around and sat down with my beautiful Tiffany and we made some easy DIY jewelry. So out of my bad week I manage to pull off cleaning my house, going to the Doctor (this I do every week for B12 shots) and making some pretty jewelry. I missed a function at my husband's work but he understands (I hope) even if no one else does.  I have to celebrate my small accomplishments and try to forget about the things I missed. So here is a picture of the jewelry that we made and my accomplishment for the week albeit small it meant a lot to me. From fibromyalgia to pernicious anemia to trying to live my life as best I can with a smile on my face and beautiful things around me. 

In this picture: 1 - Birdcage Necklace, 2- mixed media necklace, 3 - crochet bracelet with flower and 4 - black lace, ribbon, pearls and bead bracelet. 

Here is a picture of my Eric who helps me get through the bad days, along with my daughters. 

and finally..... a bit of

Inspiration

I also love to look around for inspiration when I am not feeling well. 
This week I found this wonderful Blog post on Etsy. 

I wanted to share because it was such a  fabulous tutorial and an incredibly beautiful lady. So enjoy and here's hoping you will find your inspiration. 

How-Tuesday Hat Tutorial from Etsy

Hugs, Beverly

#21 LIMOGES VANITY SET

Limoges Vanity Set

As promised I finally got around to taking photos of my Limoges Vanity Set.  So finally today I wanted to share my beautiful set with everyone.  All the pieces except for one are Limoges. There is a large tray, small tray (not Limoges), large round dish with lid, rectangle dish with lid, powder dish with lid and hair receiver with 2 lids. This set is painted a beautiful soft pink with lovely pink roses. All pieces have been signed by the artist. I have a vanity that these sit on and it is my plan to paint it white and maybe use blue to paint lace on top of it. Now I just have to get around to doing it. In the mean time hope you enjoy my photos. 

6 Piece Limoges Vanity Set
(11 pieces in all if you count the lids)
Dating around the early 1900's

 Limoges Large Tray

Marked T&V Limoges France
Tressemann & Vogt.
1907-1919

 Limoges Small Tray

Marked T&V Limoges France

Tressemann & Vogt.

1907-1919

 Limoges Large Dish with Lid

Marked T&V Limoges France
Tressemann & Vogt.
1907-1919

The only piece in this set that is not Limoges.
 This is a Bavarian Hard Paste Small Dish with Lid

Marked from a Bavarian Factory

Limoges Hair Receiver 
This piece is unique because it has 2 lids.
 There is a tiny lid that covers the hole of the hair receiver. 

Limoges Hair receiver 3 Pieces

Marked Limoges
Guerin
1900-1932

 Limoges Powder Jar

Marked T&V Limoges France
Tressemann & Vogt.
1907-1919

Thank you ever so kindly for visiting and come back soon. 

TODAY WREATH MAKING, VISITING FABULOUS BLOGS AND A NEW BOOK

My Wreath


It was time to make a new wreath for our front door,  as my beautiful pink wreath had hung there for far to long.  It was faded and weather, not that there is anything wrong with that, but I needed a fresh new look.  I have mostly always used pink flowers to make my wreath but I felt I needed a change. I had seen a wreath on PINTEREST (where else?) and it had the house numbers on it.  I LOVED it and I wanted something similar.  So I found all the supplies I needed and today I finally got around to making my new wreath. I love the vibrant blues and I think it will make it much more appealing from far away. My pinks although lovely up close were hard to see from far off. All we have to do now is wait and see what my neighbors say about it. 

While painting my numbers for my wreath I went to visit a few of the blogs I follow. 

I love going around and visiting, not only because I can see what everyone is up to but I can also find new and exciting blogs to visit. So I did just that I found a fabulous blog. It is called SPARKLE MINING!  Tobi has done a fabulous job with her blog and I know you will love it to. So stop by and have a look around and if you are so inclined she has a fabulous blog Give-A-Way for this lovely SPARKLE TREE that you can enter.  


http://sparklemining.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/our-first-pink-saturday-giveaway.html

Let her know that Tea Cottage Pretties sent you.  Have a beautiful day!!!!!


The Best was I got a new book that I have been wanting for a long time. My sweet daughter bought me Shel Silverstein's Where The Sidewalk Ends. I found it wrapped in beautiful paper and on the kitchen counter when I got home today. She bought it for me with her Birthday money. How sweet of her to do that for me. It just warms my heart. So today was a GOOD day. 

My next post is going to be my Limoges Vanity Set. Yummy Pink Roses!!!
Be sure to come back!!!!

MY CHAISE COMES HOME

My Chaise Comes Home

A few years ago I sent my pretty blue and white striped chaise home with my Mother-In-Law and this past week she sent it back to me. The idea was to put it in one of my yard sales and find it a new home. However, a funny thing happened when I saw it again, I remembered how much I loved it. So this started me thinking about how I could use it in our home once again. I asked my husband to help me get it in the house. I thought I would move a few pieces of furniture and put it in our front living room. Well many hours later I had changed our entire room around and added the chaise. It was quite a bit of work but it was so fun. I had not changed our front room around in many years. I am tickled pink with it and I wanted to share a few pictures of how it turned out.

This is my beautiful little chaise and in the background my Dinning Set and China Cabinet! The dinning set was originally brown and I painted it white as well as the china cabinet. 

My Vintage Chest
I found this beautiful chest in one of my favorite little shops and I painted white and reupholstered the top using Rachel Ashwell fabric.  I store all my photos and memorabilia inside. 

My Ikea sofa with pink slipcovers! My coffee table was a $10.00 find and it came with the glass top. I painted it white and added Rachel Ashwell fabric under the glass. On the table is my Shabby Chic floral dome, some Bavarian porcelain and Limoges candle sticks. 

My Living Room Collage

Living room, china cabinet (open) and foyer table. 

The following three photos were taken from up on the stairs.

Don't laugh but I have a really bad hang-up about foot prints on the carpet in this room. 

So wish I had hardwood floors. Maybe one day.....

Stairs with garland and PINK star. 

Sitting on the garland - it's a bird!!!!

Vintage Wall Pocket painted pink

*******Martha Stewart's CraftStudio *******

Also. I recently found out about a very popular Photo app from Martha Stewart called CraftStudio. It is for the iPad which I do not have so I can't try it out but I thought I would provide a link to it. It is FREE for a limited time. Here's the link:

Martha Stewart CraftStudio App

SEWING PROJECT ADDING LACE TO SHORTS

Sewing Project - Adding 
Lace To Shorts

This past weekend my niece came to visit and she had on the cutest shorts.  They were blue denim but they had a really cute eyelet type lace around the legs.  I was inspired by them to take my favorite pair of Liz shorts and repair them using lace.  My Liz shorts are fabulous but they are very old and they were unraveling at the legs. I am not one to wear shorts that are unraveling although I know some girls love worn jeans and shorts.  So I went to Hobby Lobby and found a trim that I fell in love with and that would be easy to care for and to sew onto my shorts.  

I then took my shorts from this:

To This:

Different lighting made the denim look different.

So I put together a collage to show how I was able to transform my shorts.

First I cut the unraveled part off the shorts and used a zigzag stitch to mend them.  I then added my lace by starting on the inside of the leg.  This way I finished on the inside and I simply folded the lace over and continued to stitch them.  I then added a few stitches down the width of the lace to hold it in place.  I also stitched the lace again near the edge of the shorts so that it would not flip up on me and this reinforced the repaired legs.  Then I added lace to the pockets.  I first stitched them on the sewing machine as far as I could while making sure not to catch the shorts in the sewing machine.  I took them off the sewing machine and stitched the outer edges of the pocket with the short completely on the sewing machine and did the same with the ends folded. I did a few little repairs on my old favorite shorts and ended up with a very cute pair of shorts that should last a few more years and they are adorable!!!!

Not only are they adorable but they are green!  
I am always looking for ways to be green by 
recycling, reusing and/or upcycling!!! 

Till next time, 

Beverly

Tea Cottage Pretties

EGGS IN A BASKET OR BIRDS IN A NEST?

Eggs In A Basket or Birds In A Nest?

Our Fourth of July breakfast was our first ever attempt at Eggs In A Basket aka Birds In A Nest.  These came out so well that I had to share them with everyone.  

What you will Need

 LARGE Muffin Cup Pan
 Hash Brown Potatoes
 Eggs
 Cheese
 Bacon
 and Cooking Spray

  I purchased the ready cut fresh hash browns but you can prepare your own if you wish.  

Preheat oven to 350
 Spray muffin pans and line each cup with hash browns add a pinch of salt and pepper, bake 30 minutes. 

Remove from oven and crack one egg in each muffin cup add a pinch of salt and pepper and cook for 8 minutes. 

 Remove from oven and sprinkle with bacon (we precooked our bacon and cut it up) and cheese and return to oven for one minute. 

Call them either Eggs In A Basket or Birds In A Nest these are a truly fantastic way to impress your morning breakfast guest. 

You can use ham or prosciutto instead of bacon. 

Also, use any cheese that you like.

 For variation you can add peppers, onions or whatever you fancy 

with your Eggs In A Basket. 

Here's to beautiful mornings,

Beverly 

Tea Cottage Pretties