Some Lovelies I Won From Liz!!

It was destined to be mine...I could FEEL it!

Do y'all do that?  See something that you just KNOW will be yours?

Well, that's how I felt when Liz recently had a giveaway on her blog!

I saw the most GORGEOUS lace cuffs she had made, and I KNEW I would win one.

and so I did....

drum roll please:

There it is!  She posted it right before her trip to FRANCE!! (yes, I am jealous, but I asked her nicely to please take lots of pictures of her pretties, and she has!!)

But wait!  That's not ALL!!

Be still my heart.  A wonderful French thread card...I'm in heaven!!

Look at the gorgeous attachments she sewed to the cuff:

Right up my alley!!

But wait, there was MORE!!

A lovely length of lace, a piece of aged background paper with the loveliest script, and a hand made tag!!

Liz, you outdid yourself, and I'm so excited!!



I've just delighted in the details...pinks and creams, tiny tiny beads all beautifully stitched to make a lovely one of a kind cuff especially for me!!  The textures of all this lovely antique lace and pearls and velvet just make me swoon!!

Thank you so much Liz!!! 

If you have never visited Liz before, be sure and check out her blog HERE.

I'm so blessed!!!

Hugs to you all,

Doni

Now We're Talking!! Favorite Lace Pieces

I'm back in business!  Or should I rather say, I'm back to blogging!!

My email is fixed (a new password did the trick), and the monitor is working, so I feel normal again!!
I did try to get my craft room better organized, but it's a slow process...and I keep on finding pretties to play with!!  Oh poor me...I know. Teehee!!  Hope y'all are wanting to see some room pics for the Where Bloggers Create party next month, 'cause I'm already taking pictures!!

Want to see some pretties?

I took these pics back a few weeks ago, so I thought I'd share them now.

The crocheted flowers above are commonly called Irish Lace, and have quickly become a favorite among lace makers and collectors for their beauty and ease of making.  They are fun little embellishments and I love the coloration and age of these in particular.  The raised edges forming the 'petals' makes it a unique style for doilies and runners, etc.  I see wedding dresses adorned with these while looking around pinterest and love the way they add such texture to the items made.

Below is a lovely example of lace-making lace...I don't know exactly what it's called, some call it honiton, brussels, or battenburg for example, but it is used to make other larger pieces of lace.  They are twisted into shapes and woven in between with tiny threads to make the actual lace.  The example below is my very very favorite of this sort that I've seen.  If you are curious, I found a listing on ebay (here) for some of this type of lace making trim, and one of the pictures with the listing shows a page from a book that shows different styles of this.  It is very interesting to see how different styles and thicknesses, from fine and narrow to thick and intricate could be had back in the day.  This particular example of trim is #117 according to that book!

Below is an example of coronation lace that also was used for lace making, same principle as the previous example, with the twisted pieces being formed to make elaborate and beautiful lace pieces.  The one below was being crocheted together to make a long piece, supposedly to become either some trim or something more.  Who knows.  BUT, I love coronation lace too, so was excited to find this big chunk of loveliness!!

There's your lace history for today!  I don't know much, but find it fascinating and always learn something interesting when I search.  One of these days I will purchase a lace book that tells more about the different types of lace and be able to share better what I have on hand.

Hope you had fun looking, and hope you all have a lovely week!

Blessings to you!

Doni



When It Rains It Pours.

Some days it just seems like every thing goes wrong at once.  One thing leads to another, and before you know it, you feel like Scarlet O'Hara from Gone With The Wind.  "I'll think about it tomorrow".  That was my thought yesterday.  Now I am thinking it again today!

  Yesterday my main email account seems to have been hacked, and now it is just Gone!  To top that off, we can't get the home computer monitor to come on.  It makes noise and the light is on, but the screen is black.  So again, no computer there.  My ipad is working, just no email!  So if anyone is trying to get in touch with me, I cannot get emails on my regular account.  If you need to contact me please leave me a message here and I will keep a look out for comments on this post instead of relying on my emails to tell me.

  One good thing...I have been able to think about what all I need to do to finish getting my craft room ready for Where Bloggers Create hosted by Karen Valentine over at My Dessert Cottage.  So are y'all going to join?  I hope you do.  I love seeing what you do in your own craft spaces, and I like seeing your ideas for storing and decorating.

   Believe me, the pic below has now changed drastically!  I hope you will come back and see what all I have accomplished!  And pray we can figure out the computer problems!

 

Blessings and hugs,

Doni

Pearls and Lace Thursday Pearls Giveaway Winner!

Howdy to you all!!

I have a winner picked!!

But you'll have to wait to find out.  That's 'cause I'm mean.

Yep, just plain mean.  And selfish because I want you see what I've been working on.

So.  Remember the collage I wanted to make for my friend 'L'??

Here is the start of it.

I have it all pinned, and yet there are still a LOT of items I haven't put on it yet.  You know I can't stop with it until there are buttons and pearls and roses!!  The picture below is my work area.  I'm supposed to be getting my craft room ready for Where Bloggers Create!!!

OK.  I need to stop first and tell y'all something I've decided.  I have been so late getting to everybody who has joined my party this last month or so that I've decided to take a break from hosting the Pearls and Lace Thursday party for a while.  Probably for most of the summer.  I will think about getting back to hosting the party after the heat of summer is over.  Now don't think I'll be absent from blogland, because I love to take pictures and have fun showing y'all what I've been doing.  AND there's the Where Bloggers Create party coming up in July and I want to participate in that again this year.

So until further notice, there will no longer be a Pearls and Lace Thursday party.  I must say that you all make it fun to host, and you all share such lovely things!!  I appreciate your comments and joining me so much.  I just need to take a break.

Hoping you understand!!

NOW, how about that winner! 

I had a TON of glass pearls that I found on sale a few weeks ago and wanted to share, so of the people who commented on my last post, here is the winner.

Drumroll please.......

Cynthia, would you please get me your address so I can send you a package of pearls???

I will try to email you and let you know...

Big hugs and blessings to you all!!

Doni



Pearls and Lace Thursday #138 Serving Up Pearls!

So what do YOU do when you come across a sale?  You know the kind, a sale where something you LOVE is on sale, and not just for a few cents off, but on sale for a LOT off?

Well, you BUY A LOT of them right????

So I'm justified in my thinking that purchasing TONS of pearls is alright.  Especially if I decide to have a quick giveaway, right??

I found glass pearls on sale this last week and even my husband understood!!

Here's what I found: (and please forgive the disgusting quality of my lighting in the following photos.  I cannot for the life of me figure out how to take pictures that look good in my dining area).

Now, I hate to do this for a giveaway, but because of the weight of glass pearls, I am only opening this giveaway up to people who live in the continental United States.  I'm sorry...
I will contact the winner and then after finding out a bit of information I will put together a small box of lovelies, including some of these wonderful glass pearls!!  Be sure and let me know if you are interested in your comment, and I will pick the winner and post it next week for P&L Thursday.

Actually, it was quite humorous.  My husband has this love for ink pens.  He uses them in all colors to mark the books he reads.  So, I was armed with a 50% off coupon for Michales, and we wandered around for quite some time.  Then I saw them.  The pearls that is.  On one endcap were these gorgeous lengths of deep colored pearls.  And I couldn't believe my eyes.  Did that "29" on the tag really mean they were only 29 cents each?  Oh dear, I'd have to get a price check on those....but what if someone saw them and grabbed them while I was at the register trying to get the price checked?  So I grabbed up a huge handful of them and headed to the front.

Yes, they were 29 cents each strand.  GREAT!!  Back to the endcap and as I hauled more of them into my basket, I was feeling great!  Then I headed to the front via another isle, and another display drew my attention.  It was full of all the pearl strands and they TOO were on sale, but for 40 cents a strand!!

OH WOW!  That's a good price too right?  So out came the basket to the floor now, and I'm quickly hauling in multiple lengths of gorgeous glass pearls.  I didn't drool on their floor either.  I was nice and left quite a few behind, and I even kept the different priced pearls separate from each other.

Now the hard part.  Showing the almost full (seemed like it to me) basket to my husband as we approached the front.  He had found a package of pens (50% off with my coupon!), and so he was happy.  And when he saw my haul, he did what only a husband who knows his wife well could do.  He smiled and said, 'Well you found the motherlode today!!"  And I told him the prices and he too was amazed.

So, person after person with only one or two items in their hands came up behind us (looking at me like I was a crazy woman), and I waved them ahead knowing that our check out would take a lot of time.  After all, counting all those lengths of pearls takes time!!  Finally, it's our turn, and we finish the checkout.  That bag of pearls had to be DOUBLE BAGGED because it was so heavy!!! I laughed all the way home!  And I thought of what I could do with them, and all sorts of ideas came to mind. 

I'm in Pearl Heaven this week.

SO, it's time for Pearls and Lace Thursday!!  Add the url code for your post to the link below and join us as we share our pretties.  It doesn't have to be a post about pearls or lace, anything lovely is welcome.  I feel so much less hectic now when I see my calendar!!  Last month was a doozy!  This month looks much better!!

Thanks to each of you who joined us last week!  I have enjoyed seeing your pretties.  And welcome to my newest followers and guests!  It's so nice to meet you!!

I hope you all have a lovely week,

Blessings,

Doni