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Dancing Pansy Flowers

I love pansies!  They've been my favorite flower for five decades.  Who can resist their cheerful "faces," luscious purple, copper and amber hues and soft, velvety petals?  I know as a toddler, I couldn't!  I was so excited to see these sweet garden beauties in grandma's garden that I pulled up several fists-full.  I ran to her grinning and squealing, proudly holding up my contraband bouquet.  I still remember that day - the day I discovered the beauty of pansies and shared that joy with my grandma!

The original lithographs were produced by L. Prang & Co. between 1861-1897.   These images have been made available to the general public by the Boston Public Library, free of charge and under a Creative Commons license with no copyright restrictions. To access the library's extensive online collection of vintage images, click here.

Vintage Beaded Flower

Another favorite from my studio cabinets are lovely beaded flower components from the 1960s.  The seed beads are strung on thin wire and wrapped around each petal of the metal finding.  The petals have serrated edges that help hold the wire in place.  Similar components can easily be created from the many gorgeous findings available today.  The original color of this flower is the lovely blue opal color in the bottom picture.

Dreaming of Spring Flowers



 Don't you love ribbon flowers?  This is one of my favorite flowers to make because of its vintage appearance, especially when the middle is "squashed down."  This particular flower was very popular a century ago.  It's also made in an 8-petal version with three additional petals used on an inner layer.  Adding stamens or antique buttons in the center can dramatically change the look.  I wish I had ribbon in these mouth-watering colors, but that's part of the magic of photo editing software - your flowers can be any color you imagine them to be!

ABCs and Flowers

A bit brighter in hue than the usual post, but I just love this vintage stencil.  It was tossed in with a box of my father's old drafting supplies; he is an engineer like his father.  The stencil measures about 4 inches wide and is made out of thick, transparent plastic that has yellowed with age into this lovely amber color.

The flatback glass flowers are 1930s vintage, also in a lovely amber hue.  But, as always, I just can't seem to keep from experimenting... and thought you might enjoy a nice olivine color as well!

Birds & Blossoms

 

Dogwood Album Pages

I've had so much fun during the last day! My dear friend Lyneen gifted me with the most wonderful antique cabinet card album - really blew my socks off! I was speechless - which is a bit unusual for me. Lyneen loves these antique albums and cabinet cards more than anyone else I know (myself excepted), so to part with this was quite a sacrifice. Well, Lyneen... rest assured that as much as you loved this album - I cherish it even More!

The first image from the album features dogwood blossoms and a cabinet card photo of the most adorable little boy holding a hand-made bow and arrow. The lovely green tint is the original scan - that beautiful Victorian Green. For the subsequent variations, I removed the photo, did a bit of digital coloring and added two more of those cute bees. Need those bees to keep the dogwood happy!

Thanks for stopping by - Enjoy!