Accessories Of Old

Hand embroided beauties

I have just received these absolutely beautiful hand embroided baby bibs from South Africa to sell in  the shop. I love anything that is hand made and especially hand embroided. There are craft  centers in South Africa that give work to ladies to make extra money . These woman are so incredibly talented with their hands and I am always in awe of the time they take to make sure each and every detail is done to perfection.

 

Look at the closure on the back of the bibs - I just love the way they have designed them together with the scalloped edges.

 

I have taken some close ups so you can see the detail in the work.

 

 

 

I really love the shape of these little bibs ...

 

 

Look at the detail - just imagine the patience sitting and doing it that one would need?

 

Where there is blue so too is there a pink version!!!

 

Adore the pink birds - don't you?

Vintage bridal scrapbooking packs part 2

Today as part of my scrapbooking bridal theme I decided to make some flower cut outs using Tjomie Vintage stationery paper as a backgound and embellishing them with some vintage flatback swarovski crystal.

 

 

The paper is from the series of Hand embellished bridal cards that we do.

 

I love the way the crystal was packaged. It looks so neat and tidy in its little paper envelope and then when you open it up there amongst the layers of paper inside are the most precious sparkling crystals just waiting to be used..

 

Sort of like Aladdins cave ..would you not say?

I found a home for the flatbacks on each little flower cut out and packaged them for the New York show to have together with the rest of our scrapbooking kits.

 

These flowers are part of a range that we will present. I love the scrapbooking kit it goes with ... take a look...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is our vintage bridal kit that I really love.  

 

Each kit will be able to be ordered with a matching hand embellished card ,tags and paper..to see all the greeting cards from the Hand Embellished series you can just pop over to Tjomies vintage stationery website and take a look.

 

More to follow tomorrow - part 3 of vintage scrapbooking kits.

By the way all these kits will be available to buy online at Tjomies from the end of May. 

Authentic vintage scrapbooking kits part 1

 Now that the New York Stationery Show is just around the corner we (Tjomies vintage stationery) are working around the clock to get all our last minute items done. One of the areas we are working on are our vintage scrapbooking kits.

 

It is all very time consuming as each and every  bit of vintage ribbon,lace and trim is measured and cut to color coordinate with its Tjomie tag..

 

 

I know it takes forever but as you can see each item is wrapped and placed with 100% VINTAGE LOVE

 

These will all go with our hand embellished cards that can be found on our Tjomies website

I really love the colors in this one. Have a look...

 

I adore the lace with the blue little flower running down the center...

 

We put in some little vintage glass buttons as well as vintage faux pearl beads from Occupied Japan.

The wonderful thing about the vintage scrapbook kits is that everything included is 100% authentic vintage product.

This is just a little taste to wet your tastebuds so for all you vintage scrapbooking fans keep checking this blog and see how the rest of our vintage scrapbooking kits came out ( seriously enough to make you hyperventilate!!) - more tomorrow.

A hand beaded paper Hamsa

Hamsa means five which refers to the five fingers. The hamsa is mostly worn in charms and jewelery and is a symbol to protect against the "evil eye". Many people see the hamsa as a sign for protection/happiness and prosperity.

I have a real love for Hamsa's and have a collection at home. A while back I decided to make one for a friend using paper and beads, since then I have had many people ordering these hand made pieces as each one is individual and never repeated. They are extremely time consuming but well worth the effort when you see the end result.

I decided to blog the process while making these two Hamsa's for a client. Take a look.

Firstly I took a Hamsa and photocopied it onto paper.

 

I then cut it out .

 

I usually make about eight to ten copies so it will give me enough height to creative a 3D effect.

 

With double sided tape ( and a alot of it !) I start cutting out different shapes within the Hamsa that I want to layer more.

 

The more height you want - the more layers you build.

 

 

 

After building the Hamsa I then start outlining the different areas on the Hamsa with seed beads..

 

This is the time consuming part and I always work with a tweezer ( yes a tweezer has many uses!)

 

This time around I decided to use some trim together with beads and crystal to add some different texture ...

 

I love the way this metallic trim works with the crystal.

 

It is all a process of finding the right space for the right bead.

 

Here is the finished product before I frame it. The client for this Hamsa wanted a lot of blues and so I focused on different blues that I found in seed beads as well as the Swarovsky crystal.

 

The next one is a different palette of  warmer colors

 

 

 

A full view of this Hamsa....

 

For any of the beads, crystals and trim used ..all can be purchased  on my website xxx

If you want more details on the Hamsas and would like to order a Hamsa just email me -

 

Spring window display

I blogged yesterday about the great hand beaded airoplanes my father sent me from South Africa.

As soon as I had unpacked them I already had a image in my mind of having them as part of my spring window display...so yesterday I made these clouds to go together with the planes - have a look

 

I also found this really cute paper at MICHAELS craft store and together with some lace and ribbon made a kite to hang from the planes...

 

All I did was punch a hole on the corner and thread some nice pale blues and white ribbon through the hole as a kite tail.

 

I then hooked up my planes ( not a easy task let me tell you!!) and with clear thread attached the kite and some clouds to the planes.

   

     

 

Hand beaded airoplanes and paper clouds

My father who lives in South Africa is always on the lookout of new and wonderful crafts to send me to put in my shop. This time he send me these incredible HAND BEADED airoplanes. 

 

The work is so incredible take a look...

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, now that I have these great planes the next step is to create a theme for them to hang in the shop window....

I decided to make some clouds ( every plane needs some clouds wouldnt you say?)

 

I cut out some nice puffy clouds and together with some help of Martha Stewart glitter made the borders just that little bit prettier..

 

I then took some white paint and painted each cloud ....

 

Eventually after a while I had a whole collection of nice pretty clouds to use in my window.

 

Now that I have my clouds read I will put it all together tomorrow... remember to check this spot . 

 

Pretty summer umbrellas

 I came across these lovely fabric summer umbrellas in a Japanese magazine that I subscribe to called  COTTON TIME. Even though I cannot understand anything, just looking at the beautiful pictures and ideas is inspiring enough. I have mentioned before how I love all things Japanese - I am totally in awe of  their crafts,design and  merchandising and how everything is done so perfectly to the last detail with such clean lines and design.

Now that summer is on its way and we have blue skies and sunshine ( hopefully I am not talking to soon!)

I though this would be a great idea to share with you. Especially for those days when the sun is beating down and any shade is a relief..just think of having a beautiful fabric umbrella neatly tucked under your arm that you can wip out anytime - mmmmh sounds good to me!

 

 

I love the detail in this with the cute little button.

  

 

Love everything from the little lace detail up to the sweet carry bag.

 

 

Love , love, love the lace trim don't you?

 

MARY POPPINS EAT YOUR HEART OUT!!!!!!

My second vintage giveaway

I really had so much fun reading all your comments and being able to give such joy to someone out there that I am happy to say I am now doing my second giveaway and hoping to do many more after this.

 

In this giveaway I have three yards ( a yard of each) of different French 1935 ribbon...

 

and (hang on ladies there is more!)... four cards of Czech glass buttons from the 1940's together with a really cute original card of English made novelty trim.

 

So what do you have to do to be the lucky recepient of these vintage lovelies???

 

Just send in a comment of how you would use each item  if you had them in your craft box?

Winners will be announced at the end of the month.

Sweet little Easter treats

I have these really sweet little Easter treats that I bought from Bethany Lowe. 

 

I filled them with mini Easter chocolate eggs I bought and put them out on my counter for all the Easter shoppers to help themselves... (the gift of giving)

 

 

 

Happy Easter to all of you out there...

Blossoms all around us

 This time of year is really like being surrounded by shades of pink and white confetti. Living in the Washington DC area Cherry Blossom season is breathtaking. It marks the end of winter and shows us how incredible nature really is.

 

Imagine being the lucky bird that is going to be born in the nest of this tree?

 

 

 

 

  

A vintage globe

I have the sweetest box of miniature world globes  sitting on one of our display tables in the shop. They are made in the 1950's in Czechoslavakia .

 

 

What  I love most about these mini globes are not only are they really cute to look at but serve a purpose .... each one houses a mini leather tape measure.

I love these and have one tucked away neatly in my craft box... the world really seems to be getting smaller and smaller doesnt it?

Plus Model Magazine

A really big thanks to the beauty editor at Plus Model Magazine for including us in their vintage issue.

 

Five minute craft project - butterflies,butterflies..everywhere

I was looking for something sweet and spring -like to embellish hairgrips to fill a party pack for a birthday we are doing at the shop  and I came across these little butterflies.

 

They are really sweet and with a sparkle of a flatback crystal could be made into something that would sit pretty on a hairgrip. So, I put them into little packs and tried out a pair to see how they would come out. Take a look ..

 

Do not forget the sparkle (every girl loves a little sparkle)

 

and some more sparkle...

 

Next out came the glue gun and voila a new five minute craft project was born.

 

 

Look how pretty they look......

 

These were really easy and very inexpenive to do. A very sweet project to do with your little one over the spring break.

Oh so cute vintage hand painted buttons

  Our buttons is one area in our shop that always brings most buttons lovers to tears. When they spot our 'button wall' that is the moment when the tears swell and the hyperventilation starts!! Jokes aside it happens all the time...and because of this reaction from most my advice is always to take a deep breath and calm down!!

 

 

 

As I once said before ... Israel has the wailing wall

    China has the great wall

and we have our.... button wall!!

Today I have focused on some really pretty hand painted vintage buttons that are so sweet that I wanted to share them with you...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really love the card of these ones ( yes and the buttons)

  

And last but most definitely not least one of my favorite -

 

Yes ! believe it our not its a button.... this is what it looks like from behind....

 

If you are interested in any of the above buttons they are all on my website in the button section in hand painted novelty buttons. 

Vintage Czech brooches

Spring is in the air and wherever I look I see flowers budding. I love all the colors of spring after such a dreary winter palette of color there really is nothing more uplifting then the wonderful spring hues.They tend to jump out at you wherever you look. Today I was looking at items in the shop to put out in celebration of spring and came across these fantastic vintage Czech brooches made in the 1920's.

They are funnily  left overs from one of the first purchases made by my grandfather for his shop. I am sure you will agree with me they are darling.

Just adore the detail ..dont you?

All of these are on  my website  if you wish to purchase any of them.