AMOUR VALENTINE SWAP......

Cathy of Treasured Heirlooms is thrilled to be hosting her very first swap and what better time to share the love than for Valentine's Day. Please join in the fun, make a new friend and create a beautiful "Amour" gift box for your partner.

***Sign up starts now and ends Friday, January 8th at 12 midnight***

Here's how the swap will work.

1. Grab the "Amour Valentine Swap" image and place it on your blog sidebar linking it back to Cathy's blog at http://www.treasured-heirlooms.blogspot.com/.

2. Post on your blog about the swap and encourage friends to join in.

3. If you would like to participate, email Cathy at atreasuredheirloom@comcast.net

Subject line: Valentine Swap ~ with the following information.

a. Your name and home address

b. Your Email address (where I can contact you with your swap partner)

c. Your blog URL

d. Your choice of what color you would like your "Amour" swap box.

e. Choose one of the following:

*Shades of Pink
*Shades of Red
*Pastels
*Shades of White
*Any color is fine

4. Would you mind shipping outside of U.S. if necessary?

HERE ARE THE SWAP RULES:

1. You will need to purchase a LARGE (appx. 8"wx6"h), heart-shaped, cardboard box from your local craft store (Michaels, A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby).

2. Be sure your box has plenty of room to fill up with "Love Treasures".

3. Email and introduce yourself to your blog partner.

4. Create your "Amour box" with your imagination and your own particular style. It doesn't necessarily have to be a Valentine theme, but it has to be pretty and it has to be made with the color choice of your partner.

5. GENEROUSLY fill your "Amour Box" with lots of treasures from your heart. Most of you have participated in many swaps over the years so you already know what to put in the box. If this is your first time, email Cathy for suggestions on filling up your "Amour Box". If you have something that doesn't fit in the box, wrap it pretty and send it along with your package.

6. Beautifully wrap your creation before packing so your Partner will be able to take lots of pretty photos once she opens the outside box.

7. Take lots and lots of photos for our reveal day, Sunday, February 14th.

8. You have three weeks to create and mail your "Amour" box. Make sure your package arrives to your swap partner NO LATER THAN, February 5th so she can enjoy it for awhile before Valentine's Day arrives.

On Sunday, February 14th, Valentine's Day, post all your photos and the name of your swap partner.

I am taking part in this fun giveaway and would love to have a Valentine exchange with someone out there in Blogland.

If you would like to participate then don't forget to email Cathy at atreasuredheirloom@comcast.net

OUR SAVIOUR......

Almighty God became a man

By lowly, humble birth;

And Mary treasured in her heart

This Gift of boundless worth. —Sper

God came to live with us so that we could live with Him.

HAVE A WONDERFUL AND MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE......

I just want to take a moment to wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas. May your day be spent with those that you love and may your heart be full of love, joy and peace......

May God Bless you and keep you safe, Maureen......

CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS......

Christmas Stockings From The Past......

I thought that with Christmas now just around the corner you would like a peek at some of the Christmas stockings that I have made and designed. These are all in homes other than mine and being enjoyed for the holiday season......

I used to sew all of the time and loved nothing better than creating beautiful one of a kind designs for the home. I think the stockings have to be up near the top for me and were such fun to make......

I have always loved sewing ever since my mother taught me to sew my first skirt when I was eight years old. Now before I go any further it would be true to say that the skirt was simply awful. That said I of course thought it was wonderful. My mother has in her collection somewhere a picture of me wearing this hideous brown gathered creation with an orange trim at the hem. It was the sixties, that is all I can say in my defence......

From that point onwards though I was hooked and went on to make my first full trouser suit when I was eleven. It was a purple check with bell bottom trousers and a jacket that had a zipper all the way up the front, very trendy. I felt like Emma Peel from The Avengers. By this point I was pretty much sewing all of the time and everything that I wore was sewn by myself.......

At the end of every month my mother would take my sister and I to Bangor in Northern Ireland and let us pick a pattern that we wanted to make up and with great thought choose the fabric. This was very important and could take a while to get exactly the right colors and pattern. I love this memory and love the fact that my mother took the time to teach us both how to sew.......

I have since travelled all over the world and one of my favorite things is my hand cranked antique sewing machine. The reason for loving it so, is that it never required electricity and I did not have to worry if the voltage was correct or not. Just take the case lid off and it was ready to go. Obviously it was a simple straight stitch machine with no other stitches, but that was OK, I could manage to make just about anything on that old machine. I still have it today and would not part with it.......

It is sad to say that I very rarely sew anymore and have probably not made anything for over a year. I still keep my old machine though and know that it will be dusted off and used again when I feel the desire to create something special.......

I hope that you enjoy looking at these pretty stockings and never feel afraid to try something new. You never know when it will begin a life long passion......

MAKE A JOYFUL SOUND......

Psalm 100 (King James Version)

1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

SANTA CLAUS AND COCA COLA, as American as apple pie......

In 1931 the Coca-Cola Company began using Santa Claus in it's Christmas advertising. These images are now part of the fabric of American Christmas holidays and hold a place in the hearts of many......

It was Haddon Sundblom, an well-known illustrator, who was commissioned by The Coca-Cola Company in 1931 to develop an advertising image for the holidays. Inspired by Clement Clark Moore’s 1822 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” which described the toy maker as “chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,” Sundblom created the modern day image of Santa Claus......

Through this image and the power of the mass media, nearly every household in America became familiar with Sundblom’s Santa......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANE AUSTEN......

Well you could have knocked me down with a feather when I happened to see on another blog posting that today is Jane Austen's birthday and that she was born on December 16th, 1775. Seriously 234 years ago!!!

I cannot think of any book that I was to write still being read, enjoyed and loved over two hundred years later. I am sure that if anyone had told our Miss Austen that she would go on to become a cherished story teller to women the world over two hundred and more years later, she would not have believed it to be true......

I first discovered Miss Austen when I was a young girl and immediately fell in love with the heaving bossoms, vapours, dashing hero's and young and foolish heroines. My first book was typically 'Pride and Predudice' and I fell in love with the dark and brooding Mr. Darcy. What is it about haughty and proud men that we love......

'Sense and Sensibility' was published in 1811 and was her very first novel. She did not add her name to the book but used a nom de plume of A Lady. This first book introduced us to the Dashwood sisters and lead us through their romance, heartbreak and then romance again in the final chapters......

'Pride & Prejudice' was to follow two years later in 1813 and is her most famous and widely enjoyed novel. The dashing, brooding and proud Mr. Darcy was introduced to us all and from that point onwards we have all collectively swooned......

'Mansfielf Park' arrived in 1814 with the main character of Fanny Price. This is I have to say one of my least favourites of Miss Austens but she redeemed herself with 'Emma'. This was published in 1816 and we all loved the interfering Emma Woodhouse......

Jane Austen died July 18, 1817 age 41 and her last two novels 'Northhanger Abbey' and 'Persuasion' were published posthumously in 1818. I think no one would have been more suprised than Miss Austen to know that we would still be reading, discussing and enjoying her novels today......

Jane Austen quote: "I do not want people to be agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them."

PRAYER......

To face life’s many challenges

And overcome each test,

The Lord tells us to take the time

To stop, to pray, to rest. —Sper

PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW......

PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW......

Now available at my website www.arosewithoutathorn.com

SPUN COTTON FLOWER GIRLS......

I love the art form of spun cotton batting ornaments and collectables and have bought a number of these over the last year or so. There is something so nostalgic and charming about this style of ornaments that I had decided a long time ago that I would eventually make some of my own. I never thought it would take me as long as it did to get started on some of my own creations but life had a way of getting in the way......

The other night I finally decided to create some of my own and these have been made with my own method which was a lot of trail and error. I love how these wonderful little girls turned out, they are everything that I hoped they would be. They are all dressed up in the best dresses and waiting for their new homes......

They were great fun to make and are labour intensive but that was ok I had time on my hands. I know I will make more of these charming vintage style collectables when I have some more spare time......

I hope you like them also and they can now be found on my website www.arosewithoutathorn.com. Happy creating and may you find your joy and passion also, blessings at this wonderful time of year......

The birth of our Saviour and Redeemer......

CHRISTMAS DECORATING......

Christmas in our house involves getting out the big boxes that store our holidays ornaments, and I mean BIG boxes. I have shown the last photograph in order to try and give an idea to the size and scale of things. Over 80% of our house has ceilings that are 12 feet tall, this means that things tend to become dwarfed in comparision. The large piece of furniture is 7.5 feet long and 7 feet tall and still struggles to compete. Many of my decorations are 2' feet tall so they take up a lot of space when it comes to storage.

When we first moved here I happily unpacked our tree from England (artificial of course). I always have an artificial tree because I cannot bear to see a tree cut down and then thrown away. So apart from our very first tree which was real I have always bought great fake trees. But I digress, I unpacked our tree that had come all the way across the pond and set about putting it together. When it was complete I proudly stood back and looked at this tiny, spindly little piece of nothing in our front family room. My English tree was 6 feet tall and looked great in our English home with it's 8.5 feet ceilings but here in Florida it could not cope with a 16 feet size room with 12 foot ceilings. I braved it through that year and promised to buy a bigger tree the following year. I swear the tree looked like it was from Gulliver's Travels!!

I love my collection of vintage Santa's and my dear friend Barbara gave me three of them, the only one that I added to the collection was the one on the chimney on the far left. I especially love the tall Santa that lights up from about the 1940's, his face is just lovely.

When I was unpacking the ornaments this year I found on it's own the little paper mache snow baby. After hunting around I found a box that I had begun to paint in red and green and never liked it enough to finish. A couple of bottle brush trees later, vintage holly berries, mica, vintage tinsel and voila I had a little box created that I now love. It was meant to be!

OUR DAILY BREAD......

How blest is he whose trespass

Has freely been forgiven,

Whose sin is wholly covered

Before the sight of heaven. —Psalter

THE HOPE OF CHRISTMAS......

The hope of Christmas is the song

Of angels in the sky,

And Christ within a manger laid

To bring salvation nigh. —Campbell

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME......

Free Image......

Today is my birthday and I would like to pass on a birthday gift to you. Here is a FREE IMAGE from my collection. This is one of my favorites and she is so beautiful.

Click on image to enlarge her and then copy her to your computer.

These images are wonderful for birthday cards, altered art and picture transfer onto fabric for pillows and all sorts of creations.

Enjoy......

SNOWMEN......

I love snowmen (and women) figures and have collected a few favourites over time. This is a peek at some of my figures. My absolute favorite of all time is the tall lady in the background, she is not the most expensive and is in fact the cheapest but I just love her gummy grin. I first saw this snow figure three Christmas's ago in Homegoods and immediatly fell in love with her. I had pledged to buy no more decorations and I passed her by very reluctantly. My son was with me at the time and was rapidly trying to get me out of the store as guys of a certain age do. Imagine my suprise on Christmas morning when this lovely lady was all wrapped up under the Christmas tree waiting for me. My son had told my husband about her and between the two of them they hatched the plan to suprise me. When my son went back to the store he could not find her and walked up and down the rows. Then he remembered that she had long skinny striped legs. By just looking at the legs he eventually spotted her tucked away at the back. She will always be my favourite because she was bought with love for me......

Nicole Sayer Snow Family......

I bought these sweet Nicole Sayer snow people because they reminded me of my husband and myself and the little snow clown at the front represents Tiffany our daughter-in-law......

Nicole Sayer Figures......

I bought the 'Spirit of Christmas' to remind me of my son Jonathan when he was a little boy and still believed in Santa and the 'Jingle' snowman is to represent Jonathan when he was older. Am I the only one that does sentimental stuff like this......

I love this roly poly figure, a bit like myself!!......

This is a large snow figure and I love the fact that it looks just like the early scary snowmen and that he lights up (looks great in the evenings). Another great buy from Homegoods last year, they only had the one so I was like a Ninja and grabbed it quickly :)......

NOVEMBER BLOG GIVE-A-WAY WINNER......

I am happy to announce that my blog give-a-way winner for November is Amy of Bunny Rose Cottage, congratulations and I hope that you love your little gift......