Pink Friday's Linen and Lace

Linens and lace tenderly woven into the fabric of a life. They first surround when we are wrapped in the heirloom christening gown. Yellowed by time but preserved with love, brought out on a day that is filled with expectant joy. A treasure carefully saved by a mother in each generation, along with the hope for a beautiful life to come. The simple elegance of linens and lace remains in our memories -later we're struck by the beauty of a simple lace hankie that catches our eye, lying in a grandmother's lavender-scented drawer. Linens and lace carefully collected and stored within a handmade cedar chest, for yet another day of joyful expectation. Feelings of love and anticipation lie behind each piece a young girl selects to adorn her one-day home with grace. She envisions a future life of bliss as she tenderly folds every piece and stores it away, to lie patiently in wait for its turn to come. Linens and lace draped over a vintage boudoir chair, in the corner of a quite room. Perhaps it is a small piece of handmade lace, or perhaps it is a layer, that found its way into her bridal gown. She thinks of the women who have worn linens and lace before her on a day like this. A precious object of beauty... delicate and strong, as she herself is. In the kitchen where she works to care for her family, she has hung the first curtains of spring. Linens and lace swaying gently in the breeze, while the sunlight dances through their intricate designs.

Joyce Lucas, Founder

Pink Friday at Make Mine Pink

Please join us for shopping with a twist on Friday, February 27, 2009 as we present Linens and Lace.

Linens and lace tenderly woven into the fabric of a life. They first surround when we are wrapped in the heirloom christening gown. Yellowed by time but preserved with love, brought out on a day that is filled with expectant joy. A treasure carefully saved by a mother in each generation, along with the hope for a beautiful life to come. The simple elegance of linens and lace remains in our memories -later we're struck by the beauty of a simple lace hankie that catches our eye, lying in a grandmother's lavender-scented drawer. Linens and lace carefully collected and stored within a handmade cedar chest, for yet another day of joyful expectation. Feelings of love and anticipation lie behind each piece a young girl selects to adorn her one-day home with grace. She envisions a future life of bliss as she tenderly folds every piece and stores it away, to lie patiently in wait for its turn to come. Linens and lace draped over a vintage boudoir chair, in the corner of a quite room. Perhaps it is a small piece of handmade lace, or perhaps it is a layer, that found its way into her bridal gown. She thinks of the women who have worn linens and lace before her on a day like this. A precious object of beauty... delicate and strong, as she herself is. In the kitchen where she works to care for her family, she has hung the first curtains of spring. Linens and lace swaying gently in the breeze, while the sunlight dances through their intricate designs.

Joyce Lucas, Founder

I love Show and Tell Mondays

Join us at Make Mine Pink on the forum for Show and Tell Monday. This is what I am working on this week. It is a set of pillowcases, dresser scarf, and doilies.

Please join us for shopping with a twist on Friday, February 20, 2009 as we present French Farmhouse!


Close your eyes and imagine the sun-warmed tumbled stone tiles beneath your feet, take in the scent of lavender, listen to the sounds of the chickens in the yard.
Where are you?

At a lovely French Farmhouse.

What makes up the French Farmhouse?

A home decorated with cherished family heirlooms handed down through the generations asking to be touched and used. The nicks, scuffs and dents are the patina that only comes with time and offers a sense of history. The wear and tear is meant to be celebrated. French Farmhouse style lies in its eclectic nature of mix and match, use what you have, finding a new use for an old item. French Farmhouse juxtaposes a velvet sofa with a tattered linen chair and a Louis XIV armoire. All well loved and still meant to be used not to be put in a museum. The colors and patterns are a mixture of bright blue, red and yellow of Provence used next to the two-tone toiles of Jouy-en-Josas and silks of Paris. Rugs have a used and tattered patina of the past centuries layered with the newer brighter rugs of the past decade. To complete the French Farmhouse one must tell their own story by adding brocante- items that a bit to nice to throw away; not quite junk not quite art. Add flower frogs under bell jars, a row of children’s wooden boats on the mantle, an old tiara on a cake stand or vintage perfume bottles on the dressing table. If you love books, line every shelf with them and add stacks to all the tables. Wire bird cages, cast-off egg baskets, rustic ladders and garden trellis all find safe haven in a French Farmhouse. Bring the garden in to the house by adding florals here, there and everywhere. Fresh flowers are a must in nearly every room. Using what you love becomes the only rule to decorating in the French Farmhouse.


Enjoy your time in the French Countryside.


Sharon Wollman,

www.CestChouetteHome.com

Image provided by:
www.meadowstreet.com

You all will think I'm Crazy But......

I have always wanted to do this. I had planned to go to Paris this spring but I am helping with my grandkids till my daughter goes to boot camp this summer. So when she gets through with her boot camp and training I plan to go on the road. I will buy a van and convert it. I will live in this van for a year traveling from place to place. I plan to take my business with me and not only sell on line but at shows too. I'll soon be 56 with my children grown and no one I need to take care of besides me, I think it is time to live the gypsy live I have always dreamed of. I will keep you posted on the steps I'm taking and how it turns out. I don't plan on leaving until 2/2010, so I have plenty of time.

Monday's Show and Tell

This kitchen towel with onions will not make you cry, I promise

Chamomile sachet

French Farmhouse hint

Sweet hearts hand embroidered pillowcases

Join me and all the other ladies of Make Mine Pink in the forum as we celebrate Mondays. My show and tell this week includes a sneak peak of 2 French Farmhouse items that I will be offering on the Pink Friday event and a couple of new items for my web site.

You can find the pillowcases in my "Little Pink Boutique" at http://www.makeminepink.com/boutiques/details/?store=37

Shades of a Rose

The shade of a single rose so eloquently captures all the feelings of a special moment, reflects all the memories of everything that has happened before this time, and expresses the hopes of many moments yet to come.

The first single rose a young woman receives might be given while she is still a girl. Perhaps it is a delicate shade of peach, from someone who knows every ounce of effort that has gone into a special performance, or accomplishment. It's an appreciation of everything the girl is right now, and all she hopes to be.

Later, a single rose in a deep shade of orange says, "I am so proud," and expresses admiration of everything she has become. She has graduated from girlhood and she is ready to take on the world.Now that she is a woman, her grace and beauty catch someone else's eye. A pink rose, held in a hand made bold by sweet love, tells her of unspoken feelings. After a time, the same hand brings a newly bloomed red rose to announce, "I love you." A single white rose might follow, proclaiming a love that is stronger than death.

The shades of a rose, like a moment in her life, can contain a myriad of meanings. A single yellow rose might speak of contentment and happiness. Placed on a bedside table, it could celebrate the unbridled joy of a new birth or anniversary of another year together. It could also make the promise of a new beginning, or to make up for things that have gone wrong.Soon it becomes the woman's turn to give a single rose. She carefully selects one in a delicate shade of peach. It's been chosen for another girl, not yet a woman, who is full of promise and life, and given with the hope that she too will experience life in all its beautiful shades.

Joyce Lucas, Founder

Shades of Roses

This week on Pink Friday at Make Mine Pink we are celebrating "Shades of Roses." Stay tuned and check me and all the other ladies out.

Show and Tell Monday

Today I am getting a jump start on Show and Tell Monday at Make Mine Pink. I have added some fresh sachets to my site, a set of men's golf embroidered handkerchiefs, and I'm working on this very pretty set of pillowcases.

OH MY -- This took my breath away

New items listed on my site for Valentines and Easter

Here are some pictures of items I just listed on my site in the Be My Valentine and Spring Easter Categories

Pink Friday -- Be My Valentine

Remember the days when we took shoeboxes and transformed them into treasure chests, sacred vessels ready to receive Valentines from our classmates? The anticipation we felt when we carved slots in the tops with blunt pairs of school scissors, making sure the openings were large enough to receive the dozens of cards we hoped would soon be delivered... but not so big that we would appear greedy. For that one day, we were willing to extend our friendship to even the boy who pulled our hair.

Later, the tingling excitement as we spent hours pouring over each and every sentiment that had been dropped into our box of hope... eager to find that one special card from a best friend, a boy we liked, or the most popular girl in class. Pouring over each sentiment, examining the carefully formed letters of each name.

The days of decorated shoeboxes and clumsily lettered names may have been long ago, but many things still fill us with the same little flutters we felt back then.

Finding a stack of vintage postcards in a favorite antique shop – some garlanded with roses, others with whimsy and fun. Uncovering a tarnished locket filled with memories of lost loves, at the bottom of an abandoned jewelry box. Picking up a weathered journal and discovering the dreams of a young woman as she embarked on her own journey of love.

A delicate hankie from a past generation, lovingly stitched with pink and red roses. Yellowed stacks of love letters, unfading feelings bound with a tattered ribbon.

As Valentine's Day draws near, I find myself feeling nostalgic for the things and feelings of the past. I'm opening the drawers of my memory and sifting through moments that have been stored away for a time just like this.

Happy Valentines Day,
Joyce Lucas, Founder