Laces in Whites and Creams - Simply Neutrals #2

I'm immersed in frothy whites

as I've been going through my little collection

of laces, chiffons and other fabrics of interest

to use in the book I'm creating

via Suzy's class at Creative Workshops.

If you've always wanted to make a fabric and lace book

this is the class for you!

Thank you sweet Wendy for hosting your party
Simply Neutrals

I'm linking to
Wendy for Simply Neutrals Tuesday
Judith for Mosaic Monday
and
Stephanie for Roses of Inspiration.


Take care and
be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt


Shane

Exquisite Hand Made Lace

When I visited the

Auckland Vintage Textile Fair

I was enthralled by these

exquisite hand made lace samplers.

I am full of admiration for the women

such as our grandmothers,

great-grandmothers and great aunts

who created this fine work.

It took many hours to make one small piece

such as a collar and cuffs

for a special dress.

I imagine much of this work was done by

poor lamp light in the evening

once their hard days work was done.

I have several pieces of precious

hand made lace which I will

pass on to my granddaughters and

I hope they will appreciate it's beauty

as much as I do.

I'm linking up to Becky for

Blissful Whites Wednesday

please pop over and see what others are posting!

Thank you for visiting
and leaving your kind comments!

Merci à bientôt
be kind to one another!

♥ Shane ♥

 

 

 

 

My heart skipped beats.....

~ A magical gift ~

Hello dear friends!

As the title of this post says

"my heart skipped beats"

the day I received a wonderful parcel from

my dear blogging friend

Mary.

I have followed her lovely blog

A Breath of Fresh Air

for a few years.

She writes about her home and garden,

 her amazing travel exploits

often to quite remote destinations

An exquisite grey heart

and also about her visits

to antiquey shops/flea markety places

you know what I mean!!!

I've always wanted some fairy dust!

I left a comment on one of those posts

which sparked an idea for Mary

and the result was

this beautiful gift she sent me

quite out of the blue!

a beautiful collection of tags

vintage linen and exquisite bobbin lace

Everything in the parcel is divine,

telling me that over the years she

has got to know me very well!

 THANK YOU

dear Mary - you have filled my heart with

JOY
"I'm over the moon and dancing on air"!

So to celebrate - I'm joining these parties

Becky for Blissful Whites Wednesday

and

Michelle for Grey Dey Thursdey

WELCOME

to my new followers - it's lovely to meet you here!

 

Merci à bientôt
take care of one another!
 

♥ Shane ♥

 

 

Trésor Collage a parting gift...

My dear friend Carol who now lives
and works in the UK
has just been home for a
month long Summer visit.

Out of all my friends
she is one of very few who "get it"
regarding my love of blogging,
and visiting thrift shops
looking for old linen and lace trésors!

We spent some lovely time together
which included shopping,
enjoying afternoon teas at
'The Florentine Tea Room'
and
'Little and Friday'.

I wanted to make something special
for Carol as a reminder of her visit home.
I pulled out all my most precious
laces and fabrics for her to choose from.

Carol chose a beautiful piece of old
French embroidered linen
(given to me by my dear blogging friend Barbara
who sadly died in February this year.
You can read my tribute post here).

An old piece of toile fabric with images
of roosters especially caught her eye
(this was given to me by Lilla -
thank you L).


Carol's mother was from England originally -
 her maiden name was Cockerell.

So, being the fervent francophile that I am
I translated the 'Gallic Cockerill'
to 'Le Coq Gaulois'!

On the right hand side I included
a piece of New Zealand Paua shell
as a reminder of home.
Carol told me she has it hanging
on her bedpost!

Today I'm joining Becky for
Blissful Whites Wednesday

 and
Claudia for 
A Favorite Thing Saturday

There are three great Giveaways
on my side bar
you won't want to miss!

Rhonda of "A Little Bit French"
 and 
Manu of "Vintage Savonette"
and
Vicki of "2 Bags Full"


just click on the giveaway image
to take you to their blogs



À bientôt
and be kind to one another
hugs

Shane ♥

Beautiful linens found in France...

Bonjour dear friends - Ça va ?!

Today I thought I would show
you some of the little treasures

I found at a brocante in

Thorigny-sur-Oreuse

I fell in love with this little pouch

as soon as I saw it!

It is very old and was worn

with a First Communion dress,

probably to hold a handkerchief.

The fabric is so fine
I would call it
handkerchief linen -
please tell me what you think it is?

I've always loved old collars - they really

do speak to me of times past,
I wonder who wore them.
I would love to know
what the dress was like.

I can think of many

ideas for re-using these collars.

I know it's stained and well worn

but for me that's the appeal!

Are you like me and have a 'thing'

for monogrammed sheets

and pillow slips?

Well these weren't the complete article,

just the tops but that's OK!

I'm so grateful that others

recognised the beauty and potential

in these exquisite pieces
and saved them
for future generations to enjoy.

Maybe this gorgeous piece

sat on someone's dressing table

in days gone by.

It's so delicate

and exquisitely embroidered.


I hope you've enjoyed seeing
some of the bits I found!

Thank you to all my lovely friends
for popping in to say hi!

****WELCOME ****
to my new followers
I'm so glad you're here too!

Take care
Be kind to one another
hugs and love
Shane

ANTIQUE LINEN AND LACE

A very exciting parcel
arrived last week!!
When I saw the Honolulu postmark

my heart skipped a beat....

Recently I ordered a bundle of estate linen and lace
from Just Lilla.

It included Cluny lace, Reticella, both bobbin and needle lace

and Swiss eyelet lace - all pre 1940.....

just look at this beautiful label - I love Lilla's eye for detail
Inside the bag were these treasures......

Old linen and lace from France and Belgium....

I ask you what more could a girl want....

My favourite piece - a very fine, delicate doilly and

I wonder whose clever hands made it

Thank you Lilla - as always I'm more than delighted
with my purchase from you!

To see more of Lilla's artistic creations visit her etsy here.