Something Special

Last weekend I went to an antique faire and purchased a box of passementerie (beaded trims). There was something in the box that captured my attention.

At first, I thought it was simply an old broken safety pin and almost threw it away. Luckily right as I was about to toss it out a little voice said, "take a closer look." It was then that I realized it was something special (at least it is to me). My inclination is to say that it is a safety pin, maybe Victorian in age? It is about 1 inch in length.

What do you think it is?

Beauties

Every once in awhile I find something so amazing I have to share it with you. I found this doll below the other day while combing the web for antique crèche figures. Isn't she stunning?!!

This lovely antique crèche figure was already sold, but I can still draw inspiration from looking at her.

Here is an old boudoir doll that I own. I'm thinking of creating a dress for her in the style of the doll above. If you look closely at her face you will see that she has a mole high on her cheek. I have one in the same spot!





The crown on this pretty girl was designed by Melissa Valeriote of The Holiday Queen. If you've never visited Melissa's site you're in for a treat. Visit her here.

7 Weird Things About Me!

I've been tagged by Denise of Couture de Papier . I need to divulge 7 weird things about myself so here goes. . .

1. If my house is a mess I can’t function. So that means I don’t function very often. ;~} (LOL) Trust me, you've only seen snippets of my house. My kitchen is like a bomb went off most days.

2. I love doing laundry including the ironing, but I never have the time to do this, see #1.

3. I don’t like crowds!

4. I’m way too much of a romantic dreamer. This also contributes to #1

5. I still have this childish hope that I will find a secret door that will lead into another world like Narnia and I will have a grand adventure!

6. Like my husband said here, “I can’t not touch.” I take things apart and put them back together constantly. I’m sure some of you would shake your heads in disbelief at the things I mess with. My husband certainly does.

7. I love things that sparkle! I don’t like to wear them though. I like to look at them. Thus my fascination with chandeliers. I realized the other day that I would love to live in a mermaid’s grotto.

Photo: Clipart

If I had been born a mermaid . . . these bubbles would have begun my fascination with sparkly things.

Photo: The Little Mermaid

This would be the entrance to my grotto.

Photo: Rubylane look under DiMartino

I would have necklaces like this at my fingertips . . .

. . . and bangles like these.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day!

Experimentation

It seems there is no easy solution to the low light problem and many of the issues lie in the camera. The best camera to own is an SLR camera with multiple lenses. But many of us can’t afford an SLR camera, so here are some photo tips based on your comments and from surfing the web.

Here are some tips that may help with no flash indoor photos.

I would like to thank Jill of Bailiwick Designs, Barbara of Babsarella, Constance of Rochambeau, and Karla of Sugar Bear Designs, who gave some great suggestions.

• To shoot in a low level light situation, get as much natural light into the room as possible. So pull back the drapes, open the windows, doors, etc. This may mean you can only shoot photos in that room in the morning or late afternoon.

• Use a tripod for camera stability. Hand holding a camera seems to be a no-no in low light situations unless you are amazingly steady.

• Now set your shutter speed, aperture and ISO. For a definition on what these are, look here. These settings can be found on your camera in the manual settings.

If you are shooting in automatic modes, there are a few little goodies that might help you.

1. Portable light diffuser
A diffuser placed between the light and your subject will soften shadows and reduce contrast. A portable diffuser allows you to do this whenever you wish. It might allow you to use your flash.

2. A good photo editing program.

These links may be helpful too or you can do a Google search under the subject to find more help.

1. Digital Photography School

2. DIY Network

3. Photography Tips ~ This is a membership based tips page.

Below are some photos I took today using the let in the light method.

The next two photos were taken after the light had faded. I used standing lamps to light up the subjects. I didn't use flash.

This photo was taken two nights ago. The subject was lit up by two table lamps. I like the effect.

Please feel free to leave any indoor low light photo tips you may have.

Photography Help

I’ve become a photo-taking addict. I’m constantly trying different ways to get a great photo. It’s becoming as fun as the art I create. If any of you have any suggestions on how to take low-light photos with a digital camera, I would love to get your advice. I really don't like to use the flash. It washes out the subject and detracts from the natural beauty of the item being photographed. I don’t have the best camera, but it’s decent enough for now. My problems are specifically with the graininess I’m getting in the low light. Sometimes it looks cool, but most of the time it just blurs and muddies what I’m trying to photograph. I want the camera to display see what my eye sees.

I had the nicest blogger recently tell me she sets up a lot of her shots in diffused outdoor light. This really works great, but many times the things I want to photograph are in my house and not movable. So if anyone has any handy tips for those low-light indoor photos, I would greatly appreciate it!

Here are some photos in my house in low light.

There are the grainiest photos I've ever taken!

This one I corrected with auto correct. The lighting looks interesting.

I'll post some more photos inside my house tomorrow.

Cozy Spaces

If you go to my side bar you will notice a change. I really wanted to showcase my links in My Wonderful Places To Visit. I’ve seen several other bloggers do this and I’ve enjoyed perusing their links at my leisure with a hot cup of tea and time to just enjoy hopping from place to place. I will be adding categories and more fun sites and beautiful photos as I go. So please take some time to go over and peek.

Wishing you all a Beautiful Weekend!

Photo from: Creating the French Look by Annie Sloan

The Great Idea That Tanked

To all of you who visited my hubby’s blog yesterday, thank you! He is an amazing person. Even though many of his stories are about my supposed sage wisdom, I get things wrong all the time. He always has a gold nugget of wisdom to give me, especially when I’ve gone off on a crazy Nancy idea. Like the time I decided I wanted to get a fish tank.

I went to a tropical fish store and fell in love with the fish. Since we couldn’t have a dog, I rationalized (our house is just too small), I could indulge to my heart’s content on fresh water pet fish. Bill just looked at me shaking his head, and said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. It seems like an awful lot of work to add to your already busy schedule.”

“No,” I said, “I can do it!”
I mean, how hard could it be? Right?

WRONG!

My easy pet dream turned into a nightmare, a mistake of epic proportions. Dealing with:

1.Tank cannibalism (I’m still emotionally traumatized)
2.The tank bully
3.Maintaining the proper water PH
4.The tank just broke and the water is all over our brand new Alloc flooring.
5.$100’s of dollars spent to keep the little darlings safe and happy

And. . . eventually returning shamefacedly most of the equipment and the fish that survived #1, 2, 3 and 4.

Bill was right and I was a very misdirected (wrong) wannabe pet owner. I’ll never do that again.

Never! ;~)

A Shameless Post Plug

Hi Everyone!

You're probably wondering about the boulder photos. . . ?

Well, after a very long blog break my hubby finally posted another fun-filled Bill and Nancy adventure. It's one of those stories that you look back on and laugh about now. It's called Behind Every Great Man or. . . Boulder Day! I think you'll love it. You can find the post here.

Have a Beautiful Day!
Nancy

Sweet Gifts and Karla and Beth’s Birds & Bonnets Workshop Swap

Boy, I have been so busy, it’s a little insane! I keep thinking things are going to slow down, but I’m beginning to believe that’s not going to be happening anytime soon. ;~)

This weekend I worked on finishing several different projects I've had in the making for weeks.

Plus, I received the sweetest gifts today!

The first gift is pictured below and was made by the sweetest little boy who knows that I love to garden. My neighbors have nicknamed me Farmer because I'm always puttering around in my front yard! I had given this little guy some of my paper flowers that he had admired and this is what he did with them. He made me a garden, complete with my own pond! Isn’t this just the sweetest thing? I am always amazed at the creativity of children.

The next gift is a gift I won from the lovely Karla at Karla’s Cottage for her 50th Birthday giveaway! This locket necklace is so pretty and I love the hand-painted initial tag she sent with it. She sent me this wonderful cloth patch printed with a wonderful antique image as well.

Thank you, Karla! I will treasure these goodies.

Now for Karla and Beth’s Birds & Bonnets Workshop Swap

I finally completed my panels!! They will be on their way tomorrow. The idea was to make 5 panels back and front using images supplied by Amy at The Vintage Workshop. We had some fun images to choose from. I liked the idea of creating a paper doll using the vintage wallpaper for a bodice and then adding a bonnet and vintage wall paper butterflies to complete the vignette. On the other side, I created a millinery advertisement for a Victorian milliner. I chose a blackbird image and then added a bonnet and little skirt to the bird.

This project has been fun. The first art projects I ever created were ACEO cards, so this was like coming home. I loved using all the different images and paints to create these panels. I hope my swap partners love them too.

Happy Mother's Day!

I visited my MIL the other evening and she gave me the beautiful nest below. She has a rose plant near one of her outside doors where two different bird families built their nests. Her gardener hacked back the rose and exposed the nests to the elements. We were so sad when we discovered this. The bird families quickly vacated leaving behind their amazing homes. I had no idea that a real nest could be so perfect. This nest is as light as a feather and it was made with the greatest of care and love. I keep thinking of the mother bird that built it and the driving instinct to protect and care for her little ones, that comes so naturally to her. A mother’s love is a powerful thing.

Wishing all mothers a day filled with love and laughter!

Mother's Day Poems . . .

The Love of a Mother
Author Unknown


A Mother's love is something
that no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain

It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away

It is patient and forgiving
when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
even though the heart is breaking

It believes beyond believing
when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty
of the rarest, brightest gems

It is far beyond defining,
it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation

A many splendored miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God's tender guiding hand.

A Mother's Love
by Michael O. Adesanya

There are times only when a Mother's love
Can understand our tears,
Can soothe our disappointments
And calm all our fears.

There are times when only a Mother's Love
Can share the joy we feel
When something we've dreamed about
Quite suddenly is real.

There are times when only a Mother's faith
Can help on life's way
And inspire in us the confidence
We need from day to day.

For a Mother's heart and a Mother's faith
And a Mother's steadfast love
Were fashioned by the Angels
And sent from God above...

Floral House

I have always loved white interiors. They’re peaceful, ethereal and I feel like I’m floating on a cloud. But there is this side of me that would love to live like a gypsy.

I recently found this book called Floral House. The use of color throughout its beautiful pages is spectacular eye candy. It's definitely a great book for those seeking to use color in their décor.

The more I read this book…the more inspired I am to experiment with color.

Here are a few pages from the book and then some photos of things I’ve put together based on the color palettes they used.

The cover of this book is what captured me. I love the combination of pinks, purples and reds together.

This is the sweetest baby room. The mobile is simple and eye catching.

Pretty and Serene

This little birdie inspired my bird cage below.

The use of pink and red against this white background makes the color smoking hot!

Here is the birdcage mobile I made. This would be so much fun hanging in a nursery.

To read more about this book click here.