Friday, July 21, 2017

Hello and Goodbye


Hello everyone! 

With the addition of trees, bushes, rocks, fencing, bird baths, feeders and birdhouses...









the birds have been coming...




and I am leaving.



I thought I would let you all know that I have decided not to blog anymore. I really appreciate those of you who have followed me over the years, read my posts and left such kind comments. I really appreciate you all and I treasure the many friendships that were formed through it all. I will still be visiting from time to time.
Wishing you all the best and may God bless you and yours! 
Gina at Victorian Wanna Be

Saturday, March 18, 2017

All the Way From England!

I really like Ebay, you can find and buy things that may have taken you years to find otherwise.
So the other day this big crate was delivered to my house! And boy was I excited! I had waited nearly 2 weeks!! 



I had hoped it would not get broken traveling all those miles. So here was the moment of truth. It was definitely packed well!

Have you guessed what it might be? Think Victorian! Oh boy, Oh boy!



Here it is! I am just thrilled with it! 



A great piece for my wanna be Victorian home. I took the dome off and cleaned it, I don't think it ever had been. Dirty dome, and I found a glass pin head that needed to be put back on a bird for it's eye. The little bun feet on the base of the dome had been removed at one time so I will be adding those back on.



For now I will keep it here on this parlor table next to the lamp and my recliner chair so I can see it really well! Won't even need to get out of my chair to see it :)



Because I am so fond of Victorian domes I bought the book, Under Glass by John Whitenight, off of Ebay quite some time ago.



Such a wonderful book. Check out the wonderful end papers.



So many great photos of so many domes. Not just bird domes either, you wouldn't believe some of the things the Victorian's put in domes.



Here is a shot of my bird domes, including my newest addition.



If you have been reading my blog for long you have already seen the poor bird dome below. The birds were not done correctly and so their feathers were coming off. You can't see it in this photo but a few of the birds are literally skeleton birds so I call it my Halloween dome! lol



And my sweet little hummingbird pair with nest dome...



and I even have bird domes for the doll's house...



even a stereoview of this really big dome, for the stereoscope. Look at how many birds are in that thing!



And then the domes that I made, before owning an antique one. Where there's a will there's a way. The one below is made of seashells.



And this one made with antique wax fruit...



a small wax St. Lucia figure, a doll's house clock in a dome and then there's Queen Victoria.






As always, thank you so much for your visits and comments. Have a blessed day and wonderful first day of Spring on Monday!

Please join me at...
AMAZE ME MONDAY with Cindy
LET'S TALK VINTAGE with Jill
SHARE YOUR CUP with Jann
HOME AND GARDEN THURSDAY with Kathy
VINTAGE CHARM with Cecilia, Sharon, Kathleen and Diana

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Old Fashioned Girls for St. Patrick's Week

Oh goodness, where has the time gone? St. Patrick's Day will be here this Friday! I quickly got to thinking about how to decorate for the week and here is what I came up with.



To create this vignette I opened up the bookcase in search for some green and gold books... 



after I pulled out these books and noticed that the top gold one was "An Old Fashioned Girl" by Louisa May Alcott, I knew what my vignette theme would be! Old fashioned girls!

So with that idea I quickly brought over my old fashioned Staffordshire girl figure... 


and where she goes, her beau is sure to follow! 
And another Old Fashioned Girl, with her dog, gracing this tin...



and two more Old Fashioned Girls from out of the postcard album...



And more postcards over on the Library table...



Over in the kitchen, I added a wee bit o' green right here...



and on the dining room table I brought out the gold rimmed Limoges plates and a smaller hand painted plate that reminds me of Ireland.



And for a quick centerpiece I brought out the brass candlesticks, gold candles, gold base for the crystal bowl, a green Moser glass piece with enamel and gilt...



and a few beautiful daffodils from the garden.



Thanks so much for your visit and have a blessed week!

I am joining the following linky parties with this post, won't you come and join in the fun?
AMAZE ME MONDAY with Cindy
LET'S TALK VINTAGE with Jillian
HOME AND GARDEN THURSDAY with Kathy
SHARE YOUR CUP with Jann
VINTAGE CHARM with Cecilia, Kathleen, Sharon and Diana
HOME SWEET HOME with Sherry

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Inspired by Victoria on PBS

Queen Victoria, what a lady, what a Queen! Victoria on PBS has become my favorite TV series, and Sunday's can never seem to roll around quick enough. It is the time of her reign 1837 to 1901 that is called the Victorian era, in which all of you know I am quite fond of. And as you know I enjoy putting together vignettes, so this week I have created one in honor of the Queen herself.

I used a candle lamp with a beaded shade for a little height and color



and a red velvet placemat and blue ribbon sash to match the Queen's royal clothing on the piece of scrap art. That piece is depicting the 1897 Diamond Jubilee in celebration of Victoria's 60 year reign, as does the enamelware tumbler and the bust inside the egg.



I drew my inspiration from the scrap art piece that I placed on a pair of white gloves. The scrap art reads at the bottom...
"Her Majesty, the Queen of England and Empress of India."




And, from this piece I carried out more fanciness with some jewels and pearls, and a lace hanky spilling out of the Jubilee tumbler...




and then there's the coin, dated 1889. Remember the scene of the coin in the TV show, well here it is! :)



And for the crown, I used one my daughter had from pageants, and placed it around the bust glass dome. The bust was one I bought for my doll house but was too large for that. I happened to have this "royal looking" faberge inspired egg, and the small dome, and they all worked together perfectly!



The book is by Cecil Woodham-Smith with a copyright of 1972, and I must admit I have never read it!! But that will change real quick, I will be reading it real soon! I bought it because of the beautiful cover, I'm judging a book by it's cover again! 



And look at this silhouette, opposite the title page...



and we can't forget the beloved Prince...



I have to say that the Prince Albert on the PBS series is much better looking then the real one. In my opinion, he is quite the "hottie", don't you think? He actually reminds me of the late Prince Nelson, you knowthe Prince who sang Purple Rain, Little Red Corvette... Their clothes were even the same style! Who knows maybe Prince Albert was his inspiration.



Anyway, back to Queen Victoria...
Besides the scrap art piece, I have this McLaughlin's Coffee trade card of The Diamond Jubilee...



and this card with a "royal" looking horse on it...



and a calling card with this little Spaniel on it. The Spaniels became a popular ephemera subject back in the 1800's because of Queen Victoria's sweet little pooch, Dash.




Well that is all I have for you today, I must go get ready for Church now. And then get everything done that needs to be done this afternoon so I'll be ready to "cozy up" in my favorite chair this evening and escape to another era as I watch another episode of Victoria! Can't wait!

Two of my blogger friends and I went to a Tea Room yesterday in a late Victorian era home, click here if you would like to get a glimpse of the fun we had.

Have a blessed week and thanks so much for visiting. I would love to hear from you if you enjoyed my post. 

I am linking up to the following blog parties with this post...
AMAZE ME MONDAY with Cindy
LET'S TALK VINTAGE with Jill
SHARE YOUR CUP with Jann
HOME AND GARDEN THURSDAY with Kathy
VINTAGE CHARM with Cecilia, Sharon, Kathleen and Diana
HOME SWEET HOME with Sherry