Garden Delights Gala – new arts & crafts!

My yearly gala – Garden Delights Holiday Gift Sale & Art Show, is the first 2 weekends of December this year! The Show is at my art studio on December 7-8 and 14-15, 2019, from 11 am to 5 pm – or by appointment at your convenience.

I’m proud to show my photos and mixed-media artwork & crafts, and also upcycled creations, where I bring fresh life to paper and fabric. Also hand-knits and fabulous felted creations! Fashionable fingerless mitts keep your hands cozy during mild winter weather … …

… NEW! Upcycled bags from sweaters and such …

Fancy knitted washcloths …

… pair with George’s soaps for a great gift …

Please stop by to relax during the holiday rush, enjoy snacks, and chat. Never any pressure to buy, but if you’ve got a list I’ve got a wide range of handmade and original-designed gifts, for yourself and for friends and family – including pets!

More new this year – George’s exquisite handmade 100% natural beeswax candles, including two sizes of tapers, from our honeybees’ wax. Read all about them at my article.

Jewelry, wearable art, purses, cards & prints, boxes, home decor, beeswax candles, and more! Our honeybees bless us with delicious honey, which many people swear helps their pollen allergies.

Want a postcard reminder sent to your mailbox, or would you like to drop by at a time that’s more convenient for you? Email me. Can’t make the show or want to see my artwork online? Click these links:

• Website
• Artfire Gallery
• My blog
• Zazzle shop
• Facebook

Save the Date! Holiday Gift Sale & Art Show

My yearly gala, the Garden Delights Holiday Gift Sale & Art Show, will be the first two weekends of December, so please save the date! If you want a postcard reminder sent to your mailbox email me your address.

The Show is at my art studio on December 1-2 and 8-9, from 11 am to 5 pm (or by appointment).

I’m so proud to show off my new photos, designs, and mixed-media artwork and crafts, and just as excited about my upcycled creations, where I bring fresh life to paper and fabric destined for landfill.

Come see my handmade bracelet cuffs, purses, phone and e-reader holders, all from fabric books and silk neckties; and envelopes and other paper crafts I make from outdated calendars and books. I’ve also been busy assembling kits and supplies for paper and fabric artists and crafters, ideal as a gift for yourself or for anyone who loves to create mixed-media, collage, book, and mail art.

Stop in to relax during the holiday rush, enjoy snacks, and chat. Never any pressure to buy, but if you’ve got a list you’ll find a wide range of handmade and original-designed gifts (for yourself and for friends and family – including pets), at all different prices.

Jewelry, wearable art, purses, cards and prints, boxes, home decor, books, beeswax candles, and more! Our honeybees blessed us with a great harvest of delicious honey, which many people swear help their pollen allergies.

And a new batch of soap – plus Honey Kissed lotion and lip balm, handcrafted by George from our honey and wax!

Can’t make the show or want to see my artwork online? Click these links:

Website

Artfire Gallery

My blog

Zazzle shop

Facebook

Coming Up Roses in El Cerrito

Roses are busting out all over in El Cerrito gardens! Our Blue Girl, Graham Thomas, Butterscotch, Sally Holmes, Ispahan, Electron, Heirloom, Double Delight … and many more … are blooming like gangbusters, so I’m extra excited this year about the 37th annual Celebration of Old Roses, sponsored by the Heritage Rose Group Bay Area! Sunday May 21st, 11 am to 3:30 pm at El Cerrito Community Center, 7007 Moeser Lane. The Rose Show and parking are free.The glorious heart of the event is the hundred-foot display of roses — everyone from expert cultivators to people with a few roses blooming in their yard bring cut roses to show. They’re grouped and arranged by type, the result an intoxicating display of scents and colors. You can buy heirloom and hard-to-find roses from specialty nurseries, and rose experts will be there to answer your questions.  While supplies last, children can get a free rose plant courtesy of the Heritage Rose Group Bay Area. Along with the roses, there’s an array of arts & crafts and rose-related goodies for you to view and buy as gifts for someone special or for yourself!

We’ve had a booth with our artwork & crafts at the Rose Show for the past twelve years! Look for us in the Main Hall, with the work that I make from my original rose & flower and nature-related photographs -jewelry, purses, boxes, vases, sachets, greeting cards, and much more! I’ll also have my upcycled creations – handmade bracelet cuffs, purses, phone and e-reader holders, all from fabric books and silk neckties.

Plus, while it lasts – a new batch of our sublime local honey. Many people swear by it to help their seasonal allergies.And! Honey Kissed lip balm, handcrafted by George from our honey and wax.

If you have any questions about the Rose Show, our honey, or Garden Delights Arts & Crafts, please email me at HeidiRand@gmail.com  Hope to see you there, with a rose or three!

Kind Thoughts

More vintage card loveliness! Last week I included a New Year’s postcard in my Christmas card post. Here’s another sweet card for your enjoyment.

The front is heavily embossed vellum, with gold, blue and green tinting on the flowers, bell, leaves, horseshoe, anchor, book, and hands-entwined in hearts.

Enlarged detail to show how it’s stitched together and has a bow tied with embroidery thread – and the “Good Luck” stamp. Inside: “A loving new Year Greeting” from J. Gosling to his Cousin Lizzie.

And the printed message: “Gladness attend you the Season trough / All that is brightest belong to you! / Thoughts of the sweetest, and memories fair, / These be the gifts that your life may share”

Appetite whetted for more New Year cards?

My 2015 New Year’s vintage postcard post.

Two other wonderful vintage New Year’s postcards in this blog post.

A Merry Happy To All

I scored a great Christmas card at SCRAP-SF earlier this year!

Poor turkey, looking forward to his Christmas banquet, aghast to learn HE’S the main course!

This is an unfolded card rather than a postcard, the message on back in gorgeous Art Deco / Nouveau font.

No postmark or other info to date it; I suspect a reprint because it’s in such good shape. The original presumably pre-dates our modern twist on the meaning of “high time”!

… And for next week! A truly vintage New Year’s postcard, mailed on December 31, 1913 from Times Square Station New York.

The back: “If you were only here I would wish you a very very happy New Year.”

I love the gentle directions, complete with fingers pointing, at left reminding one to write the message: “With pen and ink / the things you think / write here” … and at right: “Your Uncle Sam will do the rest / if this good card is well addressed / right here.”

My Christmas vintage postcard blog post from last year

And Christmas the year before! 

And Christmas 2013!

And Christmas 2012!

My 2015 New Year’s vintage postcard post.

Two other wonderful vintage New Year’s postcards in this blog post.

Happy Holidays to you!

Holiday Gift Sale and Art Show 2016

A chill in the air, rain promised — the holidays are coming! My yearly gala, the Garden Delights Arts & Crafts Holiday Gift Sale & Art Show, is the first two weekends of December again this year.

The Show’s at my art studio, 5810 Barrett Ave, El Cerrito (just past Edwards), December 3-4 and 10-11, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (or by appointment on another day – email me).

I’m so proud to show my photos, designs, and mixed-media artwork and crafts, and way excited about my upcycled creations, where I bring fresh life to paper and fabric headed for landfill.

Come see my handmade bracelets, necklaces, purses, phone and e-reader holders, from fabric books and silk neckties; and envelopes and other crafts I make from outdated calendars and books.

I also have DIY kits and supplies, ideal as gifts for you or your artsy-craftsy mixed-media, collage, book, and mail art friends! I’ve added several new ornaments, perfect stocking stuffers or to adorn your own tree.

Stop in to relax during the holiday rush, enjoy snacks, and chat. Never any pressure to buy, but if you’ve got a list you’ll find a wide range of handmade and original-designed gifts (for all – including pets), at great prices.

Also, our local honey (as long as it lasts), some swear by it to help pollen allergies.

And handcrafted wonders by George from our honey and wax — heavenly beeswax candles and luscious batches of Honey Kissed skin lotion and lip balm.

Want a postcard reminder? Send your address to heidirand [at] gmail.com

Or can’t make the show or want to see my work online? Click these links:

Website

Artfire Gallery

My blog

Zazzle shop

Celebrate Roses in El Cerrito

The don’t-miss event for flower-lovers, gardeners and rosarians is coming up next Sunday – that’s right, it’s the 36th annual Celebration of Old Roses, sponsored by the Heritage Rose Group Bay Area! This year it’s on Sunday May 15th, from 11 am to 3:30 pm at the El Cerrito Community Center, a few blocks east of San Pablo Ave at 7007 Moeser Lane. The Rose Show and parking are free.The glorious heart of the event is the hundred-foot display of roses — everyone from expert cultivators to people with just one rose bush in their yard bring cut roses to show. They’re grouped and arranged by type, the result an intoxicating display of scents and colors.  You can buy heirloom and hard-to-find roses from specialty nurseries, and rose experts will be there to answer your questions. Remember to bring your clippers and loppers for on-site tool sharpening. This year there will activities for children, and while supplies last, children can get a free rose plant courtesy of the Heritage Rose Group Bay Area. Along with the roses, there’s an array of arts & crafts and rose-related goodies for you to view and buy as gifts for someone special or for yourself!

We’ve had a booth with our artwork & crafts at the Rose Show for the past eleven years! Look for us in the Main Hall, with the work that I make from my original rose & flower and nature-related photographs -jewelry, purses, boxes, vases, sachets, greeting cards, and much more! I’ll also have my upcycled creations – handmade bracelet cuffs, purses, phone and e-reader holders, all from fabric books and silk neckties.

Plus, while it lasts – a new batch of our sublime local honey. Many people swear by it to help with allergies.And for the first time at the Rose Show, try our Honey Kissed skin lotion and lip balm, handcrafted by George from our honey and wax.

If you have any questions about the Rose Show, our honey, or Garden Delights Arts & Crafts, please email me at HeidiRand@gmail.com  Hope to see you there, with a rose or three!

Mail Art Happiness

My mailbox has been very happy lately! Here are a few of the wonders sent by pen pals and Postcrossing friends. First, a marvelous creation by mail artist Sally Wassink. On the outside: “Burn on completion” and “2016” stamped in red, and Sally’s “Wurlitzerworld January 1, 2016” postmark.

Inside: a handy pocket calendar for 2016 and matches to burn it at year’s end (I won’t!)

With the bottom stapled, it folds and tucks just like a matchbook. Ingenious!

Judy Staroscik, a mail art pen pal I met through IOUMA (the International Union for Mail-Artists), sends me intricate handmade artist trading cards and other gems. Judy’s latest, a small card and ATC that she made on an art tour to England last year:

Carrie, a Postcrosser from Minnesota,made me a gorgeous stamp-art postcard with an inspiring message for the new year. The stalk / flowers on the right are embossed with gold ink.

LadyOla, a Postcrosser from Belarus, was sweet to note from my profile that I adore triangle stamps! She used this one on my postcard — it looks like a fragment of a tapestry, doesn’t it?

Ceejay, another treasured pen pal I met through Postcrossing, sends me her own beautiful photo cards with wonderful gifts tucked inside, often precious triangle stamps she finds for me!

And last but not least – a Postcrosser from the Netherlands made me this extra-special card with sequins, real lace, and a pop-up cuppa tea and flowers!

Curious about Postcrossing? Click this link. And this is my Postcrossing profile

Have you sent or received any mail art lately? I hope your mailbox has many happy days in 2016, both outgoing and incoming!

A Merry Vintage Christmas to Ethel

Herewith two early 1910s Merry Christmas postcards. When I chose them I didn’t notice I must have gotten them from the same collection. Neither has a message nor postmark on the back. The first, from Raphael Tuck’s “The Poinsettia” series:

See the delicately inked “Mamma to Ethel” at bottom corner? And Mamma’s message to Ethel via the inspiring poem by M.B. Whitman: “Keep your face / always / towards the / sunshine, and / the shadows / will fall / behind / you.”

The second, from A.S. Meeker’s Christmas series, copyright 1910 has no poem, but a peaceful winter scene with strongly embossed green holly leaves and red berries, snowfall and icicles, and welcoming stately mansion. And the penciled inscription at bottom: “Papa to Ethel.”

Lucky Ethel!

This is my Christmas vintage postcard blog post from last year.

And from the year before.

And my 2012 post.

Happy Holidays to you!!

Holiday Gift Sale and Art Show

UPDATE! I’ve extended the Show for last-minute gifts and stocking stuffers. If you’d like to come by until December 24th, email me at heidirand@gmail.com

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A chill in the air and rain promised, to me that means the holidays are coming! My yearly gala, the Garden Delights Holiday Gift Sale & Art Show, is the first two weekends of December this year, so consider this my ‘save the date’ post. Want a peacock postcard reminder? Send your address to heidirand [at] gmail.com

The Show is at my art studio, 5810 Barrett Ave, El Cerrito (above Edwards Ave) on December 5-6 and 12-13, from 11 am to 5 pm (or by appointment – email me).

I’m so proud to show off my new photos, designs, and mixed-media artwork and crafts, and just as excited about my upcycled creations, where I bring fresh life to paper and fabric destined for landfill.

Come see my handmade bracelet cuffs, purses, phone and e-reader holders, all from fabric books and silk neckties; and envelopes and other paper crafts I make from outdated calendars and books. I’ve also been busy assembling kits and supplies for paper and fabric artists and crafters, ideal as a gift for yourself or for anyone who loves to create mixed-media, collage, book, and mail art.

Stop in to relax during the holiday rush, enjoy snacks, and chat. Never any pressure to buy, but if you’ve got a list you’ll find a wide range of handmade and original-designed gifts (for yourself and for friends and family – including pets), at all different prices.

Jewelry, wearable art, purses, cards and prints, boxes, home decor, books, beeswax candles, and more! Our honeybees blessed us with a great harvest of delicious honey, which many people swear help their pollen allergies.

And new this year! Our Honey Kissed skin lotion and lip balm, handcrafted by George from our honey and wax.

Can’t make the show or want to see my artwork online? Click these links:

Website

Artfire Gallery

My blog

Zazzle shop

Facebook