A Little Faith, Hope and Charity Goes A Long, Long Way

Welcome to a brand new week !

I hope that your weekends were fantastic and you are all ready to begin the week afresh.

I had a relatively quiet weekend studying (again !!!) for more exams for my floristry course.

I will be so happy when there are no more exams for the year. I just found my favourite authors brand new book at my local bookstore and I am so bursting to read it but will save it for over the Christmas break. The authors name is Maggie Alderson and I just adore her books. They are so funny and full of quirky characters and I can never put any of her books down because they are so captivating !

NOW for today's post.

I found these beautiful greeting cards a couple of weeks ago. Amazingly the whole set was still together after 110 years.  I am thinking of having these cards framed for the wall. I think FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY is such an important value for every single person in the world to embrace.

Each one of these values is intrinsic in our lives. 

FAITH in ourselves, others and God.

HOPE that reminds us to always hold hope within our hearts.

CHARITY to remind us to keep others in our thoughts and to reach out and help those in need.

I like to think that I hold each of those values close to my heart and always do my best to achieve all of these. Giving from ones heart is truly the most important thing in the world and also the most gratifying.

Sometimes it feels like Hope has disappeared but a little faith in oneself and in others can keep us all smiling and moving forward.

I wish there was one more card to go with these ones.

It would be COURAGE.

Courage can be the scariest and most important thing that we can find in our hearts. Courage to carry on in times of desperation and despair. Courage to face a brand new day filled with difficulties.

Sometimes courage can be hiding behind the door when we go and look for it.

BUT IT IS THERE !

Simply open the door and you will find it there. Sometimes it has only been a gust of wind that has closed the door and it simply just needs to be opened up again.

Don't be afraid to open that door.

Don't be afraid to smile and be happy.

Hope will be there, you just need to believe that it is.

Open your heart and you will find it there, it is a safe place inside of your heart that only you can reach.

Go on.......open that door

x

I did find more beautiful antique greetings cards when I found these ones. I will share them with you all tomorrow.

Much love to you all

and a great big welcome to so many more new followers on face book and my blog page.

Melanie

x

Gift Wrapping Special........Pretty In Pink

It's birthday week this week on

 French Blue and Peachy Pink

and today I celebrate the art of wrapping gifts.

Somehow the wrap is almost as good as the gift that lies within.

Next time you are tempted to just throw your gift into a gift bag or box, think about some creative ways to present your birthday gift.

Tissue paper should never be underestimated. It is cheap, cheery and as bright as a button.  I buy mine at the local dollar store for $1 a pack.  A little trim and pretty card or tag and you have a beautiful gift for your receiver.

I have a box full of pretty papers and cards and when it's time to wrap a gift, I find everything in one handy place.

My favourite gift wrap at the moment is my last years calender. The graphics on my calender were far too pretty to throw away, so I kept it and recycle it to make cards and wrap gifts.

Another inexpensive way to wrap is with pages from an old book.

Everybody has old books lying around. Even newspaper pages (if the ink is stayfast and you line it with plain tissue paper) can look great to wrap gifts.

Home made gift tags are also inexpensive and best of all, you can put your own stamp of creativity onto it.

I love to put a little bit of BLING onto gifts.

I like to use GLIMMER MIST from Aunty Vera Scrap and Craft.

Aunty Vera has lots of pretty scrapping and craft supplies....go and take a look.  I simply wrap and attach the tag and give it a light spray of sparkly glitter.

Aren't the pages of my last years calender just beautiful?

They look great as gift wrap.

I kept the ribbon very simple on this gift because the picture was too sweet to cover up. A simple pale blue length of embroidery thread was all this gift needed to complete the look.

and this pretty pink parcel was wrapped in plain pink tissue paper, tied with a scrap of lace and I attached a vintage hair clip to it.

Pretty in pink and a pleasure to open.

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow for

THURSDAY FLOWERS

I will show you a pretty vintage inspired arrangement.

SEE YOU ALL THEN

Melanie

x

Antique Greeting Cards GIVEAWAY

Antique Greeting Cards......these little girls are just gorgeous in their French Blue and Lilac tones ! 

The card pictured ABOVE is the card in my FREE GIVEAWAY this week.  I think she is the prettiest card of all and I hope her new owner loves her as much as I do !  

DON'T FORGET TO REGISTER FOR THE GIVEAWAY MENTIONED IN MONDAYS POST. WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED NEXT MONDAY SO DON'T MISS OUT !!

Violets, Forget-Me-Nots .........so pretty !!

and how sweet is that little inscription on the back of the card below!

AND HERE'S ANOTHER PEEK AT THE PRIZE

Antique greeting card

The cutest and teensiest antique dictionary

French lace doily

a pretty assortment of vintage buttons for craft

to enter.......simply leave a comment on my blog  or alternatively on the FRENCH BLUE AND PEACHY PINK face book page about what you like most about my blog.

For a second chance spread the word about FRENCH BLUE AND PEACHY PINK on your face book page.  (Be sure to let me know when you have done this to receive your second entry)

Entries close this Sunday night - March 11
Winner will be announced on the following day !

Antique Greeting Cards......Absolutely Divine, Come and See !

Today I bring you postcards from my travels.....

Words are not required, just enjoy the eye candy !

Divine French antique greeting cards !

Are you loving these ? 

Aren't they just adorable ?

Meet this lovely lady.........Madame Lamballe.

Painted by Le Brun who was one of Queen Marie-Antoinette's favourite artists. 

I'm sure that you will all agree that my new found treasures are sooo beautiful. I haven't found a home to display them yet. I think they will go pride of place somewhere though.

Gone are the days of the handwritten letter or card in the mail. Gone is the caligraphy scrawl used by many a lady and gentleman in days gone by.  I guess that's why I love antique greeting cards so much. They are so quaint and old and full of gesture. They were an ordinary way of sending love across the miles to a loved one. They were a happy message wishing someone a Happy Birthday or Merry Christmas.

Messages of love and hope fill many a card in my collection.

They aren't always written in the most ledgible handwriting but somehow it doesn't matter.

I love the old fashioned names on the cards.........Rose, Winnie, Alice, Ada, Lily, Ruby, Walter, William and the list goes on.

They speak of times gone by, war, friendship and many a hardship. Many speak of losing loved ones who passed whilst still so young. It goes to show just how much times have changed over the years.

This blog post represents the squeal of excitement as I walked in the door of this antique store and found these little treasures.

I had quite the smile on my face as you can imagine.

xo

Just A Little Greeting From Me.....