Giveaway Winner Announced!

The winner through a random drawing is:

The Witch of Stitches!

Congratulations!

(Please contact me with your address so I may send you this wonderful vintage inspired catalog!)

Giveaway! Bloomingdale's 1886 Catalog!

This amazing 1886 catalog was reproduced by Greenfield Village Museum in 1988! It's from my personal collection and a wonderful guide for life "back when"!

NO RULES: To enter, just leave a comment.

(You do not have to become a follower but I would LOVE it if you did !)

Random Drawing: June 15, 2011

Have fun!

OWOH 2011 Giveaway Winner Announced!

And the winner is: JOE of Manhandled Threads!

Thanks for entering my 2011 OWOH giveaway, Joe! Congratulations on winning!
I think you'll get a big kick out of this fun-filled book!

And...thanks to all who participated! It was great fun and I enjoyed all of your wonderful comments! Sure hope you'll come back soon for another visit!

My 2011 OWOH Giveaway Is Here!

Thanks for stopping by! I am: Coralie (USA) lover of all things artful, creative, and vintage! Happy to meet you!

Welcome to Lisa's: OWOH (One World-One Heart) 2011! Travel the world over! Meet new friends! Enter giveaways!

My OWOH GIVEAWAY is the fabulous hardcover book entitled "KITSCHY CRAFTS" filled with mid-century memories!

No rules! Just leave a comment at the end of this post!
(You do not have to be a follower but new followers are always welcome!)

The winner of my giveaway will be chosen through a random drawing on February 17, 2011! Thanks for participating! Good luck!

Pink Heart and Forget-me-nots for Pink Saturday!

Happy Pink Saturday!

For more PRECIOUS PINK POSTS, go to Beverly's PINK SATURDAY!!!

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And...if you haven't already visited my ONE WORLD ONE HEART GIVEAWAY please click HERE to access the OWOH post & sign up for my drawing!

(You do not have to be a follower but I'd love it if you'd join me on my vintage blog!)

Seaside Book Making from Two Crazy Crafters!

Seaside Book Making Materials!

I can't believe I was lucky enough to win this awesome giveaway gift from two of my favorite bloggers: Twyla and Lindsey, Two Crazy Crafters, a wonderful mother and daughter creative team. Check out the gorgeous new craft room they have recently completed decorating for projects and memory making!

Thank you so much, Twyla and Lindsey! I love my gifts!

Sweet Little Dog and Giveaway Winner Announced!

Could they be any cuter? Don't you love the beautiful shade of blue on that vintage coverlet!

And the winner of my BOOK GIVEAWAY is
JANN at FOREVER JANN:
Congratulations!

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For more Monday Blues, go to Smiling Sally's Blue Monday!

Happy Blue Monday Everyone!

The Miracle of the Bleeding Hearts!

About Coralie's "A Vintage Cottage Home" featured blog for Pink Saturday:
As a lover of all things vintage, I write about our cottage home, inspirational decorating, and vintage finds. I have many additional interests such as reading, writing, and arts and crafts. I write about these interests as well as about family, friends, my love of animals—especially my little shelties, nature and hobbies. I have written two books of memoirs and am currently having a giveaway of one of my books so I hope all will come and enter! I am a strong supporter of women and teach classes for a local university specifically about issues women face in our world today. It is so important for us all to share and support each other and I think pink Saturday is a great way of bringing women together. Many thanks to Beverly for continuing to host this marvelous event which provides us with a gathering place each week!

My Auntie Sep was one of the most inspirational women I have ever known. This is her story...and mine:

My cousin Joanne lived just three doors down the block and even though she was a grown up seven and I was only four, we were the best of friends.

When she went off to school in the fall of 1943, I thought I’d die without her. I gave up trying to count the long hours of each weekday, convinced that the weekend would never arrive. But some­how the days ticked slowly away until we could once again be together, make up for lost time, and play our favorite games in my back yard.

But then something terrible happened.

We’d been warned not to play piggyback. Caught in the act, we’d been told it was too dangerous. But the older kids in the neighborhood all did it. As soon as our parents were out of sight, Joanne would boost me up on her shoulders and away we’d go, wobbling, pitching, and stumbling until we’d tumble to the ground, giggling so hard we could barely pick our­selves up again.

One Saturday afternoon, as Joanne strutted about the yard with me on her back, our laughter sent us sailing with such speed around the front of the house that we nearly fell headlong into Mom’s Snowball bushes. Joanne tried to stop the fall by taking a quick step backward, but her feet got tan­gled and she ran straight into the sharp corner of our front porch, jabbing her side and hurling us into a sorry heap.

I thought, at first, she was still laughing but, when I tried to roll her over, I could see she wasn’t. She was crying. I begged her not to go home, but she didn’t seem to hear me. I watched her limp along down the block, holding her side and sobbing.

I hoped she would come back after supper. I waited and waited, but she didn’t come.

I waited for her the next day, again, but she still didn’t come.

At our house, a strange thing was going on. Mom and Dad seemed to have a secret. They would often whisper to each other, then stop when I came into the room.

Finally on Monday evening, Mom told me Joanne was sick. She had a ruptured appendix. Auntie Sep had been told by their doctor that there was a new drug called penicillin that might cure her, but it was not yet available in our small town. Auntie Sep was beside herself with frustration and fear.

“Is Joanne better yet?” I kept asking my mother on Tuesday, but each time the answer was no.

On Tuesday night, I heard the phone ring, then Mom’s voice sounding sad.

When she hung up the phone, she looked at me and said, “Coralie, come into the living room. Let’s sit down. I want to talk to you.”

She took my hand and led me to the sofa in the living room.

“That was Auntie Sep on the phone,” Mom continued, looking at me in an odd way.

“Is Joanne better?” I asked.

“Coralie,” she hesitated, “Joanne isn’t going to get bet­ter.” She put her arm around me as we sat of the sofa. “She’s gone to heaven. She’s one of God’s special little angels now...She was very sick, you know, and now she won’t be in pain anymore.”

“She’s going to be an angel? Then I won’t see her any­more?” I tried hard to imagine what that meant.

In my restless dreams that night, I could see Joanne’s face. Her short, soft curls spilled out from underneath the brim of her favorite hand-knit Scandinavian cap, forming a soft golden halo around her sky-blue eyes. But when I reached out and tried to touch her, I couldn’t, because she was an angel, floating in heaven with all God’s other special an­gels. Her face was happy, but I woke up crying and sad. I would never see my friend again.

“Can I go to the funeral?” I asked Mom.

“No, dear, you are too little. Only the grown-ups will be there,” Mom answered, her eyes red-rimmed.

Standing in our back yard on the day of Joanne’s fu­neral, I could see the mourners in black walk slowly in the cold drizzling rain from their cars to Auntie Sep’s back door, then disappear inside. I stood silently watching until there were no more people, only empty cars. I felt small, chilled, and terribly alone.

I would never see Joanne again. I didn’t have anyone to play with. Even when Mom read me my bedtime stories, I felt sad and lonely. All winter long, I thought about her, dreamed about her, and sometimes even pretended that she was with me, just invisible.

There were hushed conversations I sometimes over­heard during those winter months. “I don’t know how she’s ever gonna’ get through it,” Dad told Mom, referring to his sister, Auntie Sep. “She hardly eats enough to keep a bird alive and she cries all the time.”

I worried about her. I missed Joanne, but I missed my favorite aunt, too.

It was a long winter.

When spring came, I stood at our northerly dining room window, looking off across the street to the field where topsy-turvy patches of burnt brown Indian tobacco, wild wheat, and weeping white milkweed waved invitingly in the sun. I wished Joanne were there so we could go exploring for buttercups, birds, and berries.

“I think the strawberries are ripe,” Mom said brightly, interrupting my daydreams. “How would you like to go and see?”

“By myself?” I’d never been across the street alone be­fore.

Mom hesitated, then went to the kitchen sink, rinsed out her little tin measuring cup, dried it on a blue and white striped kitchen towel and handed it to me. “By yourself. It’s time you learned to cross alone. I’ll walk you to the edge of the street, but when you come back, remember to look both ways for cars, just like we’ve talked about.” She pressed the tin cup into my hand, smiled, and walked me to the street.

Excited about my adventure, I looked back only once to see if Mom was still watching me, but she’d gone back inside. So, I made my way through the waist-high waving grass, stooping now and again to press grass and leaves aside to look for berries.

Suddenly, I came upon a huge boulder hidden in the grass. Bigger than me and polished by years of sun, snow, and rain, it had a smell all its own, like the shoreline of a lake. I ran my hands over the pocked surface, found a notch halfway up just big enough for the toe of my white sandal and scrambled up.

Stretching out on its cool surface like a tricky toad, I moved not at all, blending into my surroundings so convinc­ingly that the orange and black Monarch butterflies fluttering by could not tell me from the rock. The breath of their wings tickled my knees as they landed, then took off again.

To the musical trill of a meadowlark nesting nearby, I gazed up toward the serene sapphire sky, letting my thoughts float along with the puffy white clouds overhead as they scud­ded slowly along, taking the shapes of dancing dogs, circus elephants, and...angels, like Joanne.

Spring came and went. Then, one day in early summer, the phone rang.

“Coralie, that was Auntie Sep. She wants you to come for a visit. How would you like that?” Mom asked, obviously pleased.

“You mean I can go alone?” I’d been across the street, but never on a visit by myself.

“Yes, I think you’re big enough now,” Mom said in her sun-shiny way.

I was thrilled. Not only was I going on a visit by my­self, but I would finally get to see Auntie Sep again, too.

Mom slipped my white embroidered pinafore over my head, then hooked each of my long curls around her forefin­ger and brushed it into a perfect bobbing spiral. She polished my white sandals, gave me a pair of white anklets to pull on and, finally, gave my face a few swipes with a warm wet washcloth that smelled sweetly of Fels Naphtha.

Heady with happiness, I hopped along down the side­walk to Auntie Sep’s house, counting the sections of cement and carefully skipping over each crack.

I slowed when I reached the pruned entrance to the yard and walked like a lady to the back door. There, behind the screen door, stood Auntie Sep waiting, but she had a strange lookon her face. Was something wrong? I didn’t know what to do. We just stood there looking at each other for what seemed like a long time, until I began to wonder if I should go back home.

But then she opened the door, stepped out, and looked off over my head.

“The wrens have come back,” she said wistfully, point­ing to the tiny birdhouse hung in the maple tree just outside her kitchen window. “They are such hard workers. Never stop from dawn ‘til dusk.” Her thoughts seemed far away as she watched the little brown birds flitting back and forth from her garden to their house.

“They’re so tiny!” I exclaimed.

“Yes, they are, tiny but hearty,” she answered, turning and walking toward her back yard garden.

“Look at all those sad little faces,” she said more to herself than to me as we examined clusters of bright lavender, purple, and yellow pansies peering up at us.

I followed her from flower to flower enjoying the col­ors of her garden. Grouped in perfect little patches were pink carnations, white Shasta daisies, and blue bachelor buttons, bordered by orange nasturtiums, yellow four-o’clocks, and red moss roses. At each new plant, she stopped and pulled away dead leaves and stems.

“Your flowers are so pretty. I love the colors,” I said, hoping to cheer her up, hoping she would look at me. She didn’t seem to remember I was there.

“Yes, the garden is comforting,” she replied. Her voice was somber, her thoughts far away, her eyes clouded over. She seemed lost from me.

But after several seconds, she finally spoke again. “Come,” she said looking off across the garden, “I have something to show you.”

I followed her to the far corner of the garden. “These are new this year,” she said pointing to a clump of pink and white flowers.

I walked over to get a closer look. Here grew the most amazing flowering plant I had ever seen, abundant green branches weighted down with small pink heart-shaped flow­ers, each split down the middle by a white pendulum.

“They’re called Bleeding Hearts,” Auntie Sep said, studying the flowers.

“They look like broken hearts,” I said. Just like mine, I thought.

She didn’t respond at once. I began to wonder if she’d ever look at me.

“Yes, dear.” I heard grief in her voice. “They are one of God’s little miracles. He knows when our hearts are sad and has given us a symbol of His understanding to remind us that He understands our pain.”

“Can we pick them?” I thought how pretty they’d look in a vase.

She fell silent...thinking. I looked up at her and tried to see her eyes but they were still turned from me. However, she seemed to be making an important decision. I wondered what it was.

“I have a better idea,” she finally answered. “We’ll let them be for now. Then we can come back each day and see how they’ve grown.”

With this, she summoned up her courage and turned to look me squarely in the eyes. She forced herself to smile through her tears. “Would you like to come and visit me again,” she asked, “tomorrow?”

“And we can walk in the garden again?” I asked.

“We certainly can, Coralie. We can walk in the gar­den...together,” Auntie Sep answered.

Then, as she reached out taking my tiny hand in hers, I felt the wonderful warmth of her touch ease the pain of my broken heart, I knew everything was going to be all right. I had thought Joanne was lost forever, but there in the garden I felt her presence, her memory blessed by the Bleeding Hearts.

Our visits to the garden became the most important events in our lives during the summer of 1944. As hand in hand we shared the beauty, peace, and joy of God’s wonders, we also held Joanne silently within our grieving hearts. And through this gentle companionship of love and hope and grace our hearts, at last, began to heal.

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(This story was originally published in a book I wrote entitled The Wishing Years.
You can order books by clicking HERE)!

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For more PRECIOUS PINK POSTS, go to Beverly's PINK SATURDAY!!!

A Wishing Book for Pink Saturday!

Away for a nephew's wedding...back soon!

While I'm away, please take a minute and enter my giveaway! I am giving away a copy of my first book, The Wishing Years. It is a coming of age memoir which shares the adventures of a young girl growing up in a remote area of the Michigan. Love, laughter, and tears! A celebration of wishes and dreams! A book of stories that are sure to bring back memories of your own growing up years!

The winner will be selected through a random drawing on Mon 8/30!

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If you aren't already a follower, please join! Lots of fun images and freebies for my friends both on this blog and on my CHARMING VINTAGE RECIPE blog!

Winner of 500th Post Announced!

And the winner of my 500th post giveaway is Melanie at The Dying Art of Keeping House!
Congratulations, Melanie! I hope you enjoy this beautiful hardcover IDEALS Friendship book! It truly has some lovely short pieces as well as pictures and poetry to make your heart sing!

Many thanks to all who participated in my 500th post celebration! So many sweet congratulations from so many sweet friends! Thanks so much everyone!

Have a beautiful Sunday!
Coralie

500th Post Giveaway!!!

To celebrate my 500th post and to thank all my wonderful blogging friends for following along with me on this day-to-day joyful journey, I am giving away this beautiful

1961 Hardcover Book entitled Friendship by Ideals!

To enter:

1) Leave a comment on this post.

2) Add yourself as a follower (if not one already).

The winner will be chosen through a random drawing on Mar 14!

Please celebrate with me!

Girls Just Wanna' Have Fun - GIVEAWAY!

Hi! I'm Bonnie Lass!

Hi! I'm Carrie!

Happy Friday, Everyone!
Our Mom is having a fabulous 1963 BH&G COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY

on our other blog:

Charming Vintage Recipes where you will find

FREE 50'S RECIPES BLOG every single day!

Please click HERE to go to Charming Vintage Recipes and enter.

You do not have to be a FOLLOWER to participate
but it sure would be nice if you'd sign on to follow us around!

We love all of our fabulous followers!!!

The Adventure Continues!

The 2010 OWOH Magic Carpet Ride may be over but the adventure continues! So many new friends to share our lives with. So many new inspirational words, thoughts, and ideas to share! Thank you Lisa Swifka for creating and hosting this fabulous event founded on global connections, caring and friendship! It has been and continues to be a highlight of our blogging years!I am thrilled to have won Lisa Bivona's stunning original painting of a bold and beautiful parrot! Painted with acrylics on a wrap-around gallery canvas, this piece is absolutely awesome! Lisa's other works and her beautiful blog can be seen at her Pearl Avenue Studios! Thank you so much Lisa!



Then, to my great surprise, I also won this great assortment of fibers and laces from Marie at Twisted Sister Art! Oh what fun I can think of for using all these fancy frills! Thanks so much Marie for this fun-filled gift!



From Debbie at On the Refrigerator Door, I will be receiving a beautiful set of her handmade "Thinking of You" cards! These are wonderful! Handmade items such as these come directly from the heart! I can't wait to use these lovely notes! Thank you so much Debbie!



It's my lucky day!!! I am the 2010 One World-One Heart winner of this stunning pair of earrings, handmade by Morna Crites-Moore of Bittersweet ! The earrings feature turquoise, chrysocolla, Swarovski crystals, Czech glass, and copper wire. And they are gorgeous! Thank you so much Morna!

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The winner of my 2010 OWOH Giveaway is Dorthe of Denmark
Congratulations, Dorthe!!!

2010 OWOH Giveaway Winner Announced!

The winner of my 2010 OWOH Giveaway is Dorthe of Denmark!
Congratulations, Dorthe!!!

The gift she will receive is a well-loved copy of a children's Treasury of Literature schoolbook from my own personal vintage book collection. The book, Magic Carpet, and is an enchanting 1966 children's book with 384 pages filled with

vintage illustrations, poems, and stories.

Thanks to all who participated in my OWOH giveaway!

It's been a great time for meeting new friends!

I hope you'll all come back soon for another visit.

New Followers are always welcome!

And that way we can get to know each other even better.

Let's share more time together in 2010!

Thanks so much to Lisa Swifka

for hosting this fabulous 2010 One World-One Heart Event!

MAGIC CARPET Giveaway! OWOH 2010!

My giveaway for the 2010 One World-One Heart Event is a well-loved copy of a children's Treasury of Literature schoolbook from my own personal vintage book collection entitled, Magic Carpet!

Magic Carpet is an enchanting children's book with 384 pages filled with vintage illustrations, poems, and stories such as The Cricket in Times Square, The Enchanted Rabbit, and Amazing Ships and Sailors! First printed in 1954 by Charles E. Merrill Books, Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, this is a 1966 edition.

Drawing: Feb. 15

Last date to enter: Feb 14, 6 P.M. EST.

To enter: just leave a comment on this post!

To learn more and/or to participate in this exciting friendship giveaway event

hosted by Lisa Swifka,

go to: 2010 One World-One Heart Event!

A Vintage Page on Pink Saturday!

The above picture—with it's PINK heart, PINK princess gown, and other PINK accents—is a page from the vintage book I am offering in my 2010 ONE WORLD-ONE HEART GIVEAWAY!

The book, entitled Magic Carpet, is an enchanting 1966 children's book with 384 pages filled with vintage illustrations, poems, and stories such as The Cricket in Times Square, The Enchanted Rabbit,and Amazing Ships and Sailors!

To enter the GIVEAWAY click HERE!

(Drawing: Feb. 15)

Everyone is welcome!

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And, be sure to visit Beverly's PINK SATURDAY for more Pink treasures!!

The Town Moose on Ruby Tuesday!

The above picture with its visiting moose, curious horses, and ruby red sled is a page from the vintage book I am offering in my 2010 ONE WORLD-ONE HEART GIVEAWAY!

The book, entitled Magic Carpet, is an enchanting 1966 children's school book with 384 pages filled with vintage illustrations, poems, and stories such as The Cricket in Times Square, The Enchanted Rabbit,and Amazing Ships and Sailors!

To enter the GIVEAWAY click HERE!

(Drawing: Feb. 15)

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Today, I am participating in RUBY TUESDAY hosted by
WORK OF THE POET.

Click HERE to see more participants and their beautiful shades of red!

Paul Bunyan on Blue Monday!

The above picture of the legendary Paul Bunyan and text about his amazing logging skills is a partial page from the vintage book I am offering in my 2010 ONE WORLD-ONE HEART GIVEAWAY!

The book, entitled Magic Carpet, is an enchanting 1966 children's book with 384 pages filled with vintage illustrations, poems, and stories such as The Cricket in Times Square, The Enchanted Rabbit,and Amazing Ships and Sailors!

To enter the GIVEAWAY click HERE!

(Drawing: Feb. 15)

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For more Monday Blues, go to Smiling Sally's Blue Monday!

Happy Blue Monday Everyone!

Book Winners Announced!

Congratulations to the winners of my BLOGOVERSARY GIVEAWAY!

The three winners of my first book The Wishing Years are:

1) Stefanie at Rose Petals and Rust!

2) Linda at Country Pickins!

3) Cassie at Angelandspot!

Thanks so much to all who participated and shared the fun of my first Blogoversary! I appreciate all your support during the past year and look forward to many more visits, posts, and fun!

Blessings to all!

Coralie

A Vintage Cottage Home's Blogoversary Giveaway!

To celebrate my one-year Blogoversary, I am hosting a Giveaway! The winner of this Giveaway will receive a copy of my first book The Wishing Years shown above! To enter, just leave a comment on this post with a link to your blog so I can reach you if you are the winner.

It would be really sweet of you to announce this Giveaway by copying the "book badge" on my side bar and pasting it on your sidebar or in a post on your blog...but not necessary to enter. All are welcome! The winner will be chosen through a random drawing on October 14!

Thank you all, my wonderful blogging friends and followers, for your love and support during this past year. It's been fabulous and I look forward to sharing with you for many years to come!

Blessings to each and every one of you!

Coralie



(You can find more information on my books at: Wildwood Press.)