Ahhh, Romantic Roses!

For as long as I can remember, roses have captured a very special piece of my heart. From the gentle scent of the first spring rose, to a delicate hand painted rose on a favorite piece of repurposed furniture, I love to surround myself with their beauty.In recent years, I've noticed that my love of roses is shared by many others. If you pick up a romantic decorating magazine, you'll find rooms filled with the inspiration of roses. In a bedroom, it may be a rose needlepoint cushion, trimmed in the finest silk, adorning the seat of a boudoir chair. Or perhaps a beautifully stitched heirloom pillow, boasting lavish roses and lace, to adorn the bed. In a powder room, a porcelain bowl hand painted with gorgeous roses, might be filled with rose petal potpourri. As I look around my home, I see I have included roses in the décor wherever possible. Vintage tablecloths with colourful roses fill my china cabinet.

Mismatched china pieces decorated with softly faded roses sit on the shelf nearby. Linen pillowcases embroidered with tiny, perfect rosebuds are neatly folded in the linen closet. On my dresser, a pink porcelain rose is tucked into the corner of the vanity tray that once held my mother's prized perfume bottles. The memories of her that the tray brings back are as sweet as the rose itself.Whatever memories roses hold for you, you'll find the perfect rose waiting to capture a piece of your heart. Please join us at Forget Me Not Dreams and Make Mine Pink for shopping with a twist on Friday February 26th 2010 as we present "Romantic Roses"

Written by:Joyce Lucas

Founder Make Mine

You Are My Sunshine, My Only Sunshine!!

We are probably the only little section of the country not experiencing horrible weather. With an El Nino year in place, the storms that we usually get blasted with are going either north or south of us. We have had little or no rain in February, instead, lots of unusual warm and SUN!!

Our trees and flowers are starting to bloom, almost a month early. I just can't resist getting some wonderful photos of the buds and blossoms, promise of more to come. Watch our website as we hope to be listing more photo stationery cards and frameable prints this week.

We found so many new babies on our road trip last week. Lots of new lambs and calves. They always seemed to be on the wrong side of the road!

The very first blooms in my yard! I love the early daffodils, I guess these are technically jonquils. Whatever the name, they always make my heart sing this time of the year.

Shopping with a Twist~ Linens and Lace

Please join us for shopping with a twist on Friday February 19th 2010 as we present "Linens and Lace" at Forget Me Not Dreams and Make Mine Pink.

For as long as I can remember, linens and lace have always been a part of my life. They were not only present on every special occasion, but were used to add small touches to our everyday lives, making even the ordinary moments special and memorable.The first time we are surrounded by linens and lace might be when loving hands tenderly wrap us up in an heirloom christening gown. Later, the corner of a simple lace handkerchief tucked in grandmothers pocket, then customary, now used as the lining of a straw tote or repurposed and stitched into a pillow, brings a touch of nostalgia. I used to watch in fascination and excitement as my mother and grandmother brought out special tablecloths, some trimmed in lace, others with intricate layers of crochet stitches. I would excitedly wonder what special occasion we were celebrating. Often, it was a simple milestone, made extraordinary by the use of Mom’s special collection of linens. You could just feel the excitement in the air when these special linens came out of their safe storage. I fondly remember a linen tablecloth with delicate lace around the edges, was lovingly spread on the table for holiday dinners. As a child, that might have been my very favorite. Or was it the beautiful crochet tablecloth with the impossibly intricate pattern of lace that seemed to tumble right off the end of my mothers' crochet hook? I had an appreciation for the beauty of my mother’s collection of linens and lace at a very early age.

Today this very collection, added to one of my own, continues to add beauty and grace to my everyday life as well as to special occasions. If you ask me, all of the best things in life come carefully wrapped in linens and lace and I never miss an opportunity to add to my own special collection.
Please join us on Friday February 19th as the boutiques at Make Mine Pink share their special linens and lace collections. I hope that you will find a piece of two to add to your collection at Forget Me Not Dreams.

written by: Joyce Lucas,

FounderMake Mine Pink


Photo Contribution 1: Forget Me Not Dreams Photo Contribution 2: Mary's Cottage Treasures Photo Contribution 3: Grandma G's

Home Again, Home Again!

We are back home and reveling in the memory of a great trip together! We spent the day processing, inventorying and tagging all our goodies! Karen's a master at the inventory process!

We split our treasures into items for our website and items for The Farm Chicks Show! It's a great show in Spokane Washington this June! It will be our second year as an exhibitor there! If your in the area it's a show you don't want to miss!

We are so excited to have some great new products to list for our website! It's been a fantastic year for us already and we were really in need of some new things to list. We'll have a big photo shoot planned for tomorrow and will start listing this weekend starting with a bunch of new linens! Awesome!

Road Trip Day 3 & 4

We missed blogging yesterday...just had to take a breath! The 3rd and 4th day of our trip were by far the most productive! We were excited to finally find some great treasures and was able to head for home with a mostly full car! But we had to attribute our success to our mascot! If you've been following our our blog at all, you know Karen has battled with the H1N1 swine flu and all it's after effects, or as we have come to call it....the PIG! When we say this little guy, we just had to buy him! He says, "made in Mexico" on the bottom! Too funny!
We found some great stuff in here!

We are so blessed in the Northwest with gorgeous scenery. I loved the moss on the trees! We've had such a fun trip...girlfriends on the open road! What can be better than that!

Road Trip Day 2

We had a great day today! We stayed in Eugene last night at the Holiday Inn Express...our hotel of choice because we earn free nights fast! Gale was there to check us in and we got to chit chatting with her. She hooted with laughter when she asked us where we stayed the night before....Albany, which is just up the freeway about 45minutes! Now it's not as bad as it sounds. We hit every thrift store in every small town and about half of the antique stores...which is allot! This morning when we left she teased and asked if we wanted her to make a reservation for us in Springfield...about 20 minutes up the road! To funny!

We really hit the road today and traveled several hours south stopping in many of the small towns along the way to runt through the shops there.

One fun stop was in Cottage Grove at the Victoriana Antique Shop. Their mannequin outside was a hoot. And here is Karens favorite sign of the day...she felt so bad that they were closed! Small town are so much fun!

Tomorrow we'll be hitting a flea market and heading back up the road. We'll see how far we get!

Road Trip~Day 1

There's just not much that is better than a Road Trip! Two friends setting out with pages and pages of Thrift Store and Antique Store listing....a large Diet Coke and leaving cares behind. Now that's living! Our first stop was at a darling country store in Kaiser Oregon, The Back Porch Girls! Look how cute their primitive display is! We bought the cutest storage chest there! It will look great in our shop! Then it was on to Salem, Dallas, and finally Albany. It took us quite a while to do Albany...it's a huge antique town and many thrift stores too. We loved this old church in Albany! Isn't it just gorgeous! We made it to Eugene tonight and found some wonderful Tea Cups at the St Vinnie store! No pics yet, but we'll be sending a newsletter to let our customers know when they will be listed on our site! We are hoping to make it as far as Medford tomorrow...but we'll just have to see how many stops there are in between! It's so fun to just take off without any real plan....man our husbands would hate this trip!

Sale Roses and Pearls!

Thinking back, pearls and roses have always been a common theme in my life. Both my mother and my grandmother had furniture that was slip covered in big, bold rose fabric. Even the carpeting had sculpted roses and floral patterns. I can still see my mother and grandmother, wearing their pretty pearls against perpetual backdrops of roses. No wonder I both love and surround myself with anything pearls and roses, whenever possible. They remind me of the times I spent with my mother and my grandmother, growing up, listening to their stories, learning how to become a woman. Women of my generation must all experience the same feelings of nostalgia that I do when they discover themselves surrounded by roses, pearls, and anything pretty. My love of pretty things extends to vintage hankies, hand-embroidered with beautiful roses to tuck into a handbag or display like a doily on a nightstand. A teacup from someone's vintage china pattern – it never mattered to me if it matched anything else in my cupboard, or if it was handed down from someone that I knew. It's the delicate beauty that captures my heart and makes it part of my collection. Feminine quilts in pink and off-white roses remind me of the hours I spent stitching and talking with my mother and grandmother. Somehow, even then, knowing that no other moment in my life could ever make me feel as complete.
When you visit the boutiques at Make Mine Pink, you'll find yourself surrounded with beautiful collections that will fill you with nostalgia for your own memories of pearls and roses.

Visit Forget Me Not Dreams to find Rose themed collectibles at 25% off!

written by: Joyce Lucas, FounderMake Mine Pink

ROAD TRIP!!!

Things have gotten pretty boring and repetitive around here in Portland town. We decided yesterday afternoon to leave the messy houses behind and call a winter.....
ROAD TRIP!!! Yea!! Yippee!!! We are leaving today after in town chores are finished and heading... hmm-mmm, south. Our plan is to drive the backroads of the rural Oregon countryside to see who we can meet and what we can find. Pictures and fun stories will be posted as we go. Keep watching as we head into a wonderful old Oregon rainstorm. (Much better than snow anyway)

Old Things Newly Found

Eileen and I were able to sneak away and find a few estate sales last week-end. What a treat! At the first, we found little string wrapped bundles of quilt beginnings. Some of you may have seen our first offerings of these pieces last week.



Today I started one of my favorite chores, soaking, washing and finally starching and ironing each piece. I love to see that hidden grime wash out and the piece slowly transform into it's old sweetness.

Ironing brings out the crisp muslin and strengthens the vintage fabrics. I love the clean smell of the starch that brings back memories of my Nana's house. The vintage pieces touch my heart. Each tiny stitch so carefully placed, each fabric piece carefully and painstakingly cut. Life moves so quickly now. Were those vintage days harder due to the amount of hard hand work? Or was that work better for the health of the heart and soul?

One of a Kind Treasures

One of a kind treasures give you an opportunity to celebrate your own unique style pretty easily. Whether you prefer fun and whimsical designs, or if you go for nostalgic pieces that add a cozy touch, these exclusive finds delight us like nothing else can because nothing else is exactly like them.

Unexpected treasures like unique antiques rescued from dusty corners, made to look like new and restored to their rightful place of honor with a fun and maybe unique color of paint, always excite me. I can see the potential in just about any old piece I come across. There’s something about the thrill of time-worn pieces resurrected with love and care, a little bit of paint and becoming a one of a kind treasures you can't wait to show off. We treasure these pieces of the past, so beautifully preserved and restored, even if they’re not a part of our own past.

If you have a more eclectic or whimsical side, the on line boutiques on Make Mine Pink have become well known as a place to find wonderful handcrafted designs. Please join us on Friday at Forget Me Not Dreams and Make Mine Pink for a special shopping event...One Of A Kind Treasures!