Ephemera ~ What is it? Vintage Postcards, Letters, Calling Cards...PLUS Giveaway Has 1 Week Left!

Everyday we probably use all kinds of paper items that get tossed in the trash. Some people save these printed pieces for either sentimental reasons, or for financial records, or for family history.

How many of you save the greeting cards sent by family and friends? And if you save them, for what purpose? I save Christmas cards for several years and then after awhile, make them into cute and fun gift tags to use on next year's packages. But, this would mean the cards were no longer in their original condition.

So this is what leads me to today's post. Ephemera. That is what this paper stuff is called and the much older pieces are highly collectible today. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the term ephemera means "the printed matter of passing interest." Or dictionary.com puts it like this: "items designed to be useful or important for only a short time, esp. pamphlets, notices, tickets, etc."

Luckily some people decided to save some of their paper items. Really collectible items are things like a Civil War document, a letter signed by a famous person, or a deed to a famous piece of real estate.

My favorites are vintage postcards, letters, old photos, wedding invitations, marriage certificates, calling cards, etc. Some of the beautiful images are still vibrant and stunning to this day.

We've added an "Ephemera" category to Bella Rosa Antiques with some lovely vintage rose items. We'll be adding more in the future so check back if you love pretty paper things!

There's just ONE WEEK left 'til a winner is chosen in our May 1st GRAND OPENING Giveaway! For more details on how to win a $15.00 voucher towards merchandise/shipping click here.

Vintage Celluloid Collar Box - History

One of the things I have always loved about antiques are the mysteries behind them. The more time passes, the more things change for the next generations. Sadly, this leaves behind traditions and customs we don't use anymore and most often are forgotten about. Thank you, this has SOLD!

When I found this collar box to place on my Bella Rosa Antiques website, I mainly bid on it because of the rose decoration. But the more I thought about it ... the more I wondered why they were even made. We certainly don't remove our collars these days. Here is a little bit of history I found on Wikipedia:

"Having a false collar allows the shirt to be washed without the special washing method that a starched collar requires. Although they have fallen out of favour for everyday use, starched collars are often worn when wearing a white tie. Having a false collar ensures that the wings of a winged collar don't droop. Starching of detachable collars involves the dipping of the collar into a solution of starch and water before cooking the starch with a hot iron and curling the stiff collar by slowly drawing the collar between the board and the iron. The result is a pristinely white, smooth, stiff collar that holds its shape until it is washed. Detachable collars are typically kept in a collar box; a small, circular box in which the collars can better keep their shape."

This leads me to wonder about the women who were starching and ironing these collars. I can't even imagine doing this today. I don't even iron my regular clothes. Out of the dryer they go, right onto the hanger, with hopefully little to no wrinkles! Oh how things have changed.

And if you're just dropping by for the first time....the Bella Rosa Antiques GIVEAWAY is still on... please feel free to stop by and sign our GUESTBOOK. We're giving away a $15.00 merchandise voucher to celebrate the GRAND OPENING at the beginning of May. Click HERE for more details. Buona Fortuna! (Good luck!)

The Deck is Now Open! ~ Giveaway Still Going ON

Our deck is now open for business. And when I say business, I mean, seriously enjoying the outdoors by eating every meal I can out there. As long as it is warm and not raining, this is what I love to do. We did eat outside this past weekend, but the umbrella wasn't up yet, the deck hadn't been swept and planters hadn't been brought up out of the basement...so it wasn't quite the right feel. But now, now we're in business.

Even though it is not summer yet, which is my favorite time of year, this is pretty nice too...I have to admit. The temperature is getting warmer, (almost perfect) things are starting to look green, and the leaves are about to grow on the trees. And as you can see, we have a lot of trees around us. It is very scenic here.

My two little sweeties were out enjoying the sunshine with me today. Miss Minnie and little Sissy. We have a third cat, Love, who waits to go outside and pounce on the first thing that moves... either a field mouse, a mole, or a chipmunk. I enjoy watching the chipmunks but they are slowly disappearing...so I am not letting her out as much! I know, this is terrible of me. I picture them talking to each other in their squeaky little Alvin voices "LOOKOUT!...here comes that big ol cat again! RUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNN!" And run they need to because she can do this in about the first five minutes she is let outside. They don't stand a chance. So much for her adorable namesake! But hey, she's a cat. That's what they do. Except for Minnie and Sissy. I must have pampered them too much. They just sit and watch.

So when I'm not runing around after the cats, I enjoy reading or writing in my journal...and listening to the birds chirp. And of course a tall, cool beverage. The only thing that would make it better would be the leaves blowing in a cool breeze.

And thoughts of great summer barbecues and picnics we have yet to have! Can't wait.

The Bella Rosa Antiques Giveaway is on... please feel free to stop by and sign our GUESTBOOK. We're giving away a 15.00 merchandise voucher to celebrate the GRAND OPENING at the beginning of May! Click HERE for more details. Buona Fortuna! (Good luck!)

Dan In Real Life ~ GREAT Flick!

If you haven't seen Dan in Real Life yet, you must. I don't normally do movie reviews, but every once in awhile I see a movie I just have to share with you... and I watch movies all the time via Netflix. (I just love how they get sent to the house automatically!) And this movie is right up there with my all time favorites.

With a great supporting cast, a great set of lead actors (Steve Carrell, Juliette Binoche), and a super director in Peter Hedges... this movie has a great feel good story with comedy, romance, and surprises all in one!

My 18 year old step-son even liked it so that says a lot about the wide range of appeal.

If I were to give it a rating I'd give it a 5. . . but five what? Five stars is too boring. I'll give it 5 POPCORNS!

And don't forget I'm having a giveaway to celebrate the Grand Opening of Bella Rosa Antiques. See the post below for more details or click HERE if you have found this post by chance. There's still time to enter...contest ends beginning of May, 2008!

Bella Rosa Antiques ~ A GIVEAWAY!

Oh my! Where do I begin? I am having so much fun setting up the new Bella Rosa Antiques website. Things are coming along nicely and I do hope you enjoy what you find. I'm so excited about it, I've decided to have a giveaway, leading up to the Grand Opening!

Here's how it works:

1. Go to the Bella Rosa Antiques website by clicking on this link.

2. Click on "Guestbook" on the left hand side.

3. Leave me a message in the guestbook and add something like "I was sent here from your blog!" Be sure to leave your email address or blog link so I may contact you if you win.

4. You can only enter once.

5. You'll be entered to win a voucher for $15.00 towards merchandise/shipping on the website!

6. Winner will be announced in about three weeks with a date to be determined for the Grand Opening of Bella Rosa Antiques. More information to follow.



Isn't this beaded bag adorable? I was so excited when I found it it just shouted "I'm so Bella Rosaaaaaaaa" when I saw it. Items are already available for purchase so if you see something you like, you don't have to wait for the "Grand Opening." My purpose for having a Grand Opening is more of a PR and marketing thing...(oh boy, does that ever sound so corporate?) Also, I would love to test out the site and who better to help me out than my blogger gal pals. If you find any snafu's... please email me and let me know so I may make corrections as soon as possible. I'm getting the hang of the website technology but I'm still figuring it out.

I'll be adding more inventory as we go along and to replace sold items, so keep checking back and good luck on the giveaway. Most importantly, thank you for all of your support and kind words. They have been a big help and I really appreciate them.

Have a very BELLA day!

An Award for Miss Jillian

It has been longer than usual for me to post on my blog. Not feeling very inspired lately I guess. Then it hit me I did have something to blog about! My new award from Erin at the Classy Rabbit. How cool is that? Thank you, Erin for including me in the "E" is for Excellent award!

Although I feel my lack of inspiration is not making this blog very excellent today. I have been busy working on the DVD project, which is completed, and was shown yesterday at church. I received many compliments on it which was nice...but as always, the big pay off is to see it play and to watch the reaction of people as they see it. My favorite part!

My next project is to get my "Bella Rosa Antiques" website ready. I have started loading information onto it as well as some inventory. Lots more work to be done and I'm learning lots in the process. There are some graphic issues we are trying to work out but I'm sure that will be cleared up soon. Wish me luck!

Six Habits/Quirks I have ~ Tagged Again!

Well, I was tagged by a fellow blogger who hosts the lovely Oliver Rain to list 6 non-important habits or quirks about myself. This seems difficult, but once I get going, I'm sure I will find six things. So, here goes.

1- I don't like mixing different textures in food. Like brownies with nuts, or chocolate pieces in ice cream. I do like chocolate chip cookies, however. See, this is quirky already.

2-My husband gets really frustrated with me because I hardly ever finish whatever beverage is in my glass. I will drink right down to the last inch of liquid and then that's it, I'm done. Drives him nuts. I have no idea why I do it. He thinks it has something to do with my childhood. I just let him wonder. Hey, if he wants the rest of it, he can have it.

3- While most other people hate wrapping gifts, I love it. I also love buying wrapping paper, but I haven't let that get out of hand. My husband thinks I should start a business wrapping gifts for people at Christmas but I figured if I did that, I would suddenly hate wrapping gifts. I love the challenge of wrapping each one in a unique and creative way, adding vintage ribbons or silk flowers. Kids get happy meal toys tied to their birthday packages as gift toppers. Vintage wrapping paper is fun, too.

4- When I was a teenager I had a shopping bag collection. Not just any bag, but fancy expensive store bags from New York, etc. I confess, I still have some of them. I've thrown most away but couldn't part with a few. VERY quirky. I'd probably be a great candidate for that show where they make you put all of your stuff out on the lawn and get rid of three quarters of it, if I were able.

5- I also have trouble throwing my used calendars away. I like to go back years later and read about what I was doing. Again, that organization show would love getting a hold of me.

6- Wow, so I've made it to #6! So far, so good, I guess! Now I'm wondering why I am going to POST these quirky habits of mine for the world to read. So, I've saved the best for last. I think. Whenever I go out to eat and order a hamburger with french fries I ALWAYS put some of the fries on my burger. Mmmmmm. This negates the number one quirk listed here at the top, but hey, no one said it all had to make sense, it just had to be QUIRKY.

So there you go. I am going to tag Mrs. Tuneful over at A Tuneful of Sugar because she needs to get something posted on her blog and I can say this because she is my big Sister. And I'm also going to tag Erin of The Classy Rabbit. Enjoy, ladies! Can't wait to read your list. . . hope you don't mind!

Here are your rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you...if you need help linking, just ask!
2. Post the rules
3. Share 6 non-important habits/quirks about yourself
4. Tag 2 or 3 other people

Have fun!

Spring Has Sprung!

There's just something great about tulips. I know, a rose is special and sweet, but I just love the way tulips just keep reaching for the sky. And these pink beauties really make me appreciate spring.

And now that spring has sprung, we have begun venturing out again looking for fun vintage items. Yesterday I found a few neat things:

We went into this dust infested little shop not expecting very much, in fact, I was really thinking "we oughtta get outta here!" But once we started digging around and hadn't started sneezing yet, we figured it was safe. My eye caught these glass aqua beads inside a big 'ol pickle (clean) jar...along with many other beaded items. Most were plastic but I pulled out the two strands of aqua, one having very teeny tiny beads. I've never seen one with such cute and petite beads. They are strung together like a necklace, and not open like those you would place on a tree...but they have the same look and feel of the vintage glass beaded garland. So while I was buying those I decided to get the two pearl necklaces as well. Then I found the neat pastel wrap bracelet (also glass beads.)

I couldn't resist this sweet little set made in Italy either.

Not sure what I'm going to do with them...the new Bella Rosa Antiques website would be perfect for this set made in Italy but the site is just not ready yet. It is so close to being ready...but for some reason there is a hold up. Maybe I'll bring them to our antique booth since we're doing a bit of re-decorating there, swapping out pieces of furniture. We had a nice piece sell so this will mean the floor plan will need rearranging. This is always a good thing!

With more spring like weather sure to be on it's way...we'll have more to show you in the next coming weeks. Can't wait!

Memories in the Making - DVD Slideshow

One of the projects I've been working on lately is for our assistant Pastor. He is being ordained in about a week....and to honor this accomplishment I was asked to produce a memory DVD of his journey. His story is interesting because he went from being Vice President of a successful company to a new job in church leadership. He gave up everything to follow his calling. Admirable and inspiring, to say the least.

I love making these "videos." I've produced several already. One for a 50th Wedding Anniversary (as shown in the photo above,) a graduation, a theater cast party, a wedding, etc. These projects combine several of my loves... vintage pictures and my TV producing skills so this is really a great match for me. I'm not sure what it is about old photos and cool music, but it just works. We connect on so many ways with the visuals of the past and when put to a familiar tune, sometimes it can bring us to tears. Not that this is my goal, but to create something that evokes any emotion is part of the "pay off" for the producer. To see that something I created touched someone else, whether it be through laughter or tears of joy, is really, the satisfaction of a job well done!

Spring = Fresh New Looks

Now that spring is definitely showing up in my part of the world I get this feeling of relief. A need to clean out and organize follows. And after having cabin fever all winter, this is just the right thing.

My blog header is going to get a new look...and maybe even a new background color. I've been working on making my own graphics. Lots of fun to experiment with. I may be changing them often as I get used to them. Or, knowing me, I will revert back to the original "Jillian's Pages" look!

Well I hope everyone had a lovely Easter. My dear hubby and I went to church, came home and then had our own dinner together and made a couple of family favorites to eat. It helps keep them close to my heart, even if we couldn't see each other this holiday. Another simple thing I did for sentimental reasons...I decided to add my Grandmother's (or maybe even my Great-Grandmother's) beaded necklace to my Easter outfit...after seeing several similar necklaces at the stores, I think they are back in style now!