Sunday, February 14, 2016

Share Your Heart With the Queen of Hearts






Are you sentimental like me

and save special valentines through the years? 





Or collect hearts of sentimental value

that were gifts from your sweetheart or a friend?





With Valentine's Day on the 14th,

the topic selected for this month's

CAMEO meeting was Hearts.





~ Hearts ~ 

the universal symbol of 

~ love ~ friendship ~ courage ~ loyalty ~  hospitality ~





Last year the topic of our February 

 CAMEO meeting was Antique Valentines.

A local woman shared her grandmother Ruth's collection

of valentines dating from Victorian times thorough the 1950s.

 You can read about that meeting here.





When our planned speaker this month couldn't make it,

we decided to have a heart theme "show and tell".

 Each member was asked to bring a valentine, love letter,

 special memory, or a heart shaped treasure.





I chose to share this beautifully carved wood heart shaped 

 butter mold that belongs to my friend, Elizabeth.

 It's French; an early piece with gorgeous patina.





The wooden pegs can be removed so that the sides

 swing open in order to remove the molded butter.

 Elizabeth and I spotted this piece while shopping

 the flea markets of Paris a few years ago.





One of our members shared 

 this very special heartfelt poem written by 

 her late father for her mother on Valentine's Day last year.

 Sadly, Karen's father passed away over the summer.

 This is just one of many sweet poems that George Benigno

 wrote for his wife Ann through the 68 years of their marriage.



I chose a Queen of Hearts

 theme for my table.




Red, pink, and white tulips filled various

 MacKenzie Childs vases.

 Goodies both sweet and savory

 filled the table.




This adorable Queen of Hearts

 stood guard on the buffet with the plates 

 and napkins and tray of drinks.

 She was my muse that inspired my theme.

 A striking 16 inches tall, this queen 

 makes a beautiful statement.



Image from Pier 1 

Shortly before the meeting I happened to receive 

 an email from Pier 1 about their valentine offerings.

 With the Queen's regal crown and the wonderful

 black and white check details of her robe,

 I thought, "What could be more perfect with

 MacKenzie-Childs Courtly Check?"





Pier 1 also offered exquisite 

crown ornaments in three different styles.  

They added the "crowning" touch

for the chandy mobile!

I was late discovering the Pier 1 valentine offerings, 

so I'm fortunate that my local store still had these items available.





Various Queen of Hearts gathered through

the years mixed with hearts and vintage valentines

to complete the center piece of the table.





This adorable one is from

Patience Brewster, Inc.  

She is available here.





I ordered this clever

faux cupcake from an Etsy shop here.





This queen was stitched by me.

I'm proud to say it is my first piece stitched in 2016

toward my goal to devote more time to stitching.

A Petei Design available here.




A few vintage valentines 

that feature the Queen of Hearts

were added to the table.




The vintage tray is 

part of a child's tea set.





One vase was filled with puffy,

sparkly red hearts found at Pier 1.

The vintage tiara was a birthday gift from my

CAMEO friends several years ago.




Glitter crowns on dowels could

be found tucked in with the tulips.





A mini metal crown sat

among a chalice of sugary gum drop hearts.





A vintage silver heart on a stand along with red glitter hearts

and petite book paper hearts filled in the gaps.




See this darling hand made valentine?

It features an adorable Queen of Hearts just for me.

A surprise from a blogging friend, 

it's the latest valentine to be added to 

 my tray of special valentines!

 Thank you, sweet M!




Happy Valentine's Day

 to each of you!

 Joining




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