Valentine's Day is Almost Here! I know you didn't forget ... but thought I'd mention it. Every February 14th the world is full of hearts and flowers and I love yous ! ... and we are here to help. We've got heart cards and heart jewelry ... heart matches and heart boxes ... birds with hearts ... pins with hearts ... and just plain hearts! Valentine's Day Is a wonderful way To make "I love you" Easy to say. That's a cute little ditty by Turlough O'Carolan ... and it's true. Some folks have a bit of a hard time saying those three little words ... I Love You. Valentine's Day is an easy excuse to say it ... in many ways. There has been a lot of conversation ... and skepticism ... about St. Valentine. The celebration of St. Valentine's Day was "created" by Pope Gelasius I in 496 to legitimatize a pagan festival of fertility. St. Valentine himself has been discredited and his holy day was removed from the Catholic ...

These bright little fungi are bunches of artisan made spun cotton mushrooms on wires, ready for embellishing any craft project.  These delightful diminutive mushrooms have been continuously made in Germany, in small batches by hand, in the same way and at the same factory for many decades.  These are wonderful alone or combined in art projects with our ribbons, millinery and flowers. We love 'em! These mushrooms come in eight delicious colors. We are packaging these in little bundles ... the 10mm size in bunches of eight ... the 18mm size in bunches of five ... for $4.95 a package. Available now!

We just got back from the 2015 Craft & Hobby Association "MegaShow." Fresh ideas ... renewed inspiration ... projects and products dancing in our heads! Over the next weeks we will be receiving numerous new products perfect for crafters and artists ... altered art and mixed media projects ... creative souls of all ages. One area we always enjoy is the designer showcase, where designers show off their designs and talents ... kind of like an interactive resume. Their displays, along with the merchandising displays of the vendors, offer a lot of ideas for projects. Here are some of our favorites. We placed quite a few orders ... both for refreshing our inventories and bringing in new products. Here is a snapshot of what you can expect to see in the shop. Along with replenishing our inventory of artist kits, we have ordered several new sizes and assortments. These little bottles are perfect for creating keepsake charms and pendan...

I found this curiously humorous article published in a Hawaiian newspaper in 1908 ... taken, most probably, from the "wire services." Bridal Showers Get Creative Showers for brides, like shirt waists (every one remembers the mysterious sudden appearance of shirt waists a few years ago and their rapid spread in classes and fabrics and, styles, I suppose?), have apparently come to stay, says a society writer on the Coast. They are filing a long felt want and their scope and variety widen with every successive wedding. At first they were -- comic woolly dogs, tin spoons and darning cotton, cookbooks and dusters were suddenly poured upon the bride to be, and gales of laughter and gloomy prophecy were the result. Then came handkerchief showers, towel showers, linen showers. "Useful" showers followed, and then "useless" showers. Miss Margaret Hyde-Smith was given a kitchenware shower by Mrs. R. P. Schwerin, and Miss Virgin...