Saturday, April 26, 2014

Something Old, Something New


Golden Anniversary
 
Although the phrase “Something Old, Something New” is usually associated with weddings, it also describes my new Anniversary Keepsake that I recently put together after celebrating our milestone wedding anniversary this past January.    I have created keepsake bells for others but not as elaborate as this one!    I used various old and new items to assemble it.    I’m very pleased with the way this turned out
  


The finished display is about 12” high. 

I’ve had the brass stand for a few years, and knew it would be perfect for attaching the various items, using wire or ribbon.

The ‘new items’ are

-  Numerals ’50’, which were included in a beautiful plant we 
   received from our brother- and sister-in-law

- Two Metallic gold bells (2.5" high) that I purchased at a
   card store.   The 'flares' of the bells almost look like
   tatted rings!
  
- ‘Bow’ Pin (1.5" high) (explained in third photo below) 



The old’ item is, of course, the tatted bell, which I made in 1992, during the early years of my tatting (1990-94) when I was ‘on a roll’ with creating 3-D items,    

It was initially a ‘Christmas’ bell to hang on the tree, but it wasn’t long before I adopted it as my Anniversary bell, since the colors of my wedding were red and white.    It’s made with size 20 Cebelia

There is a gold filet ‘clapper’ inside the bell(not visible in this photo)
 



This is a close-up of my new sparkly bow pin (not attached to the
bell but only to the brass stand), which I wore to our anniversary dinner.   I can remove the pin from the stand  if I wish to wear it again.

I even sewed small gold bells onto the pin, which are from  “La Mode’ (buttons).  I thought they made a nice addition to it.
 

The gold filigree ‘clapper’ hangs on a chain inside the tatted bell and can be seen peeking through on this photograph
 





Celebration(s)
Below is the very elegant  restaurant we were taken to as a wonderful surprise by our brother- and sister-in-law  on our Special Day.   This restaurant  has quite a history, and it’s just as elegant inside!   As we had never been there before, it was a really special evening! 


And the weather also cooperated!   In fact, it was similar to the weather on our wedding day in 1964 - a little overcast, and temps in the mid-40s, with some snow leftover from a few days before.  Our anniversaries have ranged from a balmy 60 F. down to 10 F.  On our 30th in 1994, we had to dig out 10” of snow so that DH could get to work !  As I was shoveling snow that day, I was just grateful that we didn’t have that kind of snowstorm on our wedding day!  

This past November we had a low-key, informal celebration of our anniversary (exactly what we wanted) during the Thanksgiving weekend (hosted by the same brother- and sister-in-law), which was a planned get-together with family and several cousins whom we hadn’t seen for several years.   Our other sister-in-law (the one for whom I made the 25th anniversary ‘Mary Konior’ bell) surprised us with a beautiful 50th Anniversary sheet cake for dessert. 

I’m very grateful that we have achieved this magic number, but I’m somewhat stunned at the ‘reality’ of it.  As everyone discovers as they get older, Time somehow speeds up!    It was only  ‘yesterday’ that we celebrated our 25th in 1989the year I learned to tat and quilt, and made the Victorian fan tree skirt, with my first tatted pieces on it (hens and chicks, of course, plus a straight line of rings!.  I was very proud of those!      (That year, we were also movie extras (ballroom dancers) in a made-for-TV movie, which is a whole other story!)  

Then we buzzed past the 30th, 35th, 40th and 45th anniversaries, during which years I demonstrated tatting at many events (at least four a year).  (I started this blog between the 44th and 45th !)   And all of a sudden, our 50th was ‘around the corner’!     Lots of memories, mingled with all kinds of emotions!

The other reality is that it's been 40 years since we built our house, and somehow it has become all filled up with 'stuff', which we're now trying to deal with.  More memories and emotions!

 *  *  *  *  *
                                                
Computer Update
I guess I could consider my recently purchased laptop as an Anniversary Gift, of sorts!   It’s very powerful and has a big 15.6” screen.  And – it’s RED – my favorite color, which is the main reason I chose it among the gazillion  models at the store!   Plus the price was right!   I’m now learning about Windows 8 and finally have the full Office again, including Publisher.  I’m hoping I can start blogging more often now! 
This is my first post using it!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

13 comments:

  1. Oh Kathy thank you for sharing your memories, all so interesting, not forgetting to give you belated congratulatins on your 50th. It is so true that years seem to go a lot faster as you grow older. As you say looking back brings so many emotions. Great news about your new computer and we all expect to see you blogging much more!!! Hope also you will have time to do more tatting!

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  2. Congratulations on reaching 50years, And sharing your lovely pictures of the restaurant and your day. Your lovely bell and beautiful display for 50 years something to treasure for many more years to come.
    I had a quite smile to myself, yes like you I have a new laptop, vernon brought mine to cheer me up when I got the bad news last month, I have done a few posts on it now but there's a lot of windows 8.1 that's just not sinking in. I did buy a book on windows8.1 just got to feel like reading it might help.
    Have a nice day, hope to see you blogging again soon.
    Margaret

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  3. Congrats on your 50th wedding anniversary. It is a special celebration.The tatted bell looks wonderful with your choice of items added. Looks wonderful. Golden indeed.

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  4. Congratulations on your 50th anniversary! That is indeed a milestone. Your celebratory display is magnificent. I do hope we will see you blogging more with your new computer.

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  5. Special congrats on your "Golden Anniversary". The milestone of 50 years together is something to celebrate! Your tatted bells are very unique, each one represents a
    very special occasion. Thank you for sharing them with us.

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  6. Awesome keepsake!!! :)
    Happy 50th and may you continue to be blessed with many more!! :)

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  7. Love the bell and how you have embellished it. Congratulations on your 50th!!

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  8. Happy Anniversary! Your tatted bell with all of it's adornments looks sooo pretty. Such a precious piece! xo

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  9. Thanks everyone for your lovely comments about our anniversary and the bell 'tower'! I have another keepsake which I'll show soon.

    I am also writing this to test commenting on my own blog, as I'm having problems commenting on other blogs today.

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  10. very lovely and nice to meet you! suddenly I can comment on blogs again; is it better for you yet?

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  11. hi again :) btw, I have a lovely simple tatted cross that a dear friend out West made me, so I do like your craft! :)

    So nice that it is working again now... you said something I found to be profound in your last comment to me, about glad about my post so you knew you were not alone in that blog quandary/problem. blogs are wonderful for that; also though I think it made me realize that if I were to say anything or have any purpose for my blog, it would be to say, take courage, for we are not alone.

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  12. Love your photos and work. Congratulations on 50 years of marriage! It was only after my marriage of 27 years ended that I realized that there are several things that are God-Given: a mate, children, and health! You have been truly blessed with a marriage of 50 years!

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  13. Congratulations on your Golden Anniversary! Your bell tower is lovely. I love how you put things together in such beautiful ways. It sounds like you had wonderful celebrations for you anniversary, both early and on the day. Thank you for sharing.
    I'm glad you finally have a computer you can depend on. I'm sure you'll eventually get the hang on windows 8. Don't forget YouTube in your search for how things work. There are videos for almost everything!

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