"Cream Lace" by Skye McGhie.

A picture heavy post today. About 12 years ago, we travelled to the East Coast of Canada as I was speaking at a grief conference. We had some time between sessions and on our days off to explore the communities in and around Prince Edward Island. We found the sweetest tea shop and at the back, off in the corner, there was a beautiful display of some pretty china called "Cream Lace" by Skye McGhie. I fell in love with the beautiful scalloped edges and the cutouts but the set was not cheap and we immediately knew trying to get it home, all the way across the country, would be a very stressful challenge. We took some photos, with the permission of the shop owner and I vowed I'd search for this same pattern and style once we were back home. Most we found in the last 4 years, starting with a small oval dish.

Last week, on a beyond cold and blustery day, I went on Marketplace to look for art work for our new centre. And at the top of the page, randomly, was a post for Cream Lace dishes. The individual who was selling had 6 dinner plates, 6 small plates, 6 tea cups with saucers, 6 coffee mugs, 2 soup bowls and 1 oval platter. I jumped on the ad, especially as she has literally just posted it. Perfect timing! She wrote back a few minutes later to share she was getting a ton of requests but she loved what I wrote. We negotiated a pick up time, and the next day, still in the freezing cold but a little less blustery, we headed in to the Big City. She was lovely and so happy to hear where her beloved dishes, never used, just displayed, were going home to. With 2 grown boys who had no interest in sets of dishes, she decided to find someone who would love these. Other than only having 2 soup bowls (I'm now on the hunt to find 4 more), I'm sure I have more than the set we spotted and fell in love with in Prince Edward Island. I have so many unique items that we found over time ~ the lamp, the napkin rings, the baby dishes, the miniature tea set on it's own tray, the butterfly dishes, and the clock ~ that I feel this is the loveliest collection of anything I truly have. Now, there is only one issue .... the whole set will not fit in our current corner cupboard. Today, I took everything out and put it on our dining room table. My hope is that the china cabinet on the far wall will be big enough to house all these sweet pieces. I have a bit of a cold today, so I didn't empty that one but will try tomorrow if I'm feeling better. Fingers crossed that all the set will fit in it's new home in the bigger china cabinet. 

Do you have a set of dishes you've collected over time?

~ Chy

Sweet Charlotte.

We bought this beautifully framed painting

last year at the Antique Mall. It's often paired

with a little boy. But we scoured the Mall

and could not find him. The title for this

one is "Charlotte" and we hope we'll find

the boy "Peter" at some point. Wish us luck!

~ Chy

My 1st Unboxing.

I've posted a video of the unboxing of my Blythe doll

but wanted to share her here as well. If you'd like to

follow the adventure, the link to the new IG account

called "Blythe Cottage" is here. She is so sweet and

now that I've got her unboxed, the next task is to name

her. She was given the name "Mary" by her creator

but we'll likely choose a "C" name to follow our little

pattern with names in our family. OR a "B" name ....

~ Chy

Cream Lace.

We have a few "collections" around the cottage. I wanted to share this one, that I have posted a bit about in in the past. We visited the Eastern part of Canada about 10 years ago when I had to present at a very large national conference. Shopping one afternoon, we stumbled across this amazing china in an antique shop. Created by artist Skye McGhie, the pattern is "Cream Lace" and I love the whimsical, lacy look. However, at the time, we were on a much tighter budget and it would have been impossible to try and bring back china on the plane. Or have it shipped. So we vowed to just start look for pieces here and there. Look at the collection now! There are even a few pieces that are light pink and one that is light green. The tiny gift boxes on the big heart plate in the last photo are green, purple and white. I've run out of room but we still keep our eyes open when we're out and about. I've even found a few key pieces on Marketplace. Just one of a number of collections that we have and enjoy adding to.

I'll show more collections over time.

Is there anything you enjoy collecting?

~ Chy

BK Collection.

I started a sweet little collection of books

a couple of years ago. These are so hard

to find so I truly cherish the few that I've

been able to secure in a variety of ways

from author and artist Becky Kelly. Some

have been found at the charity shop, some

from Indigo, one from the antique mall

and one very special one was a gift to me

from a dear friend who moved away. All

are precious and reside in our tiny library.

~ Chy

Cream Lace.

I started a small collection a couple of

years ago ~ Skye McGhie's "Cream Lace."

It's the perfect fit for my grandmother's

corner china cabinet. Everything fits.

But then on Thursday, I met a lovely lady who sold

me the above pieces to add to my little collection.

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to fit all these new

pieces in to the cabinet. I may have to find other spots.

My "Cream Lace" lamp in the dining room

across the cabinet. Sweet, lacey and so tiny.

There is a bit of room under the lamp. I may

have to add pieces in to my secretary in the

living room. Or in the big china cabinet

that holds our pretty dishes for special days.

Sigh .... my little dilemma for the day.

How was your Sunday?

~ Chy

Little Snowmen.

I collect small snowmen and have for several years

now. Here's my little collection that I've snuggled up

on my gramma's hope chest at the bottom of the big

staircase. There are a few hanging on the tree too.

~ Chy

Cream Lace.

Before we were married, I was asked what kind of

china we would like on our wedding gift registry.

At the young age of 22, I wasn't really into china or

crystal and we had already bought our house, which

did not have a formal dining room. So we chose a

very sturdy pattern of stoneware from Denby instead.

Then 12 years ago, my grandmother died and I ended inheriting all her china, her silver and her amazing dining room set. I also brought home this sweet corner cabinet that showcased some of her favorite things behind glass doors (not visible in these photos). I stored her china in here along with other treasures we had gathered over the years. When we visited the East Coast a few years ago, we came across a lovely china patter called "Cream Lace" by Skye McGhie. Fell in love but couldn't fit what we wanted to buy in to our suitcase. And though the store offered to ship it across Canada to our home, I knew I'd be worried that it would arrived in tiny pieces. So we kept the pictures in our head and hoped one day we'd come across the pattern and all the pieces we hoped to have. A fun treasure hunt.

Slowly in time, we began to collect a piece or two, here and there. Mostly from our favorite charity shop and our Antique Mall. Our collection grew. I had it scattered about the house. Then at Christmas, our eldest found a woman selling quite a few pieces on FB Marketplace. Amazing low price and it turns out, she had never used the pieces. Brand new, not a chip or scratch or tea stain ring! I was so thrilled on Christmas morning to open up an obscure box and find some many pieces of my collection inside. I was teary and excited all at once! A small dream come true.

After the holidays, we then had to figure out where to store all the pieces and decided to clear out the corner cabinet, built for my grandparents back in the early 30's, and showcase the entire collection. That's what you see above. This is now part 1 of my post as just this week, I stumbled across more and had to rearrange again. I'll show you that in part 2 very soon. The last picture shows the cake stand that I have in my kitchen holding a small basket of dried flowers. I haven't yet decided if I'll leave it there or add it to the dining room corner cabinet. Decision and pictures soon.

~ Chy

JPC #21: Collection.

Bunnies, bears and babies. I have lots of little

collections but these are some of my favorites.