~~**Some Valentine Freebies For You**~~

 Here we are with the holidays over and anticipating that sweet day of LOVE!!! In honor of Valentine's Day I did a blog makeover including sweet little lovebirds. So now it's time to share some sweet little Valentine treasures with you! If you would like to save an image simply click on it to enlarge it then right click it to "save as".
  Remember if you save the images I share with you to leave me a little comment. I love to know that the images I share are useful to you. I only ask that you use them for personal use or in your altered art projects that you sell on sites such as Ebay, Etsy, or Artfire. Please do not reproduce and sell the images and prints, fabric blocks etc in their current form. Thank you so much...and happy crafting!!!

Sweet Vintage Clapsaddle Valentine

Pretty Heart Balloon Vintage Valentine Postcard

Couple of Cutie Pies Vintage Valentine Postcard

What a Cutie Vintage Valentine Card

Pretty Vintage Valentine Postcard

*~~~Christmas Freebies For You!!!~~~*

Sweet Little Vintage Christmas Postcard

Beautiful Christmas Angel

Vintage Christmas Postcard

Vintage Ellen Clapsaddle Christmas Postcard

Another Vintage Christmas Postcard Print

  To save for your own personal use just click on the image to enlarge it, then right click to "save as" find the file you would like to put it in and save. I ask that you use this for personal use and for making altered art items for resale. But, please do not reproduce in it's original form for sale as prints, fabric blocks, or in collage sheets unless you have substantially altered the image by your own design.
  Hope you enjoy your Christmas freebies. Please if you save images leave me a comment. I love to know that you find what I post for you here useful! I would also love to see pics of your creations and do a little free advertising for your items for sale created with my free images. Email pics and a brief description or your creation to jraeburk@gmail.com. I'll post them here on the blog along with your info for potential customers!!!
  God bless you all and have a wonderful Christmas season! Don't forget in all the hustle and bustle to celebrate the true meaning of CHRISTmas!!!!

~*~More Freebies For My Dear Folowers~*~

Beautiful Fashion From 1829

I love vintage Christmas Postcards, this is a lovely one of  baby Jesus with angels.

I have a special place in my heart for these wonderful colorized photos from the Victorian era!!!

Lovely vintage print of a little girl praying.

Sweet little vintage Ellen Clapsaddle Thanksgiving postcard!

Hope you enjoy using these images in your very own creations. All I ask is that you don't resell the images as they are. You may use them as many times you like for personal use or for items you make for resell as long as the images are altered in your artwork. Please do not resell them as they are as digital images, in collage sheets, prints, or fabric blocks.  Please leave me a comment if you save the images and I would just love to see photos of what you make with a brief description and I will post your creations here on my blog for a little free advertising for you! Email me at jraeburk@gmail.com.

~**I Have Chosen Some New Images To Share With All Of You!**~

I just thought these sweet bears were silly and cute in their Victorian fashion.

This sweet southern bell surrounded in roses is my own graphic design.

Just love the nostalgic look of these old sewing machines.

Little Kewpie Blunderboo.

This beautiful trio of angels is from a vintage Christmas postcard.

To save the images just left click to enlarge them, and then right click and "save as". You are welcome to save as many of my free images as you like for your personal projects or to resell in small quantities in altered form. Please do not sell the images as they are in any form as digital prints, collages, fabric blocks etc. Please alter them in someway in your own artwork if you are selling them. Thank you so very much! Blessings to you all! I am so thankful for my sweet followers!

***~Free Giveaway Winner~***

Just wanted to announce we have a winner for our free giveaway! "socalrpv" is the winner! Congrats on winning the Vintage Valentine Pillow! I'll do another free giveaway when my followers reach 150!!! Thanks to everyone that entered! I'll be adding more free images very soon!

~**Something a little different from J.Rae's Shabby Cottage Designs**~ Shrimp & Smoked Sausage Gumbo ~**

Shrimp & Smoked Sausage Gumbo

1 lb Smoked Sausage (cut & then quartered into small chunks)
1/2 stick butter (or 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil if you prefer)
1/4 C Flour
... 1 Medium Onion (chopped)
1 small bag baby carrots (chopped)
3-4 Stalks Celery (chopped)
4 C Chicken Broth
1/2 C Diced Green Chilies (to taste mild or spicy to preference)
1- 14oz Can Diced Tomatoes
1- Can Spicy Rotel or Diced Tomatoes w Green Chilies added
1-1/2 C Frozen Okra
1 Can Golden Hominy
1 lb frozen cooked medium shrimp
1-2 tsp Mrs Dash Seasoning
1 Tsp Black Pepper

In soup pot add butter, smoked sausage, brown slightly over medium heat, add flour to make a rue, add chicken broth, carrots, onion, Mrs Dash, pepper & celery bring to a boil and cook til veggies are softened. Add green chilies, diced tomatoes, rotel, and bring to a boil, simmer for about 10 minutes, then add okra, hominy, and shrimp, let simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Serve nice and hot!! You can spice this up more by using hotter peppers such as jalapeno, or adding a dash or two of hot sauce. You can also serve this over rice, but we eat it like a yummy hearty soup!

This is what the finished product looks like. It has the most incredible flavor. Just a touch of spice without being too hot. Once you have a bowl you want to go back for another. My hubby & I have been eating this at least once a week lately! Fantastic & I know you'll just love it so I just had to share!!

 

~***Here It Is Finally!! FREE GIVEAWAY TIME!!!***~

   Woooo Hooooo!! In celebration of having over 100 followers now I am doing a FREE GIVEAWAY!!!  All you have to do to be entered is be a follower, and leave a comment on this post. You get one entry for every comment you leave!!!  So if you're not already a follower, please hit the FOLLOW button on the right and leave a comment to be entered!!! Here is what I'm giving away, a sweet one of a kind handmade (by me) sweet Vintage Valentine Postcard Reproduction pillow. To Leave A Comment at the bottom of this post, it has a little blue "comments" click on that & it will bring up a little box for you to type in!!! The drawing will be held November 1st, 2011! I will notify the winner of the drawing via email and post it here on my blog!!!

Well here it is...my adorable Vintage Valentine Pillow! Handmade using a sweet little vintage cherub Valentine reproduction. I used the sweetest cotton fabrics in red and pinks and trimmed the pillow with grosgrain ribbons in coordinating colors. The back is made from a vintage while chenille and the fringe trim is from the same chenille. An adorable little accent piece to decorate around Valentines day, or if you love vintage Valentines like I do you can display it year round. It would also be a sweet accent for a romantic inspired boudoir or little girls room decor. So if you would like to have this sweet little one of a kind pillow just leave your comment on this post to be entered!!! Looking forward to hearing from you!!!

  

~~**Some New Freebies For You**~~

A lovely vintage print of a darling girl

Gorgeous Klein Roses

Beautiful Marie Antionette w Girl

Vintage Halloween Postcard Print

Harrison Fisher American Beauty

 

I hope you enjoy my selection of free images. Feel free to use them in any of your personal artwork, altered art, and you can also sell anything your create with the images. I only ask that you do not sell them as prints or fabric blocks as they are here...please alter them in some way before selling.  To save the images left click to enlarge the image, and then right click to "save as".

~*WoooooHoooooo!!! I Have Reached 100 Followers!!!*~

 Hello beautiful people!!! I am so happy to announce that I now have 100 followers!! HURRAY!!!  That means that I will be making something special and having a give-a-way!  Stay tuned for all the details on how to enter for a wonderful free gift to celebrate my 100 followers!!! Love you all and hope you will all take part in the give-a-way!!!

~***Some New Goodies For You***~

 So sorry that I have not been posting much...Life brings new things and challenges and things that take up our time. A lot of that though is new ways to serve the Lord...and for that I am so very grateful! God is good all the time...that is not just a catchy phrase....it is the truth!!! The Lord has been so good to me!!! I love Him so much, and I am so thankful for all that He has done, and thankful He called me out of the pit I was in!!!

Here are a few vintage images for you to save and use in your very own masterpieces!!! Hope you enjoy them, and I would love to see photos of your creations..email them to jraeburk@gmail.com. Please leave a comment for me if you save the images. I love to hear from those of you that are finding them useful! Many many blessings to you and yours!

PNG Image Victorian Lady

Sweet Little Girl w Broken Dolly

Mother and Child

Vintage Baby Greeting Card

Carriage Silhouette 

~*~Jesus-He Is My Everything~*~

 In the Bible, He is known as the Shield. The Rock. The Vine. The Potter. The Prince of Peace. The Light of the World. Hope. The Horn of Salvation. Father. The King of Kings. The Way. The Truth. The Life. The Comforter. The Counselor. The Great Shepherd. The Eternal God. The Everlasting Father. And much more...thank you, Lord, for being our EVERYTHING. ♥

   It's all about Him! I have lived through a lot of things in my life that I can look back and know, that even though I was not walking with Him at the time, He brought me through unharmed. My life is so much better now that I have a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There is nothing like it! It's truly a beautiful thing!!

Feel free to save these prints and use them for your personal projects. I use them for making pillows for gifts, in my Sunday School class projects etc! Hope you have a truly blessed day!

***~In Honor Of Easter...Some Free Images For You~***

Beautiful Vintage Easter Postcard

Vintage Easter Chicky Postcard

Adorable vintage Easter Illustration

Gorgeous vintage Easter Postcard

Adorable Chickies Vintage Easter Postcard

Hope you enjoy these images in honor of Easter, and what our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ did for us! He died on the cross to save us from our sins, and he rose again to be ever present in our lives! He lives!!! Rejoice Rejoice!!! For He lives!!
Just left click on the images to enlarge them, and then right click to "save as". Please leave me a comment if you save the images just because I like to know you find them useful. I only ask that you do not reproduce them as they are for resale as prints, digital downloads, or fabric blocks. But feel free to use them in your own altered art creations for resale.
  I would love love love to share anything that you may create with my followers..so please email me photos of your creations to jraeburk@gmail.com with a brief description that I can include here on my blog! Hope you enjoy the images...have a blessed Easter!!!