Mon Amour de Toutes les Choses Francaises or My Love of All Things French

Bienvenue à mon amour de toutes les choses françaises ! Je suis si heureux que vous m'ayez joint aujourd'hui et j'attends avec intérêt de visiter vos blogs pour voir quels beaux trésors vous avez !

Welcome to My Love of All Things French! I am so happy that you joined me today and I look forward to visiting your blogs to see what lovely treasures you have!

As many of you know, I seem to have become obsessed with all things French, especially vintage Eiffel towers. Seems that every time I see one, I have to have it. I have decided that I would share some of my favorite finds with you both vintage and new.

I have announced that this event would take place both Monday and Tuesday, but I might just have to have additional posts to share more of my collection. If you have just learned of this event, don't worry. You can still add your link below on Mr. Linky, even after the two announced days.

For those of you who are ready to participate, please add your direct link below. On Tuesday morning I will randomly select a participant from Monday, who will win some french goodies. I will pick another name randomly on Wednesday morning as well. Good luck!

And now, on to my favorite French goodies. Know that you can click on any of my pictures to get a better view.

I have had wonderful friends and family who have gifted me some of the above items. And I will let you in on a little secret. I love to find vintage french items on eBay like my Eiffel tower buttons, pins and souvenir patch.

The black Eiffel tower button is my favorite. It seems to have a lot of character. The two silver buttons are not as heavy, but still a wonderful find.

Here are some more Eiffel towers I have found to use in my art work, and also some wonderful gifts from friends. When someone gives me a gift with and Eiffel tower, or a french twist, it just means so much to me. It is a gift from the heart from someone who knows me well.

I don't know why I have become so obsessed with the Eiffel tower. I think it may have something to do with a lot of the altered art that I have seen that seems vintage and french.

I have been collecting and making silver charm bracelets for many years. However, I have also found some really beautiful souvenir bracelets on eBay and in some of my favorite local shops. It always scares my Mom when I find something with the Eiffel tower because I let out a loud "GASP"!

The bracelet on the top is just so beautiful. I love to wear it and it has so much detail to it. The third bracelet down is the one I wear most often. It has many french charms, but also a few from other places I have visited while in Europe. I especially love the large circular charm on the right end. They can never be too big for me.

The bracelet on the very bottom of the above picture was a Christmas present from my parents. My Mom and I had seen it at one of our favorite shops one day. I love older silver charms. They are so detailed. Of course the little Eiffel tower spoke to me. I didn't get it that first day, but when we returned on another day and learned that the shop was having a store wide sale, you can bet I was an excited gal. My Mom said that she would get it for my Christmas gift and of course I was a giddy gal with that!

The pendant on the far left was another eBay find. It is a shield from France, and I HAD to have it!

These hankies are another recent find. I think they are so precious and would love to frame them some how. The detail is fantastic as well.

The above scarfs were all gifts.

This was a gift from my dear friend Carolyn. I just started to cry when she sent it to me as a surprise. A thoughtful gift I will always treasure.

This pink scarf was also a gift from Carolyn. I just love the color and the time period of the people.

This gold scarf was a gift many years ago from one of my former first grade students. His family had gone to Paris and they brought this back for me. At the time, I wasn't obsessed, like I am now. However, it was still wonderful because it was from an awesome little boy and I had visited Paris as well.

I just love these old Paris photograph sets from Guy. Each one has several numbered photos from Paris.

These are wonderful, because like other French ephemera I have, these can be scanned and used in my art work. I love adding vintage touches of Paris to my art.

I have always loved vintage steroviews. Imagine my surprise when I come across these beauties. My dream is to one day own an actual stereoview to place these in for viewing.

This is one of my favorite vintage finds. It is full of beautiful pictures of the sites of Paris. I have used these in my art work as well.

Isn't that just amazing. I would like to somehow duplicate it and hang it as a border around my studio. That would be fantastic!

Vintage ephemera, my favorite, especially when it's french. I just love the photos and advertisements in these old programs.

These aren't as old, but still great finds. Any time that I am out searching for treasures and I come across anything french, it is snatched right up.

This is one of my favorites because of the below advertisement. I have used it a few times in my altered art.

Below is one sample I made for a round robin travel themed book that I am currently working on. Each participant picked one country and focuses their art on it when they have each participant's book. I bet you can't guess which country I chose?????

I love finding unique vintage items. The image on the far left is a matchbook cover. The backside is below. The upper right is a matchbook cover as well, and although it isn't from France, it is from an international bar in Chicago. I also found this french phone token. How cool is that!

And of course there are several of us that love those vintage postcards. Not the reproductions, but the authentic kind. I especially love it when it has someone's memory written on the back. I think about the person that once held it and the sites that they saw long ago.

And of couse I love the newer postcards as well. I mean, come on, they're french. And we all know I love all things french.

I hope that you have enjoyed some of my favorite treasures. I hope that you will join me by either posting some of you own favorites or by sharing a comment, story, or memory on this post. Be sure to come back tomorrow for more of my collections.

Merci de me joindre et ayez un jour merveilleux ! Au revoir !

Thank you for joining me and have a wonderful day! Good bye!