The year was 1956...

My bedroom had two lovely bookcases on either side of the window seat. 



The window was often open in good weather and I remember how much I loved to watch the curtains blow in the breeze, as I snuggled in my bed across the room. 



I was eight and even then my bookcases were filled with books.  I used to love to sit on the window seat and read. 



The day in 1956 when my father came into my bedroom with a book he wanted me to have, I can still remember it like it was yesterday.  The name of the book was The Secret Garden. 



It started a lifelong love affair with the book. 



Although I struggled a bit at that age with some of the words, I cherished learning all about Mary Lennox and her adventures with Dickon in the Secret Garden.



That book made such an impression on me, and well, I cherished it throughout my lifetime. 



I collected different versions, went to the play when it was on Broadway,



watched every version of the movies that were made, and began to fall in love with everything about the author.



My shelves are filled with all things about the author Frances Burnett, and I own several versions of The Secret Garden and other books written by her.



I certainly do not need another volume of The Secret Garden on the shelves of my library. 



Yet, I know that there might be somone who needs thet same joy that I experienced in 1956, when I first met Mary Lennox.



This is the new  thrill  that I feel, knowing I will pass the joy along.  Especially, when I find a treasure like the wonderful volume, which I have placed in my etsy shop today.



When I found this copy, I just knew it was special. The size for instance, is not your typical size.  The Secret Garden illustrated by Tasha Tudor,  measures 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 and holds 256 pages.




The illustrations are lovely, Tasha Tudor really created heavenly color plates and black and white ones throughout this volume published in 1962.  The book was published by J. B. Lippincott Company. The book is in lovely condition, lovingly worn on the front cover. The pages are perfect.

Once upon a time my father gave me my first copy of The Secret Garden, and then I gave one to each of my daughters when they were about the same age. The  name of the song for this post is Somewhere in Time.






I placed this  beautiful keepsake, a secret garden charm bookmark which I made, and a custom bookplate to go inside, in my etsy shop For The Love of Old Books.

One lovely vignette, a favorite old shop, and a treasured book

would be lying if I said that my love of displaying objects had not been influenced by the wonderful vignettes found in Nesting On Main in Concord, Massachusetts.



When I brought home this Vintage cigar box, a few small bird feathers, and "Nesting" inspiration, I couldn’t wait to fill it this box with something wonderful.




I was decorating my own mantle and creating vignettes, having brought home so much inspiration and a few treasures from Nesting, when I noticed my treasured copy of My Robin by Francis Burnett.



In the book THE SECRET GARDEN there is the robin who befriends the character Dickon and Mary.



Following the release of the book, Francis Burnett received many letters asking about the Robin. She then published this little book in 1912.



In the book, she told of this little robin visiting her in her Kent rose garden in England. He was so friendly that he would sit nearby, sometimes even on her hat, while she wrote. He became a friend and she loved him dearly.



After arranging my mantel,



I took the book and used this beautiful Antique painting of her robin to create some special one-of-a-kind cards. I don't like to take these special treasures apart, so I simply scan them and use my digital paintbox to restore and repurpose the artwork found inside an Antique book.



Safely tucked into the Vintage cigar box, finished with a bit of tissue paper, lovely bird feather and some new bird labels I designed, it was ready to share.






Inspiration seems to have a life of it’s own, one lovely vignette, a favorite old shop, and a treasured book can lead one down a path of sheer joy.



There are five designs in all, and they all use the artwork found in the book by the famous painter and illustrator, of Alfred Brennan. One is a watercolor, and the other is an etching.( A Nineteenth century American painter, etcher and illustrator. His work is still cherished today and found in many art collections).



I took the two artwork pages and designed borders and reworked the one that was of the etching.



Inside I added a small page telling the story of MY ROBIN. Each card is embellished with vintage ribbons that I found in Nesting. The top of the box is decorated in vintage ribbons and a tag.






hen Frances left Kent she was sad that she would never see The Robin again.



Yet her gift of writing, and memorizing her sentiments,



allows all of us to see him again and again through her words.



Alfred Brennan truly captured the beautiful



details through her words.



The name of this song is
If I Could See You Again.



t is my hope that by restoring these prints and setting them free onto cards, I will be keeping her beautiful story, MY ROBIN alive. This treasure is listed on my etsy shop along with some other new items.

“Then I knew he was a little Soul and not only a bird.”

Frances Hodgson Burnett