"Love is lovely to look at." As Diane Boyce pronounces this sentiment, she holds a dainty
handblown satin-white heart in one hand and a string of coral beads and a nineteenth-century
chromolithograph cupid in the other.
   She turns to her mother, Beatrice Boyce, and asks affectionately of the Valentine Victorian
Whimsey ornament that's a work in progress, "I want it to be lighthearted. What do you think?"
"The silhouette could be a little stronger," Beatrice says matter-of-factly.
   For nearly a quarter of a century, Beatrice and Diane have been putting their heads and holiday
ideas together in their Ridgewood, New Jersey, atelier. Here, at D. Blümchen & Company, they
create vintage-style ornaments and decorations that have become treasured family keepsakes
for thousands of collectors around the world.
   "I run everything by my mother," Diane says. "She's been critiquing my work since I was 3."
The online company's Old-World-sounding moniker, a combination of Diane's and Beatrice's
names, is German for "little flowers."
   Whether they're designing a Victorian Easter egg with a chick peeking out of the shell, a
Christmas angel swinging on a shining star, or a pumpkin pixie all dolled up for a haunting
Halloween ball, mother and daughter follow the same process. Diane, working at a custom
Stickley art desk that replaced her kitchen table, comes up with a concept, and Beatrice helps
her refine it.
   A trio of artists, armed with jewelry pliers, embroidery scissors, tweezers, mini paintbrushes,
and a plethora of patience, works hours assembling the creations with vintage and reproduction
components. The items are then delicately decorated with glitter, tinsel, semiprecious stones,
beads, and diamond dust.
   "The hardest part is not coming up with the ideas; it's reining them in," Diane says. "Sometimes
it takes days, weeks, or even years to get them just right."
   To get herself into the proper frame of mind to create the 2009 Valentine Victorian Whimsey,
for instance, Diane reread Emma, Jane Austen's classic romantic tale published in 1815.
"Dearest You Will Always Be," the product's title, is a quote from the novel.
   It was almost inevitable that Diane and Beatrice would form D. Blümchen & Company. Diane
has been collecting and designing holiday ornaments since childhood, and the two women
travel together to Germany frequently to search for companies that can supply treasures from
eras past.
   "We go for authenticity," Diane says. All of our decorations, as well as our craft supplies for
do-it-yourself projects, come from the original countries or the original companies."
   Diane rearranges the elements of the new Valentine Victorian Whimsey, and her mother
declares it to be exactly right. "It looks as precious as a piece of jewelry," Beatrice beams.