Oblivion The Space Race, The Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis,
and I was swinging...
Riots and sit ins, Vietnam and civil rights, "We shall overcome."
and I was swinging...
John F. Kennedy... "The President has been shot!"
and I was swinging and coloring and learning my ABCs.
Hippies and Mary Jane, Woodstock, The Beatles,
and I was swinging...
Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, "...one giant leap for mankind."
and I was taking one small step... and swinging. -Laura Turner
Happy Sunday, everyone! I always find so much inspiration in the blogs of the ladies who link up each week. It's not just the creative problem solving and perseverence you ladies employ as Denise did in remaking this chest of drawers:
Or the juxtaposition of organic and mundane, old and new, that Susan creatively mixed to bring us this soothing summer vignette. Her whole blog makes me feel aaaaahhhh....
But its the energy and joy of Debbie as she "saves" time-used items from the past, displays them as well as any museum would display a fifties vignette, and leaves us with a "can-do" spirit as she conquers weight loss, and work, and family, and home.
And it's the sheer delight in appreciating the living metaphors of nature that Debby Ray shares with these surprising jeweled flowers:
I trust that you've found a lot of inspiration in these blogs as well. If you've never linked up, please join us. Link up any post, old or new, that you think others would find inspiring. Inspiration is everywhere, so really, you can link up just about anything! Please also become a follower, and display my button on your blog if you are featured. Have a great Sunday!
A few years ago I designed a window shaker card. I have made these for Halloween, Christmas, Easter, and now I've made one for a tag. This was not my most creative week, but here it is:
The stamps are all from Oxford Impressions . If you tilt the card, paper hearts and heart glitter fill the window:
Do you think this young girl is window shopping and dreaming of what womanly clothes she will wear one day? Have a wonderful weekend!
Happy Sunday! I hope this day brings rest and peace into your life.
This week I found myself working way too fast, and way too hard,
and experiencing some temporary health issues.
But I saw how much nicer life can be when someone gives you a kind word,
brings you a cup of coffee (okay, many cups of coffee), offers her help in any number of ways, or shares your small and large triumphs with hugs or a high five.
These bearers of kindness are my friends, my sisters-in-law, and my co-workers--some of whom have become friends.
We are strong women, creative and intelligent, who work to help support our
families, and who have been made wiser and kinder through life's struggles.
I'm grateful that I've gotten to know them, and that I'm also getting to know you,
my co-bloggers. All you women make my life so much richer. I haven't created anything to share today, and I don't have a post about antiques, but I will share a beautiful old hymn-spiritual that I am dedicating to all my sisters, who make life so much sweeter.
Inspired Sunday
This week I was inspired by the amazing DIY projects and posts of our partygoers. Christina at PennyWise created a drop-dead gorgeous polo picnic fit for William and Kate! You won't believe the creative ideas that she employed to make every detail of the picnic look like it cost major bucks, when she spent very little. She ROCKED this, and she gives great instructions so that you can rock it too!
Aimee at Refresh & Renew brought us another great upcycled project with her beautiful burlap covered cork board. Now I wish I hadn't given ours away!
I love for several reasons (in no particular order).
First, it uses burlap and the banner/clothesline theme - both really trendy right now.
Second, I love the personal touch of the handwritten sentiment.
Third, I love that it would be fairly quick to make.
Fourth. I love that it can be made out of what is on hand. Try it--I challenge you! :-)
Fifth, I love its simple honesty, like a soap scrubbed pioneer girl who has just put on her Sunday best to go "Down in the River to Pray!"
You'll find Nathalie's blog to be that way too. Full of fresh, honest food from her garden,
cute crafts, and many things I have yet to explore.
If you've been featured, please display my blog button on your blog. Thank you everyone for making each week so special through your comments, encouragement, and posts. Happy Sunday!
I finally just made myself finish the questions, so that I could give away the first two Liebster awards! You see, there's this Rococo Roamer out there, and she's having a fantastic give-away! I wanted you all to get to know her great blog and get a chance to win! So Brittany, you are my first awardee! Your tasks are below. :-)
My second Liebster Award goes to Susan at Eclectic Shorebird. Susan is artsy and eclectic, and her blog shows the range of her creativity. You might be interested in her "Tea in the Library" features, her poetic posts about childhood, humorous posts about the trials of nature, such as trials brought by skunks, or the wonderful printable flashcards she makes, like these:
Please visit Susan's blog at Eclectic Shorebird and give her some blog love!
The guidelines of this award are as follows:
Thank the blogger who gave you the award and link back to them in your acceptance post! Download the award image and post on your blog.
Share 11 interesting things about yourself. Don't be shy, and don't worry if they aren't relevant to the topic of your blog. They aren't supposed to be!
Answer the 11 questions that the blogger who awarded you asked in their post.
Create your own set of 11 questions for the next recipients of the award.
Pass the award to some of your own favorite bloggers! Each awardee should have less than 200 followers for their blog.
My questions for my awardees:
1. If you had only one thing to drink besides water, what would it be?
2. What was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you? 3. If you could change your name, what would it be? 4. What is the most exciting thing you've done, bought, or had happen to you in the past 6 months? 5. If you could do anything in life that you wanted, or be anything, what would you do or be? 6. What would you like to become better at? 7. What music stimulates your creativity? Or do you like silence? 8. What creative activities do your husband and/or children pursue? 9. What was your favorite job or activity as a teen? 10. What skills, gifts, or abilities do you have that most people don't know about? 11. Are you a messy messy or a neat freak?
For the theme this week, I decided to style the tag with fifties images, using some new stamps and the complementary colors aqua and coral. After pulling together the images, I realized that the tag had a message: does women's work at home get much respect as work in an office--or do working people feel that work at home is really just a party where women eat bonbons and talk on the phone all day? I think every woman knows the answer! So this tag is dedicated to all women--we have sooooooooooo many jobs!
The base is kraft card stock brushed with white and ivory paint and then stamped with sewing pattern pieces and edge distressed. I stamped the woman several times and fussy cut the doll and the dress. The apron is a scrap of a cupcake holder. You can see that in addition to sewing, she has cleaning and cooking on her mind (tiny recipes are under the clip). Doesn't she deserve five minutes to talk with Marge? Afterall, being a housewife is just a party anyway, right? :-)
Maybe it was the color that got me--Stampin' Up calls it "Blushing Bride."
Or maybe it was the French signboard lettering in my favorite white type.
Or maybe it was the crispness of the slightly transparent bag, or
the dull earthiness of the pink on the corregated cup holders.
Whatever it was, these pink Starbucks things have really gotten me inspired!
Everyone knows about my nutty little addiction, so now people are saving cupholders for me. The barrista now recognizes me as the "paper crafting lady," so he gave me a few pastry holders to play with. I went through my craft stash and found some cute assessories:
to make a holder for this 3-D window card that I made with
an image from the Graphics Fairy.
I folded the doily, taped it on, fan-folded a medallion, added some ribbon:
And the holder was ready for the card :
It's kinda trendy right now to use this type of bag for gifts,
and you can find them at craft supply places and Stampin' Up.
How fun though to repurpose!
(Guess you can't get a messy pastry, or just wrap it in a napkin and take the bag as a bonus!)
Once off vacation, and back in the craft room, :-), I found Debby Ray's plastic floor mat turned wrought iron wall hanging to bring an expensive and exotic look to
any well-traveled lady's home. Check out her post at My Favorite Things to
see how to make this 7.00 wall hanging!
Now let's see what's inspiring you this week! Please be sure to put a link on your blog back to mine. Also, I would love for you to become a follower if you haven't already.
I want to thank everyone for your ever kind encouragement and sweet comments. Tag Tuesday is a highlight of each week for me. I have so enjoyed planning my tags and also seeing the variety of ideas and styles of all the participants!
For this wedding tag, I cut a dress form out of chipboard and decorative paper using a Tim Holtz die. After stamping French lettering with a stamp from Oxford Impressions, I folded cupcake holders to make the skirt, added a little glimmer, and then trimmed out with antique lace scraps, rhinestones, and millinery flowers.
I staged it with my latest obsession - the paper cup holders and pastry bags from Starbucks! If you want to see how truly smitten (or crazy) I am about these pink papers, there's another project on my blog under "A Little Pink Starbucks Obsession."
So late with my post, :-( I stayed up really late Friday night to visit with girlfriends,
started feeling like I was coming down with something, and had to sleep and rest most of Saturday to make up for all the sleep I lost all week!
BUT it still is Sunday! :-)
I so enjoyed reading all your posts; you lightened my heart and brought a smile to my face. I so wished I had felt like baking some fresh desserts like Sherry:
or cleaning and decorating my porch like the one shown by Denise:
Or running to the Dollar Tree and picking up some cute potholders and
dishtowels to make these darling aprons like Debby Ray:
l
or even digging up a piece of my yard and getting some chickens, like Lisa:
(We actually can have chickens in my suburban neighborhood!)
But I visited with friends, rested, did a little laundry, hung out with the hubby, and worked on a little project that you can see if you click here: "A Little Pink Starbucks Obsession."
Not exactly the cleaning I had planned to do or the crafting I had hoped to do, but a good weekend just the same. Thank you for linking up and sharing your lives with
me and all the other party goers!
Laura
Inspired Sunday!
Share whatever inspires you. We'd all love to get to know you better and
All through this tiring and difficult week, my daily walk to Starbucks with my sweet friend and thoughts of what I could make with these kept me going...
All my friends said "You're so funny!" And I think my excitement made them smile.
I couldn't quit thinking about just how darn cute my idea was going to be.
So I got started today with making a few things and buying the perfect candy:
And found the perfect Starbucks green vintage button for the trim:
And came up with this for my walking friend at work, who makes my day happy!
Do you think she'll be surprised to find this on her desk tomorrow?
