jewels

Once upon a time, I cleaned my room. I took pictures. It was amazing. I had to face giant dust bunnies with TEETH to achieve this feat!

But that's not what I wanted to write about. In the process of cleaning, I unearthed a piece of furniture I acquired recently: my Grandma's jewelry chest. My Grandpa designed and made it.

The things inside the jewelry box are very much inspired by my Grandma. Many of the items she gave to me. It's full of enamel flower pins, giant bangle bracelets, strands of glass bead necklaces, vintage scarves, delicate handkerchiefs, and my other everyday jewelry.

The back/top of the box has a lid that lifts to reveal a mirror and two panels that slide up to display necklaces on tiny hooks. I love that my necklaces can stay untangled and away from the dust like this. Plus, you know how the dust bunnies can get around here... a hungry one could eat a few shiny gems all on its own!

I love the bottom three drawers for the wonderful treasures stashed inside. The hankies are an assortment of my dad's when he was a kid, to the ones I've carried in my purse since I started kindergarten, to the hankie I carried on my wedding day, to the special occasion hankies my Grandma would slip inside a Valentine card to me.

A box full of memories indeed.

history of style

I mentioned last fall that I was taking Ali Edwards' Yesterday Today class at Big Picture Scrapbooking. Between working on my homework for that class and my Grandma passing away at Christmastime, I've become consumed by the past. At least every couple weeks I find myself at my scanner with a stack of old photos or mementos. It's influencing many areas of my life: scrapbooking, crafts, cooking, photography, and parenting to name a few.

My mom has also been providing me with inspiration, scanning photos from Mammaw's (her mother's) photo albums. Here is a picture of my ever-beautiful Mammaw when she was pregnant for my uncle in 1956. She was about 38, I think. Still today, in her 90s, she will put on a cute outfit and makeup to chat with family and neighbors on the porch.

My mom also scanned slides taken by my Dad's family. I had no idea that my Grandpa was an amazing photographer. The full set of photos from my dad's childhood are inspiring. My Grandma's sense of style come through in every image: the decor, her clothes, the kids' clothes, etc. Just look at her and these darling kids. But remember, the one darling kid is my dad, and he's known to be the orneriest kid on the block!

Further fueling my what's-old-is-new passion are images from the Library of Congress that keep appearing in my contacts stream on flickr. Long live flickr Commons. I am c.r.a.z.y. about that project. Here are some Parisian ladies who drove me to click the favorite button recently:

On Saturday one of my favorite bloggers, Scott from The Sartorialist announced a contest featuring his readers' vintage photos. He has been posting the entries and stories that he is receiving. I can't get enough. You must check out the entries and read the stories.

How is your past influencing your future?

she's a gift

Perhaps you've noticed that I'm fond of props in my photos? When JT was a baby, I took a picture of him in the bathtub with his rubber duckie on his head. The duck was a baby shower gift. It also appears in my maternity photos. And he still takes a bath with it every night. So, just maybe it's worth noting that duck in the documentation of our lives.

That brings us to my sweet little niece, Maddy. This past Christmas I got to take her pictures when JT took his nap. Luckily for us, JT was VERY slow at opening his presents and hadn't opened all his gifts. The remaining gifts were from my Aunt Joan and were wrapped so pretty. Perfect opportunity to play dress-up!

To make it special for me, Maddy is wearing a skirt and tights that I got for her. And she's holding the stocking that Mammaw got her. The stocking is very much like JT's personalized stocking. Again, making it special to me. Can you imagine the flood of memories seventeen Christmases from now when we are drinking egg nog by my brother's fireplace where this stocking will still hang... looking at pictures from years gone by?

With babies, props can be quite handy. Maddy couldn't quite sit up at this time, so we used a blanket to cover up some pillows and put the presents within reach to keep her tilted forward. It worked to keep her upright and engaged where I needed her attention for the shot.

This one was more of an outtake. She was looking away from the camera, but giving a sideways smirk... likely to her mama. Her perky little ears and sideways smile resemble my mom's baby pictures. Yes, there she is, under her Nana's Christmas tree flashing her Nana's smile.

Maddy is spending Easter with us this weekend. I can. not. wait.

inspiration

A few things inspiring me right now... Amy's glitter eggs.

I actually made these eggs when she posted them before. But I didn't finish them nearly so sweetly...

A bunny bunting...


The latest Anthropologie catalog... can I take some pictures now?


And I'm thinking about participating in Ali's week in the life 2010. Hmmm...


Here's hoping a chilly weekend ahead means some inside time spent crafting...

vroomin'

Last weekend I scrapped exactly one page for my own album. Yay! I mean, 10 would be great, but I'll take what I can get, right? I took these pictures on St. Patrick's Day. They aren't anything spectacular, but they do represent right now in JT's life. He's all about the trucks. And we are LOVING the spring weather and sunshine. The title is his own verb. When he drives a truck, he says he's "vroomin' it." I'll ask him to put his trucks away and he'll say, "Can I vroom it over there?"


I ordered supplies for some upcoming projects and threw in some just for fun items. The box arrived last week, so I was feeling inspired. I got Glimmer Mist in Lemon Meringue and Candlelight. It doesn't show up very well on this red background, but it looks spectacular on textured white cardstock - like a little spritz of sun!


The photo booth template is by KristyAnn Designs. I have used this template before on 2 or 3 different layouts. One of the strips of photos is hanging in my office at work. It has pictures of JT when he was about 7 months old. It's a favorite template... highly recommended. Use the template to size and clip your photo, layer under the strip, and select "overlay" as the blend mode. Presto! It's a great way to tell a story in 4 small photos.


I'm pretty excited about the wheat grass in the first picture, too. JT got some seeds on a field trip to Great Harvest Bread Company. Apparently if we take the grass back to them and show that we grew it to at least 2 inches, we get a free cookie. JT hasn't taken much interest in the wheat grass, but I bet he'd notice a chocolate chip cookie the size of his head!

being a boy mom

Being a boy mom means...

• Navigating with the "car cart" at the grocery store.
  
• Keeping your eyes peeled for garbage trucks when you drive around town.
  
• Potty training for 5 and a half months.
• You don't put a toy truck away, you "vroom it" to its parking space.
  
• Reading stories about cars, trucks, trains, and spiders.
  
• Reminding that we don't scream or yell at the dinner table or in the car or in the grocery store...
  
• Getting hugged around the neck so hard it almost chokes me. (But I love it!)
• Being asked "Can I say gross? It's not an 'ucky word?"
  
• Squeezing the water out of an alligator after bath time every night.
• Tucking a boy, a bunny, a blankie, and a plastic spider into bed.
• Washing wet, muddy clothes late at night.