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?