In search of inspiration or is it really procrastination?

My recent search for inspiration is really thinly veiled procrastination.  It is not an easy job to fit 1800 square feet of stuff into about 1200 square feet and as much as I am trying to rise to the challenge, it is sometimes kicking my butt.  Its not a tough decision to choose whether to attempt to squeeze four more 3-cubic foot boxes of kitchen goods into an already full kitchen, or to hop on the internet and find dreamy photos of beachside cottage homes or brightly colored fun crafting studios.  Off to the internet I go!

One great place to find color combination ideas and inspiration is Coastal Living, such as the shot above.  They provide beautiful photo galleries full of ideas for kitchens, living rooms, outdoor rooms, small spaces and just about any room you'd be looking to redecorate.  They have one collection of coastal styles that is organized by color scheme - you can choose blue and white, seaglass, citrus, whites only, pastel etc.  The above photo is from the seaglass collection.  As much as I have not wanted blue to be a part of my decorating scheme, I have to admit I'm drawn to the concept of seaglass colors.  Somehow a washed out cobalt or teal is not blue in my head.  Weird, I know!

I'm also finding loads of color inspiration from some of my favorite fabric-related websites.  Along with most of the world, I'm crazy about Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner and Heather Bailey.  The Amy Butler site has a series of inspiration pages where they show the fabrics in real settings.  There is also a page showing her studio, which is not as bright as I would have expected.  Perhaps a neutral palette allows for more creativity?

Anna Maria Horner's blog includes some great project ideas and she seems so nice and personable.  When you walk into a fabric shop, you don't necessarily think "Hmm, some person just like me who likes to quilt and sew came up with this great design."  You just think "Oh I HAVE to have that."  Don't you?  She has some free projects on her blog that I'd love to try once I get the studio all set up and can actually use my sewing machine.  I think the dog leash pattern will be first!  She also links to Flickr groups where her fabrics are turned into wonderful things by crafters everywhere.  Lots of fun to check those out!  This is the promo for her new fabric line to be released this fall.

And then there's Heather Bailey.  She's a girl after my own heart - just look at the hot pink peonies!

Her blog is fun to read too and she links to photos of projects created with her fabrics.  She and Anna Maria Horner are both designers for Free Spirit Fabrics, and you can find their full collections here.  Wish they had a gallery like Amy Butler, but you can find FO's out there on Flickr and other blogs.

There's my procrastination for the day.  Off to unpack some studio boxes and get the cabinets in there re-organized.

Nervous Knitting is Productive Knitting

My sweet 6 year old niece had surgery on her foot on Thursday and I took the day off from work to provide moral support for everybody.  Two grownups managing a two-child family is great, but three grownups is even better.  Between the three of us, the princess always had 2 adults watching over her and my nephew always had someone with him too during his normal daily activities.  I am working on a pattern to be published later this year, and taking this project along helped get me through all the waiting.

Would you believe I knitted an entire skein of Lamb's Pride Bulky between about 10 am and 4 pm?  I haven't been able to spend such a large block on time on knitting in ages and it was definitely soothing to the nerves.  Our little princess came out of surgery fairly well, although we forgot that the anesthesia makes her naseous.  All Children's Hospital in St. Pete is in a new building and the rooms are practically suites, they are so big.  There's a pull out couch & a pull out chair for overnight guests (aka Momma & Aunt Ellen), another guest chair, 2 tv's and a mini fridge, in addition to all the usual things you'd find in a hospital room.  All their rooms are private rooms, which is a huge blessing and the nurses and staff were all amazing.  I've spent many days and nights in various hospitals on the East Coast (always as a visitor, never a patient) and I have to say they are top notch here.  The patient gets a 42 inch flat screen tv (which of course now she wants in her bedroom!) and they've got tons of movies to watch, an activities cart that comes around everyday with games and crafty things.  If you have to have a child in a hospital, this seems a good choice.

Anywhoo, the Lamb's Pride Bulky is great to work with, although there were some limey green fuzzies on my black tee but I presume that's from the mohair. No big deal though.  I used a neat trick I just learned where you knit a bit, then roll it and add one stitch from the cast on edge to each stitch - creates a very cool hem.  And do you like how I match the couch in the Princess Patient's room?  Too funny. 

 

 

Hmfph. Those pictures looked better on my phone.  I did finish the entire skein and really wished I'd had another.  It looks like this project will take 3 or perhaps even 4.  But its a secret project, so no more info here.  No sirree, not till its ready!  Her royal Patientness is now recovering at home, and luckily her pain is manageable with the drugs so far. Nothing breaks your heart like seeing a child you love in a hospital bed.  T minus 3 weeks till surgery number 2.  Insert a big sigh here.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Vintage Family Linens

While we were up for my dad's wedding, my sister and I took some time to go through some of the boxes of linens from my mom's side of the family.  We found some real treasures and it has certainly fanned the flame of my love for vintage items.  When I moved to Florida I thought maybe I'd try to go a bit more modern in my decor, but I can't ignore my love of cabbage roses, toile and hand embroidered or crocheted lovelies.  Here's a few of the cutest things we found.

Blue Irish linen embroidered hand towels. Why didn't anyone use these?

My favorite find - cock tail napkins. See his little drink? They are too cute.

A hand embroidered breakfast bib with bunnies. How sweet is that?

A set with table runner and several round cocktail napkins, embroidered with bluebirds.

As much as we loved unearthing these beautiful keepsakes, it was a little sad too.  I dearly wish I'd taken the time to go through them with my mom when she was still alive and we could have talked about who made what, or what special occasion something was used for.  Some things I know, like her mother quilted and my dad's mom did both knit and crochet, but there is so much that I don't know or just don't remember.  It makes me listen that much more to my dad when he talks, in the hopes that I'll remember and be able to pass on family details.  I also am going to try to make notes to keep with my vintage linens, handmade items and other treasures especially since some are family pieces and others are things that I've purchased.

A Familiar Voice

Today is my day off and I've rewarded myself by sleeping in and having a lazy morning of websurfing and coffee drinking and doggie tummyrubbing. In an effort to actually get something done today, I downloaded a new book from Audible.com because i m desperately trying to stay away from the tv. I've read or listened to several Anne Perry books, but realized that I've never read the book where Charlotte & Thomas Pitt meet.

So I just downloaded The Cater Street Hangman, uploaded to the Ipod and ... The narrator is Davina Porter! I adore listening to the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon in audiobooks. There are two Outlander books that aren't available through Audible, so I bought the paperbacks and the funny thing is, that as I read them, I heard Davina Porter in my head. She has a delightful accent, and adds just the right tone to the books. She adds character to the narration, and I just adore her. This is a better treat today than a bowl of ice cream!

I'm off to unpack more boxes from the big move, and get lost in a murder mystery from 1881 with one of my favorite voices.

Modern Vintage?

I was running late for work this morning and decided to make coffee at home but put it in a thermos with my breakfast to take with me.  At least that way, the shop would be open and chances are that I could nibble at my yummy blueberry scone in peace and quiet any how.  My first thought was to reach for what I call the major silver bullet - its one of those stainless steel thermos' that you see everywhere these days.  I have a small one that a friend bought for me (which was really sweet, but as a non-coffee drinker he did not realize I needed the big daddy size!) which is called the minor silver bullet and a larger one that I got for myself.  Some days you only need a cup, but some days ... well you know the drill.

Unfortunately, I haven't unpacked either silver bullet yet, despite the fact that it feels like I've been unpacking for ages.  Then I remembered something I bought at TJ Maxx several years ago, just because I thought it was pretty and it has been unpacked.   Its an enamel thermos with the glass interior and an aluminum top.  Now the unusual thing about this thermos is that its pale blue.  Yes, that's right - blue!  When I was a little girl my mother, father and big sister all chose blue as their favorite color.  Not me.  No sirree.  For as quiet and shy as I normally am, I do like to feel special so I would have been darned if I chose the same favorite color as everyone else in my family.  Pffht.  So red was my official favorite color until I was about 28 when I discovered (yes Al Gore, I discovered it) green.  Sage green, thyme green, lime sherbet green, evergreen, blue spruce green, you name it - I love green!  Perhaps not day-glo green, but I'd probably pick it over blue.  If you asked, I would tell you that 90% of my home and probably 80% of my wardrobe is either red or green.  Long story short, pale blue is not often found in my home unless it was a gift.

Anyhow, here's my breakfast. 



I love that this is a vintage-looking thermos, but its not.  I also love that so many fabrics and stationary goods and other home decor pieces are out there now that are current and up-to-date, but really inspired by vintage items.  I also think this is going to be the color palette for some of the decor in my new home.  Pale blue with red and pink.

Fresh Start

I've been thinking alot about fresh starts lately.  I've just moved my home and business to a new state, and of course that makes for a fresh start in my entire world.  New house, new neighborhood, new shop location and the opportunity to put new habits in place that will be good for me, for my business and even for my dog.  Katie has certainly benefited already - she gets bored with travelling the same old path everyday, and we have lots of options for our morning, afternoon and evening walks now.  (I'm sure she misses 'the land of chicken bones' but it seems people here in Florida don't toss as many chicken wing bones outdoors as some of our Virginia neighbors did, thank goodness!)  As I mentioned, my dad got married last weekend and that's the fresh start of a lifetime.  Deciding on decorating themes is a slow process, but I've got some fresh starts in the new house too.

I've been surfing the blogging world alot lately for fun and inspiration, and I enjoy seeing banners and headers change with the seasons or with a new focus on a different craft or whatnot, so I thought I should get with the program, so now my blog has a fresh start as well.  I've switched to a new theme, added a wee bit of color and a custom header.  Its fun to shake things up every once in a while, and now things here are PINK!   I do miss having a big photo of a pink peony, but I think this change is for the good. 

 

Ah, that's better!

You're always a weiner at Pedro's

What trip along the East Coast is complete without a visit to South of the Border in South Carolina?  When I was a little girl, our family drove from Buffalo to various Florida destinations about once a year and we almost always stopped to take a picture with Pedro the mascot of South of the Border.  We have tons of shots of my sister and I slowly getting taller while the same statue of Pedro gets shorter.  I think his statue was about 5 feet tall.  Needless to say, the little town has developed quite a few more buildings in the last 30 years, not to mention the giant elevator ride to the top of Pedro's Sombrero tower (seen in the background below).   A couple of years ago, I stopped and took a shot of my dog Katie reluctantly standing next to Pedro just for a giggle.  Much to our surprise, when we stopped last week we could not find a short statue of Pedro, so we had to pick a tall one for our family photo shoot.

niece and nephew with tall Pedro

Katie has chosen not to participate in this picture.  Wait till I dig out an old picture of me & my sister - I'm sure the little ones will roll on the floor laughing.  They sure do enjoy seeing old photos of their mother, and as the little sister I do my best to pick out the worst ones. ;)  Luckily she knows I'm just teasing.

Unfortunately, I was not able to capture any good shots of the fun billboards that entertain travellers throughout North and South Carolina.  Some of our family favorites are the one with the big hot dog that says "You're always a weiner at Pedro's - You never sausage a place!" and the one with the rotating sheep that says "All your sheep are counted at Pedro's."  I loved those billboards as a child, and I must admit I still get a kick out of them!  There are many more fun animal statues in the little town though and the kids especially liked the elephants ...

"My, what big tusks you have!"

I found it very difficult to make time to blog while on our trip, and the resulting guilt is not a good feeling.  Ah well, tomorrow is another day, fresh with no mistakes in it, as Anne of Green Gables would say.  (Ha - there's the green for this month's NaBloPoMo theme! Green Gables!)

See you tomorrow!