Reflections from the Saints

"God does not ask of us the perfection of tomorrow, nor even of tonight, but only of the present moment."

– St. Madeline Sophie Barat

Happy Halloween!!!

gourd masquerading as a pumpkin

Tin Witch Hat

circa 1880-1890

The tenth wedding anniversary is often celebrated with the gift of tin, symbolizing the pliability and durability of a successful marriage.

but what does a witches hat say about a marriage?

I think it was just a tin item

our 10th anniversary tin item was a heart made by Dale the Tinker

too cool!

such craftmanship

Top two lines and copy by Just Folks on 1st dibs.

Mature Magnolia Seed Pod

the seeds are attached by the thin white threads

Root Frame

Image from American Garage on 1stdibs.

Emmet Gowin: Mariposas Nocturnas - Edith in Panama

The images I chose from the book are of the wildlife of Central America.

Images from 1stdibs.

Whale Weathervane

Image from Just Folks on 1st dibs.

Wabi Inspiration

Habitually Chic recently mentioned the new books Wabi Inspiration by Alex Vervoordt that is to be released in of February 2011. Should be a visual treat, but does it hold true to the concept of being wabi?

"Wabi-sabi nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect." (from Wikipedia)


"A wabi person epitomizes Zen, which is to say, he or she is content with very little; free from greed, indolence, and anger; and understands the wisdom of rocks and grasshoppers." (from noble harbor)

Type in Quilts

"A" Quilt

Gee's Bend circa 1920

(yes, I have shown this before, but it is too good not to show again)

Kentucky, 1900-1920

There are more quilts with type  on Alderrr tumblr, but I decided just to show my favorites.

Ralph Lauren Hang Tags

The tags were seen on the blog, The New Victorian Rualist by James Snowden of Finders Keepers Market. So I followed his source, Shane Crawford, and found more tags and had to post all of them. Ralph Lauren does it right. These tags are like little pieces of art. There is even a beach passes that has been turned into a tag. Enjoy!

double knots in the string

unusual die cuts at the top of the tag

double holes

multiple tags

wire attached to string

different strings

the size of the grommet

the top stitching in red

the rope 

the shapes

the color combinations

I saved my hang tags when I first was out of college, but cleaned them out in one of my sweeps. Now I can just view other peoples' collections. But there is nothing like the touch of the real thing...

Finders Keepers Market in Mt. Sterling, KY

The New Victorian Rualist is the blog of shop owner James Snowden of Finders Keepers Market. It looks like a wonderful place to shop with a range of old and new pieces. The color of the rooms are beautiful with lots of inspiration. I may need to do some redecorating, but first there is the need to do some cleaning out.

Mt. Sterling is to the east of Lexington, KY. We are always pressed for time when in Lexington, but this would be a fun side trip. Lancaster, KY has one of my favorite antique shops. Lots to surprising places to shop and see around Lexington.

Images from The New Victorian Rualist.

Reflections from the Saints

"There is no flowering of the soul to beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain."

- St. Pio

Reliquary

Image from Curious Expeditions via Mothtales.

Color Inspiration

This skirt from Anthropologie is now mine, but what color top. Black and gray are given and the right little gold sweater would work, but those are such obvious solutions. Every time we go to Goodwill I look, but no wow solution yet. So in looking through my scrapbooks one day...

white dots on gray wool

frosted rust rectangular button

the brick red is the solution to the gold and gray combination

I already have a brick red cardigan that is the answer with either a black or gray little sweater under it!

another scrapbook page

Moral to the Story: One or two good pieces for the season and the rest from Goodwill. I tend to wear my clothes until they are threadbare or my size changes. There is a great Goodwill on Roswell Road in Atlanta. 

Rust

water tower at Pleasant Hill

tombstone in Chamber county Alabama

top image from Remiss63

Hydrangeas from Our Yard

These are flowers from a past year. We did not have much rain this past year and all the hydrangeas were small and not their normal brilliant colors.

New Bedding at Pottery Barn

The new catalog from Pottery Barn arrived last week with lots of beautiful things. These sheets combine some of my favorite things; botanicals, sepia tone images and type.

Calligraphy sheets

Magnolias are always dear to my heart.

lots of ideas

lots of combinations of textures and patterns

beautiful embroidery

All images from Pottery Barn.