Houndstooth

Geometric shapes are circling the Internet everywhere I look. (Do you like my pun?)

I got to thinking what is my favorite pattern is and hands down it is houndstooth. I just love it.

It reminds me of vintage and wool. I would love to own a pea coat in wool someday.

Take a look at some items I found covered in beautiful houndstooth.

retroholic

decotodiscovintage

janejoss

pulpandpaisley

LuckyBluebirdArt

petals

avrilloreti

QuietDoing

kangas

however

Please tell me what yours is!

Cross-Stitched Aprons

One of the first crafty things I learned as a little girl was how to cross-stitch.

Thanks to my mom, my sister and I were cross-stitching up a storm for many years.

But, now I have grown away from it and so has my sister.

However, I have started to think about cross-stitching again . . .

about all those memories and projects that I have created throughtout the years.

But, I also have been thinking about it today and how people are applying a modern flair to it.

I thought aprons would be the ulitimate out of the box idea.

So, the search was on to see if I could find the two together and it was SUCCESS!

splendorinthetrash

lesjardinsdevie

sweetandlight

theemptynest

What do you guys think?

Do you like them as much as I do?

Altered Book

Monday I went to Salvation Army and found a book to alter. Yes, another one of my ideas. But I have been inspired by Donna Downey and her inspiration Wednesdays. She cuts text out of books as part of her inspiration. But, I love that thought of highlighting certain words and painting around them to create a masterpiece. Copperinc did a fantastic job of showcasing what I am trying to say. The book I purchased is called Legacy of Love by Julia Davis (the copyright is 1961). It is quite old but I loved the title since I am all about the love and romance. I am curious to see where this book will take me and I am looking forward to all the nights of trying to select phases/sentences/quotes to use as inspiration on my pages. I think this will be a perfect bedtime activity.

Has anyone else tried this?

Beautiful Packaging

I have been wanting to do this post for a while, but I have been crazy busy. Today, I made time. I love this idea by Mandi on Elsie Flannigans's Blog: A Recycled Kraft Package. Mandi gives us a tutorial of how to turn a regular paper sack into a beautiful mailing envelope. I love it. I love it. I love it. It is free and a great way to customize your packages. I used to just slap a sticker on the outside of a store bought envelope. But, now I think these babies might just be my new signature. . . time allowing. But, lets not stop there . . . .

Now, let's look at Geninne's way to decorate this brown packages. She uses hand carved stamps to really personalize her envelopes. Talk about inspiring! She even provides a few tutorials of how to make one for yourself.

Geninne's New Trio Post

Geninne also make these doily stamps. This was hook, line, and sinker for me. I need to go to Hobby Lobby to get myself all the supplies that I need. But, Hobby Lobby is an hour away :(

Geninne's Doily Post
For more of Geninne's hand carved stamps check out her flickr collection.

Now, if you really have time on your hands and love to paint look at Pamgarrison's Brown Paper Package Post using brown paper and calligraphic inks.

Now, we must remember to ask for paper instead of plastic the next time we are out shopping. And to start thinking and sketching ideas to personalize your mailing packages. I can't wait to see all your guys ideas!

Finally there is help

There are days where finding something to wear is near impossible. And don't get me started on being creative and finding color combinations that work well together. My sister started me on layering and Stacy and Clinton are always saying, "layer, layer, layer." But what colors look good with what? How do you think outside of the box? Teach me about how to add color accents such as a scarf or jewelry. Yes, I have a ton of jewelry but I never wear it. I play it safe and wear my silver hoops almost everyday. But, finally today I found help. Thank you, Wear Palettes! You have have given me inspiration and guidance. This is my the color combination of my outfit tomorrow:
---------------------------------shoes----------- shirt -----------necklace ---layering tank top

and I even threw in a dash of red! Go me!

Here is my next outfit challenge:

Wear Palettes also have a widget that you can add to your blog. I added one to mine because not only is it a great source for your wardrobe but think of scrapbook layouts, embroidery, quilting, jewelry making, and other crafty projects! Holy cows, do you feel as inspired as I am?!