by Tina on March 10, 2010
I never thought in a million years that I would be one of those people who loved doilies. In fact I am almost certain that a few years ago I would have rather died that consider using a doily in my house! But times have changed and I am seeing these sweet little delicate accessories in a whole new way. You may remember the banner I made for Hailey’s room? And I am utterly smitten with what Dottie Angel can do with her doilies.
My Mom gave me a couple of her from her stash recently. I will have to share what I create in a few weeks when they resurface from the depths of the cardboard boxes that are now beginning to accumulate.
In the meantime, I made a card to satisfy my lust for doilies. What about you? Are you completely nuts about doilies or am I alone in this crazy infatuation? Have you made any projects with them lately or using them around your house? Do share!
If you would like to see more paper creations with doilies, check out the other entries on Cath’s Moxie Fab Doilies and Lace challenge! To see more of Dottie Angel’s amazing work and home, visit her on her blog and her flickr!
PS I am looking for looking for other expats to feature on Traveling Tribe. If you, or someone you know, might be able to help, please stop by here and leave me a note! Thanks!
Supplies used: Paper: Crate Paper, Cosmo Cricket, Scarlet Lime; rub ons: Basic Grey; Brads: Melody Ross
She is one of those people that everyone loves to be with. Her gentleness and tenderness leave a noticeable emptiness when her place is left vacant. Compassion and understanding fill her and perhaps travel has made her a little wiser towards humanity… people are just people.
Sometimes we daydream about the person she will become… she says rock star dolphin trainer and we never disagree. We believe in dreaming. And not just little dreams that anyone can attain, but rather the big, huge kind that only God and fate can orchestrate.
So sometimes we like to run away with our rock star dolphin training little girl. She lets us take her photo while taking gentle instruction… give us your serious face, lean this way or that, tell us you love us with your eyes…
And I leave feeling inspired- inspired by her youth, her love, her hopes and her dreams…
For more of our Traveling Girl go here.
I spent the weekend going through more of our items that have been waiting for us in storage. I love the feeling of being connected once more to my own sense of history… something that can be easily lost when disconnected from your own country and language. When I pulled this photo from a huge stack I was instantly reminded of this day… a good twenty three years ago.
We were visiting my Nouna (godmother) in California and my mom insisted on taking our photo in her garden. What you cannot see in this photo is the huge black Doberman Pinscher that Nouna had, but if you look closely you will see that my eyes are on one thing- that dog. I was utterly terrified of that dog… as in, paralyzed with fear by just the thought of him being in the house. I will have to find the other photo my mom made us take… with the dog. Just thinking about it now gives me chills! I wanted to save the story about the dog for when I find that photo, so instead I used the photos on another topic that brought paralyzing fear to this Traveling Mama. The Caption of my page reads:
“I wanted to know what qualified as vintage so I googled, “What is vintage?” I couldn’t believe when I realized that I had become vintage. All those old and cool things that people are trying to find and collect… they were things I had as a child!
At first I wasn’t so sure about this whole being vintage thing. I felt instantly older and I didn’t like that feeling whatsoever! I realized, though, that while I may be vintage, I am not old. And, hey, vintage is totally in right now, so I’m going with it!”
Age may not be the best way to start off a week, but since I had such great luck at the thrift shop over the weekend, I’m feeling pretty good about old things being made new! What about you all? Do you shop for vintage items? Where are your favorite places to shop? One of my all time favorite Etsy shops, Trampoline, has some gorgeous items. I always look forward to seeing what is new (or old, depending on the way you look at it!)
Wow. This week flew by! I am looking forward to some creative time this weekend. I have tons of projects to complete, but mostly I hope to take some time to rest.
When I want to take “me” time I tend to plop down in front of my laptop and check out some of my favorite blogs… it’s a total indulgence (and it’s calorie free!) Just in case you like to treat yourself to some beauty and inspiration, I have a few places for you to visit that I am loving lately!
Georgianna Lane: (above) Stunning floral photography that thrills my heart!
LanaLou Style: A beautiful collection of inspiration…
Penelope Loves Lists : A girl after my own heart! So much organization, so little time!
the happy home: It truly is just as the title says: A Happy Home, indeed!
Ish and Chi: Beauty, inspiration, and a very sweet lady behind it all!
I hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing weekend, full of inspiration and creativity!
As I was flipping through my CB2 catalog, I came across this beautiful rug and instantly thought of Miracles Bloom, a set by Verve Stamps. You may recognize this set since I used it recently on my card for the latest Embellish Magazine challenge.
This is what is so fun about paper crafting! You can find inspiration all around you… you just never know what will inspire you next! I love flipping through catalogs and design magazines for color inspiration and even layouts. When I saw the rug above, I knew I wanted to use the pattern on my card and I even thought about changing the colors. But those colors were just too awesome to pass up!
What about you all? Is there a catalog that you get in the mail that you look forward to flipping through? Some of the other ones I love right now are: Crate and Barrel, CB2, Urban Outfitters, West Elm, and Pottery Barn. Of course I only get to enjoy this luxury for a few more weeks since most of these companies will not ship overseas. But in the meantime, I am savoring every last flip of the page!
Hello, everyone! Has anyone noticed some of the changes we have been making here at Traveling {Mama}? What do you all think? We still have some more things to tweak… so please excuse our little messes as we continue to make Traveling {Mama} a better place! In the meantime, though,I hope you will enjoy checking out the new layout and some of the buttons at the top which have been updated!
As you can see, I have been playing with my stamps and I really, just could not help myself after seeing this incredible inspiration over at Moxie Fab World. I mean, seriously! Isn’t this just amazing?! The photos that inspired this week’s Tuesday Trigger are from Style Me Pretty and they are pure delight! Can you tell which photo inspired my card this week? Hailey’s little vintage pony sneaked into the photo- she insisted that she was just the right addition and I had a hard time disagreeing!
Oh, and if you have a moment, please stop by Traveling Tribe for a continuation of our “science experiment.”
Supplies used: Cardstock by PaperTrey Ink, Stamps by Kodomo and Basic Grey, Ink and ribbon by SU!
Sweet things are on their way! Please excuse our mess while TravelingMama gets a little face lift!
We were living in our apartment in Spain, which happened to be nestled between the Mediterranean Sea and the Pyrenees Mountains. With only one child at the time and very little access to the outside world (hello, dial up!), we spent a lot more time laying on the floor and just playing. I remember her raspy voice and the way she danced around the room anytime we played her Elmo CD.
I miss those days so much. Sometimes it seems unbearable that our children have to grow so quickly, but after shedding plenty of tears I have finally accepted that this is how life works. Rather than sitting around weeping over what once was, I scrap it and savor it now and then… and I remember to set aside the computer, turn off the tv, and just sit on the floor with my kids while they will still let me.
And since I was busy scrapping away, I thought the layout would also make the perfect card. I can think of several friends I could send the card to. Now I will have to narrow it down to which one… either that or sneak in a bit more creative time while the littlest guy naps.
What about you? Have you thought about using scrapbook layouts to inspire your cards? or vice versa?
Oh, and I began our “experiment” over at Traveling Tribe. My sweet Traveling Man has humored me and allowed me to jump in and start a series documenting our journey to building a home overseas. I hope you will come over and join us!
Products used: Hambly Studios stickers and transparencies, SU! patterned Paper, American Crafts letters and Thickers, Hero Arts Alpha stamp set
It was one of those Mondays when I contemplated going back to bed… and I hadn’t even gotten out of bed yet. After a great deal of convincing by the guilty thought of Hailey crying at lunch time because her selfish mother had chosen sleep over packing her lunch… well, you see where this is going. I heaved myself out of bed, made a lunch for Hailey, though I cannot remember now what went into it, and sent her off to school. Hopefully for her it is full of doughnuts and candy which would be much better than only carrots and broccoli.
I somehow managed to throw on some exercise apparel and forced myself to brave a very, very cold brisk walk. Thankfully my sister willingly went along in spite of my groggy mood and even managed to cheer me along the way. Sisters are like that I guess. Well, we were not always like that. When we were younger we used to fight like raging cats and dogs, mercilessly going at each other until at least one, if not both, of us were crying. Ahhh… the good ol’ days!
Not that you would ever believe that if you saw us together today. We have managed to morph our families into one over the last few weeks and I am quite certain that it is going to very painful to tear us all apart in a few short weeks. But let’s not be talking about that!
Well, I am off to find a caffeinated drink. Perhaps like the one above?
Supplies: Cardstock: PaperTrey Ink, Chipboard: American Crafts, Rub on: Target Dollar Spot
by Tina on February 26, 2010
Can you believe it is Friday already? My week flew by and I am wondering if your week did as well? Do you have any plans for the weekend? It looks like mine will be filled with lots of snuggles and kisses since my littlest Tribesman has pneumonia. I hope to squeeze in a bit of creative time as well… maybe while he is napping?
I thought I would send you all off with a bit of inspiration for the weekend. These photos were taken from our iphone on our recent trip to Pottery Barn. I know they are just snapshots but I wanted to bring some of that inspiration home with me!
Now, before I get any hate mail from those who believe in buying the real thing… anyone else imagining Phoebe’s long speech from Friends about the apothecary cabinet? Let me assure you that I love to create with my own share of vintage finds, and one-of-a-kinds but who says we have to throw out the baby with the bath water, right?
I believe that inspiration is all around us and we can take ideas from large chain stores and personalize them, make them our own. The phone in the photo above reminded me of the pink vintage phone I begged my mom for when I was young. It looked similar to this one. I wish so much I had it now! I always had a thing for the 50’s and used to daydream about living in that time period. Sigh… those cute dresses, the music, the decor… it makes this Traveling Mama weak at the knees at just the thought!
But since we have yet to discover time travel, I must settle for infusing some of that vintage charm into my life and my creative work. I’m sure these are the thoughts that will be running through my mind this weekend as I sit down to create!
What about you? Is there anything you find inspiring about the photos above? How can you infuse some of this inspiration into your own work?
