Simple joys ~

It doesn't take much to make me happy!

I love to find beauty in the small things.

The old, tattered and forgotten.

Today I received a simple, little doll dress in the mail from a friend.

It's old, stained, has a few holes but is absolutely PRECIOUS!

It got me to thinking about the simple things that bring us joy.

A tiny doll dress like the one below,

maybe a few blooms in water the first days of spring,

an old book with gorgeous illustrations,

a found bird's nest...

maybe a jar full of beautiful old buttons.

Finding the beauty in the simple things...

I just wanted to share a few of my joys with you ~

I hope you're having a beautiful weekend precious friends ~

hugs and love,

Dawn

Snippets of inspiration ~

I love sharing tidbits that just might inspire you...

so I've been looking through my computer files

to see what I think you may love.

Take a little look ~ and I do hope something will trigger your creativity!!!

First up...precious succulent gardens created inside glass jars...

aren't they beautiful?

And you and I both love antique baby photos....right?

Look at this angel ~

This one looks like two sweet sisters.

How funny that the oldest looks so confident and

the little one is just a bit unsure.

One of my favorite prints ever...

An old piece of artwork I created inside of an old wooden "in box"

One more piece that I created inside of a broken clock.

The clock itself was so beautiful...it needed a new life!

A sweet display in my last studio.

Artwork I made several years ago just using an 11" x 14" canvas
and a page from an antique photo album,
pages from a botanical book and dried flowers.

The smallest banner that I've ever made using round tags,

antique ledger paper, embossed napkins, snippets of old lace,
rusty bells and words that I printed out on my computer
and of course,

beautiful vintage buttons and seam binding!

And lastly ~

To inspire your longing for spring...a beautiful fern!!!

Happy Thursday my dear friends!!!!

Hugs and love,

Dawn

Snippets of Inspiration ~

I've been trying to straighten up my studio a little bit

and ran across this wonderful article that I saved

many, many years ago.

I have notebooks FILLED with magazine clippings that I loved

just so I could finally toss the actual magazine....I would place the pages

in those glossy page protectors and when I needed a little inspiration,

they never failed to!

Now with Pinterest and so many other beautiful things on the internet,

it seems crazy to even do this anymore but to actually remove a magazine

from my possession, I still HAVE to clip out anything that is inspiring.

This is one of my very favorite articles and I scanned in EACH page

so you could enlarge it and read it.

I even took the liberty of color correcting

it just a smidge as the images were originally very yellow in the magazine.

I think this was from an old Victoria Magazine issue ~ just by looking at the fonts.

I wish I could remember the year...can you believe how

Carol Bolton's style has influenced all that we love

EVEN now in 2014???

(Be sure to click each photo to enlarge to read)

Right now, I've been going through my fabric stash...

sorting and grouping so it will be easier to find what I need when I need it.

And I'm not talking about what's already on the shelves...

this is fabric that's been piled in laundry baskets!!!

I think that's one of the biggest problems with my studio right now,

finding exactly what I need WHEN I need it!!!

If you saw this room right now you would just laugh your head off!

But I AM trying...so that counts, right??

Wishing you a beautiful Monday dear friends!

hugs and love,

Dawn

Searching ~

So what really inspires you?

I'm currently searching for my muse and delving into some old photos

hoping that they will stir up a little creativity!

Is it amazing supplies?

Buttons, gorgeous old lace, beautiful fabrics?

All of the above definitely get the wheels turning for me.

Sometimes I love to look back at my own photos of things I've made in the past.

It certainly helps.

I love making new things though, different things.

But if I can't come up with anything,

I simply return to my old standbys ~

I thought I would share a few old photos

that I ran across on my search...

for my ever elusive muse!

ps. Thank you for all of your well wishes,

I'm definitely feeling MUCH better ~

Wishing you a wonderful Thursday precious friends!

hugs and love,

Dawn

Inspiration found ~

Do you have certain books that you love to pull out,

get cozy and pour over again and again???

I admit it, I LOVE books! I'm not that fond of fiction,
(I can get so wrapped up in them that I get NOTHING done!)

but books filled with the style that I love or that

share techniques and ideas that inspire me.

I thought I'd share a few with you today ~

First, this is an older book but to me, is always beautiful and timeless...

The Serene Home by Eileen Cannon Paulin

I have a few inside shots from previous post that I've

included and believe me, it's wonderful!!

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Another beautiful book that I absolutely LOVE is Fifi O'Neill's Romantic Prairie Style!
I love the look of this book, the styling, simply everything....
this one will always be one of my classics.

I need to take a few inside shots for you just to give you an idea

of how wonderful it is!!!

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I LOVE this book too...I've shown it to you before but

it's so wonderful, it's worth seeing again!

I took a ton of photos of the inside for you too...

Rediscovered Treasures by Ellen Dyrop and Hanna Kristinsdottir

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I have a special fondness for Victoria books...
the old ones and even the new ones.

I bought this gorgeous book a few years ago
and have to share a teeny bit

of the goodness that's inside this one ~

Victoria 500 Christmas Ideas

Here's a tiny peek:

These were some of my favorite ideas from the first few pages!!

It truly is a wonderful Christmas book.

Wishing you a wonderful Thursday dear friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn