Day One: a self portrait; inspired by glamor photos of the 40s. A bit hard to do when holding a camera above your head though!

You may have already seen me mention this on Facebook, but I’ve decided to jump on the bandwagon for another 30-day challenge! (Am I possibly obsessed with these little creative challenges? Yes!) This time around it’s a photography exercise hosted by White Peach Photography, which I first spotted on Pinterest. I love photography. I admire talented gals like Anja, Emerson, Abby, Anna and the countless photographers I favorite on Flickr. I dabbled a bit more in photography years ago, and seem to have let it slip to the wayside to focus on other things. Which is sad because I did enjoy it and the process of learning to see things in a more nuanced way: noticing details, how the light is falling on an object, or even just random little bits that my eyes normally skip over.

So for the next 30 days, I’m hoping to revamp things a bit–and maybe get back into the groove (hopfully!). I love how the challenge has fun assignments like “what you wore today” to ones that I haven’t tried like bokeh (which I’ll have to Google to figure out how to do!). I’ve put the little list graphic that Mary of White Peach Photography provided on my desktop–so I can’t miss it! Funnily enough it’s the really simple ones like “clouds”, “something pink” or “hands” that I’m looking the most forward to. I’ll be posting each of the results of the day’s exercise on my Flickr if you’d like to follow along (I’d be tickled pink if you did!).

Is anyone else participating in this? Have you done a similar photography-based challenge in the past?

When my mom was visiting last month she brought down a whole stack of family photos that she had recently found. Which was quite exciting for me, both because I haven’t seen a lot of family snapshots from the past, and also because there were some pretty neat fashions in them! (My mom said she brought several of them because the clothes were so good, and she knew I’d like them. Thanks, Mom!) I scanned all of them while she was visiting, and thought I’d share a handful of these with you!

I have a few too of just my grandfather when he was very little in the 1920s that I’d like to post. But I think I’ll save those for next week!

[ lovely hat by Brenda! ]

A few months ago Brenda, who runs Humble Bumble B and make adorably retro-styled hats, contacted me about modeling a hat for her. Of course I jumped at the chance (what girl wouldn’t?!), and she made me a custom hat to photograph, based on a vintage stewardess cap I sent her pictures of (hence the title of this post). Is this hat not the most adorable thing ever?! I love it!!!

[ lovely hat by Brenda! ]

Sailor Husband graciously offered to take pictures of me–because I’m utter rubbish when doing self portraits that I need to turn out really well (it doesn’t help I don’t have a remote for my camera yet… need to get one!). I have to admit I’m pretty proud of these shots he took; he did a lot of photography in high school, but hasn’t done much since he enlisted. I think he needs to keep at it, don’t you? If nothing else, I need to make him my Official Photographer. hehe!

Thank you Brenda for this lovely hat and opportunity to do a little modeling! (If you want to see more shots, I put a ridiculous amount up on Flickr… Yikes! I feel slightly silly–I don’t want to seem narcissistic! lol.)

p.s. Thank you all for your lovely comments last week! Especially the gardening advice… I am printing out a lot of the tips and book suggestions to get myself started with this!

L. and I discovered early on in our relationship that our favorite dates were the simplest ones. He’s on a special four-day liberty (I’m getting so spoiled right now!! lol), so early Friday we packed a picnic lunch and headed for Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland. We both really enjoy being outdoors and doing something history-related, so with fond memories of our trip to Gettysburg last summer, we set off for a new adventure. The day was absolutely gorgeous–albeit a bit hot–but we certainly had a good time wandering around, enjoying nature and the solemness of the site.

 

When I got home that evening, I spied a mysterious package at my spot in the dining room, and found a lovely surprise from Emma! We had recently been chatting on her blog about making tiny outfits from old doll clothes patterns, and she surprised me with a vintage Barbie pattern (that has a wedding dress too!), a gorgeous scarf, and some lovely little accessories. I’m so excited to make a few wee dresses to hang on my walls! I “met” Emma a few months ago when she approached me about creating some customized graphics for her and doing her blog layout. She’s absolutely adorable, and is a vintage fashion-lover to boot. She’s planning on opening up an Etsy shop later this month, which I’m absolutely dying for–the treasures she’s previewed on her blog are making my mouth water! Thank you, Emma, for the lovely gifts!

The past two weeks I have been honored by two blogger awards. The first is from the creative and fun Oonaballoona and the second from Sally of Already Pretty (who’s blogging I love!). Thank you both! I’m so tickled by these… I decided to create my own, little award for inspired blogs that I love (though I admit it was so hard to choose!). If you’d like to participate (please do!), just snag the button below, pick five of your favorite blogs, and let them know you awarded them! Let’s spread some blog-love!

I’d like to award each and everyone who reads my blog! These blogs have been inspiring me a lot lately…

• Liebemarlene Vintage
• Bits and Bobbins
• Blaze Danielle
• All This Happiness
• Wikstenmade

(Thank you for the continued inspiration!!!)

Enjoy this week’s Vintage Monday feature–I picked out a couple of 1940’s images (again!) that fit with the warm weather we’ve been having…

 

Have a lovely day, my friends!!

I am currently smushed in a small corner of a local Panera Bakery, using their free WiFi and trying desperately to catch up on several days worth of emails! My internet went down after a nasty storm on Saturday, and I’ve been forced to disconnect. lol. So if you’re waiting to hear back from me about something, my apologies; I’m hoping everything will be back to normal within the next 24 hours… *fingers crossed*

But, despite the rather inconvenient power outage and subsequent loss of internet service Saturday evening, my weekend turned out to be utterly delightful and relaxing. Perhaps it is because I was forced to disconnect and stay offline (I’m writing this from a local restaurant that has free WiFi; we’re still without internet and not being able to contact clients and L. was making me twitch!), that I was made to sit back and relax a little. Which could be a good thing since the coming months are starting to loom ahead of me as an endless maze of wedding plans, packing, work, school, pre-marital counseling, and oh yeah–having a life. lol.

Saturday I struck out on some antiquing, found a few great things (including a drop-dead-gorgeous vintage, red dress that I got for $8! But the one caveat is that it smells like mothballs; so I’ve got to get rid of that first… any bright ideas?), and stopped by Brunswick, MD to visit a charming coffee spot called Beans in the Belfry (seriously; if you are ever in that neck of the woods, check it out–you’d all love it so much!!!), which I first heard about on Heidi’s blog. Then I braved the heat and did some more antiquing, found a fantastic 1940’s nightgown and robe pattern for $2. Hurrah!

The following afternoon I accompanied my sister and mom to visit my friend Jenny Rose and her mother for a birthday tea they were hosting. It was utterly lovely–everything was decorated to perfection and the food was so yummy!!! It really reminded me of a chic little tea room, Jenny Rose had decorated it so beautifully. We had tons of fun, although my mother forgot to warn me that hats were encouraged at this particular party–so I was the only hatless person in the room. *sigh* Oh well! hehe. But I did get to wear some of my antique whites (corset cover and petticoat) as a complete outfit, which was lots of fun (and very romantic in an “Out of Africa” way…).

I have some other fun things to report, but alas, I cannot take up too much more time here. So until Wednesday I shan’t be posting (and if my internet isn’t back up by then, I think I might have a coniption! lol!). Have a lovely afternoon, my friends!