The English Muse

Friday, January 30, 2009

A Prize

Awarded by the Denver Post in 1925! And now, a charm for getting through hard times.

When I was little, I would build inspiration boards on whatever piece of cork I could find. They became the mediums of self expression and cheer, packed with cards, scraps of wrapping paper, fabric, dried flowers, love notes. I still have an inspiration board (It's almost as big as the kitchen table now). I will try to get good photos of it for an upcoming post. In the meantime, I wanted to share with you some other boards I spotted around the Internet this week. Which image do you like the best? (The full moon on d.Sharp's board especially caught my eye.) xoxo

1. Bandelle Blog

2. Coach (via Bandelle)

3. d.Sharp Journal

Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Evening Sky

I have enjoyed the past few days watching the moon and Venus make their transit across the winter sky. This evening, beyond the trees, the waxing moon was shaped like delicate bowl, to toss wishes in.

(Photo credit: megseggs)

I Love....

Goodies:

1. Vintage Bird Correspondence Cards

Lindsey Ryan Design

2. Custom Made Silhouette Pendants

Lucky Me Beads

3. Decorated Moleskine Notebooks

Shoofly

As found on my quick Etsy break! xoxo

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Life Through A Viewfinder

I'm awed and inspired by Pennsylvania artist Valorie Cox's photos, meticulously taken though the bubble-top glass viewfinders of vintage cameras. (Usually Rediflexes). She has a number of prints for sale on Etsy at the moment and she also has a blog, where she generously shares her process for creating these little works of art. Unexpected and beautiful.

Mother & Daughter, Milano

There are so many interesting images on The Sartorialist, but this one really struck me. How beautiful is this mother and daughter? Picture taken in Italy, of course.

Le Love

From the blog Le Love. So lovely...

Postscript from Elizabeth, one of my dear readers: The quote is from a page in a book by artist/author Brian Andreas. You can find more of his work here.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Chinatown Treasures

In honor of the lunar new year, Dylan & Jean from Ladies & Gentleman have a charming post (via Poppytalk) on all the treasures they've found in Chinatowns from Seattle to Los Angeles. The little coffee pot is very functional, but I prefer the pink plastic cake stands. Frivolity in plastic. Pure bliss.

John Updike 1932-2009

My small tribute to John Updike:

From Rabbit Run: "Men are all heart and women are all body. I don't know who has the brains. God Maybe."

(And I also love "The Witches of Eastwick.")

Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year. We've left behind the year of the rat (take that Bernie Madoff). And now for the year of the ox, a symbol of strength and good luck. I love visiting Chinatowns in various cities--Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and, last week, Washington D.C. I can never resist the mooncakes. Gong hei fat choi!

(top photo: liquid sky arts.)

Monday, January 26, 2009

My DC Holga

I just got my film developed from my trip last week to DC for the inauguration. I wanted to share with you some of the images I took on my Holga camera at the Jefferson Memorial. The middle picture is of the ice and frost on the Potomac River. It glistened like diamonds. Please visit my flickr page to see the entire set!

Home

Hello everyone! My friend Susan has been encouraging me to post more photos of my house. I've been hesitant because, really, I find other people's houses more interesting. Anyway, here's a little collage of a few spots around the house. The bald poppet wearing the crystal necklace on the perfume tray is one of my favorite things, for reasons I can't entirely explain.