Inspiration comes in many forms...

There was a thread on the Paper Popsicles message board earlier this week about where inspiration comes from. I replied that I usually find inspiration in galleries and blogs, then it all becomes a jumbled mess in my brain until it finds its way to the page. Can you tell I'm not very organized in this department?

But once in a while, inspiration comes from somewhere completely different. In this case, it was a combination of (a) a vintage find at my in-laws' house, (b) a special photo that I had tucked away for a while and (c) the weekly sketch challenge on the Paper Popsicles blog.

The vintage find has kind of a cool story. We were at my in-laws' house for dinner on Sunday, and my girls were making their usual mess of toys all over the living room. As I started to make an effort to straighten up the mess, I picked up this little strand of yellowed silk flowers. Immediately, I said "ooooh...these would be perfect on a layout!" So my mother-in-law said "Take them!" She then went on to explain that they had been on the wedding hat of my father-in-law's mother. I just thought they were so beautiful and perfect, I couldn't believe I had the luck to find them that way. And I knew they would be perfect for a photo that I had been meaning to scrap for a while.

The photo has a cool story, too. It's four generations of women in my family: my grandmother (who passed away last month), my mother and my aunt, myself and my two daughters. Somehow, we only have girls in this family. Personally, I think it's because we are all so strong and fiesty...those Y chromosomes never had a chance in this group!

So here's the layout...


It's a little different from my usual fun, bold style, but I like it. I hand-cut the flower and flourish shapes from My Mind's Eye paper, then used them as masks when I sprayed Glimmer Mist for the background.

Here's a close-up of those amazing vintage flowers...


I threw in some elements from a Jenni Bowlin Junque Box -- a book page and a button -- to complement the vintage feel of the flowers.


Thanks for visiting! Have a wonderful weekend!