Windows and Walls…

I’ve always loved my great-uncle Richard…I just always have.  Maybe it’s because he loves and shares the stories of our family like I do……

 

…or maybe it’s because every time he sees me his eyes fill with tears and he tells me how much I remind him of his sweet sister-in-law, my grandmother, LaPriel…and that makes MY eyes fill with tears…

I was so thrilled to be able to help him remember one of his very own stories this summer…

In the little town of Snowflake, Arizona sits a very special house…special to me and to those I love, anyway…

Built in the 1920’s by my great-grandparents, Asahel and Pauline Smith…

…it still stands today.  Siding now covers the plaster walls…new numbers hang over the front door…new outdoor lighting lights the path for evening visitors…but the house itself…it remains the same.

A few of us gathered around this sweet old house on a Saturday afternoon…a family portrait was taken…

Contact was previously made with the current owners.  They would be out-of-town this particular weekend, and were happy to let the Asahel and Pauline Family walk around the house and spend a little time there…something I’d never before been able to do.  So walk around, I did!

Thoughts turned to these old worn steps…my father would have run up and down these steps as a boy…how many other beloved feet walked up these steps to the front door in by-gone days?

Here is one of my favorite of all my family photos….Pauline (on the right) chats by the front door with Mary, her best friend and co-grandmother (LaPriel’s mother)…this was before the front porch was built…

I’ve always loved these windows—only seen from afar and in old family photos…now I walked around to the side yard to see them up close…

…here they are again…1937.  My young and lovely grandmother, LaPriel stands between two of these windows--just months before giving birth to my father…

A few little scenes around the house…

Coming around towards the front of the house on the other side, I found steps leading down to a cellar door…

{daughter Annie goes down to investigate…}

Being a touchy-feely bunch (they get it from me!), my daughter Sarah just had to go down the stairs and handle the leather strap hanging from the door…

Then I looked on the stones next to the stairs, and thought I saw some carving—partially hidden by a rock…I moved that rock pretty quickly, I can tell you!

“R.S”, it stated, in bold, block characters…R.S.  My grandfather was Rudger Smith…and his youngest brother—the only one of Asahel and Pauline’s children left—was Uncle Richard, there with us today…could it have been one of them?

I ran to the front yard and asked him to come back to the stairs with me…I showed him the carving and asked if he knew anything about it…

Oh!  I wish I had taken a picture of him at that moment!  The twinkle in his eyes was priceless as he exclaimed—“That’s me!”

He had chiseled his initials into the block when he was about 9 years old, he said…what a find!

{my daughter Chelsea listens as Uncle Richard tells his story…}

Windows and walls…then and now… 

…modern reflections on a much beloved old family home…

…great-great granddaughters stand where generations have stood before…

{mother and daughter—Annie and I}

…I told you we were a touchy-feely bunch!

See you soon with something new…

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: Asahel and Pauline Smith,family reunion,Snowflake Arizona,Richard Smith,LaPriel Riggs Smith

Pretty Paperweights

Hello, dear friends!

Just a short little post for you today…I’m still having a hard time revving up my creative juices after being away so much this summer…so these little projects were just perfect for me this weekend…

I found a a couple of simple dollar store paperweights while cleaning my craft room (another of my summer projects!)…and I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do with them…..

…two beautiful images taken from Crafty Secrets’ new “Mini-Vintage” Creative Scraps would fill them up quite nicely!

A bit of glitter added to eggs and flowers on the bird image, and a framing of Platinum Stickles for both images…

Now for some simple finishing touches…here, just a wrapping of lovely aqua seam binding, topped off with a few perfect, vintage millinery flowers…easy peasy!

It’s hard to get a good image with the globy glass on top, but I’m quite pleased with the way they turned out…

For the second paperweight—with the beautiful lady gardener—I decided to surround the paperweight with vintage mother-of-pearl  buttons…one of my great loves…

…I kept it very quick and easy…no threading the buttons this time…

…and the finished product under glass.  I love the slightly magnified effect it has…very fun!

I really love this vintage gardener image…it reminds me of one of my very favorite paintings of all…

… “My Sweet Rose”, by John William Waterhouse…one of my favorite of the pre-Raphaelite artists…

One of the reasons I love this painting so much is that it has always reminded me of my beautifully elegant great-grandmother, Estella…

…a young woman during the later years that Waterhouse painted, she has that same look to me that he portrayed in his work…

*******************

Now…I must warn you….I’ve been inspired by so many things during this short—but very busy summer—that I’ll be trying many new and wonderful projects out on you very soon…

…art journaling

…altered vintage photo albums

…vintage tiara making (going to have fun with these!)

…family history-filled shadowboxes

…crazy quilting (using my great-great-great grandmother’s crazy quilt for inspiration)

…and…craziest of all…homeschooling my two teenage daughters.  Call me crazy.  But definitely call me happy & excited!

Life is busy.  Life is unexpected.  Life is messy.  Life is very, very, very GOOD.

See you soon with something new!

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: Crafty Secrets,paperweights,Estella Vance Stapley,John W. Waterhouse,projects

The Great Outdoors…

Hello, dear friends!

Whew!!!  What a long & busy summer it’s been for our family!  Finally home after a couple of long—but very fun & happy—trips…

I spent last week at a girls’ camp with my two younger daughters and lots of women up in the beautiful Santa Cruz mountains….just look at what I was surrounded by…

 {the spectacular view looking towards the ocean…}

…DIRT…sneaky raccoons…rustling leaves…fresh breezes…LAUGHTER…walking, hiking, climbing…lovely friends…clear, star-filled skies at night…pesky flies…DIRT…

{majestic, towering redwoods}

…the sound of crickets cricketing…finding our way by flashlight…shooting stars…DIRT…LAUGHTER…not enough sleep…cold showers…sweet-spirited girls by the score…DIRT…chatting about life until we drifted off to sleep………………………

 {beautiful, quiet groves….just perfect for a little self-reflection…}

…WONDERFUL MEMORIES…

The week before camp, we were still in Utah with my parents.  A few days before we were to leave, my dear Dad decided he wanted to take the grandkids out for a hike to a nearby waterfall…

{beautiful, clear, cold mountain water…}

{my sweet Dad with my Sarah…aren’t they cute?!}

{Dad with my nephew, Luke…making memories…}

 

I didn’t go with them that afternoon…was spending some time with my Mom, so I love these photos my sister-in-law took…….

{…my favorite photo of all…}

…they are precious to me…

How about a little view of some vintage camping???

{don’t you just love the old cars, draped canvas tent, the pony & cart….and how about those haircuts on the girls?????}

I’ve always loved this old family photo…my great-grandparents…young and fun-loving…taking their three daughters on a camping trip, along with a couple of their family friends…

This is the only photo I have of them in such a relaxed, casual style…they were really quite elegant people…so I love this even more!

So, in the spirit of camping—then and now—I put together this little layout…

I really had fun with this!  I was having a little mojo trouble at first…it’s hard when you haven’t had any creating time for weeks & weeks!

But, things came together…so many fun, natural elements I was able to use here…lots of hemp cording for texture & campiness…

…the green gingham paper design & vintage journal page were printed using Crafty Secrets’ new “Creating with Vintage Patterns” CD—so fabulous!

The Stapley Family camping…the little girl standing right next to the pony (with the very interesting hair cut!) is my grandmother, Velda…she was about seven years old here…

I kept my journaling here very simple…just the important facts placed on some tags—also printed from the Crafty Secrets’ “Creating with Vintage Patterns” CD…and this wonderful metal tag from the Tim Holtz collection…“wander”…

…a strip of burlap-like fabric across the page…and I had to add a little of the outdoors for some interest and the pop of green I needed…a bit of cypress from my front yard…reminded me of the sequoias I had all around me last week………………..

Well, that’s about it!  The laundry’s just about done, the house is clean…we’re clean!…I think I’m ready to get back to business!  Looking forward to finally visiting you all—hope your summer has been as lovely as mine!

See you soon with something new…

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: Crafty Secrets,camping,Stapley Family,Tim Holtz,Creating with Vintage Patterns CD