a week of color: red (and pink)

jon and i just returned from a long weekend on the oregon coast. how i wish we could have stayed for the month. it was beautiful. the weather was perfect. we really enjoyed our time together, and we were able to spend time with my brother and his girlfriend when they came for part of the time.

i want to continue to feel like i am on a bit of a vacation, so this week will be about photos i think...

i have been enjoying kayte's blog for a little while now and was delighted to discover that she is prompting her blog readers to participate in a week of color this first week of july. today is all about the pink and red...and you know i love to bring on the pink (and the buttons)!

here are the pink and red things finding their way into the little room today:

trim that will make its way onto flags

a little of heather's freshcut fabric to become selma bags and totes

vintage red buttons found in a delightful shop near cannon beach

How are pink and red making an appearance in your life today?

a new design (meet the anya totes)

Remember that scene in Roman Holiday when Princess Ann wants a day where she can just be an everyday girl named Anya, so she sets off for an adventure in Rome? She soaks in the sites, gets a gorgeous new haircut, is given a flower by the flower cart man when she can’t afford a bouquet, and then tops the day off with an ice cream cone.

As we watched this movie a few weeks ago, I started thinking about the joy of a day spent on an adventure just feeling free. Life can be full of all the musts and shoulds and responsibilities. Those of us who are the good girls, the serious girls, the girls who always do the right thing, we can easily get knee deep in all that stuff and forget about the joy of a day of freedom. Even in the midst of “all that we must do,” we have to give ourselves permission to have adventures, to decide to get a new haircut just because, to take off for the day with no plans or expectations.

As I watched the joy on her face as she wondered the streets, there was this one little moment where Audrey Hepburn puts her hands in her pockets. As she did that, I thought, “she doesn’t have a bag.” It was silly really, but I did have that thought. And, from that thought my mind jumped to an idea for a little bag. I love how ideas are born like this. You see something and your mind makes a connection and suddenly you are creating. I imagined her carrying a little linen tote to match her crisp white shirt and long dark skirt. When the movie finished, I picked up my “notes from the little room” moleskine and started writing down ideas.

This new tote design is inspired by Anya’s solo explorations. It’s just the right size for your sketchbook, pencil case, book of poetry, wallet, and iPod. Perfect for your own adventure out into the world. Available at The Little Room.

meet betty...and a couple of aprons

my new best girl betty arrived in the mail on thursday. she is a welcome addition to the little room. i knew i would name her when she got here, and as i took her out of the huge "i could make a fort out of this" box, she named herself as i heard "betty" whisper in the air.

i love her.

she is wearing an apron i found yesterday at a delightful antique mall in port townsend. it looks like someone took a tablecloth or table runner and created an apron from it. love how the person used the embroidery for a pocket.

in this next photo, she is wearing an apron my mother and i made together last summer. hard to believe that i was so overwhelmed by the thought of trying to understand how to use my sewing machine a year ago after a 20 year absence from sewing (yes, that means i was about 10 when i was sewing before this last year).

i love this apron for many reasons...the colors...the butterflies...but mostly i love it because my mom and i made it together.

the florals and the solids

purses in progress, june 18, 2007

In my mind, I see them walking together, arms linked as they laugh. So much of their lives still ahead of them just waiting for their footprints. On the right is a woman with red, curly hair pulled back in a bright, floral-print scarf. Her laugh is loud and full and causes heads to turn and faces to smile along with her. On the left is a younger version of my grandmother; her face so relaxed and full of joy that her own children might not have recognized her.

She had begun the day less than relaxed. After sending the children off to various friends’ homes, she had begun to worry that her friendship with Maude might have changed too much with two decades and several states now between them. As she reached up to clip on her white five-and-dime round earring, she caught her own reflection. Smoothing her long light blue skirt, she wondered if her best friend from high school would even know this woman staring back at her. This woman who had five kids, a house, and dreams long forgotten in a box in the attic.

Hours later, time seeped away when she spotted her at the bus station. Maude took one look at my grandmother and squealed with delight as she stepped off the bus and ran toward her. Later, they walked arm and arm downtown, and they tried to soak up every minute of this time together. Two days was not long for a visit. But, just enough time for Maude to remind her that time could not change the girl inside. Just enough time for her to remember.

***

These little snippets for a story came to me last week as I was looking at different fabrics in my little room. Because I was looking at my small collection of vintage fabrics, I was thinking about the 1950s and 1960s and what the people I know would have been like back then. I started thinking about my grandmother. She was a woman who did not have many friends, at least not friends that those of us left behind are aware of. But, we do know that she had two close friends, one from high school and one in South Carolina where she moved with my grandfather in the late 1960s. I started wondering about these women, especially Maude, her best friend in high school.

I know nothing about Maude. Not one thing. All I know is that she moved to Texas at some point. But, I don’t know when; I don’t even know if she is still alive. It seems she and my grandmother did keep in touch through letters that my aunt may have. Anyway, as I started wondering about her, about who would have been friends with my private, sometimes short-tempered grandmother, I suddenly thought, “I bet she was a lot like me.” I started to imagine the two of them visiting one another, and the possibility that maybe Maude had taken the bus across several states to see her family and had been able to spend time with my grandmother during her visit. I imagined that Maude had tried to remind my grandmother that even though dreams might have shifted, she still could remember who she was and who she wanted to become. I imagined Maude as the bright floral print to my grandmother’s light blue solid. I imagined her reminding my grandmother of the laughter and the brightness and how she too had a bit of polka dots and paisley and bright flowers inside her.

I imagined that I was able to do that for her too…

a circle of (fictional) friends

I often mention that I wish I had friends to meet up with at a coffee shop in my town. A group of girls to just connect with in person every now and then. I can count on one hand the friends I have made in our town since moving here three years ago. I am, though, very lucky to have made other dear friends in the area and down in Portland, but they aren't really able to meet for tea or wine one night a week after work.

I have talked about how in college I felt like the books that lined my shelves were my companions. The authors and characters were kindred spirits in my life, reminding me that I was not alone in my way of looking at the world. A person who spends a lot of time alone needs this. At least, I need them: These companions in the form of characters in books and also movies.

Thinking about these things led me to have this thought. Imagine if I could create my own circle from the characters I adore. As though there would be a world where I could invite these fictional women to meet me at The Mandolin Café for tea on a Friday afternoon. I imagine this to be a bit like Thursday Next's world (but maybe without the high-stakes crime) where people can move from the real world to the book world.

Imagine if I could just ask these women I admire and adore if they would meet me for tea? Who would I invite? Well, lately, I have been drawing quite a bit of inspiration from a few ladies who can be found in the fictional world. Elizabeth Bennet, Kathleen Kelly, Elinor Dashwood, Princess Ann (though if she were to spend an afternoon over tea with these ladies, she would, I think, want to just be called Anya), and Amelie are the first five who came to mind. Wouldn't this be quite the group?

My next thought was, of course, what would I wear? What bag would I carry? As I happen to be in the habit of creating bags lately, I decided I would have to create something new for the occasion. A bag that would fit my journal, a book of poetry (as we would of course be sharing poetry), my little coin purse/wallet, and the cookie I would bring home for Jon as he wouldn't be able to join us but how he loves the cookies at The Mandolin Café.

I think I would pair my bag with my twirly, off-white skirt and red eyelet top. Maybe some brown flip flops as not to be too dressy. Don't you think I can have tea with a princess while wearing flip flops (if that said princess is trying to blend in with the regular folks)? Something tells me she might have a pair herself when she visits me in the twenty-first century. And, I am quite convinced that Miss Elizabeth Bennett (or shall we say, "Mrs. Darcy" [insert swoon here]) would indeed have a pair. Well, maybe not. Hmmm...maybe little ballet flats would be a better choice.

Who would you invite into your circle of (fictional) friends?

(The Purse Project was the inspiration to use this vintage tea towel as part of my new bag. Love the way the texture of the towel looks with the linen of the bag. The purses made by people who sent their photos in on time for this month's Purse Project can be seen here.)