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My Favorite Things

Ephemera
Vintage Tea Tins
Music Boxes

"If I dismiss the ordinary-waiting for the special, the extreme, the extraordinary to happen-I may just miss my life." -Laura Pashby

Lately I've been reading Little Stories of Your Life: Find Your Voice, Share Your World, and Tell Your Story by Laura Pashby. It's so good! While I think the book's focus is on micro-blogging (aka Instagram posts), I'm finding so much inspiration for my longer form writing in it. The exercises are inspiring and I'm using them as writing prompts and ways to improve my photography. If you haven't read it, I  recommend you get it.

One of the prompts is to make lists that you can later use for storytelling and I thought I would share one of my lists with you today-a list of my favorite things in my studio. While my whole house is filled with things I love, I typically save the most beloved things for my studio. It's where I curl-up to write and stitch so it's very important to me to fill the room with things that make me feel happy and inspired. Many of the things on my list have strong memories tied to them. 

My studio is ever changing. Every time I clean it, I rearrange, add and subtract. It's like it's one big mood board. I could probably make a different list of favorite things every month or so.

My Favorite Things in My Studio:

  • Two vintage tea tins, sitting on the shelf over my desk. The colors and patterns on them make my heart sing. I love pretty tea tins. I love tea. I have a small collection of tea tins and would love to grow it. A whole shelf of colorful, vintage, floral tea tins. Can you imagine?
  • My "Cabinet of Curiosities". A wood box with a glass lid and divided wood trays. It's where I put all the little treasures I might one use in my art. Or maybe I will never use them. I just like to pull the box out and sift through it when I need inspiration. Right now it contains vintage sequins from the 1920s, religious scapulars that I have had since childhood, a small plastic deer, a bag of beetle wings, a spray of blood red millinery flowers and collections of buttons and ribbons and miniature bottles. If you ever come and visit me, I will pull it out and we can look at it together and I will tell you stories about the things I have stored in there as we drink tea (preferable tea that comes from a colorful tin).
  • Two music boxes of dancing girls from my grandmother. She had a collection of music boxes in her living room and these two were my favorite. Sometimes the music boxes turn on by themselves and I like to believe that it's my grandmother, paying me a studio visit, winding up the boxes for me just like she did when I was a little girl. When I hear them, I can smell her house and the taste of the Brach's candy she always had in candy dishes in the living room fills my mouth.

Can you see how making a simple list can give you tons of story ideas? I had to hold myself back as I compiled this short list, each item could be a short story or a full blog post. 

Be sure to share your favorite things in the comments below. Even if you don't have a dedicated studio, I bet there's something (or a list of things) near you right now that you could tell a story about.


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Comments

  1. SueFebruary 16, 2022 at 9:22 AM

    Your photos are always so lovely. What an interesting point about how leaving social media was easier when you weren't telling people about it. I suppose it also kept it off your mind, which is the big thing. I agree with you about social media. I does tend to make me feel "less than" when everyone in the whole entire world seems to be doing fascinating things while also losing weight and saving the starving and homeless. Or so it would appear from their feeds, which is the point, isn't it? Looking forward to the rest of your story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laura BrayFebruary 16, 2022 at 11:37 AM

      Thanks for the compliment Sue! And thanks so much for visiting me here.

      Delete
  2. iHannaFebruary 16, 2022 at 2:54 PM

    Started to read, had to go check the book out, came back, continued to read. I always feel like there are too many stories for a life-time to tell, so I totally understand your list inspiration! :-) I feel that every time I take a photo I could also write a whole blog post and sometimes a book on that subject.... :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laura BrayFebruary 17, 2022 at 12:31 PM

      There are too many stories to tell! Aren't we lucky? Glad you are enjoying the book.

      Delete
  3. Dana BarbieriFebruary 17, 2022 at 8:19 AM

    I love your favorite things in your studio! A shelf filled with colorful, floral tea tins would be so pretty. And that is such a sweet memory and thought about your grandmother. I need to look into that book it sounds really nice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laura BrayFebruary 17, 2022 at 12:32 PM

      I love floral tins. I recently found some earrings that a local artist makes where she cuts shapes out of old tea tins and makes them into earrings. I love wearing them. Yes! Get the book! I think you will love it.

      Delete

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