time to get your egg on

today is the day we color easter eggs.
it's always been one of my favorite things to do for easter. 

last year we tried dyeing just one egg using natural ingredients

this year I'd like to try a few more..here's a few ideas for colors

• Purple grape juice (for lavender)
• Red cabbage (for blue)
• Spinach (for green)
• Carrot tops, orange peels or lemon peels (for yellow)
• Coffee or black walnut shells (for brown)
• Yellow onion skins (for orange)
• Beets or cranberries (for pink)
• Red onion skins (for red)

directions
 Just boil your eggs in water with a bit of vinegar and one of natural ingredients,  ***then let simmer for at least 15 minutes
** NOTE: we boiled the eggs separately from the colors and  and then soaked the egg in the color with vinegar.
after all.. half the fun is lifting the egg up and down and mixing it with a few different colors

ha! i guess the above photo is a technique called "the crossover"..be careful trying this one @home :)

now here's a very unique way to decorate eggs
from Martha Stewart "Dyeing Easter Eggs with Silk Ties"

if your like me and missed it previously,  directions and how to video here

I love this idea...filing it away for next year and in the meantime...

it also gives me another thing to look for at thrift stores...silk ties and blouses.

Do you have any favorite ways to decorate eggs?  share them with us in comments, you know I'd love to hear them

Happy Easter Egg Day

Sue

spring day dreams...over the top

for now the spring rains have stopped, the bulbs are starting to bloom and the temps are warming up (slightly).

and my spring day dreams have started...

our home is a 1970's ranch,  if we added a second floor,  we would have this view..

yes..over that roof top,  in the distance,  is cape cod bay

the way my roof is constructed, it's not happening..so I'm dreaming up a way to get those views

on Cape Cod they're called  widow's walks

A widow's walk is a railed rooftop platform often found on 19th century North American houses.

A popular romantic myth holds that the platform was used to observe vessels at sea. The name comes from the wives of mariners, who would watch for their spouses' return, often in vain as the ocean took the lives of the mariners, leaving the women as widows. 

 These two are more like roof decks, but they still serve the purpose

Widow's walks are in fact a standard decorative feature of Italianate architecture, a variation of the Italianate cupola

This beauty belongs to one of my favorite beach house's on cape cod, full photo below,

it also has stunning views of Nauset Inlet....dreaming...

Beyond their decorative use as viewing platforms, they had another use.  they were frequently built around the chimney of a home, creating easy access to the structure. this allowed the residents to pour sand down the burning chimneys in the event of a chimney fire.

I'll have to file this last bit of info away...it just might help my 'want' argument!

I'm sure you must have a few spring day dreams yourself....share a few with me, in comments...
c'mon I know you do :)

 Happy spring dreaming everyone

Sue

whats up?

a little shop update ~
some are just in the shop..others will be following soon


The sun is feeling warmer, the bulbs are starting to peek up, my muscles are sore from the first workout in the garden.
Ah ha...  i'm feeling a bit of spring fever this week and so is the shop.

a great way to store and display your garden tools & plants

industrial bin with fabulous lettering

I love this with  garden displays, with or without plants trained on it

vintage wire topiary form

so dainty & lovely, from a botanical studies notebook, with latin & common names,

 antique botanical  colored sketches, artist unknown

a perfect colored vase for  spring flowers, white tulips (my favorite), or  a wow with yellow daffodils

vintage vase,  marked Fortnum & Mason, London

reading or breakfast in bed never looked so sweet,  Ha! (more like a place for my laptop)

sweet vintage painted wood bed tray

sea glass colored bottles,  or how to store, organize and display your supplies

antique mason and canning jars

what's this doing on a spring post??   a little sneak peek of some sweet finds this week

not even cleaned up yet...i just couldn't wait to show them to you

I'm linking up to Scoutie Girls: we scout Spring...want to come along?

Happy Spring Everyone

Sue

ps; you know I love comments, share a favorite spring display idea with me in comments, thank you

blog it forward..inspiration

It all started one day on Twitter. The usual fun tweets were happening when Victoria sfgirbybay and Ez of creature comforts, started chatting about what inspires each of them to blog and how lovely it would be to have a community of bloggers share their inspiration with each other. All of a sudden BING..an idle chat turned into 300 creative bloggers joining together to share what inspires them and Blog it forward was born. Now that is a TWEET! It was quite amazing to watch this progression. I knew then I wanted to be a part of this inspiring community.

Snippet & Ink has passed it on to me to share where I find inspiration...and... well...you see it's still winter here in the Northeast and I'm such a spring ....

Pdx garden photos by chris teso 

Pdx Garden by Chris Teso

and summer girl

Shawme Pond, Sandwich, MA

my inspiration is hiding somewhere... it's hazy and not quite in focus.

I really do think I'm going to need help finding it again...


Well you've come to the right place! Hi there...It's me Kim, aka ethanollie. You may or may not know, I have a pretty special connection to solsticehome,  I'm her daughter and number one fan. And while she may need a little help finding her inspiration, I feel like my cup runneth over. It seems no matter where I turn, there is something, somewhere that sparks a longing to find....

something old and beautiful

or tattered and torn

Yep, there is nothing like the thrill of the hunt to get my creative juices flowing. There's just something about the prospect of rescuing a little piece of history, that gets this night owl up before the birds, and sometimes in freezing temperatures. I'm pretty sure there has never been a time when visiting some place like this

the Sandwich Flea

hasn't led to something like this

my studio after a visit to the Sandwich Flea

And it never ceases to amaze me just how much my creative spirit is taunted and teased into new endeavors by the souls of these treasures.

Okay, Mom, feeling inspired yet?

Why yes, my sweet girl,  I think it's coming back into focus for me.
If you mean when something as compelling as a view into the past

turns into an obsession to see what more there is to discover from it...

in my studio

and after woo-hoo days like this

it invariably leads me to discover the beauty and inspiration that I always seem to treasure from the simplest find.

solsticehome

Thank you Kim, aka ethanollie  for joining in today. You always seem to know how to give me a big nudge. By the way...the next Flea is less than two week away...The race is on!

Big thank you to Victoria sfgirlbybay,  quite the woman... pulling together this monumental task. 

Tomorrow head over to Sonyamac for her inspiration and find even more inspiring stories here

Happy Tuesday all

Sue

ps; I can always use more inspiration, share some with me in comments ...thank you

Linking this post to The Inspired Room, come along...

searching

Tomorrow it's my turn to join the Blog it forward mashup.

Three hundred creative blogger's joining together to tell what inspires us.


Oh man,  have I been searching for that inspiration...

Here's part of the journey in photos from my some of my flickr favorites

Enjoy the photos....I'm certainly enjoying adventure

me on sandwich boardwalk   photo by nymphobrainiac

ice landings    photo by spezoids

 

Hill   photo by lisa teso

Juxt   photo by nymphobrainiac 

White flower    photo by lisa teso

 ...   photo by ethanollie

You know what the best part is?  All of the above wonderful photo's are from my amazing family members.

Talk about inspiration help!!!

Stop by tomorrow to find out if I've managed to find the inspiration I'm desperately looking for.

Today make sure to stop over at  Blog it forward for todays list of bloggers sharing their inspiration.

Have an inspiring Monday

Sue

ps...feel free to leave me a comment,  i'd love to hear from you <3

cynthia wears a pink blouse

I definitely DO NOT!!

What color should I choose?
That seems to be  the question for so many of us, so much of the time.

color decision from ethanollie

We're in project mode at my house so I've been doing a little color research myself.  I thought I'd share some with you.

Studies show that a child as early as two years of age already shows inclination towards favorite colors.

Personal preference for a color is an emotional response to the color – not a logical one. It identifies our positive or negative association with a particular color – not the color itself. 

 

What the experts say affects our choice of colors:

Geographic location  

warm climates choose cooler colors, cool climates choose warmer colors  
(I don't personally buy into this theory, the Scandinavian aesthetic is a perfect example of why I don't)

 

Scandinavian Living Room  Emmas Designblogg 

 

 A New England Foyer from solsticehome

Popular Color Schemes or Decorating Styles

Decorating programs, magazines and design blogs influence what people will accept and then eventually want for their own homes.  (We all know how true this is)

eclectic living room design Abigail Ahern's London living room  on Houzz

The Global Influence
The ever- shrinking world is another influence in our exposure and acceptance of color and interior décor. The more we travel, and the more the media features events from other parts of the world, the more we see how others live and become inspired by what we see. 
(This is one aspect I hadn't thought of.. but it just might be the most true) 

asian kids design on Houzz

All of this is information is helpful in knowing why we choose certain colors.  
But...I still need help in choosing them!!

 While writing up this post I discovered a new blog that's worth a good look, "Living in Color with Sonu."  Sonu, an interior designer for Benjamin Moore, offers up some very helpful articles. I especially like the fact, the colors used are named and their undertones are given.  The ability to zoom in to a much larger photo on the site, would be helpful.

photo from living in color

Need a little more inspiration?  
Take a few minutes and try  "The Color Sense Game," from Pittsburgh Paints.   I was skeptical at first,  but it pegged me pretty well.  


As to my neighbor Cynthia and her pink blouse,  it really looks lovely on her.  I must have had a bad pink experience...I'll stick with my neutrals. 

What about you?   Find a great new color your in love with?   Have a color tip to share?
I'd love to hear it...

Have a colorful Sunday

Sue

i heart books

This girl is a  book lover and a vintage book collector (I know such a surprise)!
I love the feel and look of old books with aged tanned pages and..
I  love the thought that many other hands have held that same book.  They may have been inspired by it,  found their brilliant idea in it or just found enjoyment in the stories and illustrations.

When it's time for a gift, one of the gifts that thrills me the most are books.  It's a gift I can hold, enjoy and then pass down to future generations who then add their hand print to it.

So,  naturally I've included a few in the shop that I think make wonderful valentine gifts.  I'm also such a visual,  design obsessed woman,  I've paired them by color. They'll look pretty sweet on the bookshelf too.
Add some chocolate and it's pretty much perfection!

 

Two Antique books c1895, the softest feel, lovely illustrations and Story

  

Pair of Vintage Children Books c 1960's, wonderful mid century illustrations and stories

  

Pair of Mid Century Reference books c 1950-60's, one for parents, one for the gardener  

  

Vintage Design Book c1975 for the Typography and Graphic Design Lover 

With a little thought and a little searching, there's a book out there that would thrill your sweetie...But please don't forget to add the chocolates.

  

Chocolate Espresso Cake Truffles from lollidreams

Happy Heart Day <3

Sue