inspiration Archives - Primitive Folk Art by Old World Primitives

Decorating with Spun Cotton Ornaments

The lovely Michele Bodani of Persimmon Grove Designs, who is one of my very best customers, recently shared some photographs with me of how she has been incorporating my spun cotton ornaments into her home decor. I am happy that she agreed to let me also post her photos here, and hope that my blog readers will enjoy them as much as I did! May her wonderful sense of style and color coordination inspire you.

Click each photo to see a larger view.

This is Michele’s craft room, with a spun cotton ornament hanging from the far left side of a shelf.

This is a view into her curio cabinet, including a spun cotton cat in coordinating colors.

And another view into her curio cabinet, including a spun cotton fox.

This is her mantel in the living room – look closely to spot a spun cotton ornament hanging from either side.

Take A Hike

I went for a hike in the Great Swamp Wilderness today.

Nature photo taken on a hike through the Great Swamp Wilderness Area

“The hours when the mind is absorbed by beauty are the only hours when we truly live.”
— Richard Jefferies (English nature writer, 1848 – 1887)

Revisiting Home

Yesterday I spent the afternoon finding inspiration in the peace and quiet of The Great Swamp in Basking Ridge, NJ. My husband took the two photos below during our visit.

Sunset at The Great Swamp

On the way there, I finally got the courage to visit the town I grew up in again. I had not been there in 25 years, because I knew that what I remembered would be gone. I visited the spot I once called home, but my old 1771 saltbox home with its two barns, outhouse, and many gardens was no longer there. The modern world has replaced everything with modern things, and two new houses now stand on the property that I once spent my days playing on. It was a strange experience to not be able to see anything familiar at a site I once knew so well any more, save for a few trees, but it was nice to visit my old town again. I miss living there.

Inspiration in the Pine Barrens

I find old, forgotten, abandoned places to be great sources of intrigue and inspiration. Yesterday was spent hiking through the Pine Barrens of New Jersey with my husband, exploring the solitude of the woods and the ruins of Brooksbrae Brick Factory. The factory was built over 100 years ago but never operated due to the owner’s untimely death, and the site it was built upon has now returned to forest on land that is now located within a state park. Abandoned railroad tracks ran parallel to the old factory site.

New Jersey Pine Barrens

The site of the old Brooksbrae Brick Factory ruins reminded me a bit of a site near the house I grew up in where my brother and I used to play. A factory that had been built there in 1897 exploded and burned down the year before I was born, and the lot remained vacant throughout my childhood. My brother and I used to go there to pick giant cat tails to use as “jousting poles” while we pretended to be warring knights astride our bicycles.

Inspiration is a Family Affair

This Christmas, after the gifts had been opened, Christmas dinner eaten, and cookies consumed at the big family dinner table… my Dad had one more box to open and share with me. Since he knows that I like to use antique postcard images as faces for my chenille ornaments, he brought out a few stacks of his recent acquisitions. I enjoyed looking through all of them and selecting some to borrow as much as I enjoyed hearing the story of how he had scavenged them from the site of an old home that was slated for demolition.

antique postcards

Some of them were inscribed with notes from the sender in English, and some in German. Some were never sent, and many had 1 cent stamps on them along with postmarks from the 1902 – 1907 range.

antique postcards

Many will provide the inspiration for new ornaments in 2010. Happy New Year to all!