A Smile

If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love.  - Maya Angelou

Vintage bear valentine on heart wreath.  Photo by Marisa Parra

Valentine's Day is just around the corner so it brings to mind the people you love that make your life fuller and richer.  My daughter is one such person.  She always has a hug for me each morning.  Shares my interests of vintage, crafts and art.  Loves me for all my faults and I have quite a few.  She is there for me when I need her such as taking this gorgeous photograph for me of the wreath she created for her bedroom door.  My life is so much more meaningful and grand because of her.  Love never ends.  I will always have a smile for my daughter.

Leticia
 

Are You Open?

There is a vintage store that I go to that carries wonderful furniture that has been redone to wonderful shabby chic colors of grey mixed with blue, white, green or pink.  As I was looking around, I was joyfully surprise to find a small basket that contained cute vintage plastic ducks that float on water.  The ducks came in colors of blue, yellow and pink.  Guess which color I chose?

Vintage floating plastic duck - Photo by Marisa Parra

The duck will look great floating in my fountain during the warm weather.

 Leticia

The Spirit of a Child

"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit

of the child into old age."

Unknown   

Image from Shabby Chic blogs.

I am drawn to cute.  I just found this little ceramic baby rabbit at the thrift store.

Cute Ceramic Baby Rabbit with Egg

Why am I drawn to cute???  As I ponder this question, I believe it is because it means the purity of our spirit.  Not letting the world spoil the perfection of who we are.  Being our authentic selves and loving our quirkiness.  Seeing the world through a child's eyes in wonder and amazement.   

Cuteness equates to joy in my mind and I will always try to foster the spirit of the child in me. 

Leticia

A Best Friend is Like a Comfy Pillow

"Things are never quite as scary when you have a best friend."  ~Bill Watterson


My best friend in all the world is Esther.  We give each other courage and have shared many first experiences together such as our first plane ride, skiing (bunny hills), creating and selling crafts, worked together (she had the car), cried together when we lost our parents, all of it.  Time may pass before we see or talk to each other---but when we come together, it is as if no time passed.  We feel comfortable being our authentic selves---no judgements just listening and accepting.  


When it came time to craft a gift for her, this comfy pillow came to mind.  I made it from linen and vintage fabric.  The vintage fabric had cute cowboys and cowgirls which inspired the front photo of a dog on a horseshoe (she loves Asta from the Thin Man movies).



The pillow came together perfectly and she loved it.  I loved making it too.  Maybe, making pillows will be my new forte;)

Vintage Prairie Pillow (front) - Photo by Marisa Parra

Vintage Prairie Pillow (back)

 Leticia

A New Doll for Baby Shower

Black Apple doll pattern - Photo by Marisa Parra

"The decision to have a child...is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body." -Elizabeth Stone 

I love making this doll---and made it for a friend of mine using a pattern shared by Emily Winfield Martin, from The Black Apple

I learned how to make a flower from yarn using a kit my daughter bought at a thrift shop.  She came out lovely.  I love this pattern because you can use any fabric for her dress---and find the perfect color that matches the baby's room.

Leticia

How to Catch Your Dreams

I have been in this body for a while but still feel like a kid at heart and that is why I love this quote.  I have had many dreams that I did not pursue (too scared) and I still have many dreams.  This time, I am catching some dreams---and how do you catch your dreams?  Two words---take action.  Yes, it is sometimes scary.  Yes, you may feel uncomfortable and feel foolish---but that is what life if for---to live your dreams.

Take baby steps or a big leap---it does not matter because you will learn along the way.  Don't wait for perfection, do it now and refine it along the way---that way you have no excuses but are living your dream.

Love your life by living your dream.
Leticia

Before I Was Myself, You Made Me, Me - A Poem to My Mom

Before I was myself you made me, me
With love and patience, discipline and tears,
Then bit by bit stepped back to set me free,

Allowing me to sail upon my sea,
Though well within the headlands of your fears.

Before I was myself you made me, me

With dreams enough of what I was to be
And hopes that would be sculpted by the years,
Then bit by bit stepped back to set me free,

Relinquishing your powers gradually
To let me shape myself among my peers.

Before I was myself you made me, me,

And being good and wise, you gracefully
As dancers when the last sweet cadence nears
Bit by bit stepped back to set me free.

For love inspires learning naturally:
The mind assents to what the heart reveres.
And so it was through love you made me, me
By slowly stepping back to set me free.

Author - Unknown 

Although she is no longer with me, I feel her presence and wanted to dedicate this beautiful poem to her.  My life was not easy but it was easier with her in my life.

Leticia