Time For A Little Creativity!……….

“Creativity is a lot like looking at the world through a kaleidoscope. You look at a set of elements, the same ones everyone else sees, but then reassemble those floating bits and pieces into an enticing new possibility. ~Rosabeth Moss Kanter

I spent last week with family and friends on a mini vacation/buying trip.

So…. I thought I would catch you up on my purchases, experiences and a few of my newly created pieces. Oh, and a little fun fact about my logo!

So many people have asked me about the wonderful photo I have for my logo. I thought I would give you a little history on it and the creation of Nostalgic Summer.

We recently celebrated my mothers 90th birthday. Yes I said NINETY! (going on 50).
We had a big party, complete with a wonderful slide show presentation of her life. My husband and I put the show together and asked family for pictures of Grandma Gertie. We received over 300! The presentation was a great pictorial history of her life from when she was a baby to the present.

I filed the photos on my computer under “GertiePhotos” and had not looked at them since the party.

When I was creating my Etsy shop, I knew I wanted to invoke an image of the past. After many word combinations Nostalgic Summer was born! I wanted a logo that projected a nostalgic feeling, and after many a creative hash session I remembered the photos from my mothers party. This picture was taken when she was a teenager. She was spending the day at Lake Calhoun with friends, and someone shot this wonderful photo of my mother and her friend. Mom is the cute young girl on the left!

Here’s is my incredible mother today…almost 91!


Now for a little catch up. I spent last week at the cabin. My brother and his wife came up to get away from the Texas heat. And while they were here we took a trip to one of my new favorite flea markets in Detroit Lakes. This was only my second trip to the flea market, but each time I have scored big! I was able to purchase lots of great vintage pieces from a vintage collector who is trying to pair down. I also found some great pieces from a garage sale, my favorite antique shop in Vining (see previous post on “My Summer Vacation”) and a couple newly discovered antique shops.
Here’s my bounty:





And a few pieces made from some of it


Stay tuned for more creations….and next weeks post “A Little Jewelry History, Part Three.

Thank you for visiting Nostalgic Summer!