Life, Paris Pennants & More

I have neglected my blog. Spring is here and I have been busy in the yard and with my girls. I'm trying to get caught up before my life turns busy with family care and summer. I've also come upon a new road in life. My neighbor recently passed away. This past summer she was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer and they just couldn't stop it. She left the hospital, returned to her home to be with her family and passed away the way we would all like to. Her family all around her on the first day of a beautiful spring. May she rest in peace and may God watch over those she left behind.

It made a thought come into my mind. If I died tomorrow, what would my girls and my husband do with all of my stuff? I have so much stuff, and I love my stuff. All of my swap goodies, which I have backed off from at the moment (still love my swaps). My wonderful art supplies for collage making, soldering, painting, etc. etc. etc. and again etc. And what about all of those found treasures to use in my art work or to surround myself with? I know my girls would love to have lots of it as their own. Still, I just want to spend lots of time with them right now. Especially since my youngest will be starting Kindergarten next year and it is a milestone I am not looking forward to.

So on that note, I decided to take some pics today of one of my obsessions. My vintage Paris pennants. My very first blog friend, Val from Wanderlust & Pixie Dust knew I was obsessed with the Eiffel Tower. She saw a pennant from Paris at an on line shop and told me about it. Of course, I HAD to have it! And now I am up to fourteen of these beauties and still looking for more. They are all hung up in my studio.



I have a slide show below of each individual pennant. I just think they are the coolest thing ever!



The red one on the right is the first one that I got that Val had told me about.





I was trying to get a picture of several in the pic above. I had to stand on a ladder because the walls go up about twelve plus feet. And of course, I have other Eiffel Towers hanging about so at least this one fits in with the theme, lol.




The pennant above shows Notre Dame, which I found first. Then, I found a matching Eiffel Tower in the pic below and you can bet I was willing to pay whatever price I had to for the match.





But of course those aren't the only Parisian treasures that I have. If it has the Eiffel Tower on it, I have to have it. It's my addiction! Below is a recent find while my Mom and I were out at one of our favorite antique shops. It called to me just before we were leaving the store. It is a water color that someone had framed. I thought I would reframe it, in time, but who knows when that will be.




An Eiffel Tower perfume bottle, a black glass glittered Eiffel Tower I made a couple of years ago, and my awesome find, an old Life magazine with an article about Paris.



An Eiffel Tower paper lantern is illuminated with lights in my studio and I just noticed the Paris hat box at the top of that stack there. That is actually from my local Hobby Lobby. They have some of the coolest Eiffel Towers in that place.



Who doesn't need an Eiffel Tower pencil sharpener! My girls are just fascinated with this one and love to use it. I also have the Arc de Triumph.



A tag I made and some bobby pins my Mom found some time ago. The top of the Eiffel Tower is missing, but it is still a jewel to me.



I found this letter board at another local shop. And how can it not fit in with this post when I can spell, "Paris France" on it? I looked for a long time to find this snow globe and my BBFF (best blog friend forever) Carolyn from Magpie-Pixie recently sent me these awesome coasters with scenes of Paris from the 50s. I plan on framing them soon. An Eiffel Tower paper punch is a must for any crafter and my copy of the amazing book from a swap I hosted, "Les emotions de la France".



Do you have any unique Eiffel Towers of something you collect? If so, please tell!

So today is another beautiful Spring Day. The girls and I are getting ready to head outside to enjoy it and later I will be finishing up two swaps I am hosting. The first one is a new 4x4 book swap with my amazing Marie group titled, "Marie's Favorite Flower". It is the perfect book for this time of year and the contributing artists did amazing work for it.

I am also packing up the packages from my second swap, again with my Marie group which is a yellow, soldered pendant swap. Each participant created three soldered pendants with Marie and flowers in mind and made three beaded charms. The results are gorgeous. There were four of us that participated, so we each made enough for each of us to have a set. I can't wait to see what the other girls do with their sets. My project is already put together in my mind and I will share that with you when it is complete.

So, off I go. Remember to enjoy this day and every day you are blessed with. Spend some quality time with those you love, but also with yourself. But not too much with yourself. I have been very guilty of that, creating all of my art. But there has to be some balance. Thanks for stopping by and remember to let me know if you have any unique Eiffel Towers or something else you collect!

If you would like to see more of my Parisian finds, check out my blog post, Mon Amour de Toutes les Choses Françaises or My Love of All Things French day one as well as the following links for day two and more: I Have Really Enjoyed This First Day -My Love, My Love of All Things French Day Two and My Love of All Things French - French Books.