Beauty & Brains

The women I admire think smart thoughts and make beautiful things.  They combine thrift and practicality with a dash of whimsy and a dram of wit to craft words and images, meals and rooms, ideas and entire days that sparkle.

I've been so inspired lately by the brains and beauty surrounding me that I thought I'd share some.  My friend Marlowe made me the charm necklace that I photographed and processed for this post.  In the photo it's lying on an old mirror in my workshop.  

Marlowe is a fellow magpie who mosaics walls and columns and even whole rooms with the bits and pieces she finds at flea markets and tag sales.  She also knits up wonders, often creating patterns as she goes, plus the woman makes some seriously gorgeous bling--I have the stunning necklaces and bracelets to prove it.

Here are links to a few more women who are inspiring me this week:

Tracy, whose post on whittling down her wardrobe proves that simplicity can be incredibly beautiful;

Sande, who is the queen of gift wrapping every week, but her post today is an especially inspiring demonstration of how thrift combined with creativity can produce decadent results;

and Suzan, whose post on blogging sanity is fantastic.  In fact, I think it's a must-read for anyone who blogs.    

As we head into the holiday season, my mind is very much occupied with ways to save both money and time without sacrificing quality or beauty.  I'd love to hear from you about ways you're simplifying, reusing, cutting back, or paring down.  Looking forward to your thoughts, my friends!  xo