Inspiration Thursday! Christmas is coming...

I know, I know, I don't want to hear it either. But it's coming. Whether you're ready or not, it's coming.

I'm one of those people who tries all year long to look for thoughtful Christmas gifts for friends and family. For some, I've been very successful. But as I started culling through my "Christmas gift box" the other day, I started to realize just how much I have left to do.

In an attempt to help myself AND give you some ideas, I'm going to occasionally highlight some of the pretties I find here on Inspiration Thursday.

This week, I'm going to start with and old favorite of mine, items from Punch Studio. Punch Studio is a fantastic resource for those of us who love the look of antique ephemera. It looks like they take images from old postcards, calling cards, maps and song sheets and integrate them into interesting note cards, memo books, purse pads, file folders and storage boxes. You can find Punch Studio products on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble, among other retailers.

I love the little mini notebooks. The insides have a beautiful illustration and you can close them with the attached elastic band. And for those of you with friends and relatives who still cherish the art of writing notes (see photos above), they make wonderful note card sets!

If you're looking for something special for someone special, this might be a good way to go!

Vintage Wednesday: London's Covent Garden Market

Apparently I have Europe on the brain this week because I'm gravitating toward writing about things I saw and found while visiting! This little certificate came from London's Covent Garden Market. London has several famous markets to visit and I've only scratched the surface of the lovelies available. I have, however, enjoyed the market at Covent Garden.

Covent Garden was the first public square in England - a result of first experiments in town planning. Anyone who's seen My Fair Lady will remember the flower and produce sellers hawking their wares in Covent Garden. And it's still a place to fuel your imagination - probably cleaner, but still contains some of the stalls built in the last century. You'll still find a flower seller or two!

The former vegetable market is now covered (though still open air) and contains some lovely shops and eateries. At the Jubilee Market, you can find antiques, arts & crafts or just a general flea market depending on the day you visit. As you pass through the stalls, you'll find a wide variety of colorful collectibles.

And that's how I found this sweet little drawing certificate from the turn of the last century. I found a stall full of ephemera and perusing through the boxes of stock, the design struck my eye. In typical Edwardian style, this certificate was presented to some lucky young lady upon completion of her drawing course. What a lovely keepsake for her and what a wonderful reminder of Covent Garden for me 100 years and an ocean away.