Ashley Hackshaw, Author at Ashley Hackshaw / Lil Blue Boo

Rare Photographs

July 25, 2013 by Ashley Hackshaw

I found this great coffee table book at the thrift store….it’s a huge collection of rare American photographs and the history of photography:

When I saw this photo I knew I had to have it….to show Boo a REAL Sonora Webster. And to share with you all… since so many of you are fans of Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken! The caption reads:

Pueblo, Colorado, July 4, 1905. Eunice Winkless, a daring amateur who clung to the mane as the horse dived headlong to the pool of water below to claim her prize of $100.

(for some reason the slow-motion version in the movie seemed dreamier?)

A New York tenement in the 1880’s….home to ever-increasing numbers of people. Look at all that laundry!

A rural schoolhouse in Oregon. Two schoolgirls with their lunch pails: [Read more…]

Things I Wanted to Tell You

July 23, 2013 by Ashley Hackshaw

…a random collection of interesting finds and good reads (at least I think so…)

At night I think about things like: how is a Triscuit made? or how do they get that cherry goo in the perfect chocolate casing? …and I found this old article from 1987 with some great answers.

I’m having some serious creative envy right now. I love the lettering and illustrations of Mary Kate McDevitt:

Images via Mary Kate McDevitt on Etsy

If you could read my recent placemat survey you might have noticed that my biggest fear is the ocean beyond the beach….yep, I don’t go in. I don’t think I’d even venture in with this wetsuit….but maybe if Boo insisted on going in the ocean I’d outfit her with one. Very cool invention via Mental Floss:

Photo credit YouTube.

These hand drawn detailed murals are incredible by artist Charlotte Mann:

I’ve talked about my obsession with orphaned photos before. Check out this film on Mark Kologi. Mark has collected and sold millions of forgotten personal photos of complete strangers.

If you get a chance check out the new issue of Somerset Home (there’s an LBB project too!):

Updated: If I won the lottery I think I would splurge on this….just so I could stare at it’s miniatureness all day. An Underwood typewriter for ants:

How to Make Altered Thrift Store Pop Art

July 22, 2013 by Ashley Hackshaw

There’s nothing I love more than scooping up something that someone else doesn’t want anymore….and making it my own. My friend was selling this HUGE dinosaur at her yard sale and I couldn’t resist. I knew I’d either paint over it to reuse the canvas….or maybe change it up a bit. Mr. LBB loved the dino but Boo thought it was too scary. So I changed him up a bit to be more of a pop art dino!

Here’s the before:

The first thing I did was use a pencil and some acrylic paint to add polka dots….or pixelate the dino: [Read more…]