creative collections

I have just had a major penny drop! I spotted this great image as part of the latest Color Me Pretty post on Decor8

This lovely collection of vintage buttons very much reminded me of my mum and her incredible collection of buttons in all shapes and sizes. Just a few weekends ago we had pulled out some clothing mum had made for my brothers and I when we were young. Each piece had a fabulous button, whether one sweet mother of pearl or a series of more novelty buttons. Mum admitted she had made a naval themed brunch coat for my brother around some whale buttons she had. It got me thinking of some of the other wonderful collections my mum has.

Then I cam across this spoon collection image in my Flickr favourites, which when I found a while back also reminded me of my mum. She has an amazing spoon collection in all shapes and sizes, material and ages. So now the penny has dropped that my mum has a heap of cool stuff that would make amazing photos!
So today I have headed out to Flickr and found a wonderful range of collection photos, all of which share something in common with one of my mums many collections.

Vintage spools via hindsvik

a matchbox collection via Camilla Engman

old and new tins via cousas pequenas

bric-a-brac via sweetjessie

 Last but not least is this beautifully organised fabric collection from Ingthings

Along with great buttons, mum has some beautiful fabric remnants. My favourites are the ones which went into making some of my dresses when I was little. My mum has wonderful displays of her collections all over her house, but I had never considered photographing them. I like the idea of this as a project because behind a lot of the pieces there is a story which would be nice to capture and keep alive.