Sunday, May 31, 2009

Girlfriends Book - my page 1

Katie started a book round robin thingy - and about 10 of us have joined.
This goes to Suki next - and was inspired by her search for a new home and also by some scrapbook paper that I had from Claudine Hellmuth. Suki has been looking for a new home for awhile and I decided to make the theme of my book - HOME. Have fun with it. The dimensions are 6 x 12 - and I'm going to leave it that way, no folding for this page. So all would just add a 6x12 piece next (if I have it right!).

Now I'm into house images!! Gotta work on the cover next. Suki - you should be getting this page soon.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Six Word Saturday

Pictures of Flowers after the Rain




We've had alot of rain over the past few days. Luckily I think that taking pictures of flowers after it rains is wonderful. Here are some from my garden.







it's one way to enjoy the rain.

Postcard Friday - SHIPS

It's Postcard Friendship Friday - see other participants here at Marie's blog

I love to find theme in the postcards that I have. This morning I found these ship postcards...I probably have more but too many to go thru at 5:00 am!! The first one is the ship "Teutonic" - a White Star Liner whose history reads: The SS Teutonic was a steamship built for the White Star Line in Belfast and was the first armed merchant cruiser. When Teutonic was launched on January 19, 1889, she was the first White Star ship not to have square rigged sails. The ship was completed on the July 25, 1889 and participated in the Spithead Naval Review on August 1, commemorating Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.

Imagine the feeling of NOT having square rigged sails on a ship for the first time. What progress!


The second ship is another White Star liner - the Oceanic.
RMS Oceanic was a transatlantic ocean liner, built for the White Star Line. She sailed on her maiden voyage in 1899 and until 1901, was the largest ship in the world. In 1912, the Oceanic was one of the rescue vessels that retrieved bodies from the sinking of the RMS Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean

At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, she was commissioned into Royal Navy service on 8 August 1914 as an armed merchant cruiser.

On 25 August 1914, the newly-designated HMS Oceanic departed Southampton to patrol the waters from the North Scottish mainland to the Faroes, in particular the area around Shetland, and ran aground and was wrecked off the island of Foula, Shetland on 8 September 1914. She was the first Allied passenger ship to be lost in the war.

And last - a simple postcard of a ship with a little "Bon Voyage" message - someone going from Bone to Marseilles perhaps. Sounds lovely - doesn't it?

First I had to look up the shipping company and found this information.

Société Générale de Transport Maritimes (S.G.T.M.)


Formed in 1865 principally to carry iron ore from Bone to Marseilles and Sete and in 1865 also opened services between Marseilles, Algiers and Oran. Passenger services to South America commenced in 1867. In 1907 a subsidiary Compagnie de Navigation France-Amerique was set up. A monthly service to the West Indies commenced in 1915 and was shortly afterwards extended to Gulf of Mexico ports and New Orleans. The company suffered considerable losses in World War I but rebuilt their fleet. They finally ceased passenger operations in 1964 mainly due to the rising popularity of air travel, but continued with cargo trade.

Routes:

* Marseilles - Genoa - Naples
* Marseilles - Dakar - Bahia - Rio de Janeiro - Santos - Montevideo - Buenos Aires.
* Marseilles - Algiers - Point a Pitre - Fort de France - Gulf ports.
* Marseilles - Oran.
* Marseilles - Algiers.
* Marseilles - Bougie.
* Marseilles - Bone - Philippeville.
* Marseilles - Sete - Oran - Mostaganem. (cargo only)


I didn't have a clue where Bone was so of course, I had to look it up - see the info below. Imagine - the home of St. Augustine!

Annaba

formerly Bône

Seaport (pop., 2004 est.: 410,700), northeastern Algeria. Identified with the port of ancient Hippo (or Hippo Regius), it was a rich city of Roman Africa. It was home to St. Augustine 396–430. Severely damaged by the Vandals in 431, it passed to the Byzantine Empire in 533 before being overrun by the Arabs in the 7th century and named Bona. It was occupied by the French in 1832 when they conquered Algeria. Modern Annaba is Algeria's chief exporter of minerals; it also serves as a trading port and port of call.

Now isn't this great? Because of PFF I now know about the first ship lost in the first world war; have thought about what it was like to build a ship without square rigged sails, and found out where there city of Bone was...and where a saint lived in the years 300 something.

I love research of this sort.....

Happy Postcard Friendship Friday everyone

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Animal Wednesday - Swans on the River



River Kayaking. About 10 swans and these babies.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Monday, May 25, 2009

A Country Drive


We were in NH yesterday for an antique fair that was over before we got there (rain) but I really didn't care. We drove around, hiked a bit, swatted mosquitos and had a relaxing time. Here are some images that I just had to share.

Someday I'm gonna get me one of these to drive around town with. Just love the antique cars.

We were driving down this road, and stopped to look at the view - and I took a million pictures it was so classic and gorgeous. Camera might have been on the wrong setting, but it was also warm, and hazy from the rain. But gorgeous, just beautiful.









A funny little shop in the middle of town - quite old.

A historic house, I have no idea why it was historic - there was no explanation. But I just love these wide fat classic NE houses, their proportions just make me feel good. This should go into the list of "strange signs that I have seen". This was an ad for a flea market in an old house. I thought this sign was very spooky.
A rock surface. Perhaps a geologist would disagree with me, but I love the thought of these scratches being caused by "The Glacier". I've always been fascinated by the thought of something moving across the world leaving these marked rocks behind.
My garden phlox - a lovely welcome home.
And many of these flying today.


Lovely day. More to come as we have the day off today. Beach day!!!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Six Word Saturday

Friends' Art - a joy to receive

I hope a hyphen doesn't count as a word. I'm been receiving such wonderful ATC's and artwork and want to show it all - or at least most.

A new Corkboard in my studio - I hope you can double click to see the wonderful things I have received. Not everything is on the board yet, but I have two more boards on the side. Always room for more artwork. Not everything is posted yet but will be.


A Cactus-Zentangle from Lynn. Isn't it great? I love the contrast of the green and blue, up lines and cross lines. This works so well.

A watch-duck from Cris. Look at the way he is sitting there, just watching and waiting to see if something happens (what DO ducks wait for?)

A cubism ATC from Soulbrush with three inchies. Firstly the colors in the cubism work so well together, and the inchies - are just adorable. But, I keep saying to myself - NO inchies for you. NOT another thing. No!! (but they are cute)

I got this fish on newspaper a few weeks ago from Laurel and framed it. Itsn't it wonderful?



Now some of my work in process - be interested in your opinions.

Started a new fish watercolor. This is just the basis - they need alot more texture and some context. With a hint from Lolo and DH, the fish in the back is slightly lighter....

This piece I had in B and W for a long time, and have recently started to color it. Again, more texture needed - colored pencils, pastels. We'll see how it works out.

This is a little segment from the picture above - I love those little fish.


When I started into this art journey I bought a whole bunch of those pre-made items from the Michaels store, mainly because I thought they were cute and I thought I'd never be able to draw them. Well, I haven't used them in years and finally gave 95% away the other day. But I kept a few and am using them as props for fun. Here, Miss Em is beginning to learn to play the cello - but she has forgotten her yellow shoes!

Have a happy Saturday!

Post script - just got these beauties from Teri - the frog ATC and two wonderful Moo cards...talented lady that Teri...

Friday, May 22, 2009

Postcard Friday - Maude Adams


This is a postcard that I have of Maude Adams - who I had to look up. No date on the postcard, no address - must have just been a souvenier. The rest of the text is from Wikipedia.

Maude Adams (November 11, 1872 – July 17, 1953) was an American stage actress, who achieved her greatest success as Peter Pan.[1][2]Adams' personality appealed to a large audience and helped her become the most successful[3][4][5] and highest-paid performer of her day, with a yearly income of more than one million dollars during her peak.[6]She was often referred to simply as "Maudie" by her fans.

Most of what is known of her ancestry traces through her maternal grandmother, Julia Ann (Banker) Adams. The Banker family came from Plattsburgh, a small town in upstate New York. Maude's great grandfather Platt Banker converted to Mormonism, and it is said that the family migrated to Missouri with the Joseph Smith party. Whether this is true or not, the family did migrate to Missouri, where Julia married Barnabus Adams (a slightly distant cousin of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams). The family migrated to Utah, settling in Salt Lake City where Maude's mother Asaneth Ann "Annie" Adams was born.

The true extent of Maude Adams' Mormonism remains somewhat of a mystery. It was little spoken of in her lifetime, and Adams was known to take long sabbaticals in Catholic rectories. Upon her death she made a gift of one of her homes to one of these places. Because of this, and because her father was not a Mormon, it can be speculated that Maude was not a devout Mormon and perhaps not even a practicing one

Maude Adams was also a descendant of Mayflower passenger John Howland, and was the sixth cousin five times removed of President John Adams.

I love to read about the history of these old postcards...and wonder about the lives of the people who were so beautifully photographed.

Have a Happy Postcard Friendship Friday.

did you ever have a night where you simply can't sleep?

hot milk. snacks. good book. boring book.

Nothing. 15 minutes at a stretch at the most.

I'll be good for nothing by time to go to work.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Eyes


I needed glasses as a kid but no one picked up on this - not parents...or teachers. Until I was 10 I walked around in a fog and in my own little world. I never knew that there were leaves on the trees - they were just a big green blob to me. You should have seen me squint when they picked me (last) for the baseball team - I couldn't see the ball until it was about to hit me. Imagine my surprise when I got glasses at about 10 years old....wow to the whole world. ( As I am writing this I suddenly realize why I was such a scared kid...not being able to see what was going on was fairly terrifying - I'm amazed I made it out the door every day.. KJ - move over - you've got another brave kid going out into the world every day)
Back to the eye story...
I wore glasses in varying fashions about 10 years ago. Then I got the magic of lasik in one eye, and used the other one for reading. They call it mono-vision. Free from glasses for the first time - LOVED IT! But then a few years ago I started needing reading glasses...so I have dozens in all colors (from the cheap store). Red ones, green ones, sparkly ones, serious one. But recently it was clear that I needed prescription ones so I went to the eye doctor yesterday and prepared to spend a small fortune on glasses that would let me see far with that reading eye and read with both eyes. I figured that I'd need sunglasses also, so you could be talking BIG bucks for two sets of glasses. I was going to bring an old pair with me so that I could reuse the frames - but knew that a dear friend would crack me over the head if she saw me in my grannie glasses again. So mentally I prepared myself for over $500.00 in glasses.

Imagine my surprise when the optomotrist told me that my long vision had corrected to 20/20 in the "reading" eye; gave me a contact lens for reading; charged me $15.00 and said "see ya - let me know how it works out".

I have to get used to the lens, and some differences in seeing but I'm just amazed. I went to a store and got charged LESS than I thought I would.

Imagine that.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Animal Wednesday and ATC's

A group of us are trading ATC's with the indomitable Teri at the organizational helm. I'm still not 100% sure that I am doing this right but I think I get it. Eventually I will! So here are the first three that I've finished...are you surprised I chose fish as a theme? And let me tell you , it ain't easy finding a fish that starts with "X". But I did it...he's not completed yet but will be.





Happy Animal Wednesday everyone

(I am working on Mr. Linky but feel that I may need a PhD in quantum physics before I can understand how to put that stuff on my blog!. Copy the template??? What the ....!!!)

Teri suggested that we have a site where we could post our ABC's - so I started one and all members of the ABC ATC's can post there. Go and take a look!!!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Six Word Saturday

Art should be give away freely


I do like to give stuff away, I have yet to even try to sell anything - probably based on my own fears that no one would buy anything. But I also feel that since I work at a profession not related to art, and have a good job, why stress out about trying to sell something I do as a hobby. The thought of negotiating pricing, and what something is "worth" - oy....the whole idea gives me the shivers. I live with a professional artist, who has sold his art for years - and he has keen ideas about how you value artwork.
Anyway - this is a philosophy for me...and me only. I support artists who have the courage to follow their heart and make it on their artwork - and I feel they are SO brave to do so.

So what is the point of this diatribe you ask? Well, I wanted a six word Saturday that linked to my give away from a few days ago!

So...with many little pieces of paper; and a hat full of names....and closed eyes....and anticipation...the winner (and champion) of the Miss Em original artwork is...



(clapping, cheering, hoorays)

Send me your address KJ - and our dancing miss em will be in the post as soon as possible (or as soon as I can get my act together to wrap it up, address her, and leave her for DH to mail)

Hope you enjoy her!!!


Wednesday, May 13, 2009

ATC's for Trade

Just let me know if you want one - I'll send you what I did with that person in mind...which might not be shown here. Trust me???
Open to NON-ATC traders also - I'm sure we'll work something out....

New Glasses

Bathing suit time - oh dearFeeding the birds
Looking up

Dance Lessons
Dog Walking
Bringing Flowers

Lost in a Book

Thinking