Happy Halloween!

This is one way to travel

Love her pink dress. Ooh so scary!

What a dance partner...

Just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a Happy Halloween! Hope you have a wonderful day full of tricks and treats! Myself - a few snickers and some of those wonderful popcorn balls I only have this time of year will suit me just fine.

Four Letter Words - Eeek!

A Garden Party

I was enchanted by the yellow and purple color theme in the children's garden. At any moment I was expecting Alice or the Rabbit to come running by. I wanted to sit and read a book all afternoon here.

Along one of the many paths this water feature purred along. It reminded me of a piece of candy.

A garden is not complete without a water feature. This is a water feature. I love the copper dragon. The pond is full of things to delight. The water lilies were in bloom and were stunning. [I will share one of those with you this week.]

Speaking of things in the water. My goodness these had to be seen to be believed. They were huge. Most were over a foot long. All different colors, White, Orange, Scarlett, Scarlett and Black, Yellow, and every conceivable combination. We went to feed them and they gathered like we were handing out gold. My friend told me that many were donated or found refuge here when they out grew the home pond.

The children' s garden is complete with this playhouse. I love the purple pots with the yellow. I am going to try this color combination in my next home. It was so elegant.

I had to include these large mushrooms. Alice where are you?

Friday night my friend Miranda invited me to be her guest at the Fish Fry for the Volunteers at the Arboretum. I was so honored. She is a Master Gardener and volunteers there regularly[among all the other things she does]. During a difficult relationship I had found refuge there several years ago. Boy, had those volunteers been busy reworking the beds, adding hard structures, painting since then. It was beautiful. What a wonderful gift they have given our city.

I hope you will enjoy some of my pictures. The fresh fish dinner was delicious. They had a blue grass band serenade us, the weather was perfect. A wonderful way to honor the volunteers and enjoy the last blooms of fall. Several of my pictures were taken just at that moment when the day becomes night. Enjoy!

On the Homefront - Digital Collage

On the Homefront

Thought I would take a moment and share with all of you what has been going on with me. A small explanation of my lack of presence here on my blog lately. After coming home from the rehabilitation facility for my hip, days and weeks of ongoing physical therapy life began to return to normal... or so I thought.

Before breaking my hip I had put my "too large for me" house on the market. Figuring with the way the real estate market is it would be a while till it sold. After breaking my hip I honestly did not give it too much thought. As the showings mounted up I would just explain that "I broke my hip, I am recovering, excuse the mess." Life went on.

Low and behold I got an offer, a good offer, and the contracts were signed. The biggest catch was you are to be out in less than 30 days, yes that is thirty days. Panic, relief, sadness, and joy hitting all in a matter of seconds. So dear friends I am leaving behind my lovely house and starting a new journey.

This new journey should be quite exciting. However to take the first steps I am packing, sorting, donating, throwing out and generally in "get out of here mode." I have finally made it through the five large boxes of mail from when I broke my hip and will be posting soon about that. You have made me laugh and cry with your generosity.

The next week or so will be busy and pretty sleepless I am sure. I am putting all but a few things in storage. I do not have a new home lined up so will be relying on the generosity of friends and family for a while till I figure out where I will settle. I have my computer, printer, camera, and a few art supplies ready to take with me. Wish me luck....and I will be posting more often, sharing this journey.

Forgotten Beauties - Freebies

Isn't she just lovely? Peeking out behind the corner? I love these actress cards.

She looks so coquettish in her hat and dress. I love the natural look she has. So unforced.

This stunner reminds me of my grandmother. She had the same eyes and hair. She took great pride in the way she looked. Never leaving home without full lipstick and jewelery.

What is the fun in being an actress if you can't dress up a little in a few kooky outfits? Wear something spectacular on your head?

A little french beauty. She looks so young to me.

Thought I would end where I started with Pauline Chase. She was able to portray so many moods.


This week I am back in full force. It has been busy and strange around here - I will leave all of that for another post. Every time I turn on the television there is some cool creepy movie on. I guess being October and all this is the perfect time to show them. I have enjoyed the older scary flicks, the women with there exaggerated makeup and screams.

I thought I would post some of these actress collector cards. The movie studios and the playhouses would pass them out to generate interest. Sort of like baseball cards but for actresses. How cool is that?

Sitting and Thinking....

Today as I sat down to do a little journaling I began to think about how important these little books we carry around with us are. I have several journals. An art journal, an idea journal, a to do journal, a recipe journal, etc... You get the idea. Lately I have been working on a journal with daily thoughts, ideas, recipes, and tips for little things. This journal evolved during my rehab visit and then the first few weeks home. Unable to get to my art supplies upstairs, this journal was more of a glue book.

As I finished it up this morning I thought about what changes this journal and I had seen and would I continue to create like this or go back to my arty, painting style. I decided that there is room in my life for both. Most important is to journal. I thought I would share a page or two from so other peoples journal's with you today. I hope they inspire you to journal.

Emily Bronte - The Night the Storms has Past. Can't you see her sitting at a table writing down her thoughts, fears, an impressions of that night. Just like we sit and write our impressions and thoughts of what is going on with us in our journals. Not so different is it?

This is from what they call the Drake Manuscripts. An explorer's impressions written in his journal of a land and people he could hardly imagine. I love how in one quick journal page he has given us an image that portrays the people, how they live, the flora and fauna, this is a great journal page!

Mark Twain has written this little ditty in his journal for a book he is helping to write. I love Mr Clemen's work. My grandmother would have me read Mark Twain's work to her when she was ironing. Our favorites were The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The White Elephant.

John Ruskin jotted in his journal some detail work for a project he was working on. Does this not sound familiar fellow artists?

Mr. Poe working on his poem/story - Tamerlane. Working through his thoughts, the kinks, to come up with a masterpiece.

Last, but definitely not least Calder's notes on one of his amazing mobile sculptures. I love how he has used crayons to color his notes as the sculpture is also in these colors.

Digital Collage - The Gatherer

the gatherer

Thought we would start out the week with a little digital collage. I am starting to feel the spirit of the season. Hope everyone had a beautiful Fall weekend. [hat by Paper Whimsy]

Several people had asked me about the background of this piece. I painted the background, scanned into my computer, then played with it in Photo Shop adding several other layers till I liked it.

Some Halloween Freebies....

I realized this morning we are already a week into October and I had not shared any Halloween images. My bad. As those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know this is one of my favorite holidays. It is not the idea of witches, but the dressing up and getting candy that I have always loved. The whole concept of dressing up and being someone you are totally not. My boys were so enthusiastic about the costumes and gathering of treats it became very contagious. We went all out decorating the house and throwing parties. Our family has three birthdays all in the week of Halloween. Lots of little ghosties at my house. Here are a few images to get the spirit started. Enjoy!

I love this little girl with the owl on her shoulder doing magic tricks.

What is Halloween without a few witches and a broom or two? I like the white cat instead of a black cat, very different.

The imps and pumpkin's faces really make this. Halloween is a time to be a little mischievous.

Too funny! The cat's collar just cracks me up. I want to know what cat would wear that for more than 2 seconds?

Mr Moon is so beautiful in this card. Hope you enjoy these and can use them in your art work!

Four Letter Words - Fall

Weekends an Anniversaries.....

This past weekend Fall finally arrived. It was the cool blue air, the smell of falling leaves in the air, people walking around with shoes on instead of flip flops. I have noticed more people out riding motorcycles, bicycles, and walking. Everyone enjoying the relief from the rain and heat. I feel so energized. Doesn't the cooler weather make you feel refreshed?

Last Sunday was my parents sixty seven year anniversary. Can you believe that? I am so blessed to have such wonderful parents. They married as World War Two was breaking out. My father went off to war leaving my Mother home to lead the war effort. Once home they worked together to make a wonderful life for my brother, sister, and I. They have been wonderful role models for my children and me. Congratulations Mom and Dad!

I mention all of this because I spent a lot of this past weekend and most of this week in full retrospect of time, life, and family and friends. I guess injuries and accidents will do that to you. I have had more time than usual to think and plan. So, I hope in the next week you will check in and see some of the things I have planned. Sorry for the teaser, but they can be fun. I hope everyone has a beautiful weekend. Most of all I hope you are all enjoying sunny skies and wonderful moments with friends and family!

Rain Drops Kept Falling....

Monday we ended up with almost 11 inches of rain. Tuesday we had 3 to 4 inches of rain. On Wednesday as of 6:00p.m. we had over 4 inches of rain. Thursday started with - yes - more rain and some added wind and wind gusts. Yesterday we had broken all records - 22 to 24 inches of rain depending on where you were in the county.

I went out for a bit Wednesday and Thursday night. We will just say there was a lot of water on the ground and a lot of frogs . I mean frogs every where, on buildings, in the grass, hopping across the roads. It is like something out of a science fiction movie. Big ones - little ones - green ones.

The good news is the moderate drought we were in is now over. The good news is I like rain. The rain cleans the air and cools down the earth. I always feel so good after a good rain. [ A bit of an understatement today.] Today the air smells sweet and cool. The sun is shining and all is well. The weather inspired me to go through my images and look for umbrellas and parasols. I am hoping we won't be needing them for awhile. I thought I would share them with you!

A class picture?

Sisters and Friends!

Some lovely Geisha's.

The Roosevelt girls.

Girl's Day out at the beach.