TMTA - "Men with Beards or Moustaches"

TMTA's theme this week is an interesting one. The team over there pointed out that, at times, it is difficult to incorporate males into ATCs. They proposed the theme of using men with beards and/or moustaches in our ATCs this week. I used a photocopy of an old cabinet card photo of my great grandfather, when he was a young man. I wonder what he would think if he saw this . . . would he feel amused--confused--abused? He was a wonderful grandpa--I clearly remember him, although he died when I was still in elementary school. (Gosh, that was a long time ago! How time passes . . . ) He was in his late 80s, had a full head of hair, and the hair on top of his head was still black! He was a very, very sweet man, and he used to go and get his wallet and give me and my sisters each a dollar every time we visited him and my great-grandma. The last time I saw him alive was bittersweet. It was a few years after my great-grandmother had passed away; he was very ill and in bed, but when my parents took us to visit him, he asked my uncle to go and get his wallet so he could give each of us girls a dollar. I will never forget that--it still brings tears to my eyes.

GOTHIC ARCHES-"Inspired by the Rainbow"

This past Sunday's Gothic Arches challenge was to create an arch using 2 colors from the rainbow, along with 2 stamps and a word of inspiration. The "Iris" stamp I used is a PSX stamp that I bought in 2001, and the second stamp is a clear flourish stamp--I no longer have the packaging and don't know what brand. I used watercolor pencils in green and violet-red, and a clear Versamark pen to color the flower. I added the word, "Bloom" from a sticker set I've had for a long time. Again, I don't know the brand of the stickers--I'm not much help, am I? Well, back to working on art for me today; I'm late for TMTA Monday, and so I'm going to get busy!

Sunday Funnies

I found this little gem on YouTube. I thought it was cute, rare and unique, and something I'd never come across before. Enjoy!

Out Gardening!

The weather has been just too gorgeous to stay inside the past couple of days--I'm planting color spots and doing yardwork today! The grass is green, the trees are leafing out, and my rosebushes have buds on them. Welcome, SPRING!

Another Fun Giveaway!

Wow, Blogland is ablaze with wonderful giveaways this month! Hop on over and visit Retro Café Art Gallery--a wonderful, magical place with a very generous giveaway!

Ooh, Another Lovely Giveaway!

Prim4Him Needful Things is having a giveaway--so sweet--and this blog is just so much fun to visit, and so full of fantastic art creations, many of them for sale! I'm so glad I found another fantastic blog!

TMTA - "Moulin Rouge"

TMTA's theme for ATCs this week is, "Moulin Rouge"~~ this means red windmill in French, and, as most people know, is the name of a very famous cabaret in the Paris red-light district. The Moulin Rouge, built in 1889, is where the "modern" version of the can- can dance was born, and many, many performers have entertained there over the years.

Sunday's Gothic Arch-"Spring"

Here's my little entry for the Gothic Arches weekly challenge of "Vernal Equinox" or "Spring" -- the photo isn't great, but you can click on it to take a closer look. The text is from a very old, very beat-up children's story book that was given to me for my 16th birthday. My girlfriends all knew that I loved antiques (yes, even back then I was crazy about antiques!) and threw me a birthday party, complete with gifts that all of them had found in antique shops. It was a lovely gesture on their part, and I will never forget that birthday! Unfortunately, the book was very old when I received it all those years ago, and now its pages are crumbling, so I thought I could preserve some of what's left by adding it to my art.

Today, I'm trying to catch up with all of the wonderful challenges from the past few days, but so far, this is all I have created. I had planned to work on art all day yesterday, but fate has a way of interfering with the best laid plans. I spent a good deal of Sunday in the ER with my husband; poor guy, he woke up with a horrible pain on the right side of his back and was really feeling awful. Things got progressively worse, with the pain intensifying and making him violently sick to his stomach--something that just never happens to him--and so, long story short, I took him to the hospital, where they hooked him up to an IV to get the pain and the nausea under control, and then they ran a bunch of tests. Turned out that his right kidney was full of kidney stones, and that is what was causing the problem. Thank goodness everything else checked out fine--I was really concerned because, in 16 years, I had never seen him like that, and I felt so helpless. I wish I'd had the power to take his pain away, he was suffering so, but, again, thankfully, he is okay, and feeling a little better today. It was a bit of a scare for both of us, but today, things are looking a lot rosier!

Sunday Funnies - William Powell & Myrna Loy

This little clip is from a 1940 movie, "I Love You Again"--about halfway through the clip, right after Myrna Loy starts to dance, it looks like William Powell is about to crack up. I just love these old films from long ago! Happy Sunday!

Another Blogaversary Giveaway!

Jean over at Bluebirds Living in the Meadow, is having her first blogaversary giveaway! It's an incredibly generous giveaway--look at all the goodies in the photo! I discovered Jean's blog last year, and I just love her artwork. Check out some of her posts--they're always interesting and fun, and her art is gorgeous! Congrats, Jean, on blogging for a year--it's so much fun, isn't it?

"Folks, We Have a WINNER!"

On Friday, March 13th, I had my first giveaway to celebrate my one-year "Blogoversary" and today, I used a random generator to pick the winner. Twenty-eight lovely bloggers entered, with a few being entered twice, on my part, for posting my giveaway on their blogs. So, without further ado, the winner is (drumroll, please):

Renee, of Circling My Head!

Congratulations, Renee!

Theme Thursday - "Orange"

Using the color orange in your art is this week's Theme Thursday challenge. I chose to make a 3x5 skinny; I painted the background on watercolor paper and then used an image that sweet Dawn of The Feathered Nest shared in one of her posts. I added part of a fairy poem quoted from W.B. Yeats, and used a couple of stamps, and added some Stickles glitter, and a few brads. I need to take a class in doing backgrounds--I have the worst time with that!

A New ATC Challenge!

I received a very nice comment on a recent blog post from Anne Lise of Scrappelise, inviting me to "come over and play with us" at Art Pieces, a fun ATC challenge blog in Norway! Their theme this week is "Asia" and so I sort of mixed it up with an image of a Japanese geisha, an Asian fan, a symbol stamp that says, "Love" in Chinese writing, and a few embellishments. Thank you, Anne Lise--this was fun, and I will be back to join more challenges!

My Irish Eyes Are Smiling!!!! (Giveaway News!)

Thought I'd let everyone know that the very talented Stacey of Primarily Primitives is having a wonderful giveaway--hop on over to her sweet blog site to enter, and to see all of her wonderful images and creations! Stacey generously posts and shares some wonderful free images and vintage photos for people to use in their artwork, one of which I'm using in this post--I thought this was so cute, and just perfect for today!

ST. PATRICK'S DAY

My mother's people were of Irish ancestry; her great grandmother, for one, came over to America from Ireland when she was a young woman. When my mother was growing up, everyone called her great-grandma "Manaw"--her name was Mary Ann Kavanaugh, and she was the governess to my great-great-grandfather's children. His wife became ill and passed away, and he later married Mary Ann, who bore him more children and thus became my great, great grandmother. I've tried to find out more information about her but haven't had much luck. Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

GOTHIC ARCHES - "Mother & Child"

This week's Gothic Arches Challenge theme is "Mother and Child"--I've never done a gothic arch before, and this was lots of fun. I printed the arch template onto some cardstock, covered that with patterned paper, and added an image I got from Outsider Artists. I hand-colored the image with chalks and added wings to the mother and the little girl. I then applied paper lace to the edges of the arch, added some embellishments and a little stamping, words, and there you have it! Oh, and I added a bit of definition to the edges with an ink pad after I took the picture--almost forgot that!

Sunday Funnies-"Be Optimistic"-Shirley Temple

Here's a little clip of Shirley singing "Be Optimistic" from the 1938 movie, Little Miss Broadway.

I LOVED Shirley Temple when I was a kid--I remember being so excited when I received a Shirley Temple doll for my birthday one year, and I had record albums of her songs from the movies--I knew (and still do!) all of the lyrics to the songs. I was especially fond of this one because of its message, and sometimes I'd dance all over the house, singing it when I was young. Goofy, I know, but what sweet memories!

TGIF on Saturday!

A day late and a dollar short--is that how the saying goes? Well, here I am a day late for TGIF--yesterday's challenge was "Exotic Birds" and I made this little ATC.

My First Blogoversary and a Giveaway!

It's Friday the 13th, the 13th being a lucky day for me, as I was born on the 13th during the month of April. . . and also, today is the one-year anniversary of my first blog post! To celebrate, I am giving away a little Easter trinket I made; I started with a little egg-shaped, papier mâché box, similar to the one in the first photo, below. I dressed it up with paint, scrapbook paper, lace, paper flowers, a little Colorbox ink, and an image I had in my Easter folder. Voilà! There's a little surprise inside, too!

I'll keep the giveaway open until next Friday, the 20th of March, and then I'll draw a name. If you want to spread the word by posting my giveaway on your own blog, then I'll enter your name twice! (Just let me know if you posted it.) I have met so many wonderful, wonderful people through blogging, and am so very grateful for the friends I've made and the opportunity to converse with people all over the world. I love it!!! Happy Friday, everyone, and have a terrific weekend!

PS--Sorry for the quality of the photos--the lighting in my house is awful, and I can't seem to get rid of the shadows, whether I use the flash or not! Clicking on the photos will give you a better view.

Sweet Awards

I wanted to acknowledge the 2 sweet people who passed this award along to me--I was honored to be given the Kreativ Blogger Award by Debra of "It's All Good" and Carol Anne of "Carol Anne's Boutique"--they have wonderful blogs, by the way, and I'd love it if you'd visit them when you get the chance--it was a nice surprise and very kind of both of them to send this my way! The rules of the award are to list 7 things you love and then to pass the award along to 7 other bloggers. I have so many favorite blog sites that I visit, and as it's so very hard to choose only 7, and I have noticed that many of my favorite bloggers already have the award, I will list some of the things I love, and leave the award emblem on my blog sidebar, and "wear" it proudly. Thank you, Debra and Carol Anne, so very much, for thinking of me!

7 THINGS I LOVE:

I love my husband, my children, and my grandchildren.
I love my faith.
I love nature--the sun, wind, rain, wildlife, flowers, trees, grass, life.
I love books; I've loved books and reading since I was tiny.
I love hot, black tea with cream and sugar.
I love good movies, especially classic black & white films.
I love my little dog, Baxter. (He's a Maltese/Yorkie mix and is only 5 lbs.!)


I also received this award from Lydia of "Beauty Will Surely Save the World" and she wrote the loveliest things about me on her blog. Lydia is wonderful, and her blog is always full of interesting and unique posts. Thank you, Lydia, you are so kind, and I appreciate your friendship more than you know.

ATC Wednesday - "Key"

ATC Wednesday's challenge this week is to make an ATC with a key theme. I actually got a challenge done ON the day it was issued--woo hoo! Hop on over there to see all the cute cards!

TMTA- "Lyrics"

Monday's TMTA Challenge names "Lyrics-Illustrate your favorite line from a song, book, or poem" as the theme for this week.

Emily Dickinson is one of my favorite American poets, and this line, "Saying nothing . . . sometimes says the most" is from one of her journals. I'd also like to thank the Outsider Artists group for the lovely image. They generously offer free vintage images to use in your artwork! Check out their webpage to see some unique art from some very talented ladies!

Sunday Funnies - "So You Think YOU Have Problems?"

Here's a short clip of Billie Burke (remember her in the Wizard of Oz?) in the movie, Dinner at Eight. Her father was a singing clown in the circus, and she toured with him as a child. She started acting on the London stage when she was a young woman, and ultimately moved to the U.S., where she was an immensely popular stage actress on Broadway. She married Florenz Zigfeld, Jr., and moved to Hollywood, where she became an Oscar-nominated actress. You can read more about her here.

Wednesday Stamper & Theme Thursday

I am always playing "catch up" with these weekly challenges--fortunately, most of them will give you a week to post your creations. Without that, I'd probably never post any art! I admire the people who get their challenge art created on the day the challenge is issued; I wish I could be that organized and energetic! Alas, everything else gets in the way, and I'm always a little (and sometimes A LOT!) behind. At any rate, here is a skinny for the Wednesday Stamper theme of "create a skinny" and since I'd already done this, when I looked at the Theme Thursday challenge of "eggs, nests, or birds" I thought, "Well I can kill 2 birds with one stone,"(terrible pun, I know!) and post this little creation for both! Happy Friday, everyone!

TMTA - "Audrey Hepburn"

Here's my little ATC for TMTA this week. I was delighted to discover that the subject is Audrey Hepburn, who has always been one of my favorite actresses. This is a picture of Audrey, taken when she was 10 years old.

Sunday Funnies - George Carlin

Since the Academy Awards Show left him out of their memorial tribute last Sunday night,(amongst others they forgot), I thought I'd devote this Sunday's post to George Carlin. This little video sums his life up in a nutshell, and I love what he says at the end of it. George was often controversial, but he never was afraid to speak his mind and to stand up for what he believed in. I may not have agreed with everything he said, but he was an intelligent man and a great comedian, and I will miss him. I hope he's making people laugh up in heaven now . . . have a great Sunday, everyone!