went on post overload a tad, eh?
that got me inspired to change my title bar - digitally created by moi . I'm really happy with it for now, hope you like it as much as I do.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
last of our Christmas house
I set goals for myself before I reached certain *ahem* ages (which I will not divulge at this time) and one of them was to learn how to do tatting. This snowflake ornament is one of the needle tatting ornaments I made from a vintage magazine pattern. I always wish I'd made more that I'd actually kept. Maybe next year I'll make more! I still haven't found some sweet old(er) lady who can teach me how to do the tatting with the shuttle, the old fashioned way.
Years ago when my living room was a mauve color, I made this wreath from vintage ornaments to coordinate with it. It hangs in my dining room now. I have countless additional vintage ornaments to make more, but I haven't figured out how I can possibly package them to be mailed that they won't get broken.
My white kitty ornament was made by mother some time in the 70's when felt was really big. For as long as I can remember, this ornament has been on the tree. I hang it low since it's one of the few that my real cats can't break or eat the feathers off of.
The star of my real feather ornaments is this beauty with the huge tail. It's more than a foot across and thankfully there is always a spot bare enough on the tree to display the whole thing in all of it's glory.
Another smaller peacock ornament that is glass with a real feather tail.
My favorite of the traditional holiday pictures. Every year I take a picture of both kids in front of the Christmas tree. It's hard for me to believe that when I first started taking them, there was no such thing as digital pictures (at least that people could afford to personally own!). Travis just turned 15 the day after Christmas and Emily is 13... I really and truly can't believe they are that old.
Years ago when my living room was a mauve color, I made this wreath from vintage ornaments to coordinate with it. It hangs in my dining room now. I have countless additional vintage ornaments to make more, but I haven't figured out how I can possibly package them to be mailed that they won't get broken.
My white kitty ornament was made by mother some time in the 70's when felt was really big. For as long as I can remember, this ornament has been on the tree. I hang it low since it's one of the few that my real cats can't break or eat the feathers off of.
The star of my real feather ornaments is this beauty with the huge tail. It's more than a foot across and thankfully there is always a spot bare enough on the tree to display the whole thing in all of it's glory.
Another smaller peacock ornament that is glass with a real feather tail.
My favorite of the traditional holiday pictures. Every year I take a picture of both kids in front of the Christmas tree. It's hard for me to believe that when I first started taking them, there was no such thing as digital pictures (at least that people could afford to personally own!). Travis just turned 15 the day after Christmas and Emily is 13... I really and truly can't believe they are that old.
Christmas at our house...cont'd
Oh Christmas Tree
Having 10 ft ceilings enables us to have a huge tree. This year, as tradition, we went and cut our own. There were a few stressful/exciting moments when the chain fell off the chain saw, but all went well and we got it home just fine. You can actually see the newly finished ceiling now complete with recessed lighting and a fabulous fan. I love how the one recessed light shines down on it like the bright star in the east.
Last year I bought a new angel tree topper (we always have an angel). What you can't tell is that it's about 15" high!
The very front part of the tree is my "domain" and I do all the decorating of the room facing section. The section to the left in this photo Travis decorates. Emily does the side to the right. This way both children are happy that there ornaments can be seen from a window. Poor Emily's didn't get at much viewing because the heat run is over there and many days I closed the curtain to help keep the heat in.
A vintage wooden ironing board was transformed into this many year ago when I was doing a lot of decorative painting.
My bird ornaments
I started collecting bird ornaments with real feathers a long time ago. Here's a few.
The floating feather ornaments were the first ones I did after I got divorced. There is a feather inside with some glitter and a bit of faux snow, glitter, and beads glued to the top. I still love them just as much five years later.
Another fat bird with feathers.
Having 10 ft ceilings enables us to have a huge tree. This year, as tradition, we went and cut our own. There were a few stressful/exciting moments when the chain fell off the chain saw, but all went well and we got it home just fine. You can actually see the newly finished ceiling now complete with recessed lighting and a fabulous fan. I love how the one recessed light shines down on it like the bright star in the east.
Last year I bought a new angel tree topper (we always have an angel). What you can't tell is that it's about 15" high!
The very front part of the tree is my "domain" and I do all the decorating of the room facing section. The section to the left in this photo Travis decorates. Emily does the side to the right. This way both children are happy that there ornaments can be seen from a window. Poor Emily's didn't get at much viewing because the heat run is over there and many days I closed the curtain to help keep the heat in.
A vintage wooden ironing board was transformed into this many year ago when I was doing a lot of decorative painting. 
My bird ornamentsI started collecting bird ornaments with real feathers a long time ago. Here's a few.
The floating feather ornaments were the first ones I did after I got divorced. There is a feather inside with some glitter and a bit of faux snow, glitter, and beads glued to the top. I still love them just as much five years later.
Another fat bird with feathers.
Christmas at our house
Originally inspired by Tracey at Notes from a Cottage Industry to participate in her holiday decorations home tour, I took a bunch of pictures trying a myriad of settings on my new digital camera. I hadn't had time to online optimize the pictures until now, so...better late than never I suppose !
I'm going to divvy these up into a few posts so I can keep the pictures the way I want without too much fussing with the html (no, Patience is not my middle name!)
The (faux) Fireplace
The faux fireplace used to be Gram's (aka Big Emily who my daughter is named after). I did spent some time re-doing the finishes to coordinate with my home decor and hopefully Gram would have liked it. This is just one of my few prized items that belonged to her.
The nativity scene in the "fire" section was Gram's as well. It's very old and some type of plaster/chalk combination and some pieces are chippy or missing an ear here or there. She used to always display it in this way, but with some hay. Having three cats makes that impossible.
I'm going to divvy these up into a few posts so I can keep the pictures the way I want without too much fussing with the html (no, Patience is not my middle name!)
The (faux) Fireplace
The faux fireplace used to be Gram's (aka Big Emily who my daughter is named after). I did spent some time re-doing the finishes to coordinate with my home decor and hopefully Gram would have liked it. This is just one of my few prized items that belonged to her.
The nativity scene in the "fire" section was Gram's as well. It's very old and some type of plaster/chalk combination and some pieces are chippy or missing an ear here or there. She used to always display it in this way, but with some hay. Having three cats makes that impossible.
The Twelve Days of Christmas scherenschnitt that my mother did. Every year I say I want to re-frame it more nicely with a matt, but inevitably it gets put away with the decorations as I recieved it. The lovely baby feather tree next to it was a gift from one of my secret sister swaps.
My new feather tree ! oooh, I love it so much! Usually, every year we have two trees, one in the living room and one in the dining room. The "dining room" tree didn't happen this year in the midst of remodeling four rooms (there is no room in there!) and we decorate it as the partridge in the pear tree. This year my lovely new feather tree got the partridge and pear ornaments treatment. Next to it is the Christ the King planter, again from Gram ... she might not be with us physically anymore, but she is everywhere.
Abby's Journal - Birth of the Blues/Jazz
A former co-worker took these photos at some Jazz event that the name of escapes me. The trumpet player on the left hand side was transferred on first, the paint added, and then the main image. The right hand side is a close up of the hands/guitar that was transferred on and then paint added. I did a little Google research to find just the right lyrics to go with it.
This is the last journal for me to work on and mine should be returning home to me shortly!
This is the last journal for me to work on and mine should be returning home to me shortly!
Frieda's Passion Journal pages
Frieda's book is all about Passion and the colors red and gold. I literally had to dig for red paint,etc. (much like with Debby's pink and orange journal) since the color red and I have never been friends....seriously... I always think my worst nightmare would be to get on Trading Spacing and have Hildy as the designer who purposely picks red to paint my room since I said that was the only color I didn't want. But I digress....
Frieda loves vintage nudes, and this photo just spoke to me. I snuck a little blue into the second page the sand is just the right amount of texture and sparkle - not so garish first-grader-with-glitter as it scanned.
Frieda loves vintage nudes, and this photo just spoke to me. I snuck a little blue into the second page the sand is just the right amount of texture and sparkle - not so garish first-grader-with-glitter as it scanned.
Theresa's Manuscript Journal- Pig Latin
In one of my "secret sister" swaps, I recieved an old book that had pages I thought would be perfect for Theresa's journal. This was a switch from the Alphabetica type of pages I'd initally planned. The pages flow together perfectly, but I can't post them side by side.... I believe the text is Latin, but I've really no idea... hence the pig and the title of these pages "Pig Latin".
Playing Catch Up
Dear poor neglected Blog,
I am going to attempt to catch you up. I apologize that I am much better at reading (too many) blogs and not updating you properly.
Firstly, the journal pages I haven't managed to upload yet.... each one in it's own post : )
I am going to attempt to catch you up. I apologize that I am much better at reading (too many) blogs and not updating you properly.
Firstly, the journal pages I haven't managed to upload yet.... each one in it's own post : )
Saturday, September 15, 2007
My new fountain
I got this peeing boy fountain for my birthday and I love it so much ! Two months later, the base of it is getting some moss on it which is quite lovely and gives it an older look than these pictures I took when he was new.
I call him Cesar after Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer. I don't even have a dog - but, I do watch the show whenever possible. I think he is one of the most fascinating people I've never met (but would like to!).
He caused quite a stir when I first put him up. People often walk by my house and stop and stare and tell their kids "look at that !". One day a lady told me 'your yard is so nice...and I love that statue!' then, added hesitantly ' I took a picture of your statue with my cell phone!' I think she was worried I would be mad. I thought it was great ! There aren't a lot of photo-ops in Clifton Springs and apparently my house is getting a little famous now which cracks me up.
I call him Cesar after Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer. I don't even have a dog - but, I do watch the show whenever possible. I think he is one of the most fascinating people I've never met (but would like to!).
He caused quite a stir when I first put him up. People often walk by my house and stop and stare and tell their kids "look at that !". One day a lady told me 'your yard is so nice...and I love that statue!' then, added hesitantly ' I took a picture of your statue with my cell phone!' I think she was worried I would be mad. I thought it was great ! There aren't a lot of photo-ops in Clifton Springs and apparently my house is getting a little famous now which cracks me up.
Lucinda's Journal
Lucinda's journal theme is A Midsummer Night's Dream. I had a few (personal) issues with doing this journal which would explain the text...not getting into it here ! it is a quote from the book. Lucinda kindly included a "no fear" version of the play with her journal which made reading through it much easier.
Her journal is very large, so I took photos of the spreads outside. That would explain why the pages look slightly wonky rather than flat.
Both of the 'people' images are transferred onto her journal. In person, you can tell much better that the one one the left has a donkey-headed man that I spent quite a while photoshopping onto the vintage picture. The best part about the transfers is that it really melts the image into the paper and doesn't look pasted onto the page.
Her journal is very large, so I took photos of the spreads outside. That would explain why the pages look slightly wonky rather than flat.
Both of the 'people' images are transferred onto her journal. In person, you can tell much better that the one one the left has a donkey-headed man that I spent quite a while photoshopping onto the vintage picture. The best part about the transfers is that it really melts the image into the paper and doesn't look pasted onto the page.
Lisa's Journal
Gosh, I haven't posted in forever...the warm weather and plant ummm addiction has mostly lead to a flurry of activity in my yard (and the addition of a green house to the back yard).
I worked on Lisa's journal in June. Her theme was "Crowns". Of course I tend to like the green page better, but both came out really nice. The second one is much more etherial in person - very soft and moody - the scan just doesn't do it justice!
I worked on Lisa's journal in June. Her theme was "Crowns". Of course I tend to like the green page better, but both came out really nice. The second one is much more etherial in person - very soft and moody - the scan just doesn't do it justice!
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Hector Falls, NY
While I'm on a roll posting here, I thought I'd post some of my new waterfall pictures. For those of you reading who don't know, New York is not all NY City ( a popular misconception). There are gorgeous waterfalls in the Finger Lakes no more than an hour from my house. In our quest to find a new camping spot- and check it out before we went there - we happened upon Hector Falls. Sometimes it's good to miss a turn ! You can see from the middle picture that some moron decided that the major road around the lake should just cut off the beautiful Hector Falls- the railing is right there !! The bottom picture shows the view from the other side of the road...you really can't see the whole thing (bummer).
The falls are really awesome up close...huge and looming above you.
In true fashion, I was asked to take a picture of other people in front of the falls - it always cracks me up that this happens.... we are in the middle of "no where" and out of the blue another SUV pulls up and the (college?) kids ask me to take their picture. Seriously, every time I go some where someone asks me to- I sure wish I knew if they were happy with them !
The falls are really awesome up close...huge and looming above you.
In true fashion, I was asked to take a picture of other people in front of the falls - it always cracks me up that this happens.... we are in the middle of "no where" and out of the blue another SUV pulls up and the (college?) kids ask me to take their picture. Seriously, every time I go some where someone asks me to- I sure wish I knew if they were happy with them !
Gale's Mystery Journal
Gale's journal is really inspiring. I've oggled it quite a bit and knew as soon as I got it what I wanted to do with the "mystery" theme... love is a mystery. I suppose lust is a mystery too and what really attracts us to certain people often mystifies the people around us. Surely what I thought was really appealing in my 20s is not so appealing to me now.
I am really thrilled with how these pages came out. They are much "softer" in person and I like them soo much it will be difficult to part with them. Is the mysterious woman on the right hand side of the spread part of the couple on the left? is she spying on them? is she day dreaming? her thoughts are mysterious, love is mysterious...
They are also the first ones that I have sucessfully done ink jet transfers on. I ended up getting a new printer/scanner combo when the price of ink was more than a brand new printer. Combine the fancy new Lexmark with Walmart JetPrint photo paper and I can finally make a successful inkjet transfer.
Caryl's Purple and Green Journal pages
yeah, I've neglected this blog again... I was trying so hard, but as soon as it got nice out (and did it ever, 80s and 90s in May?! it was 74 by 9am on Saturday) I've been out in the yard like a mad woman. I've already spread over 4 pickup truck loads of mulch (I'd guess 14yards or so)...made new flower beds...split countless hostas and re-dug the pond and new stream/pond in the yard. Very productive, but for those of you who don't live in a mostly cold climate, you can't image how out of shape a chick can get after being inside so long and then working in the yard so much!
Inspired by my mostly purple and green garden (technically, I strive for purple, yellow and white - the colors of my alma matter, Nazareth College), I finished Caryl's pages. The left side is really artsy-fartsy, the right side is my garden "babies" growing.
Inspired by my mostly purple and green garden (technically, I strive for purple, yellow and white - the colors of my alma matter, Nazareth College), I finished Caryl's pages. The left side is really artsy-fartsy, the right side is my garden "babies" growing.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Spring has Sprung
I can't believe how long it's been since I posted.
Spring has finally sprung in western NY. It's hard to believe that last week at this time a huge storm was rolling in bringing with it enough snow to cancel school the next day.
Ah what a difference a week can make - now it's in the 70s and gorgeous. Yesterday, we all went to Ontario Pathways and mountain biked/walked nearly the whole trail.
I haven't been doing a lot of arting lately, but yesterday I took the opportunity to take lots of digital pics - enjoy the eye candy!
Me and Jody and a little fun in Photoshop.
A lone flower in a sea of fallen (now brown and ugly) leaves.
Water along the trail - the algae is a really great shade of green. I love the reflection in the water on this photo.
The Sumac blossom hung on all through the winter.
Toad discovered along the path.
Me (it's a rare curly haired day) and my son-shine.
An old birdhouse along the trail.
There are a few bridges over the water (the outlet from Canandaigua lake runs along/under the path). I love the texture of this rust.
Not being a biologist, I'm not sure what the official name is for this - I've always called it "forrest lettuce" since it looks just like lettuce growing.
It's fascinating to me how some leaves just don't fall.
Emily biking down the trail. Most all of it is very flat. The beginning part has a lot of gravel which is good for preventing mud, but a bit rough on the riding. Later in the trail it's much more "wild". 
Spring has finally sprung in western NY. It's hard to believe that last week at this time a huge storm was rolling in bringing with it enough snow to cancel school the next day.
Ah what a difference a week can make - now it's in the 70s and gorgeous. Yesterday, we all went to Ontario Pathways and mountain biked/walked nearly the whole trail.
I haven't been doing a lot of arting lately, but yesterday I took the opportunity to take lots of digital pics - enjoy the eye candy!
Sludgy water along the trail.
Me and Jody and a little fun in Photoshop.
A lone flower in a sea of fallen (now brown and ugly) leaves.
Water along the trail - the algae is a really great shade of green. I love the reflection in the water on this photo.
The Sumac blossom hung on all through the winter.
Toad discovered along the path.
Me (it's a rare curly haired day) and my son-shine.
Emily found a baby salamander.
An old birdhouse along the trail.
There are a few bridges over the water (the outlet from Canandaigua lake runs along/under the path). I love the texture of this rust.
Not being a biologist, I'm not sure what the official name is for this - I've always called it "forrest lettuce" since it looks just like lettuce growing.
It's fascinating to me how some leaves just don't fall.
Emily biking down the trail. Most all of it is very flat. The beginning part has a lot of gravel which is good for preventing mud, but a bit rough on the riding. Later in the trail it's much more "wild". 
Monday, April 9, 2007
My new favorite blog to visit
I thought I'd also share a link while I still remember my blogspot password....
Notes from a Cottage Industry is my new favorite blog. I don't know the person who writes it, and I really want to send her an email that doesn't sound like I'm some blog-stalker (gee your site is great, I feel like we could be sisters if I had one !! ewwww).
She reminds me soooo much of when I was first divorced and discovering I could do ANYTHING I wanted to my house and didn't have to ask/barter/beg/get permission to change things...paint any ole thing I wanted and no one could complain about brushes being out or a project that stumped me being unfinished.
Her taste - impeccable...warm, yummy, gorgeous and with more personality than I seem to have time for anymore.
Her new cottage - to die for. Every change seems perfect. I've no idea how she does it.
Most days I try to remember I stayed in my house because at the time it was really enough change for the kids at one time (with the divorce) and finding a 3 bedroom apartment to keep them in the same school district, but not add to my 40minute commute was impossible. Some day I'll have this place finished enough to sell it and get a house that really feels all mine. Until then, I'll live a bit vicariously.
Notes from a Cottage Industry is my new favorite blog. I don't know the person who writes it, and I really want to send her an email that doesn't sound like I'm some blog-stalker (gee your site is great, I feel like we could be sisters if I had one !! ewwww).
She reminds me soooo much of when I was first divorced and discovering I could do ANYTHING I wanted to my house and didn't have to ask/barter/beg/get permission to change things...paint any ole thing I wanted and no one could complain about brushes being out or a project that stumped me being unfinished.
Her taste - impeccable...warm, yummy, gorgeous and with more personality than I seem to have time for anymore.
Her new cottage - to die for. Every change seems perfect. I've no idea how she does it.
Most days I try to remember I stayed in my house because at the time it was really enough change for the kids at one time (with the divorce) and finding a 3 bedroom apartment to keep them in the same school district, but not add to my 40minute commute was impossible. Some day I'll have this place finished enough to sell it and get a house that really feels all mine. Until then, I'll live a bit vicariously.
My Two Best Creations
The "Easter Bunny" brought Travis and Emily some bunny teeth this year... they came in this cool package with gum to chew and use as polident to hold them on. Pity they don't have some bunny ears to go with them ! (shame on that slacking Easter Bunny)
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