afremov.com
Darko-Topalski-www.topalski.com
Filed under Creativity, Oil Paintings I Love
I’m making decisions and changes in my Etsy and ArtFire shops.
The first is that I’m moving toward only listing paper products on Etsy. I want to spend more time hand painting personalized note cards and stationery. To this end, I’m having a sale on Etsy.
Please come look if you’re interested in
Each page of stationery in a set of 10 is different – each painted by hand. I paint a coordinating envelope for each page. Extra blank sheets are included in the set. Each page and each envelope can be personalized with a name, initials, or…. A box with transparent lid is included, all tied in a bow with a nice ribbon.
Hand-painted thank you cards are fun to send. They come in a package of 5 cards, each with a different painting. these can also be personalized.
Note cards come in packages of 5 and 10. These can be painted in watercolor or acrylic paint. Each one is different, and can be personalized.
I honestly cannot paint the same thing twice, so each set is truly one-of-a-kind. The sets are fun to use, or to give as gifts.
Please visit Creative Artwks on Etsy when you have the time.
Filed under Holiday Gift Ideas
I spent half an hour today playing ‘pick-up-sticks’ that Amber had collected. We then did one of her favorite things – letting her ride in the car! We went to the vet’s office in order to weigh our ‘baby’ on the large set of scales there.
We discovered that our 10 month old ‘baby’ lab weighs 90 pounds!
We had armed ourselves with her shock collar and the remote in order to be able to control her. The eye opener was that my husband was almost not able to handle her! She got excited at all the strange sounds and smells in and around the vet’s office and would not listen to anything we said, and ALSO wasn’t reacting to the shock collar!
We got her in and out again safely, but we were both really impressed by the fact that this could have been a real problem, resulting in injury to one or both of us, plus problems inside the vet’s office.
We decided then and there we were going to start TODAY – starting over with our leash training – walking her on a SHORT leash – the ‘no-pull’ one that we had put away – around the yard once a day. (This shocks her when she pulls.) We actually found out that we needed to turn the shock down, which we did, but my husband and I walked all around the yard with her for about 20 minutes. She was shocked several times at first, but then calmed down and was more cooperative, only getting shocked again when she saw one of our cats and started to run after her.
In addition to the daily walks with the no-pull leash, we plan to go back to the vet’s twice a month as part of this training. It’s important that she also get socialization plus training-while-excited practice by going to the vet’s and having to obey us. She wanted SO badly to greet the main receptionist that she wouldn’t even sit! We hope that the daily training at home and the twice a month trips to the vet’s office will get her to the point where it isn’t SUCH a big deal that she forgets all she’s been taught!
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
The Owl Report via Cathy Ruggiero -peace-thatwastheothernameforhome-Kathleen Norris-illus-Johanna Wright
A cold front is due this afternoon. It’s 60 degrees F (!) outside right now. By mid afternoon, it’s supposed to be freezing with “wintry mix” and trickle-the-water-in-the-sinks time tonight through the middle of next week, at least.
Happily, we’re rich in books around here. I already told you that
So the weather can do what it will. We have hot apple cider for my husband and coffee for me, two dogs, two cats, 4 fish, comfortable recliners and throws, and lots of books to enjoy!
Filed under Family, Mother Nature, Reading is FUNdamental
pinterest.com
pinterest.com
Raven Tao-passionforproperty.wordpress.com
Filed under Cork Art, Creativity
Maude-White-www.boredpanda.com
Zoe Bradley-www.zoebradley.com
Filed under Creativity, paper art
Contentment
Thanks to Bill Lites for his email.
Filed under your 'awwww' for the day
Martin Karlsson-martinsfotopoesi.wordpress.com.
I’ve told you that I think painting water is impossible. I’ve also shown you by many examples, like these, that I’m wrong. I can study these all day long and have decided to just appreciate the talent of these artists.
mountain landscape-www.etsy.com
Filed under Creativity, water paintings
As with the file cabinets, I’m good about putting things IN, but not so good about taking things OUT. Our buffet has gotten to the point that we cannot get anything more IN. TIME TO PURGE! My husband hoards pill bottles. He’s not sure why. I’m going to solve this problem today. I love place mats, tablecloths, cloth napkins…..
Here you get an idea of what came out of the drawers of the buffet. Some I packed nicely in plastic, but most were just stacked and slid into the drawers. Then, when I changed place mats, I pulled out two of the four and put the ones I was not now using in the drawer, on top of the pile.
Time has passed and we’ve changed our daily pottery – a nice combination of aqua and brown. I’m going to go through what we have with that in mind, trying to keep only the things that look good with the pottery, my china, or other things I have, donating the rest.
This is another project that has been a long time coming. I’ll feel better when I have things in more control, where I can remove something from a drawer without half of the contents trying to come out, and actually be able to put something back IN to the drawer with the other place mats, for example, where they belong.
Waste basket and donation bag are ready!
Filed under Creativity, Fun with Fingerpaint
“Italian Church from Bucharest” – Paul Militaru Photography
I absolutely love this beautiful church photographed by Paul Militaru. I have always been drawn to small, beautiful “treasures” of churches. The fact that this one – a piece of the old world – is in the middle of a city that has moved on in time fascinates me.
Second, it reminds me of when I visited the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas years ago. My husband had some kind of business conference. We spent most of the free time we had on the River Walk – one of my favorite places in the world. I think I would be happy living there. :0)
One day I walked up some steps to the street above and saw the Alamo right across the intersection in the midst of modern city. In all the postcards and books I had ever seen it only showed the building. I imagined it sitting in wide, open spaces, but it was like time had stood still, leaving the building, and now it was crammed into the middle of the bustling city.
I will never forget my visit there. I went over, interested, but it wasn’t high on my list of things to see while I was there. I walked around inside and then sat on a bench in the courtyard. All of a sudden I felt swamped overwhelmed by emotion. There were a couple of other people walking around, but I was feeling something quite different. I felt the force of the lives that were lost there. It felt like they wanted me to acknowledge the enormity of their sacrifice. I sat there for about an hour, FEELING something I’d never felt before.
When I tried to tell my husband later about the visit, I found myself tearing up, still swamped by the feelings. I’ve never had this happen before or since.
This beautiful photograph is also telling a story of lives past. I hope that it has a large membership still, with people cherishing it. If it is now a museum, I hope it’s visited and valued.
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
I enjoyed playing “Pick Up Sticks” when I was young. I was pretty good at it, too! :0)
This is our 10-month-old yellow lab, Amber’s, collection of sticks this morning. Every day she makes a collection. Today I watched her while she put each stick where she wanted it, having some design in her head. She would stop, walk around a bit, go to the woods in front of the house, bringing another to add to the collection, then move one from one side of the yard to the other. When she was satisfied, she came to the door and barked.
We let her in and gave her a treat, but I think she was quietly disappointed that we didn’t admire her latest stick collection profusely.
This may also be a plot to get me to MOVE more, since I go out and ‘ruin’ the collection sometime during the day….
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
“October Forest”-T_C_Chiu-www.absolutearts.com
Filed under Creativity, Oil Paintings I Love
curatti.com
I’ve been working in my dining area and kitchen for parts of 3 days now, trying to purge/reorganize/clean. I have now done
It’s amazing how much ‘stuff’ accumulates around here. I swear to you that there is some hanky-panky and things are reproducing when we’re not watching. What is helping me on the counter tops is picturing my husband with too many plastic bags in each hands fighting with the dog when he’s trying to bring in a load from the car and plopping the whole bunch down on a part of the counter top. I’m trying to make sure that there is nothing breakable, “spillable,” or “dumpable” on a good part of each area, having learned the hard way that no thought will be given as the bags come plopping down. In this effort I’ve relocated a lot of things and gotten rid of the rest.
I’m enjoying a rest now and then I’ll tackle what we call the ‘go-out’ table (holding things we want to take with us the next time we go to town) which unfortunately also acts as a dumping table.
The remaining project for today will be trying to make sense of my hats and scarves in the utility room. This is more complicated than it sounds because nothing can be down low, due to the cats. Nothing can be high, because then I can’t reach them, and hard decisions will have to be made on which things should be given away…
As I move through the house, though, I’m feeling better about being in better control of my space. I’m getting rid of a BUNCH of ‘stuff,’ relocating some things that should live elsewhere, gathering things that I’ll donate to the library or the Veterans Thrift Store, and things being easier to clean when there are fewer THINGS.
I’m hoping that this urge to get my things in better order will continue. It’s quite unusual for this old broad, so I’m doing a bunch of it as quickly as I can…
Filed under Cork Art, Creativity
Filed under Creativity, snow people
“Dove” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Sleeping” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Amazing Animals, Paul Militaru Photography
Jack Kerouac via Lisa Bearnes Richey
So MANY controversies – so little time.
On 60 Minutes last night, Lesley Stahl spoke with Margarita Simonyan — the head of Russia’s state-owned news network. At one point, Margarita Simonyan said (paraphrased) “The U.S. prides itself on allowing freedom of speech. What happened to it? What has happened to the United States?”
She raises a very good point. I never remember such discord before in our country. I don’t remember many instances of not allowing someone to speak, although I do remember instances where the Ku Klux Klan announced they would be in a location and protesters coming. A good yell was had by all. No one listened to anyone who disagreed with them, but I don’t remember property damage or bloodshed. My memory may be faulty.
My point is that it seems that –
One example – Women – particularly in Hollywood – are speaking up about sexual abuse they have suffered in the past, insisting that things change and that the men responsible be punished. I think this has been a long time coming and that powerful men should be learning that, along with increased power comes greater responsibility to be respectful of those around them or be ready to lose it all.
Some women, though, have accused men of abuse and rape, only to be proven liars – sometimes years later. They have ruined men’s reputation and lives. If/when it is known that they accused falsely, though, nothing seems to happen to them! I can’t believe that a woman merely has to accuse someone in order to ruin them. Now THAT is power! People who falsely accuse should be sent to prison with THEIR reputation in ruins, or something equivalent – maybe some way of trying to make it up to the person they wronged.
People who are abused should feel free to speak up about the wrong and get help with making the abusers pay for their crime. Falsely accusing someone should come with STIFF penalties. Otherwise, it will get to the point where no smart man will EVER consent to being alone with a female for any reason, fearing their lives could be ruined.
Our country is divided on too many issues to count. The people holding different views are really hostile, some threatening to end the lives of people who oppose their views. This is NUTS!
May 2018 bring awareness, of what we’re losing, bigger brains and ears, and more tolerance.
Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Changes, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
Hedgehog-GeethaKaarthikeyan.com
Mr. Riu-www.boredpanda.com
Filed under Creativity, paper art
creativeartworksblog 