Some art freebies for you...

Good morning again! This is the first time I've posted twice in one day, but I wanted to share these two sweet children with you. These are very old so did not scan too well (not to mention my printer/scanner is on the blink). The plaid dress on the child in the photo makes me think of Christmas outfits, and the trade card has put me in the winter spirit.

I probably will not post for a few days as good friends of ours are coming to visit next week, so I will be rather busy.

I hope you enjoy these. Maybe after the holidays I will actually have some time to use them in some art!

Have a great weekend!

One year ago today, and some scenes from yesterday...

Good morning friends. One year ago today I retired from my corporate life in the world of Mortgage Loan Underwriting, came home from work, and found this on our front porch. Mr. Perch (aka Hubby) set this up while I was gone. Of course, by the time I got home, the whole neighborhood knew that I had retired! I did love my job, the bank I worked for, and especially those that I worked with, but it was time for me to move on.

After working for 38 years, I must confess that it is kind of nice to wake up in the morning and do.......well, just about anything that I want!! One of my goals for after I did retire was to start a blog, so here we are.

On another note, we are still plodding away with the Christmas decorating. Here are just a few pictures taken around the outside of the homestead yesterday...

The rusty snowman was a purchase by my husband this week...he's certainly learning the ropes in the peeling-paint decor realm! And the star is one of those hanging from our little gazebo.

Still working on the inside of the house!

I hope that you are enjoying getting ready for this season of joy. Have a great day!!

A moment of cuteness!

Hello friends. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

Hubby and I have been kind of busy decorating for Christmas. We've almost finished with the inside of the house, but yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day, so we took advantage of that and decorated the outside.

Today I returned to finishing with the tree, and I no sooner put the tree skirt down, when who should show up by my little tabby cat. Guess where he ended up? Here is the picture that I couldn't resist taking.

I guess that if I ever get done with the decorating, I will share pictures of that too! I hope you're having a great evening.

 

A day of thanks

Heap high the board with plenteous cheer and gather to the feast,

And toast the sturdy pilgrim band whose courage never ceased.

---ALICE BROTHERTON

I wish you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving. Let's be thankful for the blessings bestowed upon us, and hopeful for those who are less fortunate. 

Victorian trade cards for you....

Happy Monday friends. I hope that you all had a great weekend.

I was thinking about some of the things that I love to collect, and one of them is Victorian trade cards. I am sure that you have seen these in antique shops, but for those of you that don't know what they are, they were an early example of the modern business card. They were usually printed with an image on one side, and had space on the other side for the business to add its own information. They actually first became popular at the beginning of the 17th century in London, but the ones that we generally see were printed starting in the 1880's. What I particularly love about them is the beautiful color printing on some of these cards. I also find the printing on the back intriguing, as they advertise some of the seemingly craziest cures and products (by today's standards, anyway) at the very low prices being reflective the the era. And I find it incredible that these have survived for so long.

Here are I couple for you to use in your art, and for your reading enjoyment, I also scanned the backs that go with each! Most of the ones that I collect are beautiful to look at, and in a way it makes me sad to know that 130 years from now, with the current means of advertising being predominantly television and the Internet, no one will likely have such a pretty record of what we, as a society, used today. Am I the only one who feels like this?

I will share some others in a future post. Enjoy, and have an artful day!

A source for old photos....

Hello friends. Lately I have become a fan of Pinterest and as a result have discovered some really good blogs and websites. One that I really love is The Cabinet Card Gallery. The author of this blog not only shares old cabinet card photos, but also offers categories whereby you can search for babies, bicycles, women, men, Christmas, and so on. He, or she, researches the history of not only the people in the photos, but also the photographers who took them, and also provides a history of cabinet cards themselves. Did you know that these were initially employed for landscapes rather than portraits? Oh, and you can also follow this site via email to receive each day's newly posted photo. Here are a couple of photos from this wonderful site:

I hope you're having a wonderful day!