Happy Birthday!!

Hiding from the LIght

To be a Goop...or not?

The Goops they lick their fingers,
And the Goops they lick their knives;
They spill their broth on the table-cloth-
Oh, the lead disgusting lives!
The Goops they talk while eating,
And loud and fast they chew;
And that is why I'm glad that I
Am not a Goop - are you?

All of a sudden the Goops are back and on-line at that! I grew up as a Goop...no, I mean with the Goops...no! I mean learning how not to be a Goop! This is a great book on manners and virtues and has been reprinted here at Goops Unlimited. They've done a wonderful job and service to young ones every where in helping them to be, or not to be Goops!

Spring!!!

The last two days or so it has really begun to look like Spring. There are flowers blooming and the leaves on the trees are starting to come out and everything is turning green.

Bog giveaway!

This beautiful pendant is being offered in a giveaway by Lora of Lora Hart Jewels. She crafts silver, bronze and gold jewelry out of Precious Metal Clay and offers classes as well. (I wish I could take one, but I'm a bit too far away!) Stop by her blog to sign up and visit her Etsy shop as well.

Serenity Trilogy

This is a series of postcards that I did a few years ago on the long version of the Serenity Prayer.

At that time in my life I had pared my prayers down to simply saying one word at a time. This was especially nice walking to work, since it was simple and I could pace the word with my steps. I would take action words from prayers that I said often and say these words as my prayer.

Now, I love drawing birds and thought I might illustrate this prayer, or the primary words that I would pray, and find a bird to represent each word. Since I live in Illinois I used birds that are native to my home state. Then I wanted to find birds that would show humility and strength; not the birds that one would usually think of, like and eagle for courage. The first card, representing Serenity, is a Tufted Titmouse; small with muted colors I thought it looked very humble and at the same time has a strong presence. The second bird, Courage, is a Red Tailed Hawk; not as impressive as other raptures and very common, like all of us. The third, Wisdom, is a Barn Owl; again, very unassuming and delicate.

Each print was first made from a block print that was then scanned into a digital format and colorized on Photoshop. On the back of each card is a part of the Serenity Prayer, so they make a trilogy.

You can find them in my little Etsy shop.

Dragon Flare

A fiery, smoking dragon, who lives up on top of my desk. Made of rope by fishermen in Thialand, he is really very nice and friendly!

Mr. Potato Head comes for a visit

Mr. Potato Head stopped by the other day for a little visit. Although he looked somewhat surprised, I could detect that whimsical smile of his; faint, but still there. We had a cup of tea, and then he said he thought he might go to the barber's, for a trim, feeling that his hair was getting out of control. (He can be a little vain, always so concerned about his appearance.) So, we said our good byes and he said he would stop by again somtime.

My favorite tea cup

This is the bottom of my favorite tea cup; Spode Blue Italian, to be exact. I love Spode china. The singularly fine dark line is a crack that took place one winter morning when I poured hot water into the cup, to make my tea. I hadn't realized that the cup was cold from sitting next to the window and it cracked. It's like lightening striking, but from underneath.