FRIDAY FENCE POST #74

Didn't know if there'd be a Friday Fence Post this week, since I was down with a bug for most of it, but today dawned bright, and the only cold was outside. Mine was (mostly) gone. Out I went, with the camera in the front seat of the car, to do the grocery shopping and see what I could find.

Once again, a fence I must surely have seen many times grabbed my attention:

 

The last two I used filters and other adjustments on. In fact, if you went out and found that fence, you'd see that the ivy is actually green right now. But isn't it lovely in shades of brown, rust, and purple? Pure happy accident, just playing with the "Adjust Hue" window.

Anyone out there spotted a good fence this week? Let's see it!

THRIFTY THURSDAY: Do You See What I See?

This Thrifty Thursday is a little different from what I usually do: I decided to take you shopping with me!

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” (Marcel Proust - French Novelist and Author, 1871-1922)

I spent some time today helping a friend with her mother’s estate sale. I love estate sales, especially this kind, where the estate belongs to someone who’s still alive, but has moved. I spent my time almost exclusively standing in the basement, answering questions, and making sure nobody stuffed something in his or her pocket and walked out with it.

While I performed the task of “basement sitter”, I vividly remembered a trip to a thrift store with my Mama and two aunts. I was busily filling my cart with bits of this and that when I heard Aunt Charlotte say, “I’m just going to follow Anitra around and see what she puts in her cart.” I laughed and said, “But if you do that, I’ll get all the good stuff before you can get to it!” Aunt Charlotte told me it would be okay, because I was seeing possibilities she didn’t, and she wanted to learn how I did that.

It occurred to me that my Aunt Charlotte might not be the only one who’d appreciate a lesson in “seeing with new eyes”, so during those moments when I was alone in the basement, I turned on my camera, and took a “voyage of discovery”. What would “new eyes” see? Junk? Or art supplies?

The first photo is easy. It’s a pile of actual art supplies, proving estate sales are art supply stores, too. But do you see the bag o’ bottles? Those went to someone who planned to use them as bud vases. I see them on a window sill, with a single daisy in each.

Look it’s sputnik! No, it’s an octopus! No, it’s the framework for a solar system!

Just what I need—a wire-bending jig for heavier gauge wire:

Hmmm…these tiny figures of a king and queen would be the perfect start to a handmade chess set:

And what have we here? The world’s ugliest necklace?

Or some really cool brass beads?

Are these napkins?

Or the start of a pair of gauntlets?

These were just some of the hidden art materials I found in a single room. Now I wonder: What will you rescue and turn into art, the next time you look at something and see, not what it is, but what it could be? I’d love to know!

TUESDAY TAKE-OUT #6: Vintage Smiles

More vintage photos this week, not of typically beautiful people, but of some that made me smile just to see them. You can feel the joy of these free spirits, I think, and I often wonder what sort of people they grew into, and in the case of the children, I smile for the bright ebullience of their children, and the happiness they must have brought the adults in their lives.

 

 

 

These photos are free for your use, as you see fit. Please don't sell them. And you'd make me very happy if you left a comment, especially if you choose to save them to your computer!


As usual, clicking on the pictures will bring them up to full size.

FRIDAY FENCE POST #73

I know it isn't spring. C'mon. It snowed yesterday! It's supposed to be in the twenties tonight, and may snow over the weekend. But there are flowers. I smile just to think it. There are flowers.

Click on any of the fences to see them full-size. If you do that, you'll see I've played with the filters on several. I Do love those Photoshop filters!

Your turn! I want to see some fences from other places, found by other eyes! Post yours, and drop your link in Mr Linky here, and I'll come visit. (I have a feeling I won't be the only visitor you get, either!)


In other news, if you're in the Portland area, this weekend is the Yard, Garden, and Patio Show at the Convention Center. My booth is #128, against the back wall, straight back from the entrance. It's a wonderful show, and will have you itching to go out and get gardening, all the while giving you great ideas and showing you new plants. (I spotted a couple I'll HAVE to have while I was putting the finishing touches on my booth today.)

And I'd love to see my friends there, especially some of those I haven't met in person yet!

THRIFTY THURSDAY: Lovely Handkerchiefs

Yesterday, just because I was mere blocks away from it, I stopped into one of the thrift shops I frequent. (PACs, on 108th & NE Halsey, for those in the Portland area.) As I parked, I realized the date was the 16th, just one day past their tag change day, when everything that hasn't sold for half-price drops down to a mere twenty-five cents. Yay!

So, okay. The handkerchiefs above weren't on sale. But full price was fifty cents apiece; I got the whole ten for $5!

And while I didn't take pictures, I also got three LIFE magazines from the 70's for twenty-five cents each, plus several vintage childrens books, and a novel by an unfamiliar author, all for a quarter apiece, plus one tee shirt for me that I spent a whopping dollar and a half on. Oh, and four really pretty note cards for fifteen cents each.

Do you have a favorite thrift shop? What sorts of things do you look for when you go?

SWAP-BOT SATURDAY: ATC's, Altered Puzzle Piece

I am loving Swap-bot, both for the creative outlet it gives me, and the inspiration of other artists! This week I worked on several ATC's and my first puzzle piece. The ATC above was sent to me by one of my Foreign Language ATC swap partners. Isn't it glamorous?

The piece below is my very first altered puzzle piece. I'm happy with the results, and was surprised to discover that the hardest part of it was finding a puzzle piece to use! When it was finished, I used a leather punch to punch holes in the top, and attached jump rings for the slender silver necklace. The dangle at the bottom is an old earring I found somewhere, and saved, quite literally, for years, because I just Knew there'd be something it would come in handy for. The recipient has already written to say she loves the necklace--YAY!!


These next to ATC's are my creations for the Foreign Language ATC swap. The first is simple and straightforward, but


don't ask me what this one "means", because I have no clue. It just seemed to happen.

The last two ATC's, I created for a swap that required you to use at least one piece of punched paper. I couldn't decide whether to glue that word, "Deal", down or not, so left it loose in the ATC envelope, putting the decision of whether or not to use it in other hands.



This last one I've already shown, but since it was my other piece for the Punch Art ATC, I'll put it in again.


What about you? Do you make ATC's? Have you posted any lately? I'd love to see them! Just drop a link in a comment, and I'll come look!

FRIDAY FENCE POST #72

It's Friday, and I have fences! (I also have a wheel, but that's a freebie, lol.)

This first fence was one I drove past, thinking it wasn't a very interesting edifice. Then I did a U-turn and photographed it anyway. I just had to. This is February 11, and look! The camellias are in bloom!


Then came this one. I just love a fence with a window. Honestly, they're nothing but nifty:


Same fence, but around the corner, and there it was, another unusual feature--ceramic planters between the fence and its top rail:


Did I say something about a wheel? I sure did! I was walking from my car to the front gate, when this wheel, strapped to the trailer in our carport, whispered, "Take my picture. You need to take my picture."





Now it's your turn. Seen any good fences lately? Drop a link to them in Mr Linky here, and I'll come visit! Oh, and grab my button in the left sidebar for your blog, if you will. Let's invite more people, and more fences!

The wheel prompts me to restate something I've said before: If you can't find a fence you find 'different' or unusual, look for that different or unusual angle, and/or get really close. You might be surprised by what you see!

THRIFTY THURSDAY: MORE Buttons!

Whoo-hoo! Another jar of buttons at the same Goodwill as last week! This was a smaller jar, but it was priced at just $2.99, so I didn't even hesitate. Off the shelf, and into the cart.

First, an apology for the photos, which are blurry. Must be time to recharge the camera batteries. But I think they're clear enough to show how really cool they are, even the brown ones:


Some really great black buttons, too, especially that one with the red rhinestones:


Interesting white buttons:



A number of clear buttons were in the jar, including the two larger, cupped, buttons. I realized when I picked those two up that they're glass:

These red buttons are a lot prettier than they appear here:


Ceili (KAY-lee) thinks they're Very Interesting!

Oh! I have to tell you about Mama's score at the local thriftstore yesterday! They were having a bag sale--anything you could get into the bag they gave you, for $5.

I think I remember what she got in her $5 bag:

• An old fashioned pitcher and bowl set
• Two pieces of Depression Glass, one in Lariat pattern, the other I can't remember
• Two pairs of shoes
• Three unopened packages of tissue paper, in gold or silver
• Two pair of earrings, one heart-shaped, one jade
• A linen-look blazer
• A dress
• Four gift bags

My Mama rocks!

How about you? Picked up anything wonderful/cool/super-thrifty lately?

TUESDAY TAKE-OUT #5: Feb, Pt 1

I thought for this week's Tuesday Take-out we'd do something a little different--vintage faces, instead of line art. Feel free to save these and use as you will. (Leave me a comment, if you'd like to make me smile really big!)

These images are quite large. Just click on them to see them full-size, and if you're not sure they're at their biggest, try pressing the F11 key. That will get rid of all the extraneous stuff at the top and bottom of your screen. To get it all back, press F11 again.





These are photos I've collected over time. Such wonderful faces, and interesting expressions. Who were they? What were they thinking?