Thursday, April 26, 2012

Fairy Tale Paper Dolls

Hi everyone!

Today needs to be a no fancy stuff, just pretty plain kinda' blog.
I haven't shared much lately, so I wanted to touch base at least briefly.
busy, busy, busy.  but....a good kind of busy I think.

I have been working on my Collage Paper Paintings, and Fairy Tale themes or Nursery Rhyme themes.
I love it!
More on that later.  Here is one of my recent Paper Paintings:

"Fairies chatting in the garden"

I offer fine art prints of all my original Collage Paper Paintings for $10,
plus $4.00 shipping and handling.
That's US as I have never tried international.
I have received items from international, so I know it can be done!!
:0)

Here is my latest:


"Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater"
original Collage Paper Painting by inkspired

Here 's a great vintage sheet of paper dolls:


pretty sure I got this from OrigamiBears

Here is a Paper Doll double page spread with charming fairy tale clothes:


I love her clothes!
It does look as though this one is copyrighted,
so just for your personal pleasure please.

Here is a vintage one page Peter Pan:


Follow the directions on the back, and make a whole family of movable
paper dolls!
Glue on little photos of family faces!

Last are some super fairy tale dolls by babalisme.
I'm pretty sure you can find her things at:



Hope you have had a little fairy tale fun today!  It's lovely weather (maybe, depending on where you live).  Take your child out for a little, or long walk.
Yes, even those teenages who think a walk around the block is a marathon.
Walks are great times to talk.

:0)

If you weather is wet and rainy, well get your printer working and print out some paper dolls to cut and play with.  Get out your pens and crayons and make up a whole new wardrobe for your dolls! Or get out a stack of old magazines, and cut out a whold new wardrobe. Don't forget to add the tabs!

Have a great day,

inkspired
http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/
http://www.myinkspired.com/ (spent yesterday gettng this fixed. Still needs some work, but MUCH improved!)
http://www.collagepaperpainting.com/
http://www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com/ (added new ones yesterday!)

dominoes@myinkspired.com

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Spring Columbines

Aman

'Peace' in the Urdu language, spoken in Pakistan


Yes, I am in a SPRING mood today!
We have been getting a gentle rain every evening here in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. My daffodils (mostly gone) and my tulips (getting to the end of their blooming life) are loving it.
My Columbines are growing and multiplying like crazy!
I have maroon/pink columbines, a bit different from the usual yellow or blue.


They are actually a much deeper tone when first blooming.
Why not color some of your own?
You can do realistic, or some funky fantasy columbines:

courtesy of Dover Books

What? You still haven't signed up for their FREE CLIP ART in your mailbox
every week?
Go to Dover and sign up, for goodness' sake!
You can click on 'my favorites' Dover link to the right of this blog.
Easy!

a vintage card front

Here is a paper cutting pattern for a columbine that I drew a few years ago.
Yeah! Scherenschnitte!!

scherenschnitte original pattern by inkspired

The columbine is not a flower-of-the-month flower.
Too bad.
It IS however the state flower for Colorado!
Colorado state flower Rocky Mountain columbine and state bird the lark bunting.

Since it is a 'wild flower' and perhaps not readily available for the Victorian Set, I cannot find any 'language of flower meaning' for the columbine.

I still like 'em!
a stained glass art piece from www.hollyandivy.com


"Who shall be chosen fairy be
For letter C?
There's Candytuft, and Cornflower blue,
Campanula and Crocus too,
Chrysanthemum so bold and fine,
And pretty dancing Columbine.

Yes, Columbine! The choice is she;
And with her, see,
An elfin piper, piping sweet
A little tune for those light feet
That dance among the leaves and flowers
In someone's garden.
(Is it ours?)

- Flower Fairy poem by Cicely Mary Barker

illustration by Cicely Mary Barker, copyrighted

That's it for today!
I am trying to have shorter blogs, so I can have more of them.
What do you think?

'til next time -
inkspired








Friday, April 20, 2012

Humor for all and special humor for friends

Eacepay

'Peace' in pig latin
spoken by children everywhere


Today, we need humor.
I read the Yahoo headlines many times before I start my blog.
It is mostly depressing, with a few humorous shots if you really look hard.

In today's blog
you shouldn't need to look too hard!




"If a woman has to choose
between catching a fly ball
and saving an infant's live,
she will choose to save the infant's life
without even considering
if there is a man on base..."

- Dave Barry, humor writer


vintage page from an old Sears catalog


Did you know that laughing can lower your blood pressure?

Did you know that laughing can extend your life years?

Did you know that humor in a marriage = longer marriage?

Lily Damita, a 1920's starlet

What do you get from a pampered cow?

coloring pages courtesy of Dover Books

'Spoiled Milk!'


What lies at the bottom of the ocean
and twitches?


'A nervous wreck!'

What goes CLOP, CLOP, CLOP,
BANG, BANG,
CLOP, CLOP, CLOP?



'An Amish drive-by shooting!'

Now remember, humor is humor.
It is in its' truest form not meant to be derogatory or demeaning
to any one people, race, gender, disability...
you get the idea.
So, take my humor at face value.
Do not read into it any deep religious undertones,
or a hidden agenda against ___________ (fill in the blank).
My humor is just something that makes me laugh,
and I hope it makes you laugh too!



Clowns make us laugh!
Sometimes intentionally, and sometimes not.
Sometimes in costume,
and sometimes not!

Victorian vintage clown head illustration


c.1920 courtesy of Indiana Music Library

Songs can make us laugh!

c.1919

How can you not laugh at this song sheet cover?

'Old Fashioned Garden' (with a stork and a flapper?)
from the 'Hitchy-Koo Musical Review'!



'When I die, I want to die like my grandfather -
who died peacefully in his sleep.
Not screaming like all the passengers in his car."

-author unknown

cast of TV show - '3rd Rock'

Doncha' love John Lithgow?!

and another favorite -

Jerry Lewis, who loved to play the 'fall' guy for Dean Martin,
yet was terrific all on his own too!

Notes on true friendship:

Promises I give to my friends -

When you are confused ... I will use little words.
When you are scared ... we will high-tail it out of here.
When you smile ... I will know you are plotting something that I must be involved in.
When you fall ... I'll pick you up and dust you off.
When you are sick ... Stay away from me until your are well again.
I don't want whatever you have.
When you are worried ... I will tell you horrible stories about How Much Worse it could be until you quit whining, ya' big baby!!
and last, but not least,
When you are sad ... I will jump on the person who made you sad like a spider monkey after drinking a 6-pack of Mountain Dew!!!

"The hat' original Collage Art Doll by inkspired

Well, that's all she said, folks!
Have a great day,
and share a favorite joke, poem, pun or quote with me -
I can always use a good laugh!
:0)

inkspired



Tuesday, April 17, 2012

A Happy Tuesday with deviled eggs !

good morning
:0)

One of a series of WONDERFUL photos by Laurent Laveder.

Busy, busy day, but I wanted to stop by for just a chat.
I found yummy and different recipes for hard boiled eggs that I wanted to share.
Is anyone still eating hard boiled eggs?
We are.
But that's okay, as we both like them.
I have promised to make some deviled eggs however.

I subscribe to the magazine "Woman's Day".
You can check them out at http://www.womansday.com/

In their April 2012 issue, they are celebrating their 75th anniversary.

Right up front they have a flip out page with 75 delicious ways to cook eggs.
Great!
They gathered different, favorite recipes from the past 75 years.
Now, some of them totally do not appeal to me,
but lots of them did!
Here is a sample:

Egg-Bacon-Watercress Salad

Chop 8 hard boiled eggs.
Toss with 1/2 pound cooked bacon,
1 bunch watercress (chopped),
1/2 small red onion (thinly sliced)
and 1/3 cup red wine vinaigrette.
March 1972

Here is one of their deviled egg recipes:

Horseradish Deviled Eggs

Cut 4 hard boiled eggs in half.
Mash the yolks with pepper
and 2 Tbsp each mayonnaise
and beet horseradish;
spoon into the whites.
April, 2002


 
If you have never heard of Jan Brett, illustrator, or if you have never been to her website, you are missing out on some real treats.


I recently visited and downloaded quite a few of her adorable coloring pages.
Here is one to tempt you:


'Beatrix Bunny'

and another one:

'Mabeline Bunny'

Yes, I know - they have colored eggs.
But hey, those are Spring Eggs, not Easter Eggs -
I'm sure!

I do love the books she has illustrated also.
Check her out on Amazon.

Well, that's it for today.
I hope you enjoy checking out Jan Brett's website
and
Laurent Laveder's wonderful photographs 
and
perhaps trying out a new hard boiled egg recipe
from Woman's Day magazine.

inkspired


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Ugly ducklings, World peace thru music and meanderings

"We'll free the people with music"

- quote by Bob Marley



Shite

(with a little 'hat' over the 'i')
'Peace', in the Tibetan language


Click on the link above, and listen to
Playing For Change
"Redemption Song" written by Bob Marley
but sung and played in many different countries
by many different artists.
I just love all the songs put together by Playing for Change.
They have out more than one CD to listen to now.
If you search them on YouTube, you will find I think 72 different
'official' downloads form them.
If you can, I would highly recommend getting one of their videos.
They are completely fascinating!!

Bob Marley

Now, I can't say I am a big Bob Marley fan,
or even know that much about him,
but the little I have picked up makes me want to respect him.

Here is the link to another of Playing for Change music video
collected in 2010,
John Lennon's 'Imagine':



Again, am I a big John Lennon fan?
Not really. Not for or against, really.
But I do like the music video PfC put together.
I am totally mesmerized by all the different musical instruments that are played
around the world.
Here in the USA we struggle for funding for music training in our schools at the  most basic levels.
Sad.


(a school in Maine)

"If you can walk
you can dance.
If you can talk
you can sing."

- Zimbabwe Proverb

I suppose I am in a music mood today!

It all started with me looking at my page of things to discuss/explore in blogs.
Sometimes my brain is so full of things it's hard to narrow it down.
Sometimes my brain is on empty, and I can't think of a thing!
So as I browse through sites and places throughout the week,
I jot down little notes in my 'blogs to do' page.
Today I was listening to Ronan Parke, from Britain's Got Talent, 2011.


This is his audition, singing
"It's a new Day, a new Life and I'm feeling fine".
Sometimes I like listening to the audition tapes of people that on the outside
look really boring, odd, squirrely, immature, etc.
and then they open their mouths, and such beautiful music comes out.
It reminds me that what we see on the outside
really has nothing to do with what is on the inside. 

part of a painting "The Frog Prince" by Scott Gustafson
love his work!!!

Tom Tierney's 'Frog Prince', courtesy of Dover

Here is another great example, again from Britain's Got Talent, 2011-
Michael Collings is 19 years old, and an I.T. engineer.
He lives in a caravan with his parents, and his new wife who is expecting their first child within weeks.
Hmmm....
He comes to his audition wearing a day-glo orange sweatshirt
and baggy gray sweatpants.
Hmmm....
See what you think:



Do you like him?
Let me know, and I will post results!!

"The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Anderson re-tells this timeless truth.
We still love the little duckling tale, with new versions and illustrations being published constantly.
I think perhaps we all relate to the duckling in some way...



"Judge not by the eye but by the heart."

- Cheyenne Indian proverb


"the Ugly Duckling" courtesy Dover Books

Well, I guess that better be it for the day!
I hope I have left you with a song in your heart,
perhaps humming a little tune,
and
don't forget to look for that Ugly Duckling today,
that you usually just pass over, not really ignoring, but just not seeing...
and look with your heart.

inkspired



 

Monday, April 9, 2012

What to do with all those Easter Eggs and a bit about Paraguay

Beke

'peace' in Hungarian

a doll in traditional Hungarian folk clothes with little burro

I hope you have all had a wonderful Easter season.
Both Saturday and Sunday our computer went to sleep,
and wouldn't wake up!
so.....no blog.
We had some friends over yesterday for supper,
and one of them is a computer whiz,
so he was able to show Michael how to 'wake it up',
plus some other neat (according to Michael) stuff.
So, all's well today.

Welcome to my new readers from Paraguay!
It's nice to have you join us!

Iguazu Falls, Paraguay

Wow! I would love to visit these falls someday!
I bet you can't hear a thing because of the roar of the falls.
Little bits of Paraguay:
It is a landlocked country, bordered by Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil.
It is also the least populated country on the South American continent!
Paraguay is described as a perfect trip for 'outdoor lovers, adventure seekers or anyone who appreciates nature'. (www.puretravel.com)
Paraguay has a large Japanese community!


courtesy en.wikipedia.org

On to the Great Hard Boiled Egg Takeover Counter-Plan!

Do you have dye stains on your fingers?
Is your sink a little 'blue'?
Are your kitchen towels in the laundry room soaking in bleach?
Does your floor do the 'colored crunch' when you walk on it?
These are all danger signals for

The Great Hard Boiled Egg Takeover!!!

Best way to implement a Counter-Plan?
Get those eggs under control by
eating them

gasp!

Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before:

If I have to eat another hard boiled egg I will explode!
Eggs again?
You know, eggs are bad for your cholesterol....

Let's face some facts:

1.You will not explode if you eat another hard boiled egg.
2.Yes, eggs, I say! And you'll eat what I put in front of you!
3. That study was disproved ages ago. Get with the program!
thanks, Snoopy, for the happy face of an egg eater...

Okay, now let's have a plan...
Here are some ways to sneak hard boiled eggs into your food,
with hardly noticing it at all.
Really!

Idea # 1:
When making your favorite tuna fish sandwich recipe, mix in 1 or 2 chopped hard boiled eggs. I also like to add a bit of chopped celery for extra crunch.

Idea #2:
Chopped hard boiled eggs are terrific when added into a macaroni salad.

Idea #3:
Don't forget your egg salad sandwiches. Add a dash of Tabasco to your recipe for a surprise little 'kick'!

Idea #4:
An egg a day in your dog's food bowl will give him a nice shiny coat for spring.
Adjust this to the size of your dog, of course. My Great Dane would LOVE 2 eggs a day...but he's not getting them because we love deviled eggs.

Idea #5:
Put out a bowl of hard boiled eggs at each meal. When they're handy, people tend to munch on them. And don't forget - they really are healthy for you!

Colored Shell Disposal Idea #1:
Did you know that crushed egg shells are a good nutrient for your garden?
I love the added suprise of multi-colored shells to make my garden pretty!
My husband would prefer a rock garden....oh well.

Colored Shell Disposal Idea #2:
I am NOT a fish tank expert, but wouldn't some of the bigger pieces of colored egg shells look pretty in the bottom of an aquarium? I would be sure to clean off all the pieces of egg innards and membranes first, of course.


'draw-a-cartoon-fish'

Well, this sinus headache is getting the best of me, so time to close.
I am meeting with my friend later so we can do some beading time.
Always so enjoyable.
We'll see if I can see the beads today!
(boo....headaches.....booo...)


you can purchase this image at

If you are having Spring weather like we have been having -
sunny, blue skies, white clouds,
go outside for at least 15 minutes today and enjoy it!

If you are having rainy Spring weather -
go outside for at least 15 minutes today and enjoy it!

And for those of you where this is your fall season -
go outside for at least 15 minutes and enjoy it!

inkspired