My newest thrift store find......Kitchen Gardens, illustrated by Tasha Tudor.  I have been looking for it for a while. Some color plates and many black and white illustrations.  I have been looking for it awhile.  Glad to have found it.

Found last week at a local antique fair - - the street sign of the street my family lived on while I was in 3rd and 4th grade.  The dealer said she bought it at a garage sale at the house on the corner of Stanley and California.  My house was next door to the garage sale house.

I just had to have it. It makes me smile.....

My newest thrift store book treasure.....

Titled - "Better Say" a book of helpful suggestions for the correct use of English words and phrases. 

It is a small, pamphlet like book, just 34 pages. I guess in 1909, there were but a few words that needed corrections 

An example...........hope. " I hope he arrived in time." Better say: "I trust he arrived in time." Hope refers to the future; "What a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?" (Rom. 8:24)

I love old books.  

My latest art endeavor.....a college class in watercolor.  Just a beginner, but, I love learning new things and I like watercolor.

This is an altar I made in honor and memory of the printed word.......it is titled Disappearing Ink {Requiem for the Printed Word}

A requiem is defined as a mass for a deceased person. While the printed word, i.e.: books are not completely dead, the printed word is dying a slow death.

As a child I spent hours reading the encyclopedia, The Book of Knowledge. It was a dear friend. I get nostalgic even seeing the end pages. (I used them as the center focus of the altar) So much time spent learning about the world in the pages of National Geographic. Books were a window into other worlds, they opened doors……
So many memories of getting lost in a good book that became a friend.

Those days are gone; the online world has and will continue to change our world concerning the printed word.
Rest in Peace, oh much loved book-friends. You will be missed.....

Here is my first attempt at an altered bottle. It is entitled "Jar of Dreams" and was made to donate to "Collage for a Cure" an art event to raise money for the American Cancer Society. I used gesso and cheese cloth to cover an old bottle. I formed the cheese cloth in rough folds and also made a small frame like spot on the front. After it dried, I painted it with various acrylic paints. Using both a wash (very water down paint) and also dry brush (very little paint on the brushes) Used matte medium to collage the image of a young woman. I use Pearl Ex Powdered Pigments to give it all a luster and shine. Used Glossy Accents (glue) to attach some glass beads and a small piece of vintage jewelry. I decorated the cork with some more vintage jewelry. Attached some dangles and a ribbon. I am pleased with it, and look forward to another altered bottle.

My necklace

Here is what I was able to create with my wonderful Bead Soup. I wore it to school today and I received four compliments at various times during the day.~smile~ I used the focal backwards, decided the "wisdom" word would be my secret, I will wear it inward.... I used beads from many thrifted necklaces, love finding necklaces and making new creations with them.