FIT and It's a Sad Day In Gingerbread Land....

"He Blinded Me With Science"

I don't know why I am drawn to this fellow, but I am. His name is Paul according to the back and he is not from an era I normally deal in, but I love him anyway.



Ya'll I don't think the gingerbread houses are going to make it until Christmas! They are looking pretty sorry and are disappearing right before my very eyes. Although, I must admit that they make me smile every time I look at them:)

It's A Snow Baby, Baby!....

Look at what the Christmas Faerie brought me!!! I am so in love with my Snow Baby from Lori! She is so detailed right down to the woolen texture on her coat sleeves and hem. Just perfect!!! I purchased her at Heather's Speckled Egg Holiday Gift Show here. And the sweet Christmas box with vintage wallpaper and vintage tinsel and bottle brush trees and the little bunnies? LOVE IT!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much Sweet Lori, Love, Jamie

I finally managed to get the house decorated for Christmas! But, I can brag a little and say that I am totally done with my shopping? It's a first, believe me! I am usually still out on Christmas Eve frantically looking for something:) So, here is my Christmas mantle with some of my lovely old books thrown in for good measure:)

The boys and I went to a Gingerbread decorating class last Saturday and here are their sweet houses. David did his all by himself and I "helped" James:) Oh, AND I let the boys decorate the tree this year all by themselves. I strung the lights and they hung the ornaments. I had to put my inner Martha Stewart in a gag and straight jacket to do it, but it was worth it to see how excited they were:)

James' House

David's House

Notice how the kisses seem to be losing their tops? Oh, and the BITE taken out of the roof! I must have mousies:)

100th Post, Ledger Pages, 2 FITS and My Sweet Grandpa...

Did ya miss me? I missed you:) Sorry for the delay in FITS, but it's been crazy here. I will make it worth the wait, promise!

First, here are two more ledger pages from the Arkansas ledger. They are from two different accounts, but both families buried a loved one in the same month. You can see where the deceased's last outfit, the cloth to cover the coffin and the nails to close the coffin are purchased. There are many other clues to others dying around this time period so I think there was a sickness of some sort going around. I wish I knew what it was and I wonder if Doc McBride was riding all over town caring for the ill. Anyhoo, hope you find the reading interesting:) By the way, feel free to copy any of these ledger papges and use them in your art:)

Here are the FITS for last week and this week. Also, since this is my 100th post I am posting for you some awesome Victorian Christmas scrap. They would make great tags:)

I just got this tintype photo. It is a full plate tintype so it is big. It measures 9" by 7" and I love how the photographer has posed everyone. It must have been difficult with 14 people to work with and make stand still! If you look the two men in the back are TWINS and the Dad is rockin an awesome Abraham Lincoln beard! LOL!! The women are all beautiful and they have such wonderful hairstyles. A beautiful civil war era family captured in time.

This is a lovely CDV photo of the sweetest little girl EVER! I think she is holding an orange in her hands. She will be on my next collage sheet for sure. Too Cute!

CHRISTMAS SCRAP FOR ALL!!!!!!!

This is for my sweet Grandpa. I heard this in the car on the way home from the airport.

I love you the best, Jamie

"But when the night is falling
and you cannot find the light
If you feel your dream is dying
Hold tight
You've got the music in you
Don't let go
You've got the music in you
One dance left
This world is gonna pull through
Don't give up
You've got a reason to live
Can't forget
We only get what we give." ~New Radicals

FIT, Thank You and Dr. McBride...

FIT for this week. Is that not the CUTEST baby EVER!!! Her name is Helen Marie Lerperring and she is 5 months old. I could just kiss those fat cheeks!!!


I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have so many things in my life that I am thankful for and this blog is included in that list. Thank you so very much for visiting like you do!

I am continuing my Good Deeds and it really is fun looking around and noticing things you can do to help someone else or make their day brighter. The big thing I did last week was something my husband wanted to do. We purchased a laptop for a child who would not have access to one. It is through an organization called OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) and the laptops are SO COOL!! They are water proof, fall proof, dust proof and they have rechargeable batteries and can run on solar power!! The laptops connect to the closest internet signal but, knowing that most of these children would not have access to an internet connection they programmed the laptops to network together. So children in a classroom automatically connect together and then they can email and do activites with each other. And, if one child has internet then the others who connect to him/her have it also. VERY COOL! I wish we could know the boy or girl who gets the laptop. I hope it makes a difference in their life.



Finally, here are the pictures of the wonderful art Sweet Rella sent to me! So sorry it took so long. I took the photos before I left for Houston, but then I left the camera! I would not have had time to update anyway. I was too busy stuffing my face with my Mother-in-laws homemade chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies. LOL!!
Rella, the photo of your Mom is so cute!! Just a PERFECT Fairy! Every surface was covered with wondeful painting and is so detailed! It looks big in the photos, but in reality the bird house is only about two inches tall. Very tiny and precious!!! I would have had to use a magnifying glass to paint such detail:)

I so love the saying Rella placed on the back. So true sweetie! Thank you again!! I will cherish it always. Love, Jamie

Here are some more pages from the Arkansas ledger. This is a photo of what the ledger looks like too. I love it so much!!!!

This is the account of the town doctor, Dr. McBride. He ordered all his medicine and supplies through the store and it is a wonderful example of 1800's medical practice. He even ordered a ledger to keep track of his patients. I wish I had my hands on that one!! He also ordered six spools of thread and I shutter to think of what that was for! EEK! His purchases are so interesting so when you get a chance to sit down, take a load off and look over it:)

Some people have asked if I am selling these ledger pages in my Etsy store. This is part of my personnal collection and will stay with me. I try not to mix the Etsy with blog other than the pictures on the sidebar. Anything I show here is to share with everyone. I think it's so neat and hopefully someone else out there thinks it is too. You are free to print these out and use them in your personnal art.:)

Yesterday I walked for 30 minutes on the treadmill and took a nutritional class.

Today I am listening to "Porcelain" by Moby.

FIT and More To Come....

First, I want to thank sweet Rella for the wonderful art piece she gifted me. It is an honor sweetie! It is so lovely and I will share pictures tomorrow. My camera ran out of batteries this morning and I need to make a trip to the store for more. I should know better by now to ALWAYS have them in bulk! LOL!!!

I also want to thank sweet Kari and Kijsa for blogging about the beautiful tags they made with some of the blue ledger paper I sent to them. Thank you so much sweeties!!! They are fabulous so go run to their blog and feast your eyes!


I only have a limited time tonight but I have found the most wonderful ledger!!!! It is a store ledger from 1887 and it is so facinating. Just like a novel for me. The handwriting is very clear and legible. I have been reading over it most of this evening. The FIT for today is a page from the ledger and I will share more pages with you tomorrow. This page is an example of the things the store provided the community and the prices.

I have learned so many things! Like you went to the store to get a tooth pulled and it cost .50!! And when a loved one died you had to go to the store and purchase the nails for their coffin. I never really thought about that. So sad! There were a lot of deaths and I think it was an influenza outbreak, but I am not sure. I am still doing some detective work:)

Anyway, I am sooo excited to share this with you and I hope you enjoy learning about this community along with me:) Love, Jamie

FIT and Good Deeds...

My first week of good deeds is under my belt and I have learned many things. First off, thank you for sharing your deeds with me. It feels good doesn't it? :)


I met everyone's eye and smiled that first day and got such lovely responses back that I have just kept doing it:) So, I really will be the town crazy! I have held doors, let people go ahead of me in line, I've kept my mouth closed when I realized it was my frustration and not their problem, and I have learned an important lesson.


Sometimes, I forget that the most important people who need my good deeds are right under my own roof. So , I have met their eyes and smiled more. I have kept my mouth closed when I realized it was my frustration and not their problem. I have hugged more and laughed more and not been so serious. Hopefully these good deeds will make a true difference.

The FIT for this week is a lovely lady who reminds me of winter with her fabulous white outfit. I hope you like her:)

My thanks goes out to all of you who use the free images in your art. It makes me so very happy to see the photos given new purpose. I would like to give a special thanks to Nancy who always brings a smile to my face with her wonderful creations. And to Sarah from across the pond who wrote me to show what she did with her giveaway papers. And to sweet Rella who honors me by sharing her wonderful art. Thanks sweeties!

Pitchin' a FIT Straight to You....

Well, I must say that I am so excited everyone loves their ledger papers!!!!

I appreciate you all so much and this whole process has filled my heart. I was thinking (yes, I do that on occasion) yesterday about how awesome it felt to reach out personally to you all. It feels almost selfish because I think it benefited me in wonderful ways. And then I was thinking about GoodDeed.org and how wonderful it felt on 9/11 to donate the 1820's ledger to the Historical Society. I want that every day. So I want to make it my goal to do a good deed everyday. It doesn't have to be big, but I would like it to be for a perfect stranger. So today I am choosing one I saw on the website on 9/11 and that one is to meet every one's eye today and smile. Simple, but awesome. People might think I am the town crazy, but that's OK. They might be right! LOL!! Will you do a good deed today? Please tell me if you do because I would love to hear about it:)

Love, Jamie

PS- Thank you all for your sweet well wishes for the boys. They are on the mend and feeling better. David went back to school yesterday and James goes back today. Can you hear the angels singing? LOL!! Oh, and I FINALLY arted some too! I started small (only a tag) but, boy, it felt good!!!!! Here is the FIT for today. Is he not the cutest?!! I bet he is in his Easter outfit. This is a RPPC (Real Photo/People Postcard) and it is postally unused on the back so I don't know where this cutie is from or the year the photo was taken. I do have the overwhelming urge to put wings on him though! So, you know, it WILL happen:) LOL!!

PPS- And sweet Ali there are some ledger papers coming to you too:) David slept with his Kangaroo postcard last Friday night and he said that the Emu (the animal, NOT your drawing! LOL!) looked like a cross between a chicken (head), a giraffe (neck), an ostrich (body) and a flamingo (legs). And yesterday at the post office he told the person behind us in line very proudly that, "My Mom mails her art all the way to Australia!" He still thinks that is the COOLEST ever! LOL!

Oh, and THEN he told the person in line that that I don't shop at ---mart (name changed to protect the in---to protect me) anymore because the people there are very rude and they don't have good customer service and that we shop at another store now even thought it's more expensive and we are never going back to the other store again. Thank goodness they weren't an employee from there! I bet he tells on me all the time! LOL!!

Somehow FIW Just Doesn't Sound The Same....

So sorry I'm late on the FIT! James is sick and his asthma is really needing my attention right now. Hopefully we are on the downside of it, but I am TIRED!!! Happy Halloween to you all:)

Here is the cutest little boy for your arting pleasure. I just love him! He is one of those "perfect" photos for collage.

The last batch of free giveaway papers are in the mail and on their way to you all. Thank you so much for your wonderful support and friendship! Love, Jamie

Finally! I made it! FIT Quick and Dirty....

The first big batch of Free Giveaway Packs are in the hands of the postal service and heading your way! I have 6 more to pack and they will be mailed tomorrow. Fun!!! Here is a little sneak peek!

This is 174 year old ledger paper. It is a store ledger, but I have no other information on it's origins. Your pack has two beautiful, original sheets. Both sheets have writing but on one of the sheets I have printed some of my antique egg prints. Unfortunately the eggs are only ink jet printed. I tried printer after printer and no one would run the ledger paper through their machines. Something about policy, blah, blah, blah, only commercially approved paper, blah, blah, blah, the paper's so old it would catch on fire in our machine, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I would recommend laser copying the page and using that copy in your art. Ink jet ink will not hold up in most applications. I hope you guys love these!!!!

My sweet husband is out of town this week and I am here with the boys:) Makes for one busy Momma! I am posting this from my new computer which works like a charm:) Thank you for all of your positive computer vibes:) Yeah!!!

Ok, real fast because I have monkeys waiting for me to read bedtime stories. The FIT today is soooo sweet! I can't pass up the baby christening gown photos. Ever. I must have 100's. But they are all so sweet:) This little cutie melts my heart! I want to snuggle him in the crook of my neck:)

Having a FIT and You Can Have One Too! LOL!!

I really like how you have been calling Free Image Tuesdays FIT in your comments. So have a FIT on me:) LOL!! These three images are gem type tintype photos. They are tiny (I put a 1917 dime beside them for comparison) only about 1" by 1". Aren't they lovely? They are so small that I didn't even know the young lady on the right was wearing glasses until I enlarged my scan! These would make some awesome jewelry! Tintypes are by far my favorite type of photograph. They have such clarity and an ethereal quality at the same time. Their faces seem so defiant. Like they are staring across time demanding that you acknowledge their existence. Ya'll must think I have flipped my lid! Don't worry. I could wax poetic about my Adopted Ancestors all day long! LOL!!


Speaking of waxing poetic... Do you ever feel like life is moving so fast that you can't keep up? That's how I feel lately. I have so many things I want/need to do and I can't get them done. I am caught in Cheryl's "hamster wheel" and I am making myself dizzy. One thing I am not doing is Arting and I really miss it. I have to do it, it keeps me stable:) The other thing I have not been doing is blogging. I was up at 2 am this morning (insomnia) and I visited every blog on my sidebar. Do you know what it felt like? It felt like home and it felt sad. I have missed so much. I have been taking way more than I have been giving lately. But, I guess that's how friendship works. Sometimes you will need to lean and sometimes I will need to lean and together we will not fall too hard. Love You Guys:) Jamie

Oh, PS-The background I used for the FIT is coming to a mail box near you:)

Free Image Tuesday....

This is a CDV from the civil war era. Those curls are called banana curls. Or if you are James they are called banamba curls:)
Ok, here is the last post (cross fingers) I make from the Voodoo! My new computer came today and is sitting in the box waiting for hubby to work his mad computer skillz. I am posting the photo now, but will be back later to update and run my new baby through it's paces:) I have gotten lots of wonderful emails about the giveaway. It's not too late. I will give you another hint. It is 174 years old. And NO, it's not the LeftoveRs that have been producing the next cure for the plague in the back of my fridge:)

It Should have Been Lemon Yellow and Free Image Tuesday....

Well, the new computer lasted exactly three start ups and then it went to that great Hard Drive in the Sky. I have a replacement arriving in 6 days. So says Dell.

But, only AFTER having my husband remove the ram, the hard drive, the extra memory, the optical card, the ram again, the keyboard (THE KEYBOARD! ack!), once again the ram, the battery and the hard drive again. Luckily, he builds computers and knows what he is doing, but what if it had been me? Or Lori? LOL!! We would have been in big trouble!

Two hours later, he went for a break and left ME on hold with the support person who then received an ear full from one frustrated wife who had been patiently acting as surgical nurse during this operation and Presto!--- I got a totally new computer. I only wish I had blown my cool earlier in the conversation. Hormones CAN work in your favor ladies! LOL!

The free image for today is one that I love so much! Look at those sweeties! And the Bows! I have boys so bows fascinate me:)

I have had some people email me about selling the free image photos on Etsy. I make it a point not to because I don't want someone buying an original photo and then seeing copies of it some place else in someone else's art piece. These photos are my personal collection and I want to share them. I was thinking of maybe having them printed into collage sheets down the line. Anyway, I just wanted to address the question:)

FREE GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

Thanks so much for all your well wishes! I am feeling good, having some reflux trouble (yuck), but they say it is temporary. Also I want to show my appreciation to you all by sending you a treat so leave me your snail mail address at arteology@hotmail.com and I will ship the treats next week. This means you too lurkers:) Come on and don't be shy:) They are wonderful treats that start with an L and end with an R. Can you guess? And no, it's NOT liqour! Bad girls! LOL!!! Love, Jamie

Free Image Tuesday Right On Time.....

Well, I needed that like I needed 4 more holes in my stomach! LOL!!! Seriously, I want to thank everyone for their good thoughts and prayers. They were very much appreciated. Actually I feel so much better than I did before the surgery. The doctor said my gallbladder was inflamed and "angry" so I guess it's good I had it removed. I also had a 1.9 centimeter gallstone! Yikes!Thank you Cheryl for giving me the loving shove I needed to muster up the courage to do so:) I was askeered! So I am recouping well and my Mom is here helping with the boys. Actually the recovery has been pretty easy since the surgery was done laproscopically. Yeah modern medicine! My husband watched the boys the first week and did a wonderful job. Mom is here spoiling the boys and loving every minute of it. They probably won't let her leave when the time comes. They love her so:)


My husband not only took off an entire week to care for me but he also had a wonderful surprise waiting for me. My very own Dell Laptop!!!! In Spring Green!!! Even the mouse is Spring Green:) Now I can spend some evening time in Blogland when he is having his computer time:) I am very excited! He even gave me a computer cushion so I can relax in the living room and surf:) So yeah more blog time and yeah Hubby!!! Here is a picture of my new baby:)

The Free Image for today is a lovely cabinet card of two ladies. They are identified on the front as Kate Rowland and Mary Davis. Maybe they are sisters and one is already married. The background for the photo is unusual and the pose used is unusual also. I really like this one:) Love you all and I hope your week is going well! Love, Jamie

Also, I got this note from sweet Darlene:

I tried to print two of your free little girl pictures (from June 11 and July 17).I must be doing something wrong because the pictures look blurry. I can see some of the pixels.Thanks, Darlene

Is anyone else hving this problem and does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can help her or do better with the photos? You all know I am a complete computer dork! LOL!! We are working on it Darlene!:)

Free Image Tuesday A Day Early....

These are tintypes of the same girl. I love her different hairstyles in the photos.

I am going into the hospital this afternoon and I am having my gall bladder removed. So here is tomorrow's image and I hope you are all having a good week! I'll check back in when I can! Love, Jamie

I've Been Tagged!.....

Sweet Erin over at Things and Stuff and Sweet Sarah over at Joy For The Journey tagged me to play the name game so here it goes! You are supposed take your middle name and write a word/fact that helps describes you for each letter. Be prepared to be here awhile. My middle name is Micheline.



M- Micheline is my namesake. She was a young girl in France during WWII. My grandfather stayed with her family while he was stationed there for the war. I was given her name. My Mom is working on getting some photos and letters from her for me.

I- I still can't whistle.

C- Creative My mom says I started drawing very early and when I was two I drew a perfectly recognizable whale blowing water out of it's blowhole. James drew a duck for me yesterday:)

H- Homemaker I'm no June Cleaver, but I am so grateful to stay home with the boys.

E- Eat I do it to sooth my soul, to stuff my emotions down and I hide behind the resulting fat.

L- Love My love for my family is infinite.

I- Inspired Inspired by all of you and the wonderful art you share. The lives you share.

N- Nurturer I am good in this role.

E- Educator I am still a teacher in my heart:)

1920's bird reprint from my personal collection and an original 1865 bill of sale

This is a sneak peek of my new line of note cards. They will be in the ETSY shop soon and I am really excited about them! And, yes, I did cut that out by hand and all the others. I can only say thank goodness for sharp scissors and Exacto knives! LOL!!

9/11 Rememberence, My new ledger and MyGoodDeed.org and Free Image Tuesday...

Today is the anniversary of 9/11. I found a wonderful website called My Good Deed at http://www.mygooddeed.org/. It is a site to pledge a good deed in honor of 9/11. If you have a chance please visit and pledge your good deed. One man pledged to meet people's eyes and smile when he passed them and one little boy pledged to help a friend with his homework:) It is a wonderful way to turn those horrible hours and days and months and now years that have followed 9/11 into a way to make things better for others and yourself.


I received a new ledger yesterday. I originally bought it for the ETSY store. And I have been waiting patiently for it to arrive in the mail. It is a leather bound ledger from 1829.

After opening the package I realized it was more beautiful and more exquisite then I had imagined. I knew then when I saw it that it did not belong with me. But, you know how I love those ledgers:)

So, I thought about it all night and this morning I spent the better part of the morning reading over the 1829 newspaper clippings that were inside trying to find where it came from and what it was used for so long ago. There are no indications inside the ledger. The person who sold it to me said it was a general store ledger, but it is not from a store. I believe that it is a lawyer's ledger or a debtor's prison ledger that keeps track of debts and unpaid loans. I gleaned from the newspaper clippings found inside that it was from Hudson, New York.

I then searched Hudson, NY and found out that it was in Columbia County. I checked the early 1800's censuses for that area and found almost all the names of the men in the ledger so that confirmed it's origin for me. I knew then that I needed to send it where it really belonged. So I contacted the Columbia County Historical Society and spoke with Helen the curator. I told her what I had figured out about the ledger and she asked if I was interested in selling it to them for their archives. I told her that I would be donating it to them and she was so excited. She said their accquisition funds were limited. So, I am mailing it off this afternoon. It feels so right and good. I am thrilled that this was my good deed for 9/11 and the fact that the ledger was originally from New York makes it even better.

I know you are all thinking that my good deed should have been to answer all of your sweet and wonderful comments:) LOL! James has been sick and I have yet to have a free Tuesday or Thursday. Bare with me sweeties! You know I love you all:) Love, Jamie

These are photos of the ledger and then scans of some the ledger pages and newspaper clippings. Those pages are your Free Image Tuesday and they would make awesome backgrounds for your collage work:)

Free Image Tuesday and More.....

I'll start with the free image:) I love these gals! Are they nuns? Are they nurses? Why do I think Halloween when I see them? They seem a little creepy for some reason. Is that bad for me to say? LOL!!! This photo is a RPPC (real people post card) but it is postally unused so I do not know where it came from or anything else about it.

I want to share a story from a 1895 children's book called, "Ripples of Mirth". It belonged to Master Hiram Landon in 1897. I was so taken a back when I read it and could not believe that it was a "children's" story. We shelter our kids from death, but at that time it was an all to common occurrence with younger children.

I do know that some of the photos I own (especially the ambrotypes and tintypes) are probably the only photos taken of that person their entire lives. That's why post-mortem photography was so common. When a young child died there often was no photograph of them alive, so the family would have the photographer come take a photo before burial.

It's an interesting glimpse into early Victorian mores and society. I am thankful we live in a time with advanced medical knowledge and better living situations.

James starts pre-school this week so that means Momma gets some free time for Arting! Yeah for Momma!!!!! I will also get more computer time:) I hope everyone is having a wonderful week and thank you so much for your wonderful, supportive comments from my previous post. They all made me smile:) Love, Jamie