Dude Looks Like A Lady FIT...Antique Photo Dating...

I don't know Ya'll. I think this "Lady" looks like a man. What an amazing photo this would be if that were true. The face has masculine features. The hands are very manly. This person is sitting with their legs spread open wide under that skirt. Something a lady of that time period would not do in a photo or public. Am I crazy, far off on this one? I am interested to know what everyone thinks about this. There is no identification on the back of the cabinet card so all I really know about it is that the photograph was taken in Shelburne Falls, Mass. I love a good mystery! LOL!!

That bow is almost as wide as this child's shoulders!!! Talk about crazy fashion fads. LOL! It is a really sweet photo and I like her relaxed pose against the table. I cleaned her up quite a bit. The original is horribly torn and water stained.

Next week I am starting a series on the dating of antique photos. So many times we buy or receive photos with no family names or date taken written down. I have been studying and collecting photos for a long time now and I think it really adds more to your art when you know a little about your images. I have lots of examples of different types of photos and clothing prompts to help date the time period. I would love to share those here with you all. The photo above is part of my ambrotype collection.

Quote for Today:

"Love isn't finding a perfect person. It's seeing an imperfect person perfectly."
~Sam Keen

Art Creations Friday...Late...Really Late...

I know it's Thursday and tomorrow is Friday and these images are from last week and the week before, but I couldn't make my Art Creations Fridays while all the yucky stuff was going on and I missed it! So here is an image made from the last two challenges.

I used the girl from last week and the hand painted background from the week before. Vintage Wil made the beautiful hand painted background.

When I looked closely at the background I found a section that looked like hydrangeas to me.

Then, I found one single, yellow rose bud and then I made a bouquet for her:)

Quotes for Today:

"People often say that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder. This empowers us to find beauty in places where others have not dared to look, including inside ourselves."
~Salma Hayek

"There is hidden beauty everywhere."
~Me

Under Construction!! Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid!...

I am fiddling around with the blog layout. I have NO idea what I am doing. So if you see any weirdness at Art-e-ology (which I know you will! LOL!!) just ignore it and know I am somewhere lost in cyberspace ranting and raving;) Love, Jamie

Quote for Today:

"Remember to use positive affirmations. I am not a dork is not one of them."

~Brian Andreas (Story People)

Sweet Baby Mine FIT...

I love this little one sitting up so big in his or her chair. Those chubby little hands and chubby little cheeks. I've been having baby fever for a few weeks. I can't have anymore babies, but knowing that almost makes it worse. My husband is having it too and walks around saying, "We don't have any little babies in the house anymore." He only says that because he didn't get up for night feeds:) I'm sure having the summer with the boys home all day will cure me pretty quick! LOL!!!!

I've Got The Voodoo In Me!...Random Acts of Kindness...

The Voodoo is MINE!!!!! All MINE!!!!!

What is she rambling on about now? Here's a link to an old post when we first got the Voodoo," That Ole' Black Magic". So, my techno geek husband upgraded his computer to a new, better, faster one (also from Voodoo) and I got the old Voodoo for myself:) My new baby is SLICK and FAST and Wonderful! The liquid coolant system makes sweet, relaxing sounds while I work. Like a bubbling mountain stream, only better! LOL!! I love it and I got a new 23 inch monitor. I love my laptop ya'll, but the big monitor makes Photoshop editing so much easier! And bigger. And awesomer. So pardon my absence of late, but I was transferring files and setting up my baby;)

Look at what loveliness came in the mail for me!!! This is from sweet Terri at Blooming Ideas. The minute I saw this on her blog I knew I loved it and imagine my giddiness at finding it in my mailbox last week! I signed up for The Random Act of Kindness project on her blog and this is what she sent me. I LOVE it Terri!!! She has been so patient with me waiting for my post;) Your assemblage piece looks so wonderful on my desk Sweetie!

So. Since I posted under her Random Act of Kindness blog giveaway, I now need to hold a Random Act of Kindness giveaway myself. The first five folks to sign up stating that they would like to participate will receive a gift in the mail from me. It will be something I create by hand, not digital. It will arrive as a surprise one day this year in your mailbox. If you sign up of the giveaway then you need to hold one on your blog for five other folks also. It can be anything you wish to send and you have a year from the day you post the Giveaway to send it.

I have posted Teri's rules here so you can read more about it!

Give Away & Pass It On - Random Acts of Kindness Alert - my turn to pass this on after participating with Lori at http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/ Pretty things.
The first 5 people to respond to this post will get something made by me. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully:
* I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. but I think you will.
* What I pick will be just for you.
* It'll be done this year (2009).
* You have no clue what it's going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be a handmade card, or jewelry, something lovely made out of paper, beads, or a random treasure. Who knows?
* I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. (That's my favorite one Terri! LOL!!)

It's Easy and Fun!!!! So sign up and get in some blog love today! It's good for ya!! LOL!!


I want to say think you to all of you that have been sending such wonderful thoughts my way lately. It's been a crazy month or two and things are settling down finally. James had a follow-up with the specialist. She tested his lung function and that monkey is at 76% lung function right now. Yuck! So no procedures just yet. She said she likes to see her asthma kids at 85% or better so we are holding off until we see if his new medications improve the function.

Mom is brave and wonderful and amazes me with her awesome attitude. She starts radiation this week and I told her I was sending her some stripper tassels to wear on her 1st appointment. LOL!! Love you Mom!

Quote for Today:

"Most people don't know there are angels whose only job is to make sure you don't get too comfortable and fall asleep and miss your life." Brian Andreas

He Will Grow Into Them

He Will Grow Into Them, originally uploaded by art-e-ology.

Photoshop is the perfect laundry avoidance. LOL!!!

Elisha is FIT for You...

I love this sweetie!!! I know that you can make wonderful art with her and I want to see it!!! She has such sweet, expressive eyes and chubby cheeks:)

This is my take on her, but I know that I will use her over and over. She is too cute not too!

This next photo is for my Mom. She found out last week that she has breast cancer. She had surgery yesterday to remove the tumor and biopsy the lymph nodes. The nodes came back clean and the surgeon feels very confident that he removed all the cancer. Now, after her incisions heal, she will have radiation 5 days a week for 7 weeks. We feel very thankful that things are looking so good. So this photo is for her. This is how I see you Momma. Kickin' cancer's ass with your sleeves rolled up. I Love You.

The Bride and A FIT That's Fit for a Thursday...

The Bride

Sorry!!! The week has slipped away from me. Thank you so much you sweet, wonderful friends for all of your support and words of kindness. James is doing better and hopefully they will get him in quickly to check out those lungs. And THEN hopefully we won't need so many "breefment treatments" any more. He melts my heart every time he says that! LOL!! The FIT this week is a lovely, young lady who I am posting twice. I am giving you the original photo and then a cleaned up photo so you can choose which one to use. I also used her in a digital collage. She has such lovely eyes.

The Time Keeper

The Time Keeper, originally uploaded by art-e-ology.

Time runs in fits and starts here lately. This is what I do in the late hours when everyone is asleep except James and I. Thank so all so much for your sweet words and thoughtful comments. He is doing much better. When he is totally clear and well he is going to be put under general anesthesia so the doctors can scope his lungs to see what exactly is going on in there. I hope they can find something, anything, that will help him. We were able to keep him out of the hospital this time so that is awesome. When the asthma specialist said that he would need to be admitted if he didn't improve in 24 hours I looked over at him. He was laying on the exam table looking at the ceiling and one single big, fat tear rolled down from the corner of his eye. That's all the fuss he made and I knew he was so very scared. My poor Sweet, Sweet Bunny.

I have FITs for you this afternoon. We are all getting back into our routines here. But I think I could sleep for the next month or two! LOL!!!

Good Boy

Good Boy, originally uploaded by art-e-ology.

Julia

Julia , originally uploaded by art-e-ology.

Lena

Lena, originally uploaded by art-e-ology.

I love Flicker!! LOL!!!

Sorry if I have been quiet. James has had pneumonia and David and my husband are sick also. We have worked round the clock with James' doctor to keep him home and out of the hospital. He was hospitalized in November for pneumonia and I did not want him back there. He was so sad/scared when he thought he might have to go again. Tired is my middle name this week:) So forgive my quietness. I plan to nap as much as possible this weekend;) Love, Jamie

Elizabeth

Elizabeth, originally uploaded by art-e-ology.

Just testing out my new Flicker account:)

Kewpie Doll FIT!...Thank You Sweet Friends!...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! It rained here for the 4th year in a row, so the Easter Bunny had to hide his eggs indoors. I may be finding jelly beans in the couch cushions for weeks!


Look at this living Kewpie Doll!!!! That hair!!! Is he not the sweetest thing?! I love finding cabinet cards that show the children smiling. He is clutching a little bell in his right hand. You know he was ringing that thing as fast as he could! LOL!! There was no identification for this sweetie, but the photographer was from the Schubert Brothers Studio of Chilton, Wisconsin.


I have had a really wonderful response about the new digital collage sheets and I wanted to share some of the lovely artists who have been so sweet to show the art pieces they have made using the sheets.

This first piece is from Sweet Lori over at My Faerie Window. She used the tintype collage sheet in a sweet tag for her spectacular burlap bag. I love the vintage handkerchief and vintage pearl jewelry piece she used as accents. Only Lori could make lowly burlap look so beautiful! LOL!!

She also is a genius with collage, paper clay AND needle felting. If I didn't love her so much I would be terribly jealous;)



These next pieces are from Sweet Nancy over at Vintage Papers. She used both of the tintype collage sheet and the Lena collage sheet. Nancy just finished her Spring Break and she made grand use of her time:) Look at all the wonderful pieces she created! These first three pieces are skinny collages. I see on the first collage Nancy also used the fabulous egg stamp from her Sugar Lump Studio's Heartfelt stamp collection as embellishment. I have that set and love it!!

The next collages are beautiful cards!! One using my Lena collage and one using a FIT!! I love it when I see those FITS in action:) I always love Nancy's art and the images she shares with us.
I love all of these so much Nancy! Thank you Sweet Friend.

If you have posted art using any of the collage sheets or FITs and I have not posted them then ring my neck and let me know! LOL!! Not too hard though;)

Having A FIT for Easter!...

I was cleaning out my piles of "old stuff nobody really cares about" (Thanks David! Way to support your Mom! LOL!!) and I found these Easter postcards that I had bought and then forgotten about. Organization at it's finest, People! LOL! I left the post cards worn and dirty just as they are, but they are high resolution and you can clean them up before you use them if you like:) They would make great Easter tags!

I'm not too sure about this one. Why does that little girl have a gun? Are they hunting the Easter bunny? Did He get away? These things keep me up at night Folks:)

Thank You Sweet Guinea Pigs:)...

Thank you so much for all of your help with the new collage sheets!! Your feedback means so much to me and has really helped me today. The collage sheets are yours to keep and use to create wonderful art. Love, Jamie

A FIT That's Fit for Your Mother...I'm Special...Thank You Guinea Pigs...

There are two photos for today's FIT. The first is a photo from France from the late 1800's. This sweet cutie has wiggled right out of one of her black stockings. I love how she is looking right into the camera. What an adult look for such a tiny thing!

The next FIT photo is included for Mother's Day coming up. It really is such a sweet moment captured between Mother and Child. I love the christening gown the little one is wearing and the proud look on Mother's face. I forgot to add yesterday that the baby's name is Hazel Louis Denny and she is 5 months old. So SWEET!!

Why am I special you ask? Well, it's because I am now the owner of an original art piece, "Maude and the Lucky Bug", from Tumblefish Studio. Wonderful artist Miss Marsha Jorgensen created the most vibrant and special collage piece using sweet Maude from the FIT images. I was lucky enough to grab it from her awesome ETSY shop and I LOVE it so much!!!! She hand colors her collage elements and they are truly works of art. Although this is my first piece from Marsha I know it won't be my last. If you haven't already visited Marsha's blog then get ready to be blown away by her creative moxie. You must be warned though, she is quite addicting:)

Maude and the Lucky Bug . . .Copyright by Marsha Jorgensen 1/23/09

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all the brave souls who fell into my trap...I mean, volunteered to help me with my digital collage sheets. LOL!! I will begin emailing them at the beginning of next week. It is not too late to send me your email at askarteology@yahoo.com

I am looking forward to your feedback. The good and the bad:) Love, Jamie

Running In And Running Out....

Just running in to post some digital work to get it off my desktop:) I have some really special FITs for you tomorrow and a favor to ask you gals who use digital collage sheets. I am making some for the store, but I would really love some practice in sending them through the email and getting some feedback on print quality, etc. So if you are willing to help me out I would love your email address so I can send you some sheets early next week. My email is: askarteology@yahoo.com

Thanks so much Ya'll!

Love, Jamie

Spring Is Busting Out All Over FIT!!!!...We Are Home From Disney....Disney Photos (indulge me:)

Spring has sprung officially in our town and I am FINALLY in the mood for it! The FIT for today is a beautiful colorized photo from the 30's or 40's. It is perfect for your Spring arting. We are home from Disney happy and tired. I have lots of photos to share with you when I get some time to post more. I just wanted to get the FIT up before it was a FIW:) I have missed you all and hope that you are all having some Spring too:) Love, Jamie

Wednesday
Ok. I am all unpacked!! Yeah! Here are some (about 1% LOL!!) of the photos from Disney World. It was a PERFECT vacation and we all had a fabulous time. My husband is a total nut and ordered ALL the Photo Pass pictures. (Disney has professional photographers at all the big attractions and character meetings to take your photo. Then they scan a little card and when you get home you can download them from the computer. For a price. Very slick, that Disney. They think of everything:) He says, "Their first trip is Once in a lifetime, Right?" Ok, Happy Boy, step AWAY from the computer. He must be still flyin' high on Disney Magic:) These photos are a combination of ones we took and ones from Photo Pass.

This is the inside lobby of the Animal Kingdom Villas where we stayed. It was so cool and we could see animals right outside from our balcony! They even had an animal check list with descriptions and pictures of all the animals you might see outside. We checked off ostriches, giraffes, zebra, Roan antelope, blesboks, Ankole cattle, Nyalas, wildebeest, East African Crowned Cranes and eastern White Pelicans. Oh, and a bunny. We made our own check box for the bunny:) All without leaving the villa. TOTALLY cool!

David and James enjoyed the warm weather and the pool. Of course James (who LOVES the ladies) made lots of new friends! LOL!!!

We spent the day at the Animal Kingdom for David's birthday. He wore a hat that looked like a birthday cake and I do believe that every person who worked at Disney that we saw that day wished him a Happy Birthday. They really go out of their way to be helpful and sweet there. He had a blast!

Here are the boys meeting Mickey for the first time. They got autographs from all the characters during the week. I know that James really believes in his heart that they are real. Swoon!

This is us in front of Expedition Everest which is a huge roller coaster in the Animal Kingdom park. David and my husband rode it first thing that morning and it was very foggy and cool looking. I did not ride it. NO.

James was chosen for Jedi training in front of the Star Wars ride in the MGM Hollywood Studios park. Really BIG deal and I know he got in because his father was yelling so loud for them to pick him! LOL!!!! Ok. First, I have never seen him so serious and proud. Second, I want to be a Jedi if that guy is going to teach me! LOL!! After they learned their Jedi moves then Darth Vader came out and they all got to fight him with their light sabers. HOW COOL IS THAT? That Darth Vader was about 7 feet tall and really scary and James fought him like a true Jedi. It was AWESOME!!

And finally this is James in the Magic Kingdom. They asked him to hold out his hands when they took his picture and then when we downloaded the photos yesterday they had put Tinkerbell in his hands. Magic. (I put the frame around him.)

Disney really is a Magical place. Seeing it through the boys' eyes was so wonderful. Having my Mom there was extra special. I don't think I have ever smiled so much. Ever.