Martha's Attic

I really enjoy working in Adobe Photoshop Elements messing around with images.  I just ordered Susan Tuttle's new book - Digital Expressions:Creating Digital Art With Adobe Photoshop Elements, can't wait to get it!  In the mean time I have been scanning the pages of an old catalog I found.  It must be from the late 1800's or early 1900's.  I can't find a date anywhere but it's from Chicago, Ill.  I'm amazed at some of the items in it, female items to musical instruments. A sterling silver tea set is $5.50.  In looking at some of these items, I thought they would make wonderful digital brushes.  I won't try to tell you how to do it, there are many articles online by people who are more knowledgable than I am, I am just learning, hit and miss. I did add some musical notes, just taken from an old music sheet. I've put them on a little large so you can see them, but I think they would be wonderful added to an old digital photo. As I experiment I hope t...

I don't know why, but I love to hear the sound of tires on gravel.   Maybe something from my childhood -soothing ....   What are some of your favorite sounds?

At this time of the year, there are so many different shades of green.  I just love it!  I also love the early blooms of the perennial geranium. It comes back every year and reseeds freely, giving me more plants. Mental block on this plants name, but I love the light green with the purple blooms! Some low growing plants in the rock garden, love the yellow with the green.

Aren't they?

A very slow day in the land of flea markets and yard sales.  I expect the weather had a lot to do with it, cloudy with a chance of (meatballs). We usually have many antique sellers at the flea market, the lot was about half full today.  I almost stayed home, but I was afraid I might miss something! I also went to six yard sales -I only bought two books. The best part of my morning was stopping for a cup of coffee and blueberry muffins at my mom's.  She decided not to go picking with me, so I stopped by to visit for a few.  I did hear Kim Komando promoting etsy on her radio show this morning - that was great! That's what babies do at grandma's house.

What are some of your favorite TV shows? I currently love Ghost Hunters, I have been watching it for several years now. Project Runway, although I stayed up to watch last night and I am really not happy with the winner. I thought Emilio was the best, but as they often do, they picked the odd ball. And my son has gotten me hooked on Nitro Circus on MTV2. I just can't help myself. What are your favorites?

I do, especially after my youngest son was born. I come from a thin lipped family, my husband has thin lips, but my son has very full lips. I have not yet figured out, where they come from. Frequently I study old family photos, looking for someone with full lips, haven't found them yet. I don't mention it to him, I don't want him wondering if I have lost my mind, (he already knows I have). He and my older son both have my father's eyes. One of my aunts always says, as long as my oldest son is alive, my father lives on -he favors him a lot. But I also look at features on other people, one is the area between the nose and mouth -the mustache area, take a mental survey, some people have a wide area -major mustache, some have a narrow space, thin mustache. I have been saving these pictures, I hope to do an art project with them at some point, but they seem to have fuller lips, especially one in particular! Are the men of today plumping their lips like women yet ?

I'm a little late getting my garden started this year. I try to start the peppers and tomatoes early so they will have some size before time to plant. A few tomatoes are getting there. The peppers are lagging behind. They are slower growing and like warm weather, so they will catch up when they are warmer. I have some basil coming up as well. It really hates cold weather so I do wait to plant it. My rabbit, Clover, loves basil, so I plant plenty for her! I have several different melons planted, they are ready to go out, but we are still having some cool nights in the 30's. I noticed yesterday, someone had been chewing holes in some of my plants. Upon further inspection I discovered -baby grasshoppers! I guess eggs had been planted in the pot of some plant I over wintered and they had hatched. Baby grasshoppers look just like their parents but in miniature, I tried to get a picture of one but my camera didn't cooperate.

I've had several of these in my favorites, just love the illustration and color! By http://www.etsy.com/shop/Babayagada And some wonderful work with colors that just pop! By http://www.etsy.com/shop/HollyvisionArt

I have been selling vintage items on etsy for over a year now. A lot of the items I find would be wonderful for certain artists, assemblage, collage, etc. Many of the items have made me think - I would love to do something with this. I have been messing with digital art as well, so, I am baring my soul -not really, but I have to start somewhere, and I need someone -other than my husband, whose biggest interest is tractors, and my youngest, a nineteen year old who is always on the go. Please honestly tell me what you think, needs something, too much, boring, any comment you want to make, I will accept gladly. I had a thought that if a birds head was bent over enough, it would make nice wings behind a figure, so I gave her wings. I used an old book cover for the backing, and it had a nice spine, so I used that as well. A few paper embellishments, ink, button, and here we are!

Mother's Day is coming -I just found these beautiful soaps on etsy at SatinandBirch http://www.etsy.com/shop/SatinandBirch . I think they are just wonderful. They will make a great Mother's Day gift, along with lunch. Now I just have to decide what colors ---

I have been having so much fun! I don't think I ever had a dollhouse growing up. We had barbies and clothes, I don't remember any dollhouses. I found this one this weekend at a great yard sale. It even came with some furniture. I have been arranging furniture all weekend. It's not in perfect condition, but I'm sure it has a few years on it. I intend to list it in my etsy shop, but I thought I had better be sure I can find a box for shipping first. I've been cleaning windows (frames), mopping floors, washing furniture, just having a big time. I love the color of the roof, and shutters. I believe it might be a Colonial Mansion, I do know it's made by Wolverine. It even has a garage with a door that works. There are some slight bends to the metal, they might be adjustable. A nice bedroom, and nursery. A sewing room with sofa, and juke box! The kitchen needs a few things. And a nice living room, dining area, just waiting for someone to come and play.

My oldest son is currently living in Alaska, so my homepage is a camera in the middle of Anchorage - http://www.alaskacam.com/ . That makes me feel a little closer to him, every morning when I turn on the computer, I can see what's going on, and after that, I go and check the earthquake site to see what is going on there. Alaska gets many earthquakes just like California. So in checking this morning I see it's snowing up there, and here in Virginia we're suppose to hit 90 degrees. I think it's time to move to Alaska! With these views I would love to!

I headed out early and stopped by to pick up my mom, we hit the flea market and a few yard sales, here are a few of the items we found. My favorite is the Fiesta Jug, wonderful color in that plaid pattern Beautiful blue enamelware, and in such good condition! This Fenton shoe is how I found it, a rolled up piece of fabric, with old pins and a safety pin. The safety pin doesn't have the loop at the end as they do now. An old bundt pan with a lid, I have never seen one like this before. And this wonderful little flashlight, called a usalite, from the 1950's. Beautiful weather, and a wonderful day shopping!

Another, from my "doll phase". She reminds me of an old hippie, but she seems to have lost one of her earrings, I guess that's expected..... I never finished her top, she has only one sleeve. I had made a couple of witches and sold them on ebay, I really enjoyed making some of the clothes, but I do not sew clothes for myself. I love her hair, that was a lot of fun. I gave her stockings with a patterned light pink fabric, painted her shoes on, and put little ribbons on the tops. But, I got lost somewhere along the way and never finished her, poor thing. She just always seemed to be missing something.