Glimpse of Happiness

 

"I caught a glimpse of happiness,

and saw it was a bird on a branch,

fixing to take wing."

Richard Peck

 

I used a bird illustration found in a book:

The English Year. Autumn and Winter,

published in 1913. I imagine it perching

briefly, preparing to fly off again.

Typewriter font messages were added to some,

and some were kept blank. I like having the

option to write in another message or a name,

if using as a gift tag. They turned out nicely

as rustic mason jar ring Christmas ornaments.

 

Hope you're all staying well & staying warm!

It's definitely getting colder here in Ohio.

There was a dusting of snow the day after

Thanksgiving, which made it feel like

Christmas Time's a-Comin'.

A final thought...

"The moments of happiness

we enjoy take us by surprise.

It is not that we seize them,

but that they seize us."

Ashley Montagu

Thank you for stopping by!

Thanksgiving poem

I recently found a shortened version of this poem in one of my antique Readers (see page 94). A few of the lines were familiar, but I really enjoyed finding and reading through the original poem, and thought others might as well. The sleigh image was scanned from my book, and the paper texture I used can be found at The Old Design Shop.

Thanks for stopping by, and

Happy Thanksgiving!

Joys of Christmas

"And, so, Christmas comes

to bless us! Comes to teach us how

to find the joy of giving happiness,

and the joy of being kind."

Gertrude Tooley Buckingham

 

It took awhile to gather so many different images, but I love the final collection. As you can see, there are snowy homes & a church, 2 "stained glass" patterns, holly & mistletoe, little brown birds, and a child & angels with Christmas trees. I'll be using them as gift tags - they would look beautiful accented with glitter or a gold/silver marker. Another suggestion would be fitting inside a canning jar ring (regular, not wide mouth) and giving as ornaments. Below is an example of one I made:

Here are the free graphics

& sources used in my artwork:

*The Old Design Shop*
Snowy candlelit cottage
 
*TuckDB Postcards*

Silver angel & tree 

Angel holding pine tree

Cottage with sheep

Snowy church & water

 Many birds & blue pot

*The Feathered Nest*

Girl & Christmas tree

French ledger ephemera

*rawpixel*

Holly

Myrtle branch

Mistletoe

*Ephemeratopia*
Pair of birds

*NYPL - digital collections*
17th century wall tile

Earthenware panel

Thank you for stopping by!

Pictures in the Fire

"Winter is the time for comfort,

for good food and warmth, for the

touch of a friendly hand and for a talk

beside the fire: it is the time for home."

Edith Sitwell 

 

8"x10"

8"x10"

5"x7"

5"x7"

8.5"x11"

Years ago, while antique shopping with my mom, I bought a book. "Dutton's Holiday Annual - 1890." It was already falling apart, so this and many other pages have already come out. This sweet image has always been a favorite. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have...

Thank you for stopping by!