Antique Faces

Welcome to another edition of Thrifty Thursday hosted by Leigh of Tales from Bloggeritaville. This gives us all a chance to have a fun time hunting around the house, the garage, someone elses house and garage or even a thrift store or two to dig up some cool finds. Be sure and check out the other Thrifty Finds, from the other participants. I'm always amazed at what folks submit and how often I wish I'd found it, or bought it or noticed it...whatever IT is :)

Yesterday, in anticipation of Thrifty Thursday I went to a local Mall - the Avonlea Antique Mall to be exact. It is one of the nicest antique malls I've see in a long time. My allergies are such, that the days of being able to scrounge around in a dusty, musty antique store are gone. This is not that type of place. There are booths, but the booths are quite large and easy to maneuver around in. I found a ton of treasures...enough for two weeks!

This week I'm going to show you the fabulous faces I found at the mall.

I do believe this is the face of a Hindu deity, but I'm very willing to be wrong on this one. It was a giant piece - about 4 feet tall. I just loved the whole thing - the gold, the black and the red light shining on the side. It was thrifty for me because I just photographed it. Purchasing it would be a whole other thing as it was a few thousand dollars.


This lady was sitting high up on a shelf, surrounded by hats and gloves. I don't think she was for sale.


This blonde little gal had a few sisters in this booth, but she had the greatest looking hat. The hat was $10.

Raggedy Ann has seen better days, but for $4 she was a bargain. I haven't seen a large Raggedy Ann doll in a long time. Usually when I see them, they are the little dolls. I was really tempted to get Ann here and bring her home.

These two darlings are a hoot! You can get this pair for $12. I think the little boy really wanted the drum. These little figurines were about 5" tall. They'd certainly brighten up a little corner.

I didn't realize until I got home and looked at the photos just how many faces I focused on and photographed. So that's the reason for this post - The Antique Faces that I found at the Mall. I hope you enjoyed the trip and come back next week when I'll show you some more thrifty finds.

Be sure to go visit all of the participants in Thrifty Thursday.
Have a great day!
Kristin

John Ritter

My husband will watch the news all day if allowed. Seriously. It is one of the things that drives me to the brink of insanity. In order to save my sanity I record things on the DVR that my husband might like, so that when his gaze is turned away from the news for a few moments I switch to one of the shows I've recorded. Tonight I put on Biography. It was the story of John Ritter. Within seconds, Tom closed his computer and sat back in his chair. ahhhh It's almost like silence.

It was also very interesting. Bonus :)

Sometimes it's good to have a trick or three up your sleeve.

Down by the river

Lights along the St. Johns River walkway

I went to my final "free" photography class tonight. By free I mean that anyone who buys a camera from Ritz Camera gets to come to their classes. I can take the classes again (and will probably go to next weeks class again) and I can take a few of their elective classes later in the year, but for the most part, it's over.

I now know that I'm clueless about all of the manual settings and will need more classes and more practice. I am pretty good at composition once I get back to photobucket and crop my photos. The rule of thirds is easy for me to see when I'm at home. I just need to learn how to see it in the real world first and photograph it. I'll get it.


This sculpture is out in front of the Cummer Gallery of Art in the Riverside section of Jacksonville - just a few blocks away from the light shown above. I think I need to print this off and stick it on the fridge so that I'll remember to actually GO to this museum. It was closed the day I took this photo and I keep forgetting that I want to go.

This is one of those times when I realize that some things just aren't a priority. I think they should be. I'd like them to be. But in reality, it isn't.

Can you see the orange roofs in the background? That's called Jacksonville Landing. I've been there once with Tom around lunchtime and it's a real zoo. There are a ton of restaurants, so it's a real hot spot for lunch. I was planning on walking over there on this day, but I didn't realize how far away it really was...not to mention, it was really hot!

This is a portion of downtown Jacksonville. I was actually trying to take a picture of that weird net looking thing by the RailRoad tracks. I keep forgetting to ask Tom what it is exactly because he would know for sure. It's a part of the RR tracks and it's made of steel, I'm sure. It might be part of the weight for the drawbridge portion of the track. Oh heck, I don't know!

Downtown Jacksonville is sure pretty. I'm a sucker for blue glass buildings to begin with, so I'm pleased to have several of them in the Jax skyline.

This is the walkway along the St. Johns River. The trees are Crepe Myrtle. They are just so beautiful. Just today as I was waiting for a light to change at an intersection a light breeze came up and the Crepe Myrtle that was next to me showered the car in gorgeous pink blossoms. It was so cool. I said Thank You right out loud, just in case anyone was listening :)

Have a fabulous day!
Kristin

Charmed I'm sure

My sister has been working on creating the flyer for my high school reunion. I dropped the ball a bit (I found out) and was waiting for her and she was waiting on me for one of the last details. Everyone always seems to be waiting on me to finish something before they can go on. I'm not sure if it's that my memory is bad that I don't realize that I'm eons behind in something or if I'm an avoider.

I'm going for the avoider.

I was excited about the reunion mailing, so I don't know what in the world I was avoiding. My sister did SUCH an awesome job, too, so that doubly confuses me. Well, I got up early this morning and sent in the PDFs to the printer online. I had until noon central to get everything loaded and approved by the printer gods. I got it in before 10am. The printer god approval needed to happen by 12 noon central time. I know I said that once, but I needed to make that positively sure that it was stressed. At 11:30 I got an email that my document did not meet the criteria for a 28 page document.



A 28 page document??

Then I got another email moments later that said that my PDF didn't have the correct bleed.

I finally had to make a phone call to get this mess cleared up. I got someone who was very helpful and we got my document approved, bleed and all for a two sided brochure at...

11:59:06am

WHEW!!

Good thing I didn't avoid my email for those two hours. I was on pins and needles waiting for confirmation that my printing order was being printed.

That was too close.


Speaking of close.

I took close up photos of my colored pencils and scissors in a fabulous pickle jar. I thought they looked fabulous, but couldn't seem to come up with a post that centered on the theme. So I decided to talk about the flyer my sister did. I'm not revealing the flyer until they get mailed, so this was an excellent fill-in.

Living a Charmed Life

I also took a photo of Mocha yesterday and realized that she was laying next to her book. I'm sure she was studying it, because Mochas life is certainly NOT charmed :)

You know I'm kidding.

I love this book, by the way, but I love nearly everything that Victoria Moran writes.


I hope you have a fabulous week!
Kristin



I almost forgot!!

I mailed everything you see in the photo above to my swap partner in the Favorite Things Swap!

Well, I couldn't give it away before she received the package, now could I?!!!

Ooooh, I can't wait until she gets it.

OK, now I'm done.

really.

Bye :)

Amazing Dare Dozen

Someone in blogland pointed me to the Orisinal games and even though I'm not much of a computer game gal, I've come to really enjoy this site.

I love this game. It's easy, yet complicated. It's the Amazing Dare-Dozen. This is the little icon you click on to get to my favorite.

Each little square is a different game and I've only played a few of them, so let me know if you find one that is your favorite!

Have a great Sunday!
Kristin

Olympic memories

A year ago on 08/08/08 was the start of the Beijing Summer Olympics. I love the Olympics so much, which really surprises me because I'm not a sports nut by any stretch of the imagination. I don't attend sports, I don't participate in sports and I normally don't watch them on TV (except NASCAR) but I sure am engrossed during the Olympics.

I'm not sure if it's the background stories or if it's pride for the athletes & countries or what exactly. Sometimes I wonder if it's just the that countdown clock in the corner that makes it so exciting. I want to see exactly how close they can get to that world record or how many tenths of a second the beat another competitor.

In 1994, 15 years ago, the Olympics changed the Winter Games to be a separate year from the Summer Games. Now we get the excitement of the Olympics every two years instead of 4. The Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway (1994) was the first Winter Olympics to be held without a companion Summer Olympics the same year.

I have a very dear Norwegian friend, Ingrid, who helped with the Olympics in her country. She worked in Athletes Village as a housekeeper for the first week, I do believe. I remember her sending me photos of her and her friends with the Swiss Bobsled teams Gold Medals around their necks. They had just left them on the dresser in their room, so the girls couldn't help but to try them on! The second week I think she was selling food...sort of like the hot dog vendors at baseball stadiums, walking up and down the stairs. She worked the ski jump hill.



The following year, the summer of 1995, I went to Norway to visit Ingrid and we spent a whole day in Lillehammer. We went to the top of the ski jump and she showed me her path on the hill where she sold her wares, we visited a friend of hers who lived in what was Athletes Village. She showed me nearly every venue and we got to see where the Olympic Rings were carved out of the forest.



I was so excited to be in the same place as the Olympics had been. I was a year late, but I arrived!

I sort of got off track from where I started this post, but I think what I wanted to say was... I love the Olympics :) and one year ago today was the Opening Ceremony for the '08 Summer Olympics.

Have a fabulous day!
Kristin

Nat'l Lighthouse Day

I'm reminded of the movie "You've Got Mail" whenever I start writing on my blog. There's one line that Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) says as she typing to Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) "I like to pretend that we are in the middle of a conversation..." That's how I feel when I write my first sentence for each day. I'm in the middle of a conversation with you and I all of a sudden am reminded of something I wanted to tell you. So if I ever just start babbling about something and you have no idea where it came from, just pretend that I'm that crazy neighbor who is forever going off on some tangent and you have no idea what she's talking about. :)



I was looking at the bizarre and unique holiday guide today when I realized that today was National Lighthouse Day! Lighthouses are neat. I like them. They are nice, but I don't know one from another. I'm not an aficionado, but if one happens to be along the route I'm traveling, I'll go visit!

That's exactly what happened a few weeks ago when I happened along the St. Augustine Lighthouse. I've posted a couple of photos of the light house recently, but I had No Idea that today was National Lighthouse Day or I would have waited to reveal the lovely tower.

To get inside the fence and have the opportunity to walk up to the light in the lighthouse, I would have had to pay a fee. I chose the cheap route and stayed on the outside of the fence. I knew that I was never going to walk up to the top, so staying on the outside was just fine.

This is one of my favorite photos. I liked all the different textures and shapes. Brick, wood, metal, painted brick, triangles, pickets, etc.

This is quite a nice shot. I didn't realize how lovely the top of the lighthouse was until I used the zoom feature :) Love that zoom!


I do believe theses trees are called Live Oak trees. I love the twisty branches that sweep the ground in some places and arch high in others, but still maintain that twisty look. If I'm wrong on the tree type please correct me.


This house (with fence and trees) is directly in front of the lighthouse. The tree branch swooping in over the fence was so cool.

When Tom and I lived in Daytona Beach we had a brick wall like this in our yard. This is at the lighthouse, but still just as cool and lovely.

Just a little detail of the house and the porch.

So many of the trees around here have ferns growing right on the tree trunks. Isn't that just crazy! When I lived in Michigan I couldn't get a fern to grow when I took care of it...and here they are just growing wild.


To get to the lighthouse you can take either of the two tourist trains (which by the way are a great value and a lot of fun) or you can drive to it as I did. It's pretty well marked - it's a giant light house - and you can see it from pretty far away. :)

I hope you have had a fabulous National Lighthouse Day. Next time I'll let you know a bit earlier in the day!
Kristin

Sand art

I saw this on Jamie Ridler's blog and just had to share it.

Thrifty Windows

Welcome to another edition of Thrifty Thursday hosted by Leigh of Tales from Bloggeritaville. This gives us all a chance to have a fun time hunting around the house, the garage, someone elses house and garage or even a thrift store or two to dig up some cool finds. Be sure and check out the other Thrifty Finds, from the other participants. I'm always amazed at what folks submit and how often I wish I'd found it, or bought it or noticed it...whatever IT is :)

I've been absent from the Thrifty Carnival the past few weeks, but I'm ready this week :)

I went to St. Augustine a while back and somehow ended up in an antique shop. I don't think the reason was because I parked directly across the street from it, but that little detail certainly helped. It was a real nice place - lot of booths, lots of fun vintage things and I have to say - there were a lot of things in there from the 80's - The 80's can't possibly be vintage. My graduating class is having our 25th High School reunion this year. Is 25 years old really vintage??

One of the areas in the antique mall was the Stained Glass Window area. I love what can be found in stained glass. Tulips, shields, abstract designs, diamonds, flowers, etc.

I know, tulips are flowers :)

Why is this a thrifty post? Let me tell you! A few years back I was talking with a man who had hundreds, possibly thousands of stained glass windows and he told me that if you know you want to have a window actually installed in your home, to do it when you are building or remodeling because it is so much cheaper to make the opening fit the window you've already found and purchased than to try to find a window to fit an already existing opening.


He said to find the windows that you love first. I was surprised when I was going through all of the windows how many of them were not my style. Out of the thousands of windows I was easily able to narrow down the ones I loved to a small handful.

I didn't buy any, of course. I hardly ever actually BUY anything! At the time I was on vacation and wasn't about to start trying to transport glass windows to Michigan.

Personally, I would get some screw eyes (if the frame of the window is still quite strong) and just hang the window in a window instead of installing it. This is the second part of the THRIFTY aspect. If you hang the window in a window...you get the look of stained glass without the expense of hiring a contractor and punching a hole in your wall to fit in a window that may or may not fit right.

If you hang the window, you also get to keep the fun details like the rusted hinges, the peeling paint and you don't have to worry about it being airtight.

If you keep your eyes open you can find really good deals on stained glass windows. The ones pictured above were all over $100, but I saw a pair that I adored for about $30 (for the pair!) So deals can be found.

I hope you have a fantastic Thursday and get a chance to go visit the other participants!
Kristin

This and That

It's 3am.

Something totally got to my nose and it's stuffed up. I can't sleep when it's stuffed up this much - at least not until I'm so tired I just pass out. I'm hoping that the "pass out" stage is coming soon.

I need to finish up one little thing for our reunion flier and get that to my sister. Goodness, we are so late on getting them out.

I went to a photography class last night (since it's 3am I guess it was nearly 8 hours ago!) The class was all about how to organize, print and share photos. I thought - Dullsville! - but I'll go. I need to get everything I can out of these free classes. Guess what?!! I learned a ton. I may even go back and take the class again in a month when they offer it. I learned how to use my iphoto on my MAC, too - just by watching the guy tonight. I didn't realize that I didn't know how to use my MAC program until I saw the presentation. I also learned that the RITZ camera store where I'm taking the classes can transfer my video tape to DVD. I've been wondering where I needed to go to do that.

The instructor also told me that a lot of GPS systems will accept photos. So if I wanted to give my Dad some photos of our trip to Ireland, so that he could show them off to friends, he can just show them on his GPS machine. (Is a GPS called a machine? maybe device is a better word for it) I was thinking about getting him a keychain picture holder type thing that held 50 pictures or so, but the screens are so small. I'll have to look into that GPS idea.

I haven't been out on a photo hunt in a few weeks - not since I got back home from Michigan. I can really tell, too. Usually my blog posts are about what I've seen during the week, complete with fabulous photos! the only thing I've seen lately is the inside of my rentals and the washer and dryer from all of the linens I've been doing. Not too many picture taking opportunities there. I've looked :)

I went to a pet store today to get some kitty litter. I only use a certain brand, so I have to haul myself across town to get it. Thankfully my rental condos are near said store so I didn't have to make a special trip today. When I was in the checkout lane I asked the cashier if she knew where this particular restaurant was located in the shopping complex. She said - "I don't know, I live in Orange Park." I was shocked. Literally shocked. It's not like I asked her where something was that was a few miles away, I asked about something in the strip mall where she worked. So I said - "Oh, well, I thought you might have eaten there, since it's located right here in this plaza or that you may have noticed it when you come to work each day." (So I have to admit, I was a bit snarky towards the end of that sentence.) She just repeated that she lives in Orange Park. I took a drive through the strip mall and found it. It was one of the outer buildings closer to the road. Sheesh. If I worked there, I'd at least know what was in the plaza.

I have a Favorite Things Swap in progress as I type :) I have this shelf on my entertainment center that is housing the favorite things that I am going to send to my swap partner. I keep thinking of things I want to add to the pile, but I don't want to go way overboard. I mean, I don't want to fill someone elses house up with clutter - even if it is MY favorite type of clutter. I'm pretty pleased with the pile so far. It seems to go along with the things she likes as well, so that's nice. I really need to get it packaged up and sent off though, as our deadline is looming. I'll post photos about what was given and received when I'm sure that no one is looking :)

Alrighty. 3:30 now. I think exhaustion has hit. Either that or maybe the tylenol is working. I hope you had a restful sleep and a wonderful day.
Kristin

My Rental Condos

I haven't said much of substance lately. I want to, I compose wonderful things in my head all day and lose it before I get it written. I can't blame it on being busy, although I have been. I can't blame it on having house guests, or family gatherings, or parties or anything like that. I think I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment. My mind is racing. I feel like I have too many balls in the air and can't get them all juggled.

It all started when I got back from Michigan on July 22nd. One of my tenants moved out a few days before I got home and a new tenant wanted to move in the day after I got home, but I stalled them for two days so i could get the place cleaned up. I then had another tenant move out last week and then one moved out today.

Got that? Three full condos. One leaves - one moves in. Two leave. Two empty condos.

I got a phone call today that the person who just moved in, is going to move out. That means I have three empty condos.

I'm in total freak out mode.

OK, not total, but I'm getting there.

This is my larger rental - view from the front entry

I normally don't rent to people who have not been placed on the transplant list because if they aren't listed by Mayo then they are going to leave quickly. These folks who just moved in were not accepted by Mayo yet but they had a whole month full of appointments, so it was going to be totally worth their while to stay in my rental since I'm cheaper than a hotel...but if something happens, the first month is not refundable in any way. It's too much work getting these places ready for patients not to have a full month paid without question.

I had a feeling. I had an awful feeling. When the newest tenants asked to be an exception I stressed about the full month, no exception. I stressed that they were not on the list and could be told to go home at any moment. I suggested that they wait out the next round of testing and see if there was a better clue as to their status. Then I accepted their lease.

I went through my past tenants paperwork this evening and found something disturbing. All three tenants that moved in before they were accepted on the transplant list were sent home within the first month. I'm going to have to put my foot down and not rent to anyone who isn't listed. It isn't worth it for any of us, I'm finding. I've truly enjoyed meeting the people though - so that IS worth it, but it's awfully expensive for them.

I'm sending out into the Universe that I desire to have three families right away that want a lovely place to stay with the best landlady around :)

I hope you have a very blessed day.
Kristin

Aged photos instantly

Turn your modern day photos into something that could have been taken 100 years ago. Click Here to go to a Japanese website that will transform your photos within seconds. You can click on English in the upper right hand corner to convert a few items to English, so you can load in your photo a bit easier. I saw this on someone elses blog and I can't for the life of me remember where I saw it. (If it was you, please tell me and I'll credit you)

You can click on any of the photos to make them larger.



This was just so much fun to do with my photos. I may even use this for a few of our Ireland photos to shake up the look. Well anyway, back to this story! When you paste in your URL to the photo you want to transform (or you can load the photo right from your computer) the image above is what you are shown.

I love how in the swing picture that the hosta is so much more visible in the old black and white version. I hardly even noticed it in the color photo.





This is the St Augustine Lighthouse in St. Augustine, FL that i took a few weeks back. The lighthouse was built in 1871, so if a photo exists of the lighthouse in that day, it may very well look like the b/w version.



This iron sculpture is a part of the art in my mother's backyard. I thought it might look cool in this b/w aged technique, but it looks even better than I imagined. I think I've found that the texture of the tree and the hostas just POP in the black and white. hmmm, something to think about for future photo shoots!

The same lines and wrinkles are in each of the aged black and white photos, so you can't probably get away with using this on a bunch of photos, but one or two here and there would be a lot of fun.

Benjamin Button

I rented the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" today. I once again went to RedBox because I just wanted something quick. I think I have a new toy!

Here's the deal...I needed to go work at my rental condo this afternoon and I thought I might like to have a new movie to watch, since there was nothing on the TV today. So I picked up two movies at the RedBox. "He's Just Not That Into You" and "Benjamin Button." I watched HJNTIY while cleaning the rental, (and really enjoyed it!)but decided to ask Tom if he wanted to watch Benjamin Button with me. I thought he might like it a little bit better. I've been kind of monopolizing the TV lately with a lot of chick flicks. Good for me!!

The only thing I knew about Benjamin Button was that it had Brad Pitt and was about a person that got younger as he aged. I heard it was a big hit, but I'm pretty clueless when it comes to movies until I see them previewed on one of the cable channels. I haven't been to a movie at a movie theater in 4 years...maybe longer, but 4 years for sure.

I have to say. I liked this movie nearly as soon as it started. It took a few minutes to figure out what was happening and I was having a hard time hearing one of the main characters in the beginning, but pretty soon I got used to what I was hearing and I understood it.

I cried a couple of times and I laughed a few times. (I even managed to think about the Twilight book when they went to the dance studio.)

I really liked the movie. The whole premise was inventive, interesting, unusual and nice. There was no gore, nothing frightening, no bad language, and a little bit of sex and romance -- it was just a good movie. Tom said when it was all over that he was just sure it was a box office bomb. I asked why and he said because it was a little slow. Yes honey, it didn't have much action. That would be considered slow for you.

Have you seen this movie? What did you think of it?

What is your newest favoritest movie? :)

Have a great day!
Kristin

Wreck This Journal Finale

Hey folks! It's Friday so that means it's the update for Wreck This Journal.

What do you mean it's NOT Friday?

It's Saturday?

Really?



Hey Folks! It's Saturday, so that means I'm a day late for my Wreck This Journal update!! This is the last week that The Next Chapter, Wreck This Journal group is meeting to talk about the journal. I may have to have another update in the future as I'm not quite finished with the book. My niece Zora REALLY wants to do the "Eat some candy and lick this page" page. She tried a few times when I was visiting her, but she choose some very watery popsicles that didn't leave any mark at all. I've also got a few other pages that need to be finished, but I'm about 99% done as of today.

This page has been batted around the house, chewed, tossed into the air and otherwise played with so much by Mocha that the page is actually kind of soft. I finally decided to pick it up off the floor and put it back in the journal.

This isn't the greatest picture of me...it isn't that bad either - but it was one of the only ones I could find where my face was large enough so that I could get a decent shot of it for the blog. (It's always about the blog, isn't it?!)

I used a few of the special effects features in Photobucket to deface my photo. I think I used create a cartoon image then the blueprint effect. I now have a little heart on my cheek :)


The left hand page. This was HARD. This took me days to complete. If you can't tell, they are all little houses. Some have antennas on the roofs.


This is my "wrap something with this" page. The image is totally taken from Warrior Girl's header. I loved all of her lollipop trees...loved them so much that I had to recreate it. Thanks Rowena!! The paper is folded up and one flap is glued to the inside of the front cover of my journal.

This is the paper unfolded. I've cut the center out of a card I received from a friend of mine and placed it inside the paper.



This is my Document Time Passing page. I thought about this for a long time. I wanted something visual that would represent passing time. I can't remember what I was lighting with a match, but the second I burned it I had one of those Ah-Ha moments. I hollered out - This is passing time!!


This picture is of a card that I've had for about 15 years. It used to be in a frame and over the years it ended up being loose and just in a pile of mementos in the closet. I like the picture because I had a white cat for several years and this reminded me of her. Well, in the middle of this journal wrecking adventure I found this card on the floor of the closet and it was bent and no longer frame worthy. I was so bummed. Then I thought of the journal. I thought that maybe I could glue it in the journal, even in its not so pretty state. I glued it onto the back of the "tear this page out and put it through the wash" page and then covered the whole thing in glitter glue. This is the perfect place for this card.


This is my fruit sticker page. I think this was taken a few weeks ago, because this page has more stamps on it now - but here it is anyway :) I think the Breyers label is a nice touch.

I would like to thank all of the participants in WTJ. This adventure was so much more fun than I ever imagined. Jaime Ridler who is the creator of The Next Chapter group has announced her next book. It's called The Joy Diet and she will start on Sept 18th. If you'd like to be a part of that group, please go to her new blog, HERE, to join the mailing list. I'm sure it will be just as much fun and inspiring as Wreck This Journal. I don't think you'll be tossing your book out of a window or anything, but it'll be fun, I'm just positive.

Thanks again!
Kristin