WHAT WAS SHE THINKING?!

That's what Mixed Media Monday  wants to know this week, and that's what all of these people want to know--

That's what they're saying to each other, BUT what they're  THINKING  is--there's something about her, with her fun and carefree spirit, and her self-condifence of expressing herself.   And oh yeah, I'd be one of those whispering ladies here, but secretly I'd  be envious of her knowing herself so well, and doing what makes her happy.  A couple of weeks ago I made an art piece that you can see here, and in it, I used an old postcard that I had.  And on the back was a message written from Clara to her friend Olga.  So after looking at  this piece--I think that the lady with the spiffy outfit must be Clara,

 and her friend Olga is in the bottom right-hand corner.

Olga doesn't seem too  pleased with Clara right now, does she?   So, I decided to name this piece "Clara".

Clara's outfit was designed by the house of Itkupilli, and all of the other gossiping, snickering, jealous people came from vintage magazines dating back to the  40's and 50's.  When I was looking through the magazines, I loved the different advertisements I ran across, like this one:

She has a strict budget of $25.00 a month for groceries--I think she can do it.  Or how about this one:

How about a brand new car for $645.00!  But my favorite one has to be this:

"Smoke a LUCKY to feel your LEVEL best"  Wow, it was a whole different world back then!  When I saw what the theme was for this week, I was a little stumped.  I almost didn't do it, but these are challenges, so I challenged myself to do it, and I'm glad that I did--I had fun!

And wanted to show you this, in keeping with this week's theme.  WHAT WAS I THINKING when I made this VERY VERY fattening, high in cholesterol, delicious, 3 cheese macaroni and cheese dinner?

I was thinking, "I can't wait for dinner!"

Yep, I ate all that up, PLUS I had seconds!

And finally one more photo that I'd like to share with you.  This is me when I was in my 30's, and of course, there's that question again--

WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?!--with my big hair (that I was so proud of), and those high-wasted , balloon pleated  pants that accentuated my "tiny" hips so well--JUST LOVELY!!

Love Is In The Air

What else could be in the air with Valentine's Day coming up.  That is  the theme this week at The Three Muses--Something in the Air, and as soon as I saw that, that's what came to mind. 

So I started looking through my 'stuff' for an image, and I just wasn't satisfied.  And in the meantime, I've been cleaning out my art room (it's getting painted this weekend!), and I found this vintage postcard that I don't even remember getting.

I love these old postcards--I have them everywhere--I really need to get more organized.  What I like even better is when they have writing on the back, which this one did:

Do you see the postmark on there--it's dated Nov., 1911--that's almost 99 years old!  Do you believe that--I just get so excited when I'm holding  something that old.  Someone purchased this postcard 99 years ago, bought their 1 cent stamp, and mailed it off.  In this case, it was Clara sending it to her friend Olga.  She starts out the message by saying   "Dear Friend"--isn't that so cute--"Dear Friend"?  Nowadays, you're greeting will be Hi or Hey, or sometimes we don't even put a greeting in and just start writing our message, or should I say typing.  This is why I loved that era--they were just so ......proper? refined?--I don't know what the word is, but they were just SO....

And I think that Clara would be tickled pink if she knew that we were discussing her postcard and message on the internet, and better yet I was using it for a piece of art.  But first we'd have to explain what the word internet meant, and then I'm sure she would be very excited.

I started out with a plain wood shadowbox (50 cents at a garage sale), and collaged copies of handwritten letters on it, and then over that I collaged scrapbook paper with hearts punched out.  I forgot about taking a picture until midway, but you'll get the idea--

And then I made 5 copies of the postcard, and cut them into pieces, so I could layer them on top of each other to get a dimensional look--

And then I just finished embellishing.  The dimensional look of the piece doesn't show up very well in the photo, but it's pretty cool looking in person.  I like this time of year, when nothing much is going on, and I can fool around like this--it's alot easier just to put the one image down, and be done.  But starting in Spring, I start with the art fairs, and I don't have as much time.  Yes I really do go out and talk to real people, and I enjoy it, but I also like all of you computer people too!  So, until later, dear friends : )