Blogger Woes #2

Okay, I don't normally go outside the lines of strict posting on our regular subject matter of ephemera and art combined, but here goes. HOW I LOGGED IN USING AN EASY SOLUTION:


1.) Used Safari browser


2.) Signed in at Blogger, not this blog's home page


3.) Got "503 error" page (These have shifted into 404's--who knew?)


4.) IGNORED the error message by opening new window (still in Safari) and then used Favorites to head straight to blog's front page.


5. It still said "Sign In" and "Create Blog." IGNORED this by clicking on "Sign In" and found I was already signed in.


THIS WORKS EVERY SINGLE TIME, AND HAS FOR 4 DAYS as of this writing.


I've just left these instructions for an alternate route posted in the Answers at the Help Forum (subject: Logging In or Login problems).


Hope this may help anyone still experiencing a loss of regular service. Chances are, most won't find me in time, but I guess it's better to try anyway.


Have a Peaceful Memorial Day
Rose

Antique Amusement Park Photos With SEPIA Versions

Greetings, all! This time of year, when the kids are out of school for summer, family times seem to revolve around outdoor activities. Here is a duo of photos shot in the very early 1900's (NOTE: while the pouch has a date of 1908, on examining the dress of the crowd, we found these must have been shot as early as a few years before) depicting all manner of fun activities one could share with one's family back then. While rides have become ever faster and wilder, the principle's the same. And where better to enjoy the out of doors in an urban scene than in the "Queen City" of the Rockies?
In our two pictures, then, note how they center around a water feature and a bridge. Now, this was the place to cool off, even if one kept out of the water. 
But supposing we were to take a chance, bring our 100% wool bathing costume (sleeves and all) with us and take a ride down a chute and into that bright water? After being in one's stockings, bloomers, petticoats, pinched toe shoes, long sleeves (longer than one's bathing costume came with!), and so on-! It must have felt like bliss, sliding with a splash down into the cooling pool below.
While both of these may print to around postcard size for the time, there is some heavy work--a facelift, if you will--to the second of the two. Apparently, someone spilled something on this particular photo, marring most of its color and tone, and nearly spoiling our fun. It may hold up on enlarging to a certain extent, but we wouldn't like you to think both were of the same quality. Just a word to the wise.
For more information on the long history of this amusement park, you can go HERE.
And for more on how photographs came to be hand colored for a while, you can try HERE to be informed.
Anyhow, here they are, for anyone's use--free to you of course!


For views on the Pouch this photo set came with, see below (Antique Memento of Summer Fun)


Happy Summer Creativity, everyone!
From Rose & the rest of the Studio gang

Antique Amusement Park Photos c. 1905

"The Chutes"

Downloadable Version HERE

Steampunked Version HERE

"Scenic Railway"

Downloadable Version HERE

Steampunked Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

Free for Public Domain Use

Three Vintage Postcards: "Wish You Were Here"

Normally, we'd share both front and back views with our readers. However, as international copyright laws must be adhered to, and these postcards aren't nearly old enough for showing online, we're making this post all about the "wish you were here" factor. Our love of things foreign, plus the idea behind each message as it was sent midcentury from places like Seville and Venice, makes this a fun way to go. We hope you'll enjoy it for the same reasons we do. And anybody with a liking for handwriting may find any one of our three choices for you a delight to read through and use.
Some things withstand our cleanup process better than others. In this case, we aren't too pleased with the cleaned up variety, and feel certain there will be plenty of those among you who won't mind a bit any of the warts we've left on the faces of our 3 views. As a result, we offer this selected trio in their partially cleaned up states, and hope you'll like them as they are. 
Meanwhile, as Blogger's being a bit wobbly again here of late, I hope our many readers will find they are able to get into our blog! Lots of problems reported around today.
Oh well!
Happy Creativity!
Rose

Three Timeless Beauties

From Seville

Downloadable Version HERE

From La Spezia

Downloadable Version HERE

From Venice

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

Free for Public Domain Use

Antique Memento of Summertime Fun

Greetings, everybody! Are we ready for this summer's sunny weather and all the fun that brings? Using today's bit of ephemera, we hope you'll be able to access an earlier time in our history when ladies went corseted, men wore hats (except indoors, of course!), and nobody went about in hot weather in just shirt sleeves unless he wanted to receive criticism from his older relatives.
I love the old patina, the way it still has kept its shape after more than a century's safe keeping in someone's dresser drawer or box of keepsakes.
We hope to display each photo from its collection in our ongoing series on summertime fun. These are all in a tinted format, and really quite unique. We'd never seen one like it before. Hope you'll enjoy those upcoming posts as well.
Don't forget to keep those petticoats tucked in around your ankles when you ride the ferris wheel! ;)
Happy Creativity from all of us at the Studio!
Rose & Friends

Antique Amusement Park Photo Souvenir Pocket

Original Patina

Downloadable Version HERE

Slightly Refreshed

Downloadable Version HERE

And With No Title

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

Free for Public Domain Use

Antique Postcard: Souvenir of Minnesota

Here is another from our stock of the old, the freckled, the wrinkled, and the beautiful. I know we've had it around for a while, so it's kind of a nice surprise to see we are ready to show it to you.
As usual, we offer the reader chances for that antique look so many of us prize, along with our newer, "refreshed" look. This time, our postcard's front looked pretty enough at every stage, so our choice now is to let you decide which speaks to you.


Here they are then, the three versions of our illustrated side, along with the regular two versions of our postage side.
Happy Creativity!
Rose & Studio

Antique Yellow Rose Postcard

FRONT

Original Patina

Downloadable Version HERE

Partway Refreshed

Downloadable Version HERE

Refreshed

Downloadable Version HERE

POSTAGE SIDE

Downloadable Version HERE

Original Patina

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

Free for Public Domain Use

A Great Read

Add caption

Do you know what I love? I love books containing recipes or interesting ideas.
Well, today we're featuring one with both good things combined, which was written by a well known mixed media artist for Quarry Books.
For those of you new to the genre of mixed media, meet artist/author Karen Michel.
This woman can make art out of just about anything. And she does it with style, wit, clarity, and a real sense of the beautiful.
While she has contributed in some pretty big ways to our known art and crafting universe, I want to focus on the beauty of today's featured volume, Green Guide For Artists. Co-written with her by Kristen Hampshire, this book grabs the brass ring for being an innovative, easy-to-access guide that even a beginner may find uses for.
What really pleases me is how many recipes there are for all manner of paints, mediums, glues, pastes, and so on. The directions are easy to understand, and, while some of the recipes seem a little bit odd at first, they look simpler and more clear than the average baking recipe. Personally, I can hardly wait to try on both her Milk Paint and Egg Tempera Paint recipes. There's just no limit to what you can do with a little creative gumption.


So you're reading along, and find that you are are perhaps a little outside your comfort zone with some of her terms. Don't worry! The artist includes plenty of guidance to help the fledgling Green Artisan get started. Check out all the added excellence in her "Resources" guide near the back. It's packed with info on where to find everything listed in those recipes. Not only that, but there are plenty of ways listed for using every kind of these concoctions--some of which are literally so old, their roots go back to medieval or even cave painting times!--in the pages of this book.
And you'll find lots of lively, fresh photographs throughout the book to help you along.
Features also include precautions for safe use of the products listed, along with some added inspiration in her "Green Projects" chapter.
And Hampshire's gathering of brilliant photo essays for the "Artists' Gallery" chapter is so stunning we couldn't wait to get our feet wet using this new genre.
For me, there is just no question but I want to get started right away on creating my own "artist kitchen" here at our home office (you don't want to do this anywhere near food due to a few of the ingredients not being food grade or entirely safe for children).
A Confession
Okay, so I like going Green. Who doesn't if it helps us all keep a healthier environment? And this book's sparked some interest here at the office that can only build with time. That being said, I simply cannot imagine life without my full body acrylic paints. And don't get me started on my PVA Glues! All of these contain large amounts of ingredients toxic to our ground water and air.
Does Karen Michel have an answer for this?
You bet! And you can find her answers within the pages of this truly inventive and fascinating book. Our Studio group awards Karen Michel and Kristen Hampshire our version of the "thumbs up": our 4 Paws Up Award of Excellence.

Happy Green Arts Creativity, everyone!

Rose

P.S. This article will be the first of hopefully several to be included here. But for more info on this up and coming new art genre, you can visit this website.

PPS ATC Background Freebies: Steampunkery Trio

We are having too much fun today with our Steampunky themed ATC Backgrounds! I mean, just look at this trio of fun backgrounds for you to use! And they're free for everyone, without exception. 
We kind of liken this to a new breed of digital work for us to try on for size.
The process of making them in PSE8 was made all the easier by a new bit of ephemera, which forms the basis for this trio, an antique photograph's torn up reverse side, to be specific.
Now, how well these may print, may depend on the resolution of a printer, along with the kind of ink used. As it happens, our look may not even appear the same from screen to screen, or from browser to browser. You could try saving to disc and heading for your local print and/or copy center for a trial run. While there, it would be better to use a toner based copy machine for your workable copies. After all, most toners won't run if hit with any water based medium, while inkjet printer ink would run.
I've had great luck using Xerox Color Copy Machines at FedEx Kinko's stores before, and they have a heavier gauge copier paper in some of the trays. Such paper tends to buckle less often when hit with mediums, glues, etc., and is slicker to the touch than regular paper. You'll know it when you find it.
So have fun copying and re-using our three backgrounds in whatever manner you see fit. These are our gift to our readers for stopping by once more to check out our growing scene.
Happy Steampunk Creativity!
Rose

PPS ATC Steampunkery Trio

Downloadable Version HERE

Our Credits:

 Obsidian Dawn, Nadine Pau, hilla 29, gojo23, witchy_13, webtreats, dubtastic, inobscuro.

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

Free for Public Domain Use

Three Antique Illustrations and the "Keats of Kentucky"

Aren't these breathtaking? I admire this artist's work tremendously.
More importantly, I think his work was inspired by the stunning poetic grace of a long neglected master of its style. For more on our poet, Madison Cawein, his work, life and times, you can click HERE. He earned his nickname, "the Keats of Kentucky" by virtue of both style and graceful wording. It is a shame we are no longer interested in the particular style that era produced prior to about 1900. The old fashioned habit of collecting poetry to be read aloud at public, even gala, events seems to be a relic for us to ponder. And, as we are more interested in our modern technological advances than in old fashioned art and books, the gifts of both these American treasures may become as forgotten as old dust on a shelf.
Nowadays, most people never come in contact with Cowain's poetry at all, for it is not the sort we recognize in our modern terms.
But I find it quite unusual in its beauty. 
John Conacher, the illustrator of this particular set of rhymes, was also well known in his day. However, I had been unable, as of this posting, to find any more information for you on him other than his birth and death years, or that his works can be sold at auction. Nobody seems to know anything about him, let alone to be sharing it with us online.
Meanwhile, you and I may enjoy the efforts of both these notable Americans, can't we?
I can think of at least a dozen various uses for these three pages, including altered book making, transferring to fabric, a decoupaged folding screen, and so on. Hope our offerings today may introduce you to the formal and lyrical style of poetry as it was in the late 19th and very early 20th centuries. But more than that, we hope you'll find plenty of ways to enjoy your art-making using these lovely works.
As usual, you get your choice with us, in that our offerings include both simply the artwork and artwork plus poem. (Personally, I enjoy both.)
And Happy Creativity from all of us here in our Studio!
Rose & Friends

Three Illustrations With (or without) Poetry

Page One

With Poem

Downloadable Version HERE

Page One

Wordless

Downloadable Version HERE

Page Two

Downloadable Version HERE

Page Two

Wordless 

Downloadable Version HERE

Page Three

Downloadable Version HERE

Page Three

Wordless

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

Free for Public Domain Use

Victorian Illustration: 18th Century Horseman With Whip

In our continuing series from our Thackeray collection, we found riches among the pages of his novel of 18th century English country life, The Virginians. Our post for today includes our first depiction of a horse and his rider. The whip (which we had to clean up owing to a poorer than normal transition from original patina look to updated black and white) seems raised in a half threat. But the man on foot seems calm and ready for a chat. We hope to be able to give you some more views on this particular Thackeray set, dated from about 1859 in its first printing, with ours from an American edition of 1884.
For those among you who enjoy that old timey look, we are following our usual pattern of including its twin in original condition.
Happy Creativity!
Rose & Studio 

Scenes from Thackeray's The Virginians 
Part Two
18th Century Horse & Rider

Downloadable Version HERE

Original Patina

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

Free for Public Domain Use

PPS Collage Printable (#3) Freebie: Scattered Antique Postcards + Steampunked Version!

Who doesn't enjoy making collages using older ephemera? But how many of us really take the time to hunt that down before they begin? Many of us have no time for the hunt, and would much rather just dive into their creative mode.
Here is the answer: our PPS Collage Printables Collection. 
This time, we are offering you the best of our archive's postcard collection as a scattering of images in various sizes in a collage printable format. We're allowing that some printers may not adjust to fit every square inch of that imagery by centering it inside a border, which hopefully will do the trick for one and all.
We hope you'll find many uses for this fun Printable, and that you will share it with anyone interested. It is free for use here and elsewhere. 
Please do not sell it as your own. It takes time and considerable practice to get a look like we're offering. We ask that everyone please keep us in mind, as well, and credit back to us, wherever applicable, using links, etc., just as we would do for anyone--including you, our readers. It is easy to credit others who provide anyone with use of free ephemera and/or digital brushes. And think of how many times this helps others remember to do likewise! :)


So, without further ado, here is your Collage Printable Freebie, entirely free and all for use by anyone. 
Thanks again for visiting and--
Happy Creativity!
Rose & Studio Friends


P.S. After 2 polite requests regarding our font size here, we finally got around to expanding to a more reasonable size. We thank these fine, observant friends and credit their help for making us a more user friendly organization. You two are such a great help to our group! 

PPS FREE Collage Printable:

Scattered Antique Postcards

Downloadable Version HERE

Steampunked Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

Free for Public Domain Use

18th Century Scenes from Victorian Literature

Thackeray wrote more than one fine novel in his time. We may have him to thank for Vanity Fair or Barry Lyndon, but he also wrote more than one storyline having more to do with our colonies--in pre-Revolutionary War terms, that is. For us, it's a good thing he did, for we now have not only his books to refer to for a good read, but also those masterful illustrations used in depicting each storyline.
We're particularly fond of this one, for it embraces a distinguished era in graceful looking fashions with manners and refinement. Our world today is a busy, whirling mass of new ideas. If we were to step back in time to one of the scenes below, what might our impression be?
For one thing, I'm guessing the smells of body odors and lack of flush toilets could well make us want to retreat--and quickly! ;)
But after that, our fascination with all things of another era would take over.
Just imagine........


For those of you who admire that aged look for use when you collage, we include our usual choices of Black & White or Original Patina.
Thanks for stopping by, and----
Happy Creativity!
Rose

Scenes from Thackeray's "The Virginians"

Part One

"George Made Much Of"

Downloadable Version HERE

Original Patina

Downloadable Version HERE

"A Step-Father in Prospect"

Downloadable Version HERE

Original Patina

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

Free for Public Domain Use

Rainy Day Fun: a new Color Me™ Page

Is it really almost time for school to be out? For some of us it may be quite early, while others will very shortly be done for the year. Others go in a track schedule, and may have a few days off here or there over the summer months. In any case, school will soon be out for most of the country.
I know most of us moms recall our summer days were for riding bikes, chasing each other, battling each other with water balloons and squirt guns. We hardly remember those days when rain or wind kept us indoors and under our mother's feet.
Here's another treat to help you beat those blahs. Out of a 1918 primer, this one was meant to entice young readers into making up their own version of what happened using the picture for a reference. There's a second picture to work with, marked with a 4 (can't understand why they left out one and two--the binding's perfect), but it seems unrelated to the storyline, so we thought it best to leave it out for this week.
Anyway, all you young readers, your next rainy day might give you chances to make up different stories based on what you see here.
Our original is in color, so we did a conversion job, which was adapted after it was determined it wouldn't print well enough otherwise.
And moms, this one's a printable, ready for your computer. Just click on our link to the Downloadable Version, then click on Download, and look for it on your computer's desktop. Print away, and you should have your own 8.5" by 11" Color Me™ Sheet. (results may vary, depending on your printer)
Happy Rainy Day Creativity!
Rose

PPS Color Me™ Sheet #2

Woodland Elf Scene

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

Free for Public Domain Use

Plush Page Frames: Hour Glass Pattern

Can anyone have too many page ornaments and frames? We think not. Here is our latest addition to our ornamental page graphics collection for your use. And didn't the Studio outdo itself this time around? For we have ten different choices in this one pattern. And I love every color.
Those of you accustomed to how we do things around here may recall our habit of including jewel toned colors in our page frame and ornament posts. They might share with you how we'd always included a Ruby colored version in such a grouping. Unfortunately for us, this came out looking rather too gruesome, for the hour glasses appeared to have been filled with blood, and were looking a bit disgusting. Not that we mind a bit of gothic humor now and again, but this is a family oriented spot, and blood just seemed too chilling to be pretty enough.
This time, we've also included our Sepia along with a rosy Rust tone we hope you'll also enjoy. These, along with your Original Look (which we've cleaned up just a bit for your use), plus our usual Black and White version, make up the ten.
Happy Creativity everybody!
Rose & Studio Friends

Hour Glass Page Frames

Amethyst

Downloadable Version HERE

Garnet

Downloadable Version HERE

Sapphire

Downloadable Version HERE

Turquoise

Downloadable Version HERE

Emerald

Downloadable Version HERE

Peridot

Downloadable Version HERE

Sepia

Downloadable Version HERE

Rust

Downloadable Version HERE

Original Patina (with some cleanup)

Downloadable Version HERE

Black & White

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

Free for Public Domain Use

Knights of the Round Table: Queen Guinivere and Her Sir Lancelot

Here are those star-crossed lovers of King Arthur's Court. Neither of these two people is wearing a smile. I suppose they just wished to be partnered and have Arthur out of the way, and yet both cared how it would look. Shame is a feature to many stories surrounding infidelity. Put two hapless people in the same room, let the stars zap them, and misery might be your end result.
All the same, we think they are truly beautifully done, sad expressions and all. Look at her gown, for example, and his armor. One more reason why I like the illustrative art of the late 1800's.
Happy Creativity from everybody here at our studio!
Rose

Queen Guinevere

Downloadable Version HERE

Original Patina

Downloadable Version HERE

Sir Lancelot

Downloadable Version HERE

Original Patina

Downloadable Version HERE

Scanned Imagery courtesy PPS Archives

Free for Public Domain Use