Adorable Queen Chi Chi Whimsical Pink Painted Chihuahua Dog Portrait Acrylic

She was the Queen of all of Kay's Chihuahua's. Pretty pink tones just because she was the sweetest family Chihuahua dog. Mother of many adorable puppies who's personalities from her live on in forever homes. Expressive and whimsical. Loose and fun strokes because Chihuahua's are silly and adorable. (those ears!!) Lost and found and 'spatter dash' paint pop features to create a sense of magical whimsy. And the crown (which I continue to improve on...) is what all mother's deserve. Dog Love.

Artist Unknown Marvelous Silver Painted Vintage Chalkware MCM Romantic Couple Wall Plaque

 Artist Unknown Marvelous Silver Painted Chalkware MCM Romantic Couple Wall Plaque. I paid more than a dollar for the pair. $7.99 each. Which is way beyond my spending budget at the Goodwill. But, the scale (18" D) and the weight of them ( at least 5 lbs each) and the shiny silver romantic vintage couple oozes with the MCM vibe and totally spoke to me. Wall art. Love.

Senior Sunday Handsome 5LB Blonde Pomeranian Puppy Dog

 As I go on my now short walks to the post box for mail and back, the few neighbors that meet him always say what a cute puppy she is. The loss of sight and hearing only started a couple of years ago. Dog naps are frequent. The blonde/buff fur color hides the grey very well! You could never tell his age. Almost lost him this Christmas due to a illness he just couldn't shake. He's a tuff lil guy. 15 years young is right around the corner my good friend. My charming Senior Pom. Furby will forever be my cute little puppy. Dog Love.

Happy National Puppy Day Darling Brussel Griffon Puppy Doggy!

A well behaved puppy dog photo shoot event. The even tempered, darling baby Ewok like Brussels Griffon will be my all time favorite puppy shoot. This handsome devil deserves the award for cutest 'National Puppy Day' dog! Wish puppies were forever puppies with their new shoes smell. Love.

Abstract Minimalist Geometric Green Purple Circle within a Orange Square Silkscreen Art Print Sampler Gallery LTD.

Artist unknown! I've had this 12X12 framed behind glass circle print in storage for years and finally dug it up to do some investigative research on him. Not a whole lot found. I can see that it is a silk screened print. It's minimalist. 1960's. Beatnik. Geometric. Abstract. And in mint condition since it's been protected behind glass and away from sunlight. I removed the interesting pop out gold frame and glass so I could look closely and take a photo without the icky glare. SAMPLER GALLERY LTD. is stamped on the cardboard backing. (I'll add that image soon) I displayed him for a short period of time. Then stored him away during a big move and now I have fallen back in love with him all over again! So it's one of my estate sale masterpiece finds for a few dollars. (future art pieces to post soon!!) I imagine being featured on Antiques Roadshow one day and discovering that it's created by this artist who became super famous after he died and it's valued at a zillion dollars. Unfortunate that PBS is losing federal funding soon but if I was a big TV network I would prefer no government control over my company anyways. Less government control means more freedom right? Sounds like America to me. Just sayin. This piece of art speaks to me in that it is simple, uncomplicated and rebels against too many strings being yanked by our government. Minimalist art. Freedom of expression! Inspiring.

Happy first day of spring!

Happy first day of spring!

Darling Baby Raccoon Illustration Vintage Hallmark Bookmark 1970's

 My favorite animal as a kid growing up in the 70's and 80's. Raccoons were plastered everywhere in my bedroom. Books. Stuffed animals. Posters. Jewelry. Nick knacks. Do dads. And then this lovely Hallmark bookmark that I so loved oh so much. When you're a kid you brag about yourself on stupid items secretly. Only me and my best friend could write silly stuff on this guy. Seriously. This darling raccoon illustration is my inspiration for my next project. Vintage. Inspiring.

Black Cat Razzy Yawn Captured and Beauty Sleep Interupted on Caturday

This mood best describes the cats in the household. Sleeping 20 hours a day. Never enough rest.  Serious yawns are called for. The beauty sleep for this cat goes on and on. Caturday. Cats. Love.

Irish Ta The Bone St. Patricks Day Skull and Crossbone T-shirt Design

Design collaboration with James for a Heritage t-shirt line. Ireland was the first choice because that was his heritage. Norway would have of course been the second. I have the sloppy copies of Vikings and such somewhere that is yet to be found. We test printed this final design on a few shirts and then the company disappeared...Feeling LUCKY to have been a part of this project...Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Hills Beef with Gravy for Dogs AND Cats Throwback Thursday LIFE Magazine Vintage Advertisement

LIFE 1960's Magazine advertisement for Hill's pet food. Both cats AND dogs will enjoy this real thing called beef. Back in the day pets were fed all kinds of things. And having cats eat the same food that dogs ate was the norm I guess. I'm now a forever customer to Hill's pet food. My kitty cat survives on this awesome prescription diet. Pricey, but sooo worth it! The simplicity of this illustrated ad is what I like about it. Nothing fancy. Just to the point. BEEF...It's what's for dinner...for cats and dogs. Swell.

Fresh and Bright Whimsical Acrylic Painting of Bubbly Blonde Pomeranian

One of my first paintings of Furby the fresh and Bubbly Blonde Pomeranian. Impressionistic. Whimsical. Bright. Fun. Charming Furby. Painted with fast strokes to create a type of movement cuz Furbz has the high energy of a Pom, yet will give me that cute and adorable frozen stare from way across the room. " LOOK AT ME!" Sprinkled with 'lost and found' paint dots here and there for color and depth and interest. 5 pounds of joy. 16X20" Acrylic on canvas. Love.

Antique Craftsman Mission Rocking Chair Restoration Project Finally Complete

A gift from my Gaga many years ago. Discovered at a junkyard and needed some repair. I've researched copies of this chair on google just so I can date this guy and learn a thing or two about him. EBay has a few similar and you can certainly order a brand new one Wayfair or Hayneedle. In any case, I spent last year dusting, cleaning, sanding, puttying, sanding, puttying and staining until he looked pretty fine. Used an outdoor seat cushion and sewed a temporary cover. I will change the fabric up because I want something bright. Thinking denim blue. With a bigger Aztec type or modern geometric Marimekko ish pillow. I'm no expert but I feel good about this project. So does Rummy.

Little WIld Wind 1940's Vintage Monte Monteague Native American Lithograph Print

A little something I've owned since childhood. My Little Wild Wind framed Litho by Native American Artist Monte Monteague. Etsy has a few listings about the artist and you can read about them by clicking on the link. Purchased and framed in the 1970's. This print was originally created in the 1940's. Just an interesting thought...my one year old great niece looks just like her. I'll have to post a fun comparison image. Darling.

Setting all those Battery Operated Atomic Retro Wall Clocks Forward for Daylight Savings Time!

Atomic. Starburst. Sunburst. Spindle. Satellite. This guy has many names. An inspired design of the George Nelson spindle clock. Discovered him at a rummage sale for a few bucks back in the late 90's when retro stuff was easy to find for cheap at every garage and rummage sale. Back then during the golden years of when eBay started, it was thrilling to go on hunts around the old neighborhoods and shopping on eBay. Now we have to work harder to hunt for the good stuff. And the original stuff is overpriced or copied like crazy. My clock is a knock off from the 1970's. Designed and sold by Sear's Roebuck. It's battery operated and Made in America. Battery operated wall clocks. Never going out of style. Love.

Natural lighting Black Cat Spooky and Leia Portraits. It's Caturday and I miss my Spooky.

Sorta a repost from a couple of years ago. Last portraits of Spooky with his Leia. Sweet Spooky was finally slowing down. Leia and I both needed these portraits to mean something. We wanted to keep hanging on to him forever. 17 years just wasn't long enough. Again these are SOOC. No editing. Simple pet portraits. Natural lighting and pure beauty. Black Cats Love.

Wolverine Comic Strip Ink Drawing by James Widmark.

 

Wolverine ink drawing by James. A favorite superhero character of mine. The Bad ass sci fi Logan movie starring Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart and Boyd Holbrook (my new favorite actor who stars in the Netflix NARCOS series) is out in theaters currently. I'll be visiting a theater very soon. X-men. Love. 

Vintage Hallmark Brown Owl Complete Stationary Box Set

Vintage Hallmark stationary find! Complete box set with 16 sheets and 16 decorated sheets and 16 envelopes. Pristine condition. Includes even the matching brown silky Hallmark ribbon that's wrapped around the paper. The unique owl design is definitely from the early 1980's. Brown was fashionable on almost anything. I was drawn to this brown owl for the colors and the graphics. Perhaps the previous owner of this paper loved the owl design so much he couldn't even bare to share a hand written letter to someone? Sad but glad to find it myself. Handwriting on fancy Hallmark stationary may have been invisible for sometime but I just know someone will be bringing snail mail back in style. What is old, will be new again. And owl brown. Inspiring.

Nebraska Vintage Metal Bar Tray Celebrates 150 Years

Nebraska officially became a state in March of 1867. So this year marks the 150 anniversary of the good life state. I found my vintage Nebraska state metal bar tray wrapped in a box along with many other collectible families that need to be dug up. It features a white on black illustration of the state with city names and a chuck wagon. A colored in yellow and green Goldenrod (the focal point of the design that puzzles me) which is our state flower. And a nifty white scalloped outline around the black tray. It's retro. It's fifties. It's neat. But we are more than that. Were 150 years of gorgeous prairie landscapes, top states to live and raise a family in and the world's best Zoo. Our land is pretty. Good folks live here. And we got some cute animals to check out.

Nina (Gaga) Stanley Widmark aka Fancy Toothless Cowgirl First Pony Ride Omaha 1950's Photo Restore

Image restoration can be quite a lengthy process. But definitely rewarding to the end. The original beat up 8X10 black and white photo was faded and destroyed mostly around the edges and thankfully far away from her face and body. I probably ought to have cropped a bit more but I feel good about these results. I wanted to preserve some faded old fifties era look to the image and CS5. was a big helper. I can see her pure feeling of utter joy on her face that only a kid on a pony will ever have maybe once in a lifetime. She was happy and delighted to be sitting on that pony. That was her pony. And she dressed the part for that special day. She was a super cowgirl that day. Lovely. RIP Gaga.

Angry Face Neighbor Cat on Watch in my Garden Weeds as I Prepare For the Bees

This handsome guy will permit me to pet him as long as the 5 pound Pomeranian I own doesn't get involved. He's massive and scary looking but once you get him going with the pets and scratches he's like a big blob of jello. Right now he's on bunny rabbit watch. And will surely keep my company all through the gardening season. If only he could assist in pulling some weeds for me, of course controlling the bunny rabbit population will be a good form of trade. Big fat street cat. Love.

Nipper Squirrel and Scruffy Dog on the Lake Acrylic Painted Portrait Minnesota

Fun portraits of Nipper the Squirrel and Scruffy the Westie Doggy I happened to walk by as I was entering the Mall of America Department Store in Minneapolis last year. The style doesn't match the type of Dept. store. I could see these up on the wall of a Dick's Sporting Goods. But that's probably the idea behind displaying these in this particular store. A weird juxtaposition to take your mind away from fancy overpriced name brand clothing and bring it back to the simple things in life such as nature and animals. The scale of these Acrylic paintings is pretty big. Possibly 30 X 30" Square. They have a whimsical folk art feel about them that I like. Cartoon 'bubbles' make it an even more playful piece of art. They are front and center of this big store that I can't remember the name of but what I do remember is that they caught my eye and I like them very much! 

Natural Light Girl Portrait Lost and Found. SOOC Beauty.

About every year at random times I have a portrait session with my daughter Leia. While digging up some images to post to this blog today, I discovered this gem that was never edited or used for a blog post or printed for framing. Just SOOC. No CS5. Pure RAW image. And then it grabbed me for some reason. The composition and quality of this photograph reminds me of using my old fashioned (I know, I shouldn't have used that term) 35mm Canon Single Lens Reflex. In other words, film. The negative space is open and sprinkled with vintage objects that are unique and sentimental to the homeowner. The Schefflera houseplant is a healthy looking guy and the homeowner definitely has a green thumb. (Nancy!) The natural light spilling in from the large picture window creates a soft shadow on Leia's youthful face without blowing the highlights out. That floor lamp protruding out of Leia's shoulder used to bother the HELL out of me in the past. Now I could care less. It fits the picture. Her expression is a natural smile. Not the annoyed smile I would typically receive. It's actually pleasant! She's taking the time to look at me and NOT her iPhone. I see this photograph being timeless. The nose ring and tattoo will date the image and that's okay. But I've captured a special moment of Leia by accident. Organic. Pure. Natural. Beautiful. Leia.
Shot in May of 2014 at my dear friend Nancy's beautiful acreage in Crescent Iowa with a Canon camera and a 50mm 1.4 Lens.

Modern White Frog Ceramic Planter Home to Orchid Plant

Unique and one of a kind ceramic white frog planter. Thrift store find for a couple of bucks. This is one of those items where I want it to be from the 60's or 70's but I'm thinking it is more likely a made today item from AT HOME. I don't care. He's got frog MCM charm. And is a home to my houseplant. Love.

Atomic Ranch Midcentury Marvels Home Magazine 2006

MCM! Estate sales will have all kinds of stuff for sale that is mostly overpriced. The old ladies sitting in the swank living area at their folding table all gussied up and ready to make some sales seem to know it all. I'm sure the kids make them so nervous. There is always a 'guard' sitting at a folding chair in front of every room. I know he's there to answer questions I'm sure... This particular sale last summer hidden in the Indian Hills Neighborhood, was interesting. Tons of traffic, mostly looky lous though like me. The home was built in the 60's. One level ranch style with window walls and lovely landscaping. Vintage stuff galore. MCM stuff. Retro items! Antiques and Atomic Ranch! Yes I spotted it on a delightful blonde wood overpriced dresser for ONE whole dollar. In excellent condition. No writing. No tears. Just a $1 sticker on the cover. Score. So I've enjoyed reading and oohing and aawing over the super cool photographs of swank homes I never will be able to afford since last summer and then it was time to let it go...Sold on eBay for 30 yes, 30 bucks. Looking forward to visiting more estate sales this year. It's a wonderful adventure and you never know what you'll find! Neat.

Darling Vintage Ceramic Wall Plaque Fish Family Made In Japan

Welcome first day of March and the beginning of LENT! Which means only one thing for me: Fish sammys. Arbys typically has a super yummy fish sammy that is only available once a year. So that's what I'll treat myself to sometime this month. I also am a big time collector of vintage stuff in case you hadn't noticed. These darling ceramic fish wall plaques from the 50's are a treasure to me. I discovered this sweet fish family years ago, kept them in storage, and then just last year I finally installed them onto my sea blue bathroom wall. Now they live happily along with my SPONGEBOB nightlight. Vintage and made in JAPAN. Love.