Make Your Own Ink from Empty Inkjet Printer Ink Cartridges

 

2022 Planner, Journals, & Notebooks Line-up

  My first video in a very long time!  With a brief update at the end of the video: 

Autumn Postcards

Harry Payne (1858-1927) was a British artist who was known for his military paintings, but he also did a lot of pastoral, cottagecore kind of paintings. Perfect for postcards! Here are a few Autumnish images:

Collecting faggots:

Last load of faggots:

Did the other guy knock off early?

Awwww . . . 

Henfield sends a kindly thought:

No kindly thought from anyone:

With Birthday greetings . . . 

And "waving fields" without:

Here are some of the backs from original postcards:

Gertie sends Happ Birthday greetings to Master Robinson.

"Wretched summer weather."

What snack does Ernest send Elfie on Sundays? Chocolate, perhaps? 

And why is Mabel only coming for that?

There's no postmark, so did she never send this bold request--or was it hand-delivered?

We shall never know.

Many Happy Returns!

Bill is 'aving a laugh:

And here's a blank back for you to whip out your own fountain pen for a quick missive:

These images are in the public domain to use as you wish. 

19th Century Poem & Graphic

 I found these while researching for a storyline, and thought I'd share them here. They're free to use, but have a not-for-sale copyright restriction. (Not my rules, but the rules of the digital resource). So I won't be incorporating them into a digi-kit, but the graphic was too beautiful not to share:  

"Funeral letters?"  Here's information from The Victorian Web about condolence letters, as well as the kind of stationary that Victorians in mourning would have used.  Here is an article from Dusty Old Thing including mourning cards, kind of like funeral tickets to get into a family funeral. 

This poem captures the 19th century, don't you think?  Blacksmiths, chimney-sweepers, and bookbinders.  :-)  Also, midwives were refreshingly normal back then.

Victorian Illustrations

 I've been doing some children's literature research for Fernie's World. I was going to give a spoiler alert about Fernie's future husband, but I will just be hint-ish about him:

This is really what prompted this blogpost for my neglected blog:

I love seeing evidence of a child's play from the 19th century! I can imagine little Victoria with her water colours, painting. And then she was interrupted and didn't finish because she had to practice her needlework. And her favourite colour was purple. Or she had a bossy older sister who told her she couldn't have two dresses in the picture with the same colour! 

Here's another one:

And then I saw this:

And finally, she used the last bit of paint:

Feel free to use, as they are in the Public Domain and there's no copyright.  :-) 

Watercolour Printable Journal Kit

Apart from my "Blair Witch Project" hands, this is a quick flip-through of a journal I made almost 2 years ago. I'm just getting around to getting this video posted and the printable kit listed in the Ledger & Lace Etsy shop.

Tired of 2020? Try this!

  John Morgan, my friend and former boss, put together this video so that I could offer my recording of Virtual Massage on YouTube. YAY!  Click on the video below to hear it. 

Here's the back story of how I came to write and record Virtual Massage:

My friend Lena was my first massage client here in my new home when I lived at the River House. After she left, I was on the phone to John Morgan, my boss of John Morgan Seminars fame and I said, "I wish I had another body to work on." And he said his shoulder was bothering him and what would I do to alleviate the pain. I told him I'd start with his traps and work into levator...and being the auditory person he is, he said, Tell me as if you're giving a massage in real time. So I did, without the anatomical nerd-talk. At the end of it, he said he felt better and said, "I think you have something here. Write a script." He came up with the name Virtual Massage AND did the post-production (he made my voice sound like velvet!) AND designed the CD for me. John was my willing guinea pig as we worked through the script together and he gave me advice on how to make it even better. On the final reading, he fell asleep (the ultimate success!) and I hung up the phone after I was finished. He phoned ten minutes later saying, "I think you're ready to go into the studio." High praise coming from "America's-Best-Known-Hypnotherapist."

I also wanted feedback from a fellow massage therapist, so I read it to my friend Bess. She said, "That was fantastic! I feel like I've just had a massage and a half!" High praise coming from my favourite massage therapist! The night before I went into the studio, I read it for XM Radio Guy, who has been a client for years. And he said, "That was amazing." THANK YOU!!!

I also have background music on this recording. And not just any music, but my favourite music when I'm giving a massage: Chesapeake Bay: Reflections of Beauty, by Mike Zampi. He let me use the whole CD just like I would in a massage session. So, it's been 13 years and things have changed!  But the recording still sounds fantastic. Thanks, John!