15 March 2007

I am considering trying to sell some of my civil war reenacting pictures as both ATC's and Postcards. am not sure if there would be much of a market tho.
one of my thoughts was the different ladies books of the civil war period and pictures of actual dresses of the time would be a wonderful way to study the clothing styles colors and trims.

this is an example of one of my bits & pieces
its a suplice (sp?) bodice & sleeves ca 1859

since MOST people either cannot afford to collect those books and the few books that have a 'collection' in them are limited at best. my thought is to offer cards of everything i have photos of with data on the back (what data i have that is) like regular trading cards they would be very easy reference materials.



i am struggling to learn how to manipulate photos and its really hard with out lessons. but i have made a beginning.. i started with photos of pictures from godey's ladies books- its neat to see them cleaned up- i want to continue cleaning the images but am not doing well with that part- is frustrating!!!
here is one i started with.
as you can see i was able to remove the worst of the yellowing from age, brightened and sharpened the focus. the process affected the colors some. and a couple i even removed the color for a b&w image. i wonder if others would enjoy the results.
one thing have not learned how to do is remove age spots, stains or tears. that will come next (I hope).
some of the pages i have are fairly badly damaged. but they are beautiful even so. it would be really cool to see them at their best tho.


I have been having way too much fun with a new program that makes kaleidoscope images from my photos. i have decided that they make Great Digitally altered Photo ATC's and PostCards!!!

Sometimes you can see the original other times you cant even begin too. that part of the interest

here is an example - what do you think?

07 March 2007

I am soooooo computer challenged.... i just now figured out how to access comments i was supposed to moderate-- sheeeeeesh how embarrassing- my apologies to EVERYONE!!!!!!!
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The Price of Children
This is just too good not to pass on to all.It's really really nice.

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into: * $8,896.66 a year, * $741.38 a mo nth, or * $171.08 a week. * That's a mere $24.24 a day! * Just over a dollar an hour.
Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite. What do you get for your $160,140?

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last! * Glimpses of God every day. * Giggles under the covers every night. * More love than your heart can hold. * Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs. * Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies. * A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate. * A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites * Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day. For $160,140, you never have to grow up.

You get to: * finger-paint, * carve pumpkins, * play hide-and-seek, * catch lightning bugs, and * never stop believing in Santa Claus. You have an excuse to: * keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, * watching Saturday morning cartoons, * going to Disney movies, and * wishing on stars. * You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay on Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for: * retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, * taking the training wheels off a bike, * removing a splinter, * filling a wading pool, * coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless. You get a front row seat to history to witness the: * first step, * first word, * first bra, * first date, and * first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren.

You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.

That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!! Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren