Tuesday, August 13, 2019

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE GOOD OLD DAYS...












I am always so in awe 
of the many wonderful friends
 I have made through blogging.

  Whether it is
 painting pictures,
 painting furniture, 
sewing, cooking, gardening, decorating 
or vacationing.
  
I can appreciate
 all the ways that everyone 
uses their talents 
to enjoy life.






When you reach a certain age, 
life does slow down and
 that doesn't have to be a bad thing. 
 It actually 
gives you the time 
to think about and appreciate all
 that you have accomplished. 
 When you are raising kids and
 are in the work place 
it isn't always so easy 
to do that.





Our daughter and son-in-law,
 Tami and Tim, 
are now empty nesters 
and Jake, our grandson, with Jacenda,
 is  making a home for himself. 
 We moved, 
before Jake was born,
 to our beautiful little Cottage and 
now thirty years have passed. 
 Time has flown by. 
 Just you wait and see!
  
So now, 
I am going to go all Grandma on you 
and tell you about
 the Good Old Days!





The plan for this post
 started with some of my talented friends
 who have been making some 
really beautiful art. 
 I have always been so envious 
of anyone who can
 draw and paint...





...not only was my dad 
an accomplished self-taught artist,
 he was also a master wood worker. 
 Above, 
he is pictured beside 
the black walnut baby grand style case 
he built around 
an electronic key board.





My brother and sister
 can also draw 
but I didn't get that gene.

  I am happy
 that I did get my mom's genes 
for decorating.
 I have accomplished 
some artistic endeavors, however, 
that turned out quite successfully 
for their times.

(All the photos shown in this post
 are a result of those times and
 are only a small portion of what we did)

 I apologize for the poor quality 
of the photos 
but, as I said, they are old,
taken in the good old days.











I did a lot of ceramics 
back in the 70's and 80's. 
I had my own kiln 
that I have since sold and 
in looking over this post
 before publishing, 
the Captain asked me 
where some of these items are and 
it makes me sad to say 
that almost all were sold.
 There is very little 
that I kept 
as I thought I was over 
this "country" period in my life. 
As in so many other ways 
I am learning 
never to say never. 
I think that may be why 
I have a problem with 
getting rid of stuff now. 







I painted pictures 
but I had to have
 a pattern to trace and
 a definite color chart 
to follow. 
 I also used 
a lot of stencils 
in connection with 
the other mediums.











I had my own jigsaw and 
cut out figures and
 painted them.













The Captain mostly, 
with a little help from me,
 rebuilt and refinished
 antique furniture.
 That was back in the days 
when painting antiques, 
or good wood pieces,
 was very much
 frowned upon.











I even made costumes 
for the Captain and myself 
when we did craft shows...















...and painted sweat shirts 
marketed under
 "Bearable Wearables". 
 I even had an ad 
in a prominent magazine.









I am not as crafty 
as I once was 
but seeing what my friends are doing 
has made me want
 to get my hands dirty again, 
so to speak.







Since I had gotten rid 
of all my pattern painting books, 
I found a few more on Amazon.  
I have in mind
 to try a 
country Santa...






...and I found this one
 that I'm going to try.
  
I don't think
 there is much call 
for this type of art anymore 
but it is the kind that was popular
 back then 
and that I enjoyed doing and,
 believe it or not,
 sold a lot of it.  
I have a thought in mind
 to make it a little different and 
will let you know
 how and when 
that turns out.







I know you have seen
 this paint by number picture
 that I painted. 
 I sent my photo of the Cottage in 
and they made it into a paint by number kit.
  I am so glad 
that I have it and 
am quite happy with it.  
The only thing is
 while it really looks like the Cottage,
 I just don't think that it has that 
specific flair 
that makes it look like
the old 50's and 60's 
paint by number paintings.
  Remember those?
  You knew right away 
you were looking at a paint by number.
  The only way to describe them for me
 is big, bold splotches of bright colors
 put together to make a scene.

They are quite collectible now 
and I always have my eyes open 
when thrifting 
but have never been lucky enough 
to find one.
  I did a few back then and 
wish I had kept them.







Well, guess what?  
I found a company 
that makes them and 
they look exactly like 
back in the good old days. 
 I've ordered a couple
 but they haven't come yet and
 I'm very anxious to see them.  
They are really quite cheap 
so I hope they are worth it.
 If I feel that they are, 
I will let you in on 
all the info about the 
company and the product. 






Thanks for taking the trip with me 
to the Good Old Days. 
 Sometimes it is great fun
 to look backwards...







...and to all my artistic friends,
 thank you so much for the inspirations and 
even though I know
 there will be no comparison,
 I once heard a sentiment that states 
you are only as good 
as the company you keep. 
 I hope that is true.


...Judy...



I just wanted to 
thank all of you who 
read and commented on my last week's post.

 Along with 
many other problems that we are facing now
 in our country,
 it is one of the worst.

 This should not be an issue of 
a connection to any political party.

 This is a 
common sense human being issue
 and we all need to stand up
 for what we believe 
and make our voices heard 
however we can. 
I certainly appreciate 
your thoughts and input. 






Sharing today with:

Love Your Creativity at LifeandLinda

and

Keep in Touch at Let's Add Sprinkles

12 comments:

  1. Judy, You are absolutely talented !!! Do not say you have no talent. I think you can paint very well. Plus sew, decorate, and even restore furniture. Your dad was very good at wood working. Amazing. You also have a sweet heart. Blessings, xoxo, Susie

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  2. Reading your post made me realize the parallel in which my dad and I did craft shows in the 80's. He created items from wood and I painted them. We did Autumn and Christmas shows. We ha fun! Then my mom and I did ceramics too! What Good Old Days they were! Your pieces are awesome!!! Janice

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  3. Judy, you are so talented. I'm in awe of all of your crafty pursuits. I can't believe you owned a kiln! I would love to do pottery, I really enjoyed that class in high school. I'm interested to see how your paint by numbers experience goes. I love your cottage painting and I'm working on mine now. It's been a lot of fun. xoxo

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  4. Lady you are talented. The photo's of the items you made, painted, refinished, cut out of wood etc were awesome. And you decorate beautifully. I also like how you tell your story when you blog. Another talent. Don't sell yourself short. I'm in awe of you.

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  5. I've always admired your talents and creativity.
    It doesn't surprise me at all that you have done ceramics, and t~shirts, and wood~crafts :)
    I love how you 'fluff your nest', and I am looking forward to seeing your next creative endeavor!

    Smiles :)
    ~K.

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  6. Judy, you are quite talented. It is wonderful to see your past projects. How fun to create ceramics. That is something I have never done. The costumes are darling. You and the captain make a great team. Yes, I do remember the good old days. I used to do craft fairs as well. Happy Wednesday. Thank you for sharing at “Love Your Creativity.”

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  7. You are marvelously creative and diverse with it too, which I think is a good thing because we learn more that way! I love the pottery and all you've done and I'm thrilled to say you are getting back to it again!

    And wow -- that piano case your dad did? Well, that's spectacular. Hard to live in that shadow but wow -- he had a gift.

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  8. Oh I totally love you and the captains costumes! I think that is so neat. I really like that paint by number of your home. You have made so many neat things. I always wanted my own kiln but were always so expensive at the time and even now. Some mighty fine artwork you have done. I am wanting to get back to some crafty things too. I used to love to make wooden toys and doll furniture. I gave it all away as gifts. Well, I am back to dreaming about the good ol'days now and it's good memories.
    Betsy

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  9. Oh Judy! you are multi talented. You are doing so many beautiful things. Love it. XOXO

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  10. Judy this is awesome to see how crafty you were and still are. I love all your past projects. You are so creative now too. With your house so cute and decorated so sweet. I love that piano that your dad made around an electric keyboard. How beautiful.
    Hugs,
    Kris

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  11. You know how it goes, if you wait long enough...things come back in style. Don't give up on those things you once loved, because they will come back!! Farmhouse seems like a resurgence of country, only a little more of a modern twist. antiques are always popular. Do what you love. I think they call that being eclectic...when you have no particular "style" to your décor...that's me, and I like it that way. xo

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  12. You WERE downright crafty and creative! You made and did some awesome things! Was fun to hear what you used to do and still want to do! Loved those costumes you made - see? you sewed. Loved your pottery and ceramics.... boy could you paint! And the darling paintings and bears on sweatshirts, how creative is that? And that was a GREAT idea too! Using a jigsaw to cut out things and paint them.. another creative accomplishment. That's something I've wanted to do and still haven't.. I have a nice scroll saw that hubby bought me years ago, and still haven't used it. Right now there is nowhere to set it up. I wanted to make little wood critters and paint them. You show so much artistic ability in the way you decorate your home and all of the flower arrangements you put together, both dried and fresh. The paint by number sounds fun. I used to love doing that! Works of art right? I used to sew and make men's western shirts for a shop in downtown Portland. I also was making "granny dresses" before they became the big thing, also those cute little quilted jackets that became the "Gunny Sax" brand! I just didn't have the entrepreneurial spirit to get my own business doing. Should have, but oh well. Just keep doing what you love. That Santa to draw and paint looks like fun and will be anxious to see how the paint by numbers turn out and where you got them from. Keep enjoying and doing! Marilyn

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Your comments are so special to me...Judy