Thrifting

Many of my friends and fellow bloggers  know that I am a veteran and dedicated thrifter!! I also volunteer at the thrift store- fun to do, and you also get to see the items as they come in. Plus, it's all for a great cause, and volunteering is good for the soul ! The only negative is-  I NEVER come home empty handed on a volunteer day...........LOL It's virtually impossible to work there and not buy!!!

The thrift store where I have volunteered for the past several years,( and hope to start putting in more hours soon), is Gift and Thrift, in Harrisonburg, Va.

Having volunteered at thrift stores in the past, what impressed me the most about G&T, is the size and scope of the operation, the dedicated volunteers, and the amount and quality of the donations that pour in weekly.

The majority of the volunteers are senior citizens, who come in on a regular schedule, put in their hours and do a great job in the different departments.

Aside from the paid supervisors (like Deb ) and the individual dept managers (like my friend, Linda), all the work is done by volunteers!

For the past 3 years, G&T has been voted by the community, as the best thrift store in the Valley- and for good reason!!
Mennonite run, proceeds from the store go to help support the works of MCC, here and overseas.

Recently, the local tv news channel came by for a visit.

Have a look!!

Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!

I am in the midst of a purge of my studio and basement area. I feel like I am always in the midst of that purge!!!LOL
                                                       I am
                                            giving away
               boxes of mixed media goodies  
from my personal stash of fabulous finds and  thrift store treasures. No two boxes will be alike - I can guarantee that!!! I can try to tailor it to your interests.

I have a self imposed deadline of next week, when my son arrives with his g/f and 25 of his friends for the 2nd annual descent of the urbanites campout!

I have way too many thrift store treasure finds, rusty things, ephemera, vintage bits and pieces, quilting fabric old, vintage, and new,  flotsam, jetsam, bottle caps, shards of vintage china and pottery, interesting goodies found and dug up around the farm. I will NEVER get around to doing anything with them.

My son's g/f is an art school grad  mixed media artist, so she will undoubtedly end up with a box of goodies - if she wants one!!!

So, leave me a comment if interested- and send  your mailing address to ooglebloops at yahoo dot com.

Unfortunately, if you live overseas- I will have to ask you to pay postage-but I will squeeze what I can into a flat rate box, or First Class Int'l, which ever is least expensive. Within the US - all free!

A New Take on Recycling...

My friend Lennie sent me this link

If you insist upon using styrofoam cups, here is what you can do with them when you are finished drinking that coffee!!!
Considering how long it takes styrofoam to disintegrate in a landfill, this seems a better alternative!!!
                                                                        

                                                                       And

                                        - the fact that the cups are stackable, is a plus too!!!!

DIY Art Gallery

There was an interesting article in last Sunday's Washington Post about art galleries.

Not your traditional, snobby, high end gallery- but a new type of gallery that has been springing up....

Recently, in the news and on tv, we have been seeing, hearing about, and sometimes eating at, pop up restaurants- where a restaurant will just pop up out of no where just for one night. Its customers are foodies who follow these non traditional "restaurants" on twitter or FB, or simply thru text messages. It's a new idea that seems to be taking off.

For years, in the musical underground,  bands have been doing house shows - instead of large venues- they travel the country, their state, or just around town, playing in basements, backyards, or row house living rooms, setting up a "merch" table in a corner or in the back of their van, selling their CD's and t-shirts.

Now, it appears to be the artist's turn! Or, maybe, it has always been the artist's turn, but the general public (like me) is just now finding out about it, in this do it yourself age!

                                       (above photo by Matt McClain for the Washington Post)

For the local artist, the alternative artist, the one lacking a "big" name, or a creative, artsy type who just wants to share what he or she creates- a DIY gallery, micro gallery, or home based gallery for a night seems to be the way to go!
Blogging is certainly a way for people to see one's art, but there is nothing like experiencing, seeing, feeling a piece of art in person. And, for most struggling artists, or those who think and create outside of the parameters of an art critic's "box", a showing in a mainstream art gallery is usually way out of reach.

Local curators and art critics can be very choosy and /or critical- leaving the big art venues hard to access for the small or unknown artist.

There is, now, at least one national guide to alternative art spaces, put together by a Chicago organization named three walls 

The newest printing of their guide, entitled Phonebook 3, lists 200 "domestic" galleries around the country.
Baltimore and Washington, DC have their fair share of alternative galleries. I am sure NY must have some also!!

Here are more links from that Post article:

Porch Projects

Judy Byron

Pleasant Plains Workshop


This has me thinking.....maybe there is a new life, in the future, for my old, crumbling, yet charismatic, goat barn out back.........

Tea on Tuesday and Stacks

Today's tea photos were prompted by a project that Seth from The Altered Page will be featuring tomorrow on his blog.
Over 70 artists and artsy folks will be showing stacks of ephemera, paper, journals, and the like. Seth always thinks of these fun things to do!!

Who among us, does NOT have a stack of SOMETHING???
                  I DARE you to raise your hand!!! LOL


I have many stacks - so, I included a few- the last photo being the one to be included in Seth's post.
But, first- the tea: sideways, again, for reasons only blogger knows (altho hubby thinks he's got it figured, using photoshop- but I am tired, and don't want to mess with it right now- soooooooooo)

My oolong tea and mug are sitting on my 2nd mug rug from an Art4Mail online swap. The quilter did a fabulous job with fall colors.

Mine are almost done - but today was taken up by purging the basement and  making grape jam (the reason I am too tired to fool with photoshop and why this post is late today!)

                                                                             


                                                                        STACKS



Tea on Tuesday - teacups, of course!



                             Books that are yearning for their own book shelf- or a new home elsewhere
                                                        (see a title you like? Let me know!!!)


                                                    Stuff on the couch I am reading my way thru'


Guest bath




Spell check? Nah -stacks of ancient dictionaries 
(usually neatly shelved- just posing for the "stacks" photo shoot) 


                                  Journals, book covers, vintage pages, ephemera awaiting new life....



Please drop by every Tuesday for tea - see Kimmie and Patty for a list of other tea lovers.
Don't forget to visit Seth tomorrow to see many more stacks!! I know Patty and I are playing along, and maybe Kimmie too!!!

Tea on Tuesday

Native American style herbal tea is on the menu for today!!! A Native American friend was selling her goodies at the local Autumn Festival this past weekend. I could not pass up the tea!!



I must also share this photo, of a tiny little pottery tea set- handmade- a thrift store find!! So cute!!!The little plates are a little larger than the size of a quarter.

Some happy snail mail this week - was a bird pin cushion, from an online Art4Mail swap.

This  soo cute little bird flew across the pond to me- a little bluebird of happiness, with embroidered details, out of wool and love- with a heart shaped tail.


The little cutie is perched on a powder blue pillow, and made for the swap, by Rosemarie of Dartford, Kent, England. Thanks so much, Rosemarie!!

Please drop in for a spot of tea every Tuesday- visit Patty and Kimmie for a list of other tea lovers.

I Am Ripping My Hair Out.........................

.................or taking my Artfully Ooglebloops blog over to Wordpress.


I cannot deal with the issue of photos not appearing as they should in a blogger post!!!

I'm fed up- and I'm not gonna take it any more!!!!!LOL

Apparently, I am not the only one with this issue.
Blogger does not seem to have an option to rotate a photo, as in Wordpress or even Facebook, and it's driving me to drink!!!
It looks like people with Canon cameras (which I am now using) are having these issues. Not sure if it extends beyond Canon, or if this is a new problem that has cropped up in the last month or so..








The above photos were supposed to be part of tomorrow's Tea on Tuesday post, but as you can see, they are sideways!!
These are photos that were never altered, rotated, or otherwise tampered with - 'til they were posted here.

In reading others' similar questions - some solutions offered were to go  thru Picasa, and other things with  a whole bunch of aggravating steps which hardly make the post worth doing- way too time consuming and frustrating!!
Here is my question on Blogger's Help Forum:


"Whenever I put a photo in a blog post - I never know what position blogger will decide to show the photo. A perfect shot, never having been rotated, cropped, or changed in any way, will be rotated when put in the blog. Also, those photos which have been rotated and saved, then posted, are not recognized by blogger. There is no option on blogger to rotate a photo, as there is on Wordpress and Facebook. If I didn't think I would lose alot of my followers, I would be sorely tempted to move my blog to Wordpress - just to avoid pulling out my hair, every time I write a new post.
I admit to not being the most computer literate- but others having the same problem, leads me to believe the issue is with Blogger. Why is there no way to rotate a pic once it is posted in the blog? Please HELP!

www.artfullyooglebloops.
blogspot.com
 
Blogger, can you hear me?????????????????????????????????

TO BE CONTINUED......................................

Artfully............Singing

Sorry, just had to be a MOM, and brag a bit.

Here is a link to my daughter- please listen, if you get a chance.

If you are on FB, visit me, and please feel free to share the video!!!

https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=2234172208259

Tea on Tuesday


This is why I changed my new blog to Wordpress - because of blogger issues with my new camera- this is a photo that was taken normally, not rotated or fooled with in any way - and this is how blogger sees fit to show it....WHY????
SORRY, did not mean to start tea with whining!!LOL

Anyway.........
today's tea comes in a lovely tin box. It is made by Ineeka
This little handled tea bags are called brew tache'
The top is sealed, and just rips apart, so you can pour the water over/thru' the tea leaves.

This Darjeeling is a combo of  black tea and calendula- yummy!


Depending on the size of the mug/cup, the little handles will fold out and fit the opening. Very cool!!

Also discovered in Fulks Run Grocery, was this "organic" lunch bag/tote -  furoshiki style.



Had to buy it - I wrote a post a while back (see HERE), on furoshiki folding - a "green" Japanese method of cloth folding. I have a stack of beautiful Japanese cloths, given to me by a well traveled friend (thanks, Teresa- and for finding my link!!!!), that I use and fold, and refold,  to make gorgeous little totes.

                                               This one is sewn, so it is permanently folded.



Coincidentally, the same day I came home with this, I received my latest issue of Pasticcio Quartz- produced and written by Angela Cartwright and Sarah Fishburn. --and inside was an article on furoshiki  !!
                                                                   The stars align................

And, even better, also in that  'zine -an article on Seth Apter's latest book- The Winds of Change  written with Roxanne Stout

So, here I sit, at my dining room table, inhaling the scent of the last buddleia/butterfly bush blossoms of the season, enjoying my tea and Pasticcio !!!


            Please join us for tea every Tuesday- visit Patty and Kimmie for a list of other tea lovers!!!

New Blog!!!

FYI, in case you're interested- I started yet another new blog, back over on Wordpress.

Don't worry, Artfully Oooglebloops will be continuing here - this is something totally different! I decided to go back to Wordpress, because of the issues I have been experiencing lately with blogger and photo placement.

Recently, I have been researching on Ancestry.com, and have alot of family photos, as does my brother.

  I decided to start this new  blog as an homage of sorts, to my grandfather. This would be a way for my brother and I to compile each other's pics and info. And, in the process, create something that might be of interest, not only to family, but others as well.

The only person, other than my brother and I, who is closely related, and still around to remember my grandfather, is my mother, his daughter. So, before all memories are lost to the past, I thought I better get moving on this!!!

Among other things, my grandfather, Joe,  was an amateur bike racer (along with his brother, Walter). My grandfather qualified for the Olympics- but sadly, the onset of the War cancelled it for that year. Imagine how different his life might have been, had he participated, and maybe even won! This was back in the old days, when sports were played without steroids and chemical enhancements.


I hope some of you might find this interesting enough to become followers on my new blog

I am sure it would have pleased my grandfather to know people were interested (if only a little) in him!!