Friday, May 12, 2023

Almond

The Almond - Hope

The hope, in dreams of a happier hour,
That alights upon misery's brow,
Spring out of the silvery Almond flower,
That blooms on a leafless bough.

Moore 

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Small Valentine Printables for Children

        Valentine printables below are for young children to print, sign, craft with. They are not intended for sale or to be redistributed by alternative websites. 

"A wish-locked in this heart of mine - Says "Will you be my Valentine?" text.

text, "These two Bunnies Friends of mine Are bringing you My Valentine.

Thursday, February 2, 2023

The Fig

Fig
My gnarled and sturdy branching tree
Flourished in far antiquity,-
From ancient Syria I came,
I spread to lands of Bible fame,
And now in modern Palestine,
The first fruit's honor still is mine.

Clip Art:

vintage fig varieties, watercolor


A black and white drawing of a fig branch, leaves and fruit.

Saturday, March 12, 2022

Apple verse and clip art.

 This verse and clip art about the apple and of apples is for your card designs, enjoy... (Terms of Use)

Verse and/or Poems:

 Apple
Though born on Asia's Western plains
Each continent is in my veins,
My crooked boughs, my noble fruit,
All temperate climates seem to suit.
America has loved me well,
As every boy and girl can tell.

Clip Art:

Drawing of apple on limb for needlepoint or coloring


Apples in a basket, old photograph.


A colorful apple spray.

Peach verse and clip art...

       This verse and clip art about peaches and of peaches is for your card designs, enjoy... (Terms of Use)

Verse and/or Poems:

Peach
I'm prehistoric, old as Time,-
In China I attained my prime.
They loved me for both fruit and
flower,
Confucius loved my rosy bower
Of blossoms, and I claim by birth,
My place as Queen fruit of the earth. 

Clip Art:

Drawing of a peach for needlework or coloring.

Vintage peach postcard.

Old-fashioned basket with peaches and plums.

Antique watercolor of peaches and blossoms.


Plum verse and clip art...

        This verse and clip art about plums and of plums are for your card designs, enjoy... (Terms of Use)

Verse and/or Poems: 

Plum
"The eldest brother to the flowers"
They called me in old China's
bowers.
When first I bloomed in far-off
springs,
The nightingale with dusky wings
Poured music from my moon-white
tree,
And maidens oft were named for
me.

Clip Art:

Drawing of plums on a twig for needlepoint or coloring

Watercolor of plums tumbling from a fruit basket.

Many varieties of vintage or heritage plums.

Strawberry Verse and Clip Art

       This verse and clip art about strawberries and of strawberries are for your card designs, enjoy... (Terms of Use)

Quotes and/or Verse:

Strawberry
I came from some Andean vale
And grew so vigorous and hale,
That soon I braved the North-
ern air,
To far Alaska's shores I fare.
They used to string my berries
red
On straw, and thence my name,
'tis said.

 Clip Art:

Strawberry pattern for needle work or coloring


Old painted photograph of a strawberry basket.

giant pen drawing of a single strawberry


strawberries in color on a vine


black and white can illustration of strawberry jam

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

nostalgic sentiments

"For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well." 2 Timothy 1:5

"Take time for what matters," Find joy in every journey," and "Dream come true."

Description:   The term nostalgia describes a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. In common, less clinical usage nostalgia can refer to a general interest in the past, their personalities and events, especially the "good old days" from one's earlier life. 
       Above I enhanced old copies of photos with a white pencil, pasted them to handmade cards along with a few floral accents and ribbons with woven text.

What kinds of written things might I include along with the card?
Quotes:
  • "True nostalgia is an ephemeral composition of disjointed memories." Florence King
  • "In music, trends are always rising and fading in popularity, but nostalgia never dies." Anthony Fantano
  • "As a child, our house had a backyard lined with roses tended vigilantly by my mother. So the fragrance fills me with nostalgia for my youth." Thelma Golden
Additional Scriptures:
  • "For he will never be shaken; The righteous will be remembered forever." Psalm 112:6
  • "Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her." Matthew 26:13
More Links To Explore:

illustrator howard pyle


      Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.
      In 1894 he began teaching illustration at the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry (now Drexel University). After 1900, he founded his own school of art and illustration, named the Howard Pyle School of Illustration Art. The scholar Henry C. Pitz later used the term Brandywine School for the illustration artists and Wyeth family artists of the Brandywine region, several of whom had studied with Pyle. Some of his more notable students were N. C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, Elenore Abbott, Ethel Franklin Betts, Anna Whelan Betts, Harvey Dunn, Clyde O. DeLand, Philip R. Goodwin, Thornton Oakley, Violet Oakley, Ellen Bernard Thompson Pyle, Olive Rush, Allen Tupper True, Elizabeth Shippen Green, Arthur E. Becher, William James Aylward, and Jessie Willcox Smith. Pyle's home and studio in Wilmington, where he taught his students, is still standing and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
      His 1883 classic publication The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood remains in print, and his other books, frequently with medieval European settings, include a four-volume set on King Arthur. He is also well known for his illustrations of pirates, and is credited with creating what has become the modern stereotype of pirate dress. He published his first novel, Otto of the Silver Hand, in 1888. He also illustrated historical and adventure stories for periodicals such as Harper's Magazine and St. Nicholas Magazine. His novel Men of Iron was adapted as the movie The Black Shield of Falworth (1954).
      Pyle traveled to Florence, Italy in 1910 to study mural painting. He died there in 1911 of a sudden kidney infection (Bright's Disease). Read more . . . 
      Below I've restored a few of Pyle's paintings. You can visit a collection of his illustrations restored for children to color at my Crayon Palace blog here.

Captain Keitt by Howard Pyle.
Attack On A Galleon by Howard Pyle.
Illustration by Howard Pyle from "The Price of Blood"

Sunday, February 14, 2021

a bird themed frame for stationary

        This frame includes illustrations of birds, bird houses and nests. Send a letter or poem framed for Spring to your loved ones...

A frame for bird lovers.

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Some Violets

SOME VIOLETS.
by May Riley Smith

Dear friend, I give thee violets;
And for my fee,
The fragrant secret of thy life
Disclose to me.

For through it, like a guiding thread,
I scent the rue;
And faintly track the odorous feet
Of heart's-ease too.

Reach down on patient cords to me
Thy brimming cup
Of wise, sweet thoughts, that I may drink,
And thus toil up

To where thou art, so meekly high,
So far away.
I can but kiss my eager hands
To thee to-day.

Or, if I may not reach so high,
Then be it so;
If I may sit beside thy feet,
'Twill not be low.

And, listening soft, my soul may catch.
In some far sense.
The tuneful impulse of a life
Serene, intense.

Ah, me! I do but spoil my work
With clumsy phrase;
And mar, with my uncultured speech,
Where I would praise.

So I will lay my heart's-ease down
At thy kind feet;
Regretting sore their broken stems,
Their vanished sweet.

Yet praying that their faded blue
Some type may be
Of the fair badge my heart shall wear
Always for thee!

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

old-fashioned valentines via post...

       I've cleaned these sweet little postcards for Valentine's Day so that you could include them in your crafts and letters.
A little boy in knickers, delivers a bunch of Valentine balloons "To One I LOVE"

A pretty, bright-eyed toddler, framed with a big red heart

A red-riding-hood sits in the boughs of a blooming tree and plays her horn or flute. She has wings.

Text, "Thoughts of You St. Valentines Day" postcard, child holds a very large rose