Public Napping?

Public naps? 

      These are not the homeless that are grabbing a nap  

in a safe place, but people who are exhausted and just


drop… 

  At MOMA in NYC last year... this is a soft place to rest.

The soft purring/snore is lovely.

Travel with family...

In the mid 1960's we crossed the USA and visited all sorts of attractions etc... Here is a classic photo of my family, my dad in the middle and my sister and I on both sides of him... in the background brightly washed out is the Grand Canyon. 

I may have been frowning because of the bright light or envious of the unknown girl with her binoculars.

Here is another photo on that same day with mom.

We have a wonderful life.

 

Statement of Facts ~

     I am home on Whidbey, but already  bitten again, by the travel bug! I my Facebook entries have journaled a varied and busy visit to London, my Blog entries illuminate much of my classes and some of my thoughts about life and school. For some reason I feel the need to go back to London or to keep traveling somewhere. Soon I will get an apartment in Seattle this time with a view!  Perhaps I will at last finish school and that my new adventure will begin again a new phase… perhaps I will find romance, or a new charity that will grab my heart… I await God to show the way, knowing it is going to be good.

Journal of Ideas and Random Thoughts for Tuesady

Early ~~~

      Today I reflect on my first Fashion Styling class.  I believe I will enjoy it; the teacher, Robin Dutt, is well experienced and has the right credentials.  The fact that he is closer to my age gives me a bit of hope that he will understand me and appreciate my “late in life” new chapter…. Upon the recommendation of the teacher, I saw the movie “The Artist”, and understood, at last, the fuss.  The movie stayed true to its own silent theme, for some reason it kept reminding me of the Mr. Bean movies, I think because Rowan Atkinson also needs few words to get across the feeling and intention of the character.  The impression of color was communicated by the textures and intensity of the black, white and greys… I especially noticed that the actors all had bleached white teeth, even if they were not perfectly straight they were very white.  I am sure this must be a personal thing with me as I have struggled with my teeth through the years.

Later ~~~

  Whew!!  Yesterday was quite a day, early out to Covenant Garden and then on to several Art museums…  I got a chance to see the work of Chihuly again, glass artist, he seems to be everywhere. It may be because he is from my home state and is always just around either on TV or on the ferry… there.

Alligator Bites !

So yes there is a place in Texas (Pappadeaux Seafood) where you can order an appetizer that is fried Alligator, so I will not pass up an opportunity to try something new ... ok most things will have to have a low yech factor, but I tried this and it was wonderful. Not chewy, tasted like chicken crossed with a tuna. yummy I will have it again.

Venice is where you can see magic!

SPACE HOPPERS in VENICE from bayougirl on Vimeo.

HOME ~ ♪♫♫♪

I was on a short trip lately and ............... As we flew near to home... I looked out the window and there it was.... The Mountain. Mt. Rainer in all its glory, and I took this with my cell phone...























and this one too.





























As we landed we flew below those lovely clouds into the warm rainy gray day that is Seattle. I love where I live. Thank you God.

Whatever ~ I love where I live.

I have heard and experienced myself the great many gray days here in the northwest! Some people come to visit and never see the beautiful mountains.... if they make an appearance...it is just a fleeting glance through the clouds. When I first moved here the trees, our neighborhood, and the rainy days kept me from seeing the mountain's for about the first 6 months. One day I turned the corner near our home and the sun had just popped out from behind the ever hovering clouds... Ta... DA ♪♫♫♪♪♪ ~ !!! I was then determined, from then till now, when I see those beautiful clouds lift, and I see the lofty heights of strength and beauty, covered in snow even in the summer, I will be glad. I will be filled with that view and really soak it into me. Thank you God! Then when my eyes fill up with the sight, it brings a kind of inspiring joy.

I lost my hat!

Yes, this is the hat I lost... now, how could I have misplaced it? I love this hat, it was perfect for a snowy afternoon at tea. After a long flight, I had the worst case of bed head, "airplane hair" and our rooms were not ready. So we had tea in the bar and I kept my hat on! I do wish I could remember where I left it.... if anyone has seen my hat and can return it ~~~ >> NO QUESTIONS WILL BE ASKED ... its just that I miss it and wonder where it went. It is an anthropology hat and was quite dear, so there may be a treat in for you if you find it. Thanks for listening!
sincerely

Flood ~ My Soul !

And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'
Matthew 25:40

Your service toward those in need is your service unto God Himself. Don't endeavor to preach the Gospel; be the Gospel.




Nashville Flood Relief
If you're interested in helping with the relief efforts for the Nashville Flood, please visit here for more information on how you can be of service.

Smell the Rodeo

Last Week I was in Texas! and... besides buying cowgirl boots and having my nails done I went to a Rodeo! As we drove into the arena parking the attendants were on horseback. Then I realized we had the best seats right in front right by the "shoots" or "chute". I got this photo with my iPhone! Wow! we were so close we could smell the dust that got stirred up as the rides and bulls left the gate. Now that was Kick~in it country fun!

Venice with a little photoshop fun.

A few years ago my husband, my daughter and I went on a trip to Venice Italy. There were so many lovely views that I took hundreds of photos! I took a photoshop class about a year and half ago... this is the combination of one of my photos and my newly discovered photoshop skills... I really like it and though I should share it.

My Feet ~ a story that I didn't plan to tell.

Well I didn't start out to tell a story about my feet, or even decide to take pictures of my feet and put them on my blog... however, one day I was sorting through my many photos and noticed how many, many, many photos I had of just that very thing! My feet... so here are a few photos... I seem to have taken some by accident and others by design... explanations follow each photo.






This one I was trying to photograph the tote for my online Etsy shop and well.... I didn't have a model that day so I just snapped it with my right hand....





Again my model wasn't around and my toe nail polish just happened to match the Ultrasuede! This one will be listed soon.

This was my daughters graduation day and I was beginning to get bored, I had put a top layer of sparkle~ly paint on my dark purple toes. It was so pretty and so I distractedly snapped a photo while someones name I didn't know was being called... really 3 hours to get through all the names and speeches... yawn~! pretty toes however!

Here I am trying again to take a photo of product without a model.... not a bad shot... of my feet! ☺

And at last... my favorite shot of my feet.... so far ~~~~~ ! ♥ ♥ ♥

This one I took while I waited for my daughters to get ready... we were in Disneyland, the ankle bracelet says "PRINCESS" and yes I am! Silver toes, shoes and bracelet! WOW What cute feet....
Not a single stinker! Now wasn't that fun?!

Bug Storm ~ and other adventures on the Road.

Bug Storm ~ and other adventures on the Road.

Many of you may know that I have been going on "road trips" this summer to visit the local colleges and universities in our area that my teen may want to attend fall 09. They do these tours, and we visit the classrooms and dorms, it is really neat way to help make a decision.
This was our last trip, and we were on a six hour drive in Eastern Washington, about dusk. When there arose such a splatter! I couldn't believe what we were seeing, splat! Splat! SPLAT!!!. It was a Bug Storm! It contained all sorts of bugs, locus, ladybug, flies, mayflies, and other really juicy ones!
My car has a kind of grimace, after having to endure it!

One large one still left stuck on after 300 more miles................ It got so thick that there was just a small place for me to see out of the window, and I had to constantly use the window cleaner to keep that area clean.
Ladybugs too!.................... They were so thick, it looked like a snowstorm.
Well ... it lasted about 5 minutes and when we arrived at the hotel later that night, there were about 50 still attached to the grill, too bad I didn't take a photo of that! These photos are from the next day when we got home 300 miles later, so alot blew off already.
I also let my teen drive, through the mountians, but that is another adventure, that the description is better left for another day!

The Military Brats of Etsy Global Street Team ~ JUNE 2008 Brat Feature – elephantdreams and radcliffedesignes

Every few weeks we feature one of our members. We are proud to Feature: “Elephantdreams and radcliffedesignes, she is one of the many Etsy Artist that can support and fill two shops with the things she creates… so both are promoted here.


Photos à
http://www.flickr.com/photos/grace2b
website: http://web.mac.com/grace2b
blog: http://rhradcliffedesigns.blogspot.com/

http://elephantdreams.etsy.com/ Tripping around the world with a camera and my feet

also… as

http://rhradcliffedesigns.etsy.com/ Art: Watercolors, Photographs, Jewelry and Prints


1-Tell us a bit about yourself (name, location, affiliations, and personal stuff).My name is Ruth Hill Radcliffe. I was born in Artesia, California back when it was orange groves instead of parking lots. My dad had just returned from the war and my mom was an English war bride. I drove my parents crazy because I cried all the time. When I was 4 my dad was recalled to serve in Korea. He never made it there but we did end up in Laredo, Texas for the first of many moves. Because we moved around so much I've had experiences that at times made me cringe, at others made me jump for joy. There were 2 moves that really made huge impressions on me....the first being sent to Caracas, Venezuela when I was 6. It was scary, exciting, and full of adventures. The second was being transferred to the Air Force Academy when I was a Jr. in high school. I think that move was probably the most profound because it sent my life in a totally new direction, meeting some really neat guys (and eventually my husband) and leading me to attend Colorado Womens College where I met some really neat gals who are still my dearest friends. Both the Academy and college were among the best memories of my young life.I now live in Houston, Texas. Texas seems to have been my home for the last 32 years...with the exception of a wonderful 4 year stay in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I've been a photographer for the past 32 years, an artist for almost 50 and a wife for 37 and a mother for 33. Not all those things are in order. I've been active in arts associations and most notably the Watercolor Society here in Houston. I joined Etsy in September 2006, and must confess didn't have a clue as to what it was all about. It took almost 8 months to figure out you just don't build it and they will come. The experience, though, has spawned a climb up a learning curve of computer and internet life, one which challenges me every day.




2-What is the first thing you can remember making by hand? How and why did you make it?The first thing I really remember making by hand was this really wonderful collage in 2nd grade with fabrics and buttons and all sorts of really cool things. I remember it the most because I enjoyed it so much I decided to take some of the things home with me so I could make another one. I got busted and embarrassed but, I think I'd have done it again. It was just so much fun putting all those things on paper.


3-What inspires you? Where do your ideas come from?Wow, what inspires me...that could take a book but to condense it a little, I would say that I am inspired by color, really bright, wonderful color. And then design and texture. You put those three things together and I get really itchy. I get my head wrapped around detail with color, designs and textures and I'm in heaven, whether it’s taking photos, painting, making jewelry or mosaics.

4-What are your favorite materials?Too many. I would have to list my camera first, but then paint and beads and fabrics and glass and.............oh my! The learning of a new technique with new mediums is just about the most exciting thing I can think of. 2 years ago I did the 1st of 3 large exterior mosaics. I didn't know anything about them when I started but the glass felt like magic in my hands. I have some raw silk that I'm dying to do something with.....is there a material I don't like.....well yeah, I have to say pastels, but only because I'm allergic to the chalk.






5-What have been the most valuable lessons learned from other artists on Etsy?There have been so many lessons, so many artists, so much help, and support and love. There are people who stop and go that extra distance to help, and mentor. Etsy is a community of artists that I truly value.....and consider being a part of this community a special artistic and spiritual experience. Friendship, support, humor, and belonging......all have been an important part of my life when I needed all of the above the most.

6-Why should people buy handmade?No question there.....handmade....what else is there? Well that question can be answered by sweatshops, cheap knock offs, lack of creativity, costly junk that has no soul. And sadly, the fact that so many people don't realize the beauty of handmade when they put a dollar amount ahead of quality and lovingly made art.

7-What new features/services would you most like to see on Etsy?To be honest, I don't really have an answer that really fits. I find the most frustrating part of Etsy is when certain artists and shops are mentioned and featured in some way again and again. With so many artists here there is a void the needs filling. I don't say any of that out of jealousy, but just wish that more could be spread out among the many.

8-Apart from creating things, what do you do?Well....at the moment what I do the most is trying to learn computer skills....creative as well as practical. I'm really working hard at learning to scan the many thousands of negatives and slides so I can use them in this digital age. It has been frustrating for me because over 25 years of work is film. And translating it into workable computer images....well drives me demented. But computer aside, I spend time with my husband and 2 beautiful greyhounds. I plan in my head my next trip to Asia. And I look at my garden with all its funk and know I should be out there weeding. So much more fun putting all sorts of collections out there.

9-Read any good books lately?Well, I used to be an avid reader, so much so I was always in trouble and far behind in what needed to be done. Lately I've sort of taken a holiday....but I love inspirational stories. My favorite secret pleasure though is reading a good mystery. So it sort of vacillates between Buddha and Elizabeth George. kind of a dichotomy that is.



10-In ten years I'd like to be…still challenged by life and art. I think I'd also like to be at peace, both in the world and with myself.







11-How did you pick your business name and your etsy avatar?well, my first shop was just an extension of what I had been doing for years.....rhradcliffedesigns is sort of boring, but it was a part of me for a long time. I had a hard time coming up with an avatar for that one, but I convinced my son to do a vector of me, and then I put wild colors in it. So it sort of fits, a crazy lady with bright pink background and big glasses.Elephantdreams evolved out of love. The title has a lot of meaning in so many parts of my life. A work in progress is "In Search of Elephants and Other Graces", a book I've been working on for years. The elephant has just been a big part of my imagination, and when I decided I needed a shop just for photography elephant dreams just kept rumbling around. As far as the avatar goes, it’s still a work in progress; I knew I wanted something in black and white. And I've had fun with a photo program on my computer....but as I said that part is a work in progress.






12- What is a Brat and how does that help you craft? A brat is someone who has been places that not many people have been, the journey sometimes alone, sometimes with many and sometimes just there. I really feel like every part of me has been shaped by that brattiness that is who we are.....the constant moving and learning and trying out new "selves". I also think it plays a huge role in the choices I make as to what I want to learn and experiment with next. Every new material is a journey and adventure. I sometimes get frustrated because there are so many things I want to do....I'll try anything once, usually more. I think I am fearless when it comes to experimenting.....many pieces which don't show up on Etsy. My craft is also my lifeline......it was especially that growing up, and now it’s a link to the future, and a grounding wire. "Oh the places you will go"

Military Brats - How I survived 11 different schools and 9 moves before I turned 18

The world as I know it is a welcome and fun place where those who know how and are not afraid can roam and feel at home.

Hello world. I was a military brat... some one who has the unique lifestyle, with parent or parents who are in the military. My dad was in the Navy and we moved every 3 years so I grew up in many different states and countries. I loved the nomad, existence, and new adventure and seeing the world. Our family vacations could be the Grand Canyon one year and Big Ben the next. It was a great experience; however, I didn't do to well in school. The simple reason was because half the time I would be transferring over Christmas, and well they just finished teaching what I was supposed to learn... in October and I missed that at my last school, because they taught that in the spring. Grammar and spelling as well as math, were the worst to suffer. Plus always being the "new girl" I had to learn fast how to make friends. A skill I still have. This does not mean I was a "fast girl", just really good at finding friends and developing friendships. I really excelled in the creative side however; I loved sewing, doing anything with glue and scissors. Art and those projects where you draw a diagram or make a model, I always got an A.

Here is more of how I survived….

First .......I do feel "connected" I as a person even thought I don't have the traditional roots, most people feel necessary in order to feel at "home". I had great parents who taught me a great deal about how a family should function and support one another through good and bad times. We had a sense of adventure for each move and our new surroundings were full of friends to meet and experiences to be had.

Second..........My dad is gone now....his heart finally failed him. He is buried in Arlington right across the highway from the Pentagon.  I stood at his grave a few weeks after September 11, (yes I flew then), I went to Arlington and looked across into the face of the destruction caused by the crash there. I felt I understood in a new way, the dedication my father personified in his life work in the Navy.

Finally...... I can only feel a great deal of respect and pride for those who have served, those who have worked to protect our ideals and freedoms, and those Veterans who gave their ultimate for our country and our rights. It is personal for me; it is for my life too they served.

Who is terryann anyway? and A few things I did last summer.

Here is a short preamble to help explain “who is terryann?”

Living here in the great northwest we have our share of rain and snow. I make my own sunshine by being creative and positive. I have been sewing for about 40 +/- years. I find it is my passion, therapy, greatest creative outlet, and a skill I have been working at for a long time. God has been good to me and blessed me as a mother and wife. I have been able to pursue my passion for sewing both professionally and for my own needs. A short list of my favorite things:
Praising God
Family
Learning new things
Japan
Sewing anything!
Art
Travel
Purses
Organization
Fashion
Doing the right thing.
ETSY!
I was born in the northeast in a military hospital mid century ~ last. We moved all over the world because my dad was in the US Navy. I finished my last 3 years of High School in Misawa Japan, that would be northern Japan, and it had a great influence upon me. There is Kawaii (cute) all over and I see it because of the way of “seeing” I learned from my Asian experiences. My dad retired in Annapolis Md. I met and married an Academy Grad and we began a new adventure around the world which included a couple of years in Japan again. I was reminded that Japan is one of many places I call the home of my heart. Scotland is another one but that is another story. Now we have retired from the military but not from travel. I go as often as I am able and my hubby has a second career that takes him on trips all around the world, sometimes I get to go too! Yippee!


I have a shop where I sell my own purse/tote/tea towel/hat/apron/patches and etc….designs. http://www.terryann.etsy.com/
Please check it out; I will do custom orders if you see something you want in some other fabric, let me know I will see what I can do for you. I had been trying to find an outlet for my crafts for years. I have sold just about everyway there is, craft fairs, consignment and ebay. Ebay was a dismal failure, every sale was for far less than the cost of my supplies and the ‘garage sale’ mentality there kept it that way. I still list things there (as Skippytada)…. Stuff from around the house, which I would sell in a garage sale, those items do well! Etsy is the first time I have been successful with my purse designs. Not that I am breaking the bank but I have been fairly consistent in sales, about two times a week. It has energized me to continue sewing and designing. That was what I needed!
My newest is a …
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6516034
Red Tote Bag with Black Calligraphy, bright and versatile!
I am hoping to build a customer base and I must promote more to do so….. this is my stab at it today.









Summer 07

The photo at left is one I took actually while driving (I do not recomend it), however the view was fantastic. My “road trip” to CA was great and I am ready for the next big adventure that comes my way. A friend of mine was moving “home” to California, and I drove her car while she drove the moving van. We had a great trip and her family was so pleased to see her and have her near again. I am needed some of that pretty strong turkish coffee for the trip.
I cannot seem to stay still! I practically jumped at the chance to go with her; in fact it was my idea. She needed some way to get her car home and a female driving alone towing a car didn’t sound too safe or easy. I am in the northwest and it took a couple of days… but to me it is like….”ROAD TRIP” yippee! I will miss my friend an awful lot, but I know this is the right thing for her at the right time in her life. She was divorced a few years ago and stayed in the area to finish raising her kids in their ‘comfort zone’. Now it is time for her! It is time for her to do what is best for her and being around her family is the best. I really miss her!
God be with her!