Holidays around the corner...

Charming Dance photos...................

So I went out of town and visited my daughter who lives overseas...it was WONDERFUL..
but I must confess I missed my grandbaby, my home and even ....my photos!!

Well, the holidays are just around the corner...and I have some AMAZING Photos that I have aquired and that I will be posting soon..................

also I am going to TRY to work on showing projects to make for Holidays..
One year, I used photos to decorate my entire holiday season...and this year..I am thinking of doing the same thing..(that and BRIGHT SHINY ORNAMENTS for the baby to smile at!!)

So keep posted and as soon as I am finished I will show how to use photos for holiday designs..

cathi

Great FREE website for making fun photos!

So...I confess...I have been having fun with the cutest grandbaby...but dear blog..i still miss you..and dont want to forget you..so here I am... I am trying to get back to the photo world..
while still being the babysitter i have always wanted to be!! (yeah!!)


ANYHOW...I FOUND A WEBSITE I had to SHARE WITH YOU!
If you love photos...well this one is FREE, FREE!!

and it is soo much fun...i admit, all night i was addicted to it!!

The name is www.befunky.com
and you will have soo much fun!!





Before and after!!




so you will have fun with this.......


(don't you love this one!!)

Have fun fellow photo lovers!!

cathi

ok...so i had to show him off....

a New Baby Boy...my grandchild...
mother and father are thrilled..
grandma and grandpa are over the moon........................

i must say i look at all my baby photos that come in for the store..a lot differently

All is well..I just havent posted because my daughter was L A T E...
then we have had FAMILY and Friends and everyone else coming around..
i feel behind on everything................................
except loving our new little one.............................................

ummmmmmmmmmm
more later about photos...just had to brag..

cathi

ITs Summer!! Finally!

So, yes, we do live in one of the colder places in America..least it sure feels like it..
(chicago)
the weather has been sooo frustrating, that I actually got a summer cold!! ARGH!

and no..the grandbaby has not come yet..(it is 16 days away..........give or take)

so i had to busy myself with listing listing listing photos..
but who wants to list..when the weather is goooood??
when there is so much to do outside...and the dogs can run like crazy all around...

in fact..even my photos..like to be out on a nice day!!
this is a lot of photos of ladies decked out like pin ups...enjoying the rays!!

ahhhhhh...summer.....

enjoy it while it is here!!

cathi

So....I am going to be a Grandmother

this week, i have begun to list most of my good photos on Sunday nights on eBay,
Not that i am slowing down.....BUT....
I am going to be a Grandmother!! first time!!yahoo!

and i am trying to change things a bit this summer..so that most of my main listings are on Sundays and at the beginning of the week...so that i am available...for...............that new grandchild!!

So i am literally a few weeks away from the big moment...

the house is busy...we are buying baby things...and suddenly...all of us are bright and shiny!!
(totally thrilled)

I will keep you posted...

thrilled...simply thrilled!!

cathi

The Glamour of the 40s...

A few months ago, I found a collection of 40s photos of young women...all dolled up..in costume, hair and makeup just for a photo shoot.
Well, I ended up with loads of these photos..all 5x7 and through the months have been selling them...

then after many estate sales, and auctions, I haven't really looked at them in awhile..
so yesterday, I decided I HAD to get organized..and found the remaining grouping of these pretty treasures...

on auction this week on ebay...I decided to sell the last of them...
All I could think of was years ago, when I owned a store, I used to have many of the gals who worked for us~ model and take photos
well..they loved it...that is when the joy of being a girl...all the makeup and hair can be soo fun...

when i looked at these old photos..that is all I could think of...a group of giggling girls getting all dolled up for their famous photo shoot...

that is now being auctioned off...65 years later...

thanks for looking!!

cathi

what does oprah, lee dewyze, haley reinhart all have in common...

the queen of all talk shows....
at harpo studios chicago il
farewell is only days away...



hayley reinhart..american idol top 3
played at Arlington Park Racetrack Arlington Heights Il Saturday May 16 2011




lee dewyze american idol 2010
played at Arlington Park Racetrack Arlington Heights Il 2010


yep....all from the Chicago area....

So I guess you have to be a Chicagoan to watch these storylines colliding....(of course Mayor Daley and Rahm Emanuel also have quite the storyline going this week too)

but you see...I am from the Chicago area...and this is all big news..
Oprah is leaving her show..and she is in our backyard...
it has been FACT in our area..that we had the BEST talk show hostess ever...
we knew it..might have even taken it for granted...but in any case, it was our fact.
Most of my friends have been either on the show or at the show..
I myself gave up 2 sets of tickets to care for my ailing mom..but in our area...getting tickets to Oprah was normal...she was part of Chicago...and we bragged about it..
May 17th is the last filming day..and all of us tried to get tickets to that..
(sadly, I did not)

Then there was Lee Dewyze ..the Mt Prospect native, that the whole town knew..
Hey, he was even in my sons gymnastics (my son is a coach) during his freshman year.
The parade, the sold out concert at Arlington Park racetrack was fun and I, the groupie enjoyed every moment of it.. American Idol 2010...it was a blast..
(being from a suburb outside the big city..we love to celebrate our hometown heroes)
Well his last day of reigning champ is May 25th when he turns his crown to the 2011 winner.

Then ...this week we had Haley Reinhart, a top 3 contestant of American idol who happens to live in the town RIGHT NEXT to where Lee Dewyze grew up..
in other words, ANOTHER concert at the Arlington Park Racetrack, another hometown hero and all of us turned out again (even thru the rainy weather) while she sang with her parents back up band...it really was fun....and oh so Chicago area...........


So this blog update is just that there are so many things we take for granted..(oprah) or things we just enjoy celebrating (like silly singing competitions!) and these things cross our paths ...
the things life is made up..those little moments...

My pleasure and business is going thru old photos...
glimpses of other peoples memories...a play...a dance...a birthday ...

all those precious little moments..that gives life sparkle...

may your life sparkle today....

cathi

It's May! 1907 Lady Godiva & Dreamy 20s Bride

Dreamy Bride...



1907 Lady Godiva who caused quite the stir!


May...what a beautiful time of the year!!
The sun is shinning and without a doubt spring fever is in the air..

oh...and I have some beautiful Wedding photos that I will be listing this whole month..
I love those old 20s photos...soo beautiful..and those flowers...

and then there are the vaudeville photos...
I am always in love with a beautiful old photo..
I found some wonderful ones from 1907..old Vaudeville/stage Real photo postcards from England..

soo sit and enjoy....it is MAY!!

cathi

Rita Martin ~The Kings Speech~ New Ebay Fees

Rita Martin was a photographer in England (1875-1958). She was THE photographer for those that were in the high social rankings in England and even photographed Queen Elizabeth, and the Queen mother as a young girl. There are many of her photos that hang in the National Gallery.....and I have some of her collection!! YEAH!!

So ....that means..the movie the Kings Speech..yep..THAT family...Rita photographed..only in real life!!

Her photos are incredible..soo nice..that I have a hard time putting them up for sale on eBay..
(I mean..do you have any idea how tempting they are to keep???)
but I have 3 of them up currently....and they are beautiful..and one is signed by Rita. ahhhh..


AND
News..
Ebay has increased our fees..they now charge us for shipping. They want us to offer free shipping (meanwhile they are charging us a percentage of the sale on shipping) and they want us to do Buy it nows.

So....
I do have buy it nows in my store..and all of them are free shipping..
BUT

i love a good auction...I mean..don't you?
Where else can you get a steal of a deal...and feel super great getting it..
or if you really love it..well you will pay for it...

I love auctions and I wish eBay would realize we still love them...

so...my shipping prices have to rise..(i am so sorry..i tried, i really did) but i still do great combined shipping...and
now...
I have RITA MARTIN photos...and I mean they are a true WOW WORK OF ART PHOTOS THAT YOU WILL REALLY LOVE!
I will try to list a few a week...but it is like pulling them out of my hands..i have a hard time letting them go......soooo beautiful...

say...isn't Spring lovely???
cathi

What do you do with all your old photos?

Often, when I am mailing out photos to some of my customers..I am caught wondering..
what do they do with their photos?

Now I have all kinds of customers..some are painters..so I imagine the photos hung all around the room for inspiration.

Then I know I have customers who use them for collage art, so I picture them scanning endlessly and working very carefully to create just the perfect image.

Others work with fashion, and I am sure they stare at the fashions deciding what can they do with the fashions of old to blend with today.

Then there are the advertisers.. I am still hoping to see one of my old photos on a Geicko commerical!

And there are the collectors....
I am one of those..

you can come into my home at any given time..and find all sorts of pretty images framed and around my house, hanging on a wall..and in a beautiful frame on a book shelf..
they look like family..but i have no idea who they are..

I collect because an image strikes me..not because it is a big name, tho there are collectors that do that..
or because it is a certain era..
nope it is all about the photo for me..

that is why I list from so many different eras..I just fall in love with the photos..

ahhh...
What do You do with all your photos???

Cathi

Springtime is trying hard to get here....

A few nights ago, there was the biggest moon because it was supposed to be closer to earth...in fact, it was so rare you weren't supposed to see another one like it until 2029

well...it was foggy, and rainy..and i kept checking and checking..
no moon!

then..the other day here in the Chicago area..it was getting warm..I had a light jacket on..it was so wonderful...

tonight it snowed..

but you cant fool me..i know that spring is coming...........
i saw the pregnant robin the other day...


saw this beautiful photo and wanted to share it with you...
it is on auction this week..

oh and i apologize for not updating..

i think it was between, a vacation with the hubby, then i got sick..a long cold that didn't want to go away, and then the hubby with a long cold that didn't want to go away..being glued to the television with all the latest news ...

anyhow..excuses aplenty..i just didnt post..

but i found this photo..and thought..

hmmmm
Spring is coming...

cathi

Winter & Summer

With almost 2 feet of snow outside in the Chicago area, it was fun to begin to list my latest aquisition of photos..

Photos of Kids enjoying summer fun! 1950s era..
Taken by a photographer in Palm Beach Florida..they are beautiful...

but why now??

When I was a young girl, my father had a trade convention in January in Florida. Right in the middle of a long cold winter, my mother and I would pack up and get ready to enjoy the sun..
what a wonderful break it would be...coming back, all sunburned and able to get through the next hard months ahead.

Sometimes we need to remember in seasons and in life...everything changes...there is winter...but then summer will come again...

during some of these hard years lately ...with people unemployed and hurting from the economy..it seems hard to believer that winter will pass...

but it does...it takes time...but it does pass..

grateful for big snow drifts and the hope for sunshine

cathi