GROWTH!! 3+ weeks and counting!!

knew you wanted the LATEST PUPPY UPDATE!!
(i am heading out to see them in just a few weeks..should be crazy fun!)

Their eyes are open!

Watch them grow!!
The latest puppy photos!!

More Changes...and the beauty of Old photos

Hello...
It is the 8th of February and I sit getting ready for a major snow storm about to fall..something that many of you out there are already used to this season...

So...as we "hunker down" I took to reading the discussion boards for us Ebay sellers...and wanted to let you all know one of the latest developments in the Ebay world.

In a few weeks ( about 6 weeks to be exact) all the stores on ebay will be opened up and all the merchandise will be in CORE..which means..that there will be SO MUCH TO SEE!
I am not sure the reasoning why this is happening..it was tried many years ago..and it was really cluttered...and we were all afraid the site would crash...soo much stuff....

but Ebay has decided to roll this out once again..

but so YOU know...if you love auctions..(which I DO!)
then there is the AUCTION ONLY tab...that you can press..which should make things a little easier to manuver...in fact instead of 74,000 + photographic images that we have now to look at ..you will probably be seeing more like 1,000,000 images...now...that is ALOT OF STUFF...
and it could get a bit overwhelming... so practice using the tabs that they have put all over ebay..it should help some...

With all this new competition what is going to set us sellers apart??

Well, that is something that I have been working on these past few months..which brings us to the next subject...
Beautiful old photos...

I have decided to continue to STREAMLINE my own store. I will continue to be working on selling QUALITY photos..photos that are beautiful.....focusing on photos before the 1950s

I have been fortunate to find a few large estates full of really fabulous photos..
I mean photos that are in excellent condition..and are old and beautiful...

My main love is to find beautiful photos that look like art...
Photos that can stand on their own..and take on a new life...and be hung on a wall ...used in design..put in a frame next to your desk...

This photo that I have pictured here is MILVIA WARNER..and she was a real person..who was a bright woman that worked in Archeology and did some great work.....but before all of that..she was from family that had her picture taken..and all the photos from this family were beautiful......ones that can be framed and hung on any wall..

That is what I love about old photos...photos with a story..and photos that take on a new life as an adorning ornament in a room...

well..the snowstorm is on it's way.....but keep your eyes open to the beautiful photos that we have posted ....

Cathi

Musings on portraits.....and a blog contest...

Ok, I admit it...if you have seen my store you must know..I love portraits..
I just love them.

Some people take pictures of places when they have a camera...
"oh my, I must take a picture of this statue"

but at the end of the day..
the thing that everyone REALLY wants to see..years later are all the photos of the people.
"did little Jerry every really look THAT little?"
or
"oh..it is ALICE..wow, I miss her..what a great photo!!"

and then there is me..
I have to remind myself..
"Cathi ..take a picture of the place!! you want to remember what this looks like"
but instead it is always the people...always about the people..

and when i am hunting for photos..
I ALWAYS or ALMOST ALWAYS 9 times out of 10 come away with photos of PEOPLE

portraits and portraits and more portraits.

and when i sigh about a photo...it is ALWAYS a portrait..

so i have accepted it...
if you want to find beautiful portraits...well we will ALWAYS have them...
sure some will be different than others..some more breathtaking..some with more character..but Portraits ARE my first love...

I think it is the fact that these faces are like art...done by the GREATEST ARTIST EVER!

oh......................

now for the other info...
JJAY has a blog..it is named Catherine Simms photos...and
on her blog she is running a contest on UGLIEST BRIDE

so cast your vote!!
here is the link Catherine Simms

and have a glamorous portrait filled week!!
cathi

1 week old.... GROWTH

ok...will write more on my blog...
but tell me..how can you resist a puppy???

cathi

Guess who had puppies!!

So...
I flew out to Connecticut and JUST IN TIME to be there for the puppy birth...
YEAH..
so now JJay is a proud puppy mom...
and me...
well i am the proud puppy grandma!!

Why do we love photos?

oh...because it is the miracle of photos that captures that special moment....

an incredible moment..

a miraculous moment...

moments that only come your way..now and then...

.......

Lola proud mother of 3 puppies...3 little girls...2 apricot and one black poodle!!

cathi

a time to weep...a time to help........

Photos are powerful things.

Like hearing an old favorite song, photos stir the emotions, as their memories pour in our hearts.

Some photos are inspirational, calling us to a higher place.

Some photos are like art and can be hung on the wall to be admired by many and not just a few.

and then there are times...

when photos say so much more...that cause us to feel overwhelmed..helpless..
and we want to turn away....

but we can't

today is Thursday, and I sit at a computer with a roof over my head, warmed by a furnace that works. I sit here without hunger or want, knowing that we sleep well in our beds tonight.

and not too very far away...only hours by jet...is a poor country that has had it's share of poverty...without the basics that I take for granted...and now left devastated after an earthquake. with loss that is so unthinkable it is hard to even look at it...

But as we look at the photos of this devastation..and feel oh so helpless to change anything...
there is something we CAN do....

We can get behind those who are going to help out in this disaster...those who have the tools and the training to do the best they can..

This is information of how to give to Salvation Army, a group I have long loved and worked with over the years: A text message with the word 'Haiti' to 52000 will make a $10 donation, added on to your cell phone credit card bill.

There are many other organizations...Red Cross, World Vision, Doctors without Borders..and others...they are easy to find...and there are soo many of them that are doing so much good work..

When we look at those photos that are too hard to see...... remember, we can reach out...we can help...we can make a difference.....

cathi