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Sunday, December 16, 2012

Dash It

I recently went through my blog and realized i have not done a blog post of Dash our newest cat. He really isn't new at this point but he is newer then Herman (to Herman's demise). I have gathered some pictures of him to share with the world. Now enjoy these cause the chances of you seeing him in person is slim to non. He has no turned into the cliche of the cat under the bed and i hate it. Herman loves it cause he gets all the attention. maybe he was behind this all along...
1st Birthdaty

Such a gentleman 

after his surgery 
loves harry potter

kitten face

over powering Herman

Christmas Card History

Our Christmas card picture
This past year Greg and I sent our our 1st Christmas Cards as a couple. It was perfect that we took our engagement pictures months before so we had a wide variety to choice from. As i was addresses them i got thinking, where does this tradition during the Holidays whether Christmas, Hanukkah, or New Years come from? Why have we all started every year sending pictures of ourselves to other people? Why the Christmas letter giving all this great information of your year to other? i needed to know. And now so will you.

First Christmas Card
The first Christmas cards were illustrated by John Callcott Horsley in London on the 1st of May 1843. The picture, of a family with a small child drinking wine together, proved controversial, but the idea was shrewd: Cole had helped introduce the Penny Post three years earlier. Two batches totaling 2,050 cards were printed and sold that year for a shilling each.

Early English cards rarely showed winter or religious themes, instead favoring flowers, fairies and other fanciful designs that reminded the recipient of the approach of spring. Humorous and sentimental images of children and animals were popular, as were increasingly elaborate shapes, decorations and materials. In 1875 Louis Prang became the first printer to offer cards in America, though the popularity of his cards led to cheap imitations that eventually drove him from the market. The advent of the postcard spelled the end for elaborate Victorian-style cards, but by the 1920s, cards with envelopes had returned.

The production of Christmas cards was, throughout the 20th century, a profitable business for many stationery manufacturers, with the design of cards continually evolving with changing tastes and printing techniques. The World Wars brought cards with patriotic themes. Idiosyncratic "studio cards" with cartoon illustrations and sometimes risque humor caught on in the 1950s. Nostalgic, sentimental, and religious images have continued in popularity, and, in the 21st century, reproductions of Victorian and Edwardian cards are easy to obtain. Modern Christmas cards can be bought individually but are also sold in packs of the same or varied designs. In recent decades changes in technology may be responsible for the decline of the Christmas card. The estimated number of cards received by American households dropped from 29 in 1987 to 20 in 2004. Email and telephones allow for more frequent contact and are easier for generations raised without handwritten letters - especially given the availability of websites offering free email Christmas cards. Despite the decline, 1.9 billion cards were sent in the U.S. in 2005 alone. Some card manufacturers, such as Hallmark, now provide E-cards. In the UK, Christmas cards account for almost half of the volume of greeting card sales, with over 668.9 million Christmas cards sold in the 2008 festive period.

"Official" Christmas cards began with Queen Victoria in the 1840s. The British royal family's cards are generally portraits reflecting significant personal events of the year. In 1953, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first official White House card. The cards usually depict White House scenes as rendered by prominent American artists. The number of recipients has snowballed over the decades, from just 2,000 in 1961 to 1.4 million in 2005.

Eisenhower Christmas Card

Some people take the annual mass mailing of cards as an opportunity to update those they know with the year's events, and include the so-called "Christmas letter" reporting on the family's doings, sometimes running to multiple printed pages. While a practical notion, Christmas letters meet with a mixed reception; recipients may take it as boring minutiae, bragging, or a combination of the two, whereas other people appreciate Christmas letters as more personal than mass produced cards with a generic missive and an opportunity to "catch up" with the lives of family and friends who are rarely seen or communicated with. Since the letter will be received by both close and distant relatives, there is also the potential for the family members to object to how they are presented to others; an entire episode of Everybody Loves Raymond was built around conflict over the content of just such a letter.


Friday, December 14, 2012

Happy Friday

If this doesn't make your day i don't know what will.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Abraham

Executive Mansion,
Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.

Dear Madam,--

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Si Scott Art

I surf the Internet randomly and find things that i just love. This artist i was just drawn to. I knew once I looked at all his work i had to blog about it. I want to get a whole wall full of these framed in in office or something one day. These are my favorites.

here is a little bio about him - Si Scott is a full-time artist, designer and creative consultant based in the UK.
He’s renowned for his unique style, blending hand-crafted and hand-drawn artwork that has gained him numerous awards and a prestigious client list. So far in his career he has completed projects for Matthew Williamson, Vogue, Nike, Tiffany & Co and Sony to name a few. As well as contributing to advertising campaigns for Guinness, Absolut and American Express.














Friday, October 26, 2012

apple cider vinegar

For about a year now i have used apple cinder vinegar for a toner for my face. it work soo well and i kind of like the smell now. i also have a clay mask powder i mix it with and it really pulls out junk from my face. i was looking up other things it does and found this amazing picture to help me with other things. i am obsessed and wanted to share the good things from this bottle you can buy anywhere.




Thursday, October 4, 2012

Once Upon A Time...

Greg and I recently took our engagement pictures at Disneyland and California Adventure. There couldn't have been a more perfect place for us to celebrate our engagement. All the pictures turned out so great it was hard to pick a few for this blog post, let alone our save the date. Our amazing photographer Silent Stories Photography really worked Disney magic! I have no doubt our wedding photos will be just as amazing. These are some of our favorites. Enjoy!!!!



















Monday, September 3, 2012

321 Robinson




3 weeks ago Greg and I moved into our new home. Its right in the middle of Hillcrest, walking distance to almost everything you would need. Very city life. The building we moved into is kind of iconic for this city. it reminded me at first glace of a mausoleum, but maybe that's just in my family blood :). I put a picture on Facebook the day we moved in just to show it off, i did not expect so many people to respond and say they have always wondered about that building. My favorite comment was "It's not a scary Freemason castle, then." Since we are now residents in this building i thought i should do some research on it.

First Church of the United Brethren in Christ. 321 Robinson Avenue. This 1912 classic Greek Revival temple is a rare example of granite construction in San Diego. In 1950 the building became a Free Methodist Church. George Thackeray operated an art gallery specializing in Western and Indian art at this location from 1971 to 1988. Conversion to residential units was completed in 2003.

cork it

One thing i have collected for a while and now have asked friends and family to for Greg and my wedding is wine corks. Its nice that people who will be at our wedding are drinking towards our wedding! I have made corks boards for myself, my sister, and my dear friend Carolyn using a shadowbox. I also love the way they look in apothecary jars and big glass bowls. As i get more and more from people I have wondered where do they come from. Now some of you this question may be easy but for me i thought, is there cork plant? Is there a cork tree? Is it a by product of something? So i decided to do some research and tell you.

Just ­about every tree has an outer layer of cork bark, but the cork oak(Quercus suber) is the primary source of most cork products in the world, including wine bottle stoppers. These trees primarily grow in countries that run along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, where there's plenty of sunshine, low rainfall and high humidity. The countries that produce the most cork include Portugal, Algeria, Spain, Morocco, France, Italy and Tunisia.

So, why does the cork oak have a thicker layer of cork bark than other trees? The tree evolved to protect itself from the harsh conditions of the forests near the Mediterranean. These forests experience frequent droughts, brush fires and temperature fluctuations. Cork is actually made of water-resistant cells that separate the outer bark from the delicate interior bark. It has a unique set of properties not found in any other naturally existing material. It is lightweight, rot resistant, fire resistant, termite resistant, impermeable to gas and liquid, soft and buoyant. It's these properties that make it ideal for stopping wine bottles and tile flooring. Let's take a look at how cork gets stripped from the tree and processed into consumer products.

Stripping the bark -- A cork oak must be at least 25 years old before its bark can be harvested. Its cork can then be stripped every 8 to 14 years after that for as long as the tree lives. The cork is stripped off during June, July and August using a long-handled hatchet to cut sections out of the bark. These sections are then pried away from the tree. Workers must be careful not to damage the inner layer of the bark, otherwise the bark won't grow back. 

Washing the cork -- The cork slabs that are cut away from the tree are boiled and the rough outer layer of the bark is stripped away. Boiling the cork also softens it, making it easier to work with. 

Punching Bottle Stoppers -- From the slabs of cork, holes are punched out to make bottle stoppers. This leaves the slabs full of holes. These bottle stoppers are then sorted and shipped to various destinations. The stoppers can at this time be printed or branded with names or logos. 

Uses for Scrap Cork -- Once the bottle stoppers have been punched out of the cork slabs, there is some leftover cork scrap. This scrap is ground up, molded into large blocks and baked in ovens to make other cork products, such as cork tile flooring and cork message boards.

Cork has been used as bottle stoppers for more than 400 years. It is possibly the best suited material to use as a bottle stopper because it contains a natural waxy substance, called suberin. This substance makes cork impermeable to liquids and gas, and prevents the cork from rotting.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Underwater Art


Underwater Ink Photographs by Alberto Seveso. I was on Pinterest and i saw these shots. i want to get them framed and put in a hallway one day. i absolutely love them. It makes me was to dive in and be one with the colors. i know very avant-garde of me.