The Book Owner

I opened an old book this wintry evening and found this lovely bookplate on the inside cover. 

Such a sense of pride of ownership to have a book.

Sharing a bit of book love tonight…

Celebrating Birthdays

My talented friend and fellow illustrator, Claudia McGehee, posted the artwork on her blog that she created for her daughter's birth announcement in honor of her birthday in October. I wanted to give Claudia props, because I'm totally copying her thoughtful idea.

Here's the artwork I did for my little girl's birth announcement (although you can see by her size and weight that she has never really been "little"!). I scanned this from a printed piece. I know the original lives in a drawer somewhere as a cut-up, glued down, dog-eared hodge-podge of pre-computer typesetting.

 

Today my daughter turns 17--- 

Happy Birthday to my lovely girl!

How Do I Love Thee?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
 

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight 











For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

 

I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. 

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
 

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

 With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Poem by--Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Jewels by--- Age Before Beauty

Once By The Ocean...

 "Once By The Ocean", a poem by Robert Frost

The shattered water made a misty din.

Great waves looked over others coming in,
And thought of doing something to the shore
That water never did to land before. 

The clouds were low and hairy in the skies,
Like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes.

You could not tell, and yet it looked as if
The shore was lucky in being backed by cliff,
The cliff in being backed by continent;
It looked as if a night of dark intent
Was coming, and not only a night, an age.
Someone had better be prepared for rage.

 

 There would be more than ocean-water broken
Before God's last Put out the light was spoken.

Antique silver shell coin purse necklace soon... to Age Before Beauty