Aesop’s Fables: Public Domain Images from The Book of Knowledge

 
This week I decided to upload stories and images from Aesop.  I remember many of these stories from my childhood.  All of the stories teach a moral lesson.  I think a teacher read a series of Aesop’s fables to us.  I know I’ve repeated some of the stories, which I know by heart, to my children.

All the images in this post are from the public domain book, The Book of Knowledge, The Children’s Encyclopedia, Edited by Arthur Mee and Holland Thompson, Ph. D., Vol II, Copyright 1912, The Grolier Society of New York.  The original copyright for these books was 1899. 

The illustration above is from page 462.  The page includes both stories and illustrations for “The Frogs Who Wanted a King” and “The Hare and the Tortoise“

Above is page 463 which includes stories and illustrations from Aesop’s “The Fox and The Crow”, “The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”,” The Fox in the Well”, and “Belling The Cats”.

Above is page 560 which includes stories and images from Aesop’s fables, “The Fowl and the Jewel“, “The Wolf and the Crane“, “The Dog and The Shadow“, and “The Fox and The Grapes“.

Even though my children are beyond the age where I read to them, I think they could benefit from the morals taught by Aesop.

The words and  illustrations are from a pre-1923 public domain book.  All of  the images in the book should be copyright-free.  I have uploaded the images to my flickr page.  I  have attributed them  to Creative Commons.  Clicking on one of the images in this post will take you  to that  image on my flickr page .  From flickr you can chose the size of image to download for free.

Public Domain Images ~ What Children Used to Do

We had a busy and long weekend; therefore, I am uploading freebie friday illustrations and images late. The copyright free drawings this week come from the public domain book, What Shall We Do? Five Hundred Games and Pastimes by Dorothy Canfield published in 1907 by Frederick A Stokes Company of New York.

I was thinking about all the time my children and I spend inside with our TVs, computers, and phones.  We really should get outside more especially when we have a break in the rain.  At least if we played a board game inside we’d be looking at each other and not a screen. 

 Above is an illustration of a boy feeding birds from page 202 in the book.  He doesn’t seem to mind the cold weather.

 

On page 184 is a drawing of a child playing alone with bobbins and other toys.

 

On page 138 is an illustration of a couple of boys bundled up with skates across their shoulders.

 

On page 368 is an illustration of a girl doing what of my favorite pastimes, reading.

All of these images are from a pre-1923 book.  Since the book is in the public domain all the illustration and images within the book should be in the public domain.  I have uploaded all the images to my flickr account and attributed them to Creative Commons.  You may download the images by clicking on them.  The link will take you to flickr where you can choose a size of image to download.

My First Recycled Tin Birdhouse

It took several months of on and off planning, several total disasters, many cuts and pokes to the fingers, a few burns, and moments when I was close to throwing things against the wall…but I finally have a half-way decent recycled, re-purposed, reused tin bird house.

After trying to wing it, I sat down at the computer and designed a pattern. I recycled vintage trays by taking them apart. I taped down my patterns pieces and cut them out with tin snips. I bent the tin and soldered the pieces together. I reused a vintage button and re-purposed some vintage leaf and flower findings. I used mica for the window.

Inside I put some raw brown wool, a little bit of moss and 3 air-dry clay eggs.

I learned a lot in the 2 days it took me to get this far with this bird house.  Now that I figured it out and know how to do it better, I should make a few more.  Right now my hands look like I’ve been working on cars and my fingers hurt.  my logical mind is telling me to  ”crawl back up on that horse”, but my emotional mind is telling me to go take a nap.

Finishing UFOs, My Way of Cleaning My Studio

I went into my studio with intending to  clean over the weekend.  As I looked around I realized I had several UFO’s (unfinished objects) lying on the table ready to go.  Many of the projects were almost complete jewelry pieces.  After much thought I decided I would be better off finish what I had on the table before I started cleaning.

On my table I had 2 altered dominoes. Both of them had mulberry paper backgrounds, a vintage image, and were wire-wrapped and ready to go. The fish domino had little Swarovski crystal rhinestone bubbles. I pull out some fire-polished clear crystal beads and some soapstone black beads (recycled from an old necklace), did some wire-wrapping and “Viola! A beautiful necklace”.

Since I was on a roll, I pulled out my second altered domino, a floral. Flowers are colorful. I choose 3 different colors of fire-polished crystal beads, pink, blue and gold. I pulled out my gold metal wire and did some wire-wrapping…another beautiful necklace.

I made the necklaces to fit tight against the neck. The black and crystal fish necklace is wire-wrapped beads completely around the neck.

I added a bit of gold chain to the floral necklace to finish up the back.

Everytime I walk into my studio I worry over all those UFOs.  As I finished up the two necklace, I was able to pick up  a few beads and tools.   The table in my studio is still covered.  I’m thinking if I would just finish up what I have laid out, I’ll not only have a cleaner studio, but a clearer mind as well.

Free Image Friday More From The 1917 Home & School Reference Book

This free image Friday I’m once again uploading images from the public domain book, The Home and School Reference Work, “A Library of Condensed, Practical Information Drawn From Every Department of Learning by The Home and School Education Society”, copyright 1917.  If the title weren’t long enough, I’ve decided to upload a record number of illustrations.

Most of the images are small illustrations.  The image above of “American Statesmen and Orators” is the largest, a full page.  It appears after page 3096.  On that page is a short biography of Daniel Webster.

The illustration above of the Tussock Moth in both the caterpillar and and adult stage is from page 2947

 

This copyright free illustration of an Umbel type plant (parsley family)  is from page 2954.

 

This copyright free illustration of a the United States seal  is from page 2983.

 

This copyright free illustration of a Red-Eyed Viero is from page 2947.

 

This copyright free illustration of wasp and their nest  is from page 3079.

 

This copyright free illustration of a Weaver Bird nest  is from page 3094.

 

This copyright free illustration of a Walkingstick is from page 3048.

 

This copyright free illustration of Victoria is from page 3024.

 

This copyright free illustration of a Webworm in the caterpillar and moth stage  is from page 3097.

All of these images are from a pre-1923 book.  Since the book is in the public domain all the illustration and images within the book should be in the public domain.  I have uploaded all the images to my flickr account and attributed them to Creative Commons.  You may download the images by clicking on them.  You will be taken to flickr where you can choose a size of image to download.

Resin: Experimenting With Mistakes And Designing Anew

Remember the heart and key charms from a earlier post?  If not, I repurposed some upholstery button tops into resin charms using paper, glass, recycled buttons and some metal charms.  I ended up with a few bubbles. 

I decided I would do some experimenting.  Since I had bubbles in them anyway, I decided to do some drilling.

I made some steel staples and used them to attach glass pearl beads to a couple of the charms. I formed the word “love” with wire and put little pegs in the bottom to attach them to one of my charms. For my 4th charm I attached a little lock using a handmade staple.

The charms will make nice pendants for necklaces or charms for purses. I may have to make some Valentine’s cards using these, like a gift and a card in one.

I’ve set up to do some more resin charms/pendants.  I had some turtle and alligator charms that came from a package of seashore-themed charms.  I decided to make some alligators in the moonlight and some turtles at the seashore.  I used mulberry paper as the background.

I used wallpaper for the background in my bird and flower charms.  A little wallpaper goes a long way!  Also it’s amazing the different looks you can get in just an inch diameter circle of patterned paper.  I feel like I’ll never work my way through my stack.  I recycled buttons for the birds and flower.

The silver metal heart was a piece of a necklace I took apart.  In the background is some of my favorite paper.  The paper is vintage wrapping paper.  I love the bright colors. 

Since I have to babysit resin pieces for a while, I’m waiting until we have a dry day and I have  a few hour block, so that I can make sure I can pop any bubbles that form when I pour the resin. 

Right now I have a few other things to catch up on.  The next pour may not happen until next week sometime.

Hoping to Make a Little Magic By Selling Wands for Mercy Corp

I haven’t offered my wands for sale in a very long time. Long skinny things are hard to ship. Before Christmas I sat down with my friends and made a few wands. I was going to save them for a local event. A couple days I was thinking about the earthquake in Haiti and wondering what I could do about it.

I thought about the wands and how perfect it would be to offer someone the chance to work a little magic by purchasing a wand. It took me a little while to figure out how to economically shipped them. Now that I have it somewhat figured out, I will start by making two listing.

The long wands (above) I will offer to U.S. customers in pairs 2 for $20 plus $5.50 shipping. I will give 90% of the sales price ($18) to Mercy Corps. I’m keeping the 10% to pay for my etsy listing and paypal fees.

I’m going to offer the short wands as singles (because I can find an inexpensive box). I’m going to price them at $10 with $3.10 shipping. Again I will give 90% to Mercy Corps.

I’m offering these guys at a  discount.  If you’ve ever dreamed of owning a wand, now is your chance.  They are very fun and quite beautiful. 

I’ve put up two listing in my etsy shop for handmades.  Here are the links.

Pair of Wands

Single Wand

THEY SOLD!  YAY!

Free Image Friday From 1917 School Reference Book

This free image Friday I’ve decided to upload images from the public domain book, The Home and School Reference Work, “A Library of Condensed, Practical Information Drawn From Every Department of Learning by The Home and School Education Society”, copyright 1917.  If the title weren’t long enough, I’ve decided to upload a record number of illustrations.

The copyright free  above is of song birds.  The colored illustration appears with a description of Warblers.  The image is between pages 3054 and 3055.

 

This black and white drawing of a House Wren appears on page 3167.

 

The illustration above of a Whippoorwill trying to catch a bug is from page 3118.

 

This botanical illustration of a walnut and the walnut branch is from page 3050.

 

The illustration above of a walrus is from page 3051.

 

The image of “Eminent Women” of the time is between pages 3022 and 3023.    The section this image illustrates is on Queen Victoria who is front and center in this image.

 

This drawing of Valkyrie is from page 2995 in the book.

 

The drawing above of a Venus Flytrap is from page 3010 in the book.

All of these images are from a pre-1923 book.  Since the book is in the public domain all the illustration and images within the book should be in the public domain.  I have uploaded all the images to my flickr account and attributed them to Creative Commons.  You may download the images by clicking on them.  You will be taken to flickr when you can choose a size of image to download.

I Had Mixed Results With My Latest Resin Cast

I’ve been casting charm pendants using repurposed commercial upholstery buttons for the past couple of days.  I drilled a hole in a bunch of the buttons and wire-wrapped a bail on the top of each. 

I ended up with mixed results from the last pour. I think I fussed over them a bit too much.

The fish charms above turned out fairly well.  The background is a light-colored wallpaper with a bit of reused glass sprinkled on top.  The top two charms have recycled fish buttons inside.  The bottom 6 charms have repurposed rubber fish whose intended use was for fishing lures.  I found a little package of rubber fishing lures at the thrift store.

I used some little white recycled buttons and some tiny metal keys in the top 4 charms above.  I definitely fussed too much with them.  I ended up with quite a few bubbles. 

Two out of three of the peace sign charms came out perfect.

I thought I might have leftover resin; therefore, I prepared a resin mold with a spray release before mixing my resin. I poured a first layer using leftover resin.  When the resin was fairly thick I added in little rubber squid, repurposed from my package of fishing lures.   I sprinkled some glass on top and poured again.  Actually I thought bubbles in this cast would fit the theme.  I did add some paper to the back of these guys.

All in all it wasn’t that bad.  I learned quite a bit, like “DON”T FUSS”.  Since some of these guys have unsightly bubbles, I may do some experimenting with them.  Why bother throwing them out when I can try out some new things.   Maybe I can come up with some nifty new tricks.

Baking My Way Through Williams-Sonoma Muffins Cookbook

I baked homemade  jam-filled muffins this morning using a new muffin cookbook I bought. This is the second batch of muffins I made from this book. Both recipes have turned out superb.

I recently bought the Williams-Sonoma Muffins cookbook. It was the highest ranked (customer reviews) muffin book on Amazon. Since I’ve been disappointed by highly praised books in the past, I actually decided to go to a bookstore to view it before buying it. The photography in this book is lovely. 

The recipes and text are by Beth Hensperger. The general editor is Chuck Williams and the lovely photographs are by Noel Barnhurst. The book was published by Simon & Schuster.   If you’d like to look up the book the ISBN is 978-0-7432-5396-3.

 

When I cut open this wonderfully golden brown muffin, it was smiling at me.  It was like it knew it was absolutely delicious. 

I followed the Jam-filled Muffins recipe on page 33.   I used my own homemade plum jam in this recipe.  I did do a substitute.  I used non-fat greek yogurt instead of sour cream.  It worked great!

 

YUMMY!  Now excuse me while I finish my muffin.