Yellow Roses to brighten your day

The other day in the grocery store there was a bunch of yellow roses discounted at the floral counter... couldn't resist them. They brighten up these dreary days of January. So here are some to share with you! (Freebie!)

And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.

The daffodils are blooming here in Tennessee, and I thought I would share some with you. :-)  Use these for my March challenge ~ Spring Flowers & Birds!

I tried to find the etymology (word origin) of the name Daffodil, but all I could find is that they were originally called Asphodels, from their Greek name. I've seen that name before, in some old stories I guess, and now I know what asphodels are!

In the Language of Flowers, Daffodils stand for "Regard" or respect. In Chinese lore they are a sign of Good Fortune, in Japan a symbol of Joy and Mirth.

Daffodils are the birthday flower for March! Their strong association with the arrival of Spring (and Easter) has made them a symbol of rebirth and new beginnings...


Here's a famous and beautiful daffodils poem, by William Wordsworth:

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

A Little Messenger to Remind You...

The Angels challenge continues until December 31, so you still have time... Enter up to three creations, and you may win the drawing for $15 store credit at Lunagirl.com!

See the beautiful angels created by my readers and the Lunagirl Design Team so far, and link up your own, HERE.

And here to share with you is a lovely little snow angel with pink wings, helping a little bird friend by protecting her nest. Snow angels are among my favorites, especially this time of year... find many vintage angels ~ majestic messengers, sweet snow angel children, bright holiday angels, and more ~ at Lunagirl!

Freebie: Little Angel with Peace Dove

Don't forget to link up your creations for the Angels challenge!

Here is a little angel and white dove to inspire you.

Free Turkeys! well, pictures of turkeys

As promised, here is another freebie for November/Harvest/Thanksgiving. I found this great-looking big-ole turkey on a vintage style label from my Lunagirl Can & Crate Labels collection, which is now available by download as well as on CD! I love the antique printing on these old labels, but I'm including a version with most of the writing removed as well. Enjoy ~ Create something and enter my November challenge!

Autumn Freebies you may have missed?

I thought I would re-share some Autumn freebies from posts past...

Some of you will have these already, but for new visitors and others who missed them, here are some Fall apples and a beautiful barn owl.

I hope these will inspire you to enter my November challenge...
I'll find something new to share tomorrow!

A Beautiful Vintage Christmas Freebie from Lunagirl

I thought I would share a freebie with you today, one that will work for the current Holiday Children challenge and also the next challenge starting on Monday (hint: the theme features a famous "jolly old elf").

This is a much-loved image and it's easy to see why! If you love Santa images, there are over 300 vintage Santa Claus pictures on my Victorian Holidays Volume One CD ... the best variety of Santa pictures I know of... or get 100 vintage Santas by instant download!

You have until Sunday to enter the challenge. We already have several charming entries and I want to see yours too. And don't miss the beautiful Holiday Children inspiration by the Design Team :-)

Free Vintage Hummingbird Image

The entries for my Put A Bird On It challenge are coming in and they are looking great!

To inspire you and maybe give you a little nudge to enter, I thought I would share some free bird images in vintage style.

For today, here is a little hummingbird. I originally found him on a Victorian Christmas card of all things. Now he lives on my Lunagirl Victorian Birds CD!

I love all kinds of birds, but hummingbirds are among my favorites -- who could resist them. We get them by the dozens during the summer.

Download this little guy and create something wonderful -- Put a BIRD on it!

Meet Me in Paris: There's Still Time!

Entries for the Meet Me in Paris challenge are shaping up nicely ~ and you still have one more day to enter! 

I've been sick since Thursday so I haven't been posting this week (can't believe I got sick twice this winter already) but I wanted to pop in for a quick challenge reminder.

Here's an Ooh-La-La girl from a French postcard. Make of her expression what you will. :-)

Reverie: Art for an Autumn Day

Today it certainly feels like Autumn -- the air is cool, and a light rain falls from a grey sky.  Trees are turning orange and red and gold.  The rain is welcome for my fading garden, and it's a perfect day for curling up with a book or just getting lost in reverie.  I'll steal a few moments with a cup of tea, then it's back online to work!  Here is a suitable freebie image I'd like to share, entitled "Reverie." (more like this on Lunagirl Pre-Raphaelite Art printable digital images on CD):

Freebie: Vintage Bellydancer Lost in the Dance

How's this for a pretty free image to get you started on the Vintage Bellydancer blog challenge? 

Free Digital Backgrounds created by Lunagirl

We've been featuring the Carte Postale digital backgrounds in most of the Design Team projects, along with a couple of Antique Adverts digital backgrounds, so today I'm spotlighting a different type of digital background I have available.  The freebies below are examples of digital backgrounds I have created from Victorian / Art Nouveau wallpaper patterns!  Two of my favorite colors, and I always love gardens and birds. You can find many more such patterned backgrounds on my collage sheets page at Lunagirl.com.

These digital backgrounds are my altered creations, so if you use them please remember to credit Lunagirl and link back to my site above, but I am happy to share in hopes of inspiring you!  These are nice large images that you can crop, enlarge, or reduce in size as needed.  They are lovely as backgrounds for cards, scrapbooking, and mixed media, and also very pretty for creating jewelry charms.  ~ Karen

Freebie Digital Background: French Postcard with Fancy Writing

Here is another digital image created from an antique French postcard (mailed from Brussels actually, in 1913) ~ this one with beautiful antique handwriting in French ~ my gift to my blog readers in hopes of inspiring you to enter the Digital Backgrounds blog challenge!

Enjoy! ~ Karen

Free Vintage Image -- Post Card

I'm feeling oddly inspired to share more free images, so before the feeling passes here is a lovely blank postcard.  I've cleaned it up for you so it's ready to use and it's a nice large scan for good quality (you can resize it as small as you like, however!)  This makes a beautiful background for many types of projects.  Click to get to the full size image, then save to your computer.  If you do use it in a project that you share online or sell, I would very much appreciate the courtesy of a credit to Lunagirl Images!  Thanks!

Getting Ready for the Fourth of July...

I hope everyone here is the US is getting ready for a wonderful Independence Day.  My 13-year-old son and my sister-in-law and her young daughter are running in the local 5k that morning, so I'm doing breakfast for everyone afterward at my house.  Fireworks at night ... during the day it's so hot we may just stay in and watch movies!

Whatever you're planning, here is a free image that I hope may help inspire any last minute vintage-style Americana preparations. 

Just for future reference, you'll find this and over a hundred more patriotic / Americana images on my Lunagirl Victorian Holidays Volume Three image CD (plus hundreds of images for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Vintage Birthdays, and Vintage Greetings!)

One last reminder:  The Garden Fairies blog challenge ends tonight! There's still time to upload your entry!  Tune in tomorrow for an announcement of the winner of this challenge, and to enter the next one, Great Gatsby.

Free Vintage Images: Bathing Beauties

I could not resist sharing this bathing beauty postcard.

This must be one of the strangest, most impractical beach costumes ever!  Of course it was intended to be a "French postcard" -- quite risque and naughty in its time.

Feel free to use this image if it inspires your Bathing Beauty projects!  You still have several days to enter a creation in my Bathing Beauties blog challenge, which ends Sunday night...

Alright, here is another bathing girl, this one a flapper, sleeker and simpler (although with some odd socks...)  She could actually swim in this!  She would look great in your project!

Free Image: Little Girl Diva Photo

"Just because" it's Friday, how about a free image today? Here is a little diva, perhaps a diva in the making.  You still have a couple more days to enter your Diva image (card? jewelry? anything you want!) in the blog challenge.  I received three more fabulous entries just today...  

Full Moon in May: Flower Moon or Milk Moon

I love the moon, obviously I guess, and I like to include some moon lore now and then.  Did you know that the full moons of each month have names?  The full moon in May (which is tonight, by the way!) is sometimes called the Flower Moon. Obviously, many wildflowers are in full bloom this time of year, wherever you are. 

Another name for the May full moon -- Milk Moon -- has a less obvious origin. Cows, goats and other grazing animals can find good green pastures this time of year, to help them make plenty of milk for their babies born in the early spring. And in far northern countries without many crops until later in the summer, milk would be a major part of their diet this time of year. The Old English name for the month of May meant "the month in which cows can be milked three times a day"!

The current name comes from the Greek goddess Maia, a Greek goddess whom I always associate with the wildflowers that blanket the hills of Crete (and Tennessee).

Just FYI, May is Teacher Appreciation Month, Historic Preservation Month, and Eat Locally Month. So thank a teacher for all their hard work and dedication, enjoy some beautiful old buildings and learn about the past, and visit your local farmer's market (or better yet plant a vegetable garden!)  And don't forget to enjoy the May full moon this weekend if you can.

NEW: African American Vintage Photos Collection on CD

Announcing another new collection available at Lunagirl.com ~ a new CD of African-American Vintage Images featuring 150 vintage photos and other vintage images of African-American women and men, ready to print.  This collection features hard-to-find antique photographs of Edwardian and Victorian women, men, girls, and boys in period fashions.  There are individual portraits as well as group portraits from schools and societies. 

You'll also find a nice selection of Music Theater and Cabaret images, including antique theater posters, showgirl photo postcards, and American sheet music covers.

I'm pleased to offer this collection, as I've had many requests for such a collection over the years, and I hope that I can expand it in the future.
<<< Free image for personal use at left!  Come visit for more on CD and digital collage sheets!

Free Vintage Image: Girl Graduate Victorian Card

I found this lovely, unusual picture of a Victorian / Edwardian era picture of a female graduate, and thought I would share.  Isn't she pretty?  I like her eyes, and the flower.  Download and enjoy for personal use!
Congratulations to all graduates ~ and we should remember with gratitude the brave Victorian and Edwardian ladies who led the way, fought to get an education when no one thought they should, and blazed the trail for girls today!