Teddy Holding Halloween Envelope Card From CJ - Photograph

© All Rights Reserved

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I received a wonderful surprise in the mail today. CJ, who does beautiful calligraphy work, sent me a stunning Halloween envelope and card. We both like cats, old cemeteries, Medieval topics, all things Halloween, etc. :-)

I should have realized something special was arriving in today's mail, because Teddy, who normally doesn't move when the mailman stops, knocked me over and ran outside to get the mail before I could. ;-)

Teddy is always thrilled when anyone mentions him, and says he loves CJ because she always does. ;-)

Earlier this year, I had started a Teddy Tales weekly blog post, but my creativity has not been what it was in the past. Receiving this Halloween treat brightened my day. Thank you again, CJ! And if anyone is unfamiliar with CJ's fantastic calligraphy and artwork, I encourage you to visit her blog.

"Ghost" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Our Midweek Muse theme was "Ghosts".

This image has become my "go to" guy for ghosts, ghouls, and other things that go bump in the night. :-)

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"The Masque Of The Red Death" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Sunday Postcard Art theme was "Poe (Edgar Allan)". This is my second entry.

The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Poe - The Black Cat" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Sunday Postcard Art theme was "Poe (Edgar Allan)".

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Skeletons Danse Macabre" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Celestial Tarot" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Vampire" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

The October 1 My Soul's Dark Imagination theme was "Vampires".

Congratulations to My Soul's Dark Imagination on its first year Anniversary! I won't be entering for any of the contest prizes, and I won't have time to do the Halloween Blog Hop, but I will try visit those who do.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Halloween Ball" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Halloween Queen" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Our Midweek Muse theme was "Orange and Black".

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Skeleton Call" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Purple And Yellow" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

A few weeks ago, the theme at Our Midweek Muse was "Purple And Yellow", but I didn't have anything in time for the challenge due date.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Skeleton Music" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Pumpkin Procession" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Our Midweek Muse theme was "Pumpkins".

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Autumn Leaves 1"

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Our Midweek Muse theme was "Autumn Leaves".

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"35 Days" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

-----

I put a sunglass on, so no one can see me cry

I'm not here for long
I'm just passing by
The world keeps getting harder
But I'm too cool to die

Don't cry, don't cry
Ask me how I feel
And don't ask why

Too Cool To Die - Post Malone


Like a song
Out of tune and out of time
All I needed was a rhyme for you
C'est la vie

C'est La Vie - Emerson Lake and Palmer

"Celestial Rhinoceros" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Squares" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Sunday Postcard Art theme was "Squares".

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Friends" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Sunday Postcard Art theme was "Friends".

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

Skeletons Danse Macabre - Shirt - Transfer Failure - Photograph

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I took that photograph of the transfer failure result when I used an inkjet fabric transfers paper to iron my "Skeletons Danse Macabre" shirt design onto a 100% cotton black shirt. I know I have used that transfer paper successfully in the past, but I didn't recall how I did it, and the instructions were unclear about how long to iron for / when to remove the paper backing. So as I pulled up the paper backing, part of the ink remained adhered to the paper, which tore off of the shirt. Thus ends my attempts to make my own shirt designs. The juice ain't worth the squeeze, especially with the cost of everything skyrocketing due to inflation.

"Skeletons Danse Macabre ("wdl")" - Shirt 8" x 8"

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Our Midweek Muse theme was "Dancers".

A close friend of mine had sent me a photo of a Halloween shirt with witches dancing on it, which inspired me to make my own shirt design, an 8" by 8" image that I will print onto 8.5 x 11 inches inkjet fabric transfers paper, to iron onto a black shirt. (My dancing witches design is still in progress, because as usually happens with me, one thing led to another, and I saw a movie that showed two Medieval images that I wanted to use: one for the witches, and this one with the skeletons.)

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

-----

Important Printing Notes:

Irfanview

To print it onto a fabric iron on transfer, it needs to be mirror image flipped:

Image - Horizontal Flip

*** The below steps are important to do before printing, otherwise it will get cutoff on one edge if it is done in Portrait!!! (for 8.5 x 11 inches paper size) ***

File - Print

Set it to Landscape (NOT Portrait!!!)

Set Print size to Original size (from image DPI)

Set Position on paper to Centered

Print Quality: High

"The Moon" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Our Midweek Muse theme was "The Moon".

All of the images in the foreground are ones that I found recently.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Turtles (SPA Guest Host)" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week I have the honor of guest hosting Sunday Postcard Art, and I chose the challenge theme "Turtles."

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Crescent Moon Occult (Cigar Box)" - Wood Box

© All Rights Reserved

© All Rights Reserved

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I made this Crescent Moon Occult rustic design wood box using a paper cigar box.

I painted over the edges of the cigar box and labels using Plaid Apple Barrel Outdoor Indoor Gloss Acrylic Black Paint (20662E), using two coats of paint. But I left the bottom as is.

(Note: I intentionally left the cigar labels on the box, and fully or partially decoupaged over them. I also wanted a distressed, aged look, so I allowed the paint to get scratched away.)

The steps are similar to the ones here.

Moon - Photograph

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I took that photograph a few months ago.

"Stripes" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Sunday Postcard Art theme was "Stripes".

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Antarctic Pigeon" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Sunday Postcard Art theme was "Pigeons".

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Top Of Mind" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Sunday Postcard Art theme was "What's On Your Mind?".

I never heard the expression "top of mind" until September 2022.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Red And Yellow" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Our Midweek Muse theme was "Red And Yellow".

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"A Is For Alice" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

The August 6 My Soul's Dark Imagination theme was "A Is For Alice".

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Autumn Owl" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Guitar" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Our Midweek Muse theme was "Guitar".

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

-----

Rodrigo Concerto De Aranjuez: Adagio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-ESzBtkBuY

Concerto De Aranjuez - Adagio played by Rodriguez Reuben
Composition for Guitar and Orchestra.

"Garden Tools" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Sunday Postcard Art theme was "Tools".

I don't have many tools images, and I almost skipped this challenge. I also don't like how this looks, but it was the best I could do. :-( That is supposed to be a bouquet of flowers in a vase, with a garden tools background.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Crazy Architecture" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

The July 27 My Soul's Dark Imagination theme was "Crazy Architecture".

I based this on a poem, but took some poetic licencse with it, because that is not a pine tree.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

-----

THE PINE LADY

O have you seen the Pine Lady,
Or heard her how she sings?
Have you heard her play
Your soul away
On a harp with moonbeam strings?
In a palace all of the night-black pine
She hides like a queen all day,
Till a moonbeam knocks on her secret tree,
And she opens her door with a silver key
While the village clocks
Are striking bed
Nine times sleepily.

O come and hear the Pine Lady,
Up in the haunted wood!
The stars are rising, the moths are flitting,
The owls are calling,
The dew is falling;
And, high in the boughs
Of her haunted house
The moon and she are sitting.

Out on the moor the night-jar drones
Rough-throated love,
The beetle comes
With his sudden drums
And many a silent unseen thing
Frightens your cheek with its ghostly wing;
While there above,
In a palace builded of needles and cones,
The pine is telling the moon her love,
Telling her love on the moonbeam strings —
O have you seen the Pine Lady?
Or heard her how she sings!

— Richard Le Gallienne (1866-1947)

"Butterfly" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Our Midweek Muse theme was "Butterflies".

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

-----

And the one holds all-seeing light for them on earth,
but the other holds in her arms Sleep the brother of Death,
even evil Night, wrapped in a vaporous cloud.

And there the children of dark Night
have their dwellings,
Sleep and Death, awful gods.
The glowing Sun
never looks upon them with his beams,
neither as he goes up into heaven,
nor as he comes down from heaven.

The Theogony

(ll. 744-757)

(ll. 758-766)

Author: Hesiod

"Sunrise (Summer - SPA Guest Host)" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week I have the honor of guest hosting Sunday Postcard Art, and I chose the challenge theme "Summer."


When I made this art piece months ago, I didn't realize it would reflect how hot the Summer would be where I live in the northeast US. We will be having our third or fourth Heat Advisor this coming Tuesday and Wednesday, when the Heat Index will be 100 F to 105 F (37.7 C to 40.5 C).

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

-----

The sun is gonna keep on shining
Brighter days on the horizon

Alright - Red Carpet (Brad Carter Radio Edit)

"Cowboy" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Our Midweek Muse theme was "Cowboys".

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"The Brain Drain" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

-----

Only private sector employees in America experience what this art piece shows, while public sector employees do not. (Definition: "The public sector is tax-payer funded." "The private sector is also required to shoulder the tax burden that ultimately funds the public sector."  definition source)

Happy days are here again
Times are so bad and getting badder
Your cares and troubles are gone
They've cut my wages
There's nothing surer:
The rich get richer and the poor get laid off

Ain't We Got Fun? - Rosemary Clooney

"Celestial Bubbles" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Sunday Postcard Art theme was "Bubbles".

I had to enforce my "pencils down!" rule for this one. I found a celestial bubbles inspiration piece on the Internet, that I tried to base my design on, but in the end, this looks nothing like the one I found. And my bubbles look more like circles, even though they are bubbles.

Note: I am still resolving computer issues, so I apologize for my lack of comments, etc.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

Tabby Cat - Photograph

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

It's been about seven months since I last made a blog post featuring my "cat", as Teddy calls him ;-). I cherish him and am grateful to have him in my life. This photo of him is from a long time ago. I've been resolving computer issues, and part of that involves a "Swedish Death Purge" on all of the files I have, to reduce how much space I will require on a new computer's hard drive.

And for anyone out there who uses the Windows Operating System: I highly recommend making a bootable USB memory stick / USB flash drive or bootable DVD, using Microsoft's Media Creation Tool. If your computer crashes, you might be able to get it working again by booting from the USB drive. (There are more instructions than that, but for now, I'm providing the Microsoft links, without those additional "how to" steps.)

Windows 10

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Create Windows 10 installation media

See the section about "Using the tool to create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) to install Windows 10 on a different PC"

Windows 10 Media Creation Tool download link:
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=2265055

Windows 11

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11

Create Windows 11 Installation Media

See the section about "Before you begin using the media creation tool"

Windows 11 Media Creation Tool download link:
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2156295

"Blue Woman" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Our Midweek Muse theme was "Blue and Brown".

Note: I am still resolving computer issues, so I apologize for my lack of comments, etc.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Circus" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Sunday Postcard Art theme was "Circus".

Note: I am still resolving computer issues, so I apologize for my lack of comments, etc.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

Featured in the weekly sampler.

"Burning Sunshine" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

-----

Sunshine in an empty place
I can ease you of your pain
Think of me and burn

Rhythm Of The Night - Corona

"Beautiful Angel" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

-----

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful angel
Don't believe the lies they feed you
Started when we were younger
Tomorrow comes and goes before you know
So I just had to let you know
Beautiful, beautiful life right now
Beautiful, beautiful night right now

Beautiful (Angel) - Bazzi

"Keep The Balance" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Sunday Postcard Art theme was "Keep The Balance".

Note: I am still resolving computer issues, so I apologize for my lack of comments, etc.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Hedgehog" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

This week's Sunday Postcard Art theme was "Hedgehog".

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

Featured in the weekly sampler.

"Death Smoke" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)

"Ignis Factuus (will-o'-the-wisp) Revision 2" - Postcard

© All Rights Reserved

(Click on image to enlarge)

The 2 June 2025 theme for My Soul's Dark Imagination was "Ignis Factuus (will-o'-the-wisp)". I had created an art piece for it, and posted it to my blog, but I had not yet backed up my computer files, which I usually do once a week. Two days later, the Solid State Drive (SSD) Hard Drive failed without warning in the Dell computer that I bought 1 year and 1 month ago, and I lost two days of work. I was able to recreate my art piece, although this is not a 100% match.

I am still in the process of regrouping to determine how to move forward, so my online activity will be minimal until I get a new computer.

I created this using GIMP 2.10.38.

The vintage images are from an Internet search. (See the side of my blog for links.)