Christmas Poems and Wishes ~

~ Christmas Star ~

~ Christmas Trees ~

~ The Joy You Give ~

John Greenleaf Whittier

"Somehow, not only for Christmas
But all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others
Is the joy that comes back to you.
And the more you spend in blessing
The poor and lonely and sad,
The more of your heart's possessing
Returns to you glad."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Gift of Wonder ~

Alfred McBride

...As children we had a sense of wonder. Our eyes were wide open and drinking in the fascinating gifts we beheld…Our thirsty souls could not have enough of the wonders of creation.

Then somehow, we grew too old to dream. We tired of the abundance of the world, or at least grew weary of keeping up with the feast of life, and stepped away from the banquet of life.

The natural gift of wonder God gave us as children was meant to be kept alive...Instead we let wonder go to sleep. We entered the typical dream state of most humans.

...Stay awake!...Wake up and realize the gifts of love you have received...

~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Some Special Gifts ~

author unknown

~ a firm handshake to a shaky soul,

~ a kind word to a lonely person,

~ a warm smile to the disheartened,

~ a sincere concern for someone troubled,

~ a feeling of compassion for the neglected,

~ a comforting thought for the bereaved,

~ a respect for the dignity of others,

~ a defense of the rights of individuals,

~ a word of witness to help a seeking soul,

~ a Merry Christmas to all

~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Merry Christmas to all, and to all a beautiful New Year! ~



One World One Heart 2011

The fifth and final blogging event One World One Heart (created by Lisa of "A Whimsical Bohemian") is coming soon. It is hoped that the Chronicles of Whimsy will once again be able to take part in this amazing adventure!

~ Please stay tuned! ~ 

For more information or if you would like to participate, please click on the little One World One Heart logo on the left of your screen.

Cyber Monday?

For any who may wish to begin or add to their collection of De La Renaissance art ~

Through the end of Monday, November 29th I am offering one free ACEO print, buyer's choice, for each 4" x 6" or larger print purchased from my DeLaRenaissance shop.  Below is a sample of the prints available in the special.

~ First Nap ~                                                                                  ~ Bunny Ears ~

~ Puss and Sir Moon ~                                                                           ~ The Watcher ~     

~ Pegasus and the Unicorn ~

 Happy cyber shopping everyone! :0)

Happy Thanksgiving

~ Morning Cloud Rays ~

To all who celebrate Thanksgiving ~ I wish you a most happy and delicious Thanksgiving Day.

And to everyone ~ Thank you ever so much for following the 'Chronicles of Whimsy'! I wish you a gloriously wonderful weekend!

:0)

Early Winter Sunrise

~ Early Winter Sunrise ~

Trees still heavily laden with snow from an early winter storm six days previous paired with a beautiful pink sunrise created a stunning view to begin the day!

~ Wishing you all a very beautiful weekend! ~

Owls in Golden

Last February I received a set of Golden Fluid Acrylics as a gift. Unfortunately I had been so busy with life, these beautiful paints were never touched. Then one day last week while searching through art supplies my eyes settled on the pristine black box filled with liquid jewels. Forgetting all else, including what I had been searching for, I quickly gathered the box of Goldens, a few paint brushes, plus a little container of water and settled into the art chair to experiment.

It has been quite some time since I've painted in oils, even longer with acrylics. But, as I played with the Goldens memory returned, and one little creation appeared after another. What fun these beautiful paints are! Below are two little pieces that are now available in my Etsy shop. ~ Great Horned Owl Pendant ~ Snowy Owl Pendant ~ sold

~ Great Horned Owl Pendant ~

~ Snowy Owl Pendant ~

(sold)

The Six Foals

~ The Six Foals ~

The newest bookmark design that has joined the collection available in my Etsy shoppe.

'The Six Foals' contain some of the wee babys that have appeared in my  2 1/2" x 3 1/2" ACEO's (Art Cards, Editions and Originals).

Hot out of the Forge

~ Raven Hook ~

It's been some time since I've designed any new items for my husband's shop "Blacksmiths III". So yesterday was the day we decided it was time to pull something new from the forge. What appeared?...the Raven Hook, designed after my Prismacolor pencil painting "The Watcher".

This was not our usual Medieval or Renaissance design...but we had fun. :0)

Dragonfly and I

~ The Rose in the Ivy ~

~ The Smiling Dragonfly ~

~ Blue Dragonfly ~

As I walked the grounds of Garden's Keep to capture images of the final beauties of Fall, a small but vibrating noise reached my ears. Curious to find its source, I decided to follow the faint sound. Rounding the corner of Dragonfly Cottage, I approached the sunbathed greenroom, its west wall still neatly rolled back from summer to allow the heat of the sun to escape. Here the vibrating sound became quite clear though steadily lessening.

Stepping onto the greenroom floor I paused to listen. One minute, then two, and the sound came again, this time quite near. A quick t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t, as if a cellophane bag was beating against the walls of the greenroom. My gaze went directly to its source, and there against the transparent wall I beheld a very beautiful, blue and teal dragonfly, who was quickly tiring in his unsuccessful attemps to fly free of the strange room he had ventured into. As he settled on to the last remaining rose to rest, I carefully approached, camera poised, ready to collect images I had desired for quite some time.

After what seemed like many moments of blissful camera clicking, I realized this delicate creature may never find his way out. Ever so slowly, I extended a hand until my fingers touched his thin black legs. Cautiously he hoisted his exhausted little body up to clutch my hand, then very carefully we went together into the open air. Many moments more we stood together, he slowly vibrating his slightly tattered wings, I mesmerized by his beauty, as the golden sun slowly set. It was time for him to be free, and as night was approaching I carefully placed him high onto a secure branch at the edge of the wood, hoping he would be safe and well until morning light gave him warmth to fly off into the autumn sky.

Forest Ablaze...With Color!

~ Forest Ablaze ~

~ Majestic Maple ~

~ Forest Ablaze II ~

Realizing that many of the area trees were nearing their peak of Fall color, we decided to spend this past Saturday traveling the northern Minnesota countryside in search of Nature's most spectacular colors. Here and there we found reds and some golds...but late Sunday afternoon, as our family was preparing our Faire site for winter, we discovered a small hillside ablaze with an amazing display of orange, peach, yellows, gold, and reds. The beautiful deep blue sky that peeked between the stunning leaves of maple, birch, and aspen allowed rays of golden sunshine to set the hillside on fire with color. This hillside was beautiful, bright, and truly glowing!

~ And...such a short distance from home. ~

:0)

Late Summer in Two Harbors

~ Two Harbors Lighthouse and the Crusader II ~

~ Two Harbors Breakwater ~

                                                                                          

~ Moon Rising at Lake Superior's Agate Bay ~

Late summer images from an evening of fond memories in Two Harbors, Minnesota.

~ I hope everyone had a beautiful summer. ~

Early Morning Walks

~ And When the Door Opens ~

~ Bumble's Morning ~                                              ~ Deep Enchanted Forest ~

~ Prince, Early Morning Lookout ~

Morning strolls never are lonely at Garden's Keep. With hardly an effort from our clan, they can even become quite amusing!? For as soon as the heavy wooden cottage door opens, our eager troupe of loving cats quickly gather, usually in quite predictable fashion.

With Carbon, the stout, golden eyed jet black short hair, strolls are taken very seriously, and feels his duty is to stay close (very, very close) to his human's feet, ready to sound the alert if anything is alarming, staying with one until he feels he has delivered his human safely back through the cottage door (unless of course something shakes his courage, such as the neighbor's dog)...Dutiful Carbon.

Fuzzy, a solid grey, green eyed long hair with feet the size of half dollars and a face containing an ever present cheshire smile, is the silliest of cats. For him a walk is a slow meandering saunter with an occasional sit down. His amazing attention too is focused on his human's feet, so when they stop to enable his human to view a newly opened flower, check for a potential agate in the gravel, or listen to beautiful morning bird songs, he absolutely must bound to and stand on them, front feet on top of one, back feet on the other, smiling up with his cheshire smile and purring all the while...Silly Fuzzy.

Bert, with long silky black hair and gold eyes, is adopted grandfather cat to all. Older and wise, the only disturbance he may receive from the cat clan as he strolls calmly along is an occasional lick on his cheek, rub and cat tail hug on his neck, or a shadow walk as they plaster their body next to his (no space between) walking in step with his...Wise old Bert.

Bumble, the beautiful blue eyed, seal point shorthair earned his name when very young. Sleeping very soundly as a kitten, his brother and sisters would rambunctiously play around and over him. Only slowly awakening when bit on the ear by little kitten teeth, his creamy, fat, fuzzy body looked like a Bumble from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Now mature, Bumble is the well rounded easy going cat, calm yet playful, gentle, and respectful, who loves to find the perfect spot to pose for a good portrait. Strolls for him are family/clan time, with an occasional investigation into dark holes in long grasses or short grasshopper chases...Beautiful gentle Bumble.

Tigger, green eyed, grey tabby striped shorthair prefers to spend her time watching strolls from the perfect vantage perch indoors. She loves her humans, but on her time, and without the cat clan near...Queen Tigger.

And Prince, ah yes...Prince. The golden green eyed, light grey, tabby striped youngster who is still finding himself. Proud kitty is he, quickly striding up to any and all, then dashing off to chase a little leaf, an animated bug, and up a tree to sprightly leap off in the joy of life...Energizer kitty is Prince.

Such is a well attended, always entertaining morning walk with the Garden's Keep cat clan...a stroll through the pasture is a tale for another time.

   

Welcoming Wildlife

~ Little Sandpiper ~

~ Friendly Spitting Mallard ~

~ Golden Evening Whitetail ~

This past Sunday we took a leisurely family trip to Two Harbors, a small town on the Lake Superior shore north of Duluth, to view the area where my great great grandfather's homestead once stood, and to gather images of a fishing vessel the Crusader II, built in 1939 by my great uncles and christened by the Crown Prince Olav of Norway during a visit.

On our pebbled beach stroll we were immediately received by a most pleasant little Sandpiper who nimbly strided beside us. When she finally decided to depart, a friendly Mallard hen quietly glided up within arms length to say hello, as if greeting us back home.

 The sun was setting as we gathered back into our vehicles to head for Agate Bay, and as we rounded the corner, two Whitetail deer calmly gazed up through the golden glow of the evening sun, then slowly and silently glided from view.

The Beauty of Lake Superior

~ Beach Swirls ~

~ Moss Scape ~

~ Gentle Evening Waves ~

~ Future Beach Rocks ~

Lake Superior holds such an amazing and beautiful variety of color and shapes in vegetation, rock, and water.

These early evening images were taken all no farther than a 25 foot radius after I gazed out at the lake to view beautiful gentle waves in teals and greens lightly capped in white. A slight turn to the right revealed swirls of dark blue and black as the water lapped onto a large shadowed shore of stone. At my feet were pebbles large and small in nearly every shape and color dappled in rainbows and slightly distorted from the water's ripples, pebbles waiting for the next Lake Superior gale to create giant waves that would carry them onto the clean washed beach. A final twist to the right found massive grey stone shelves carved and shaped by the water, wind, and ice of time, softly decorated by hardy miniature grasses and ferns, golden lichen, and gorgeous green mosses that thrive next to little reflective pools of water left by rain and waves.

Dragonfly Cottage

~ Orange Ruffled Daylilies ~

~ Marshmallow Blossoms ~

~ Dragonfly Cottage at Garden's Keep, home of De La Renaissance creations ~

Whoa Sketchbook Project Now On Auction

The wonderful Whoa Sketchbook Project began its life by Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor of Gypsy Mare Studios and has traveled across the ocean and back to include amazing sketches and full color original art and prints from over 13 artists of the Whoa Horse Artists Group which began on Ebay and has now included Etsy (Whoa Horse Artists Group).

The sketchbook project was created to raise money to help a horse charity chosen by the artists. To view the auction which began August 10th and runs until August 20th, click here.

I would love to include in this post many of the images of the gorgeous art available in this one of a kind book, however I am not the best at grabbing outside images. You can however view most of them by clicking here (please be sure to click 'older posts' at the bottom of the page to view more art). I have included an image of the print 'Golden Pegasus, Winged Horse of Love and Hope' I have donated to be included in this sketchbook auction. This is the first time this print has been released larger than ACEO 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" size.

~ Golden Pegasus, Winged Horse of Love and Hope ~

For any who love the equine, this beautiful one of a kind sketchbook containing over 50 pieces of art would be a treasure to own!

Ships from the Past

~ Sails in the Harbor ~

~ HMS Bounty ~

~ Barque Europa ~

Like many others, I am in love with sailing ships of the past!

The above ships, along with 5 others, entered the Duluth harbor this past Thursday, and departed again 6 days later. In honor of their arrival, a great celebration was planned with days full of music, delicious food, plays, an amazing collection of treasure recovered from around the world to view, touch, and (purchase!), a treasure hunt, merchants of all kinds, and of course...pirates and Jack Sparrow flying the skull and cross bones everywhere.

I, along with a large part of my family and friends, spent 4 full days participating in celebration dressed as sea faring folk, some of us pirates, greeting and entertaining visitors, were captured in photos, and revelled in amazing sea shanties from Michael Beans  and more, plus treasure hunting tales from the fantastic Captains Carl Fismer and Scott Mitchen  .

With such an event, it is hard to pick one best moment, but for me there was something that stood out as very special. A crew of garbed pirates were chosen to board a beautiful refurbished solid wood yacht to greet the tall ships before they entered the harbor and to wave hello to the thousands who thronged the waters edge to view the masted vessels. I was thrilled when I was chosen as one of the crew, having not been on the great lake since late childhood, and had longed for it many times as an adult. I failed to grab the camera in my excited haste to board ship, and later so wished I had, because what a site I viewed as we approached the tall masted beauties in full sail far out on the lake, all 9 of them.  Amazing...absolutley amazing... they took my breath away!

 ~ Even now without a photo, I know I will have a memory of them together that will last a lifetime. ~

Curls of Nature

~ Soapwort Blossoms ~

~ Campanula ~

~ Hosta Blossoms ~

Nature's beautiful designs are abundant in whimsy.

 I absolutely love whimsical curls...in my art, in nature, in life. One curl in a whisker, a flower, or cloud reminds me to smile and remember the happiness in life. 

~ I wish you a wonderful, whimsical weekend! ~

Lilies of the Morning

~ Elegant Lilies of the Morning ~

Beautiful pink Daylilies greet the morning sun in one of my many gardens.

After the Storm

~ Pink Daylily ~

~ Mammatus Clouds ~

~ Orange Daylily After the Storm ~

It is not uncommon for Minnesota to see turbulent storms in any of its seasons, from blizzards and heavy snows in winter, to tornados, large hail, and torrential rains in warmer weather. Wednesday began as one such day, with severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings covering nearly the entire state. By late morning we had received significant rainfall, and ancient trees were toppled just blocks from our daughter's house. These storms kept us all on our toes for quite a few hours.

When the heavy weather began to lift I took a venture outside to view the amazing beauty left in its wake. The sky was filled with incredible Mammatus clouds that seemed as if they would drip to earth with an enormous splash.  And every petal on every flower and every leaf was covered with silver drops of rain, each reflecting a tiny version of the world around it.

Today the sun shines and a gentle breeze blows, giving not a hint of the raging storms nature produced for its Minnesota inhabitants two days ago. I wonder what beauty awaits for me to discover today.

The Frog and the Toad

~ Frog on the Window ~

~ The Tree Toad ~

A few little friends that live in our yard.

~ I Have A Little Frog ~

(author unknown)

I have a little frog,

His name is Tiny Tim,

I put him in the bathtub,

To see if he could swim,

He drank up all the water,

And gobbled up the soap!

And when he tried to talk,

He had a bUBble in his throat!