FLAT STANLEY AND FRIENDS...

FLAT PEOPLE...TRAVELING
June 14, 2011
Hi Friends,

Have you given any thought to a six-word story that would serve as YOUR current memoir? Here's mine for the week... I was recalling a comical incident that occurred when I was recently in Italy. I guess I'm a shopper at heart... (my husband wouldn't argue with THAT!!)

Literally caught with my pants down by my friend, DJ, who was shopping with me...but what's a girl to do when there's no dressing room???

This was a week where I returned to some of my favorite online art group roots...  PAPER TRADERS is one of them. Happily for them and for all of our group members, there's now a blog for us to enjoy. They've asked group members and random readers to create an art piece entitled CELEBRATION... to toast the creation of this new blog. Here's mine...

The group created an ongoing challenge for group members...we're working on a Word Prompt Journal that involves creating pieces of art with words of inspiration... here are LOVE, COURAGE and COMPASSION: 

 A long-time cyber friend in Germany, with whom I've exchanged pieces of art through the years... Marion Bockelman...has asked some of her artist friends to participate in a swap. Our task is to create 3 small pieces utilizing artists' portraits of women of the Renaissance. (By small, I mean 2 1/2" x 3 1/2"... they're called  ATCs or Artist Trading Cards.) She's calling the swap "MONA and FRIENDS." See it on her blog, and see my entries here...

 

Now, let's consider a different kind of art... the art of writing! Have you heard of  FLAT STANLEY? 

Poor Stanley was a normal little boy who was FLATTENED when a bulletin board  fell on him during the night. This was both good and bad...he could certainly journey to places he'd never thought of visiting before he was flattened, but he couldn't be a normal little boy. He  could fit in an envelope or in a suitcase and travel ANYWHERE! What adventures...what possibilities! Our family has our own Flat Hunter and Flat Lilly...(our dear grandchildren) that we take with us on most of our travels. Their appearances have been altered considerably through the years, but the thought is the same...here they are on some of their travels as Flat Hunter and Flat Lilly...

Flat kids overlooking the city of Jerusalem, Israel, on top of a camel saddle

Flat kids with part of my extended family in Ethiopia...Dido and his son, Gallipo

Christmas in Paris, France

Enjoying the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy

In a temple niche in India

 Since turnabout is fair play, on a recent trip that our daughter, son-in-law and our grandchildren (aka Flat Hunter and Flat Lilly) took to Las Vegas, they brought FLAT PAPA and FLAT DOODLELOO (that's me) with THEM!!

Finally, a quick look at recent visitors to my bird feeder...must get a book about birds  so I can learn their names-  I'm new to this bird-feeder thing! They're so sweet, though...I photoshopped a bit, but the birds were truly a couple of today's many visitors...

Thanks for stopping by this week...hope to see you next week...


xox, abbyj