Mermaid Musings for a snowy day

saimmasimaniq

"Peace" in the Inuktitut language,

spoken in Canada

seed bead woven amulet necklace

found on etsy

It is snowing outside right now, and the sky is dark.

Dark early, for late January.

It is a wet snow, which is good as we need moisture for the summer.

That's how the Rocky Mountain foothills get their water -

from melting snow high up in the mountains.

But today I want to talk about mermaid mountains!

"Oceanidi sirens", painter unknown

Really, anything mermaid!!

Just sharing one of my favorite subjects with you...

"Don't grow up too quickly,

Lest you forget 

how much you love the beach."

- Michelle Held

I believe this might be a Disney design..but I don't know.

'Tatiana', a Cancun 'mermaid'

Mermaids can be so whimsical:

'Little mermaid' brooch, mixed media from

www.miopupazzo.etsy.com

(I have ordered a custom mermaid from this shop,

and she does excellent work!)

mermaids can be elegant:

'sea faerie', www.gingerkellydesigns.etsy.com

and mermaids can be adorable! -

a mermaid birthday card, www.PugBugCards.etsy.com

I

'Who would be a mermaid fair,

Singing alone, combing her hair,

Under the sea, in a golden curl,

With a comb of pearl,

On a throne?...'

- Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson

http//welcometo/pen&pencil.com

II

'I would be a mermaid fair.

I would sing to myself the whole day;

With a comb of pearl I would comb my hair;

And still as I comb'd I would sing and say,

'"Who is it loves me? who loves me not?..."

vintage art

vintage song sheet cover, from the 1800's

'I would comb my hair till my ringlets would fall

Low adown, and around;

And I should look like a fountain of gold

Springing alone

With a shrill inner sound,

Over the throne

In the midst of the hall;...'

painting by Isa Marie "In Queen's Bath"

www.ArtByDebra.etsy.com

'Till that great sea-snake under the sea

From his coiled sleeps in the central deeps

Would slowly trail himself sevenfold

Round the hall where I sate, and look in at the gate

With his large calm eyes for the love of me.'

vintage Hair tonic ad, with  mermaids

'Ocean Treasures jewelry' original Collage Art Doll by inkspired

using all recycled junk mail

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com

'And all the mermen under the sea

Would feel their immortality

Die in their hearts for the love of me.'

- Alfred Lord Tennyson

'mermaid by AdoC ' - that's all the info I have.

If you know more, please let me know.

I trust you have enjoyed my mermaids today,
and even had some fun reading poetry!
'Til next time....

inkspired
www.inkspired.etsy.com
www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com
I'm on pinterest too! - K.Kloberdans

vintage mermaid, courtesy of Dover

73 countries and over 152,000 page views!

poko'j

- all one word, with the ' directly above the 'o'

(Polish and Slovakian for 'peace')

Today I wish to recognize all the beautiful countries that have checked out my blog.

I just feel so honored that other people like what I am doing!

It is very self-assuring and quite wonderful!

Here is the amazing list:

 

Argentina

Armenia

Australia

Austria

Bangladesh

Belarus

Belgium

Bolivia

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Brazil*

Brunei

Bulgaria

Canada

Columbia

Croatia

Czech Republic*

Denmark

Estonia

Egypt

Finland

France

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

Greece

Hungary

India

Indonesia

Iraq

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Japan

Jersey

Jordan

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Macedonia [FYROM]

Malaysia

Malta

Mauritius

Mexico

Netherlands*

New Zealand

Nigeria

Norway

Pakistan

Palestinian Territories

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Scotland

Singapore

Slovakia

South Africa

South Korea

Spain

Sri Lanka

Sweden

Switzerland

Taiwan

Thailand

Trinidad & Tobago

Turkey

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

United States of America

Vietnam

Wales

wow.

That's 73 different countries.

* countries that I have featured in previous blogs

http://www.skyscanner.net/

If you don't see your country listed, please forgive my oversight,

and drop me a note!

My new comments section is very easy to leave a comment.

Lofer Province, Salzburg, Austria

girls carrying harvest crown during the Harvest Festival 

If you all only knew how much I would be delighted to visit you and your country!

I do have a traveling heart, but alas my feet have remained pretty firmly in the USA.

40th Annual Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA International Balloon Festival

I did visit both Mexico and Canada while growing up.

I have fond memories of our long-haired dog, Snuggles, playing in the snow in summer in British Columbia, Canada!

We also have a hilarious family story that concerns Mexico, traffic lights and policemen,

and my Dad's quirky sense of humor!

On our honeymoon Michael and I visited Haiti, Dominican Republic,

U.S.Virgin Islands Territory (St. Thomas) and the Bahamas.

Port au Prince, Haiti

5-27-2011

Subsequently via another cruise, we have visited

St. John's and Puerto Rico.

When you cruise, you do get to visit different countries

but it is in a very controlled way, and not really geared to the country

so much as it is geared to tourism.

cruise ship in San Juan, Puerto Rico harbor

As tourists, we do have to be careful about going off the beaten track

depending on the country, political air, etc.

Michael and I were able to explore the 'back roads' in Haiti,

St. Thomas and St. John's for just a brief jaunt.

We got in big trouble in Haiti, but that is a story for another time!

We kinda' got lost in St. Thomas, and we were not welcome
where we wandered to. Oh well. We did see a wonderful old cemetery

but we didn't go in as we didn't want to inadvertently offend anyone.

Savan Jewish Cememtery, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

http://www.jewishphotolibrary.smugmug.com/

Although, I do love cemeteries.

So much history and life drama and beautiful art.

When I start my blog with a 'hello' in a different language,

or  say 'peace'

or a seasonal greeting,

I try to pick a language that perhaps some of my readers are familiar with.

To me, they are 'foreign' simply because I am not fluent in that language.

But it sure would be fun to be able to communicate in the local language,

when I get to really travel around that is!

Until then, I will continue to do

'armchair traveling'.

That means checking out new countries by movies,
documentaries, tv specials - and of course my trusty internet!

Navratri Festival, or Festival of Dance
Ahmedabad, India, 2011

Here's a little challenge for you:

Watch one of your favorite movies
but in a different-than-your-own language!

Check out a Steven Seagal movie in Spanish!

Watch Jackie Chan in Mandarin!

See a James Bond movie in French!

It's quite fun.

:0)

La Baule, western France

10/02/2011

I hope you have had fun with my little anecdotes and photos
of places around the world.
I would love to feature each country that checks out my blog,
but if I did that and no other topics, it would take me almost 3 months!!
So, I will do little bits here and there,
and will always 'tag' the country that I have blogged about.
If there is a country that YOU would like to learn more about,
let me know!
Check out past blogs for Brazil, Czech Republic and Holland.

traditional Belgium costumes
http://www.gettyimages.com/

That's it for today!
Have a wonderful family time tomorrow,
while giving thanks to God for all His gifts.
Happy Thanksgiving!

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

 

My silent International Friends

Greetings!

My blog has now had over 70,000 pageviews since around May, 2011.

I am amazed.

I am humbled.

I am very happy!

I still can't believe it, and check back almost daily to make sure

 I read those numbers right!

and they keep growing....

Today I would like to say THANK YOU to all of you that are interested

in what I might have to say. I truly am humbled.

Guess I better check spelling more carefully!

bottlecap magnet art by http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

graphics by revidevi, etsy

I would like to mention, and add some fun things in along the way,

all the different countries that visited my blog in the last 5 months.

Whew!

that's a big list, so I will have to split it up.

Yes, Michael,

I will not write a book.

I will not write a book.

I will not write a book.

I may not put these in exact alphabetical order,

so don't panic if your country doesn't come up next!

I'll get to you!

:0)

We covered BRAZIL yesterday.

Next we have the NETHERLANDS.

2 Dutch children. Use for embroidery, coloring pages, or paper dolls!

Here is a big THANKS to JAPAN.

C.1912

THE CZECH REPUBLIC!

I am getting ready to include the Czech Republic in a future blog,

so I have lots of lovely photos and info for you, at a later time.

The Czech and USA flag

Cesky Krumlov Czechoslovakia by Paul Gyer

Up next is TURKEY.

Thank you Turkey, for your support!

These are from a booklet of Middle Eastern Country Paper Dolls.

As you see, this includes many other nations also.

It includes another country that has followed me -

the UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Here is a costume set from the above paper doll set:

To finish for today, let's give a big cheer for CANADA!

Canada, in Epcot, DisneyWorld, Florida, USA

Thanks!

Feel free to leave a comment, and NOT be a silent International Friend!!!

I have recently made a few new treasuries on etsy.

Check them out!

No Mom, I'm NOT wearing white shoes....after Labor Day!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTc2MTA5M3w2ODU4MzM2Njk/no-mom-im-not-wearing-white-shoes?index=0

The softer side of Fall

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTc2MTA5M3w2ODUzNTMwMzI/the-softer-side-of-fall?index=1

A Wood Fairy's Home

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTc2MTA5M3w2Nzk3MTg1MTE/a-wood-fairys-home?index=2

Enjoy!

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com

International Musings

kia ora

(pronounced kia o ra)

Maori, literally meaning 'be well/healthy',

but translates into an informal "hi".

I really really like this graphics of the world and its peoples.

So many times we forget that we are all connected.

That's part of the reason I have enjoyed opening my blog with a "hello" or "Good day" in different languages.

Share it with a few people and chances are

you just might remember it!

I like this photo because it shows the world from a different perspective. Do any of you Americans own anything

(jewelry, clothing, scarf, etc.)

that shows the world NOT from the North American perspective?

How about you Europeans?

Do you own anything that shows your world

as NOT from the European angle?

Think about it!

Sooo.....

let's have some international fun today!

"world"



recycled bottlecap magnets or necklaces

with Art Nouveau alphabets

completely hand colored by inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

Japan:

a simple Japanese shore scene

yoshitsune samurai

Garden staircase, Kyoto, Japan

recycled bottlecap magnet by inkspired

Canada

Here are some absolutely GORGEOUS gardens in Canada:

Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada

Halifax Public Gardens created in 1836



another Canadian Garden

"We want to raise our children

so that they can take a sense of pleasure

in both their own heritage

and the diversity of others."

- Mr. Rogers aka Fred Rogers

I would like to share with you

a wonderful, vintage set of paperdolls from OrigamiBears.

Here are the first four:

July 14th is France's Bastille Day.

Holland:

Dutch windmill

"The purpose of life is to listen -

to yourself, to your neighbor, to our world

and to God

 and, when the time comes,

to respond in as helpful a way as you can find...

from within and without."

- Mr. Rogers

Russia:

You can find this book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Babushkas-Mother-Goose-Patricia-Polacco/dp/069811860X/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310580744&sr=1-6#_

Traditional Russian Babushka Dolls

also called Matryoshka Dolls

Make this your desktop computer background.

After a few weeks, you should recognize all of them!

Turkey:

Istanbul, Turkey

"Peace means far more than the opposite of war!"

 - Mr. Rogers

I will be doing more of the countries from this paper doll set

"10 Dolls from as Many Lands"

c.1934

on future blogs.

Have a super duper day!

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com