Make Vintage Christmas Cards

You can use these images for something other than cards, of course, use your imagination. It is that time of year; don't yell at the messenger! Christmas & Hanukkah are popular searches on GG so we're giving the people what they want.:) xo/gg

Vintage Holiday Crafts is a huge source of clip art for nearly every holiday & occasion. You can even make your own vintage-style gift certificate--for anything. We won't waste anyone's time listing, just visit. The rules are clear & the site is generous. It's hard to believe sometimes that anyone would do something like compile an enormous collection just because...but that appears to be the case.

Dine Out to End Childhood Hunger 2012

Please share this important information with family & friends, on Twitter & Facebook:

Share Our Strength's Dine Out For No Kid Hungry® is a national event that brings together thousands of restaurants and millions of diners to help make sure no child in America grows up hungry. Through the end of September, participating restaurants will raise funds through a variety of ways to support No Kid Hungry, Share Our Strength's national campaign to end childhood hunger in America. Dine at a supporting OpenTable restaurant and help end childhood hunger in America! (via Share Our Strength)

Here are participating restaurants in the Washington, DC-area & the New York City-area. Check this interactive map for a restaurant in a city near you.

Thank you & cheers!

PS: If you own or manage an independent or single-franchise restaurant, please visit Share Our Strength to find out what you can do to help.

(Julie & Julia still by Jonathan Wenk)

Swimming in Roses

I love flowers Id love to have the whole place swimming in roses...(Molly Bloom, Ch. 18 Penelope, Ulysses)

It's Bloomsday. This is mainly from the archives as the week has slipped by far too fast. If you're on Twitter, follow this man today (& year-round). The Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia is maintaining a website dedicated to Joyce & Bloomsday; it's fairly new & needs more information; if you have some information, send it to them, please.

If you're in Washington, DC, Politics & Prose, has a Bloomsday reading event starting at 10am (it won't be all day at P&P but continues on at other cafes/bookstores.)

And now, off for those flowers.....

ciao-yes-meow/GGCM

(photograph by Irene Suchocki)

Perce-neige (Snowdrops)

We are in opposite-land. Last year, snowdrops were slow to arrive & leave. Now, with the odd winter, daffodils (!) are popping up. We just saw some snowdrops in a little bunch. So here's a popular post from last year.

PS: Many have asked what they can do to help Syrians. We're in the midst of working on that very subject. Updates as soon as possible.

(March 2011) We should be seeing daffodils as it's March but snowdrops (perce-neige in French) are still about as spring is slow to arrive to GG's city. If you know any children who like to color (or adults...GG's editor likes to break out the crayons now & again), here's a coloring page of spring flowers, including a snowdrop. And here are more online art resources for kids of all ages.

ciao-meow/the Management

(snowdrop by photofairy)

Reindeer Cheer

How can it be the 18th of December already? Oh dear. To cheer everyone up, here is our very favorite reindeer. We're working our way through this 'brass reindeer' search on Etsy. Clearly, things like that are why we're so behind in holiday prep. Back tomorrow. Update - We'll be back tonight (Monday)

ciao-meow/GG & her editor

(photograph by John)

War is Over! (If You Want It)

This is another popular search on GG. You can download any number of the more than 100 translations of the famous card by John & Yoko, here, on flickr. There is also a request from the administrators to help with translations & a big thank you for those who have helped so far. Check it out if you see something that needs attention.

Yoko suggests that people print & display in windows, schools, workplaces, cars & elsewhere over the holiday season, and send as postcards to your friends. We have a few hanging up on the wall near our desk. Also visit Imagine Peace for more updates about projects there.

ciao-peace-meow/GGCM

(photograph Times Square, NYC, 1969 via Yoko Ono Official)

Make Vintage Christmas Cards

It's that time of year! (Stop yer grousin':) This is one of the most popular searches on GG.

Vintage Holiday Crafts is a huge source of clip art for nearly every holiday & occasion. You can even make your own vintage-style gift certificate--for anything. We won't waste anyone's time listing, just visit. The rules are clear & the site is generous. It's hard to believe sometimes that anyone would do something like compile an enormous collection just because...but that appears to be the case.

We also have Hanukkah crafts & clip art, & games. Because Hanukkah is not as early as last year, there's time to post in the coming weeks. However, if you are in the DC-area, or will be, & would like to go to the 20 December National Menorah lighting on the Mall, tickets go fast. Click here & good luck.

ciao-meow/GG Holiday Central

Supper Onion Pie for Tough Times

One of the key phrases most searched for on GG's blog is for this supper onion pie by Nigella Lawson. It is really easy & delicious. We don't have even one decent photograph of it, sorry. We are also sorrier than we can say that the tough times continue. The post is from autumn 2008. If you'd like to make something else with your lovely fresh red onions, Saveur's The Elegant Onion is a good place to start.

ciao-meow/GGCM

(vintage red onion via The Grapics Fairy)

Memorial Day

While Memorial Day is a holiday to honor the fallen, it is never inappropriate to remember the living. Below is from the archives & still as important as it was last year. Please pass on the information if you know anyone who needs help.

********
TAPS saves lives.

If you know anyone who needs practical help & emotional support due to the loss of a family member or a friend (they do not have to be a relative) who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, please go to Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). TAPS has a 24-hour hotline: 1-800-959-TAPS (8277). Do not hesitate to call on someone's behalf if they are unable to take the first step.

Among other worthy programs, TAPS runs good grief camps for children. We urge you to write down the TAPS main number in case you should come across someone in your daily travels who needs help--you just never know. TAPS has an extensive website, an on-line community which is very helpful & welcoming, & we encourage anyone who might feel isolated to join it.

TAPS also has volunteer opportunities; this might be the place where you find you'd like to help make a difference.

ciao-meow/GG Central

(Two favorite photographs: Soldier's Good-bye & Bobbie The Cat, c. 1939-1945, by Sam Hood, NSW State Library Archives, Australia)

A Day of Service

From the archives - This year, on Dr. King's birthday holiday, more people than ever plan to donate a day of service. Please remember our friends abroad, too. Dr. King considered himself an American & a citizen of the world. We are certain that he would be speaking out on behalf of prisoners of conscience. Please visit Amnesty International & see what you can do in a very short amount of time & for zero money. (Photograph of Dr. King, via Public Domain Clip Art)

Make Your Own Vintage Holiday Cards

Vintage Holiday Crafts is a huge source of clip art for nearly every holiday & occasion. You can even make your own vintage-style gift certificate--for anything. We won't waste anyone's time listing, just visit. The rules are clear & the site is generous. It's hard to believe sometimes that anyone would do something like compile an enormous collection just because...but that appears to be the case.

This is a repeat but a popular search on Giulia Geranium. If you get started now, you can take your time & do some fruitful searches on the Vintage site. (We'll do a separate post for Hanukkah which is arriving really soon!) Remember Martha Stewart's site as a good source of ideas, Christmas & Hanukkah templates, clip art, & blogger-friendly posting ideas.

ciao-meow/GG's freebie coordinator

PS: West Elm has free downloads for holiday gift giving & entertaining. Here's the link if you missed it.

GG Garden Reminder - Flower Bulbs

Though the illustrations & exhortation below are from the archives, we're running it a month early. There are sales everywhere online & in stores on bulbs. GG is sorry that her editor did not buy more bulbs last year (before they ran out...see? Happened to us, too). Giulia likes to lounge in front of floral displays, so as to set off her expensive highlighted fur to best advantage. Oh, & on another note, The Harmless, Necessary Cat is starring on her editor's blog, bricolage, right now. ciao-meow

***************
This is a reminder to lay in some bulbs--soon. We don't have a garden either (anymore) but are fairly adept at 'persuading the paperwhite.' Actually paperwhites are easy & in stores now. However, if you buy some bulbs on the weekend, you can force those as well. (We prefer the word persuade.) Follow-up links & reminders to articles forthcoming but you have to buy the bulbs really, really soon. Or you'll be green with envy over all those displays of tulips & other bulbs from the holidays into next spring. We really don't want to hear complaining! (And while you're at it, what do you mean you don't have a pumpkin yet? OK. Well, neither do we...)

ciao-meow/GG's gardener & pumpkin carver

(vintage illustrations via Free Vintage Flowers & Seed Packets/GG collage)

The Girl Effect, Redux - Week's End

Humor us. We apologize in advance that this lacks cupcakes, cute babies, fabulous dinner party plans, what-to-buy, gratuitous exclamation points, pink objects, & baby animals. (The Girl Effect website) [Domino Cascade photograph]

ciao-meow/GG Central

Memorial Day - Help from TAPS

TAPS saves lives.

If you know anyone who needs practical help & emotional support due to the loss of a family member or a friend (they do not have to be a relative) who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, please go to Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). TAPS has a 24-hour hotline: 1-800-959-TAPS (8277). Do not hesitate to call on someone's behalf if they are unable to take the first step.

Among other worthy programs, TAPS runs good grief camps for children. We urge you to write down the TAPS main number in case you should come across someone in your daily travels who needs help--you just never know. TAPS has an extensive website, an on-line community which is very helpful & welcoming, & we encourage anyone who might feel isolated to join it.

TAPS also has volunteer opportunities; this might be the place where you find you'd like to help make a difference.

ciao-meow/GG Central

[Two of GG Central's favorite photographs: Soldier's Good-bye & Bobbie The Cat, c. 1939-1945, by Sam Hood, NSW State Library Archives, Australia]

Santa Baby

A bit of a repeat. But a funny update, too.

We don't care if it's uncool (it's been said): we love our Starbucks 2006 Santa Baby CD...15 great songs & a wide range of singers. That was an unusual-for-us impulse purchase & no regrets. It's out-of-print but apparently in demand & probably available on the usual-suspects resale sites.

The update--a (goofy) vintage video of Eartha Kitt (& friends) singing Santa Baby. GG slinks around the apartment every time she hears this...& why not? Miss Kitt was quite the feline, non?

merry-meow/GG's party planner

[image via our own half-dead scanner]
illustrations by Ed Fotheringham [here's his website]
Design by Kristery Cameron, Starbucks Creative Group

Vintage Holiday Cards

Vintage Holiday Crafts is a huge source of clip art for nearly every holiday & occasion. You can even make your own vintage-style gift certificate--for anything. We won't waste anyone's time listing, just visit. The rules are clear & the site is generous. It's hard to believe sometimes that anyone would do something like compile an enormous collection just because...but that appears to be the case.

This is a repeat but a popular search on Giulia Geranium. If you get started now, you can take your time & do some fruitful searches on the Vintage site. (We'll do a separate post for Hanukkah.) Remember Martha Stewart's site as a good source of ideas, Christmas templates, clip art, & blogger-friendly posting ideas.

Very, very busy here. Apologies & we'll post more free links 'n stuff very soon.

ciao-meow/GG's crafty editor

Can You Hear Me Now? Again?

While we are under the weather, some updates on Darfur, South Sudan, & Congo (DRC). Today from Enough Project's John Prendergast on New Legislative Action Tackles Congo's Conflict Minerals. Please click through to the take action link for suggestions regarding personal electronic purchase & recycling. Thanks.

[photographs by drburtoni & Mvemba Phezo Dizolele/Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting]

Dylan & Sylvia

Update: Illness continues, along with non-negotiable errands out in the rain. Not promising. Therefore, a little birthday repeat from the archives.(GG is not acting up at the moment -- as she was this day last year -- but she'll make up for it, no doubt.)

*********************

No, we're not morbid. Why do you ask? Because anyone who posts anything about Sylvia Plath must be: 1) morbid; 2) full of teen-age angst; 3) fill in the blank? Nah. We just like a lot of her work. We do wish that acolytes who seem to have read only The Bell Jar, Lady Lazarus, & Daddy would, uh, read more. And for heaven's sake, quit going on about Ted Hughes; read his poetry, too. Today, is also the natal day of the greatest Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.

GG is acting up, again. We throw up our hands. There is much interesting news, recipes, fashion, literary tales, newly-discovered blogs to mention. But no time. So here's a recipe for Welsh rarebit (not rabbit!) from the Joy of Cooking. (The cookbook was very important to Plath.) Additionally, here are two poems from each troubled, but honored, poet.

Cheers,
GG's poetry editor

[illustration via Vintage Holiday Crafts]

Under the Weather - Week's End

Archive + Update:

GG & her editor are both under the weather. So a little preview of the The House of Mouse on Etsy. This is Grace the Nurse Mouse & we need her services. We feel better just looking at her. The charming Anna of The House of Mouse in Amsterdam creates scads of adorable mice characters (including 'occasion' mice); the mouse of your dreams is but a few (mouse) clicks away. [image used with permission]- (from November 2008)

Update: Anna has an adorable blog & lots o' mice and she's going to have a baby. Congratulations, Anna! We just saw Life, craftiness and everything else. Go give her a visit. We're waiting to hear if she is full-up for holiday orders but you can ask her too. Plus there's a free mouse giveaway every month. More from The House of Mouse, soon.

ciao-sneeze-meow/GG Central

GG Distressed at July Mess - Week's End

Update: Friday, 10 July 2009. Editorial decision to slap a 'week's end' on this post for sake of sanity & order. There's a lovely new-to-us item for bidding over at Made4Aid. GG is no help at all. She awaits a package delivery of toys & accessories (cherry blossom harness & matching lead) & so is disinterested in her editor's distress. She also has taken to hiding our keys. Seriously. Have a lovely weekend. We hope to be back before Monday.

This is only so Pablo doesn't stand on the beach one more day (see Tuesday post). Sunburn, you know. Seriously, this repeat-with-update is somewhat distressing. We're in similar shape as last August's post. Things are becoming more organized but...

Why this particular (embarrassing) post? We renewed our Phillips Collection (lower right sidebar) membership & rejoice. The purchase of two Prismacolor pens made the week, perhaps the month. You can always go to Made4Aid or Darfur Peace & Development Organization. If you went to both, that would be grand. [Note: left out pitiful thumbnail of Van Gogh painting mentioned below.]

Avanti!

From 24 August 2008, GG: Forgive Our Mess post

OOF!

Even en vacances, there is work to be done. While GG & her editor move things around the site, please do forgive the mess. GG's editor cannot readily locate her box(es) of Rembrandt pastels, inks, & Prismacolor pencils to illustrate this dire situation. GG's editorial judgment is to post some lovely images by van Gogh & Fantin-Latour, & spare ourselves embarrassment. It's bad enough leaving a mess floating in the ether. Aieeee!

Ciao, nos amis!

xoxo, GG