Diana + Daniel

Taking the magical carpet ride, I came across a new challenge blog for Artist Trading Cards. It's suitably called Fun with ATCs. The first theme is love -- no wonder with Valentine's Day coming closer. Anyway, while going for a walk yesterday, I came across a swing on a playground.

The details were interesting.



However, something else at the top bar of the swing caught my eye.



Diana + Daniel.
Who are they? Are they still together? I have no clue, but at least back then there was love in the air.
Who knows -- maybe they will be together forever.

One World One Heart - Magic Carpet Ride

It's that time of the year again -- One World One Heart is back! Welcome to my blog -- I hope you have enjoyed your magic carpet ride to my part of the (blog) world. You arrived in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, and I am glad to swap howdies with you.

Ever since Lisa announced this year's theme of the blog event, I have found myself singing A Whole New World from the Disney movie Aladdin over and over again both in my head and aloud. In case you don't know the song, here's a YouTube clip:

Just as Aladdin takes Jasmine on a magical tour, I want to show you parts of my neighborhood on this magical January evening.

Have you heard? Bloggers from all around the world visit each other's blogs. Just imagine how many new friends you can make!
Besides, you can win great prizes. Way cool, huh?





Even the guy in the helicopter was rushing home to visit
the blogs of the One World One Heart participants.



Before I headed home though,
I wanted to go for walk through the forest.



I even came across a blue horse.



I also saw wind chimes which turned madly in the snow storm
which appeared out of nowhere.





All of a sudden, it was dark.



A world full of light and shadows.



And full of snow.







Snowflakes were dancing in the wind.



The full moon was shining above.



Now it's high time though to tell you what I have to offer.

There are white glass beads with subtle pastel colors.



There are red glass beads with rainbow accents.



There are dark bordeaux glass beads with metallic accents shimmering in green and purple.



Take the beads, some thread as well as many hours of crocheting,
and you get this:













My One World One Heart prize --
a handmade necklace made of glass beads.

What do you have to do to win the necklace? It's easy:

• Please leave a comment below along with your name and email address, so that I can contact you if you are the lucky winner.
  

• The final day for leaving a comment is February 14th -- the winner (to be found with the help of a random number generator) will be announced on February 15th.

Good luck!

For someone so young

Art Creations Friday provided a background and picture of a little girl for its challenge this time. Leave it to me to come up with a dark art ATC:

For someone so young,
her dream world was disturbing.

Trapped

The new theme at Sunday Postcard Art is "Windows." I used a photo of a broken window which I took at an abandoned train station in February last year and combined it with a vintage photo of a lady with sad eyes.

Man of My Heart

Mind Wide Open has its first challenge this year. Gail provided a picture of Cupid and the word prompt "heart." Well, I guess my approach will be very different from all the other entries. If it makes you laugh, you can vote for it at Mind Wide Open starting on January 15th. In any case, you will see lots of fabulous artwork there.

Give me the man of my heart
or nobody will ever fall in love again.

Ali & Lucy

Ali and Lucy are the cats of a friend's friend. Last fall my friend had agreed to feed the cats while her friend was on vacation. So I had the chance to see Ali and Lucy again after a couple of years. Lucy is still very shy, hiding away and not allowing anyone to touch her. Ali is completely different -- happy to have people around him and talking all the time. And, yes, he is slightly boss-eyed.

The Secret Book of Magic

Once in a while you come across a gem of a book. Das geheime Buch der Magie: Die Zauberkunst Merlins is one of them. Do you know the best? The original edition was published in English -- Wizardology: The Book of the Secrets of Merlin. I have a feeling that some of you might want to get their own copy. From amazon.com (John Peters, Copyright © American Library Association):

"Students of the magical arts courageous enough to read on will find eye-opening disquisitions on wizardly garb and wands, types of spells, the care and feeding of familiars, uses for gryphon earwax and other substances, plus picture galleries of magical beasts and renowned wizards. In addition, there are pull tabs with "magical" effects, attached booklets, a phoenix's feather, a scrap of Fairy Flag, and more -- all sandwiched between "crystal" gems embedded in the front and rear covers. Four illustrators contribute elaborately detailed creatures, symbols, and views of a wizard's workshop to this surprisingly sturdy production."

Popcorn

Once in a while I make popcorn at home. The last time was in November. I am sure the corn kernels enjoyed the merry-go-round ride along with the clarified butter and sugar. Yummy!

Mandy's Dream Wedding

Art Creations Friday provided the image of a little girl whose dress reminds me of a bridal gown. So here's Mandy:

Mandy loved to dress up and
have the wedding of her dreams
with the frog prince.

Good resolutions

He who breaks a resolution is a weakling;
He who makes one is a fool.

-- F.M. Knowles

The three inchies in my digital Artist Trading Card show the New Year's fireworks in my neighborhood. I made the card for the Happy New Year challenge at Small World of Inchies & Twinchies.

Snow and ice

It's cold these days!

My Top Ten books of 2009

In no particular order, here are my favorite books of 2009 (once again a tough choice):

1. The Physick Book Of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (5/5)
2. The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff (4/5)
3. The Secret Life Of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (5/5)
4. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (5/5)
5. Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult (5/5)
6. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (4/5)
7. Carpe Demon – Adventures Of A Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner (5/5)
8. Ich weiß, was Du denkst (I Know What You Think) by Thorsten Havener (5/5)
9. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (5/5)
10. Gebrauchsanweisung für die USA (Manual For The USA) by Adriano Sack (5/5)