My Books

Nothing earth shattering. Just playing around with my iPhone trying to master the Camera+ App. As you can see by the dots on the shelf, this was taken in a very low light situation. 

iPad Apps: History Lessons on the iPad

What's wrong with this picture? It's pretty daunting to think about what our forefathers achieved with a quill pen and a bottle of ink, isn't it?

Top iPad apps to teach kids about government and US History

Edward BIDDLE (1738-1779) uncle of Richard Biddle, a Delegate from Pennsylvania; born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1738; entered the provincial army as an ensign in 1754, promoted to lieutenant and captain, and served until 1763, when he resigned; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Reading, Pa.; member of the State assembly 1767-1775, serving as speaker in 1774; member of the provincial convention held at Philadelphia in 1775; again a member of the State assembly in 1778; Member of the Continental Congresses in 1774 and 1775; died at Chatsworth, near Baltimore, Md., September 5, 1779; interment in St. Paul’s Churchyard, Baltimore, Md. via

Brooke Astor's Dog Paintings

Side staircase in the late Brooke Astor’s Westchester, NY estate, Holly Hill. I wonder if these wonderful dog paintings are in the auction on September 24 and 25? All copies of the Sotheby's printed catalog have been sold. I found a few of her dog items here. Photo above found here.

Gardening Motif Etching

I have so much outside work to do but decided to make a garden-motif etching instead. I love it and hope you do too. I have to put all of my watering cans in the garage soon so they don't collect water that expands when it freezes causing them to leak. I learned this the hard way.

Dogs In and On the Car

This is one of my iPhone photos converted to an etching. I love the way it looks. Do your dogs like to ride in the car? It's Webster's favorite thing to do. Sometimes I just open the tailgate and let him take naps in the back. That's his second favorite thing to do. 

A Bed of Impatiens

I photographed a bed of impatiens outside a store in a depressing strip mall recently. They were trying their hardest to beautify the place and they did. I took this photo with my iPhone and made it into an etching to tone it down a bit. That's the thing about annuals -- they aren't at all bashful about being all they can be!

Transferware Plate - Three Views

I've always liked this brown and white transferware plate.

Here it is in as old etching.

I think it looks nice as a stamp too, don't you?

Paw Heart

Can you possibly guess where I found this perfect heart?

Last night when Webster the wonder dog was napping on the carpet I looked down and saw for the first time that the underside of his paw has a pad that is shaped like a heart. I can't believe it took me 70 dog years to discover this amazing feature in my sweetheart of a dog!

No wonder he's so sweet. He can't wear his heart on his sleeve so he found another way of showing his love. He always sleeps with one paw tucked under so the heart pad is facing up.

I Made Some Dog Money for Webster

Now all he needs is a wallet. I'm having so much fun with my new app. I took an iPad photo of a 1922 bronze dog medal in my collection and turned it into a Dog Dollar.

I made an etching from a photo

I'm having fun playing with an app called ETCHINGS I bought this morning for 99¢. This is the July 4th photo I made in my kitchen transformed with the app. There are lots of other possibilities too. This is now used to celebrate the Labor Day holiday.

http://www.etchingsapp.com/

The Aga Range Had a Baby: GaGa Aga

I saw a photo of a baby Aga in a cream color in a lovely kitchen recently and could never locate it again. I did a google image search and found some wonderful information over at Apartment Therapy. This tiny baby range or cooker is made to supplement a larger Aga but the Aga Companion can also be used alone. This baby has already been weaned! At only 24" wide, the Companion is the perfect stove for a small apartment or cottage, yet it still has two ovens and four burners. They're made of cast iron and available in 15 different colors from dark chocolate brown to a bright and vivid turquoise.

I often blog about these Aga cookers to great response. I think this is the best thing I've read about in ages, don't you? It's dual fuel too. I want this baby!!!

Astrolabe - The First Computer

The astrolabe is a very ancient astronomical computer for solving problems relating to time and the position of the Sun and stars in the sky. Astrolabes are used to show how the sky looks at a specific place at a given time. This is done by drawing the sky on the face of the astrolabe and marking it so positions in the sky are easy to find. Read more about astrolabes here. http://www.astrolabes.org/
This is the most beautiful scientific instrument I have ever seen and I want one! via

Antique Delft Tile with Cow

This is an 18th century hand painted Delft Tile from my collection that was converted to a 'dot' image with an app called SnapDot. I'm having fun playing with it. I took the photo with my iPhone and worked on it with my iPad.

The tile is damaged but I love this $2.50 tag sale purchase just the same.

4 in 1 iPhone Photo of the Day

Just playing around with a new app again today. Please yell if you want me to stop. This one is free today (normally $.99) and is called Diptic. I like it because it maintains a high resolution if you want to print which I almost never do.

Flowers from My Cottage Free Download

I found an app called PolyFrame and downloaded it. It has lots of pre-set shapes for making collages.

It's easy too. These are spring flowers from my iPhone camera roll. Get it. 

Photo Fun - MarbleCam [free download]

This free app was featured in today's New York Times. You can use it with any existing photos in your camera roll or with the iPhone or iPad camera opened in the app.

This is the photo I used from my camera roll for the 'marble' effect above. This is going to be fun!

Goodnight iPad by Ann Droyd [Video]

 

OMG---this is too fabulous for words. View this parody of 'Goodnight Moon' full screen if you can. Click here if you can't see this AMAZING video. I'm sure everyone will be able to relate to this modern bedtime story!!! It's not for kids anymore...it's for all of us. Hardcover book available here.

House Blessing

"PLENTY and GRACE BE TO THIS PLACE"

I photographed this terracotta plaque on a fireplace mantle recently. I am trying something new just to see if it works. I am posting from my iPhone. This is a test!

The verdict. I had to resize the photo on my computer because I had not selected image size in the settings. It was way too big to fit in my template. But now I know I can post and save as a draft for computer tweeking later. Could come in handy and now I have the free Blogger App on my iPhone and iPad. You can't change fonts or do anything with rich text. Pretty basic. Come on Google, you can do better!

I ordered a Trygger iPhone Case w/ Polarizing Filter

Every now and then I see a great idea that needs backing prior to production on Kickstarter. Unfortunately I did not learn about this fabulous invention when it started out at the $35 backer level. I jumped in at $40 (with free shipping) and have only 17 days to go before the emails go out to choose preferred color. I'm going to get a white one. The sliding panel on the back has a wheel-operated polarizing filter to keep out glare. I honestly have been trying to invent something like this myself with all of my old Nikon filters from the dark ages that are in my camera bag in the closet. Now I won't have to. This will make the awesome camera on my iPhone 4S perfect. 
Disclaimer: I am not making any money on this. I just wanted to share a great find with all of my readers. I cannot wait to get this Trygger Camera Case for iPhone 4/4S!! Click on the link above if you want to become a backer and get yours for less than the final retail price with free shipping in the USA.

SNAPSEED Photo Editing App | Free Download

This doesn't happen very often. I got my copy while it was free for one day several months ago and I love it. This is an award-winning photo editing App for iPhone and iPad normally priced at $4.99. It's still the best one too so be sure to grab it while it's free!!! Found here.

Apple's FREE App of The Week: Download link.
HERE IS A GREAT SNAPSEED TUTORIAL IN PICTURES. Pay no attention to the $4.99 quoted price.