Thursday, 22 July 2021

Thursday-Friday Post

 Hi Everybody!

Today I am sharing another of my faces. This one has been built into an old journal page and completed with a cut out from a magazine:





This a summer country view for Alison's challenge at AJJ. The background is a water colour I painted when sitting by Lake Constance and looking to the mountains on the other side. That was in 1993 -  I added the figures in the foreground and the butterfly digitally:



And I have a new  tag for Sandie's music challenge at Tag Tuesday:



I am also linking to Paint Party Friday

The Theme at Rain's Thursday art date this week is favourite decade. I've decided to go with the 1920s as I have lots of old family photos from then:

My great uncle Bennie:


My mum 1926:


My great grandmother Rachel (1922):


My husbands grandparents, 1928, at their 25th wedding anniversary:


Erika, 1922


Erika, 1921


Aunts and an uncle of my husband, 1920


Erika with her class, 1929 (on the right)


Erika, 1922


My great auntie Fanny, 1920


My great grandmother and 2 great aunts, 1927


My great grandfather, 1924


Uncle Benny's wedding, 1927


Erika's brother Ralf, 1920


Thanks to all who asked about the floods here. Many areas will take years before everything is cleared away and rebuilt. Here in my little town, the floods along the Rhine are receding, which is good news. The big hole in our street is still under repair, the sewage and drainage pipes were badly damaged and have to be renewed.

Have a great day, take care,
and thanks a lot for coming by!

79 comments:

  1. This is a wonderful post. Good looking family on both sides. Wonderful that you have these photos. I have old photos of my family as well. They are treasures.

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    1. Thanks Nicole, I treasure my old photos, too. Have great day!

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  2. Wonderful photos from the twenties for Rain’s art date Valerie. Beautiful pieces for the other challenges too. Glad the water is receding.

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  3. Wow, this is a great post. Loving all the art. I can see you had a lot of fun with the face and a magazine picture. But they work well together. And I love the tag and your beautiful mountain photo. And what wonderful vintage family photos. I enjoyed seeing them. You're lucky to have such a collection of these connecting you to the past. Have a great end of the work week. Hugs-Erika

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    1. Thanks Erika, I love the old photos, too. Have a great day, hugs!

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  4. I love the bird music tag.
    Thank you for sharing your family. That was very special.
    Hugs

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    1. Thanks Sandra. The photos are my connection to the past!

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  5. You have covered a lot of challenges this week, Valerie. I love the journal page you made that reminds me of a children's book. It is perfect for Alison's theme at AJJ, too.

    I especially love your tag. The birds are adorable and that nest is incredible. This is a real beauty.

    I enjoyed seeing your family from the 20s. I have seen a few of these before and never tire seeing your relatives. I know they are important to you, and you are so lucky to have all these photos. Stay safe, dear.

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth. I love my old photos, they're a great connection to the past. Have a great day!

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  6. LOVE your vintage family photos, I have many of my dear parents.
    Your faces are amazing work of art. xx

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    1. Thanks Annie, I know you treasure your family memories, too.

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  7. lovely touching collection ♥

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  8. Hi Val, good morning! We all had a better night here, hope you had a good one, too. Love your fun art again, and the beautiful tag. And it's great to see the old photos, I'll show the pictures to my mum, she must have known some of them. Hugs, Sarah

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    1. Hi Sarah, glad all is well again! Hope your garden is looking better after the storm, the water really created havoc there. Have a great day, hugs!

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  9. Nice look back to the 1920's, Valerie. Happy Thursday


    Much💜love

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  10. Good morning Valerie: The face you have created for us today looks like it has been pondering all the troubles of the world and has blown the top off its head in the process! Not surprising! The next image of sitting by Lake Constance is quite lovely and evokes great memories I am sure. "A smile, a kiss, a sip of wine" - I'll go for that any time. Doesn't have to be summer! Maybe the Blue Tits from the third image could be chirping in the background to make the idyll perfect. The gallery of photographs from your family is impressive. You wonder what they would make of the world today, a hundred years later. I suspect they would barely recognize it! I don't have this kind of photographic record at all, so I would be unable to come up with such a montage. We will be walking with Heather and Lily this morning. Usually we do it on Fridays but tomorrow they will be at their family cottage. Perhaps Lily will have taken her first unaided step since we saw her last week. Tonight I will be doing a Zoom presentation on urban birds for a community group in Cambridge. We tested the system yesterday and everything worked so we are all set. Perhaps it won't be too long until I can begin doing them in person again. Be sure to invite me to Germany - all expenses paid of course, but I will waive my fee! You may have to stand by as translator! Glad to hear that the flood waters are receding. Hope that life soon returns to normal. Hugs and kisses, David

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    1. Guten Morgen, lieber David. Anyone pondering the problems of the world just now is likely to blow his/her top! I enjoyed my time at Lake Constance, and was able to visit Switzerland and Lichtenstein from there. I'm glad I still have so many old family photos and documents, I 'collected 'them when others put them into the garbage. How lovely to be able to go for a walk with Lily and Heather, wish I could join you, that would be fun! Good luck with your Zoom presentation, I'm sure you have prepped it really well and that it will be a great success! I'm afraid the governing body of Balconia-by-the Rhine doesn't have enough financial reserves in the state money-chests to invite such famous people from the far flung Dominions! Now, don't get a shock, I'm going to go and clear off my work table which I have declared to be a catastrophe area. Take care, have a great day! Hugs to you both!

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  11. Hi Val, Bill here. Love your old Photos, so beautiful!

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  12. What a fabulous post Valerie! I love that face and your Summer Countryside page is super! I loved seeing you family photos, Hugs, Chrisx

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    1. Thanks Chris, I am having fun with those faces! Have a great day!

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  13. I love that face propped on the hand. Old family photos are a treasure. It's going to be so hard to get past all that flooding. I wish the world leaders would take notice and do more to prevent future disasters :(

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    1. Thanks. It will be a very hard job to get everything back to normal. If people don't act soon it will be too late!

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  14. I love Uncle Benny's wedding photo! Just look at the beautiful wedding dress and the other clothes, too. Just incredible!

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    1. Thanks, it's really a treasure. I have the original here. Such wonderful clothes!

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  15. Wonderful art. My favorite is the tag with the birds. Because the bird feeders had to be taken down, the birds aren't visiting and it's very quiet. So very cool that you have so many photographs of family members from the 1920s. I remember seeing a picture of my mother when she was 4 or 5 and a flower girl for a wedding. I don't know what happened to the photograph. It wasnt with the albums when I cleaned out their house.

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    2. I think the older generations weren't so interested in keeping the photos. I collected everything I could find, and have documents going back to 1701, and my auntie wanted to throw them away! Shame you had to take the bird feeders down. I've been chasing my own tail today trying to get things done, and still mess everywhere! Have a great day!

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  16. A wonderful selection of art and old photos Valerie! xx

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  17. i abosultely adore old photos:) they are co climatic;)

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  18. Gorgeous artwork Valerie! I love that colorful face and what a great quote on your summertime page! Your family photos are amazing and what a beautiful wedding photo of your uncle and his wife. So glad to hear the water is receding.
    Take care, Tammy

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    1. Thanks Tammy! Have a great day, take care!

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  19. Lovely art and what a fabulous, and most special, collection of old photographs.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thanks Jan, the photos are really treasures!

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  20. Beautiful art Valerie and how very special to have so many family photos.

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    1. Thanks Sue, I'm happy to have those old photos!

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  21. These photos are so special and you are so very lucky to have them -- and going far back, as well. There is something profoundly connecting about these.

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    1. Thanks Jeanie, they are definitely a link to the past.

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  22. First I'm so glad you are safe from the floodings! Horrible pictures on the news. My favourites from this week are Lake Constance (my home for about six years) and of course the beautiful bird tag. How lovely! Have nice weekend and stay safe!

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    1. Thanks a lot! I loved my time there, it was so beautiful. Have a great weekend!

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  23. A great post Valerie, I loved how you used your water colour original painting on the journal page, its looks beautiful.
    It was good to see your family photos, you are lucky to have them, I can imagine the stories that could be told by all of them, such memories become real seeing the pictures of those who made them.
    Stay safe.
    Yvonne xx

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    1. Thanks Yvonne! I am indeed lucky to have so many lovely photos, they are a treasure. Have a great day, hugs!

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  24. Wow, this is a great post, Valerie. Lovely that the water is no longer rising and repairs are under way. The damage is sad, but nothing to do but fix.

    Your art is wonderful. The first journal page is so interesting and makes me think of the mask people wear so we can't see the real them (even to ourselves). Your landscape is fab (you are so talented), and the tag is really well done. All great.

    But my favorite part of your post was your lovely family photos from the 20s. I so wish I had more pictures from the past and also that I even knew who was in the ones we do have. Wonder why no one in that wedding looks happy!

    Hugz and take care!!!!

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    1. Thanks Nancy! Yes, we all wear masks and hide our true thoughts and feelings, and I am having fun trying to show it. I will be showing the others bit by bit. Today we got a letter from the town, the damage to the road is very extensive and they will be working on the road for a long time. I love the old family photos. My mum is in the wedding photo, second from left, and she is the only one smiling! Hugs!

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  25. I love these old photos. I stare at the faces, thinking about what their lives were like in that time.

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    1. Thanks Jacqui, I used to always ask the family what it was like when they were young. It was really a different world. thanks for visiting and good luck with your book!

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  26. What a darling picture of Ralf.
    Love the butterfly addition on the second piece.
    Hope your day is wondrous.
    Hugs

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    1. Thanks Sandra. He was really a little cutie!

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  27. what a wonderful post! I love your art projects- especially the bird tag. And oh what marvelous family photos- everyone is so well dressed!! Glad you have so many photos to look back on, and thanks for sharing them with us. happy PPF!

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    1. Thanks Linda! I'm happy to have these lovely photos, too! Happy PPF!

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  28. Your art is fantastic! I love the bird piece- but I am partial to birds. :)

    Such fabulous photos. So interesting to see the styles. You are lucky to have so many old photos of family. Special!

    Hope the road doesn't take too long to get fixed!
    ~Jess

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    2. Thanks Jess. The Photos are a treasure! We were told today that the road will be finished by the end of the year!

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  29. Glad to see you are still enjoying creating those faces Valerie, Love the thinker collage and your revamped lake constance watercolour has been given new life.
    A great choice of era of the 1920's, makes me think how photography has changed over the past 100 years, not a selfie or duck face lips in sight Hoorah for that.
    Fab post, sorry if i've missed any posts it's been a stinker of a week along with internet issues grrrr.. TGIF Hugs Tracey xx

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    1. Thanks Tracey! Yes, I'm facing things just now! Yes those duck lips and fish faces are not evident in the old photos! Sorry you had such a hard week, hope you have some time to rest and relax over the weekend! Hugs!

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  30. fabulous artwork and I love all the old photographs. Hope you are Ok, and not affected by the terrible flooding.
    Hugs Wendy

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    1. Thanks endy. The flooding here wasn't too bad, it just caused a lot of damage to the road in front of the house. Have a great weekend, hugs!

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  31. Your mixed media pieces are so much fun. Such wonderful details! Happy PPF!

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  32. I LOVE your face collage Valerie, she has such attitude! You have an amazing photograph collection and it's great that you know who people are. My mum has my grandmas's old photo's but she doesn't really know who everyone is, except that everyone on my granddad's side is bald (not the women lol). Have a great weekend, Sue xx

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    1. Thanks Sue. I love my photos, and knew most of the people in them. Had to laugh at the bald comment!

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  33. It is good to know that you are safe and dry and that the receding waters are finished doing harm. Your artwork is always lovely, Valerie and thought provoking. I love your old family photo's and what a great idea to share them with us for your decade post. You come from a handsome family background. Did you know any of them in your lifetime? I too have a box of pictures and I am the only person who even knows who they are ... it seems sad that all those wonderful people are only remembered by photos in a box. But then, life goes on, doesn't it :) Stay safe, Valerie ...

    Andrea @ From the Sol

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    1. Thanks Andrea. I knew most of them, just not my great grandparents. Have a great Weekend!

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  34. How wonderful to have those photos of the family - and how good a condition are they in too. I have some , not many, from my mother's side but nothing from my fathers. Will you use them at times in some of your journal pages?
    Love the face page and the tag you have done but it is the watercolour country scene that strikes me the most. What a beautiful picture - I just love the way you painted the sky.
    A truly lovely page.
    Hugs, Neet xx

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    1. Thanks Neet. I have often used the family photos in journal pages, they are ideal for vintage things. I used to enjoy sitting outside somewhere and painting little water colours. Have a great day!

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  35. Wow such super cool and gorgeous artwork Valerie!!! I am totally fascinated by your gorgeous photos today, what a collection to have!

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    1. Thanks Pinky, I love my old photos! Have a great week!

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  36. This is a GREAT post Valerie!!! ♥ I absolutely love the photo of your Great Grandfather in 1924...he could have been in a movie with Edward G Robinson. Lovely art and wow...you are very lucky to own those photos!!! :)

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    1. Yes, I love those photos, too. It really is a connection to the past!

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  37. The Lake Constance painting is beautiful - and it's such fun how you've given it new life with the digital additions. The book text face is really haunting, and I adore your bird tag. But the real highlight of this post for me is your collection of family photos from the 1920s... just wonderful to pore over the faces and try to imagine their thoughts and dreams. Thank you for sharing them.
    Alison x

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    1. Thanks Alison. Those photos are my biggest treasure, and I often look at them, and dream and wonder....

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  38. I am so sorry about the floods! We saw it all on t.v. I didn't realize you were affected by it! Please stay safe! Your art pieces are great! I love the face one!
    Amazing photos! I stared at all of them! Such history in those photos! I love seeing the clothes! Thanks for sharing them! Big Hugs!

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