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Whatcom Art Market

Announcing an exciting venture for Refind Creations! Starting May 16 we will be selling our creations– candles, home decor, and art projects at the Whatcom Art Market! As members of the Whatcom Art Guild we will be focused on providing beautiful pieces to compliment your home. Hand poured soy candles in antique vessels will be our first featured item. Hope you can come out and support local artisans here in Bellingham!

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Nostalgia

Nostalgia
Remembering the past
Idealization of times gone by
Days of old
Bittersweet memories
Nostalgia
Childhood freedom
Unrestrained laughter
Swinging and hiding and seeking
Discovery and dreams
Nostalgia
Longing for what never was
Aching for a past never experienced
In the way it’s remembered
Reminiscing
Leaving out the struggle
Nostalgia
Faded valentines
Handwritten letters tied in paisley ribbon
Envelopes with abbreviated addresses and one cent stamps peeling at the corner
Albums with velvet covers
Sepia toned portraits
Hiding stories of days gone by
Frozen smiles or frowns
Everyone dressed up in their Sunday best
Portraying ideal families in ideal situations
Their own nostalgia created on a tin photographic plate
Someday someone will long for the days of old
And they will mean today

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Art Guild

So fun to attend the Whatcom Art Guild monthly meeting tonight.
Got 4th place in Artist of the Month for our candles. Antique insulators and bobeches filled with scented soy wax.
so many beautiful and creative projects presented by very talented people. The theme for the art challenge was “monochrome” so I entered Rust&Roses. This is antique cork taken from old life jackets. I used barbed wire for the rose stems and real dried roses.

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Old Things are Beautiful

These are old things in my otherwise modern home. They are things from my childhood or things I acquired somewhere along the way. Some things I made while others I collected. Enjoy!
Apple Head Dolls – made in about 1974 with our very old neighbor lady Mrs Van Mater

These were given to me when I was little by another elderly neighbor lady Mrs Pate. I love old grannies!

My great aunt Fanny gave me this vase as a wedding gift and this is her family photo album –

This was given to me by another old neighbor lady when I was a child and is still beautiful

And here are several things from my great aunt Margarett, my Grandma, and others:

I have been blessed with treasures from the past which have inspired my life and given me an appreciation for the beauty and details of history and craftsmanship and especially for making beautiful and fun things by hand. Thank you Mrs VanMater for countless hours spent with three little neighbor girls letting us stitch and craft and bake. To my great aunts, grandma, and my own mom for spending time with me and always encouraging me.
Blissful and blessed
©Belindabotzong2017