Style It Masterpiece Project 2014 - Toy Story - Dr. Who

I belong to a great Google+ photo group Style It Masterpiece Project 2014.  It is moderated by Lane Langmade. We are in the midst of a wonderful challenge - Toy Story.  This is my take on a toy (Kermit the Frog) as a Toy Clone in a famous photo... so this is my take on Tom Baker as Dr. Who with Kermit as his clone.

Enjoy!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving - Blessings to All

May we be thankful for all of the blessings we have gathered this year.

May we share them with our friends and family.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wednesday - My Art - Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror, and Photography

One of the google groups that I really enjoy are Wednesday Bookmarks / Marque-pages du mercredi curated by Véronica Riboulot.  
Readers will love the variety of different bookmarks created by many different photographers.  

Take a look and make a few of your own.  They will be a great addition to any book you are giving. 

Crow in Snow

Sunday - Not so funny to me!

As we approach the holiday season I have a minor rant that I want to vent. 

SELF SERVE CHECKOUTS

Any time I see one in any store I get a little angry.  All I see is a lost job for a human being.  We live in an age where more and more of our lives are given to interpersonal exchanges taking place with a machine. There are new robots that are being created that will be able to function as friends, companions, and care givers.

What are we losing and what have we already lost? I was in the grocery store yesterday picking up the last few things I needed for a photo. The checkout person had their head down and was pushing stuff through as fast as they could. This was not the first time I noticed this. It was as if they had someone over their shoulder with a timer clocking exactly how much time it took for them to scan all of the objects, take my money, and thank me for shopping and on to the next.

Why is this objectionable to me? When my Dad started to show signs of his Alzheimer's increasing my Mom's only interaction with other humans was at the various stores she visited. She didn't take up too much of their time but I do know she appreciated their service. I hate to see this vanish from what used to be a family run store, the post office, and any number of businesses.

I was in the grocery store when the new scanners had just arrived and a very nice lady asked if I would like to step right this way and she would show me how it worked... As nicely as I could I told her that I only work with humans.

Do I find machines fascinating??? Yes, do I want them to take the place of the human hand? No.  All of you service providers out there I want to thank you very much for your service.  It is not easy to stand there and listen to people, try to do your job, listen to complaints, and on and on it goes. I will get in your line and I will wait quietly and patiently as you wait on someone that needs your cheery hello and short visit about the weather. I know that at some point in time I am going to be that person that needs to have just that little bit of human contact to make my life worth living for that moment in time. 

My shopping spree was all about chocolate!

Squirrelly Thursday - Eye to Eye

Here we are eye to eye!  Respect for others and animals start young.

I am not sure which one is more interested in the other.

Wednesday - My Art - Fantasy, Sci-fi, Horror, and Photography

I started taking photos of animals last winter.  I have had so much fun watching what they do.  I am still learning and still enjoying their personalities  and the ways they relate to one another. 

This is my winter bunny from last April.  We seem to be having winters that do not want to end.  This little bunny is peeking at you from over a snow covered step on my back deck.  I know that so many people have gotten not only inches of snow but feet of snow in the last days.

I hope that everyone is safe and warm.

I will be out to shovel again when the snow stops.

I am glad that there is always hot chocolate to warm the heart, body, and spirit.

Saturday Stories and Illustrations for Children - Making a fairy house out of a carved coconut mug

I found this carved coconut mug in a thrift store.

I took off the handle and turned it into a garden arch.

I had a wooden bracelet that I added glass stones, grout, and a wooden step.  I cut a circle in the mug to make a doorway and used that piece to make the triangular piece to hold the door in place. I took off the base and used that as a door.

Here is the garden arch among the fall leaves.

Here is the house without the door in place.

See if you can find this house with the door on in the garden.  I went to the garden shop and bought several miniature plants and created a fairy garden for a variety of fairy houses. 

Create your own place for your own fairy tales.  Check out thrift stores and craft stores for ideas and interesting objects you may adapt for elf, gnome, and fairy houses.

Next on my list will be a fairy door for inside my house.  It will be a great place to leave notes for my grandchildren.   

Free Book Friday - My Free E-Books

Welcome to Free Books Friday.  The holidays are coming. 

I have 3 books online at Smashwords.com

Please visit my page and feel free to use these codes to download a free book. 

Go to:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/MBorell

These codes are good until January 1st, 2015.

hugs to all,

marcia

PS - want to publish something - check out Smashwords.  Another writer recommended it to me and I will be using it for more of my books.

My Free Book Codes:

Toothbrush A Day with Correy the Toothbrush

Your coupon code is YZ66H (not case-sensitive).

The Peep Of Wilde Chicz

Your coupon code is LZ26Y (not case-sensitive).

Meditations: Between the Light and the Storm

Your coupon code is NM36A (not case-sensitive).

Wednesday - My Art - Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Horror - Dreamworld of the Djinn

This cover was published in 2002.  It is Issue 8 of Glyph:  The Journal of Fantasy and Legend.

It was done in pen and ink.

Monday Meditation - Teyata Om Bekanze - Medicine Buddha

I have found that Medicine Buddha and mantra work very well with my Reiki practice.  I also use headphones to screen out room noise and other distractions.

Just for fun - Happy Halloween - Embracing the Dead

It is after midnight and officially October 31st here!  Happy Happy Halloween.

Welcome to my ink drawing - Embracing the Dead

Squirrelly Thursday - My squirrel in a ghostly costume

I liked his somewhat creepy ratlike pose with his tale out of sight.

Wednesday - My Art - Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Horror - My photos from a previous Chrysta Ray Scavenger Hunt perfect to set a Halloween mood!

Happy Halloween - These were from a past Chrysta Ray Scavenger hunt.  Bwahahahaha...

Saturday illustrations and stories for kids - clean fun - shaving cream finger painting

Ever have one of those days when there is marker or crayon all over the table.  The best way to clean the table and let the kids have some fun is to use shaving cream.  I usually go to the dollar store and stock up. 

Add a little bit of food coloring to for a bit of color. 

As you can see it is great fun and a very easy to clean up!!!!

Have fun!!!!!

Friday - Just for fun - Tom Mabe Epic Halloween Prank

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB8D2QZ9lA4

I love Halloween.  This would scare the %$#*& out of me if I had this thing coming up behind me or at me.  So if you fear the Grim Reaper DON"T WATCH THIS!!!!!
Enjoy!

Wednesday - My Art - Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Horror - Skull

First Published in FMAM:  Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine, Spring 2004, for the story, "Missing Ada" by Dee Stuart.

Happy Halloween!  I am a big fan of that holiday. I am also very fond of drawing skeletons.  Bwahahaha!

Keep a light on, lock your doors, and keep those blankets handy to pull up over your head if you hear that click and clank of bone on bone!

First published in 2003 by Hadrosaur Productions

There is a chill in the air and time to gather pumpkins and get ready for the season of fall and the holiday of Halloween. One of the things that I enjoyed about illustrating for David Lee Summers was the wonderful chance to mix my love of art with my love of dinosaurs - hadrosaurs to be specific.

Time to create your costumes. Go through your clothes, old suits that you may find at thrift stores and those last few garage sales and put together something that is unique and different. Halloween is that time when a little bit of makeup can change anyone from a human to an angel, a tramp, a gypsy, an alien, a vampire, a queen, king, knight, or bag of treats.  Imagination is your only limitation.

Check out this page and see if there is one that you like:  

http://www.parenting.com/gallery/no-sew-halloween-costumes-for-kids?page=0

Remember to ask for help from an adult if you need to use a hot glue gun or anything else that requires assistance. I am going to show my grandson the tornado and see if he likes it.  :-)

Wednesday - My Art - Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Horror - Happy Halloween

Cover published Summer 2007, Issue 15, Whispers of Wickedness

Tibetan-Style Chant Meditation | Women Can Do it Too!

This is a chant session I did with my teacher Mark Handler and my friend Eva.

Squirrelly Thursday - A twabble for a praying red squirrel

Fall Squirrel
A twabble by Marcia A. Borell

There is a chill in the air. A red squirrel eyes bare oaks and their scattered acorns. He stops and prays for a mild winter.

Wednesday - My Art - Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Horror

First Published in Derek Clendening's chapbook,
Blood Verse: The Vampire as Poet - for the poem, In Broad Daylight.

September, 2007 by Sam's Dot Publishing.

Wednesday - My Art - Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Horror - Burning

Burning - First published as the March 2005 cover for Aoife's Kiss.

Have you ever had a burning desire?  Something that consumes you?  Something that filters into all of your thoughts and dreams?  How do you tame it?  How do you feed it?  How do you turn it off?  What is your burning desire. . .fame, fortune, love, beauty, power, healing, revenge, the list goes on and on.  Do you covet the gem, release it onto the world, destroy it, or try to turn and twist it into something for the highest good for all.  Not an easy task.

My Sunday Funnies - Political Horror

ISIS - Your 72 Virgins/Victims await you!

Saturday - Stories and illustrations for children - sorcerers - OOPS

First published by Spellbound - A Fantasy Magazine for Children, Summer, 2002, Sorcerers

You have on your magic hat and magic cape.  You have just gotten a brand new magic wand.  You stand in front of the full length mirror, wave your wand, and chant those super magic words and . . . 

POOF!!!

You have turned yourself into a frog!

Now what do you do?

Mr. Squirrel - Why are you watching me eat?

Here is my little squirrel trying to have a quiet lunch - No cameras please!!!!!

Wednesday - My Art - Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Horror - Wizard Old Yew

First published in Glyph: The Journal of Fantasy and Legend

Issue 8, 2002

It was the illustration for the story:

Old Yew and the Consequences of Conduct

by Genevieve Williams

My Sunday Funnies - Mystery - Wrong Bag

First published in FMAM - Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine, Spring 2003

Saturday - Stories and illustrations for children - Fairy houses

While traveling last summer we stopped at a ceramic place that had maps so that you could locate the fairy doors that were scattered all over the building.  I loved the idea and decided that I would make a fairy door some day and some fairy/elf/gnome houses.

This is one of my first fairy homes. The door doubles as steps into the house. The learning curve was how to change a thrift store small decorative birdhouse into a house with a door and then how to make a door to fill the empty spot.

I used a water resistant wood glue for the wood areas and E-6000 for the rocks. I bought water resistant Patio Paint (available in 2 OZ containers at Ben Franklin, small brass screws and wood hearts.

This has been so much fun. A final photo and full directions will follow including photos of my mini-garden. So come back and visit. This would be a great winter project so everything will be ready for your elves, gnomes, and fairies to move in this coming spring.

Squirrelly Thursday - Out there on a limb!

Do you ever have one of those days when you feel like you are just barely hanging in there? That you are out there on a limb?  Here is one of my very flexible squirrels looking for peanuts - She is really hanging on out on a limb.

Wednesday - My Art - Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Horror - watercolor - fish party

Fish Party by Marcia A. Borell

First published in E.O.T.U. in 2002

My Sunday Funnies - Labor Day 2014

Labor Day 2014

There is transition in the air. The nights are coming sooner. I have found leaves with a faint touch of color to them on my driveway. A few leaves have gently drifted down to rest like solemn boats upon the water in the birdbath. Every store has a sale on markers, crayons, pencils, and glue. School starts this week and life will change.

Late nights will become early mornings. Backpacks will be organized and lunches packed and another grandchild will go off to school. Like leaves falling from trees this is a time of letting go. Many days I feel my age and have a strong sense of the passing of time. How fast it has all gone by.

My Mom, I prayed for a wonderful summer for her. She was an outdoor girl with blond braids on a farm with a bucket in each hand, a young nursing student, a bride, a mother, a grandmother and a great grandmother to five. At 89 she is beginning to fade. My hope is that she will get to revel in the colors of autumn and the wonderful days of Indian summer and the sun on her face.

Saturday stories and illustrations for kids - Going in or coming out...

Closets!!!!!  Do you ever leave your closet door open a crack?  Does it seem to open or close just a little bit if you stare at it??? 

It is time to write your own story or poem. Or Draw your own version of where those odd critters like to hide... and are they going in or coming out???

Bwahahahaha!!!!! 

 :-)

Squirrelly Thursday - My Sweet Squirrel

Here is my sweet black squirrel.

Wednesday - My Art - Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Horror - Pradi Blade

Cover - Glyph: The Journal of Fantasy and Legend, Issue 11, 2003

Monday Meditations - No Mistakes in ART

There are no mistakes in art!  Be passionate about who you are, be passionate about what you love to do, and make it happen.



This is a recording of an except from my blog on August 27, 2012.

The background music is Don't Turn Back by Silent Partner from the Youtube Audio Library.

Feel free to share!

My Sunday Funnies - Death Takes a Vacay - #1

Death creates his own Personal Watercraft!
Borell - 2014

My illustrations for children - Catfish

Today - Feel free to write a story or a poem to go with my illustration. Or draw the pictures that would come before this one or after it. Feel free to paint it, add things to it, or change it in any way you wish.

Just for fun - My deer family is getting bigger

My deer family is growing up.  I will be moving food to the back of the yard so that they get less use to coming close to the house to eat the corn and rabbit food I put out for the squirrels and chipmunks. I will miss watching them.

Here is the video I did of them from July 29, 2014 for comparison.

Squirrelly Thursday - A Twabble - Water for Mr. Gray

Water for Mr. Gray - A Twabble
By Marcia A. Borell

Ears alert my whiskers just above the water. I love the coolness of the leafy shade. One more sip then down to the feeders.

Wednesday - My Art - Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Horror - Eye of the Beholder

Eye of the Beholder
By Marcia Borell

I walk through the alien world recorder in hand. I am amazed at what I see. I have always loved plants and see them as living entities with their own energy and vibration. These plants are ancient with an eye that looks at me, studies me, and appears to be sentient.

I put out my hand to touch the closest one but it recoils folding its feathery petals inward protecting its eye. Inside my head I begin to hear a hum as once again it opens. Eye to eye I begin to understand its world. Its name is Lithyl. I am standing on a symbiotic world. All entities on this planet are alive including the rocks, water, and air.

I see visions of this world, the rise and fall of water, the splitting of rocks and growth of mountains, and the beginning of life.

Suddenly, I feel dizzy, my body begins to quiver, and my legs feel leaden. The peaceful hum has now become an erratic painful screech.

"Leave, leave, take nothing!" Lithyl's words echo in my head as she begins to twitch and push me away.

Eyes blinking I begin to move my frozen feet. The further away I get from the field the more control I have over my body. Vines are beginning to weave their way around my ship. Our time is limited.

One by one I locate and rouse my crew until I have all but one. Opal is missing. The day is ending and we have just minutes to dump all of our samples and prepare to send out one final scout ship to look for her. She has not answered our call.

I can feel a tug on my uniform as my co-pilot raises his hand and points into the rising fog. It is Opal, a very altered Opal. Vines circle her body blending into her skin. Her eyes are no longer warm and dancing but enlarged without any whites. Her hair twists and flows away from her head more like flower petals than hair. She opens her arms in welcome.

"Stay and join this world," she whispers. "I am living in peace."

There is a shuffling of feet and some agitation in my crew. I study them looking for any physical changes. Some seem repelled by her appearance two others seem to fall under her spell. I have no guide, no rules to govern this event. Does this fall under contagion, insubordination, or the beginning of a new existence for us all? I remember how I felt as I fell under or into the spell of this planet.

"Opal, we must leave and send our report. Will you be alright here? Do you have any messages for anyone at home?"

Opal shook her head and turned away. I could feel Tomas run past me. He followed Opal into the woods.

"Load up, initiate decontamination when we clear the atmosphere." I commanded.

I thought, Eve and Adam. . .Yes, I'll classify this planet as restricted.

Monday Meditation - Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

My Sunday Funnies - A little bit of jealousy

First published in FMAM: Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine, Fall, 2003

Saturday Stories and Illustrations for Children - Dandelion Wishes

Dandelion Wishes

By Marcia Borell

Shaggy yellow flowers 

glow like the sun

Cheerfully plucked by children

one by one

Yellow turns lacy white

seeds have begun

The child's breath sets them free

his wishing done

Squirrelly Thursday - Twabble - Gray Squirrel

Gray Squirrel - A Twabble
By Marcia Borell

Nibbler grips the peanut in his teeth. Secure on his branch he twists the shell end to end. At last he eats the tasty treat.

Wednesday - My Art - Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Horror - Dragon Rose

Love Scent
By Marcia A. Borell

roses surround love
slips away on fragrant breeze
heartbeats embrace wings

Fantasy illustration and haiku were published in Behold e-magazine Issue 2, 2002.

The illustration Dragon Rose was first published in Fantasy, Folklore, and Fairytales e-magazine February 2000 Issue.

Monday Meditation - Change

My Sunday Funnies - A little something for CSI Fans

First published by FMAM: Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine, Spring 2004

My Saturday Stories, Poems, and Illustrations for Kids - The glass slipper

First Published in Spellbound - A Fantasy Magazine for Children

The elf sat at his cobbler's bench every night. He had made shoes with laces, buckles, and bows. He made and repaired shoes for gardening, dancing, and running with friends. This was the first time that he had only one thing on his workbench. He had heard the legends about it. He hadn't believed that it really existed.

It was an open box. In the box surround by silver packing grass was the glass slipper and a note. The note said to take out the tiny tubes and jars. Very carefully he dug around in the box and picked out a small tube of gold paste, another tube of silver paste and six tiny jars of sparkling stardust. There was also a purple silk cloth, a blue fuzzy brush, and a spray bottle that just fit in his hand.

The elf went back to the note and read the directions through twice. He needed to do this perfectly so that it would maintain its magic. He picked it up and studied it. It was dusty, had cobwebs, scratches, and a small chips in the heel. He sighed and began to carefully dust it off. Once clean the magic could begin.

He began by mixing the red stardust with the silver paste and rubbed it into all of the scratches and small cracks. He read the chant over and over again as he worked. He was amazed at how fast the rough spots became smooth. Next he picked up the yellow stardust and added it to the gold paste and pushed it into the hollow chips in the heel.  He could feel it sealing the chips, smoothing them out using the pressure of his fingers wrapped in the silky purple cloth.

Time flew by. He suddenly felt tired. The glass slipper was repaired but still looked dull. There was no sparkle. He opened up the remaining jars of stardust and added them to equal amounts of silver and gold paste. Carefully he brushed them on to the shoe. He reread the directions and let it sit for ten minutes as he repeated another set of magical words.

Finally he grabbed the spray bottle and sprayed it all over the slipper inside and out. A stream of watery rainbows circled the slipper as it began to sparkle. He let it sit for another five minutes. Finally he began to carefully polish the glass slipper uttering the last set of magical words.

He carefully put the glass slipper in the box just as the sun was beginning to rise and warm the windows. He was surprised that the darkest corner of the room was also beginning to glitter. The shimmering sphere got brighter and brighter. Eyes wide he saw a set of luminous wings attached to the shoulders of a beautiful lady. Her voice was musical and filled him with joy.

She inspected the slipper turning it over in her hands. Happily his work was done and her magical work had just begun.

Squirrelly Thursday - Red Squirrel Twabble and photo

Red Squirrel
By Marcia A. Borell

The hyperactive climbing, jumping red squirrel bounces across my yard. He gnaws strewn seeds. I focus my camera. Snap.

A Twabble is exactly 100 characters long... counting punctuation but not: spaces, linefeeds, etc. http://twitfic.net/sizingtool/twabble_sizing_fun.htm