Blue Moon

A full moon on New Year's Eve! How wonderful. A traditional name for the full moon after Christmas was Wolf Moon, evoking images of wolves howling in a moonlit winter landscape. It was also known as the Old Moon or simply the Moon After Yule.

Tonight's full moon is also a "Blue Moon." A Blue Moon is when there is a second full moon in one month. The first one this month was December 2, and we get another one tonight! So if there's something you do just "once in a blue moon"... tonight's the night.

Free Shipping today ... Holidays coming up!

Our free shipping special is still going on until the end of 2009. We'll probably do another sale later this winter, but free shipping can save you alot and now is a great time to stock up on new CDs for the busy crafts season at the start of the year.

We offer our Victorian Holidays Volume 2 CD for Valentines and Easter and St. Patrick's Day! I didn't plan to feature valentines until sometime in January, but people are looking for them so I am moving our Valentine collage sheets to the front window of our etsy shop! Crafters start early!

These cold January days and long winter nights are a great time to settle down with a project ~ a scrapbook layout to remember the holidays and the snow, quilt blocks, charms and pendants, some lovely handmade Valentines, Easter cards and tags.

We also have beautiful birds and flowers for those who are already dreaming of Springtime.

Moonday Free Image: Christmas Victorian Girl

A freebie to brighten your Monday! Isn't she sweet? You are welcome to print for personal non-commercial projects.

Pink Angels

A Lunagirl collage sheet design featuring charming angels in shades of pink. Click on the sample image to see all of our angel collage sheet designs!

The Origins of Halloween Customs

Halloween is a familiar holiday to Americans. Children disguised as ghosts and goblins (and superheroes and princesses) roam the streets trick-or-treating; teenagers play pranks and try to frighten themselves with trips to the graveyard and scary movies; and generally everyone has a good time drinking cider (or something harder), bobbing for apples, wearing costumes, and waiting for "the witching hour."

But few people know of the origins of Halloween and its wonderful mood of magic and fright.

CLICK HERE to find out more! in our exclusive feature article:
"BETWEEN THE WORLDS: The Origins of Halloween & Its Customs."
Illustrated with wonderful antique Victorian vintage greeting cards!

Featured Collage Sheet: The Witching Hour

We offer a variety of Vintage Halloween collage sheets (plus our Holidays CD set!) ~ here's one with something just a little different, great for any time of year if you want some"witchy" ladies for your projects. "The Witching Hour" features some gorgeous Pre-Raphaelite paintings and fairy tale illustrations, plus altered Victorian postcards. Witches at their cauldrons, a sorceress or two, an ice queen, a lady gazing into her crystal ball, and a couple of little girl witches...

FULL MOON TONIGHT!

Banned Books Week

We're in the midst of banned books week, sponsored each year by the American Library Association. Read a "banned" book this week! You can choose from many authors -- including Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, DH Lawrence, James Joyce, Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, Salinger, Shaw, Twain, Marquez, Faulkner, Hemingway, James Joyce, Jack London, Zora Neale Hurston, Vonnegut, Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl, Anne Rice, Anne Frank, Thomas Paine, Stephen King, Shakespeare -- the list goes on and on. Most religious texts have been banned somewhere by somebody. Even dictionaries have been banned for containing "dirty" words!

Here are a few well-known titles that have been often banned or "challenged" (in no particular order): To Kill a Mockingbird, Gone With the Wind, Lady Chatterley's Lover, The Lord of the Rings, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Alice in Wonderland, Little Red Riding Hood, The Color Purple, The Bridge to Terabithia, The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, Lolita, The Call of the Wild, As I Lay Dying, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Invisible Man, Native Son, Slaughterhouse Five, Heart of Darkness, All Quiet on the Western Front, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, All the King's Men, The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, In Cold Blood, Catcher in the Rye, Catch-22, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 1984, Heart of Darkness, Naked Lunch, Tropic of Cancer, Women in Love, The Decameron (written in the 14th century), Lysistrata (written in ancient Greece), Portnoy's Complaint, Rabbit Run, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, James and the Giant Peach, In the Night Kitchen, A Wrinkle in Time, The Handmaid's Tale, Henry and June, Ulysses, The Satanic Verses, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Song of Solomon, Beloved, The Bluest Eye, Howl by Allen Ginsberg, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451. If you've never read Fahrenheit 451, it's about burning books. The author, Ray Bradbury, said his novel wasn't about censorship but rather about how television destroys interest in literature, which leads to a perception of knowledge as factoids without context or critical thought. So get off the internet and go read a book!

Now for something completely different

Alright, for those of you who don't share my fascination with mythology and religion...

here is something on a much lighter note. Just for fun. I can't tell if this cat is having fun or not...

The Birthday of Mary

In honor of the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary...

a beautiful holy card from our Victorian Religious Ephemera collection.

In the apocryphal Gospel of James from the 2nd Century AD, the names of Mary's parents are Joachim and Anna. St. Anne is traditionally honored as the mother of Mary (and the grandmother of Jesus). The Feast Day of Mary's birth (exactly nine months after the Immaculate Conception on December 8) probably began in 5th Century Jerusalem and has been widely celebrated since at least the 8th Century. There is also an apocryphal Gospel of the Nativity of Mary, translated from the Hebrew by St. Jerome in the 4th Century, in which an angel visits Anne to tell her of the birth of a daughter, Mary.

Ann (Anna) is the oldest name still used in the west, already an ancient name when used by the Hebrews. It is usually translated as "grace," but the original meaning is something difficult to translate, closer to "goddess." I believe I once read that it is the oldest name ever found for divinity. How appropriate that in Christianity this is the name is given to the grandmother of God.

September 6: The Feast of Artemis

Artemis is known as the Greek goddess of the hunt and the new moon, daughter of Leto and sister of Apollo. She is most likely a very ancient Anatolian goddess, one of the ancient goddesses of the near east much older than the Greek civilization.

She was a virgin goddess ~ which meant she was unmarried, free, untamed, wild ~ whole unto herself. One of her titles was 'many-breasted' because she nurtured animals and humans, and she was the protector of women in childbirth. Although she is usually associated with the new crescent moon, in her more ancient guise she was not only Maiden but also Mother and Crone, associated with all phases of the moon.

Things sacred to Artemis include: animals, especially bears, wolves, deer, dogs, birds and all wild animals; young girls and unmarried women; silver, pearl and moonstone; forests, woodland sanctuaries; artemisia, moneyplant, cypress, cedar, laurel; unplowed fields, blank pages, potential and possibility

Enjoy these images .... we'll be back!

We have been so busy here, scanning and editing new photographs, there hasn't been much time for blogging. But I promise to be back with new CDs and new features on stage beauties of the past. For now, some free images for you to enjoy!

Someone got me thinking about Italy the other day, so here are two beautiful images inspired by ancient times on the Mediterranean.

See more like these on our Victorian Neoclassical Art CD!

And here is one of my favorites ... I love irises and I love the colors in this painting ... enjoy these last days of summer.

Monday Moonday Freebie!

More New Stuff: VINTAGE SEED PACKETS

Brand new ! 80 colorful varieties of vegetables and herbs, from authentic original unused seed packets. We have collected the ENTIRE 1920s set of 80 card packs from the Card Seed Company. The set we've collected is one of the few complete sets in existence, and as far as we know this COMPLETE SET of the digitized illustrations is not simply available anywhere else!

These packages were published by the long-defunct Card Seed Company, and printed by the Genesee Valley Lithography Company.

The Card Seed Company was located in what was then the garden seed capital of the United States -- Fredonia, New York. In the 1920s, this company published one of the most beautiful sets of lithographs in antique packaging.

Several unused sets of the packets were discovered in upstate New York decades ago, and these pristine originals are much sought after by collectors for their charming artwork, brilliant colors and distinctive design. We are proud to have collected an entire original set.

These fantabulous vintage seed packets are so appealing and have so many uses -- and we have published this collection at extra-high resolution so they are suitable for large framed prints as well as all your crafts projects (cards, invites, altered art, scrapbooking, etc.)

They look great framed for your kitchen, or use them for unique garden markers, to enhance your scrapbook pages, to create charming cards and tags and labels... the quality is exceptional and the graphic design is timeless.

This complete collection is only from Lunagirl!

Click here for details, more samples, and ordering information.

Will Make You Smile! Dancing Wedding Procession

I'm not a big YouTube fan, and I've never posted a video here before (and may never again)...but if you haven't seen this yet, I recommend it. It is five minutes of pure joy! Love rules!

Maude Fealy

A while back I began a series of posts on actresses of the Victorian Edwardian era, and I think I'll continue that with Maude Fealy...

This beautiful lady was born Maude Hawk in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 3, 1881 (sources vary on the year).

Her mother moved to Denver to teach at the Tabor School of Acting, and Colorado was home to Maude Fealy for much of her life.

Her mother Margaret Fealy was an actress, and Maude made her first appearance at age three and was performing dramatic roles at age five. By 1907 she was a well-known actress, appearing on magazine covers and touring the the United States and England in comedies and dramatic plays to general critical acclaim.

Maude secretly married English theater critic Lewis Hugo Sherman in 1907, but the union was short-lived, due largely to her mother's active sabotage.

Maude married actor James Peter-Durkin in 1909, with her mother's full approval, and the couple used Maude's financial resources to form the Fealy-Durkin stock company which performed plays in Denver for a few years. This marriage also ended in divorce in 1917.

There are unsubstantiated rumors that Maude Fealy was at one time romantically involved with fellow actress Eva La Gallienne and may have been a lesbian. Maude's third and final marriage, to her manager John Cort, ended in annulment in 1923.

Maude Fealy was associated with the Thanhauser film company for several years, and was the leading lady in numerous early silent film productions. She continued to appear in plays in cities across the country.

In 1917 she formed her own theater company, The Lakeside Theater in Denver, which produced a variety of plays including at least one she wrote herself.

Theater magazines of the day report that she was 5'1" tall with dark blue eyes, and enjoyed art and books, pets and plants, swimming and writing.

During the Depression Era of the 1930s, Maude was involved with the Federal Theater Project and the Works Progress Administration in Los Angeles. During the 1940s she taught acting classes in Denver, and appeared in occasional small film roles throughout the 1940s and 1950s.

She was great friends with Cecil B. DeMille and appeared in many of his films including the 1956 production of The Ten Commandments. She had a small part and also did the voice-over for several other players.

Fealy and DeMille had met and become friends years earlier when they performed a swordfight together in the play Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall at Lakeside Theater.


Maude Fealy once said, "Actors never give up acting; it gives them up." She officially retired in 1957, but was active in the theater throughout her life. She continued to give one-woman performances and lectured on Shakespeare.

She lived in Denver for many years, but died in the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, in 1971.

She was interred at the Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery Mausoleum, close to her mother. Funeral expenses were paid by the estate of Cecil B. DeMille, as he had provided in his will (he died in 1959). No close relatives survived her.

Despite spending nearly all of her life in the public eye to one degree or another, Maude Fealy seems a bit of an enigma. She is remembered as one of the loveliest ladies of the stage and screen, and her postcard images are among our most popular.

New CD! Actresses Actors Drama Theater Posters

At long last we have completed production work on our third collection of Vintage Theater Posters. This lovely new collection features beautiful images of Victorian Edwardian era actresses, actors and producers as well as fascinating posters for dramatic plays and operettas of the day: Lunagirl Actors Actresses Drama & Operetta Theater Posters on CD

We have carefully restored the images to remove creases, tears and stains, to show them as they haven't been seen in over a hundred years. These old pictures are fun to browse, great for history buffs and anyone interested in theater and actresses, and are an untapped resource for great images to use in altered art!

We also have similar volumes of Burlesque Vaudeville Comedies posters on CD and Magicians Musicians Novelties posters on CD ~ or get all three at a special bundle price: Lunagirl Vintage Theater

NEW! Victorian ABC Nursery Books on CD

Recently released: Lunagirl PictureBooks! This first collection contains 24 beautiful complete alphabet books from the mid to late 1800s. Alphabet picture books were among the favorites of the day, and these brightly colored and exquisitely illustrated ABC books make it easy to see why.

One of the most enduring traditions of books for children is the ABC book. Aside from nursery rhymes, no other genre was so extensively produced. The late 1800s produced scores of these books in English, and some of the best are presented in this collection of alphabet books. Most of this collection were first published in England, where these books were enjoyed by children and adults alike. Some include "early reader" lessons in addition to the alphabet. CLICK HERE TO SEE DETAILS & SAMPLES.

Browse the books page by page or scan through always visible scrolling thumbnail images. The focus is on the illustrations themselves, so that the reader can easily print out any and all of the pictures. You can of course print out the pages of text as well if you want to create facsimiles of the original books. More to come!

Quotes for Today: Adventure

“Security is mostly a superstition... Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.” ~ Helen Keller

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” ~ G.K. Chesterton

“When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home.” ~ Thornton Wilder

"A work of art is above all an adventure of the mind." ~ Eugene Ionesco

“Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”” ~ J.R.R. Tolkien, from 'The Lord of the Rings'

Strawberry/Rose Moon

Tonight's full moon is the Strawberry Moon! In Europe it was called the Rose Moon. Obviously, it's the time when strawberries are ripe and the wild roses bloom.

This is the month named in honor of Juno, the Roman Queen of Heaven, goddess of wives and marriage (thus making it a lucky month for weddings and June brides).




It's warm at night and the moon is bright ... perfect for midnight walks and moonlit dancing ... Once upon a time I lived near a large rose garden, and used to wander through it in the early morning hours, to enjoy the roses covered with dew. I've always found moonlight good for the soul.

(Thus the name: Lunagirl!)

Friday Freebie for Father's Day Cards

Thought I would share a few images that might be nice for Father's Day cards. We have some father and mother images on our Holidays Volume Two CD, plus lots of pictures of men on our Vintage Women & Men CD. Dads (and brothers and husbands and sons) might also like some of the images on our Vintage Transportation CD (cars, planes, trains, etc.), our Art of the American West CD, our Animals CD, Fish CD, Lighthouses Photos, Magician Posters... something for everyone! Father's Day is coming up on June 21, which is also the official first day of summer.
You're welcome to use these in your personal non-commercial projects. If you display your work online or have it published, please remember to credit Lunagirl Images! (with a link to Lunagirl.com if it's online). Have a great weekend!

a pretty line of verse I heard today...

Here is the beginning of a famous poem by Theodore Roethke, sure to inspire someone to create a lovely ATC or other little piece:
I knew a woman, lovely in her bones,
When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them;

Happy Birthday, John!

Memorial Day Card

Ellen Clapsaddle painted quite a few lovely illustrations for Memorial Day (Decoration Day) and July 4th postcards. Here is a nice one for today.

New Bathing Beauties

Brand new collage sheets featuring lovely bathing beauties, available at CollageSheet.com and Lunagirl.com .

New Site! Get Lunagirl collage sheets either printed or digital - subscriptions too!

Well, it's taken awhile but we've finally gotten all 350+ Lunagirl collage sheets uploaded and available at COLLAGESHEET.COM.

What's new about CollageSheet.com is that you can purchase our collage sheets as digital downloads (as you've always been able to do at Lunagirl.com) OR as PRINTED collage sheets delivered by snail mail right to your door!

Each collage sheet is available printed onto 28 lb acid-free paper or cardstock, as well as digital format, and I hope to add more choices eventually.

I'm really pleased we can do this to meet the needs of our customers who prefer to receive printed sheets rather than printing them out themselves.

You can purchase the sheets individually for $3.45, and we also offer monthly and yearly subscriptions for the digital versions. The yearly subscription gives you 100 downloads for just $2 each, quite a deal! Another nice thing there is that we have larger sample images :-)

CollageSheet.com is open for business, so please drop by sometime!

Surrealist Compliment Generator (?!?)

This just because it's really weird:
The Surrealist Compliment Generator
http://www.madsci.org/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/~lynn/jardin/SCG

Oh, the things you find through Twitter...

Friday Freebie

As promised to the Twitterers (?) here is a Friday free image!

You're welcome to use this in your personal non-commercial projects. If you display your work online or have it published, please remember to credit Lunagirl Images! (with a link if it's online).

Enjoy, thanks for visiting, and have a great weekend!

Blessed Virgin Mary holy cards collage sheet design

Another new Lunagirl collage sheet! Created with beautiful holy cards and art featuring the Virgin Mary. Most are 3" tall ~ great for ATCs, and you can easily trim them for 1x3 pendants.



See all our new collage sheets at http://lunagirl.com/W-Lunagirl-Collage-Sheets-NEW.htm

To choose printed sheets, visit us at CollageSheet.com. (We're "in process" of uploading everything there, so if you don't see a sheet you want just let us know!)

BLUE shabby blue collage sheets new!

Oh so pretty, our new "Blue" and "Shabby Blue" collage sheets! See all our color-themed collage sheets at http://www.lunagirl.com/W-Lunagirl-Collage-Sheets-ColorThemes.htm ... pink, blue, yellow, orange, green, purple and lavendar, textured and patterned ATC backgrounds... More to come...

Beautiful New "Garden Fantasy" Collage Sheets

We listed three new collage sheet designs yesterday, and they are so lovely.

The "Garden Fantasy" collage sheets feature flower fairy maidens and queens, angels, and little verses. Then there is the story of a little girl's daydream in the garden, specially adapted by Lunagirl.

These are now on our website and in our etsy shop: www.lunagirl.etsy.com.

The middle one doesn't show up too well in the samples, but if you go to the etsy shop you can find a larger sample image! (and the last picture below enlarges)