New Picture and Links!!

I am excited......I finally learned how to post a picture at the top of my blog!!! The picture I used turned out a little larger than I wanted but I am so excited to finally have a picture there with my title. I still am trying to figure out how to add a slide show to my blog, though. Can anyone tell me how to put a slideshow on my blog?? I also added lots of new, wonderful links to my blog, so I hope you will all have fun visiting those!

The pictures here are so fun. I guess I am in a childlike mood today, wishing I was back in my childhood, when life was so silly and fun and exciting!! Here's where I found these photos:

1. little mouse.....Lauri Faggioni

2. paper assemblage......Jade Peglar

3. little dog......?

4. scene.......Glass Orthodoxy

5. little animal......Endicott Studio

6. toy piano......off ebay

7. little doll......(I'm sorry, I cannot remember)

8. tiny book on bigger book......Abelardo Morrel

9. sad little girl......?

10. little girl holding dolls.......?

11. funny little boy with box hat......tous les jours dimanche

12. scene with many people.......?

13. girl with little stuffed animal on her head.......?

14. toy horse jumping.......?

15. cute little doll.......off ebay

16. adorable little elves.......off ebay

I am so sorry that I don't have all the names for all the pictures. I am trying to do better about that. Thanks for being patient. I am trying to start posting the actual links for these pictures, too. I just get in too big of a hurry sometimes when I'm looking for wonderful things on the net.

Today, I feel so tired. We have been trying to become vegetarians for several months and lately it just seems like sometimes I get so tired. I probably am not getting enough vitamins or something. I decided that I wanted to become a vegetarian because after several experiences, I felt it was extremely important to think more about the animals in the world. When you think about what they go through, it is a terrible, unbelievable thing. The terror, the suffering, the shock must be beyond belief. I just think we need to think about them and their lives.

Mike and I saw a film several years ago called "Juliet of the Herbs" and we were so touched by that film. Juliet was an older woman from England, I think, who was living in Greece at the time the movie was made. She must have been in her 80's but was so energetic and enthusiastic about life. She was a vegetarian and also knew so much about caring for animals, in a holistic, natural......vegetarian way. She used herbs to treat them and was so knowledgeable about the natural way of healing and living. It is a wonderful, beautiful film if you can try to find a copy of it. I would actually love to see it again.

One part of the film, she talked about what happens to animals in the processing plants. I can't even begin to think about it. She showed part of that terrible experience.......mostly emphasizing the animals horrendous expressions of terror and fear and sadness. I have not forgotten that at all. I feel it is up to us to show more respect and love for animals than that. Do we really NEED to eat meat??? I am still learning about being a vegetarian and actually feel so much better about myself since I've tried to stop eating meat.......that I know it is the right thing to do. It's funny, but about a month ago, we went to a wonderful favorite place of mine......a doll hospital in Salt Lake City and we had such a special time there. We were talking to the owner, (a very interesting man), about vegetarianism and he was a vegetarian. Just then, his cat walked into the room......a beautiful orange cat. He just stood there and looked at us, like he sensed that we were being more sensitive to animals! It was amazing. We told the owner that we noticed that and he said that would happen to us more and more as we lived more of a vegetarian life. I felt so good about myself......a comforting feeling of thoughtfulness and happiness came over me.

Aside from that, we are still working on our little children's film. It's taking much longer than we thought. Some days, we just don't seem very energetic about all the work ahead of us. I know our movie will be wonderful when it is done, but it takes so much time, I wish were just finished with it. We are having fun working on the story with our son Matthew. He is such a character and has so much energy......we always feel better after being with him. I think the problem is that we are home so much, working on our art and the film and other things. We love that and are so grateful to have all this time to be creative, but we miss being with other people so much!!

We want so much to open our own little shop!!! That is the biggest dream we have, (right now, anyway, other than finishing our movie!) We have been trying to decide where we want to live though. We like Utah but just cannot deal with the harsh winters and the hot, miserable summers here. I feel bad about that, but just have such a hard time here, in that way. I love it otherwise. Also, we miss the beauty of the Northwest, where we are from. The beautiful green trees and mountains, the fresh air and the lushness of that area. We would love to have a shop back in Washington or even in Oregon. We have thought about going back to California, too, though because we like the weather there. We would especially LOVE to be somewhere along the California coast......have a cute little shop there and sell all kinds of wonderful things. Go for long walks on the beach and collect driftwood and shells and seaweed form the ocean......what a dream for us! (That we would be thrilled to have come true!)

So, I thought I would ask......if anyone knows of a shop space that we could rent or lease!!! Please let us know! We are just so, so , so anxious to have our own shop!! We could even buy something if it was affordable! Please let me know if you know of something! We would be so grateful! We have been looking and looking and just have not found the right place yet!!

I hope you have a wonderful day. I am so grateful for everyone who visits my blog!! God bless you all! You are such sweet people!

Have fun!

Debbie

Sleep is lost, pictures comfort........

how i wish i could sleep. too many things on my mind. so i'll share these pretty pictures with you.

1. this pretty picture of a lovely window is from Debi Treloar's blog.

2. the next photo is two sweet little girls having a wonderful teaparty. how i miss that of my own childhood. have any of you had a teaparty lately???

3. the 3rd picture is one of my most favorite pictures. it's from a card i have.....a sleepy little dreaming child protected by birds and pretty flowers. how perfect and wonderful. i know we would all want our children to always be protected in such a beautiful sweet way. they certainly can be through our prayers.

4.the next picture is of Sleeping Beauty. I'm sorry, I forgot to save the name of the site where I found this. It's lovely, though....a sadness and melancholy about it, but so beautiful.

5.This next picture is from the Santuary blog. I love shops. This one looked so charming and interesting. I could spend all day every day going to shops; it's just one of my most favorite things to do. Does anyone know of some really different shops that are fun to go to? What are your favorites??

6. Isn't this puppy just adorable?! He has a look on his face that no matter what comes his way in his dear life, he can get through it!!! Such a determined, confident little puppy!

7. This little girl is just adorable. I found this picture on Marion Dubier Clark's blog. This little girl reminds me of someone who is ahead of their time! She looks self-assured, happy and having a wonderful time. My father started playing piano at age 3. He was a wonderful musician.

8 & 9. Mari Mahr's incredible collages.

10. Beautiful crown from "In the Pink" blog.....I just love this!!

11. Adorable little doll with tuxedo....how cute is this?!! From "Fine Little Day" blog.

12. This charming little man, a doll called Dean's Lupino" is so cute. If I remember correctly, I think I found it on ebay. He has such personality!!

13. This absolutely adorable little elephant is from "Cheswick Company". They make the most charming, unusual little creations. I was so happy to have found them.

14. This funny little donkey is a character, for sure. I found this picture on ebay.

15. This next picture is very cute. The little girl surrounded by beautiful plants.....a pretty garden. If you look really closely to her left, you'll see a really small person sitting on a leaf!! Isn't that wonderful?!

16. I'm sorry to say that all I wrote down in my notes about this next picture is "blog-bpi-pram". Hope that makes sense somehow. This little buggy is so cute, don't you think?!

17. This next picture is from the wonderful, unique shop in Oakland called "Maison d' Etre". I used to go there often when we lived near Berkeley. I loved that area.....so many incredible, unique, wonderful shops!!! I miss that so much....the shops in that area.

18 & 19. The last two photos are so beautiful.....they exude spring and beauty and color and life!! I'm sorry, I can't remember where I found them. But they truely make me feel happy!!

Hope you enjoyed these photos. I should be able to sleep now. Does anyone have a remedy for not getting enough sleep?? We stay up so late sometimes, that I have the most difficult time falling asleep!!

Take care and remember to be kind to someone today. You just never know how you can truely bless someone's life who is in desperate need of love and care!!!

Debbie

Happy Easter everyone.......

My husband was saying this morning that it seemed to him that everywhere he's lived, it's always been sunny on Easter. I agreed because I actually don't remember an Easter when it rained or was gloomy either. It is a beautiful day and a special day for us to think about. I am grateful for this day and for the blessing our beautiful Saviour is to us all.

I hope you have a very sweet and wonderful day and are able to be with loved ones or friends. I send you lots of smiles and cheerful thoughts!!

(Don't have time right now, but I will list where these pictures came from later today).

New television broadcast times for our son's documentary about us!!!

Hello everyone.......

I recently posted an announcement about the television broadcast of our son's documentary called “Married to Art”, which is about my husband and I as artists. Unfortunately, the film dates and times were changed so it was not aired when we were expecting. There are now new broadcast times for the film, so we wanted to let you know about these changes. We apologize for our misinformation; it was just a change in the programming that we were not aware of.

Here is the information about the film:

"This intriguing documentary is about Mike and Debbie Schramer......artists and sculptors, and the balance between the artwork they collaborate on together and their life as a married couple. Creators of an amazing miniature Treehouse made from nature, a unique work of art, this film is a fascinating look into the lives of these unusual artists as they share their views on life, art, marriage and creativity.

"Married to Art" was directed by Matthew Schramer. An interview with Matthew will be shown prior to the film. The music for the film was composed by Michael Schramer. This presents a unique documentary in which the filmmaker, the composer and the artists are a family who have collaborated on a film together."

Here are the correct dates and times for the television broadcast of “Married to Art”:

March 19th, Wednesday at 9 p.m. March 21st, Friday at 4 p.m. March 24th, Monday at 9:30 a.m. March 26th, Wednesday at 5 p.m.

The documentary will be shown on BYU TV. It is on the program called "First Look". BYU TV can be viewed anywhere in the world, where people have dish network or cable.

Dish Network is Channel 9403 Direct TV is Channel 374 Provo, Utah: Comcast Cable is Channel 55 Salt Lake City, Utah: Comcast Cable is Channel 21

For all other state and cable providers, refer to this link by choosing your state and provider and it will tell you the channel: http://www.byutv.org/getbyutv/usmap.asp

These programs can also be viewed on BYU TV online as streaming video immediately after the program has aired on t.v. Just go to http://www.byutv.org/ and click on "get byu tv", then click on "streaming video" and go from there. Look for the date and time of the program you want to see and click on the video.

We hope you will have a chance to see one of these programs and learn more about our beautiful and unique artwork. Please feel free to contact us if you have any comments or inquiries.

Thank you, Mike and Debbie Schramer

www.artmajeur.com/debbieschramer www.michaelschramer.com 310-407-9604

Need old fabric, ribbon snippets!

Hello everyone....

I haven't posted anything for such a long time. We've been very busy on many projects....but I finally have a window of time to write. I am so happy lately because I have been making some wonderful new pieces and have just been having a happy time!! I'll share some pictures of my new pieces with you here.

I absolutely love using beautiful old fabrics and ribbons, old laces and just anything old and tattered and filled with lovely memories....in my little creations. But I am so running out of these things! I wanted to put out a plee to anyone who works with antique fabrics or any beautiful fabrics of any kind (even new) that if you ever have any really small snippets of fabrics or ribbons or lace that you are just going to discard because they are too small to use.....please let me know! I could definitely use them! Even if they are just 1/2" in size, my little furniture is small enough that I could make a pretty home for these discarded pieces. Anything small, starting from 1/2"....up to any size you care to share. I would be happy to pay for postage from whereever you are.....even Europe! And could even purchase the snippets or remnants if it's not too much. (Just ask me). Anything like velvets, silks, wool.....I don't know the names of different fabrics, but just anything beautiful and enchanting. Also, millnery supplies or anything enchanting like that. If what you have is just too old or tattered or small for you to use, I could use it. Also, small bits of pretty papers, beading, whatever. Small and old or different, I would make a wonderful new home for them and make them cherishable!!

Please let me know also if you know of anyone who might have things like this. I'm posting some pictures, too, of some of the pieces I've made that have some old tattered fabrics, etc.

Thank you! Can't wait to hear from anyone who is interested!!

The last pictures are of the pieces I made with the old tattered fabric, to give you an idea of what I'm looking for, but I would love anything different and unusual!!

Debbie