Tuesday, July 14, 2009

A New “Blogger” Blog to Join My Others

For sometime now I’ve been using blogger for a variety of blogs – some personal, some tutorial and instructional, some to explore art and artists, and some to give away free things.

One of my other blogs (3D Textures & Background Textures) gets a fair number of visitors, so I’ve decided to add a free photo blog on blogger as well. I have one existing give-away blog on word-press (I really like the wordpress platform) but unfortunately, you are somewhat limited in what you can do on wordpress. Editing the template is a non-existent function unless you pay for it.

So, without further explanation, here are the first free stock photos on my new blog. And just so you know – these are my images, not anyone else’s. They are not taken or borrowed from stock sites. And yes, they are free for other blog writer's and webmasters to use – just make sure you follow the terms (see those at the right in the sidebar, and on the download page).

The little brown jug – supersized. This large pottery jug isn’t something you’d want to heft onto your shoulder. It is a jug for storing liquid (circa late 1800s to early 1900s) and overglazed with clear glaze below and brown glaze on the top.

Rulers and measuring devices – a selection of different types. An older one (early 1970s) given out as a promo by Canadian Tire (the clear green plastic one); another vintage piece is the wooden one: a “yardstick” from the Co-op store (latterly known as the Farm Store); a common metal builder’s tape measure (the thicker yellow one); a small keychain tape measure (fine yellow one); a metal office rule; a large blue plastic ruler given out by the Bank of Montreal, and a selection of dressmaker’s tapes (blue and pink).

Some vintage flash bulbs for the photographer’s out there. These are from the late 1950s and belonged to my dad. When he passed away 8 years ago I inherited all his photography “stuff” and quite a few of these were among them…some were still in the boxes, and some were tied up in large clear plastic bags. Some were clear, like these, and some had blue-tinted glass. You can see the cardboard tray that these came in is still intact.

Here we have another item that was pretty popular in the 1950s – the hula dancer novelty item. These are somewhat similar to the “bobble-heads”, but it’s the bodies that “bobble”, while the legs and base remain static. Although the early popularity waned through the late 70s onwards, they seem to be making a comeback. I bought this pair for my son-in-law (at a garage sale) to add to his collection. This isn’t the first one I’ve bought for him, but it is the first time I’ve seen a male one.

A modern and contemporary candle holder with a large glass chimney and black base. The clean design of this is perfect for a home decorated with modern furniture. The apple green of the candle is a colour that is still popular and in use in many fabrics and textiles.

A selection of colourful sponges – not the kind that come from natural sea-sponges, but the manufactured kind. The sort of sponges you’d use in the kitchen, or bathroom for cleaning. Square, basic and serviceable they come in many colours and can be had in “bunches” at any grocery, department, hardware or dollar store.

For those involved in writing about education, literacy or just plain old news, here’s a young girl engrossed in reading the newspaper. She’s about 11, and is very interested in the newspaper…in particular “the funnies”, but she does like the sports section and some of the news articles as well. News isn’t just for the grown-ups!

(NB: if required, we have a model release on file. Identification will be required for any person or company requesting the release).

A vintage wedding dress (1960s, early 1970s) on a dress-maker’s dummy with the “bride’s” bouquet sitting on the small ruffled train. Also sitting on the train is a tabby cat, who thinks this particular piece of textile is her new bed.


Whew! That’s it for the first post here, but if you want other photos in a hurry, visit the “old wordpress” blog. The link is in the sidebar. If you need some free textures, or textures for 3D imaging programs, visit the Free 3D Textures blog – also found in the links section on the sidebar.

Til the next post…happy blogging.