Winter Blues - and Monitor Colors

From my husband and children for my birthday, I received a desktop system with a widescreen monitor. I was shocked (and downright embarrassed) to see that some of the photographs I'd labored over on my old laptop for years appeared much too dark and warm on the new monitor. What I'd thought was a glowing, gently ambered picture was now swimming in yellow. Or it was sinking into blackness.

After running both monitors through calibration tools (like this easy, free brightness and contrast calibration tool at Photo Friday, and the built-in Windows color calibration program), I've realized that the new monitor was pretty accurate from the get-go. The laptop monitor I'd been working with was very bright and more cool-toned.

I suspect that half the world is also working with brighter screens on the cool side, and the troublesome old photos look just fine. But I'm more comfortable offering, from now on, photos that look "right" to me on this new monitor that I've calibrated as well as I can. This should help me achieve more accurate results when I order paper prints, too. I've also tweaked a few of the older Cloud of Secrets photos that were running much, much too warm or deep.

But enough on the technicalities of monitor color, and back to pretty things.

This is a sequel to my December 2010 Birthday Blues entry. I wanted to capture some thoughtful treasures from Abs in the wintery blue light of our northern dining room window.

"Silverwear" by Marissa Saneholtz: reusing vintage silverware.  I love the mixture of mellow silver with a brush of gold in the pattern.  Abs also gave me a magnetic bud vase made from a knife handle.


January 2013: Silverwear
Photo by Sarah Cloud Peterson

My first infinity scarf, in a twinkly twilight violet. I love it -- and it's so easy to get warmth and interesting scarf sculpturality with these infinity styles. But you stylish people knew that already:


January 2013: Violet Infinity
Photo by Sarah Cloud Peterson

Oh Sarah, copyright 1953. This should be a fun read:


January 2013: Oh Sarah
Photo by Sarah Cloud Peterson

Abs passed along to me her review copy of Art History by Marilyn Stokstad. It is a welcome update to my collection, and a massive objet d'art in itself:


January 2013: Ages of Art
Photo by Sarah Cloud Peterson

I've eyed these Florentine-style stationeries at Barnes & Noble and suchlike, but I haven't indulged myself. Well, my psychic friend Abs just happened to send me these "Medicea" and "Florentia" designs by Kartos in Italy:

January 2013: Florentine Notes
Photo by Sarah Cloud Peterson

...and this bookmark of a collage by Efrat Dalton:


January 2013: La Petit Fresco -- Lady Marsel
Photo by Sarah Cloud Peterson

A so simple yet lush giftwrap idea: affix a vintage postcard to a plain box. I'm intrigued by the Victorianish mixture of sweetness and darkness in the sentiment here:


January 2013: Birthday Wish
Photo by Sarah Cloud Peterson

...But please don't affix the postcard too permanently, so people like me can pry them up gently and read them! That's half the fun of antique postcards, to me:


January 2013: A Birthday of Happiness
Photo by Sarah Cloud Peterson

It's postmarked May 6, 1911.

A birthday of happiness,
Radiant with Hope's rosy light,
And many another to follow,
As years take their flight.
~
My best wishes I
send to you.

Mrs. Carroll