You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘frozen charlottes’ category.
first, the old.
the perimeter of my studio has been getting more and more cluttered over the past [VERY busy year] but now that we have a new pup and i want him to be a studio dog, i’m tackling the boxes and mini-piles. somehow, i managed to find a small cache of artwork that i never posted up for sale. this is round one of “the old”. since my walls are pretty much covered from ceiling to floor as it is, i’m having a “vintage alicia-art sale“.
charlotte in spring: i did do a blog post on this piece once many moons ago, but never ended up listing it. why? i’m ADD and am easily distracted by shiny rusty objects (and i have plenty of those around here to catch my attention). otherwise, i have no excuse.
charlotte’s song #9: i did a 20 piece series called “charlotte’s song (late 1800s to early 1900s sheet music and frozen charlotte dolls, you see)… and this is the only one that remains. eighteen of the others sold, and one was given to my mum because she was in love. so sweet of her!
charlottle sometimes: i created this piece in late 2010, originally [i think] for kerin gale’s book “inspired remnants, curious dreams” but i ended up submitting a different piece instead… so she ended up in the “post this on your website when you have a spare hour box”… apparently it took a couple of years for me to remember to do what i had intended to do back then.
if you’re interested in any of these pieces, you can find them here >>
next, the new.
over the holidays i ran out of time to work on my “keepers” series of little assemblages, but now that my weeks and weeks of company are gone and craziness is over, i’m back at it. part of this was created awhile back, but i’ve just now finished it. i bought two pairs of these eyes that i used in the piece and lost one, so only have one left. if only i remembered where i bought them!! these were among my favorite taxidermy eyes ever! even worse, i had 6 of these little round metal bits that they fit perfectly in, and now at least three will go eyeless. about time for a taxidermy eye shopping spree again if i do say so myself. if you have a favorite taxidermy eye shopping place, please let me know. van dyke taxidermy is fantastic, but i can’t remember the other place i’ve gotten them.
the keeper of color. 5×5″, handmade box on collaged canvas.
click to enlarge if you’d like to check out the detail. my favorite part? the eye. i covered it with several layers of resin and crackled it around the edges. see:
this piece can be found in my regular shop, here: http://alteredbits.com/alicia-caudle-art.php, along with several additional detail photos.
i always feel like such an ass when i got extended periods of time without blogging or checking out other people’s blogs but the beginning of the school year is beyond insane and i’m not the courageous and omnipotent mult-tasker i used to be. in short, home school kicks my arse. and then it’s weeks later…
my arty to-do list is sooooo huge, but here is my plan (in response to email inquiries, some i’ve responded to and some i have not):
- catch up on the tallest book in the world project (two people did not include email addresses with their pages, by the way, so if you didn’t hear from me that’s probably why.) MUST finish this soon! this means: finish my pages, do the dedication/thank you/participants page. make covers. bind it. post it up for auction (after emailing everyone whose contact info i have to announce that my head has now been removed from my bum and things are proceeding, like seven years late, or so…)
- catch up on the zine and get it published for all of us! i didn’t forget or drop the ball, it just takes a bazillion hours and after the loss of my computer i lost my momentum. promise i’ll get it done, just can’t promise when.
- create some of the arty tutorials i’ve been asked about. more on this later… have to figure out where i’ll start.
- catch up on the 4.524 unread emails i have in my inbox (for some reason i initially typed “undead emails” and got a comical vision of zombie messages clawing their way out of my monitor — i think i need a nap!)
- initiate my next give-away — i already have a small pile of goodies, just haven’t gotten around to photographing or posting it (i wasn’t able to move my left arm for over a week, so that has something to do with it, but i’m fine now — it was just a pinched nerve, two misaligned vertebrae, a dislocated rib, a wrecked rotator cuff and a grumpy handful of tendons is all).
those are the main ones. just a few, but they mostly all big and cumbersome and scary due to lack of time. next item, post some of my most recent creations (that’s easy!)…
this one is the second in my keeper series, called the keeper of beach and bone. i like bones and beachiness.
and some side shots (i’m clearly obsessed with frozen charlottes, victorian era doll parts, bones, teeth, taxidermy eyes, shells and other such things):
and… (i haven’t decided if i should leave the bottle of teeth as a removable element or a permanent aspect — it’s currently removable because i like interaction, but the husby says that’s a not-great idea…)
the keep of beach and bone is now available in my shop: alicia’s art on the altered bits site >>
next, i’ve been obsessed with art dolls lately and have finished four (then started a fifth and sixth). this one is flying off to the other side of the continent next week. her name is… actually, i don’t know what her name is yet. i’ll let you know when she tells me… but she is the first of my waxen dolls.
(i’m still a horrible photographer!) her head is from a victorian era doll and i made the rest with lace, fabric, embellishments, found objects, wax, acrylic, and all sorts of other goodness.
this little gal’s arms and legs move and i totally love her stripey lace-bottomed leggings… so very alicia! her arms are tied on with little bows.
i’ll post more of my dolls this week.
now available in my shop, the my first in my new series, a charlotte assemblage entitled “the keeper of dark and light”. i’m not very creative with my naming sometimes.
this wee charlotte is the older type, from around the 1860s i’m told, instead of the more typical 1880s-90s style (see her painted eyes). she has been partially rusted because who doesn’t love a bit o’ rust sometimes?
atop the little metal box charlotte resides, is an antique pocket watch winder (i have no idea what those are called)… which is all sitting upon a vintage gear. above that, a taxidermy eye on another gear i rusted and antique brass beads nailed into the wooden base.
here is a close-up of the charlotte and vial with porcupine quills and an animal tooth (love her eyes!):
vintage french book page text and crackle are behind the charlotte.
here is a close up of the eye. and (i blush!!) the little mishap of the hanger on the back poking through. it looks cool and intentional though, in a way.
at the bottom hangs a small fleur d’lis i aged. it actually hangs straight but i took this photo with the piece laying on its back.
here is a side-view of the piece laying down…
the whole thing measures about 4.5″ x 6″ and is available for purchase in my shop (at a reduced rate due to the hanger mishap — it still hangs totally perfectly though, of course).
sold. thank you so much, miss renee! 🙂
there are lots of fun things going on at alteredbits.com for memorial day weekend! from now through june 1st there are heaps of freebies, sales and extras just for you.
first, get a medium or large frozen charlotte for a mere five cents when purchasing the “how to crackle frozen charlottes” tutorial. limit one per customer — only 20 listed. these will go FAST.
click here for more details >>
second, get TWO FREE DIGITAL COLLAGE SHEETS with the purchase of four collage sheets, digital or print, or equal or lesser value. or get $5 off the entire “collaged bits” collection (mention this in a paypal note and your account will be immediately credited the $5).
check out the print collage sheets here >>
and the digital collage sheets here >>
next, “crackled window effect” altered art tutorial price is reduced to $10 plus get a FREE digital collage sheet of your choice. this is a permanent deal, not just limited to memorial day weekend. woots!
click here for more details >>
FREE SHIPPING on all “Rare, Limited Quantity and One of a Kind” items, from this page of the altered bits site. (shipping will be credited immediately upon purchase and sent via USPS first class post) i will be having LOTS of new things coming in next month and i would LOVE to clear out this section as soon as possible. just leave a note in paypal about the free shipping to jog my cluttered memory. >>
BIG FREE BUNDLES with all purchases over $25 — it will be a delectable, mysterious surprise. 🙂
heaps of items are being added to the site this week and more sales and specials (and some give-aways) are soon to come so check back over the next week or three!
wowz! the “inspired remnants, curious dreams” blog tour was an amazing hit and ever so much fun! the winners are SUPPOSED to be announced in two day’s time, but i’m going to be super busy that day so i am posting them now (i’m not the first!). without further ado, the winners of the fantabulistic blog tour prizes are….
The winner of A) The book: Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams by Kerin Gale.
Lisa Gatz of her self-titled blog Lisa Gatz
The Winner of B) One Aves Power Pack
Katie Cahill of Evil Seamstress
The Winner of C) Fluid Chalks Online Workshop by Lesley Venable at http://theartofaltering.ning.com/
Patti Edmon of Altered Attic
(Ironically, I was the first winner as my comment’s number came up, but that would hardly be fair now would it!? I was sad though — this looks fun!)
Winner of D) Two Digital Collage Sheets of your choice by Alicia Caudle (aka “me”) of Altered Bits at http://alteredbits.com/digital-collage-sheets.php
Renate of Put a Little Magic In Your Life
Winner of E) Sample pack of Silputty 40 silicone putty mold mix from Silpak.
Barbe Saint John of http://www.barbesaintjohn.com
Winner of F) 1 OZ ICE Resin and a mixed metal bezel from http://www.iceresin.com/
Sharon of Live Wire Jewelry
All of these prizes will be shipped directly do you by the manufacturer/publisher/etc. except he collage sheets which I will email to you and the online workshop. PLEASE SEND ME YOUR ADDRESSES and I will forward to the proper peeps so you can get you your goods.
And, there are MORE! I did an additional drawing for just my readers (whom I love and adore).
The Winner of 5 digital collage sheets of your choice is Sharon Rowland of Alice’s Secret Door
And last but not least, the Winner of the “How to Crackle Charlottes” PDF tutorial and three un-crackled Frozen Charlotte dolls is Lisa of Vintage Glimmers
Huge congratulations to all of you lovely ladies!! (I like that there are two Sharons and two Lisas) 🙂
Contact me ASAP with your contact info and I shall get the ball rollin’ so you can get your goodies. I will try to contact each of you via email today too, of course.
The time has finally come… the Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams Blog Tour has commenced!! Read through this post to learn about some of the MANY wonders of epoxy clay, find links to all participants in the tour, view the prizes you can win (there are 115!!), and see free giveaways for my readers too! You may want to grab a cuppa coffee, tea or a beer and relax for a few — this is a HUGE post with lots to take in and look at!
First, as many of you know, I’ve been friends with Miss Keriny for a few years now so I was “there” for the ride when she wrote this most amazing book. It was such an honor and a privileged to get to hear the little bits and pieces she shared with me (most of it was a HUGE surprise when the book came out, of course, but I did get secret little-tiny peeks and hints along the way). I was able to learn so many great things about the wonders of Epoxy and Apoxy Clays before the book was even released! I mostly starting using Aves Apoxy Clay as an amazing adhesive in my assemblages, but have also made molds to create smaller items. I am just now getting into “the bigger stuff” since reading (and re-reading) her book and just have to say that I love this stuff!! So when Kerin asked if I wanted to participate in this blog tour, I was giddy. (My son would have said “duhviously!” wich is a combo of “duh” and “obviously”). Like Kerin, I want the whole art world to know about this great and wondrous art material and its endless uses! Kerin is the queen of opening so many eyes to this wonderful stuff!
This is an example of my most recent use of epoxy clay… everything, including the metal objects, hand-made boxes, hearts, bones, gears and beads atop the pieces and other bits are attached using Aves Apoxy Clay. Additionally, I built up the anatomical hearts with this great and wondrous product before making molds of them so I can include LOTS of hearts in future projects. Additional photos of these two pieces can be found on my website if you are interested in checking them out in more detail.
First and foremost, I would like to present the sponsors of this GRAND EVENT…
Visit these participating blogs along the way — the following is a calendar of dates each participant will be posting their wonderful information, art examples and giveaways.
May 1
Kerin Gale
Remnants of Olde: http://RemnantsOfOlde.com/posts
May 2
Alicia Caudle
Altered Bits: https://alteredbits.wordpress.com/
May 3
Lesley Venable
Flatwoods Folk Art: http://www.flatwoodsfolkart.typepad.com/
May 4
Christine Lehto
Lilly Bug Studio: http://lillybugstudio.com/blog/
May 5
Seth Apter
The Altered Page: http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/
May 6
Nancy Perennec
Little Bit Wired: http://littlebitwired.blogspot.com/
May 7
Jen Cushman
ICE Queen Zine: http://www.iceresin.com/category/inspired-remnants-blog-tour/
May 8
Happy Mother’s Day!
May 9
Beth Robinson
Strange Dolls: http://strangedolls.wordpress.com/
May 10
Brenda Schweder
Brenda Schweder Jewelry: http://www.brendaschweder.com/
May 11
Esther Verschoor
Vanessie Art Dolls: http://vanessies.blogspot.com
May 12
Kecia Deveny
Lemoncholy’s Flight of Fancy: http://www.lemoncholys.blogspot.com/
May 13
Rachel Whetzel
A Year In The Life Of An Art Journal: http://oneyearartjournal.blogspot.com/
May 14
Shannon LeVart
MissFickleMedia.com: http://missficklemediacom.blogspot.com/
May 15
Marlaine Verhelst
Marlaine Verhelst Art Dolls: http://marlaineverhelst.com/blog/
May 16
Lisa Jurist
Mud Hound Studio: http://mudhoundprimitives.blogspot.com/
May 17
Michelle Bernard
Yesterday’s Trash: http://michellereneebernard.blogspot.com/
May 18
Kerin Gale
Remnants of Olde – Alan Rogerson feature: http://RemnantsOfOlde.com/posts
May 19
Facebook Party!
Apoxie Clay & Epoxy Clays Page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_158159677562761
Sponsored prizes that YOU could win (each of the blogs will be giving away these wonderful prizes to MANY lucky winners!). Please note that all physical prizes (i.e. non digital prizes) will be awarded to US participants only. Access to Online Workshops and Digital Collage Sheets will be sent anywhere, worldwide.
To be eligible, all you need to do is leave a comment to this post by May 26. Please note in your comment if you are a resident outside the US.
A) The book: Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams by Kerin Gale. This will be mailed directly to the winner from Northlight Books.
B) One Aves Power Pack (selection of their most popular formulas) from http://AvesStudio.com. (This will be mailed directly to the winner from Aves Studios)
C) Fluid Chalks Online Workshop by Lesley Venable on her The Art Of Altering site which features many other awesome online workshops. More information about this workshop can be found here: http://theartofaltering.ning.com/group/fluidchalksbackgroundsbeyond
D) Two Digital Collage Sheets of your choice by Alicia Caudle of Altered Bits (yeps, that’s me). You can see my unique and cool collections at http://alteredbits.com/digital-collage-sheets.php
E) Sample pack of Silputty 40 silicone putty mold mix from Silpak. This is the formula Kerin recommends in the book that has the longer cure time. If you want to order any of these materials or have any questions, call Jerry at Silpak 909-625-0056. He was her technical advisor for the book and so it’s great that you can talk to him directly and get any assistance you may need!!!
F) 1 OZ ICE Resin and a mixed metal bezel from http://www.iceresin.com/
Grand Prizes For Book Reviews
Any reader that writes a review ~ however short or long ~ of Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams on amazon.com before July 31, 2011 and sends an email with the title “Inspired Remnants Review” to remnants.art@gmail.com will be entered in a drawing to win one of these prizes. Please note that your honest opinion is wanted on this review. Please note that all physical prizes (i.e. non digital prizes) will be awarded to US participants only. Access to Online Workshops will be available worldwide.
A) The art piece featured on the cover of the book, “Sacred Totem”
B) Power Pack plus extra Fixit Sculpt clay from Aves Studio
C) A Frozen Charlotte Doll with digital tutorial “How To Crackle Charlottes” from Alicia Caudle of http://alteredbits.com (that’s me again! — see details on the tutorial below)
D) Resin Clay Pendants online workshop by Kerin Gale from http://MixedMediaArt.ning.com
E) Vintage Gentleman online workshop by Kerin Gale from http://MixedMediaArt.ning.com
F) Choice of any one workshop being taught by Kerin and Charley at Art Is You retreat in Petaluma, CA. The registration fee and workshop cost are both waived. http://www.art-is-you.com/mysitecaddy/site3/generalinformation-westcoast.htm
G) One copy each of Jen Cushman’s book, Explore, Create, Resinate and Susan Lenart-Kazmer’s book, Making Connections plus ICE Resin and a selection of bezels all from http://www.iceresin.com/
Altered Bits blog readers will also be entered to win one of these additional prizes (like everything else, all you have to do is leave a comment to enter):
First, PRIZE NUMBER ONE is a collection of three Frozen Charlotte dolls which I will mail to you bundled up with love and pretty wrappings:
…along with a PDF Tutorial I created called “How to Crackle Frozen Charlottes” (creative, huh!):
With this tutorial, you can learn how to create wonderful crackled and faux rust finishes for Frozen Charlotte and Charlie dolls and learn how I create those little 3d hearts on them. This is a great combo with Kerin’s book in that you can learn how to make molds of these girls, and create replicas in Epoxy Clay, then paint them up all pretty like these few examples:
And PRIZE NUMBER TWO (also only for my blog readers) is a collection of FIVE digital collage sheets of your choice from my website: http://alteredbits.com/digital-collage-sheets.php and http://alteredbits.com/collage_sheets.php (yep, I’ll make ANY of them digital for you). Here are just a few examples of some of your many options:
As if ALL of this hasn’t been enough…
During the blog tour (from May 1st through May 19th), you can get $5 off Kerin Gale’s ground-breaking and hugely inspirational book Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams bundled with her amazing online workshops (I have taken all of these workshops from Kerin so trust me when I say they are A-FLIPPIN’-MAZING!!). All you have to do is enter “Altered Bits” in the note section when you check-out through Paypal and you will receive the $5 back. What a fantastic deal!
Resin Clay Pendants Workshop + Book = $35 + shipping (only $30)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/63483761/inspired-remnants-book-and-resin-clay
Vintage Gentleman Workshop + Book = $40 + shipping (only $35)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/27210387/inspired-remnants-book-and-vintage-gent
Both Workshops + Book = $70 + shipping (only $65)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/72931590/inspired-remnants-book-super-bundle-with
Enjoy your journeys and good luck!!
OR, if you already have her book, any of her online workshops will be a mere $15!!! go peek at her shop now!
PLEASE NOTE: Just leave a comment for one entry to win one of these fabulous prizes (every blog on the tour has about this many so hooray!). Get more chances to win by sharing info about the book tour!!! When you leave your comment just say where you posted (facebook, twitter, your blog, etc.) Each post is worth one entry in my drawing!
happy love, a day late. we’re not huge valentine celebrators around here, but we’ll typically make each other something.
the little man woke me up with breakfast in bed that he made all by himself (cereal) and the most gorgeous card. the husb actually made me art! real, true life, visual art (i’ll photograph soon). his art is music and he doesn’t typically enjoy making things, but recently we had a spur of the moment “altered man” workshoppy art fest here with some friends. we all started in on altering some anatomical guy dolls. well, he finished his in secret for me and wrote me the most delightfully sweet love song (kinda sounded like an angry horror film narrator in a sexy nerdy way talking circuitry and electronics and love). needless to say, the dude he made me was packed full of electronic bits, circuits, an LED crown, wires, etc., standing on a heart shaped circuit board. i guess he’s sweet after all, eh?
i made him “us” last weekend, while so on top of things, but ran out of time making him the part two piece of “us as animals”. sounds worse than it will be, hah. anyway, us…
our hearts are all tangled and lovey. guess i can be sweet every once in awhile too. pfff.
xxox
…and really a lot more than that!
i’ve been a busy bee, re-stocking the altered bits shop with heaps of new goodies, including but not limited to frozen charlottes, little victorian dolls, other vintage and antique dolls and doll parts, a whole new page of digital collage sheets (these were up weeks ago — i’m just slow to share), new embellishments and found objects, vintage photo bundles, textile bundles and vintage crocheted lace… all kinds of little pretties. if i add five things per day to my shop over the next seven months, i should be caught up. 😉
a few new items were added to my etsy junk shop too… cleaning out the house in a new year is a great thing!!
i literally have hundreds more dolls so if you’re looking for some, let me know. i’m not going to be able to add them all for awhile (takes a LOT of time to photograph, resize/enhance, write code/add to site, create buttons, etc.).
on a totally random note, wanna swap? i’m looking for a cute little boy cdv, cabinet card or tintype and will swap you for other photos (i mostly have adults), dolls of whatever sort, vintage lace, or whatever you may want from my shop(s) of relatively equal value. i’ll even throw in some digital collage sheets for fun. 🙂 i’m really quite picky about this photo… typically i don’t use children in my art, unless they are fetuses. in fact, this will be my first child. but in the spirit of accuracy, i need a little boy (around age 10 in the first decade of the 1900s, named sam) for the historically accurate ghost book i’m working on.
my oh my! i am a lucky girl and a half!! i’ve just obtained about… oh… 450 new frozen charlottes, 50 charlies or so, and roughly 200 victorian era (a bit pre-charlotte) dolls as well as some other fantastic things for both personal consumption and for sale on my site (doll heads, bodies, cuckoo clock movements, watch parts, etc.). i’m going to have a little charlotte giveaway one of these days too, but i’m suddenly busy again so give me a sec. 🙂 i must get these babies organized, sorted and listed on the altered bits website. woohoo! the above image is part of box #1 of five… (will share more when i open the others) over the weekend/next week. you will die when you see one thing i have to soon share! well, i really do hope you DON’T die, but you may gasp a little… i promise it’s cool and quite rare.
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free image for you:
also, i have three winners to announce from my little give-away… drum roll please….
first, for the cdv photograph bundle: comment #6, jill zaheer
second, for the coin charms: comment #3, tracey (and will)
and third, for the little mermaid doll: commenter #12, cyndi neumann
congrats!!
please email your addresses to me (hi at altered bits dot com) and i will get these mailed out to you early next week… at the latest. if i don’t hear from you i’ll email you in a few days (going to me MIA for a few minutes first, so sorry!!).
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i have a fun story to share that you will really enjoy if you liked the history behind this really old post about the shanghai tunnels in portland… but it will have to wait as i have a new commission piece that i have to get done by tuesday the 25th!! (i’m insane to agree to such commitments, but oh how i love custom work AND creating under pressure!!). it’s not directly tied into that story, btw, but… it’s hauntingly cool and shares some historically entwined paths.
back to “work” for me… even though it’s after midnight. love working in the middle of the night sometimes…
phew! i swear to gawd and goddess i thought i was going to die for a little bit there. i ended up having two horrible recurring bouts of pneumonia after only a half day here and a whole day there of feeling better. one night, i was so sure i was going to drown in my own body that i wrote a long “love letter” to my son, praising him for all of the wonderful things he is and telling him how proud i am of him, sharing that i know he’ll grow up to be a great and wonderful man who does amazing things. i didn’t die, thankfully, but after 8 days of a 104 fever and four weeks of coughing so hard i nearly passed out and then breaking ribs due to said coughing, i sure thought i would. it’s nice to be back, and alive… and ready to art it up again.
very belated happy new year!!
there are so many exciting things that i’ve wanted to share, though i’m quite sure that at least 79% of you are already aware of 96% of it so i’ll just mention the biggies.
first and foremost, i am sooooo very proud of my wonderful and sweet and utterly talented friend kerin gale of remnants of olde for publishing her very first book, inspired remnants, curious dreams, which happens to be THE very first book on epoxy clay in the existence of this world. she is a creative genius, that girl! you can get your copy here on amazon, or even better, in her etsy shop bundled with her online classes HERE. check back here soon as i will be writing a review of her book and posting it here and on my site as well. i promise you’ll love it!
this is my piece in it (i did this a couple of years ago — you know how long it takes for books to be published!). the empress — my little tarot gal:
next news, seth apter, king of the mixed media world and his blog the altered page has begun a wonderful new installation of the pulse, entitled “collectors edition”. i just happen to be in the collectors edition chapter two, which you can find by clicking on his lovely image below. this is such an inspiring and wonderful collection of peeks into other people’s collections. i LOVE it!! you will love it too. get ready to be inspired!
in small news, i’m cleaning the heck out of my studio for the first time in about 4 years and downgrading in a huge way. i will be donating a lot of it to scrap and other local places (just sent a huge box to a school for children with autism and asperger’s syndrome), but will also be giving away LOTS of little things here on my blog. stay tuned for vintage photos, old metal coin charms, rusty bits of this and that, frozen charlottes (just got about 600 more which will soon be on my site), other vintage victorian dolls, and other totally random items. i want to share the love.
oh, and last but not least, the altered bits zine deadline is going to be pushed out a bit farther. if you wish to be published, please read this: http://alteredbits.com/artzine.php and please have your work(s) to me by the new deadline of february 25th. i was on my death bed for so long there that i cannot keep up with the first plan, sorry folks.
more soon. i have some gluten free baking to go do for the boys. 😉
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