–

Blythe Physical Challenge #74 “Who Do You Love?”

February 20, 2013 2 Comments

I’ve been looking for something to do with my “girls”, and found this fun Flicker Group called “Blythe Physical Challenge”. Every two weeks, they come up with an idea wherein you are challenged to photograph your Blythe doll in real life human situations and places. At the very least, it gives me a chance to play with my dolls, improve my photography skills, and stretch my creativity!

This weeks challenge is to take a photo of Blythe in public showing who she loves. This being my first challenge, I ventured out as far into “public” as my front driveway. It’s just as well since I was flat on my belly still in my pajamas trying to get the best angle for this shot. As I am doing this, I’m thinking to myself, OMG, I am turning into a crazy doll lady!!! Kind of like the crazy cat lady, but not as bad ;-). Just kidding – no offense intended to all the crazy cat ladies out there. My sister is a ~~crazy~~ cat lady…

I call it “A Mother’s Worst Nightmare”. Of course, Olive (my newest Blythe) has to fall for Raphael, the teams “bad boy”. Aside from the fact that he lives in a storm sewer, and didn’t go to college, he’s not so bad I guess… at least he’s one of the good guys, and doesn’t sport tattoos or plugs – wait, he doesn’t have ear lobes!

I always wondered why I kept the boys toys after all these years. I bet they never thought their mom would be playing with them now ;-).

If you want to join in the challenge, head on over to the Flicker Group. Oh, and here is a funny discussion about how many cats you need to qualify to be a crazy cat lady “How many cats do I need to get to become a crazy cat lady“.

Filed Under: Blythe Doll

Officially A Thrifting Enthusiast

February 18, 2013 1 Comment

Well, I can say that I am officially a thrifting enthusiast! Even dear daughter has joined me in this somewhat amusing pursuit. We have different interests, but it is really fun to have a companion to go thrifting with. We got past the musty smell, and the need to wash/hand sanitize our hands pretty quickly :-). DD has even found popular You Tube videos of converting thrift finds into cool outfits and accessories – she has yet to put this knowledge into action. Anyhow, here are some things that I found recently. I love the retro Dickson figurines, and vintage puzzles in cans:

I’m thinking this green angel might even be a cute Saint Patrick’s day decoration. And I found this old children’s book with the cute illustrations (always thinking of the digital angle):

I love crafts, so when I came across this binder full of old craft leaflets, magazines, and catalogs, I was thrilled!

And, there is an odd side to all of this. It seems sad and strange, but we have come across lots of old photos and albums still with photos in them. When I think that these photos once belonged to someone, and now just sits in the corner of a thrift store, it kind of makes me sad that there weren’t family members or friends interested enough to keep and cherish them… Well, DD and I decided to buy one of them, and brought it home. I am of Japanese descent, and we found this album full of photos from a Nisei Week celebration from the ’70s. It shows photos of a parade with the queen and her court as well as the Japanese American War Veterans. DD and I are thinking of mailing the album to the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles:

This is about it for our recent thrifting adventure.

Filed Under: Interesting Finds

Zentangle Challenge #106 “The Year Of The Snake”

February 16, 2013 6 Comments

Whew, I made it! – I think… The deadline is Saturday night. This weeks challenge is “The Year Of The Snake”. Dear oldest son was born in the year of the snake – intuitive, creative, diligent, intelligent, wise, great thinker, materialistic :-), careful in choosing friends, & confident, to name a few snake characteristics – it’s spot on! Anyway, here is my snake:

Filed Under: Zentangle Challenge

Lampwork Beads And Easter Swap!

February 15, 2013 1 Comment

I’ve got a few more lampwork beads that I have listed in my Etsy Shop. My Valentine decoration will not be put away for a few days longer since dear younger son will be coming home for the long weekend – yay! But, my mind is already on the next holiday – Easter! With that, I made some birdie beads along with my usual roses. This time, the elusive blue rose:

So cute!

And, Sandy over at 521 Lake Street is hosting an Easter Swap! It’s not too late to join!

Actually, there is still Girls day on March 3rd, and Saint Patrick’s day on the 17th… I think I will be crafting for those holidays too!

Filed Under: Announcements, My Handmade Beads And Jewelry

Happy Valentines Day 2013!

February 14, 2013 Leave a Comment

Valentines Day is not one of the holidays I usually go all out decorating for, but after seeing all the cute and wonderful things in blogland, I decided to notch it up a bit. I wanted to do a lot more creating and decorating, but as usual, time kind passed too fast. I did manage to make a pretty garland, and join in the heart swap. I even managed to get a shot of curious Koko:

Here are some of my original Annalee Valentine characters:

And near the hearth, I gathered all my Licitar hearts and Croatian decorations:

Now, I just need to bring in the tree branch, and hang the swap hearts!

Filed Under: Valentines

A Manzanita Branch…

February 13, 2013 Leave a Comment

I have always admired my neighbors manzanita branch that she has suspended over her counter in her beautiful kitchen. Well, after Dear Daughter asked me to keep the Christmas Tree up all year to decorate it for all seasons, I had an idea. I decided to get a branch, and decorate it.

Big manzanita branches are not easy to come by, so I improvised. With the help of my friend Maria and her truck, we collected a big branch from an empty lot in town, and hauled it back home.

I have no idea what kind of tree it is… DH was not too thrilled to have a tree branch in the house, so for the time being, it is “curing” in our back patio.

Considering we live in a ’70s ranch, I will have to trim the branch to size and figure out a way to make it look nice in the house 🙂

Filed Under: Family and Friends, Interesting Finds

February 2013 Garden

February 9, 2013 Leave a Comment

I picked some Washington navels for a friend. They are sooo delicious!!! And they don’t call them navel oranges for nothing – this one is an outie for sure 🙂

More signs of life… The transplanted grass looks really sad, but on second glance, there are green shoots near the roots – yay! And the hollyhocks are spreading year after year. Looking forward to seeing them bloom.

Flowers in the garden! Pretty rosemary and lavender!

And finally, a sunflower in the grove. I think the poor thing is a bit confused. It seems to have been managing alright until the last cold spell but seems to be struggling now to fully bloom… Perhaps if the weather improves? I’ll keep watch.

Filed Under: Garden 2013

Zentangle Challenge #105 “Dansk”

February 8, 2013 4 Comments

This weeks challenge is brought to us by Margaret Bremner, using her tangle “Dansk”. When I saw the tangle, I thought “hair”, so this is what I drew:

Filed Under: Zentangle Challenge

My Bead Soup!

February 7, 2013 1 Comment

Woohoo! My Bead Soup from my partner, Judy of Riglettes arrived today! This is the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party, and the third I will be participating in. Lori Anderson of Pretty Things hosts this fun event. In a nutshell, we are paired with a fellow bead maker/jewelry designer, send each other a “bead soup”, make jewelry/things, and then reveal our creations. As there are so many of us participating, Lori has divided the reveals over three days. Judy and I will be revealing on the first round on March 30th. For more information on the BSBP #7, click on the link below:

And now, here are the wonderful beads and things Judy sent me!

Filed Under: Bead Soup Blog party

Stupid Cupid & Sweet Treat Earrings

February 6, 2013 Leave a Comment

The first time I ever tried cross stitching, DH was dumbfounded. He was amazed that anyone could just sit for so long and stitch X’s repeatedly. That was 25 years ago, and he has learned not to make such off hand remarks regarding my artsy craftsy endeavors. I still have my Thanksgiving sampler to complete, but when I saw these cute, quick, and free projects over at Brook’s Book Publishing, I just had to make them. I made Stupid Cupid into an ornament, and the other, into earrings. The Sweet Treat earrings call out using perforated cross stitch paper, but I didn’t have any, so I just used beige aida cloth.

To complete the earrings, I glued a backing of aida cloth, trimmed, and embellished with swarovski crystals and glitter – everything is better with glitter! 🙂

Brooke’s Book Publishing has some really neat cross stitch patterns to purchase as well as for free – worth checking out.

Filed Under: Projects And Interests, Valentines

Having fun with The Toymaker

February 2, 2013 1 Comment

For whatever reason, my printer wasn’t printing on photo/stock paper, so DH switched printers with me – yay! So, I decided to have some fun and print out some paper crafts at The Toymaker. I have her paper toy book, and spent last year with her “A Year Of Toys And Joys ” Calendar. Anyhow, I printed out a couple of her freebie Valentine crafts, a cute hanging heart basket and elephant delivery. I also printed out mirror copies of each so I could have it double sided, embellished with satin flowers and ribbon, and got some cute vintage valentine graphics from the Two Crazy Crafters. While I was cutting and pasting, I thought to myself that it would have been a fun activity to do with the kids when they were young. But, then again, my boys were never the “color inside, and cut along the line” types, oh well. I filled the basket with little flowers, and the elephant with small valentines:

If you want to play with The Toymaker, go to www.thetoymaker.com. She has tons of fun activities to do.

Filed Under: Projects And Interests

Zentangle Challenge #104 “String #003”

February 1, 2013 1 Comment

This weeks challenge was to use a tangle pattern string #003 from Tangle Patterns.com. Of course, with all the “hearts” on my mind these days, I made the focal pattern out of hearts. Although, they almost look like flowers… Regardless, I kind of like how it turned out: