Category Archives: blogging

Jul29

Still sorting

Posted on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 by Dianne

They say it gets worse before it gets better. I have things scattered all over the place now that I emptied the tea cart this morning. Brian’s small collection of beer steins, some bar stuff (we hardly even drink); vases, and other things that had no business being there. We have used the cart for over 24 yrs. It gets dusty. You can’t see what’s on the bottom shelf. When I took it away, it really opened up the space! I think the next step, that’s after I clean everything, will be rearranging the china cabinet. Did I tell you I hate the china cabinet? It was given to me by the in-laws when we moved here as she was getting a new one. It’s 60s-70s Early American, I can’t stand that chunky stuff! I want a white one to tie in with the kitchen cabinets. One of these days.

Bro #2 cat got out of his apartment and was missing. I’m not sure what the kitty status is today. I know bro stopped at the SPCA to see if anyone picked the cat up. He is really a scaredy cat to the 1st degree. I told him that when our mostly housecats get out, they always come back. It helps that I was sitting in the lawn crying for Cosmo. He couldn’t stand that. But our first cat Jade was declawed. We had to leave her out as we went to a picnic. When we came home, she was up against the back of the house waiting.

Bro #1 is losing one of his oldest pals from cancer. I guess his pal is about 54 like he is. When I think of his friend, I see him smoking. #1 spent the entire day with his pal in the hospital on Sunday. So sad.

I was bored and sneezy yesterday-so I made this:

I am pleased to announce that one of my photos is being used on Schmap-an Orlando travel site. If only I would get paid. : ) It’s the guitar fountain from the Hard Rock Hotel. We did stay there, but had some room issues…I won’t go into it here. It’s totally a great place, but they should keep pets out of the rooms.

Jul25

Show n’ Tell week #2

Posted on Friday, July 25, 2008 by Dianne

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Today, I’m sharing some of my Titanic lady porcelain dolls and a few other pieces from that collection-they have their own shelf in our family room. If they could talk, they would say ‘dust me’ and I will now that I saw what was on them. They are too pretty to let this happen! Dust and me do not get along-better wait until I get back from the eye doctor! (I may add a few more shots too, it’s pretty late now).
There’s Rose-from the movie Titanic, as portrayed by Kate Winslet in her modern striped outfit and big hat. I have one or two other outfits, but stopped buying them as they were getting pricey. I do have a photo of Kate up there too, it’s suppose to be signed by her (eBay purchase). Not sure if it’s the real deal.
The fine lady in black was modeled after one of the passengers, if I remember correctly. For the life of me, I forget her name! I also have two models of the grand ship, one of which I assembled; and the children’s book ‘Voyage of the Great Titanic’. There’s a little mannequin with a turn of the century type outfit and a cute purse that looked nice up there. It’s to the right of the computer desk here.

So what’s funny to me is that sometimes I’m taking a quiz on the Titanic and it may ask how many smoke stacks it had. I forget to look up to double check that there were 4 and not 3, and I usually answer three!

Brian and I were married on April 14th, the day the ship struck the iceberg. I remember my mom’s friend Jim saying that he hoped our marriage stayed ‘afloat’, or something to that effect. Very funny! It’s been over 24 yrs.

I do have a few other Titanic things that I’ll share in another post or two.

We have gone to a few Titanic exhibits-in Atlantic City and Orlando, Florida. I am interested in that time period, as my Grandmom Ruth was a little girl back in 1912. I was interested in the Titanic before the movie-honest. We have a National Geographic video about it too. The exhibits were interesting and sad at the same time. Each had an ice wall that represented what the water felt like in the Atlantic in April-deathly cold! The Florida exhibit had a replica of the Grand Staircase-gorgeous. And here’s the bigger version of my doll’s outfit!

It was such a waste of everything-people’s hard work building it, but of course mostly that of innocent passengers who had no lifeboat to safety.

Jul18

I’m playing show n’ tell

Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008 by Dianne

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I’ve been reading Kelli’s blog and decided to play along. She mentioned some little ceramic salt and pepper shakers with flowers on top, and I have the same ones. Mine are yellow and I think hers are white.
Here is the bank my Grandfather Alan gave to my mom when I was born:

Teddy bank

I think he’s a panda and about 10″ tall or so and has real gold paint for trim. I guess they didn’t have pink bear banks. My grandfather died only a few months after I was born, so this holds special meaning to me. It’s getting ‘really old’ and the paint is wearing off in a few spots. I don’t handle it that often and he was on a shelf in my bedroom buried behind eye drops and hand lotion. He is empty at the present time-rats!

It’s really a scorcher today. I did go out early to the post office and mail off birthday gifts. Thank goodness I did that as it went from 84 to 89 in 45 minutes. Stopped to get something for my gum to numb it if needed, but the Sensodyne is working well-so far. It was throbbing a bit last night. I don’t want to use the gum stimulator and rinse anymore, but a gentle mouth wash. And I’m waiting on a call from the eye doctor. I’ve been using these drops for a week and don’t know when to stop using them.

Jun15

Perhaps I should rename this blog…

Posted on Sunday, June 15, 2008 by Dianne

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May27

Promised ATCs

Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 by Dianne

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It’s nearly 80 degrees out and a bit humid. I went out briefly to plant a couple of perennials in the pond garden (which needs major weeding) and I got warm and came in. It’s not even sunny either. I planted Lupine and English Daisies. Seems my color theme there this year is pinks and purples.

Here is the Food challenge card I made for Emily over at ‘The Floss Box’.

I have all these sheets of letters in different papers that you punch out and am glad at the chance to use them.
Then I was clipping magazines and ran across this angel statue and decided to start a ‘Butterfly Wings’ series. The butterfly wings are from wallpaper border. The pretty white wings are from some papers I just got from Creative Papers online (love them!)

Then I did a Butterfly Fairy. Her ‘crown’ is part of a raspberry from the wallpaper border.

Her banner says, I wish you love.
And for my stitching pals-Art and Soul:

I think Emily fits in this category too!
I have these chalks that don’t photograph well (her neck), but I also colored her in with pencils.

Feeling a bit in a funk from not sleeping well last night. I was restless, it was stuffy in the house, I turned the air on, ate something around 6 am. I guess we all have those nights. I hope to do a bit more outside, but here comes Mister Sunshine!

May1

It’s a favorite childhood toy party!

Posted on Thursday, May 1, 2008 by Dianne

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Thanks to Scrappy Jessi for hosting this fun event.

Ok, when I was really little I loved my Thumbelina baby doll. Here I am with her and my mom (with the funky 60s do with the faux braid and me still parting my hair on the left!)

And here she is about 41 years later, a little worse for wear:

The poor thing needs a good scrub, which I will try to do if I think about it, but I should ‘honor’ her presence, since I have had her this long. I had cut her hair and chewed on her fingers back then. She’s been through a lot with me.

Here is a photo of my brother and I at Christmas playing with our Flintstone building blocks. We use to fight over them:

When I was a little older, I started to love Barbie and her friends:

They could also do with a little sprucing up. Poor Barbie’s fanny is peeking out of the lace in the back! I also have my original case and a few others dolls (somewhere). And I do have some newer collector’s Barbies in the guest room. I was wise and kept most of them in their boxes. My favorite-the Van Gogh Sunflower Barbie and the Vera Wang bride.

I also loved my coloring books, crayons, markers, drawing pads, chalk boards, books, Silly Putty, Fuzzy Wuzzy soap, Lite Brite, Spirograph, play dough, two wheeler bike with the banana seat and monkey bars, board games like Mouse Trap and Monopoly and even checkers! I could go on!

I wanted to add a few of my son (21.5 yrs old now) :

Here he is with his dad using his magna doodle board.

And here he is showing us his creation (he’s about 3 here):

And last but not least, his favorite bears Snuggle and Boo (very well loved):

Feb29

Blog burps

Posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 by Dianne

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Your Dominant Intelligence is Spatial Intelligence

You’ve got a good sense of space and how the world around you looks.
You can close your eyes and “see” images. You have innate artistic talent.
An eye for color and shapes, you’re also a natural designer.
Since you think in pictures, visual aids and demonstrations help you learn best.You would make a good navigator, sculptor, visual artist, inventor, architect, interior designer, or engineer.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

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So I was sitting at the dining room table trying to organize my craft papers and general mess, and I remembered that a local high school’s postponed book sale started tonight-at 5 and it was 6:45. I reminded Bri and within 10 minutes we hit the road! It was fairly crowded and some of the books were pricey. I saw one lady with a scanner device checking out the ISBN on the books to see how much they were worth. I showed her a nice Charles Wysocki book with his collections (he is deceased), but she didn’t want to spend $7 on it and neither did I! Tomorrow is the $7 bag sale (which was $5 last year), but I probably won’t go back. I got old books I can cut up for my art projects-lots of birds in the mix! Bri got some decent train books-someone must have given away their collection. I should find out when they have donations and clear out some books I’ve had forever.

Feb14

Happy Valentine’s Day and Winners!!!

Posted on Thursday, February 14, 2008 by Dianne

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Meet my only Webkinz…

I did a random drawing of numbers from an online generator and the following 3 numbers were chosen: 42, 27, 106!
All winners have been contacted and they are:
Robyn
Constance
and Lolly!
Congrats ladies!!! I have heard back from everyone. What an awesome event. The talent out there in blogland is truly amazing and wonderful. You all inspire me. : )

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Here’s one of my presents that I picked out and purchased for $10 off from Fragrance.net. If you want a code for a discount, let me know. And it has a delicately sweet marshmallow scent!

Doesn’t it sound yummy? The first thing you smell is marshmallow and then it fades to the wonderful earthy musk.

M by Mariah Carey Eau de Parfum Spray, 3.3 oz.

“For me, creating this scent was like creating a song – it takes many notes to compose a fragrance. It’s like a beautiful melody.” – Mariah Carey

Mariah’s signature scent opens with an indulgent, creamy accord and blooms into an opulent floral heart as a rich base reveals darker, sensual facets.

A warm and inviting marshmallow is woven throughout the fragrance, evoking a sense of comfort. This indulgent accord captures Mariah’s fondest childhood memories of being in the kitchen with her father.

The lush floral heart of the fragrance combines a feminine veil of Living Tahitian Tiare flower wrapped in the aura of wet Gardenia petals. This beautiful blend is reminiscent of the fragrant breezes of Hawaii and the Isle of Capri, Mariah’s favorite getaway.

The soul of the fragrance reveals a sexier dimension. Sheer amber, infused with spicy, woody accents of Moroccan incense forms a seductive accord that embodies Mariah’s sensuality, beauty and glamor.

There’s a bag sitting here for me too! I didn’t get Bri anything yet, but I just don’t know what to get him. I did make some peanut butter cookies last night. : )
My friend Lisa sent me a ‘find your soulmate’ card:

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