Category Archives: Blogroll

Jan30

One World, One Heart 2011 blogging event

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Welcome to my blog! I’m glad you stopped by. I’m a domestic goddess from southeastern Pennsylvania. I’m like the local ‘Martha Stewart’. I enjoy baking, crafting, photography and gardening the most. My family is small, but I think they are mainly happy with the house and grub.
Here are some of my favorite crafty projects I’ve made over the last few years-many my own design:

A mixed media painting, a mosaic frame of her parents and heart shaker for my mom; a mosiac message board I redid; a decorated key for a swap; a frame with a photo of me for a friend; a needle punch strawberry lidded mini basket; a Sally Sells Seashells by the Seashore shadowbox; & Christmas count down calendar.
I’ve been working on this project and share all my 4″ x 4″ collages here along with most of the Artist Trading cards I make too. I’ve made 100s of the later. And I’ve made many online pals through cross stitching too.
So I am participating in this event:

By the skin of my nose! I was one sick lady a few weeks ago with a bad appendix and pneumonia. I was in the hospital for 3 nights mainly because of the blasted pneumonia. I’m on the mend and made two of my giveaways just a few days ago.
This is a great way for other bloggers to meet and I believe I may have participated in at least 4 of these events and won a few prizes. : )
On to the goodies…
OWOH Giveaway items
I made this special 4″ x 4″ collage card to commemorate the 5th One World, One Heart event. It has mostly handmade papers on it (bought).
4" x 4" Collage commemorating 2011 OWOH

I was really happy with how this glass heart shaped suncatcher turned out. I played around with Tim Holtz alcohol inks and a flower rubber stamp. The vintage bird (that belonged to my mom or grandmom)is what I think is a carved shell with an added diamond rhinestone eye. It’s so pretty in person and my husband really liked it!
Suncatcher with shell bird for OWOH

I made a bunch of these at Christmastime. It’s a little bottle with a message that says ‘There’s no place like home for the holidays’. It has pretty orange sand and little shells inside too. I only gave my niece one so far, so if you win my giveaway, you get one too!
Message in a Bottle
I also am adding the sparkly blue butterfly to the mix for your spring decorating.
All you have to do is leave me a comment and I may just pick your name on February 17th. Thanks and good luck! Special thanks to Lisa our terrific hostess!
Click here to read about the event.
I will randomly pick a number through an online generator on midnight the 17th.
Good luck!

  • Update-since I reached 100 comments-I’m added a pretty beaded fob to the mix-thanks for your support!!

    • This is a sticky post and will be on the top of my blog until the middle of February.

    Apr10

    Show & Tell

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    I’ve been a fan of James Taylor for over 35 years. I saw that he was going to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show today, so I took out my camera and snapped some photos of my favorite singer. I have other shots in my flickr set, many turned out well. I’ve seen him 4 times in concert, so I think this is worthy of a Show & Tell. I got ‘this close’ to meeting his daughter Sally, but she had to leave right when I got near her (she’s a singer/songwriter/guitar player too.)
    Yes, I do have all the records except the very latest one-the second ‘Covers’.
    Smiling JT

    Jan23

    Friday’s Show and Tell

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    Over 25 years ago, my then fiance and I were browsing through a bookstore and we ran across The Fannie Farmer cookbook in paperback. I thumbed through it and asked Brian if he’d buy it for me as a gift. I probably said I would like to practice some of the recipes, so he did buy it. From the condition of the poor book, you can see it has been a standby-like for how to cook a certain cut of meat or a vegetable. It even has duct tape holding it together. I would say I used it a lot for baking, by far my favorite kitchen activity.
    This past Christmas, he bought me the Martha Stewart Cookie cookbook off my wish list. I needed it like a ‘hole in the head’ (as my cookbooks run in the 100s), but I love to bake cookies. I haven’t started to use it yet, but will!

    A newer cookbook gift from Brian

    Terry mentioned she gets recipes mostly off the internet now-I’m guilty of that too! But there is something about holding a book and looking at a photo of something that looks good and trying to replicate it.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    I have the tv on Conan O’Brien and the last gig was a ‘balloon guy’ named John Cassidy. I took a peek and here it was this guy we use to see perform at the St. David’s Fair over the years. Check out this link-he holds the Guinness World Record for making the most balloon animals in one hour! Pretty neat to see him on national tv after seeing him roam the grounds of a church fair.
    My friend’s ex-husband and his partner have been on Conan too-they parody Country Western singers using the names Doyle and Debby.

    Jan16

    Stolen from Barbara

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    What the heck, these are silly but fun. Hope I answer truthfully. ; )
    Things you’ve already done: bold
    Things you want to do: italicize
    Things you haven’t done and don’t want to – leave in plain font

    1. started your own blog (plus too many other things)
    2. slept under the stars
    3. played in a band
    4. visited Hawaii
    5. watched a meteor shower
    6. given more than you can afford to charity
    7. been to Disneyworld
    8. climbed a mountain(not a big one-in the Poconos with my mom and elderly grandmom)
    9. held a praying mantis I think it was a baby and not sure if I held it on a stick or my bare hands.
    10. sang a solo
    11. bungee jumped
    12. visited Paris
    13. watched a lightning storm at sea
    14. taught yourself an art from scratch
    15. adopted a child
    16. had food poisoning
    17. walked to the top of the statue of liberty
    18. grown your own vegetables
    19. seen the Mona Lisa in France
    20. slept on an overnight train
    21. had a pillow fight
    22. hitch hiked
    23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill
    24. built a snow fort
    25. held a lamb
    26. gone skinny dipping
    27. run a marathon
    28. ridden a gondola in Venice
    29. seen a total eclipse
    30. watched a sunrise or sunset
    31. hit a home run
    32. been on a cruise
    33. seen Niagara Falls in person
    34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
    35. seen an Amish community(I live close)
    36. taught yourself a new language
    37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
    38. seen the leaning tower of Pisa in person
    39. gone rock climbing
    40. seen Michelangelo’s David in person
    41. sung karaoke
    42. seen old faithful geyser erupt
    43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
    44. visited Africa
    45. walked on a beach by moonlight
    46. been transported in an ambulance(twice)
    47. had your portrait painted (my in-laws took our photo to Paris and my drawing looked like some Spanish lady)
    48. gone deep sea fishing
    49. seen the Sistine Chapel in person
    50. been to the top of the Eiffel tower in Paris
    51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling
    52. kissed in the rain
    53. played in the mud(one of my favorite activities as a toddler)
    54. gone to a drive-in theater
    55. been in a movie
    56. visited the Great Wall of China
    57. started a business
    58. taken a martial arts class
    59. visited Russia
    60. served at a soup kitchen
    61. sold girl scout cookies
    62. gone whale watching
    63. gotten flowers for no reason
    64. donated blood
    65. gone sky diving
    66. visited a Nazi concentration camp
    67. bounced a check-maybe? Doesn’t everybody at some point?
    68. flown in a helicopter
    69. saved a favorite childhood toy
    70. visited the Lincoln memorial
    71. eaten caviar(more like tasted)
    72. pieced a quilt
    73. stood in times square
    74. toured the Everglades (I may have been there as a toddler though)
    75. been fired from a job
    76. seen the changing of the guard in London
    77. broken a bone
    78. been on a speeding motorcycle
    79. seen the Grand Canyon in person
    80. published a book
    81. visited the Vatican
    82. bought a brand new car
    83. walked in Jerusalem
    84. had your picture in the newspaper
    85. read the entire Bible
    86. visited the White House
    87. killed and prepared an animal for eating (I could never do this-I’m ‘this close’ to being a vegetarian-darn hamburgers)
    88. had chickenpox
    89. saved someone’s life
    90. sat on a jury-hope this doesn’t jinx me as I have no desire to do this.
    91. met someone famous (John Travolta and Tug McGraw for a few)
    92. joined a book club
    93. lost a loved one
    94. had a baby
    95. seen the Alamo in person.
    96. taken a road trip
    97. been involved in a law suit (child support issues-not sure if that is a law suit-I was one of the children)
    98. owned a cell phone
    99. been stung by a bee
    100. met the love of your life

    This is telling me I need to travel more and be more charitable.

    Jan16

    Show and Tell

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    My Kindergarten photo, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

    This was taken about 44 years ago. I feel bad I couldn’t remember everyone shown. I just uploaded all of these that I had (missing 1st grade), but if you check them out on Flickr, you can see I have a good memory. I am sticking out my tongue-I did when I smiled.
    Dianne kindergarten
    The old Sandy Bank School is now the Walden School. I remember sharing it in a Show and Tell a few months ago. We had our class in the basement-it was a hospital green and I so disliked the milk in the cartons and was forced to drink it. Our class room would turn into the cafeteria. I went to school here for K, 2nd and 3rd grades. There was a newer school down the road I attended for 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th grade.
    I just saw three of the people here at my 30th reunion in Nov. ’07. The one lady lives a few miles away from me and I didn’t know it, we both live 20+ miles from this area now.
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    Could you take a second to send a sweet little girl named Haven a birthday card for her 5th birthday on the 26th? She’s the featured child on the ‘Make A Child Smile’ website (right side bar there) and she’s really sick.

    Aug29

    Show & Tell #7

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    I want to thank Zoey over at Perennial Passion in my sidebar, for the idea this week for my share. She was talking about watching an old Andy Griffith Show and I remembered I had an Aunt Bee cookbook. In fact, I have several tv and movie related cookbooks:

    Having a ‘Pooh’ cookbook doesn’t sound very appetizing, but it’s really a cute one with the different characters represented throughtout in sweet black and white ink drawings. Doesn’t Mint Honey Bread sound good?

    Forrest Gump is all about shrimp-Mama’s Shrimp spaghetti sounds yummy. It is also loaded with Forrest reflections.

    The Wizard of Oz is really sweet-features a ‘kids in Munchkinland’ party. Many of these recipes are ones we know, but renamed to go with the movie, like ‘Wicked Witch Waffles’.

    Some Like it Hot is actually a good name for a cookbook! This features a nice section of mixed drinks. How does the recipe ‘Figs in Drag’ sound to you? I was also born the year this movie came out.

    Cooking with Friends is a great cookbook with a mixture of coffee house style recipes plus recipes that would be favorites of the different friends. Great photos throughout too. I may pick a recipe from here to share with you.

    Aunt Bee’s Mayberry cookbook is a spiral ring one. There are different sections from appetizers to desserts, many named after the characters like Beef Stroganoff Barney. This is a pretty awesome cookbook too.

    I know I have a few more that weren’t on the same shelf as the above; Gone with the Wind, Frasier, the Sopranos and It’s a Wonderful Life.

    These are fun cookbooks and I recommend them!

    Recipe share:

    Black and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

    (we had the plain ones last year in NYC, the icing was black and white-yummy)

    1 cup flour

    ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa

    ½ teaspoon baking soda

    ½ teaspoon salt

    8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

    ¾ cup sugar

    1 large egg

    ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

    1 cup (6 oz) white chocolate chips

    ½ cup chopped walnuts

    Preheat oven to 375°. Stir the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl and set it aside. Cream the butter and sugar with the electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth. Slowly beat in the dry ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.

    For each cookie, drop a little less than ¼ cup batter onto an ungreased large baking sheet. With your hand, slightly flatten each piece of dough. Leave at least 2 inches between each ball. You will need 2 baking sheets to accommodate the dough.

    Bake until the edges and tops of the cookies are set, 15-18 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a rack and cool briefly. Eat warm or at room temperature. These cookies will stay nice and chewy for a couple of days.

    Makes 12 oversized cookies.

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    Tonight at midnight, I will do the drawing for my 4th anniversary giveaway, so add your comment for that below if you want to try to win. 4 years ago today, I started rambling on. : )

    Apr5

    A new obsession

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    Yeah, see my blogroll and look down at #6-thanks to my childhood friend Chris, I joined Facebook last night and have been playing with it off and on from late last night until now! We didn’t have internet access until around 2-3.

    I decided that the mosquitoes had all moved in and were getting cozy in my water features, the pond and waterlily garden, so I went out and hooked up the one pump for the waterlilies-nothing-no whirl, dead. Then Bri came out and took it apart and it started to work. Finally. Then it was a terrible task with the pond. We couldn’t get the pump to sit flat so Bri bailed out all the nasty water, I got it situated and it started to work. He had to disassemble that one too and now I can report, clean water and a nice splashing fountain! It wasn’t really warm, but we didn’t have jackets on. I heard my mom had her menfolk cleaning up around her yard today-gets me off the hook a bit! I like to do her lamp post garden though.

    I haven’t taken vitamins for two days now and my tummy seems calmed down. I really hope the ones I get for sensitive tummies will be okay. If not, I told Bri we’ll be eating lots of salads and produce. I’m hoping the blood work will be ok, didn’t hear anything after 3 days…so far.

    Back to Facebook-it’s actually a fun place! If you want to join, be sure to click my link and hook up with me there.

    Dec12

    Internet shopping

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    Today I decided to place orders at only two different places. I logged on about 11:30 and just got off (over 4 hours)! The first one had free shipping and I really looked around the site a while. Bri came home and I minimized my order so he could look online for a half hour or so. I would get up, do things and come back. The second place was Walmart. I had trouble with my order and had to call up. I waited close to 20 minutes and then the man on the other end said I should call back, but after 20 minutes of waiting already, I told him to give my order a try and it went through. I can’t say what I got, but they are two surprises. I am laid up a bit today as mother nature or hormones played a nasty trick on me with something what was suppose arrive a week later than today. Oy! I was glad to sit, but the waiting was ridiculous!

    Now I haven’t seen my mom in over 3 weeks. I hope Friday will be a good day to go down. She is having car issues, so can’t come out here.

    I am still decorating and making things in spurts. My calendar is laying on the dining room table to try to get finished tonight. I want to display it. I also glitter sprayed the poinsettias for my mom and uncle and they look pretty!
    I was roaming around really lovely blogs last night, one of which was Artsy Mama in my blog roll. She was in an open house and showed  her own holiday creative touches in her sweet home. I think she is the one with the printer’s shelf that she is putting tiny Christmas things into it’s compartments. I have one and I should do the same thing. What a cute idea. I love my vintage stuff too.

    Still need to do a little sewing before I start baking. I hope I won’t be burning the midnight oil too many times next week.

    The Oprah show with her favorite things is one right now. I hope everyone has a strong heart they are carrying on so much-lucky them!

    Nov5

    Presently a quote to live by

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    Knowledge is power.
    Sir Francis Bacon, Religious Meditations, Of Heresies, 1597
    English author, courtier, & philosopher (1561 – 1626)

     

    I’ve been giving Oprah (or was it Dr. Oz) credit for this and here it was Sir Bacon. When I saw it was Sir Bacon, I thought of Kevin Bacon for some reason-oh, he’s from Philly.   ; )
    I’m reading up on call-backs and have gotten some interesting opinions, etc. I know my pals in blogland are being quiet on the subject-but knowledge is power people! I read there are only 10% of call backs from standard mammograms, but out of 1,000 mamms, only 5 are bad ones.
    If you haven’t had a mammogram lately and you are over 40, do yourself a favor and get one so you know stuff. Ok? : )

    I’ve had a quiet weekend. Two of my art pals and I are making tags/squares for our Christmas calendars. We are trading 8 to each other and then will have to make 15 for our own. I had so much fun making them today (they are only 2″ squares on my calendar). I’m up to 21 and need to make 10 more. I haven’t made the actual calendar part yet. I thank Artsymama in my blogroll for the inspiration when she posted her Halloween calendar purchase.
    I also started a piece for our blogland Cross stitch lottery. On January 1st, some lucky stitcher will win all the submitted finished pieces. I wouldn’t mind winning them. I haven’t checked lately, but I think there are at least 20 participants.

    This daylight savings is messing me up a bit. I better hit the hay soon. Have a great Monday!

    Hope you like my new blog format. I couldn’t stand all my sidebar stuff on one side and I think my photos look better too.

    Oh-my ’57 Thunderbird made the top right corner of Elijah’s Love quilt-and it’s an awesome quilt! (clickable)

    Elijah’s Quilt