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This week’s MAMMA challenge was phone book
. I must admit I had to think about this one a bit. Then I remembered Lily Tomlin’s sassy operator and the light went on. The Lily image is done using gel transfer. I got really lucky with that technique this time. The transfer went very well.
One is off to the states and the other to the UK. I love that my work travels the world. I may need a passport, but my work only requires a stamp or two.
I received these cards from the Kawaii swap.
The card on the left is from Nancy and the card on the right is from MAMMA herself. Nancy’s card cracks me up. How 
many times have we all been there at the Beauty shop? I love the look on the penguin’s face, too. Margaret’s is made entirely from felt with the sweetest little border stitched around it. She recently bought a new sewing machine and has been giving it quite a whirl lately.
Margaret was nice enough to send me a piece of her work. I made a comment that I thought it was great and she was kind enough to send it to me. I really love her Zetti work. She is really fabulous at it.
If you enjoy making ATC and swapping them with some very talented people you can check out the group here. Join us it is a lot of fun.
I went to the Goodwill in Mechanicsville after work on Friday. I needed nothing, but my sixth sense told me to go. They have a very small jewelry case in the front of the store and every now and then they have some real gems.
The bracelet appears to be handmade and all the connectors are brass. This I assume as one had a bit of corrosion on it. All of the coins are the same and are dated from 1918 to 1928 and I believe they are from Belgium.
I brought it home and soaked it in my trusty Dawn dish liquid. Dawn works the best with old crud on things and tends to break it up easily. This lovely cost me only $10.25! That is what I love about Goodwill. You can get a real gem for a pittance!
Have you found a real score lately?
And the rest of the story…
Don’t cancel on Dave at the last minute!
My Uncle called her Sissy, but her given name was Charlotte. She was not called Sissy as she was the little sister, she was, but that was not why. The story goes that they rowed by boat to a small island and she needed to use the restroom. Since they were out in nature, she was not near the facilities. She climbed up into some brush to do her business and then when she finished she realized that she forgot the TP. My uncle heaved the roll in the direction of her voice and when it hit near her she thought it was an animal and screamed and screamed. They tell that she came running out of the bushes with her pants around her ankles and tugging at her panties. She was mocked for being a sissy and it stuck.
Aunt Sissy was a bit on the loopy side. She was always complaining about some conspiracy against her. She thought that the Germans were tapping her phone for her secrets. This was many, many years after the 2nd World War in which she served. She was a WAC, Women’s Army Corp, that is. I cannot fathom that her hospital duty would necessarily make her someone that they would target for her secrets, but she fervently believed it.
Her neighbors called the police on her often, they built fences tall enough that she couldn’t look over them, and they generally tried to stay out of her way. She was known to go to jail and have the cops called on her several times by her neighbors. Her neighbors were all lovely people, but she thought they were conspiring against her.
Once, when I was little and my Mom took us to see the night court in Baltimore City (while my sister was learning about government in school), we watched Aunt Sis being dragged in handcuffed and cursing the officer. She had attached her neighbor they said with a knife. My mother was horrified and asked us to leave quietly so she didn’t see us. My mom didn’t want to be responsible for her. She also didn’t want her fellow police officers to know she was related to her.
Another time, they called the police on her and I might add that she was in her 70’s at the time. The police officer ended up wrenching her arm behind her back and hurting her badly. My father and uncle were livid that a policeman would treat a lady senior that way and were going to file a complaint against the officer. I asked my dad before he did that to check with his friend, Officer Yankowski, to see why he did that to her. When Yank reported back to my dad why the officer manhandled her dad changed his mind. Apparently, Aunt Sis, when he tried to restrain her kicked the officer in the “hoodles”. She was strong as an ox so I am sure she kicked with all her might!
Family events with Aunt Sissy were eventful. She would always get wound up and perform at family events. I recall when my Grandma passed that the priest who was performing the funeral asked us about her to learn more. Aunt Sis told him about Grandma taking in the sailors to her home while their ships were being repaired, that she sewed their uniforms for them, and on and on…I was so proud of my Grandma. I made a comment to my dad later that Grandma was a really remarkable lady and I had no idea she did all of that. My dad told me it never happened. None of it. Nada. Zip. Zilch! Aunt Sis made it all up. I remember getting the giggles during the funeral as I thought it was funny that a priest was in the church lying!
At my Dad’s viewing she kept telling us that the German’s killed him. That it was a conspiracy. When we went to lunch we bought her a beer or two or so. She spent the rest of the viewing time passed out snoring in a chair. We woke her when it was all over so we could get her home.
Aunt Sis passed away in May of 2001 at 80 years of age from Breast Cancer. She was embarrassing at times, she was flat out crazy others, but deep inside when you got her quiet and talked to her one on one she was a great lady. She certainly made family gathering a lot more interesting. Every family has that one member and she is ours. There will never be another, thank goodness!
Did you have a family character?
One of the hotels I work with recently gave my company, which is a non-profit, a donation for their grand opening celebration. This is me below receiving the check on behalf of the company, Kalyan Hospitality. The gentleman I am shaking hands with is Nick, the owner of Kalyan. the lady to the right is Melinda, the general manager of the hotel.
It was an honor to receive the donation. I placed one of the new hires there for an extended stay during her relocation and they thanked me by providing a donation. If you are in the Virginia Center Commons area and you are seeking lodging, consider the Candlewood Suites. It is a brand new hotel and one that gives back to the community. That makes them great in my book!
Speaking of givers, the quote to the left is by Harriet Tubman. I love quotations and am often moved by a good one to create something to showcase it. I used one of the photos that I thrifted at the Goodwill outlet a few weeks ago. I love the pose on this little girl, the dress she is wearing and the gingham ribbon in her hair. Her facial expression is lovely also.
Someone that knows little about failure is George Burns. He was the greatest entertainer up to and passed his 100th birthday. He was simply famous for being old and for smoking a cigar and living his life. Everyone loved George! After his wife’s, Gracie Allen, passed away he remained faithful to her memory and never remarried. He always seemed to have a few lovelies by his side.
This is another of the photos from the G’will outlet. I assume she is the big sister to the little lady in the other photo as they were all part of the same album. Her Mom must have loved braids.
What is your favorite quotation?
I am participating in Hop Hop Jingle Boo’s Halloween Flight Halloween swap. One of the items we have to make for our partner is a paper doll. I have not tried a paper doll, but Debra was gracious enough to provide a link for some templates.
I created my doll using vintage sheet music that I inked up to age it a bit more. I drew her face on, but you can also use a rubber stamp of a face if you prefer. Since I have no face stamps, I decided to draw it.
I did well, but made two of the same legs. I thought I was being careful to use each of the pattern pieces, but think I must have flipped the leg before I cut it out.
I will keep this one for me as I continue to work on her and make another for my partner. I have to make her some clothes and embellish her a bit. Her hair makes her look a bit like Cleopatra don’t you think?
The brads are a bit large. I found some 3/4″ ones at the thrift store. They are the kind you use to keep papers together. She went together easily. She is a lot different from the old paper dolls I played with as a child. I don’t recall mine being jointed and poseable. I remember them being flat and having a little stand that made a plus at the bottom, but that didn’t stop me from playing with them for hours!
Did you play with paper dolls?
This week’s MAMMA challenge was based on the work of Gustav Klimt. I am not an artist, but after seeing his tree work I decided that was what I wanted to do.
I drew the tree using gel markets and then set about adding the shapes that Klimt is famous for to my ATC. In the end, I believe it looks a bit Suessical, but it is my entry in this week’s challenge.
Some of my group are true artists and some of us are hanging on by our gluesticks. It is a lot of fun and I like the challenges weekly. It is all the brainchild of this very talented lady.
I received my ATC from the Angel challenge swap from cashplant, who is also a Cindy. We both found it quite odd to write a not to Cindy from Cindy. We also swapped two other ATCs since we were mailing. I love all 3 of the ones that I received and hope she likes the 3 I sent to her.
The mermaid picture is hand drawn and painted. It is lovely.
Heidi, to thank me for sending her some bird playing cards, sent me an ATC that she made for one of her Silver Bella swaps. It is really lovely and I like the little nest with the silver egg in it.
BrendaLea sent me some of her quilled paper creations and other items in a little box of fun. I cannot wait to use some of them on my ATCs. Thanks, BrendaLea, what an awesome surprise!
BrendaLea is an amazing artist and her creations are quite lovely.
Has anyone sent you a box of fun lately? What did you do with it?
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It was a lovely pre-fall weekend. Since Fall actually starts today, September 22nd, the weekend would be pre-fall. It was in the mid 50’s overnight Friday and Saturday and the air was crisp and damp. It was glorious! It was the perfect weather to meet a friend and checkout an arts and crafts festival. The Rainbow Arts and Crafts Festival was held at Rockwood Park and my friend, Angela and I went to check out the crafts. There were a large number of vendors, but most of them were selling either items for pets (I have none) or country type crafts (I am not so inclined any longer). I really had to look, but did manage to find a couple of jewelry vendors.
The picture on the left is a lariat made using multi-color beads. It feels so great on my neck and almost like I am wearing nothing at all. I like multi-color pieces as you can wear them with anything at all. The pic on the right is a Murano glass bead bracelet. The beads are much lovelier than the picture shows. I really love the fishy beads on this one.
Before the craft show we went to Panera for lunch and then hit one of my favorite shops afterward, Confetti at the corner of Huguenot and Robious.
What was the best part of your weekend?
Cindy Is Crafty...and she makes things, too! 