Love and flowers-2 cards plus Lost & Found

This is a special card making event because I am adding my little story of  Love. This blog-hop is co-hosted by Arlee Bird at Tossing it Out and Guile Castillo-Oriard over at Quiet Laughter. You can join in also and write about love lost or found and it can be anything-fiction, poetry, a song. I combined my little story with a card (or 2).

Those beautiful brown eyes caught my heart the moment we met. I will never forget meeting one of the great loves of my life. There were no judgements, no arguments as we often lay together on the couch or in bed. Feeling the breath of my dear one on the back of my neck brought security to my heart and my soul.  The memory of long walks we had, enjoying the sun's rays on our faces and the sheer happiness we each had as long as we were together. How I miss this and long for the return of something that shall never be but I take heart in my memories of my loved one knowing we shall meet up once more. Who could this be? Who has captured part of my heart? My beautiful Katie-girl, That's who. She was my black lab and I miss her.....

Color Throwdown- Kraft, yellow, Grey.
Glitter and Sparkle- Embossing-dry or wet
Eclectic Ellapu-Pink Team-Love

This is for my Katie and I will place this card beside her box.  I used the sizzex machine to cut out the frame and the corners. I used my cuddlebug to emboss the yellow paper in this tartan design which I brushed a light brown on top. Katie (black lab) is stamped in black since she was black and beautiful.  The frame-I used alcohol inks for a kraft look-I hope I got it. This card was done in love so I hope it meets everything. I signed up for this blog-hop at the last minute:)

Colour Q-Chocolate Chip, Wisteria Wonder, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight and white
Craft Your Passion-Always Anything Goes

Nothing says love like flowers and so this card was done in honour of all of you bloggers out there who write fun stuff, movie stuff, history stuff, music stuff and, of course, card stuff. That's a lot of stuff! I stamped the flowers in basic black and coloured them with gamsol pencils. I took  some white bits of cardstock and sponged lavender and brown and adhered it to a card along with the brown cardstock. I got some yellow ribbon and coloured it with some moss green. I fussy cut the flowers and the butterflies and used pop up dots to stick them on the card. I used wet embossing (this could go with Glitter and Sparkle challenge)-silver embossing powder- and heated up the nice saying by Shelley (one of my favourite poets). I added the white pearls and the corner stickers.

 Have a beautiful week.

Thursday Movie Picks-Movies Adapted from Movies of a different Language

This week, over at Wandering Through The Shelves, it is all about movies that were adapted from movies of a different language. In other words, Hollywood ripped off other countries to make the same movie, bring in huge box office and they don't have to think too hard...typical:)

I am being a bit mean but that's OK Hollywood can take it. In the 3 I have picked, I feel the original films are better than the remakes but that doesn't mean the remakes are bad, in fact, a couple of them are quite good in their own right. so here are my picks. I will place the original film first followed by the remake.

1. THE SEVEN SAMURAI (JAPAN)-1954 REMAKE-THE MAGNIFICENT 7-1960

I might have talked about this before but, to be honest, I have not seen a lot of the original foreign films so I am still going with this pick:) To say the Seven Samurai is a film classic is like saying The Beatles are an OK band. The original is a true masterpiece and should be seen. I greatly enjoy watching The Magnificent 7 because of the camaraderie  of all the cast. Each have a special talent and they all go in to save a village. The music is one of the best ever!


2. LES DIABOLIQUES(FRENCH)-1955 REMAKE-DIABOLIQUE-1996

I love the original French film because it leaves you guessing. The remake is ok but even the poster gives something away which it shouldn't. Hell, even the casting in the remake, gives it away. The original film is excellent and I was glad to see it again, last year. This is one head tripping film and worth seeing especially the original. It takes place at a boarding school run by a husband and wife team with the wife being a teacher ruled over by her brutish husband. Another teacher, is having an affair with the husband but feels sympathy for the man's wife. It starts from there and then draws you in.


3. LA CAGE AUX FOLLES(FRENCH/ITALIAN)-1978 -REMAKE-THE BIRDCAGE-1996

I laughed so much when I saw The Birdcage and this brought Nathan Lane to the regular audiences instead of just knowing him on Broadway. I watched La Cage after I saw the film and I laughed even more. Actually, I saw the musical in Toronto with Gene Rayburn(Match Game fame) before either movie and loved it! An endearing gay couple own a nightclub where the one runs the club and his partner is the star attraction. They raised the one man's son and now their son is engaged to a wonderful girl whose parents just happen to be very god-fearing conservative people. Her father is high up in government. The original film is a true gem and became a bonafide hit in the States and was up for Oscars. The remake was a huge hit as well and is very, very funny. If you need a laugh, watch these  2 films.

What film would you choose?

Lavender and Hearts and signing up!

Simon Says-Create with Critters
Whimsy Stamps-With Love
Retro Rubber Challenge-Feeling Sketchy  RRCB30
Chocolate Baroque-light blue, green, yellow and pink

Oh I was dabbling with colours and got more on my fingers than the card. I did some smooshing-what is that you may ask? You take Tim Holtz ink pads (he's a big guy in the stamp business with his own line of stuff), stamp the colour on some hard plastic pad that wipes clean, spritz it with water and then lay the white card into the colour and you get some neat effects. I placed the white cardstock in pink and green (light) which gives the effect on the right side of the card. I used my cuddlebug and some nice shimmery pale yellow paper, placed it in the embossing sleeve I wanted and rolled it through the machine. I added a ribbon with some yellow gold and pink  colours and glued it in place. I took a stencil and I had some shimmery paste that is very thin and placed it on the heart stencil using a palette knife. You spread it like you do icing. I let that dry, cut it out and placed the hearts on with pop up dots. I took a stamp that I have had for, around 4 years, to stamp the sentiment and the butterfly is about the same time frame, which is also stamped and coloured a little. Some border stickers were added  as well as some pale pink hearts for a little bling. This will go to my dear friend who is one busy lady.

52 Christmas Cards-Christmas candles or Lantern
CHNC #2- Anything Goes as long as it is Christmas
Craft Your Passion-Always Anything Goes


I enjoyed creating this card with somewhat different colours than the usual Christmas scheme of things. It is 3D pop up style where you keep layering the candle image . I placed it on a nice golden/yellow card and the final lavender cardstock. It is finished off with silver border stickers.

Another 2 cards and I am on a roll....for me that is:)

In April there is something exciting happening...nope I am not going to Europe, going sky-diving(that would be  a nightmare) or meeting the Queen (unless you think of the local drag queen every city has), I am signing up, once again, for the Blogging A to Z challenge! Every day in April, except for Sunday, one blogs about anything you would like as long as you correspond to the letters of the alphabet. April 1st is the letter A, the 2nd is the letter B and so on. You can have a theme or  you can change it up every day if you want. I will not be talking about film stars this year even though I could keep on going. I will still stick to the same genre because it comes easy to me and I like easy (no comments please:))  This is a big event since almost 2,000 joined in on this event. I hope some of you will be become part of it. I have met some wonderful bloggers and I cherish meeting all of you and reading all of your blogs.

Have a great week everyone!

Thursday Movie Picks-Airplane Movies

It is the 3rd week of January...people are saying they are sick of the cold. I have news for them...It's January, People! December was unusually warm and now we are in the midst of cold and some snow and people, here, are complaining. Here's an idea-move or suck it up! Embrace the weather, walk in the snow, make a snowman or an angel and then have some hot chocolate. If we still have the exact same weather in March, then bitch away but, until then, enjoy the wonders of nature. This is my non-judgemental rant for the day:)

Onward to Thursday Movie picks where, over at Wandering Through the Shelves, one can find what everyone else has picked for this week's theme-Airplane movies. Oh there are so many to choose from and I have to admit I love the movie, "Airplane,"  and all the sequels because they are so funny but I didn't choose them. Here are my 3...

1. WINGS-1927

This is the first film to win Best Picture at the very first Academy Awards. I believe it won due to the great battle scenes in the air since over 300 pilots were used not to mention 3,500 infantrymen from the army. William Wellman, the director, was a veteran of World War 1 and was not only part of the French Foreign Legion but an accomplished flier of the Lafayette Escadrille. He was truly a no-nonsense director who created amazing fight scenes that we actually see as documentary footage about World War 1. It stars Clara Bow, who, she herself, thought she was just arm candy, with Richard Arlen and Charles "Buddy" Rogers as the 2 pilots. Arlen was also a flying veteran but Buddy Rogers was taught how to fly for this film so the camera could be with him in the airplane.  These 2 men, once great friends, are now antagonists because they both love the same woman, Bow. They both end up in the Great War and both fight at the famous Battle of Saint-Mihiel. Gary Cooper has a tiny part in this film which jump-started his career. Clara Bow had a great time off screen with many of the extras and Cooper. One day I will read about the making of this film in detail.

2. FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX-1965

Now I haven't seen the remake because I rolled my eyes when they placed in the token female, besides, this film has Jimmy Stewart and he flew a bomber many times over Germany in World War 2 so he knows a thing or two about flying! This movie takes place in Africa, when the plane carrying bunch of men to work in the oil fields, crashes in the Sahara desert. You not only get to learn about these men but about survival. Their only chance is a arrogant German(of course) figuring out how to get the plane to fly before they all die. The only gal in this movie is a mirage-Barrie Chase, doing a sexy dance. This is an excellent film about men, the desert and that hunk of junk called an airplane.

3. Airport '77-1977

First, there was Airport with Burt Lancaster, then Airport '75 with Charlton Heston (Watch this hoot and then watch Airplane!) the 3rd one is Airport '77. In the 70's there were many disaster films-they were big! I love them all with all their campiness and this is another fun one with a huge cast from Jack Lemmon, Olivia De Havilland and Joseph Cotton to James Stewart, Christopher Lee and Lee Grant. Good ole George Kennedy is in all 3 playing the same role-gotta love that man:) It starts with 2 hijackers wanting to commandeer the plane because of all the priceless art on board. They knock out the Captain, gas the passengers to sleep (not be killed), and promptly crash the plane in the Bermuda Triangle. The passengers are, mostly, ok except they are now under water and, since they were off course, the Navy is not looking in the right place. How will they ever survive? You will have to watch this fun film to find out.

What 3 movies would you pick?

2 Cards...OH....and I hate Windows 10

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH! So the sound, on the laptop, cuts out whenever it wants to and when I tried to download my pictures of 2 cards I made, this %&$# computer said registration is still in progress, whatever the screaming Bajeebies that means.

My dear Friend, Marni took the pictures of my 2 cards when I was at work and e-mailed them to me so I could place them here. I need to have my ex visit again. I talked to him yesterday and let's just say, he is wanting to come here as a bear wants to wake up right now and say Yippee.

OK so here are my cards

Alphabet Challenge-Window
Color Throwdown-green, orange, yellow, grey and white-I missed this!
Craft Your Passion-Always Anything Goes

I took out a stencil I have not used yet and decided to colour the flower, with chalks, in various yellow to orange hues with some green added in. I used my cuddlebug and ran this pretty yellow shimmer paper through for the design, used a q-tip to colour the raised areas in orange with chalk and added stickles to the outside and the flower. I used a nice shimmer grey/silver cardstock for the actual card. Oh and to make the window, I cut it with the exacto-knife. I have not figured out how to keep it open or completely closed...hence my fingers. Thankfully the fingers are not part of the card....I am not David Lynch:)

Colour Q- glorious green, certainly celery, coastal cabana, silver and white
Happy Stampers-CASE the Designer-I used the butterfly and created a background
Fairytale Stampers-Anything Goes
Eclectic Ellapu-Purple team-Use one or more Die

Oh I had fun creating the background with all the colours from the Colour Q challenge. I took a sparkly white paper and used my sizzex to cut it out as well as the leaf (in a shimmery green paper). I placed silver sticker borders around the edge of the white cardstock (which I stamped the polka-dots in celery colour). I finished it off with the Happy Birthday sticker. I hope this works for the CASE card at Happy Stampers.

I wish I was a gypsy because I would curse this blasted machine. hmmm I did curse it already many a time. I think it might make an appearance on that new TV show called Lucifer. Have a great week everyone:)

Backstage Blogathon-The Bandwagon

Here we go with another bloghop co-hosted by Movies Silently who has started off the year to host a bloghop about films...about films or theatre, anything related to the backstage. The films must have been made before 1970 and must show some behind the scenes  of these nuts, I mean, actors on the job.  I chose one of the great musicals ever made.

THE BANDWAGON-1953

The plot concerns a man who's career in film is waning, so he decides to go back to his roots and travels to New York City to be in a stage musical. He meets his old pals, a husband and wife writing team who not only write the show but also the music. They bring in the fabled star and director of Shakespearean theatre to direct the musical. The team want to lure the fabled ballet star into the production as well.  The lead is played by the elegant Fred Astaire (54 yrs old at the time) whose career was not what it once was and the leggy Cyd Charisse plays the ballerina. Oscar Levant and Nanette Fabray  are the husband and wife song writing team and the very funny and equally elegant Jack Buchanen plays the Olivier director actor. The characters of Astaire and Charisse don't get along at first since he feels he is more of a hoofer where she comes from the ballet style (true in real life). Everyone is struggling to make this musical a go and finally the 2 main characters have a meeting of the feet, shall we say, in Central Park.

There is an opening night  in another city and it literally lays an egg(on screen and I laugh every time). Everyone feels the musical is doomed but Fred Astaire comes to the rescue and over their travels, they change the show and the numbers showcasing some great ones....

Finally they reach New York and you see the final Girl Hunt Ballet which no one will forget, not only for the great dancing but the way Cyd dances

How will they be received at the end? Is everyone happy? Well...it is the 1950's and in the great heyday of the musicals last hurrah so you can guess but this is a great film that I consider the bookend to Singing In The Rain.

The actors are superb  especially Jack Buchanen as the director. Everyone is great and Oscar Levant is..well, Oscar Levant. The songs are so much fun except for one...I hate the shoeshine song. "Shine the shoes, shoes that shine..." AGHHHH but I still watch it for the ending part because I love the jazzy style of how it ends and the man who shines the shoes is engaging.  How I wanted to learn how to dance like Cyd Charisse when I saw this film but I don't have those  killer legs. I am a bit happy that Cyd Charisse couldn't sing a note (she was dubbed).

What I love about this film as well is if you took out the musical numbers, the film still stands on its own. It is very witty and it does show how people never saw the sun while they were neck deep in rehearsals for a major broadway show.  You should see this film if you get a chance. If you are not a musical lover this film and Singing In The Rain are 2 that people will enjoy regardless.

Bye for now...

Thursday Movie Picks-Post Apocalyptic World

Oh, it is feel good movie time.....That's right, It's Post Apocalyptic movies where most everyone and everything is destroyed except for a very few survivors. If you head over to Wandering Through The Shelves, you will see what other people have picked. Each week there is a different theme where you pick 3 films that correspond to the theme. Here are my cuddly three...


1. A BOY AND HIS DOG-1975

Nothing says fuzzy wuzzy than a boy with his dog except the boy, played by Don Johnson of Miami Vice fame, can telepathically speak with his dog, named Blood. Vic has no morals and is just looking for a way to survive with his dog..oh...and have sex any way he can. He finds a young teenage girl who is quite willing to have sex and tells him of a Utopian society underground. Despite the dog's warnings, Vic leaves his dog and follows the gal. This town looks ok except all the people are dressed like rural town 1935 or so, wear white ghoulish make-up and the town is run by her dad played by Jason Robards. To say this film is a bit warped is putting it mildly but it is also quite funny in spots even with the theme of death, rape and control.


2. LOGAN'S RUN-1976

This seems to get chuckles nowadays but I like this movie. Yes it is campy and Farrah Fawcett is in it (all of 10 minutes) but I really enjoyed this film and the special effects were something for its day (It won the Oscar for that field). Michael York plays Logan who makes sure Runners are caught. Who are runners? Those are those pesky men and women who want to live past the age of 30...How dare they! One is supposed to go willingly into the carrousel where the people gets zapped by lasers and die. That's OK because they are to go to a higher plane...I'd run too. Logan finds this underground rebellion happening and, even though he is not 30 yet, he finds he is suddenly a runner. Logan and his new gal pal escape, much to Box's dismay (I love Box) and come to the outside world which they have never seen before. You soon realize they are walking in the ruins of Washington DC. This film actually is less dismal than many of these types of films and I enjoyed watching it.


3. 12 MONKEYS-1995

I love Terry Gilliam and this is one dark film but with some great insane comedic bits thrown in by Brad Pitt no less as the batshit crazy(another blogger's term that I am ripping, I mean, paying homage to) millionaire's son. After most of the world is obliterated, people live underground and prisoners are used for certain experiments. Mainly these prisoners are sent to the top to gain specimens etc to try to help see if the people can live with the animals that roam free in New York City. Bruce Willis is one such prisoner who is now going further than anyone else...back in time to try to stop what seems inevitable. He ends up in a mental institution where he meets the Brad Pitt character and soon feels this character is the key to all that is about to happen. This is one intelligent mind-bending film that I can watch over and over because there is always something new to see. Will the Bruce Willis character actually triumph? You will just have to watch the movie. Brad Pitt was actually really good in this and I think Bruce Willis is an under-rated actor because of all his Die Hard movies but this film shows more to his acting.

What films would you choose?

Cards! Yippee!

They are all Christmas cards since I still have this in my brain. It went from plus 7 to minus 7 in the span of a few hours! Nothing like Southern Ontario to screw with your body than to have the temps and rain/snow/wind go all wonky tonk.

Enough about that! Here are 3 cards I made this weekend. I also got all my Christmas decor down and I walked a little today. My ass is wondering what is going on.

Simon Says-Something New
Glitter N' Sparkle- Tic, Tac, Toe-I chose no Pattern papers, Gems and/or pearls, Distress
Animal Friends-Snow
Craft Your Passion-Always Anything Goes

I love this stamp and bought it last year but this is the first time I used it! I love this Polar Bear, let's call him Edgar, as he peeks into the camera lens. I love blue (no kidding) and used white pearl paper, which I distressed (ripped). I used my cuddlebug to emboss the snowflakes on the lighter blue paper. I stamped and embossed Edgar and the winter saying and added some gems.

ABC Christmas Challenge-Anything Goes
Crafty Hazelnut Challenge(CHNC)-Use red

I started this one before Christmas and just finished it now. I feel like those sloths who take 50 hrs to climb 5 inches up a tree. I love the green card stock because it shimmers - I must have been a magpie in a previous life. This is simpler than you think and it is 3D. I mounted everything..um....let's move on (I bet Robyn could say a thing or 3 here:)) I added the gold stickers in the corners and border and voila!

52 Christmas Cards-a Sketch challenge
Color Throwdown-Aqua blue, grey and Orange
Whimsy Stamps Challenge-Winter

I enjoyed making this one because it put a smile on my face. It feels like fun-Cosmo the Snowman seems to be waiting for the snow to come and happy about it. I stamped Cosmo in basic black and embossed in clear powder. I coloured his scarf and hat in orange and added glitter since he is a snowman. I used this dye ink and sponge to colour over the card going lighter towards the bottom. I stamped some filigree(which you can't see) at the top and embossed as well-it gives a grayish look I think. I coloured the Merry Christmas sticker in orange, added the stars around Cosmo and used a white pen for snow. It is mounted on a grayish/silver cardstock. 3 cards to begin the week!

Have a great week everyone!

Mock Squid Soup Film Society-12 Angry Men

A brand new year for the Mock Squid Soup Film Society where we either pick films we love to see or we pick from an ever increasing library of films others have chosen. Head on over to The Armchair Squid to see what the others have picked for January. My pick is another classic that the Armchair Squid had watched before....12 Angry Men from 1957.

This is not a courtroom drama but a jury drama done in the best way possible. It starts off where you see a young boy, who actually, to me anyway, looks innocent. The 12 jurors must now deliberate the fate of this young boy's life. All but one vote guilty. The 11 jurors are pissed that this one hold out has decided to vote innocent. We see these 12 men, suffering in the heat of summer (no a/c in that day) and becoming more heated. We become more involved in the lives of these men who are itching to leave so they can go to their baseball game, go home or just have this boy sent to the gas chamber. You become a witness yourself to a bigot, a lonely old man, a blowhart, and other joe schmos that you pass on the street every day and never look at them twice.

The acting is brilliant! Henry Fonda plays the lone hold-out but the other men are given the same justice on the screen and one can see how they love the words they are speaking. I do too and this is one of my favourite films. I don't care if there are no women because back in the day more men were picked for jury duty anyway and this should not even come into play.

If you like great writing and acting with great characters, watch this film. It is brilliant!

Thursday Movie Picks-Upstairs/Downstairs films

A brand New Year...makes me think of 16 years ago when everyone was freaking out about the Y2K. Nothing like panic and bloodshed to ring in the new century. It is now 2016 and let's see what this year will bring. My hope is that some "stars" will actually name their new kid with a name that makes sense and all these kids named North, Saint, Apple etc.. will all change their names to something unique but still a name and then bitch slap their parents for giving them these names that suck.

A new year for Thursday Movie Picks hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. This week it is all about maids and butlers-the Downstairs crowd-the butlers and maids who keep the place humming. etc... I love Downton Abbey which is coming to an end much to my dismay. This is a brilliant piece of film-making even if it is on TV. OK...Here are my 3 picks that showcase a butler or maid (or plural) in some films I have seen.

1. MY MAN GODFREY (1936)

A madcap heiress, played by Carole Lombard, is trying to find a down on your luck bum, played by her ex-husband, William Powell, for her scavenger hunt. Now he is neither a bum or down on his luck but they don't know this and hire him as the butler.  Don't think too hard about how gross it actually is for someone rich using another person for a game, just enjoy the screwball hilarity of the film. Lombard's performance is great as she does all she can to ensnare Powell as her husband. One does wonder, in this film, how the rich ever became rich since they are all a bunch of kooks. Powell and, to some degree, the father of the head of this household, are the only ones who seem to have some brains. It is a fun watch for sure.

2.  HOW TO MURDER YOUR WIFE-1965

A wealthy happily single man (Jack Lemmon), who writes a comic for the newspaper, is ably supported by his valet played by the wonderful Terry-Thomas (I love this guy) who helps him with his enactments of his comic-a spy. At a drunken bachelor party, Lemmon's character becomes enamoured with the gal in the whipped cream bikini (like any man would) and ends up married to her much to his dismay and that of his valet. What is a man to do but continue to make lovey with his Italian speaking wife all the while figuring out a way to kill her. His valet ready, willing and able to help him. The comic decides to use his comic strip as way to showcase the murder.  Despite the wish to kick just about every man in this film in their brains, you know, between their legs, I found this film to be quite funny and endearing...believe it or not. This is due to the wonderful acting of the 2 male leads. Credit also goes to Virna Lisi and Claire Trevor

3. THE HELP-2011

I really enjoyed this film despite mixed reviews. It takes place in the South during the late 50's early '60's (I believe) bringing you face to face with how the African American women were often mistreated by the people they worked for. It is a film that I found heart-warming, funny, anger-some and sad all at once. I love what the one maid did finally do to her employer-bless her for doing that-put a smile on my face.

One day I have to see the 1932 film, "Downstairs" starring John Gilbert...just saying:) What film would you pick?

Happy New Year!!

Would we ever wish Have a Decrepit New Year? I don't think so...we wish nothing but the best...for most people:) Some of us are probably happy to see 2015 go while others had a great year. I noticed my year seemed to be a resounding....meh. I need to do more, not sure what, but I want to create more cards.

Yup, my First card for the year and it is a Christmas Card! You thought it was over didn't ya? Oh well, nothing like getting started  right now for next year.

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge-Vintage/Anything Goes
CHNC2-Anything Goes as long as it is Christmas
Dream Valley Challenge- Christmas
Glitter N' Sparkle-Anything Goes

I enjoyed making this card to get me back into the swing of things. I used my Pencils on the Furbaby, the cuddlebug, ribbon, fussy cut out holly and crystals. Traditional red and green and why not. Let's see what the year will bring. I am looking forward to making tons of cards, talking about film, the A to Z in April, moving my ass since chocolate called my name all Christmas long and having a great year. Have a great year filled with blessings, health and joy.