I Am So Wicked

Stamps, black and mustard dye ink pad, alcohol inks, stickles

Color Throwdown- light pink, light blue, mustard looking yellow, woodsy green ctd597

Tic,Tac, Toe-Used bottom row-Summer, Bird, Sparkle tttc070

Stamping Sensations-Make It Colourful

I enjoyed playing with the alcohol inks putting the alcohol solution first onto the white cardstock and then dripping the pink, blue, yellow and green down onto the paper and seeing it start to swirl. I had no straw so I rolled up a sticky note to create a straw to blow through and blew the colours around. I added more and blew it around until I got the desired effect. I took my cage and bird stamp(at least 3 yrs old) and stamped it in black dye ink. I took my mustard dye ink and stamped the flower(about 2 years old) for a background. The corner stamps are 3 yrs old and I stamped them in black before finally taking my fern stamp, that is at least 20 years old, and stamped that in both colours onto the card. I finished it with the Hello saying(about 2 yrs old) and added stickles onto the dragonfly stamp(oops 3 yrs old) before adhering it to the yellow and bluish cardstock. 

Monkey stamp, tombow markers, alcohol inks, border stickers and saying.

Animal Friends-Monkey

Crafty Creations-Anything Goes

Simon Says-Anything Goes

I am a bad, bad girl and I hope I hope I don't get into trouble....I know, slap my hands but I recall going to Wild African Safari and watching all the monkeys, especially the baboons, just having a go whenever they wanted...frisky little guys and gals. This is for my friend V.J. who is such a frisky guy himself that I thought he would get a kick out of it. Oh wait, my friend is not this frisky but he will love this joke especially since he lived in South Africa for 3 years when he was a teen and had many a run in with monkeys..although not the way I show these 2. What can I say...I stamped the monkeys in black and coloured the intricate marking in tombow markers. The background is done with alcohol inks where I decided to take my felt stamper and stamped the colours everywhere to achieve put these colours down and used the alcohol solution to create a marble effect. I just adhered it to brown cardstock, added the gold sticker borders and saying, glued on the first monkey and used pop up dots for the second. When I was a kid, I used to say, "The devil made me do it." I now say this again:)

Thursday Movie Picks: TV Edition-Book to TV Adaptations

TV time again and this is another biggie from Wandering Through The Shelves who had the great idea to choose this theme and there are so many to choose from. I went with the King and Queen of the miniseries to a more recent British TV series and here they are...

1. EAST OF EDEN-1981

This is my favourite version of this book written by John Steinbeck. Don't get me wrong, the 1955 film that I have spoken about before is excellent but this one takes in more of the complete book than just the last part. Jane Seymour stars as the villainess, Cathy Ames who leaves her hometown, after burning down her home with her parents inside it. After  some foolishness on her part, she ends up on the doorstep, beaten to a pulp, of 2 brothers, Adam and Charles Trask. Of course we have the Cain and Abel story going on here where the good son sees Cathy through rose-coloured glasses and the bad boy sees Cathy for who she is. Let's just say her beauty gets the better of both ending up with her pregnant with twins. The latter half of the book is what most people know about where the twins are repeating the good and evil vibe set out by their Father and Uncle. This is excellently acted and really shows the acting chomps of Jane Seymour. To me, this is a must see.

2. THE THORN BIRDS-1983

When this miniseries came out(authored by Colleen McCullough), it caused a huge furor with the Catholic Church where the pope denounced it and the news dedicated whole segments about whether priests should be allowed to marry(uh yes!). This stars the king of the mini series, Richard Chamberlain as the young Ralph DeBricassart who is the priest in a small town in Australia near Drogheda, a huge sheep ranch reigned over by the great Barbara Stanwyck. Her brother and his wife come with their children to live and work on this farm. Their one girl is a young Meggie whom the priest grows very fond of. Well, little girls grow up and the priest has some very lusty thoughts but he quells them because he is also ambitious and has his eyes set on the Vatican. People were riveted to this miniseries that, I think, was 4 two hour episodes. I loved it and loved the romance, the acting and how so much repeats from one generation down to the next. Barbara Stanwyck won an Emmy for this role but felt Ann-Margaret should have won in her stead. This was second in the most popular miniseries next to Roots...another great TV show. Thank God Netflix and all these cable channels didn't exist back then. 

3. POLDARK-2015-2019

I love the PBS series starring a hubba hubba Aiden Turner as Ross Poldark who, considered dead for the past 5 years, shows up quite alive coming home to see his family and the love of his life, played by Heida Reed. Little does he know that she married his brother thinking Ross was dead. From there we meet a scruffy waif that Ross saves, played by Eleanor Tomlinson who cleans up very well with her long red locks. Soon enough they become a twosome but she can not stop him from saving his part of the world, working the mines, sparring with a jerk Jack Farthing and still drooling over his lost love. We meet a noble doctor, many townspeople, distant cousins, a disgusting minister with a penchant for women's toes all set around the last 1700's to the early 1800's. This is a wonderful series that is a remake of another Poldark done in the 1970's I love this one and hope you get a chance to see it.

Which 3 would you choose?

Thursday Movie Picks-Period Drama

This week is a biggie because I could have lists and lists under period drama so it was hard to pin it down to 3 so I decided to do a theme within a theme. Wandering through the Shelves picked a biggie this week so head on over to see what everyone else has chosen. Here are my 3...

1. QUEEN CHRISTINA-1933

“I shall die a bachelor” said the great Greta Garbo as Queen Christina, the 17th century Queen of Sweden and Garbo did die a bachelor. She played this Queen as I would think this Queen would have been not that I know much about her. This was done before the Hays Code and Breen Office decided to bring the censorship sword down on the film industry so you see some strong suggestions that The Queen and her Lady in Waiting are more than just girlfriends. We see the Queen, dressed as a man, meet and fall in love with, yes, a man, played by Garbo’s once huge love, John Gilbert. They spend a wonderful night together and you know they did. It is an excellent film and sad knowing that Gilbert, once the most famous leading man in the mid to late 20s, is now a costar to Garbo. He plays his part of her lover so well. 

2.  ANNA KARENINA-1935

I actually read the lengthy book and, to be honest, Anna Karenina was so irritating in the book I was glad when she was gone which is about half way through the book from what I remember.  This film was a very good adaptation centering on Anna Karenina and her love/lust for Count Vronsky pissing off her stoic, cold husband who hurts her where it really hurts..not allowing her to see her son. I do like this film especially Frederic March as Count Vronsky but there is something in Garbo that makes me think she is just too strong to play the mentally imbalanced Anna. I could picture her rolling her eyes between takes. I have to admit that I prefer the great Vivien Leigh as Anna even though the Vronsky in that film sucks. This is the superior film and it is well acted and worth a look.

3. CAMILLE-1936

Garbo plays the title role as the doomed heroine/courtesan aka, high priced hooker, who can charm most men with her looks not to mention the bedroom slippers she wore underneath her outfits(Garbo wanted to wear them as they were more comfortable). She is the kept woman of a nasty jerk played to the hilt by sneering Henry Daniell but falls for the prettiest young man to enter the film world since Valentino-Robert Taylor. Taylor falls hard for this gal and she reciprocates but when Taylor's dad comes to visit explaining her relationship with his son will doom him, she decides to be noble. This was Garbo's favourite film and I will say she did look very lovely in the costumes and hats she wore. She acted so well and was the Meryl Streep of her day but Garbo never won an Oscar.

So which 3 would you choose?

It is a Wonderful Life

 

Gold shine paper, alcohol inks, holly stamp, gold embossing powder, saying stamp, bronze dye ink and clear embossing powder, markers, dark red stickles, wink of Stella clear glitter brush 

ABC Christmas- L is for Love and M is for Movies

Addicted to Stamps-Holiday

Sparkles Monthly-Use a real stamp

I love Al Hirschfeld and always dreamed of being drawn by him. He was a great artist that depicted many actors, films, theatre and TV in his almost 100 years on this earth before passing away. So when I saw the challenge of love and movies, I was hoping I would find  his take on my favourite film, “It’s A Wonderful Life. I found it on the computer and then drew it by looking at his drawing. I don’t do it justice but I am still happy with the result and found this film shows one of the most romantic and sexy moments in Jimmy Stewart’s film career, you wouldn’t think so but it is. After drawing it, I coloured it with markers and used pastels to created the background and added some musical notes since they did sing “Buffalo Bill, won’t you come out tonight.” I stamped the holly stamp in gold and embossed it in gold powder. I coloured it with markers and fussy cut it out before I cut it to make the edges. I took a gold glossy cardstock and used a couple of alcohol inks to create the marble look before adhering it to the red paper. I layered everything and used pop up dots for the holly. I finished it off with the saying, added the stickles for the red berries and the wink of Stella to create a subtle sparkle on the leaves. With everything going on, we forget that we really do have a wonderful life.

Here is his caricature of what I drew from. I thought it would be nice to add this.

Thursday Movie Picks-Prequels

It's prequels week! Honestly, I had to google this because I was drawing a blank except for one. I noticed most prequels seem to be horror flicks that I don't care about. Wandering Through The Shelves picked a tough one this week, at least for me. Head over to her blog and see what everyone has chosen...Here are my 3...

1. STAR WARS 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE-1999

I still have to see the newest versions and, when I start to get mixed up with all the sequels, prequels etc...I turned off the films. I still prefer the first 3 that we made back in 1977, 1980 and 1983.  This  film is all about how Q-Tip(whatever his name is but well played by Liam Neeson)is mentoring a young Obi Wan Kenobi, played by Ewan McGregor, and is on the search for THE one. THE one is to be the saviour of all that is good against the evil forces. He believes he found him in the young Anakin Skywalker, played horribly by a really irritating kid, not realizing that this kid will grow up to be Darth Vader. We meet Jar Jar Binks...we won't go there, and a young Queen Armadillo(something like that) whom the dark forces are after. We have this evil guy with black and red zig zags across his face and teeth that a dentist would not want to fix. This sets in motion all that will happen in the future. The special effects are brilliant and the fight scene between Q-tip, Obi Wan and Zig Zag guy is excellent especially with the music composed by John Williams. In fact, I love that music piece and it is worth a listen.

2. RED DRAGON-2002

This is a precursor to Silence of the Lambs and it is a tense, thriller with sadness for the killer...not Anthony Hopkins but the character played by Ralph Fiennes. Fiennes is such a brilliant actor that, in lessor hands, his character would have been one dimensional. It starts off where the brilliant Hannibal Lector is caught but not before almost killing the detective played by Ed Norton. A few years later, a serial killer is running around the town and the cops need the Ed Norton detective who, in turn, needs the help of Hannibal Lector to find this monster before another victim is taken. It is an excellent prequel in my humble opinion.

3. OZ, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL-2013

Before Dorothy comes down and kills the Wicked Witch of the East with her house, meeting the drunken munchkins and singing down the yellow brick road, we meet Oz aka Oscar, played by smarmy, wanna slap him, James Franco. He works in a circus but is caught by the strong man making moves on the strongman's gal so Oscar leaves in a big hot air balloon only to be taken by a tornado to the magical land of Oz. There he meets sweet Theodora, a good witch who falls in love with the jerk. They go to the Emerald city and meet her sister, Evanora and they go in search of the wicked Witch...Glinda. Ya, we know she is not wicked and Theodora, so upset by being jerked around by a man(we have all been there) turns evil and green (we have not been there). This is an ok film with some beautiful art direction and wonderful costumes. I just didn't like it at all how the poor sweet gal becomes so evil because of a stupid oaf...he's not worth it Theodora! I wanted to go into the screen and take her to the nearest bar and have a few margaritas with her to help her realize she is better off without that jerk. Oh well..can't have everything. 

Which 3 would you choose?

Thursday Movie Picks: Seven Deadly Sins-Sloth

I am still getting used to this new format but at least I can write this on my IPad now. It's the next one from the Seven Deadly Sins which is sloth. I had a hard time with this one because i know I watched many films where there was some lazy oaf in the film but i could not come up with them. I know The Big Lebowski will be popular today so I am not choosing that one plus I have not seen the whole film yet. I almost chose Virginia Mayo from White Heat because I love that she lays around and, at one point, she is snoring but she is also a two timer and maybe she doesn't quite fit. I hope the 3 I chose do fit. Check out Wandering Through The Shelves to see what other films have been chosen. 

1. GONE WITH THE WIND-1939

This is still the biggest money maker ever when you convert the dollars it made to today's dollars. It is an epic film even though it glorifies the South but that takes a back seat to Scarlett and her scheming ways to nab dumbnut Ashley Wilkes away from boring Melanie Wilkes despite them marrying..talk about kissing cousins. Scarlet manipulates men except for one, good ole Rhett Butler who loves her despite the fact that she is a double B-beautiful bitch. Scarlet always goes back to Tara-her home and land that is a part of her. So where is the lazy coming in? This comes in the form of Miss. Prissy, the house slave who don't know nuttin' 'bout birthin no babies. She really knows how to be a dog F#$!  meaning she does as little as possible but gets slapped in the process. The wonderful Butterfly McQueen stole the scenes that she was in with her acting and high pitched voice. She was an endearing soul that hated to be typecast and quietly left Hollywood going back to college living in her little cottage before passing away at 84.

2. RETURN OF THE JEDI-1983

Pizza the Hut..er, I mean Jabba The Hut was only in this film at the beginning but he was memorable as a hugely, obese slug who chained up Carrie Fisher in her skimpy outfit where her boobs popped out so frequently, the men would just tell her she was popped out again. Every boy and man slobbered like Jabba seeing Carrie in that outfit. This slug really could not move much and was an evil slimy thing happy to have Han Solo frozen in that slab of whatever. Of course, Luke saves everyone but not before almost dying in the dunes fighting off a number of beasts with the help of Leia(still in her outfit), Han(now unfrozen), Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian, played by suave and handsome, Billy Dee Williams. The rest of the film has Luke fighting Daddy Dearest while the others are trying to stop the evil empire with the help of those irritating little shits called the Ewoks who overpower sophisticated machines using their rocks and vines...OK. 

3. OFFICE SPACE-1999

3 friends work in an office for a scumbag boss along with some weirdos including a guy who probably would love to blow up something if he doesn't get his red stapler back. The friends must contend with a printer that never works properly(we have all been there) until they take it out and slam the hell out of it. When the Bobs come to revamp the company and make it more efficient aka-firing a bunch of people, Peter decides to show up without dress protocol and just says what is on his mind. Instead of being fired, he is promoted and Peter decides to do F-All and be the biggest slacker ever. His 2 friends are fired so the 3 of them hatch a plan to take out a few pennies from the company they work for but it doesn't go as planned. This is a very funny film about the frustrations of working in an office job and the dream of wanting to slack when you are unappreciated. 

I hope these 3 fit...which would you choose?