Another fun card I made using my color bursts, water, a stamp and lots of fun. These color bursts are in a small plastic bottle which you just sprinkle a little bit down, add water and watch the colour explode. It's so much fun to see how the colours work. Once the pink and plum dried, I stamped the flower image and fussy cut it out. I adhered the green backing(OK not quite sage and celery but they are kind of around...use your imagination) to some pink cardstock and added the flower using pop up dots I coloured the leaves in sage and celery (honestly I did), added the border stickers, that I coloured in a pale pink, and the pink Crystals for the centre of the flowers.
I wish all of you a great last day of February. Please let's send our special thoughts to the people, and their pets, of Ukraine. This is, unfortunately, not the first time they have had to deal with Russia (They lost close to 7 million people in 1932/33, due to starvation and murder, at the hands of Stalin during his Russian rule. Ukraine has always been their own country in my eyes.
We have the TV edition and it is all about workplace romance. I could have gone the Love Boat route and, even Hart to Hart (I love that show), but I chose 3 that did take place in the office. Wandering Through The Shelves made me put on my thinking cap for this one...
1. CHEERS-1982-1993
I love this show which had a great cast from Ted Danson as Alcoholic, womanizing, Sam Malone, Shelley Long as repressed, neurotic snob Diane Chambers to many of the characters we meet at the bar-Norm, Cliff, Woody, Carla, Coach and, later, Frazier, Lilith and Rebecca who also had a fling with Sam. When this show started it was the lowest rated comedy...the lowest but, thankfully, the brain of NBC, Brandon Tartikoff, would not cancel it. By the end of season one, when Sam and Diane finally express their feelings, it shot up to #1 and stayed there. When Shelley Long left the show (she thought she would make it big in movies...zzzz), Kirstie Alley came in as Ice Queen Rebecca Howe and made the show even better. Woody was played by Woody Harrelson who became a big star and Kelsey Grammar was such a hit as Frazier Crane on this show that his 6 parter grew to be a regular and, finally, became the longest running character on TV because the actor went on to play Frazier in another excellent sitcom with his ex-wife, Lilith, reprising her role, on occasion, on the latter series. Ok that was a very long sentence.
2. ANYTHING BUT LOVE-1989-1992
This show is not well remembered but I think it was quite funny with Jamie Lee Curtis hired on a magazine with Richard Lewis as a fellow columnist. They meet on a plane and he is the one who gets her the job at the magazine. They are instantly attracted to one another but try to resist it because of the workplace situation. Many at the office don't buy into it. We see the comical manner these 2 create and, believe it or not, Jamie Lee Curtis makes Richard Lewis likeable and they have good chemistry. I have to say I loved the TV critic, played by Joseph Maher, who was so great as his snarky character.
3. JUST SHOOT ME-1997-2003
I started watching this show because George Segal was in it and he is funny as the wacky dad who owns a cosmo style magazine. His daughter comes to him for a job after being fired from her previous one and feels like she has to take a step down to work there. The photographer can match her but loves being "free". You have Wendy Malick as the former super model now working here but still loving the fun life of sex, drugs and rock n' roll often coming in late not knowing what day or year it is. David Spade plays the icky assistant to Segal who is always trying to get laid but never does because...well,....he is David Spade. This was another series that people have forgotten about but it is worth seeing because the characters are funny and it is well played. The lead gal is played by Laura San Giocomo who is excellent but I have not seen her in much since the show ended which is a shame.
Here, in Canada, we have our newest holiday, Family Day, which is the 3rd Monday in February. Jumping Junipers! We are at the end of February already and I can't get over it. Well, yes...I can but I can't believe we will be heading into March which brings birthdays but also a wonderful weather mix of WTF. It could be raining, snowing, ice, fog, warm temps to 70F but also -10 C and all in one day. I hate March. I created the Apfel Kuchen or, apple cake, for my hubby on Family Day and it turned out quite well. My mom and I often made this cake when I was growing up. Now I just need whipping cream (not the dreaded cool whip which is sugared oil in white) but the true blue whipping cream that I do whip up for hubby. He also like the cake with ice cream. This got me thinking about music that concerns family and here are my choices...
1. THE ADAM'S FAMILY-1964
Of course I will choose this song because haven't we all felt like we were born into this type of family on one occasion or another? For the series, I prefer the Munsters but The Adams Family is well known especially with the cartoon and the movies starring Angelica Huston and Raul Julia. This song was written by Vic Mizzy (Love that name) who wrote for many shows including this one.
2. FAMILY PORTRAIT BY PINK-2001
You didn't expect this one from me did ya? I actually really like Pink even if her pants are way, way too low in this video. I don't think it's appealing to see the hip bones and all that, no matter what sex you are. I'm not a prude but it is not aesthetically pleasing. Anyhoo, back to the song which is very hard hitting, sad but truthful. Many children had to listen to their parents argue and it stays with them. When I was a teen, my dad was in his mid 60s and truly was raised old school, literally in a log cabin with no running water, up north. We clashed because I was a teen (aka bratty) and he couldn't deal with me getting older so he could be very hurtful and used harsh words that still resonate with me. My mom was in the middle and he would blame me for their arguments. He died just before I turned 24 and we were coming to know each other, respect each other and grow up together. I bet he would have been proud of me and I would be more helpful to him and understanding. He could be very unfair at times but, if anyone would ask me if he was a fair man, I would state, without hesitation, "Yes." No person comes from a perfect family but some are blessed with better role models than others. I had 2 great role models. By the way, my mom was always the disciplinarian where no meant no!
3. WE ARE FAMILY BY SISTER SLEDGE-1979
You know I would pick this one because it is just so obvious. This song was written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers but sung by this sister group. No one thought it would become the mega hit it is today that has been used in many films like The Birdcage. I love dancing to this.
Any family songs? Maybe songs your whole family loved to listen to?
I am finally getting my mojo back with card making. When Covid hit and we had to work remotely, I was using my craft room to work in. It made me feel comforted and safe... until I was let go in a most mean way to be honest. A one sentence blurb through Zoom without even a word saying they would give me a reference or anything was a kick in the gut. Thankfully, I have saved my numerous google reviews from many clients. I didn't realize that I now looked at my craft room in a negative way until I got better from my operation and Christmas left. After Christmas, I just didn't want to go into my room of solace but...enough is enough! I straightened it out (it's a mess again but that's ok) and I am working on a scrapbook but I have created a couple of cards but only showing one today.
I took my inspiration from the Fusion Challenge because those birds are lovely. Nature is just amazing isn't it? I wasn't sure if I could use distress paste on the golden backing but it worked. I took a stencil and smeared the paste over it followed by gold embossing powder over top. Once the paste was dry, I heated the powder to get the nice finish. I took some glossy white cardstock and, using my tombow markers, I coloured in the image before stamping it onto the paper. I used the colours from the image for my birds and I took a sponge and coloured the white background with teal. I fussy cut the bird image out and adhered it to the card using pop up dots. Finally, I used a teal marker to colour the sticker and adhered that to the bottom part. The light shimmer gold with the bold mirror gold works well, I think.
It will be a while before I am done my scrapbook but, once it is done, I will share some pics. Now, let's hope I can do more cards as I feel the groove.
I have never had a second chance at love with the same person which is what, I think, Wandering Through The Shelves, was thinking about with this week's theme. I have had a second...and 3rd chance at love but with different men and the last is the best. He is my peaches and cream even when I wish I had a cream pie I could throw at him. I know there are, probably, many films out there about people who get a second chance but I had a tough time to come up with them. Anyhoo, here are my 3...+1:))
1. THE LADY EVE-1941
I chose this one last year but it fits for this theme too so, why not. Henry Fonda plays a naive (ha!) man who spent a year in the amazon looking for snakes or something like that. He happens to be rich as well and every woman on the boat is looking at him but only one knows how to steal his heart, good ole Barbara Stanwyck. The problem is that she and her dad, nicely played by Charles Coburn, are grifters wanting to con the poor schmuck out of his money. She ends up falling in love with him but, when he finds out who she truly is, he dumps her like a sack of wet cement. This gal does not take this lightly and sets about screwing with his brain(and that's it, remember it's 1941 and the censors are on big alert) by posing as Lady Eve to make him fall for her all over again. A great screwball comedy directed by the equally great, and often forgotten, Preston Sturges. A film worth seeing.
2. LYDIA-1941
I really like this unknown gem because it is about love and how the men all come to visit Lydia when they are now old and dried up like prunes..just kidding (am I?). Poor Lydia is a prune herself but we get to learn all about this beautiful lass, played by Merle Oberon, as she meets the main men in her life who are all good men but, although she cares for them deeply, she only ever loved one but did he truly love her. This is quite a good film and more mature given the time. How love can be so fickle.
3. LOVE AMONG THE RUINS-1975
I haven't seen this film in decades, probably since I was 11 yrs old which is when this TV movie came out. This is when the regular TV channels had some great movies. This stars Katherine Hepburn, Lawrence Olivier and it was directed by George Cukor about a famous actress who is being sued by her, very much younger, fiance because she decided not to marry him. She hired one of the best lawyers forgetting that they, too, were once lovers when they were much younger. He has not forgotten but she has. It's a very nice movie that deals with love in a more mature way than what we often see now because most love movies are with people in their 20s. John Barry composed the score to this as well. I mention him because he composed 2 scores I spoke about in my post the day before.
Bonus...
4. MCLINTOCK-1963
This is an excellent Western comedy starring the great John Wayne as George McLintock anxiously awaiting the train that is bringing his daughter (played by Stephanie Powers) to visit him. What he does not know is that his long-separated wife is also on the train. The whole town is aware of their volatile marriage and her grandiose, snooty way of living and all wish McLintock would bring her down a peg or 2. What they don't know is that he could use it as well and she is the only one to do it. There are many funny scenes especially the one in the mud where many of them took a steep slide down into this very, very cold mud. The stars, both Wayne and O'Hara both did their own stunts including the last big fight scene between them when O'Hara lands in a horse's trough. Today, people will be aghast at the hairbrush to butt sequence but, personally, she deserved it...the character not the actress who did get the brunt of the brush but was all in for the reality. I would never take that for real but, this is a movie and it is not to be taken seriously. I would even say it is like a screwball comedy western.
You have seen this picture before but, since I am going all lovey-dovey,, I thought seeing 2 people in love (my parents) just fit. Love is in the air and I went the movie route...big surprise.
1. LOVE THEME FROM SOMEWHERE IN TIME BY JOHN BARRY-1980
I saw this film when it first came out because I had a big crush on Christopher Reeve and I thought Jane Seymour was so beautiful plus it had the fantasy element. An old lady comes to Richard, after his play's success, hands him a watch, and says "Come back to me." 8 years later, he decides to take a side trip to an old hotel and comes across a picture of a once famous actress and learns it is the same old lady that came to see him many moons ago. He falls for the lady and finds a way to travel back in time. A love story ensues which is one that I do like. This song is throughout the film as well as the "Theme of Paganini" by Rachmaninoff an equally great piece of music.
2. THEME FROM OUT OF AFRICA BY JOHN BARRY-1985
I love this theme so much as well as the soundtrack, which I have in CD (yes, I still own CDs, my preferred way of listening to music). This was also composed by John Barry for which he won an Oscar for best score. It is loosely based on the love affair of Baroness Karen Von Blixen and Denys Finch Hatton while she was married to Baron Hans Von Blixen. I have tried to watch this long, epic love story but ..ughhh. First, I found Meryl Streep boring as dirt and her Danish accent irritating. I loved the cinematography but I don't like seeing the killing of any animal even if none were hurt during the making of this film. It's just deplorable how many animals have been taken for trophies. Robert Redford is nice to look at but I loved Klaus Maria Brandauer as her husband. I will try to watch this again but, we shall see.
3. LARA'S THEME FROM DR. ZHIVAGO BY MAURICE JARRE-1965
Oh man, yes, I picked this song and the film more than once, but I just love it and it works so well with my theme. I didn't want to go full John Barry anyway. Boris Pasternak wrote the story based, somewhat, on his great love affair with Olga Ivinskaya. He wrote the book in 1957 which was smuggled out of Russia where it won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958. To save his family and mistress, he had to decline the award. To keep them apart, the Russian government often had either Pasternak arrested and sent away or Olga was sent to the gulags. After he passed away, with thousands of people attending his funeral, Olga asked for the love letters Boris sent to her but the Russian government declined. This is a very famous piece that runs throughout the film and justly so which also won for best score, as well, at the Oscars.
Which Romantic score from the movies captures your heart?
I found this one a bit tough because my brain kept going to that flick, "Nodding Off", oops I meant "Notting Hill". Ok, It's not that bad, it has its charm except when she talks about a girl meeting a boy blah blah... I finally came up with 3, that I don't believe I used before, for this theme, that was selected by Wandering Through the Shelves. Here are my 3...
1. ARSENIC AND OLD LACE-1944
I love this movie where a famous writer, claiming that marriage is for ninkompoops (or is that nimkampoops?) is marrying the girl next door. He avoids the press wanting a big scoop as they venture back home to pack and spend their honeymoon at Niagara Falls (Hey, I know they can get a great deal at the Rendezvous motel, an actual motel!). Poor Mortimer Brewster, played by Cary Grant, finds out his dear sweet aunts kill old men and have their nutty loon of a brother, who thinks he is Teddy Roosevelt, dig another grave for a yellow fever victim. Crazier still, Mortimer's brother, the nasty Raymond Massey, decides to pay a visit with his sidekick (Peter Lorre) since he is trying to hide from the police. Mortimer forgets all about his wife since he must deal with all these bodies. A very funny, black comedy that makes me laugh every time I watch it. The 2 old aunts just about steal the picture. I love that Raymond Massey's character is compared to Boris Karloff who played Massey's part on Broadway.
2. PLAY MISTY FOR ME-1971
Client Eastwood made his directorial debut with this classic nutjob after famous person movie. Clint plays a disc jockey with a loyal group of followers, one being the fruitcake Jessica Walter(who passed away last March) who calls and asks for him to play the song "Misty". They end up meeting and like all good men, he takes her to bed and they get all misty. He thinks, that is that and see ya around baby, but he has no clue what is in store. He messed with the wrong gal especially when she buys him white shoes. You know she's gotta be nutso ipso facto when she buys someone white shoes, like WTF? This is quite an intense thriller about "love" and the sad thing is that this happens for real. How many famous people have been stalked, hurt or even killed because of a person with major delusions. If you want to know more, just read about Rebecca Schaeffer who died from her injuries at 22 years old or Theresa Saldana who survived her attack.
3. AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS-2001
Let me start off with saying, this is a dumb movie. Ok, we got that out of the way, plus it stars John Cusack who can be annoying for some reason but so can any of the stars in this movie and there are a lot-Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta Jones, Christopher Walken, Billy Crystal, Stanley Tucci (whom I love). John and Catherine are famous, married movie stars who have made many successful films together but now they are heading for divorce. Billy Crystal wants them back together, just for now, to make sure her latest film, from director Christopher, will be a hit. They decide to go along with the charade even though Catherine's boytoy, played by Hank Azaria, is not happy about it. In the mix is Julia who plays Catherine's sister and her gal Friday. Of course, it has been found that John likes Julia and vice versa but issues come into play. I can watch this more than "Nodding Off" for some reason (it must be that speech that Julia says about a girl meeting a boy...zzzz) even though this is more of a mess despite the cast. If it's on TV and you want to just sit back and not think, this is a good movie to watch. I like Christopher Walken in this movie.
