ambasadorr: April 2007

Friday, April 27, 2007

Delighful!

Hello! I have been waitng to post about this wallpaper pack that I ordered from Holly. I am behind in showing you this beautiful package!!! She gave up beautiful vintage wallpapers and a border! Plus vintage tulle millinery...I have several ideas to put this to use!

You can see Holly's bussiness card in the lower left hand corner of the picture below.. She has used the image of a beautiful painting that she has done!

Before getting started on another project I must keep working on the diningroom/studio. This is making me nervous...Caitlin and I both want a studio space, however, this is needed as a diningroom also. I have been waiting over two years to paint this room and get my dishes and books back in this room. It is my favorite place to go in the morning (I get up pretty early) to read, plan, think, and to be thankful! I have a feeling I am not going to have the same space again. Well, "change it'll do you good" is how some song goes!
I have another beautiful package of goodies to show you at my next post!!! : ) Have a wonderful Saturday!

Delighful!

You can see Holly's bussiness card in the lower left hand corner of the picture below.. She has used the image of a beautiful painting that she has done!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Announcing our international blogging friends from The Writingmatrix project!!!

Here you can find more information about our project: Writingmatrix. That's our wiki for the project.

These are some of the teachers participating in this adventure:

Nelba Quintana from Argentina: to visit her blog go to http://englishvirtualcommunity.blogspot.com/

These are some of her students's blogs:
(Eugenia's) http://marueugeo.blogspot.com/
(Rosaura's) http://rosaura-etch.blogspot.com
(Matías') http://mbasilico.blogspot.com

Rita Zeinstejer is also a teacher from Argentina and her students are participating in our project, too!

You can visit her podcast at http://caeb2007.podomatic.com/

These are her students' spaces:

http://www.franco_caeb.podomatic.com/ Franco´s
http://www.elghielme.podomatic.com/ Mauro´s

http://dontknowme.podomatic.com/ Anita´s

http://paula_armoa.podomatic.com/ Paula A.´s

http://fake_us.podomatic.com/ Facundo´s

http://noelia.podomatic.com/ Noelia's

asha Sirk in Slovenia: http://rostilj.blogspot.com.

Slovene informatics student blogs:
SueAnn http://su4x.blogspot.com/
Matej http://catmanworld.blogspot.com/
Aleš http://bagonales.blogspot.com/
Robert http://kasan-robert.blogspot.com/
Igor http://diverssi.blogspot.com/
Dušan http://dusanpregelj.blogspot.com/; http://motorcycles10.blogspot.com/
Aleksander http://alex4uall.blogspot.com/
Bogdan http://napredek.blogspot.com/
Robert Č. http://planinarjenje.blogspot.com/

Keep post it... I'll be adding more teachers and blogs to visit..... meanwhile... keep on shining and blogging... comments.... we want comments.....

A warm abrazo to you all

Monday, April 23, 2007

Flea Market Season!!! Oh Merci, Merci!!!

Ya ay ya! Caitlin and I are so happy that it has finally arrived! We love the thrift stores, but we really enjoy the event of a flea market. There are the favorite vendors to see and the new ones to meet, and the aromas of grilled foods. This year a nearby meat market had a large grill and tent, The Wurst Kitchen. Wurst is German for sausage...as in bratwurst. My choice is Italian sausage but they did not bring that. So we opted for a hot dog. They should think about grilling veggies.
The weather was GORGEOUSE!!! Somewhere in the 80's with of coarse a breeze. You may call it GUSTS of wind. It blows your hair everywhere and causes havoc for the vendors. We did see a few broken plates. I wonder if the markets in California have this problem? It sure kept the temperature comfortable!
Caitlin found, in the first booth a beautiful necklace, I think form the 50's and she came back at the end (1 hr 15 min till closing) and swooped it up. The markets here have not been as busy as in the past. I will let you hop over to Caitlin's to see her goodies. I found a great, older iron chaise lounge that I have been wanting since ~2003 but I have to confess that I prefer making large purchases (whether size or $) with the Hubby. It was black...change that to a nice apple green , blue or soft pink or white!
Well we did get these two adorable pins

A pink deer and a blue one! We both really like deers. I grew up on a street called Dearfield. (with a tree in the back of our yard known to the whole nieghborhood as THE TARZAN TREE. (I do not recommend playing tree tag). Ok the goods...

The little angels were all together in a bag and I have a great idea for them. I happen to love pink and aqua jewlery, among others, and these pins and earrings where a nice find.

The blue flower IS A KLEENEX FLOWER!!! I remember girls making these for various things. It came in a bag with this pink corsage

and these cool felt flowers

We ended up getting 5 handkechiefs. I also found a pretty pink beaded necklace.
As great as these finds are the best came at the end when we were making our way to the exit...i spyied the most beautiful roses I had ever seen. I had to ask if they were real! They were, and she gave me one! Oh BUT WAIT! I asked about them and a gentleman comes up, he is a forist in the city and Caitlin's boyfriend, James, gives her roses quite often. But this guy only does events. He reaches around the flowers and asks if he can give them TO ME!!! all 13!!! (I counted them when We got home). They were packing up to leave and would not be brining the roses home! OH THE SCENT IS HEAVENLY!!! The last dealer, where Caitlin got her necklace, admired the roses so SHE GOT TO PICK ONE OUT! Caitlin and I were thrilled with the necklace still being there and the roses!!! OH, What a day.

Flea Market Season!!! Oh Merci, Merci!!!

The little angels were all together in a bag and I have a great idea for them. I happen to love pink and aqua jewlery, among others, and these pins and earrings where a nice find.

The blue flower IS A KLEENEX FLOWER!!! I remember girls making these for various things. It came in a bag with this pink corsage

and these cool felt flowers

Saturday, April 21, 2007

What Does Spring Mean?....OOh LA LA

Rebirth...BIRTH. And there are several babies at the zoo waiting for there first closeups!!! It is the best time of year to go to the zoo!! I saw a cute baby elphant somewhere and here in Chicago there is a new little one!!! Check out the Debut.

What Does Spring Mean?....OOh LA LA

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Coup D'oeil de Sneek!

Sneek Peek! It will be a week tomorrow!!! We added new moldings on the floor, my husband also finessed the crown molding he added a few years back. It looks very beautiful now. He has a few touch ups and I have to paint two new shelves he made for the shelf unit. The cabinets we picked up a number of years back at Crate and Barrel Outlet. I have been informed that they really should be completely painted : ( This is not what a girl wants to hear when she wants the room DONE! And not to mention she still has to make sure it looks like a diningroom and not a studio! This will be a rather large feat as Caitlin and I both will be using the room. The key is to pick up your things at the end of the day...not the end of the project. OH to dream of my own studio. I really like to be organized. I can breathe, I can FIND MY THINGS at a snap of my fingers! Ohhh swoon. Of coarse if I ever get my own studio I would then be held accountable ....to be organized! By you know who? The Hubby. He is positive I am not organized. But I know that I am. After all, a family cannot go camping for 5 days and never forget anything if I hadn't planned and organized! Of coarse those were the days when sleeping on the ground was comfortable, and showering bright and early to avoid the line, OH and to have the skill of our native American Ancestors and HEAR the approaching Thunderstorm without getting out of bed first, to survive a tent surrounded by water...complete with logs floating in the fire pit. Luckily my husband was there too : ) We escaped out of the back door of our brand new tent!!!thankgoodness for the new tent..dry all night and a backdoor to boot! All separate trips. No, I do not go camping anymore. Oh, did I mention the tornado?
I digress. I will also be working on another chandelier. I may try painting it a coral color first.

My original plan was to put sea shells all over it and then drapping around... I made some really pretty shell candelabras a few years back for some clients...always wanted to have a shell chandelier! So...go modern or go casual. I'm sure they both frighten my Hubby very much. hahahaa. It is best that he doesn't know..a very difficult feat! Yes, he will laugh later. When it looks amazing! Maybe I will do both!! Yes, have my cake and eat it too!!! To the bakery...AH that would be Jenny's place!
It has been a very difficult week for our country and our little design problems mean nothing when a loved one will not be there to be hugged. My heart and prayers are with them.

Coup D'oeil de Sneek!

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Take the Survey!

I found this interesting site where you can design your own surveys. This is an example, go ahead and take it. TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF - The SURVEY

Monday, April 16, 2007

Announcing OUR BLOGS!!!!!

Saturday, April 14, 2007

THINKING AWARDS

It is that time again, again? For the Thinking Awards I have been honored this year to be a recipient as I was chosen by
Phyllis. She has a great little flea market every Friday...and the weather is ALWAYS nice!
Ok...I have done a grreeat deal of THINKING so that the next 5 honors go on to the proper person. The first choice goes to GypsyPurple And if you go right away and read , well any of her blogs, but especially April 12, 2007 you will agree with me that she puts great thought and love to her blog! YAYAYA (clapping in background). The next choice will be...Karla. She also is a very great soul. She has theee kindest heart. And the love in her family Easter photos shows this!!! The third award is bestowed onto Kari. All of you who know ArtsyMama know that she is VERY deserving of this award! She contributes writings for other blogs and...well, YOU will see! : ) Now that makes this one the Fourth Award...Dede!. She can help you thru anything because SHE BELIEVES! It is also VERY FUN to read her blog, can you imagine if you knew her in the flesh! What fun! Drum roll please .....And Now ...The Fifth Award goes to Jenny!. WOW! A talented artist and another gentle soul. just go back to her March 3.2007 post andafter you look at the beautiful pictures of Rosanna's kitchen and treasured art collection you can read Jenny's post! And here is another girl who knows that Fun in life is VIP!!!Congratulations all of you! I know that you are all VERY, VERY BUSY, so Thank You for coming and please, recipients, take an extra moment to pass along Five more awards to your top THINKERS!!
Please note that I found that most all of the words used to describe the winners also accurately describe all of you special bloggers that I have "met" Thank You for coming by to read my post!
I am very excited to in the May Basket Swap that Kari is having! She sure can think of alot of ways to have fun! And I do need to have some fun! : )

THINKING AWARDS

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Let's cook!

I found these amazing sites where you can find recipes.

One of the site's name's Visual Recipes. Here you can find all the info on how to cook your favorite recipe, step by step illustrated with photos. Excellent for our lessons on food and cooking.

Also you can participate following the next steps:

Step 1) Create A Free Account
Step 2) Upload up to 22 photos you took while preparing your recipe.
Step 3) Write a caption for each photo describing what you are doing.
Recipes With Photos Make You Want To Cook....

Here it's an example: Brownies ...

Also, This site will show you a video and give you the transcript of the video, explaining how to prepare your recipe.

Here's the example: Homemade Lemonade

For more go to the sites and happy cooking everybody!

Keep on shining!
Doris3m

Avant

The grass is visible! yaya! Thank You for your very comforting comments yesterday. It was a depressing post. I AM going to walk today! I am also going to finish painting the diningroom ceiling! I have been waiting a very, I mean very long time to be able to do this. The old color I loved, Nigerian Peony by Ralph Lauren, was warm and created a very nice ambiance in this room, south exposure. Any picture would turn out great! I had planed to repaint the ceiling the same Nigerian peony again. Well let's just say I was out voted. Acually, when Caitlin disagrees strongly I listen. Douglas has a good sense of desigm also, but he is very busy right now. K.C., the hubby can pinpoint a color with the snap of 2 fingers! He studied printing and also paper science... It used to make me mad that he was so good at defining a color. I grew-up. So now I am actually using a color that is a mystery paint found in the basement. I call it "cheap vanilla icecream". oookay...not loving it so far. The sun is not out so it is hard to tell if it will be ok. I am going to change if I find it is not working. ( I should note that my husband is not a fan of ceiling color).
The kids bath I did a few years ago with a pretty bluish,aqua color , on the ceiling. Actually it is about the color of the aqua wreaths that I make.

The walls are a taupe/grey, cabinets I painted off white with a light glaze over them. No pix's right now of that. I will try to get them later.
Back to the diningroom. Wall color is going to be Lynx Lake, Ralph Lauren I think (I told you I was waitng a long time to paint).
AVANT

Stay tuned. This job is going to GET Done! : )

Avant

Stay tuned. This job is going to GET Done! : )

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

SPRING! Where are Thee!?

Who knew? It comes so quietly. Falling softly down to give a warm blanket to the plants, buffering them from the cold. Yes, this is all well and good. But I am COLD! We turned the heat back on a few weeks ago (at a lower temperature) and this morning, turned up the tempurature.
When I came down this morning I had to rub my eyes...Catapult one of two cats was very annoying this a.m., starting at 4 something (that's a.m.) to get me up. Not my favorite way to wake up. I do not even bother setting the alarm anymore. Back to my point...I really rubbed my eyes! It must be rain, that's it, rain shinning in the moonlight!! It Has to be! Nope SNOW. Way back in January one of the local A.M. newscasters was caught on camera saying "If I hear "Winter Wonderland" one more time!" Ya! I better appreciate this because before we know it, maybe tomorrow..really, the temps maybe 80 degrees. It has been known to happen on several occasions in my life!
My plan was to go out this morning and take some pictures of spring buds! To bring hope of spring. I did get one hyacinth, and in the next picture you will see 2 lilac bushes. What is that you say? Where are they? Please look right behind the pink seatee and on either side of the bird bath! You didn't think I was really going to go out in THIS weather did you!!! It IS still snowing. But grass is poking out still in places : )

I hope this post makes some of you feel better about your cold weather. Much of the nation this week is experiencing below normal temperatures. I have a nursery around the corner from me. I could walk! But that would be a bad idea...perhaps I would NEED a plant ot two, or three, or... I have a problem at the nurseries. Last year I did a little better. I didn't even earn any rewards from my purchases! Hmm, is that a good thing? The last photo is of one of my favorite urns, a large terra cotta urn. See all of that snow on it? It is patiently waiting to host a bounty of summer blooms. I guess I can wait a little longer too.
Stay warm, maybe have a cup of cocoa!

SPRING! Where are Thee!?

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

My favorite video

Hi, there! During this semester we sang songs and watch videos! Here we have some of the videos we watched together!

James blunt's you're beautiful!!

Here you can practice your English, enjoy the song and watch the video.

Well, enjoy the music!
keep on shining!

Monday, April 9, 2007

A little Bit of Art Fun

Trying to eek out time to just make something because you want to can be difficult. Saturday Afternoon I finally snuck in some time (I do mean snuck). I was going to make a pipecleaner basket I saw on ArtsyMamas' site during the big Tea Party! Directions are posted there and in Martha Stewart Magazine. BUT then I saw the beautiful basket that has been on my mind ever since! Of coarse at Kari's. I found colored foil and a suitable form, although smaller than I would have liked. Once the engineering was figured out I was on my way down the bunny trail! If I had to guess where these originated I would guess Cody Foster. I heart Cody Foster stuff. His trees are so gorgeous.
The second photo is actually the first one I made. This one Doug picked out for his girlfriend, Monica. I found out that her favorite color is blue....next time. That left the the other one for Caitlin (first photo) .
My husband is pretty ok with how I decorate. The Family room has 2 of my slipcovered loveseats in it IN WHITE. But the walls are a shade of yellow (a very difficult color to get right). This room has the most color in it I guess. It is where we are the most as a family. Ok I ramble...My point is that I truly am not the greatest at making things for men. Masculine things. So he and Doug do not get many of my creations. I really feel bad about that. But If you get a ham for the Hubby and IF I ever make my families homemade cinnamon rolls again for Doug..all will be better. I have learned alot from Doug. He painted his bedroom a dark shade of grey and a few shades lighter on the paint chip for the ceiling. Then the moldings went from stained wood to white. He has an incredible eye for design. He helps me to see things differently.
The beautiful flowers are from my husband ( picked them out with him along with a beautiful african violet). The Florist coverd them in the peach and the purple foil. My plan was to take off the foil and use it for the baskets, but they were too pretty to dismantle. I went back the next day to purchase just foil, if possible. Well, this is the florist that knows my son very very well. Douglas is very thughtful as a boyfriend and Son. So the florist would not let me purchase the foil...she so kindly gave it to me!!! Oh, Merci Merci!!!
My husband still came home with MORE flowers and of coarse a card. Cards are His signature "gift". They are very important to him.
May day will be coming....maybe I can still make those pipecleaner baskets and somehow fill with flowers for friends! Yaa!
Bye for now. Let's have a very good day!