Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM

August 13, 2015

Award!



Oh boy! It's been awhile since I've received a blogging award!  I was nominated by Smaller Places for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award,  Thank you soooo much!  It's always nice to be appreciated. 

1. How did you decide to collect whatever you collect?   I think my first collection was probably marbles.  I was obsessed with them when I was a kid and never played for keepsies.  An aunt and uncle gifted me with a huge collection on the occasion of my first communion when I was about 7. There were at least 400 or more marbles of all kinds in it.  I continue to purchase them off ebay from time to time and have amassed a nice, but modest, collection.  I also collect shot glasses and fridge magnets from places I've been.  And postcards, bits of American pop culture from my era (60's-80's). My husband and I were collecting dragons from the local Renaissance Fair, but we've decided to switch to beautiful goblets instead.  Records...I have lots and lots of records.  Coloured glass....glass of all kinds really.  And Wacky Packs when I was in 3rd and 4th grade in the 70s.

2. Why did you start blogging?    My blog started out as a fan site for Vincent D'Onofrio but my other VDO friends were doing a better job with their slide shows and videos so I switched to posting about my life, crafts and photos.

3. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?   Since I'm afraid to fly, I really just want to take an RV around North America.  Still want to do Rte 66, and I am dying to see Atlantic Canada, and go back to visit Alberta and see the rest of BC.  And I desperately want to see Harry Potter World at Universal.  That will probably be our first trip if we can ever manage to get away.

4. What toy from your childhood do you wish you could find again?    I've ended up buying quite a few of old toys off ebay.  My mom loved to purge my stuff when I was at school and couldn't object so as a result, unless I managed to squirrel stuff away, it was gone.  I've repurchased my Wacky Packs from the 70s, Whizzer tops, a Christmas Putz house set among other things.  I sure wish I still had my old metal lunchboxes, and some of the old craft kits from those days like Dip It, things made with beads/pins stuck into styrofoam (easter eggs, doll dresses, etc), Makit Bakit (there are only a few small ones in the stores anymore), wooden Christmas ornaments you paint and assemble, there was a big red map of the USA that had stickers of all the state flowers, exports, birds with flags you stuck into the state capitals.  

5. Do you know the size of your biggest collection?    I don't....I have quite a few marbles but I'm not counting them.  Several hundred vinyl records - 45s and albums - plus CDs and tapes.  I have over 600 hours of live Grateful Dead tapes alone that take up 4 cases which hold 120 tapes each.

6. What toy now in stores (or now-ish, you don't have to check that it's still in stock) tantalizes you?   None really but there are a lot of cool craft kits for kids that I'd love to buy and do!

7. What music do you like?    I like just about everything except rap, that new kind of heavy metal and new country.  My fave though is the Grateful Dead.  

8. What crafting or collecting skill do you wish you had?    Drawing, painting, knitting, crochet, macrame, woodworking, lampwork bead making, glass blowing.

9. What was your most exciting moment in collecting or crafting?    Several years ago I won a marble collection off eBay on Christmas Day for $50 and it contained some extremely rare and old marbles.  That was just one of the biggest thrills ever.  And also when a project I see in my head actually comes out the way I pictured it.  That seems to happen mostly with altered art projects. Here are some examples of ones that came out exactly the way I'd imagined. 

A 3D version of Magritte's 'Time Transfixed' painting, which is my fave painting ever.  I bought the mini fireplace which I painted, and train engine to which I added cotton smoke, then built the room from half of a small cardboard box.  I used wood 'paper' for the floor and reflective paper for the mirror.  I had to make the clock from a piece of wood and clock face charm, and the candle sticks are made from gold beads and bead caps.


Just for reference, this is what the painting looks like:


A Christmas shelf which was really fun to make and which I was bummed when I finished.

The wardrobe from The Lion The Witch & The Wardrobe....

Which opens to a snowy Lantern Waste in Narnia with a working lamp post and picture of Aslan.

Looking out of a porthole at fish and a treasure chest.

10. Have you ever given up on collecting something? If so, what, and did you regret it?    I've pretty much had to give up, or at least cut back, on collecting stuff because I just don't have the room. My fridge is so full of magnets that there's not a single space for something new.  Our house is crammed full of knick knacks (dusting is a real pain).

I'm supposed to nominate more bloggers for this award but you are all awesome.  So please feel free to snag the badge for yourselves and feel free to play along with these questions. 

12 comments:

  1. Congratulations on the blogging award! A lot of interesting facts about you. Loved reading all those details about you. I am with you on taking an RV everywhere. I think that would be fun too. ♥

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    1. Thanks Kathy! I would love to do that RV trip but we just don't have the money to buy one. Renting one would be OK but they charge miles on top of the rental fee and that's where they get you.

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  2. Absolutely cool to find out more about you. You are an awesome person. I already knew you were a talented artist, but this post proves it even more.

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    1. Awwwww thank you so much. Lately I haven't been feeling real awesome and your comment means a lot to me. XOXO

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  3. The "Time Transfixed" diorama is awesome. I generally really like your miniature projects -- the porthole, so pretty and innovative! -- but that one is perfectly mind-bending.

    Makit Bakit! I remember those. We were more likely to do Shrinky Dinks. But a lot of the old craft kits sort of ring a bell... and then there were these ones for very small children where you "stitched" with yarn through holes around a picture. It's kind of cool to see craft kits making a comeback in toy departments.

    It's impressive to stumble over a true Grateful Dead fan... 600 hours of tapes... wow.

    I'm so glad you did these questions!

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    1. Thank you again for the award and your kind words. Yes, real live Deadhead here! That was an amazing time in my life. It was devastating when Jerry Garcia died, 20 years ago, on August 9.

      There are still Shrinky Dinks available that's why I didn't list it. I have a bunch of the shrink sheets and stuff. I can find the occasional small sized Makit Bakit but not those super cool ones in the 70s. I remember those yarn cards! Wow!

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  4. Congratulations JoJo. Sounds like you should sell a lot more of your stuff when you go to your fairs, etc. I put all my vinyl records on to CDs and then gave the vinyl away to a friend. Sold the turntable too. Interesting copy of the painting. You did well there. Love the Narnia one too.

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    1. Thank you. Well I make a lot of this stuff for myself. They are all one-off projects. I am weird in that I don't like to make the same thing twice. I can do beaded jewelry but all the designs and colours are different. I could never mass produce one thing. I still have my turntable, bought almost 30 years ago. I purchased all the 45s in the hope that one day I would own a Wurlitzer jukebox. But that, along with all my travel dreams and bucket list items, are moving farther and farther out of reach.

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  5. Congratulatings on the award. It was enjoyable to read your answers to the given questions and, I must admit, I was much impressed with your collections and the many items that you have masterfully created. You're truly very artistic.

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    1. Thank you! I have been so stuck in an artistic rut this year though. All I want to do is cross stitch!

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  6. Okay, that is the best mini golf course I have ever seen in my life. Since it's part of a chain, I'm going to google Pirates Cove to see if there is one closer to PA.

    I'm glad you and your family had a wonderful time, even in the heat... :)

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    1. Thanks Dee!!! I hope there is a Pirates Cove close to you! Yes, we did have a great time. It's next to impossible to get everyone together at the same time but we managed to have it come together fairly well. And with the kids getting older and going their own way, we know these family times are going to be even more few and far between. I'm glad we did this.

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