Showing posts with label Bulgaria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bulgaria. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Easter Egg Fun, paper dolls and safety pin pins

Mir

'Peace' in the Bulgarian language

photo credit: Steven Miric
Easter is a very popular and holy holiday in Bulgaria.
Traditional Bulgarian Easter Eggs are colored red, and many have traditional Orthodox symbols painted on them.
These red dyed eggs may be baked into a cake,
or two people may crack them together to see who is the 'most fortunate'.

Did yesterday's blog get you interested in safety pin pins?
Here are two more patterns for you:


Again, thanks to Sherri Osborn at www.familycrafts.about.com
for her generous sharing.

You can find the safety pin tutorial in my January blogs.

The small blocks are so easy to make up your own designs too!
Share your photos with me and I will post in future blogs!
Remember, you can always reach me at

artist unknown

Here is a fun paper doll, by Karen Prince.
These are copyrighted, so please, just for your personal use only!


Now, I know she doesn't have an Easter Basket, but she is holding a bunny!
and
since folks are so silly around Easter and somehow think
bunnies color Easter eggs,
(and don't forget that big ol' fuzzy - The Easter Bunny)
I figure a bunny or a decorated egg is good for today!


sorry, I don't know any details on this photo,
but it sure is fun!

Looking at the above photo makes me think.
This is a GREAT idea for those areas with critters,
like squirrels or foxes or other wild things.
While eggs 'hidden' on the ground might get snatched by the non-human variety, hanging them up with ribbons and string should prevent that!
I would have an Easter Egg Hunt, only each child has directions:
Mary, you can only find eggs that are yellow.
Joe, you can only find eggs that are green, etc.
Any multicolored eggs are for anyone to find.
What do you think?
I have seen some Easter Egg Hunts where perhaps one little girl finds a TON of eggs, while another one only finds two.
Could be disappointing?
The color find hunt would solve that.


vintage clip

A charming paper doll set titled: "Sunday School"
by John Axe.
Again, these are for private enjoyment only.
I think the outfits would be perfect on any Easter holiday!



Well, the internet has not been cooperating, and the link to blogspot keeps getting interrupted, so I can't add any graphics of any kind. The above set of paper dolls have taken me 45minutes to try and post,
so,
all the other goodies I wanted to add for today will just have to wait.

I'm coloring Easter eggs with a friend this afternoon-
YEAH!!
:0)

I want to try some rubberband dying,
and some white vinegar/food coloring dying.

For the vinegar dying recipe,
you place hard cooked eggs in a colander
(a bowl with holes that you use to drain things in, like noodles)
and splash them with around 1/2 cup white vinegar.
Then take your FOOD SAFE FOOD DYES and drop one color on each of the eggs.
Start with your lightest color first.
You can swirl the colander around so the eggs get more dye on them.
Then, you can run cold water over them and dry them,
or
you can rinse out your colander, splash a bit more white vinegar on the eggs,
and drop on a different color food dye.
You can use perhaps up to 3 different dyes,
but no more or things get looking pretty muddy.
Rinse with cold water, pat dry.
cool!

I got this idea from www.familyfun.go.com
Great place for tons of ideas!

Using basic colors of FOOD safe dyes are also a great way
for the kids to learn their color wheel basic colors and secondary colors.

Red + Blue = Purple
Yellow + Red = Orange
Blue + Yellow = Green
etc.

Warning!
I remember this from last time that because they are DYES
your fingers turn all pretty colors too, unless you use plastic gloves.

Now go get some eggs!
How to boil:
Place raw eggs gently into pan and cover with cool water.
Heat the pan until just before it starts boiling -
you know, when the surface is all broken up with bubbles and things are moving around in a Big Bubbly sort of way.
You DON'T want that.
So when you start seeing lots of little bubbles coming from the pan and from the eggs, and little bubbles breaking the surface, you want to turn the heat down
so it DOES NOT come to a rolling boil.
Keep water at that almost but not quite boiling point for 15 minutes.
Remove pan from heat.
Place in sink and pour cold water into pan until eggs are cool.
(This stops the heating process quickly).
Let cool, and dry.
Ready for some color!!!

Why no boiling?
Because when eggs boil, the whites turn rubbery!
Why do the cold water bath?
Because this prevents that 'green' outer color of the yolk.
While there's nothing wrong with the green, doing the cold water bath will simply make them look more attractive for eating!

see ya' later!

inkspired

Monday, June 27, 2011

A rose is a rose is a rose...

Bonjour!

watercolor by jbwolen.etsy.com

We have had just some gorgeous days!
Summer, for now, is showing her bright sunny face.

Tanner has enjoyed sunning himself every day.
He goes out, finds a nice spot, and sleeps in the sun.
He gets hot, and wants in.
He lays in the office to cool off, and then...
He wants out
to find a nice spot in the sun, and sleep.
And get hot.
So then he wants in.....


See how I spend my days!!
looking for a good hot spot...

Yesssss.....

oh yeah, hot concrete....

I'm hot now, let me in....

Gotta love him!

But really, today's blog is about roses.

a yellow rose in the gardens of DisneyLand, California

One Perfect Rose
By Dorothy Parker

A single flow’r he sent me, since we met.
          All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet-
          One perfect rose.

I knew the language of the floweret;
          “My fragile leaves,” it said, “his heart enclose.”
Love long has taken for his amulet
          One perfect rose.

Why is it no one ever sent me yet
          One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it’s always just my luck to get
          One perfect rose.

Rose in the gardens of Walt Disney World: Epcot, Florida

I'm sorry, I don't know the creator of these lovely cards.

Rose shrubs are often used by homeowners and landscape architects
for home security purposes.
The sharp thorns of many rose species deter "unauthorized persons"
(politically correct, you know!)
from entering private properties.
They may prevent break-ins if planted under windows and near drain pipes.

The aesthetic characteristics of rose shrubs,
in conjunction with their home security qualities,
makes them a desirable alternative
to artificial fences and walls.

(Oh, who DOES write this way???)

I have looked at so many different web sites on roses, I am not sure
which this one is from, but they need to loosen up, 'ya think?

vintage 'toothpaste' ad

c. 1899

Despite the presence of thorns (pricklies!), deer will happily munch on them.

Gardening here in the Rocky Mountains has its' difficulties,
among which are the munching deer,
and the hungry elks.

In the cities/suburbs squirrels are the big destructive mob.
They eat electrical cords, canopies, houses (yes, they will chew right
through the house wall to make nests inside!)
patio furniture, most bird feeders and all of your plants!

Where I live the bunnies can be a problem.
They make holes and dens in my flower gardens.
They chew on the spring bulbs.
They love gardens - free buffet - all you can eat!

healing rose mandala, for sale at holly and ivy

Let's have a fun paper doll with lots of lovely roses:





Rose Valley is a region in Bulgaria located just south of
the Balkan mountains. It is famous for its rose growing industry,
from which 70% of the world's rose oil is produced.

vintage song sheet graphics

White Rose
 was a World War II non-violent resistance group in Germany.



Here is a coloring page for you.

Let a child pick their own colors, and it can be amazing what alternative colors they come up with!

One of my favorite Christmas ornaments is a paper Santa Claus
that Peter colored in the 1st Grade -
a very blue Santa Claus!


Rose hips are sometimes eaten, mainly for their Vitamin C content.
They are usually pressed and filtered to make rose hip syrup.
This process removes the fine hairs surrounding the seeds,
which are icky to eat, and resembles itching powder.

Pierre Auguste Renoir,
"Les Roses Dans un Vase"
c.1910 - 1917

Rose hips are used to produce an oil used in skin products.
They can also be used to make herbal tea,
jam, jelly and marmalade.


A rose that has aged or gone rotten
may not be particularly fragrant,
but the roses' basic chemistry prevents it
from stinking or having a bad odor of any kind.


c.1914

When aged roses are mashed together,
 the fragrance of the rose is enhanced.
The fragrance of particularly large balls of mashed roses
is enhanced even further.

Here is an embroidery transfer from
turkeyfeathers.typepad.com



While the state flower of Texas is NOT a rose,
the Yellow Rose of Texas is very familiar.



more lovely paper punched flower cards


a vintage illustration

Here is another of Liana's lovely paper doll dress creations:

You can find two paper dolls that fit this in previous blogs,
or visit Liana's Blog site. The addy is on the right side of my blog!

polymer clay roses by pearldelta.etsy.com


A red rose (often held in a hand)
 is the symbol of socialism or social democracy.
It is also used as a symbol by the British and Irish Labour Parties,
as well as by
the French, Swedish, Finnish, Brazilian, Portuguese, Norwegian,
Spanish (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party),
the Dutch (Partij van de Arbeid)
and European socialist parties.



for sale at albanykid.com

Using a single red rose as a symbol of socialism or social democracy
originates from the red rose used as a badge by the marchers
in the May 1968 street protests in Paris.


'Rose for a Duchess'
a photo processed print for sale from

She does quite lovely and unusual work.
I really like her 'style'.

Here is another of her works, with embroidery:



Well, that's it for today!

I hope you have enjoyed this venture into

The Rose.

inkspired