a few of my favorite things

shalom

'peace' in Hebrew, 

spoken in Israel and many other countries

Jesus and the lion and the lamb

www.holzbau-brunner.de

kershisnik nativity

www.commonconsent.com

A few of my favorite things....

like God's chosen people, the Jews -

and the wonderful nativity painting above.

I can just try to imagine all the angels and how excited and full of wonder they were when God's Son Jesus was born as a human!!

I also love the expression on Joseph's face!!!

...and did you notice that the dog sees the angels?

the angel appears to the shepherds

by Walter Rane

I love angels of all kinds.

I especially like 'male' angels, 

as all the angels that are mentioned by name in the Bible have male names!

artist unknown

found at www.rapgenius.com

I love to learn about different languages,

and different countries, their people and customs.

www.fanpop.com

I love children. All shapes and sizes!!

Hindustan Sikh children in traditional costume

www.hindustantimes.com

Ambunti village girls at the Sepik Crocodile Festival

Papua New Guinea

www.panda.org

school children cheering the Royal Irish Regiment, 2008

www.shropshire.gov.uk

I love silly dogs!

www.lolcoaster.org

our Great Dane Zeus, who always had to have something in his mouth...

I love humor and funny sayings!

nerd-o-vision pin

www.YellowButBoutique.etsy.com

and quotes:

www.Quotez.com

I love movies of all kinds!

animated funny....

'Despicable Me'

www.despicablemegames.info

live action funny....

'Jingle All the Way'

www.itplus.us

...musicals!!

'Mary Poppins'

and adventure!!

'Tarzan's Secret Treasure'

www.wikipedia.org

I could keep going with more movies, but I have so many favorite things...

like mermaids!

mermaid humor!

www.paint125466.exteen.com

"Sea Weed Snack Mermaid"

Collage Art Doll, from all recycled junk mail

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com

I love the sailors' mermaids too...

the gentle manatee

www.mermaidmelissa.com

I love seashells, and beading...

an original design necklace I made with glass beads, wood and shell beads and natural sea shells

and coloring in coloring books!!!

Dover coloring book, colored with permanent bic markers

made into blank note cards for sale

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com

I love paper collage,

and creating collages with recycled junk mail!

"and they shall call His name Emmanuel..."

original Collage Paper Painting by inkspired

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com

and nursery rhymes, especially with vintage illustrations...

"The Queen of Hearts"

original Collage Paper Painting using all recycled junk mail

based on an 1889 vintage illustration

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com

I love living in Colorado, USA...

Colorado Rocky Mountains

www.commons.wikimedia.org

because I can never get enough of nature...

what an incredibly creative God we have!

www.flickr.com

which brings up my lifelong fascination and love with animals of all kinds!

like elephants...

beautiful pottery made by my friend Orna, from Israel

www.OrnaArtHeart.etsy.com

and lions...

and tigers....

Tatiana, at the San Francisco Zoo, USA

and bears!!!

grizzly bear

photo credit: Carol Bock

photography.nationalgeographic.com

I love fairies...

poinsettia flower fairy

vintage illustration

and paper dolls

(you already knew that one, didn't you?!)

not sure where I found these vintage paper dolls,

but I do find so many wonderful paper dolls at

www.origamibears.com

sigh...

...that time has come where I must close for today.

It has been good to remind myself of all the wonderful things in this world!

I'm off to address a few Christmas cards.

What are you up to?

'til next time,

inkspired

www.inkspired.etsy.com

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com

www.inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com

and on pinterest:   kkloberdans

'Party Decorating'

original Collage Art Doll with all recycled junk mail

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com

A Snowman for January

BBBRRrrrrrrrr...

(Snowman language for - "Baby it's cold out tonight!")

unknown credits

Yesterday and today have brought us some snow, and some chilly weather,

although right now it is 41'.

It never stays snowy or too cold in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

One reason I love living here!

Big Snow in 2006, Dec. 20th

Kloberdans driveway (under snow) and parking pad.

Yeah, that's the road out at the very end of the fence.

Of course, every now and then we get a LOT of snow,

and it even hangs around for a few days.

Those are fun 'snow days'.

Children's Friend magazine cover

Let's make a snowman!

No snow?

That's okay - we'll adapt!

This one is a make-yourself-one to share with friends

in the form of a unique card!

Sorry, no credits although I have seen this type of card

commercially and 'home made'.

Project ideas:

1.   Use all paper elements: punch out black dots, white cardstock circles, etc.

      Enclose in clear bag and attach to front of card.

1.a  Try cutting out a rectangle window in the front. Then tape in place the

         clear plastic bag of parts so it will show through to the inside of the card!

2.   Use red ribbon for the scarf, a shiny scrap of orange plastic for the nose.

      (Look at the plastic bags you get from retailers!)

       Cut the top hat from velvet paper. Cut branch arms from brown fun foam.

2.a  Add sticky dots or foam sticky dots to the back of all pieces, but don't

       peel off the backing paper,so your friend can truly make a snowman!

3.    Go textural! (Is that a real word?) Snip a piece of polar fleece or recycled

       sweater strip for the scarf.        

       (If using any material besides polar fleece, it would be better if you added 

       a bit of 'no-fray' type glue to the edges.) 

       Cut snowman 'parts' from felt; also hat and mittens.

        A nice orange polar fleece or velvet paper could be a cute nose.

3.a   You could find a nice paper sticker one in the dimensional sticker aisle 

        (think Jolee's). 

        Branch arms - maybe toothpicks?

        Use fun mini buttons made for scrapbooking for eyes and coal buttons. 

Oh -- just use that wonderful imagination that God gave you!!!

Dover Publications - thanks for sharing!

I know my friend Glenda would love any of these variations

sent to her in hot-humid-98%-of-the-time southern Georgia!

another fun Snowman card idea, credits unknown

Okay, a little bunny trail here:

Glenda and I try to alternate who visits whom.

Except,

I really don't like the weather and stress of Georgia where she lives

and

she really loves the Rocky Mountain area and lack of stress,

so she comes here about 5x for every 1x I visit her!

So, it is my first visit since she has moved to GA from KY.

I decided I want to see live magnolia trees in bloom,

and miss out on the high humidity.

I plan my trip for the end of January, first of February, or thereabouts.

I get there, but only see a couple of magnolia blooms.

I ask Glenda "Where are they? Do they come later in the spring?"

She answers

"Oh honey, those bloomed last month (January). This is the END of spring here!"

WHAT!!!!

FEBRUARY??????

Obviously these people are, well, scrambled.

At least their weather patterns are!

Only.....when I wash my hair, it is so humid that my hair does not dry.

Ever.

I just wash it again and again the whole time I'm there.

I also hang my head out of the window as we drive around

(in an un-air conditioned little truck)

seeing the towns, historical sites and cool monuments that abound.

I feel like a dog.

[Probably looked like one too!]

I did restrain myself and kept my tongue in my mouth, thank you very much.

Yep! Next time she visits me!

And in Colorado, you can come any season and enjoy it!!!

Bear Lake Snow Storm, Rocky Mountains, Colorado

www.richardkingphoto.com

"Nature is full of genius,

Full of the divinity;

so that not a snowflake escapes

its fashioning hand."

- Henry David Thoreau

Of course, I have to fit in a Barbie anywhere I can:

Enchanted Seasons series

Snow Princess, blonde, released 1994

Let's try our hand at a bit of simple drawing!

another thanks to Dover Books for sharing!

Impress those bored kids on a bus ride,

a train ride, a car road trip, etc.!

You have the power....

just don't forget a pencil and some paper....

Rocky Mountains, Colorado

www.expensiva.com

Okay, I'm going to finish up today with a bead pattern

for a snowman, of course!

pattern author unknown

Here's an idea for this pattern, if you don't feel like using little seed beads:

Why not try those plastic 'pony beads' and make it into a wall hanging?

You can also use washable graph paper and fill in each little square

with colored fabric paints with small tips.

You just put one dot in each 'square'.

Remove graph paper, and you have a really cool looking design,

suitable for totes, book bags, sweatshirts, jackets, etc.

OR

use this as a needlepoint pattern for a pillow or throw,

or a cross stitch pattern on a towel or sweatshirt.

Still not your thing?

Sketch it out to be a coloring page.

Use the sketched pattern for applique, or fabric painting.

Okay, time to go do some more laundry,

pick up the living room,

empty some trash bins,

and maybe make some more Collage Art Dolls

while watching the final DVD disc of

The Vampire Diaries, Season One!!!

oops, my secret is out....

Here are a couple of Collage Art Dolls that I have made in the last few days:

"Art Deco Flapper" original Collage Art Doll, by inkspired

www.inkspired.etsy.com

"Black Lace and Pearls" original Collage Art Doll with black mat by inkspired

www.inkspired.etsy.com

"Roaring Twenties in lavender"

original Collage Art Doll by inkspired

www.inkspired.etsy.com

That's it for today.

Love to hear from you,

as my page views are going to be up to 200,000 by tomorrow....

(is that unbelievable or what?)

New countries added since 11/2011:

Algeria

Azerbaijan

Chile

Dominican Republic

Hong Kong

Jamaica

Lebanon

Peru

Slovenia

Venezuela

A BIG hello to all!

This snowman is just one of the scads of gorgeous graphics

that the toymaker does -

www.thetoymaker.com