Fun blog stats with Flowers, Easter Eggs and more!

Sulh



'Peace' in the Dari language

spoken in the United Arab Emirates and Iran

Vintage illustration showing a game of draughts-

listed as 'Arabian' but most likely 'Turkey',

see upper left in illustration.

I have had some fun this morning looking over my 'blog stats'.

I've learned some surprising things,

and some interesting things.

Let's explore!

bottlecap magnet- using all recycled junk mail- by inkspired

www.inkspired.etsy.com

First, I have my blogs that have been big hits in the year 2012, so far.

My number one most popular blog for this time period

(of the past 8 months)

is

drum drolllllllll......

Brunei: Small country with a long history

I guess there are at least 7,198 people that also didn't know much about

Brunei!!!

:0)

Brunei housing for the lower classes

I found out that people like my blogs on Nursery Rhymes.

I have done 16 blogs that are tagged

'Nursery Rhyme'

Since Jan 1, 2012, my second most popular blog is:

'Nursery Rhyme Time with Hickory Dickory Dock'

www.nursery-rhymes.org

2,594 people have looked at that blog!!

Cool!!

If we look at the most hits since I have started doing Nursery Rhymes,

we find an all time high of

10,057 page hits!

You guys really flatter me - thanks!

a scherenschnitte cutting of Mother Goose by inkspired

using a Dover frame

Back to 2012, frequent hits included

Snow White and the Huntsman....2,152

More Cinderella Glamour...1,790

and

Time for another Hula Day...1,392

detail of a painting by Scott Gustafson,

one of my all-time favorite artists!

Let's take a peek at some all-time highs specific blogs:

I have written 22 blogs on Easter Egg,

and 19 blogs come up for Easter Eggs.

(I am sure there's overlap there!!)

Sugar Easter Egg Ornaments

sorry, I don't have a photo credit

Easter Egg-cellent, written 4/13/2011 has had 10,083 hits so far!

more on Easter Eggs later....

Cows, Hot Dogs and Ice Cream Days, (7/16/2011) has 29,445 hits so far!

My next most popular blog, after Easter Eggs, is

Is it time for Cherry Blossoms? with 77,839 hits!!

and I continue to get many hits every week!

I am so roll-y-eyed-crazy-head flattered!

handpainted stemware www.HandPaintedPetals.etsy.com

Thank you to all who have shared my blogs with other people.

Cherry Blossoms for Spring (7/14/11) has had

12,139 hits!

That's a lot of cherry blossoms...

c. 1917 song sheet cover

The Language of Flowers have become a popular series of blogs I've written.

I have done 24 blogs on different flowers,

a bit of their history, and what the flower meant in the Victorian Age.

The Language of Flowers - Water Lily (7/17/2011) has had

22,445 page hits so far.

Other flowers featured in the Language of Flowers series have included:

8,721 page hits - Apple Blossom Promises (5/26/11)

7,875 page hits - The Language of Flowers - Pansy (5/27/11)

and

6,128 page hits - A Sunny Delphinium July Day (7/8/11)

vintage clip art courtesy of Dover Books

You can find 45 blogs listed when you search for 'Barbie'.

You can find 31 blogs when you search for 'Mermaid'.

'Ocean Treasure Jewelry' Collage Art Doll

by inkspired using all recycled junk mail

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com

Well, I don't want to bore you-all too much!

My final stat is

More Easter Egg Fun (4/16/11) which has had, so far,

94,556 page hits.

Mind-boggling.

and I get a page or more hits every day, still.

wow.

I am flattered,

and humbled

and excited

and awe-struck

and inspired

and....

you get the idea!

And I couldn't do it without all of you readers!

BIG THANKS!

I so enjoy sharing with you all the thoughts that crowd in my brain,

shouting to get out.

You can see, also, why I am so frustrated with the incredible slowness of writing/posting my blog, due to

internet provider speed?

Blogspot speed?

We still haven't been able to pin down the problem.

bottlecap magnet made from all recycled junk mail

by inkspired

www.inkspired.etsy.com

Time to stop bragging I suppose.

It was fun though!

:0)

Future blogs I am working on:

Nursery Rhyme - 3 blind mice

a series on American Native Americans (USA and Canada),

including Cheyenne, Apache, and Choctaw

Gypsies, and Gypsy Wagons

Language of Flowers - Forget-me-nots and Alaska

the Orange blossom and Florida

and

the hummingbird (as requested by Glenda)

See you then!

inkspired

www.inkspired.etsy.com

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com

Needing some pretty in my day

esslama

'Peace' in the Darja language, spoken in Algeria

Spring in the Crimea, with yalta iudino trees in bloom

by Josif Krachkovsky

found at www.01varvara.wordpress.com

No particular reason why,

I just need some bright colors today.

Some pretty flowers.

A couple of free paperdolls with bright colors.

Apple blossoms in Australia

www.thistlebrook.com.au

I really am going to have to stop reading headlines on Yahoo before I write my blog! People can be so stupid. So cruel.

It could get one down right depressed....

"Happiness is a direction,

not a place."

- Sydney J. Harris

A scientifically proven way to help relieve depression:

wear bright colors

I really think I have shared these paperdolls before, but I don't have it noted

so here are some fun, bright and summery paperdolls for you to play with:

This is an incomplete set, as there are clothes for 2 more dolls (Kate and Kerry)that I don't have the dolls to go with them.

Also, I'm thinking there are probably more clothes that go with the original set too....

If you have a complete set and would like to send me the missing bits -

that would be great!

I got these from OrigamiBears I believe.

an Allen's Hummingbird male

There was an article on Yahoo today about colorful houses.

This is one of the pictures from that story:

"The Polka Dot House"

Grand Forks, MI

photo credit: Eric Hylden

Oh!!

I just realized I haven't shared a Barbie in ages!

Here she come....

peach "Birthday Wishes Barbie with gift bag", released 2005

One of my absolute favorite flowers, anytime of the year:

found at www.whoisjordanbrown.com

Because I love animals so, I have to include this photo of

an adorable English Sheep Dog from the Netherlands:

http://www.thedailygreen.com/

A lovely Spring frock from a 1916 ad:

I love the handkerchief hem over the underlying lacy skirt.

"Eat oranges

Hear the larks

Wait on the sun."

- John Muir

Cherry blossoms

found at www.americanwaste.org

Feel happier?

a bit more cheerier?

I know I do!

See you soon!

inkspired

http://www.myinkspired.com/

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

http://www.collagepaperpainting.com/

http://www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com

Is it time for Cherry Blossoms?

Greetings!

I have loved the cherry blossom tree and flowers for quite a long time (we're talking about almost dinosaur ages here).



I have penciled them, watercoloured them, painted them, punched them, rubber stamped them, scherensnitte cut them.....pretty much any way I can be involved in cherry blossoms!

from inkednation blog

 

I'm not really "up to date" when the official Cherry Blossom Festival is in Washington, D.C. Some day I will make a trip there, just to see the blossoms!
Well, okay, and the Smithsonian museums, and the memorials....
Day dreams for now.

"But I, being poor, have only my dreams.

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

tread softly,

because you tread on my dreams."

- W.B. Yeats

That is one of my all time favorite quotes.

Here are some more beautiful costumes for Liana's paper dolls.
Have you checked out her blog yet? She makes almost a costume a day!
Verrrrrry creative.....

Grace, from yesterday's post, will also fit these costumes, as will today's Ivy fit into yesterday's costumes.
The spring green tunic with cherry blossoms is styled in the Vietnamese custom.

http://www.jimsmeltzgallery.etsy/

Here are some terrific vintage song sheet covers. These are from Indiana's Music Libraries. Check out their site listed to the right of my blog.

c. 1917

I truly love these vintage graphics. I have spent many (too many...) hours at the Indiana Music site. They are a wonderful slice of history.

courtesy of the Vintage Workshop - check out their web store!



According to some of the info on the internet, Chinese cherry blossoms and Japanese cherry blossoms are both revered, but have different meanings for each culture:

Chinese cherry blossoms are a symbol of power, feminine beauty or female dominance. This usually applies to great power and the symbolization of love.

Japanese cherry blossoms are established on or around strong spiritual beliefs. The nature of life is very short lived and it is considered very sensible to not get too close or connected to anything because it will end eventually. (Cherry blossoms bloom for one day only.) It is also a perceived emblem of feminine design. In ancient Japanese culture the warriors carried these symbols by the heart as in the Bushido code of honor and loyalty.

"Break open a cherry tree and there are no flowers,

but the spring breeze brings forth myriad blossoms."

  ~Ikkyu Sojun

Dolls of the World (DOW) Barbie, 2nd edition Japanese, 1995

c. 1904

 

"Where flowers bloom so does hope."

- LadyBird Johnson

 

c.1914

"Spring hath put a spirit of youth in everything."

- William Shakespeare

Here is  very nice and simple cherry blossom craft, courtesy of

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/

Branch Out:

Cherry blossoms bloom only briefly, but these tissue paper versions can last all spring. Layer a sheet of dark pink paper atop light pink paper. Snip out a five-petal flower that's 2 to 4 inches in circumference. Once cut, reposition the dark pink daisy so the petals won't align with the light pink ones. Twist the center bottom of the flower, wrap with a 3-inch length of floral wire, and hot-glue onto a bare branch. Repeat, varying sizes of flowers so blossoms look realistic.

I hope you have enjoyed my focus on cherry blossoms today.

I would love to see your photos or handiwork with cherry blossoms!

dominoes@myinkspired.com

 

Have a beautiful day.

 

"Look deep into Nature,

and then you will understand everything better."

- Albert Einstein

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

http://www.myinkspired.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com

Cherry blossoms for Spring

Hello!
The weekend was so blustery with wind - ick. However the wind blew in some wonderful sunshine today! My daffodils are loving it!



I also have some small purple flowers that are coming up around my daffodils. I know I must have planted them, but I don't remember what kind they are!

“More grows in the garden than gardener sows.”

- Spanish proverb

My tulips leaves are still growing, but no sign of a bud yet. Our weeping cherry tree is beautiful with tiny white/pink flowers all along the flowing branches.



Let's enjoy some cherry blossoms today!

Here is a lovely Japanese Dolls of the World Barbie, with a traditional costume:

Feel like coloring a bit? I know I'm not the only 'adult' out there who likes to color!

If you have kids, sit them down after school today,

drag out a big box of crayons,

and have a fun Mom with Kids time!

(Don't you get so tired of the pick-up-the-kids-take-them-to......?)

Slow down!

My husband found a great coloring page site for me last night!

The cherry blossom tree is from it.

http://www.color-your-own.com/

I also found the same site on a http://www.squiddo.com/ site.

Here is a lovely website that has the prettiest cherry blossom items for sale:

http://www.myweddingfavors.com/

Look in the Asian Wedding section. Here is a small sample -

“Break open a cherry tree and there are no flowers,

But the spring breeze brings forth myriad blossoms.”

-Ikkyu Sojun

a sakura cherry blossom gold tone pin for sale on www.amazon.com

Well, I think that's it for today!
I do have more cherry blossom poems, quotes, coloring pages and pix for a later time. Isn't this fun?

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

http://www.myinkspired.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com
and my new artistic endeavor:
http://www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com/
http://www.collagepaperpainting.com/



I checked out a new comment (5/2012)
and it looks like a photo album from someone.
Check it out for many many cherry blossom pages,
mostly white blossoms.
http://interestingpe.blogspot.ca/2012/05/2011-sakura-toronto-high-park-cherry.html

Thanks to all my viewers!
and yes....
I am still super excited about my New York Art Gallery showing!!
:0)
(see May, 2012 blogs)