Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Snow Thunder!

It is thundering as it snows here! Going to get 10-12 inches of snow tonight.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Get Well card

I made this card for a woman from church who is in the hospital. I used the Everyday Paper Doll cartridge, white ribbon from AC Moore, PK character faces (my first time using), Xmas red and yellow stickles, and a Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. The sentiment is from Pink by Design Scripted Year. I really like the little band-aid.

Monday, January 24, 2011

PK Stamps

My first set of PK stamps came today. I am so excited to use them.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Valentine Treat Bags

Here are the Valentine treat bags my daughter and I made today. I wanted to make something cute with the cricut, but my daughter wanted to buy cards for the boys and girls. I thought I would post what we made even though it did not involve any crafting.



Each treat bag contained a googly eye sticker, a matching little notepad, fun dip candy, a Hershey kiss, and a germ silly band (that's what the red thing is on the bags.) My daughter loves iCarly so that is what the girls are getting. She insisted that the boys don't want girly cards so she picked out super heroes for the boys.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Girl Scout Cookies!

Going to bundle up and sell Girl Scout Cookies outside with my daughter in this frigid weather. I hope to do some scrapbooking later. Have a good day everyone.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Birthday Card!


My best friend's birthday is coming up this Monday so I made her a card. We met about 40 years ago at the Jersey shore that's why I made a  beach theme card. She lives at the Jersey shore and I've spent many summers there and still go to visit my friends and family. I can't wait til my Peachy Keen stamps come so I can make cute faces on my cards.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Birthday Card!

This is my 2nd card I made with the Cricut. I had some problems, but I think it still looks nice.




I used the Wild Card cartridge, Disney Fairies More Than Just Paper Pack, pink cardstock,  star dust stickles, Joy's Life Mother & Daughter Stamps and Pink by Design Scripted Year Stamps.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Scrap Room

My husband put up shelves and now he is putting together organizing cubes for my craft room!! Once this is all done I can start working with my paper crafting and scrapbooking. I can't wait.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Cheap Cricut Cartridges!!

Stopped in at Michael's today and was surprised to see cartridges for $9.99. That's right $9.99!!!
I couldn't believe how cheap they were. I bought Paper Doll Dress Up! There were others, but I want to check what my friend has so we don't duplicate. We shares cartridges.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Uptown Stringband 2011 - Shake, Rattle, Casseroll

 One last practice



 Mike Pickul

 The Pickul Family 

Loading the bus to head to the parade


Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope everyone had a joyous holiday and look forward to a healthy, prosperous new year. Today here in Philadelphia we bring in the New Year with the Mummers Parade.

Who and what are Mummers?

To define them simply, Mummers are costumed entertainers welcoming in the New Year. Some of the earliest mummers date back to early Egypt, pagan Rome and Greece, England, Germany, and France.  Historically, Mummery has influenced customs and perpetuated many interesting traditions. Every nation had its festivals at one time or another, each marked by parades and displays of fanciful costumes.  All of these cultures passed along their traditions from generation to generation, and eventually these traditions were brought to America by immigrants. 

The Philadelphia Mummers Parade features unique costumes, music, and pageantry. Crowds line Broad St., from South Philly straight through Center City. The climax of the parade takes place at City Hall and the PA Convention Center where the official judging takes place.
The parade itself is one of the longest running traditions in the country. The parade began in 1900 as an official event for the city, however the parade has been going on since the 1800's as a way to celebrate the New Year. http://www.phillymummers.com/history.htm

Philadelphia Mummers of Today

The Philadelphia Mummers of today total over 10,000 marchers.  The parade is still held on New Year's Day, with four distinct divisions: Comic, Fancy, Fancy Brigade and String Band. Comic division clubs lampoon modern day local and national political and social themes. The Fancy division clubs wear large, ornate costumes, carrying back pieces and performing with floats and props.  The Fancy Brigade division clubs also wear large, ornate costumes, and perform intricate dances and drills with elaborate props.    
The String Band division clubs not only wear elaborate costumes like the Fancy and Fancy Brigade divisions, but also drill and perform playing musical instruments. One of the first String Band clubs was Trilby, who first paraded in 1902 and is still in existence today.  Parade rules do not permit the use of brass instruments in a String Band; the instrumentation is exclusively saxophones, banjos, accordions, violins, bass violins, and percussion instruments. Mummers String Bands are known, not only for the unique sound, but also for their elaborate costumes. Brilliant materials, glitter, sequins and feathers are all combined to make the showy costumes. Traditionally, band members, wives and friends made the costumes. Today, professional designers and costumers are utilized. In Philadelphia, the cost of costuming an average 64-piece band is between $30,000 and $80,000, with the captain's costume costing as high as $10,000. There are eighteen String Band organizations in existence today. Every year, each String Band selects an annual theme, and debuts their new music and costumes in the Philadelphia New Year's Day parade.  The marching leader of the band or Captain makes their elaborate debut doing the "2 Street Strut".  http://www.phillymummers.com/history.htm

Tomorrow I will post pictures and video of Uptown Stringband, my husband's band.