Saturday, October 27, 2012


Retro “Dunkies” Thermos
 So I am minding my own business one night and my sweet daughter Kala and her good friend Ashley storm down the stairs into my basement with a “Surprise” for me!  Excitedly, Ashley is holding something behind her back while Kala is looking onward to witness my reaction.  Ashley reveals my gift and exclaims “Look what we found for you!!!”  They had just arrived home from shopping a few second hand stores for articles of clothing and props for Halloween costumes and the play that Ashley is in.  They paid almost nothing for it-but could not resist since ‘I gotta have my Dunkies iced coffee every day!’

A very large Dunkin’ Donuts Thermos in perfect condition!  We had a good laugh and I suggested how I am going to hold onto this “artifact” because somewhere in time it will be worth a fortune! We laughed together!

I can see it now, my kids-- kids-- kids (all the way down the genealogy line of future generations to come) will find it boxed up in the back stacks of storage in the remains of this house and bring it to a traveling “Antiques Road Show” event. There, it will be broadcast on PBS as a one hit wonder and crowds will surround their colorful and gigantic pristine tubular find!  They’ll wonder what it was used for and why anyone would NEED that much coffee in one day.  Did people use it to bring it to their jobs or on a week’s vacation to a place that sold no coffee?  Did they carry it as an accessory just in case they needed a little lift throughout their day?  How long would the coffee stay hot in this tubular form and is there a microwave chip gadget inside to keep it hot? What, no buttons or wires to plug this thing into a wall—it’s not WIFI’d?  Why can you not see the bottom of the mirrored inside capsule of this thing they called a “thermos”? And, if it keeps something hot, does it also have the ability to keep something cold for a long period of time?

The experts at Antiques Road Show will list a price below its picture as;
Dunkin Donuts Thermos: $10,000 - $20,000

(The standard size coffee mug was used as a size –scale comparison in this photo.)

White on White Winter Scene


I am teaching a card class this November and one of my challenges for this class is to create a card that does not involved a lot of fussing around.  This card is as no fuss as picking up a handful of snow to make a snow ball!

1) White card stock (5.5 x 5.5 card base size)
2) Accent color mat card stock (blue)
3) Dotted Embossing folder (snow)
4) Memory Box dies (background scene & decorative swirly tree)
5) White ribbon (dotted pattern)
6) Bling! (One card with blue to coordinate with blue accent mat and one card with clear/silver bling)

This card took about ten minutes to create. Your only challenge is to make sure you are using the same white card stock-because as we all know—all “whites” are not the same!

Friday, October 5, 2012

Quilled Sunflower Patch!



It all started with the recent autumn air cooling things down at night.  I usually peruse the craft store aisles for the new yarns to start a lil’ somethin’ on one of my knitting looms and like everyone else, I turn my attention to sunflowers and fall colors.  I always seem to run out of these colors in my Quilling box before the first frost!

Tomorrow, I am teaching a card design class and thought since I made some sunflowers I would doll ‘em up and put them in a vase to give to each of my attendees as a thank you gift.  I needed just the right size vase bottle in order to house just one quilled sunflower—not too big-not to small.  I started to look for vases at the craft stores to no avail.  Then, while grocery shopping I came across the cutest lil’ wine bottles…sure enough the perfect size and with slightly tinted green glass—Perfect! And, not to forget to mention my darling husband and I shared a toast in order for me to get this project on the move!  Win-Win!

Supplies: 
Hand Quilled Flowers
Cricut Leaves /Home Décor Cartridge
Sizzix Frame Back Ornate#3 & Banner
Cuddlebug Paisley Embossing Folder
Halloween theme buttons
Bassill Cardstock
October Afternoon Homemaker
Rickrack and twine
“Happy Autumn”-word document