INTERNATIONAL COLORING BOOK

Thought I'd share another international coloring book.  I love the art work.  I wish it featured more countries though 














                                  ALOHA

AROUND THE WORLD WITH CHILDREN COLORING BOOK

                                 ALOHA

CHILDREN OF OTHER LANDS...IRELAND, SCOTLAND AND WALES

                                 ALOHA

A REPRIEVE

Well, we have a reprieve until the end of January. While that is good we still don't have the money to move, no matter which way we budget it. It's frustrating since we can't understand why the homeowner (GDM Group Corp) won't let us rent to own the house. They've already gotten some of their investment back. They bought the house for around $78,000 and have made $14,000 of it back in rent without having to do to much to the house. If we'd planned on moving that would be different but there was no plan to move. At all..ever  Well...me yes, but not my husband. Moving one person is different and my plans to go to Hawaii have definitely gone awry...for the time being anyway. Perhaps it might sound odd but I can handle stress much better there...why not with the ocean and the mountains being so close together I would have two places to go and chill out at. I can actually see myself getting off work (providing I EVER get a job again) and going to the beach or up to the Ko'olau Mountains and just taking in the ambiance of the place. It's a dream I intend to hold on to no matter how far away it is at the moment.

Katy Keene No 57

I can hardly believe that Christmas is nearly here. Only a few days away. Where has the year gone? As bloggers go, I'm horrible at it. I really never have much to say, especially if things are going down the tube. I don't really like to write about negative things, and truly want to be positive. Sometimes that's difficult when things are going so drastically wrong and there just doesn't seem to be any hope.

I've been having fun lately. I've been taking photos of my Barbie's. I always wanted to do it but felt being my great age it would seem rather silly to do so. However, I do enjoy my collection and enjoy changing their clothes. I hate for them to be in the same outfit day in and day out. I like to switch them up and give them a new look. I've been seeing dolls from other collectors on the Internet and they've set up little dioramas with their dolls and took photos of the scenes. So I couldn't help thinking: "Why can't I?" Soooo...I did. LOL I took my Bettie Page doll outside on a nice cloudy day, a few days back, and started taking photos of her. And they came out fairly good. I've dressed her in a Barbie Fashion Avenue gown and call the photo Pretty in Purple. I don't think I'll ever grow out of the joy I feel when I "play" with my dolls. I have containers upon containers of Barbie clothes, both vintage and current that I'll never really run out of a garment for my dolls to wear.

PRETTY IN PURPLE

Last year, when I went to Hawaii, I had thought about taking a few of my dolls to the islands and photographing them in natural lighting and situations: like on the beach, in the "jungle", etc., but I didn't feel comfortable doing that. People don't seem to think your a little odd when they see you setting up and then photographing toys. Still, now that I'm actually doing that in my backyard and enjoying it, I just very well might do that the next time I go to the islands and if someone should ask me why, I can always say I'm doing a doll calendar. LOL  I think the photos would make a nice calendar and if I had the money I would do one up. I have several of the doll photos on my Flickr page if you'd like to check them out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/njw1958/sets/72157632225806379/

Courtesy Wikipedia

The book I'm reading now is THE BORDER LORD AND THE LADY by Beatrice Small. It's the 4th book in her border chronicles series and takes place during the reign of King James I (ruled from 1406 to 1437). James fell in love with Joan Beaufort and ended up making her his queen. Beatrice alludes to this in her book. The novel begins several years before James takes his rightful place as monarch of Scotland.

The story is about a young woman by the name of Cicely Bowan who's father has remarried and who's wife takes in instant dislike to the little girl even before she marries him. She stipulates before the marriage that she doesn't want his "bastard" (although he's had the child legitimized) in the house and because he desires sons and the wealth that she'll bring into the marriage, he complies with this demand, sentencing his daughter and her nurse to a house on his property with him visiting the little girl from time to time. After an incident with Cicely's half brothers, the stepmom demands that her husband send the little girl away.  She is fostered to Queen Joan and ends up befriending Joan Beaufort who is also being fostered in the queens household. Eventually, after James marries Joan, she travels to Scotland with the royal couple. There she comes under the eyes of two men: Andrew Gordon and Ian Douglas. Andrew wishes to marry Cicely for the fortune she will bring to the marriage but Ian wishes to marry her because, like James, he's fallen in love with her at first sight. So far the book is pretty interesting and I'm about half way through it. I try not to give to much away when writing about the novels I'm reading but I do recommend it. Especially if you like to read about the history of Scotland. Small really brings the characters to life and I do like how she mixes fact with fiction throughout her novels.

December 1954

The artist of this months pin-up is T. N. Thompson. I always like how he adds another pin-up within the composition.

Lucy Eleanor Leary year unknown

I wish I had more of Leary's paper dolls. They are hard to find. her and Charlotte Ware are difficult to come by without paying through the nose on Ebay. I'm just glad I have the ones I was lucky enough to buy.

Christmas Pin-up paper doll  Copyright N. Dennis 2008

I've yet to finish coloring Holly. I did have her for sale on Ebay but no one seemed interested in her. My goal is to eventually do a pin-up paper doll representing all the holidays. The inspiration for her pose came from a Katy Keene comic and her clothes were also from designs used in the issues. Eventually I will give Holly another go around on Ebay and perhaps my repeat customers will want to add her to their collection. Holly consists of 10 pages of which 9 are clothes. I'm debating whether I should reduce her down so I have less pages. 

Well, that's all for this round. I'll try to blog again before the end of the year.

Until next time...

                                                ALOHA AND MELE KALIKIMAKA!

                                                            (Merry Christmas in Hawaiian)