The Joy of Blogging

I believe I have been blogging for a bit over a year now and have found it to be a wonderful way to share my life, my thoughts, and my creativity with you.

I have had people write to me with comments and inspirations...it is nice to get all kinds of surprises!

I wrote about Sailor Valentines in my June 19, 2009 blog. I talked of my love of shells and about the history of Sailor Valentines.

My blog was found by a very talented man, who makes Sailor Valentines, Mr. Bill Jordan. His work is so very meticulously designed and I just love his pocket watches-very creative!!
In the past week Bill and I have emailed and made a nice connection. Isn't that what blogs are all about- reaching out and sharing? To quote someone we all know- it is a good thing! ;) wink

I would like to share some of Bill's work with you...I hope you too find it as fantastic as I do!

Traditional Sailor Valentine

Shell Art (miniature)in Boxes

For more info please see...

bill jordan's website
bill's watch designs

A Gift of Friendship

This is the Story of Friendships Dolls from America to Japan...

On a January day over 80 years ago, America's children sent thousands of dolls on a journey to faraway Japan. The dolls were traveling on an important mission. They were messengers of peace from America's children to Japan's.
The story of the Friendship Dolls begins in the 1920s. Japan was in a depression, and many Americans were afraid that Japanese people would come to the United States and take jobs away from American citizens. So the U.S. government passed laws preventing Japanese citizens from entering the country. Some Americans, like Dr. Sidney Gulick, thought the laws were hurtful to Japanese people.
He had lived in Japan, so he tried to think of a way to help the people of America and Japan begin to understand one another. Dr. Gulick had an idea. He remembered that every year on March third, people in Japan celebrate Hina Matsuri, or Doll Festival. On this day, girls display dolls that have been in their families for generations.
Knowing how much dolls are treasured in Japan, Dr. Gulick thought they would be perfect messengers of peace. He also believed that if Japanese and American children could learn to understand one another when they were young, they would remain friends long into the future. So Dr. Gulick invited the children of America to send dolls to the girls in Japan for Hina Matsuri. The American children were very enthusiastic! They donated their own money and raised funds to buy a total of 12,739 dolls!
Before being sent off on their long journey of January 1927, the dolls were given going-away parties. At many celebrations, children tried to give the dolls a taste of what life in Japan would be like. Girls dressed in kimonos and entertained their dolls with Japanese songs, games, and dances that they had learned.
When the parties were over, many girls found it hard to say goodbye to the dolls. Still, they knew it was for a good cause. As one group of girls from Hartford, Connecticut, wrote in a letter carried by their doll, "We love to think that this dolly that we have loved so much is going to tell our little Japanese sisters how much we love them."

Provided with passports, the dolls were sent to off to Japan. The Friendship Dolls were welcomed in Japan with great parades and parties. The biggest celebration of all was attended by several young Japanese princesses! Then the dolls were sent to schools all across Japan.
Japanese children were enchanted by the dolls. Blue eyes and blond hair were features most had never seen before--on dolls or people! Many girls brought their own dolls to school to keep the American dolls company. Many others wrote thank-you notes to their new friends across the ocean. One ten-year-old girl wrote, "A thought came to me that we children in America and Japan are really brothers and sisters." A friendship had begun.

Many Japanese people felt that letters were not enough to show how much they loved the wonderful American dolls. So the best artists in Japan were hired to make 58 dolls as gifts in return.

Dolls in Washington DC

Each doll represented a different Japanese city or region. They all had silky black hair, delicate faces, and dark, almond-shaped eyes. Every doll came with a tiny fan, parasol, and miniature tea ceremony set to celebrate Hina Matsuri in the U.S. Americans were thrilled with the gifts! The beautiful dolls toured the country and attended more than a thousand receptions before being sent to museums all across America.

Miss Fukuoka

Miss Kagoshima
Miss Miyagi

Miss Fukushima

Text from American Girl, March/April 1997

by Louise Chipley Slavicek

Individual American Friendship Dolls

to date: 300 of the 12,000 remain
Individual Japanese Friendship Dolls
to date: 45 of the 58 remain

Friendship Bear

As I started this project, I had the idea rolling around in my head about a little bear in a shadow box...well, as the creative process took hold and the little bear was created-she just didn't quite fit into the shadow box.

Now, I was presented with the challenge of redesigning the bear or thinking out-side the (shadow) box and letting the bear be what she was...cute and on her own, out in the open in all her precious little glory...that was it and the Friendship Bear was created...

Next- She needed a little soft pillow to sit on.

She is petite at 5-inches tall and needed something to ground her...a box- but not in it but on it! Yes...she was coming along...

Her box had to be special...specially made for her- with words of Friendship enveloping the box...and of course a heart...Friend

I thought she would be a wonderful present to make and give to a special friend, you can make her a place her in her little box with a friendship story, a poem, a wee little hand-made card and tie it with a fabulous bow!

You are...my Friend, my companion,
through good times and bad my friend, my buddy,
through happy and sad, beside me you stand,
beside me you walk, you're there to listen,
you're there to talk, with happiness, with smiles,
I know you'll be there, throughout the years!
You are...my Friend.

I just love her- right now she is sitting on top of my worktable- just sweet and happy!

I will be teaching her as a class this coming weekend- there will be more Friendship Bear photos to come in the next ROotie Monthly E-News or contact info. about the pattern.

Celebrate Friendship Day on Sunday August 1, 2010

more about Friendship Day

Memories of Easy-Bake Oven

I was not fortunate to have an Easy Bake Oven but my friend, Lori Love, down the street and around the corner did! My sister and I would go over to her house and in the basement family room we would create our delicious baked goodies- while watching Alfred Hitchcock movies!?!?

hummm...maybe that is why I love cooking today and love mysteries and SciFi- ya think??

This past week, Ronald Howes Sr, the inventor of the Easy Bake Oven went to the great inventor's paradise in the sky...

Children sometimes asked the inventor
of the Easy-Bake Oven if he was Santa Claus.

Millions of young girls – and some boys – baked their first cookies, cupcakes and brownies in the Easy Bake Oven because of him.
For over forty years the Easy Bake Oven has delighted young boys and girls with creation of their own baked goods. The Easy Bake Oven has created many memories for years on end. It has been proven time and time again that the Easy Bake oven is where creative ideas are "baked". The Easy Bake Oven made its debut at the Toy Fair in 1964. Kenner is the toy company that produces the vintage and new Easy Bake Ovens. Kenner management was truly surprised to see that there were more than 500,000 Easy Bake Ovens that were sold at the Toy fair. In 1964, the now vintage toy ovens were selling at a rate of approximately $16.00 each.

The fascination of the Easy Bake Oven is that it truly is so kid friendly. There are many recipes that can be created with the oven. A simple light bulb is used to cook the tasty concoctions. Pans, a sliding stick used to guide the pans into and out of the oven, is all that is truly needed to create a delicious masterpiece.
Children love to cook with the Easy Bake Ovens, as it is an easy way for them to learn how to bake. Parents appreciate the ovens, because they teach children how to cook, but safely. Many mixes are included with the Easy Bake Oven sets, which currently include donuts, and a cookie pizza. Vintage Easy Bake Ovens came with such tasty treats as birthday cake set, potato chip maker, and taffy machine.

In addition to his creation of the Easy-Bake Oven, Howes also was involved in the creation of or refinement to a number of other Kenner Toy products, including Spirograph, Give-a-Show Projector, and Close-and-Play Record Player.
After bringing children years and years of great fun, Mr. Howes died on February 16, 2010 at the age of 83 and that is a great legacy to leave behind!

Recipes
Easy-Bake History
More on Mr. Howes

comic from the 60's


and the Easy Bake Oven lives on today!

Classic Easy Bake Oven