It Was Wicked

So, what was my latest adventure?

Can you see it?

You guessed it, I headed to the Gershwin Theatre in NYC to see the musical....

The untold story of the Witches of OZ

This wonderful musical explores how these two individuals grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch...

My love for The Wizard of OZ stems from my experience in elementary school when I played Glinda in the school play.  

Glinda from WICKED

As a child I would eagerly anticipate the airing of this movie each and every year.  I loved the magic of it all, the flying monkeys, the wizard, the witches although the very sight of the green-faced witch would bring immediate fear for she epitomized human wickedness.

Elphaba from WICKED

This is the true face of wickedness...

Margaret Hamilton from The Wizard of OZ (1939)

It is ironic that Margaret's performance of the Wicked Witch was so scary to children, because her first job was as a kindergarten teacher.  Had she been my teacher I would have refused to go to school!

Wicked did not disappoint. The cast of characters were truly talented, the costumes creative, the staging mesmerizing, the musical arrangement excellent, the orchestra impressive, the flying monkey ~ well, I don’t want to give anything away but there is flying, and the story line was surprisingly humorous.

To sum it up: Wickedly Wonderful.

Last December I toured one of the oldest museums of printing in the world,  the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, Germany.  My favorite exhibit was a collection of miniature books.  The museum gift shop offered an array of mini books, one of which is The Wizard of Oz. You can imagine my disappointment when I was told the book was sold out; I could have ordered it and I didn't.

But my DH did ~ he travels to Germany often and upon his return he handed me this...

Viola...

Yes, inside is the story in tiny print!  I placed this little beauty beside this...

Beyer Choice Doll

"DOROTHY"

During another trip to Germany my DH returned with The Wizard of OZ written in German.

I feel compelled to add just a bit of stitching to this post so let me re post this picture...

Primitive Wizard of OZ

Midsummer Night Designs

So, what is planned for my next adventure? Here is a clue:

Thanks for taking the time to stop by ~ 


Until next time...

TUSAL

TUSAL

TOTALLY USELESS SAL

I just wanted to post my ORT jar for the May 20th New Moon.  I will probably need to get a larger jar since this SAL runs the entire year. Do you want know more about this no pressure SAL? Click here

The FTT Friendship Exchange Arrived from Melissa and what a beautiful exchange piece it is...

FTT Friendship Exchange

Designer: Prairie Schooler

Design: PS Spring Design~

Birds and Baskets Sampler 

Stitched by: Melissa E.

Melissa does such wonderful needlework and this pinkeep is no exception!  Melissa, your beautifully stitched and finished handwork is nicely displayed on my Needlework tree...I can't thank you enough!

Suzanne S. let me know that the FTT Friendship exchange that I stitched for her arrived.  Here are a few pics...

FTT Friendship Exchange

Designer: The Sunflower Seed

Design: Storklette Scissor Holder

This is such a great design and such an easy finish.  The minute that I completed it I knew that I wanted to stitch it again for myself.

My DH and I spend quite a bit of our free time rummaging through antique and consignment shops.  It is so much fun to find treasures that other people decided they could live without.  Here a few pics of some of those treasures...

Madame Alexander Wizard of Oz Collection

I know, it is hard to believe that someone could actually live without these Wizard of Oz dolls.  Of course this was a real find for me, 4 of the 12 dolls: The Wizard, The Cowardly Lion, The Tin Man, and The Scarecrow.   These 5" dolls were distributed in 2007/2008 in McDonald's, Happy Meals.  The collection consist of: Dorothy, Glenda the Good Witch, Winged Monkey, Cowardly Lion, Wicked Witch of the West, Winkie Guard, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Flower Munchkin, Lullaby Munchkin, Lollipop Munchkin, The Wizard of Oz. 

Here is a collection of glassware that I found interesting...

I especially like the pieces that have the laced edge since these are perfect for holding small scissors. 

As a collector of P. Buckley Moss prints these 3 plates were a great find, one that I could not pass up: 

P. Buckley Moss Plates

The Celebration Series

The Wedding

The Christening

The Anniversary

I am keeping my eyes open for the 4th plate in this series titled, Family Reunion.  

Must end now to try to finish up on a cross stitch wedding gift.

Thanks for stopping by ~

Until next time...

A Few Of My Favorite Things

I hope all the blog reading Moms had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I received this gorgeous flower arrangement from my two favorite sons:

This was such a wonderful surprise and the flowers smell beautiful.   Thank you G and D for making my day extra special! 

Here is my favorite YouTube, so perfect for mother's Day. Get your tissue ready...

I thought that I would share with you my every growing collection of glass flower frogs.  I actually come across these often and have had to curtail my spending when it comes to these frogs..

I do have a few favorites, the green one and the frogs that are thicker...

I am finally finding time to post a picture of an amazing silhouette poster of The Wizard of Oz. 

This was given to me by my DSs on Christmas 2010 and I absolutely love it...

This Wizard Of Oz poster is composed entirely from the body text of Frank Baum’s classic novel. Carefully arranged, the words form an image in negative space of Dorothy and the gang skipping down the yellow brick road with the Wicked Witch of the West hovering over them.  Here is  bit of the detail...

How awesome is that???? Because we were planning on moving I decided to wait to get the poster framed. We are now settled in our new home and I am happy to say that my favorite poster is now on display in my sewing room.

A week from tomorrow is a very special day ~ my DS #2 will be graduating from Lehigh University.  We have had so much rain lately that I am hoping that the day is sunny and bright. When DS #1 graduated in 2009 it was not only raining, it was freezing.  I shall keep my fingers crossed that the weather cooperates this time!

Thanks for stopping by ~

Until next time...

Off To See the Wizard

I am happy to report that I have finally put needle to thread on my Primitive Wizard of Oz. I saw this design on Michele's blog many months ago and rushed to purchase it. Sadly, I did not rush to start it! I have watched as Michele made progress, each time telling myself that I should get started. When she posted a picture of the completed design I decided that the time had come! It is a relatively quick stitch (nothing like my HAED WIP) so I knew that all I needed to do was pull it out and take that first stitch. After not so many hours of stitching here is my progress...

• Design: Primitive Wizard of Oz
  Designer: Midsummer Night Designs

I am using all of the colors called for except for the green, which I changed to NN Creme d menthe. It will not be long before I complete this one and get it framed to hang on my sampler wall.

This past weekend I got started on some finishing work. I have three of the LHN Monthly Ornaments stitched and was able to finish "He's A Flake"

• Designer: Little House Needleworks
• Design: He's A Flake
• Monthly Ornament

I happened to have some little icicles that I added to the bottom. You really can't tell from the picture but I found some trim that glitters; it looks great with this design.

I am just about done with the finishing of the first two ornaments but I will save these for another post.

After waiting many weeks for my Victoria Sampler order to arrive, I spent two days stitching the Ireland and France International Hearts. This is a gift for my aunt, a gift that I needed to get it mailed this week (which I did, phew!). I was in a rush to get to the post office and snapped a quick photo ~ a quick "not so good" photo!

Designer: Victoria Sampler

Design: International Heart: Ireland and France

Finish: Flat Fold

I have been good about not signing up for every exchange that I see posted! I am still participating in a few but I am trying to leave substantial time for a little "me" stitching...as Martha would say, "That's a good thing!"

I shall leave you with this "Wishing Custom"...

BOOK

If you accidentally drop a book, step on it with one

foot and make a wish. Be sure to pick it up with the

hand that's opposite the foot you used; otherwise, your

wish won't come true.

Until next time...

A Bit Of This And That

I received my F&S Summer Exchange blocks from Jill and they are truly wonderful. Jill selected a very appropriate Lizzie Kate Design called “Summer Basket” and I could not be more pleased. What a wonderful design, I love the alphabet that surrounds the basket. Thank you so much Jill for these great squares!

Fair & Square Summer

Lizzie Kate Summer Basket

Stitched by: Jill F.

I have been busy stitching but I am working on exchange pieces so I cannot show you any pictures right now. Speaking of exchanges, I have decided to be very selective on which future exchanges I will participate in over the next few months. I really want to stitch some special holiday gifts for some friends but I am struggling to find time to start these projects. It is very difficult to pass on the many wonderful exchanges that I see out there but I will do my best.

My Victorian Motto Sampler Threads arrived and I just love all the beautiful colors:

How can one resist this, it is candy for the eyes! I should point out that Nancy is so nice to deal with and gets her orders shipped super fast~ thanks Nancy.

I would also like to thank Jenn for sending me a link to a “must have” design. She read that I liked the Wizard of Oz and emailed a link to this design:

Designer: Midsummer Night Designs

Design: Primitive Wizard of Oz

I just love it! I quickly ordered it and hope to "quickly" stitch it! It would look nice hanging with a collection of my other samplers.

I shall leave you with this "Wishing Custom"...

Corn On The Cob
If you have an ear of corn with either seven or fourteen rows,
make a wish as you take your first bite.

Until next time...