Yesterday was the Irish Cancer Society's annual Daffodil Day. It is always the last Friday in March. I've posted about it before and the badges representing past years are from my earlier offering.
I think it is a lovely idea. It's so nice to see everyone going about their business in Dublin with a sunny silk daffodil pinned to their jackets. Somehow the day seems a bit brighter and people look a bit more cheerful. There was a very good turnout of volunteers this year, selling silk flowers and badges on every street corner. I was glad to see there was still a strong presence. With the economic downturn its always a worry that good causes will fade away.
I tend to buy the badges rather than the silk flowers as they are easier to keep and I'm building up a nice little collection.
This year I also bought a pack of note cards. I find blank cards very useful and I prefer having something that supports a charity. A few years ago we lost a colleague at work to cancer. She was only 45 and left behind two young children and a husband who adored her. It made me realise how quickly and unexpectedly cancer can strike and how important the work of an organisation like this is.
I love daffodils. They are a real reminder that summer is just around the corner. At midnight tonight we change the clocks for summer time - longer days but I lose an hour of sleeping late tomorrow morning!
I always include this little paper doll for Daffodil Day. The full set of Mother Goose Paper Dolls can be found here. It is one of my favourites from my childhood.
Like many little girls throughout the ages I dreamt of growing up to become a princess. (Nowadays I aspire instead to a quiet life with a veggie patch, a rose garden and maybe a bee hive).
Perhaps the most accessible princesses during my childhood were the Disney versions. I loved all the classics of the time, but Cinderella possibly had a slight edge when it came to my affection.
I think the appeal of Cinderella is the 'against all odds' aspect of the story. She endures great personal tragedy, reduced circumstances and overt cruelty - and then just when life seems at its bleakest - fate (and a fairy godmother) step in and whisk her away to a new life of happiness and promise.
When we went to Disneyland (Paris) I chose a small figurine of Cinderella as my memento of our holiday.
I can't seem to photograph her successfully but she stands on my dressing table with all my other little treasures.....
.... . And then last Christmas I bought a 'vintage'ornament for the tree. It was a bit of an impulse buy but I couldn't resist it and she looked really pretty amongst the other decorations..
The most bizarre thing has just happened. I was busy adding these pictures to my blog when I saw a Google notification. It told me 'an awesome photo has been added' and someone else has included this effect of the tree sparkling - how strange is that!
My Mom owned these two identical little books of Cinderella and she loved them. The books are really small - like the little pocket dictionaries I used before we were able to look things up online. As a child I could never really see their appeal. They were not big or colourful enough for me, but I treasure them today because they meant so much to her.
Something that has always intrigued me is that Disney brought out two versions of Cinderella. I've always found both quite magical. Does anyone know if the alternate version was ever made into a movie? If it was I've never come across it.
There is a well known paper doll book based on these illustrations - I've never owned a copy but have seen it advertised for sale and have often been tempted.
When I was eight years old (don't laugh I know I was that age exactly!) one of the big South African supermarket chains gave out a page of card when you shopped there (it must have been some sort of promotional offer) that had a game on it - I think it was a bit like snakes and ladders. It was similar to the sort of thing that appeared on the back of cereal boxes. The illustrations all centred around Cinderella wearing the ball gown from this version of the story. I would love to be able to see this game again but doubt any are still in existence. I do own a book with the full story and all the illustrations - I've scanned my favourites from it and have included them here:
I've always thought this paper doll book a particularly lovely one. It first appeared 4 or 5 years ago and looks like it is from somewhere like Russia. The dolls and dresses are gorgeous. I'm not going to repeat them all here but will instead give two blog links where you can see the complete set (including other Disney princesses as well)
One can be found here at Paper Doll Collections and I also spotted them on the blog belonging to Miss Missy (a fellow OPDAG member).
Of all the blog posts I've ever done the one that still continues to be visited the most (at least 50 times every day) is my compilation of Disney love songs. I shouldn't be encouraging more traffic to it but the link to that post can be found here. I wanted to put the same version of the song at the end of this post to finish but can't get it to list in the YouTube search so have included another one instead.
I've been wanting to make a paper doll of Galadriel ever since I saw the first Hobbit movie (An Unexpected Adventure) way back at the end of 2012. I preferred the first instalment of The Hobbit to the second - and one of the things I really adored about it was the beautiful soft, fluid gowns that Cate Blanchett wore.
The next OPDAG Paper Doll Studio issue has Favourite Films as its theme. I had already sent in my submission (which I'll wait to show you after the magazine comes out on the assumption my doll will be in it) when I decided the time had come to finally make Galadriel. When she was finished I sent her in as a second submission. I don't know if Jenny will have space or want to include more than one of my dolls, so I thought I'd put her up on my blog straight away just in case she doesn't make the cut.
I was really pleased with the way she came out. She is a very practical doll - easy to cut out and dress with no fiddly bits and for that reason I think the finished result is quite effective.
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