I worked on these images for the Photoshop class I’m taking. Can you see the difference?
This week, we’re going back to the 70’s, to disco, bell bottoms and big hair. And Farrah!
Although Farrah had done her share of guest spots while she paid her dues in Hollywood, the blonde bombshell with the degree in microbiology didn’t become a star until 1976 when she was cast as Jill Munro in Charlie’s Angels. Immediately, she became a huge celebrity and Farrah dolls, jigsaw puzzles and posters showed up for sale everywhere. The poster in which she wore a red one-piece swimsuit sold over eight million copies.
But she was more than a sex symbol. After leaving Charlie’s Anels, she garnered accolades for her dramatic roles, and Emmy nominations her roles in The Burning Bed, The Guardian and Small Sacrifices.
Her marriage to Lee Majors (her name was even mentioned in the theme song for The Fall Guy, the series Majors starred in) and her long-time relationship with Ryan O’Neal, with whom she had a son, were fodder for the tabloids, but they failed to mention her involvement with charitable causes, including being on the board of the National Advisory Council for The National Domestic Violence Hot-line.
However, it was her long battle with cancer and her ultimate defeat in 2009 that really caught the attention of the American public. Her documentary, Farrah’s story, got NBC’s highest ratings of the year excluding the Olympics.
I was never a Farrah fan, but I have to give her credit. Known for her beauty – and her hair – she was obviously so much more than a pretty face. She was an award-winning actress, a shrewd businesswoman and a humanitarian. Charlie would be proud.
Is embroidery dead? Hand embroidery, that is. Yes, we can still buy embroidered items, but has the art of hand stitching with thread and a needle gone the way of the dinosaur?
Embroidery is a craft that has been around since 30,000 BC. The Bayeux Tapestry, which depicted the Norman Invasion in 1066, was embroidered in the 11th century. Sculptures and paintings show inhabitants of ancient civilizations wearing hand-embroidered clothing, often adorned by beads and precious stones. In the 1800’s, embroidery mahines were invented and the art of hand embroidery declined. Still, those who enjoyed the process handed down the skills to future generations.
I don’t remember learning how to embroider so I was obviously really young. But I do know I learned at the feet of women who were masters of the craft – my grandmother and my mother. Even when my grandmother was legally blind, she embroidered this tablecloth for me to cover the table holding my wedding cake. It’s pretty fragile now, but something I’ll always treasure.
I was never as proficient as my grandmother in fine stitching. I could do a mean chain stitch and even a pretty good petal stitch. But a satin stitch – no matter how much I practiced, I couldn’t accomplish a smooth even surface.
In the 70’s, crewel embroidery became popular. Embroidery with yarn. Craft stores were filled with kits containing yarn, stencilled fabric and a numbered pattern to follow. Then came counted cross-stitch. They call it embroidery, but it isn’t really. It’s a matter of making an X in the holes in the Aida cloth.
It’s a shame the art has all but disappeared. Machine embroidery may be fine for now, but where are the heirloom hand-crafted tablecloths and linens to pass down to our children? And what’s worse, they don’t even realize what they’re missing.
Thanks to those who visited last week and a big welcome to those who are visiting for the first time. I’d love to hear your comments, so please let me know what you think. This week’s sentences are again from my latest release, Out of Time.
The intensity in his gaze rattled her. Did her answer really matter to him?
She didn’t miss Washington. Didn’t miss the pollution, and the crowded streets, and the constant hum of traffic outside their windows. But some things – some people – she missed desperately. “My life is here now.”
Thanks for stopping by, and hope to see you next week. Check out the other fabulous authors and follow on Twitter with the hashtag #sixsunday.
Murdoch – he’s much bigger now, but still the cutest puppy ever!
I was finishing off a box of Malteasers the other day and I started wondering – who doesn’t like candy?
Then I started thinking back to the penny candies and treats I used to love as a kid. The highlight of my week was a trip to the local candy store with a dime clutched in my hand.
A dime went a long way back then and the hardest part was choosing which candy would fill the paper bag the storekeeper would hold onto while you picked out your goodies. For instance:
* a cup (like the ones they use in hospitals nowadays for pills) filled with cinnamon hearts – 1 cent
* a triangle-shaped container filled with powder that we sucked out through a licorice straw – 3 cents
* a chocolate bar (Sweet Marie was my favorite) – 5 cents
I didn’t buy chocolate bars very often. Even at that early age, I was learning to figure out economics. I could buy a whole bag of penny candies  for the same price as that chocolate bar, and those candies would last longer.
Sponge toffee, gobstoppers, Lik-M-Aid (almost like jelly powder with a candy stick), chocolate coins covered with gold wrapping, Turkish taffy – loved them all.
But no list of candy would be complete without mentioning candy cigarettes. We thought we were so grown-up walking around with that “cigarette” between our fingers and flicking our imaginary ash, ignoring the fact that our lips were white from the coating and that the ends disintegrated when the sugar melted.
I’ve been on Google and there are quite a few on-line stores that still sell “retro” candy. I think I’m going to have to make up a shopping list.
What about you? What was your favorite candy as a kid?
While hubby is here trying to catch a shark 🙂 or whatever …
This is where I’ll be at the end of the month on my way to Florida.
I can’t wait. I’m not really a beach person, as in I wouldn’t want to spend weeks lounging around doing nothing, but there’s something about looking out over the vastness of the ocean and watching the waves break on the sand that is almost hypnotic to me. The squawk of the seagulls overhead, the powdery feel of the sand between my toes, and the warmth of the sun on my face = me all relaxed and happy. There’s no logic to it. It just is. And I don’t question it.
Right now, the temperature here is barely above the freezing point, the sky is grey and there are no flowers or trees to provide any colour at all. So I’m counting down the days … and with any luck, after my beach getaway and we head further south, I’ll be able to meet up with my good friend Amy Atwell for lunch and some writing talk. A perfect start to any vacation.
What about you? What’s your idea of a great vacation? Beach? Mountains?