Spring is in the air...

I love the spring of the year for several reasons; not having to bundle up to stay warm, the flowers are blooming, trees are  sprouting leaves, grass is getting greener, and all the baby animals make life so wonderful.  It also means I can get outside with my camera and take nature pictures, which is one of my favorite things to do.  If you check out the Photo Albums on my website, Sharry's Place, you will see that the vast majority of my pictures are taken outside.  I recently uploaded approximately 69 photos to my site and over 50% of them were of flowers.  The pictures you see posted on your left are among the latest I've added to my site.  

The latter part of March I added several photos my son and I had taken at the Lexington Comic Book and Toy Convention.  Coming up in September we will be attending the ScareFest Horror and Paranormal Convention in Lexington, KY.  Those photos will be added sometime in October, as the convention is from September 30-October 2.

 

Taking pictures is something I've enjoyed over the last 50 years.  I still own my first camera, a Kodak Instamatic.  I sure wish they still made film and flash cubes for it.  The back of the camera would open up and you dropped the film in, shut the back, then turned a knob to forward the film till it stopped.  You could take 4 pictures with a single flash cube.  If you seriously thought about it, technology has changed so much in the last 50 years.  Eventually, I would love to take photography classes or at least work with someone who could give me tips.

Eveyone should have a camera ready, whether it is on your phone, a tablet, or actual camera.  My sisters use to fuss about all the pictures I would take, but now that their children have grown with kids of their own, they are glad of all the pictures that were taken years ago.

Until next time, take pictures to help make those memories last for future generations...Someone will be glad you did.

 

Lexington Comic & Toy Convention

Make plans now for the weekend of March 11-13, 2016, to attend the 5th annual Lexington Comic & Toy Convention, to be held at the Lexington Civic Center located in downtown Lexington, Kentucky.  The convention, owned by Jared and Jamie Greer, is fast becoming the place to be in our area.  The very first Lexington ComicCon, held in 2012, was a 1 day event, and was an extremely huge success.  In 2013 the convention was expanded to 2 days, and was host to such stars as Margot Kidder (Lois Lane), Billy Dee Williams (Star Wars), and Doug Jones (Hellboy).  William Shatner, Nichele Nichols, and George Takei (the original Star Trek) were among the main guests at the 2014 ComicCon.  Eric Roberts and Verne Troyer were 2 of the stars we got to meet in 2015.

Each year the Lexington ComicCon grows bigger and better.  Some of this year's guests include several stars from the Dr. Who television series.  For more information on this year's guests, ticket prices, and hotel reservations, you can go to lexingtoncomiccon.com.  Hope to see you there.

It's been awhile...

I realize it's been several months since my last post, and for that I do apologize.  There's really no excuse for not posting, but I hope to be able to do a better job from now on.

ScareFest 8 has come and gone, and the 2016 Lexington ComicCon is coming up next month; March 11-13 to be exact.  My "sidekick" and I will again be covering the ComicCon for our website, SharrysPlace.com.  If you're into comic book and toy conventions, why not head out to the Civic Center in Lexington, Kentucky, and have a great time.  Check out their website for more information.

In other convention news, ScareFest will be held the weekend of September 30-October 2, also at the Lexington Civic Center.  The theme for this year will be Camp ScareFest.  As the name suggests, you will feel like you are at summer camp, with pajama parties, campfire stories, and other camp activities.  Though no guests have been announced yet, it won't be long until they do.

I am still working on my embroidery and ceramic painting.  I'm trying to figure out the best way to make some sales, but am at a standstill on that.  Oh well...that's okay.  One of these days, I'll figure something out.

Until next time, I hope life treats you right...

It's That Time Of Year Again...

The weekend of September 11-13 will be busy an exciting one for my household.  This is the weekend my son and I will make our annual trek to Lexington, Kentucky, to attend the 8th annual ScareFest Horror and Paranormal Convention.  This will be my 5th ScareFest convention and my son's 6th.  Though not as large a convention as some of the other pop culture conventions, it is very popular and draws a great crowd every year.

Patti Starr

The owner, Patti Starr,  and her staph (that's the way they spell it) go out of their way to make ScareFest as fan-friendly and affordable as they possibly can. Also included this year is a sign-language interpreter for the hearing-impaired.  On the Friday night of the convention members of the military, police, and firefighter community will be given free admission (with valid id) as a way of saying "thank you" for their service.  On Sunday a new event will be included...ScareFest Kids' Day.  This will be from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm and will include facepainting, haunted house crafts, cornhole games, stiltwalkers, and Star Wars '"Blast-A-Trooper" feathuring the 501st Legion.

"Critter"

After a 2-year hiatus, "Critter" will be back this year.  He is considered the convention mascot, and I'm looking forward to"meeting" him again.  There will be several seminars covering a variety of subjects as well as Q&As with several of the stars.  On Saturday night a costume ball will be held at the Prefunction Area with judging on the best costumes.  Judging will be done by some of the stars.  Some of the stars include cast members of the movies/shows Phantasm and American Horror Story, Tennessee Wraith Chasers from Ghost Asylum (Destination American channel), the daughters of horror icons Boris Karloff and Vincent Price, "Eddie Munster" and "Marilyn Munster" from tv's "The Munsters."  Check out ScareFest's website for a more detailed list of the stars and other events.  

Until next time...

My, how time flies by...

I was going to write something about some of my latest happenings, and didn't realize until just now how long it had been since the last time I posted on here.  I've been meaning to post more often...however, not only does life tend to get in the way, but I'm not that good at writing and have difficulty putting my thoughts into visible words.  I've got several ideas of what I'd like to "discuss" and just need to make myself sit down to write.  

UPDATES

At the present time I'm looking forward to my annual weekend at the ScareFest Horror and Paranormal Convention in Lexington, Kentucky.  It is next weekend, Sept. 11-13.  Just some of the stars who will be there:

• Cast members of Phantasm
• Cast members of American Horror Story
• The Dead Files - Amy Allen & Steve Dischiavi
• Tennessee Wraith Chases - Ghost Asylum
• George Romero - writer, director 
• Josh Gates - Expedition Unknown, Destination Truth
• Sid Haig, Robert Mukes - House of 1000 Corpses

Learning how to paint ceramics is an ongoing process.  Seems I'm having more oops than I am success, but that's all part of the learning curve.  The need to do more research on tips and techniques is great.  :-)  I will keep it up though, and hope one day to feel comfortable with my work. 

Until next time...

Embroidery, sewing, & more...

After lots of encouragement from the hubby and daughter, I'm getting back into trying my hand with embroidery.  I've had a Brother PE500 for about 2 years now, and just this week added a Brother PE770.  The PE500 has a maximum embroidery field of 4"x4", whereas the PE770 has a maximum field of 5"x7".  As much as I would love to have a multi-needle embroidery machine, the price of those are quite out of my league at the present time.  Though you can do so much more on a multi-needle machine, quite a bit can be done with a single needle machine.  

The picture to your left is a embossed font I did on a hand towel for my daughter.  Though it seems like it takes a lot of thread, the end result is very nice.  The font I used is one of several I bought and downloaded from Designs by JuJu.  I have also come across several other websites that offer great fonts and embroidery/applique designs.  Some of these sites can be rather addicting and fun to explore.

As a result of getting back into embroidery, the desire to sew has crept back up.  I see so many cute things on FaceBook from other crafters that I would love to try my hand at, such as bibs, burp cloths, blankets.  Pinterest and Etsy are also great places to look for patterns, tutorials, and other great ideas and supplies for sewing and embroidery.

On another note,  I take my first ceramics class on March 21st.  I am really looking forward to this.  The studio I'll take the classes at is offering 6 classes, with each class specializing in something different.  This is not a hand thrown or wheel thrown class.  We will be learning about putting patterns on bisque and painting them.  I doubt my arthritis would let me handle the clay making process.  :-)

As time goes on, I hope to keep you posted on my process in both the embroidery and ceramic fields.  Links will be provided as I go along for those of you readers who might be interested.  If you don't have a hobby or are looking for a new one, I highly recommend both embroidery and ceramics.  I am not gifted with crafts, but I do enjoy learning...so don't let your insecurities stop you from learning something new.

No new year resolutions for me...

I have decided this year not to make any resolutions for the new year.  Why?  Because I feel that it's silly to say one is going to do something and then quit after an X amount of time.  Seriously...think about it.  How many times have you said you were going to do something, such as quit smoking, only to "fall off the wagon" within a month or so.  

This year I'm going to set goals for myself, and hopefully by the year's end I will be happy with what I've accomplished.  I only have 3 main goals I want to work on in 2015.

1.  Pray more.  I firmly believe in prayer, but haven't done as much of it as I should.  I am trying to get into the habit of starting my day off with a prayer thanking the Lord for allowing me to wake up to enjoy another day He has created.  I also want to try to pray again before I go to sleep thanking Him for the blessings I've had that day, as well as for forgiveness for any mistakes I have made.

2.  Read my Bible more.  Though I've never read the Bible straight through, I have read various books of the Bible and have underlined my favorite scriptures.  I want to read more and look for more scriptures that "talk" to my soul and will help me lead a more Christ-like life.

3.  Continue on my weight loss journey.  Though I have an ultimate goal I'm working toward, I won't be disappointed if I don't achieve it in 2015; as long as I loose as much as I can to get there I will be happy.  I'll get to my ultimate goal one of these days.

Maybe I can get into more crafts this year...I've got a couple of ideas in mind.  Will have to see how things play out.  :-) 

I hope 2015 will be a good year for you.  May the Lord bless you and keep you.