I took the following photos of Matryoshka, a.k.a, babushka, dolls, in Prague and Krakow. Matryoshkas are sets of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside the other. The word "matryoshka" is derived from the Russian female first name "Matryona", and the word "babushka" is the Russian word for grandmother. The original matryoshka were created by Vasily Zvyozdochkin, a wood carver and designed and painted by Sergey Malyutin, a folk crafts painter at the estate of Russian industrialist and patron of arts, Savva Mamontov. The design was inspired by a set of Japanese wooden dolls representing the Seven Gods of Fortune. This original set consisted of eight dolls -- the outermost was a girl holding a rooster, six inner dolls – the first four, all girls; the fifth doll, a boy; and the innermost, a baby. In 1900, Savva Mamontov's wife presented the dolls at the World Exhibition in Paris, where the toy earned a bronze medal. A set of matryoshkas consists of a wooden figure which separates, top from bottom, to reveal another figure of the same sort inside, which has, in turn, another figure inside of it, and so on. The number of nested figures is traditionally at least five, but can be much more - up to several dozen with sufficiently fine craftsmanship. Traditionally the outer layer is a woman, dressed in a sarafan, a traditional Russian long, shapeless jumper dress (pinafore) worn as Russian folk costume by women and girls. The figures inside may be of either gender; the smallest, innermost doll is typically a baby fashioned from a single small piece of wood (and hence non-opening). The artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be extremely elaborate. Matryoshka dolls are often designed to follow a particular theme, for instance peasant girls in traditional dress, as my photos depict; but the theme can be anything, from fairy tale characters to world leaders.
7 advantages of learning Polish - A lot of people do not understand why and which the motivations are to study Polish language, but after a while learning..
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EDIT 6/25/12: This post has gotten tons of hits lately so. There are some really dedicated fans of The Office out there! I hope you look around my blog and find something interesting. Thank you for…
Audrey's Girl Scout troop leader (my friend Jackie) asked me to teach a basic sewing class to the Brownies this month. It was a fun challenge and something I love to do. Plus I got to hang out with Audrey, so, bonus. It was supposed to be a one session class but because I have incredibly poor time management skills, it turned into a two session class. I didn't remember to take pictures during the first session. You'll have to use your imagination. The girls learned a lot that first day. Namely, sewing a button on a piece of fabric looks easy. When sewing a button on a piece of fabric, push and pull the needle and thread up and down through the fabric. If you wrap the needle and thread around the fabric, Miss Amy will cut your thread and make you start over. They also learned about pattern instruction. Previous to the class I cut 16 long rectangles from pattern paper 6 inches wide and 30 inches long to make patterns for what would eventually become a fleece boa scarf. FOLD was the only pattern instruction we discussed. The girls learned that this end of the pattern piece is laid on the fold of the fabric. They cut three lengths from fabric that I had previously cut into 18 inch segments. The girls laid their pattern in the middle of their fabric piece and pinned it down. Then they cut on both sides of the pattern. Eventually they ended up with three, sort of equally cut layers of fabric. If you choose to do this project with a large number of 7, 8 and 9 year old girls, be sure to have plenty of fabric scissors. It will save a lot of time and be significantly less tearful. That first class the girls, miraculously, completed the cutting of the fabric. And it was all ready for our next meeting two weeks later. Two Weeks Later On this day, the girls enjoyed learning about how to use a sewing machine. Many of them were a little apprehensive about the needle. The most common question I got was "Have you ever sewn your finger?" "No. I never have. That would hurt." I showed them how to thread the bobbin and the machine. They also learned how to work the presser foot and where the back stitch button was. When they had heard the basics, they took their three layers of fabric and did a straight line stitch down the middle of the layers, beginning and ending with a back stitch. A couple of moms, and an aunt of one of the girls (a real live seamstress) were there to help me for this session. We also had three machines available for the girls to use. We helped them as they guided their fabric through the machine. Some had a little difficulty with pressing the pedal and guiding the fabric at the same time, but they were all pros by the time they had sewn through 60 inches of fabric. After they had completed their stitch, their instructions were to cut one inch strips down both lengths of the fabric, cutting through all three layers but stopping before the stitch. We still could have used more scissors because, again, there was some waiting going on. But in the end, we had 16 beautiful girls who flaunted their fabulous boa making skills. Sew happy, and soooo cold. Well, except for her neck.
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Who wore their pants better, Justin Bieber or a baby? Who looks better in black and white, Kim Kardashian or a killer whale? Can Kendall Jenner's style really compete with a shredded car seat? We really can't decide, so it looks like it's over to you to tell us just who exactly wore it better.
Hiya Dolls! I have the beautiful Essie Mrs. Always-Right to share with you today. I have wanted this beauty for a while now, so glad Superstore had it on sale today! Mrs. Always-Right is from the Essie Bridal 2016 collection. This rich, dusty rose shade is right up my alley! The formula was super awesome, you can almost get away with one coat. I used two for my swatch, just cuz that's how I do! What do you guys think of Essie Mrs. Always-Right? Are you as much of a sucker for dusty rose shades as I am? I feel like it's one of those polishes that I can just never have enough of! Have a great day lovelies! Anne xo
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*purchased by me Hello lovelies! I have six of the newest shades from piCture pOlish to share with you. Free was released a little earlier as a gift with purchase but I'm including it in this post with the other five. As you can see, all of these shades fall in the blue and green color families. You would think that might be a little boring but not at all as they are all so different! Free is a shifting teal to blue jelly scatter holographic. It's really complex and a perfect peacock color. This was a one coater, but I applied two anyway. Shown without top coat. Here's a comparison with Free and Mermaid. You can see they're both pretty similar in color, but the finishes are very different. Soul is a deep blue/purple jelly with scatter holographic and holo hex glitters. Great formula and super sparkly! Shown is two coats plus top coat. Here's a comparison with Soul and Freya's Cats. My photo makes them look a little more similar than they are. Soul is a little more purple in person. Mermaid is a deep teal/turquoise creme/jelly with scatter holographic and holo hex glitters. This shade is highly pigmented and more creme than jelly which really hides the glitters. Shown is two coats plus top coat. You can see Mermaid is much more blue than Meow and more saturated than Free and Ocean. Blue is a saturated cobalt blue creme. This color is just gorgeous and I know I'll get a lot of use out of it. Really great formula and smooth application. Shown is two coats, no top coat. This photo actually turned out spot on! Showing Blue compared to Freya's Cats and Forget Me Not. Surf is a bright aqua blue creme. The formula was not completely self leveling but would be fine after a top coat. Shown is two coats, no top coat. Once again these colors were hard to capture exactly. Surf if a little brighter and more saturated in person. You can see in comparison that Salt Water and Whimsy are lighter, and Fool's Gold is more turquoise. Oasis is a vibrant green creme. This shade is absolutely impossible to photograph correctly! It's both deep and bright at the same time and my camera couldn't handle it. With editing this was the best I could do. The formula is a little thin and dries semi matte. Shown is three coats, no top coat. Although I couldn't get Oasis to photographic accurately this should give you a better idea of the color. Chillax is lighter and more minty blue in comparison and Marine is darker and teal. You can purchase these shades from the piCture pOlish website or one of their international stockists. What are your favorite shades? I like them all but if Mermaid had been made a little more jelly like it would have been my favorite. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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Amy wears some really awesome nail polish in Doctor Who, and here are the colors she wears in each episode. Enjoy!
