A little batty

I thought I'd take a minute to share one of my recent mail art creations, sent to my daughter at college a few weeks ago.  The picture I had of it did not contain the address, and I thought it looked way better addressed...so I digitally added an address.

I'm working on a minion costume for Halloween at the moment.  Thank goodness for Pinterest, where I got the idea.  Of course I had to have appropriate shoes, so the most time consuming part is the shoes.  I took an old pair of shoes that I absolutely love, but were scuffed up, and painted them to match.  While I forgot to take a picture of the shoes as they were originally, I'll try to remember to take a pic of them after the paint job.  It will be interesting to see how the paint holds up.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

~Cyndi

Stan Hywet - Ohio Mart - Part II

Stan Hywet Hall, Akron, Ohio

Originally spread over 3,000 acres, this estate currently sits on 70 acres of beautifully maintained grounds.  The 65-room manor house boasts a 2,200 sq. ft. music room and a pool!  The 10,929 sq. foot carriage house today houses a nice little restaurant called Molly's Cafe, which is located in what was originally the stables, and also a gift shop.  Also on the property is the Gate Lodge where Alcoholics Anonymous was founded. Tours of the property are available.

I myself have never been on a tour inside the manor house.  I have seen a couple of manor house rooms as a craft show I attended in the past was in the basement of the home, but that is as far as I have ventured.  I have been inside the carriage house gift shop, and of course, the lovely grounds!

Here are more photos from my visit to Ohio Mart at Stan Hywet Hall.

Back of the Stan Hywet Manor House.

The Birch Tree Allée, Stan Hywet Hall.

Stan Hywet Hall, Akron, OH.  Front of the manor house.

The Birch Tree Allée Vista.

The service court, Stan Hywet Hall, Akron, OH.

Stairs at the west terrace overlook, Stan Hywet Hall, Akron, OH.

If you live in the area, or are making a visit to our area, you should make it a priority to stop at Stan Hywet.   If you can possibly make it during Ohio Mart, I highly suggest making the trip then.  They offer combined tickets that include a self-guided tour of the manor house AND admission to the arts and crafts festival.

~Cyndi

Stan Hywet - Ohio Mart Part I

One nice thing about being on hiatus is that I'm not required to do anything. I guess that is why I have not blogged for a while.  It's not that I don't have a myriad of potential blog postings floating around in my head (I actually have TONS!), I just don't want the blog to become a chore.

During my blogging absence, I have been organizing my Pinterest boards.  If you follow only select boards, you may want to go over and check out the new organization.  For instance, I have broken Food down in to several subcategories.  I've also been taking Other Stuff I Like and have been doing the same.  The boards now have just a few main categories:  Art, DIY, Food, Other, and Places.  Now if only Pinterest would retain the changes I made to the boards themselves!  I have been moving the boards around (Did you know you could drag and drop them so they are in whatever order YOU choose?) and after about an hour working on them the other day, I went back in and found that the boards were back to their original positions.  Ughhh!

Last weekend I went to a wonderful local craft fair. It is called Ohio Mart and it takes place on the grounds of Stan Hywet Hall in Akron, Ohio.  Stan Hywet is a gorgeous mansion that was built by the Seiberling family around the turn of the 20th century. F.A. Seiberling was the founder of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. The home ranks 20th on the list of largest houses in the United States and is the 6th largest that is open to the public.  The grounds of this gorgeous home are breathtaking!

So, for this return to posting post, I thought I would share some pictures of the grounds of Stan Hywet Hall.

In the spring.  This image is borrowed from SeiberlingVisualHistory.org

It was a BRIGHT, sunny day.  Very hard to capture good photos with the sun in the background.  This one is mine...adjusted a little bit.

The back of the house taken from the Japanese garden.

This is the conservatory.

My arty shot of the back of the house.  I really like this one.

I think they call this the Birch Tree Allee.  Lovely. It's one of my favorite places.

I'm not sure what they call this building.  The top area looks over a beautiful vista and there is a changing area underneath...I assume for the lagoon that is nearby.

Yet another beautiful area on the grounds.  I couldn't stop snapping pictures.

This is an aerial photo of the home that I borrowed from SeiberlingVisualHistory.org.

These steps are the same ones I showed above...just a different viewpoint and more closeup.

This is the back of the home showing the lovely mums and the fountain.  Can't you just imagine a turn-of-the-century garden party here?

 I have many, MANY more pictures of the grounds of this lovely estate.  I will post more later.  Oh, and the craft show was fantastic, as well...in case you were wondering.  There were many wonderful artisans there.  There was great food, too!  It was such a beautiful day that day; we were all very blessed.

~Cyndi