A fantastic giveaway!

There has been a reason why I haven't been blogging of late, and I will talk about that soon, but right now I'd like to share an amazing giveaway option.

If you've been reading my blog for a while now you have probably figured out that I like love my Disneyland silhouette collection!  There is something else I like love!

A wonderfully creative site called le papier studio.  I don't think I can explain this site better than Vana herself-

"Professionally trained as an architect, Vana Chupp has always been artistically inspired by the sweet and simple moments in life.  Her craft was born with the birth of her beautiful boy Nikolas. Documenting her son’s milestones by cleverly capturing his personality, emotion, playfulness and essence, she began using silhouettes to tell her own life story.  It’s a love story – continuing to blossom, with Nikolas as her muse. Coming full circle, Vana was able to combine her passion and artistic experience and share it all with you! In 2008 Vana launched her dream job; Le Papier Studio,  a small woman-owned business that expresses creativity and inspiration, all the while giving her time to fulfill her most important job; being a mom."

I absolutely love that she is  "inspired by the sweet and simple moments in life".  Being a mom is what should be most important to everyone with children!  I have been purchasing her items for a year or so now After our trip to Disneyworld, I contacted her to ask if she could reproduce my silhouette from Disneyworld into a charm.  Last Christmas (2010) I received this lovely necklace.  And from then on I have been a huge fan....

This  necklace is no longer available, but you can get the silhouette charm here. 

Then, it was on!  I continue to enjoy all their artistic items!  Above is a return address stamp that I blogged about here.

I have received a bracelet, earrings and even a ring all with the original silhouette they adapted for me. 

 

The bracelet is still available here. 

The earrings here.

The ring here. 

So, what are you waiting for?  Surf on over to Le Papier Studio's blog and enter their fantastic giveaway!  Check out their shop and order some amazing custom or just plain awesome stuff!  You'll be so happy you did! Better hurry...you have until Monday!

Can't wait to write a letter!

I suppose I should change the focus of my blog to "the Pensiero's Disney silhouette" page! It's true, I love the silhouettes. Friends, family and characters grace my kitchen and now my family room walls. Last December I found a site that could change your photos into personalized silhouette jewelry! I was so excited to have a silhouette we had done at Disneyworld converted into a pendant! It was the perfect gift!

I follow their blog Le Papier Studio where I learned about a wonderful new thing they are offering. A return address stamp that could have my silhouette in the center! When I saw it, I knew it was for me! I received the stamp just this past weekend and am so impressed with the quality! I highly recommend all of their things! They can make a personalized silhouette from a picture or you can choose from one of their own designs. They charge a very reasonable one time fee for a custom silhouette, and then you can use that custom art for all other future projects. It's a big thumbs up from me.

Go and check their site out! I'm very excited about all they do! And now I'm very excited about Christmas and using my stamp! Don't be surprised if you get a letter from me just because!

Good-Bye Christmas 2010, we will miss you!

I can't believe the decline in my postings this last year. I just don't seem to get a hand on managing my life. I seem to be in slow motion. I seem stiffer and slower than usual. I guess my M.S. is progressing faster now. I occasionally walk with a cane (mostly for balance). I want to do a whole post about my health, and I know there are those of you on the other side of the world who wonder so I will... Just not this morning.

Top picture is of a dear friend Grace and my sweet dog Momo. Her and her mom stopped by just before Christmas to give me a great present! A mug and calendar! But not just any mug and calendar, one with silhouettes on it! And not just any silhouettes...some from my collection!

Wwwwhhhhaaaatttt? In fact, I'm using it right now as I type! Such wonderful friends made my Christmas wonderful. I can't believe my BFF made a whole post about my pomegranate PAMAgranate Jelly! I love you MORE Marti! And Christine and Grace I love YOU!

I feel like such a looser this year...no pictures of my Christmas card, nothing. I just couldn't keep up. Now, I am tearing down everything. Maybe tomorrow I can get it together in the blog world.

Here is a couple of things I got at Christmas...

My Darling husband got me TIFFANY earrings and necklace combo. He knew I always wanted something from Tiffany but with the economy the way it is, well, let's just say I didn't think I would be getting that any time soon. The we happened on a classy second hand store (one that takes high end gently used items). The name of the store is Castaways Concepts. (link attached to name) That is where he found this amazing gift! Thank you Gene P. I love them! A LOT!

Then my son and daughter in love gave me this eclectic charm necklace. I just love it.

My sweet daughter got me three silhouettes for my wall. But by far this one was the most unexpected. CJ with Ariel. I think I created a monster, as CJ now wants her with all characters! (she has her and Cinderella as well)

Then on one dreary day...a package was there from Disney. (which I did not order!) Low and behold the D23 fan club sent me a watch! Notice how the only numbers on the watch are 2 and 3! I guess they were sending them out to members! OK..that keeps me renewing each year! (don't judge my nails!)

When it is all said and done, December went really fast, but I did a lot. I guess it was just too fast!

Happy 2011 everyone! Keep reading and I'll try and do better on the updates!

The Magic Kingdom

The first thing I noticed about DW in comparison to DL was the lack of decoration! We went first part of October and was stunned that there was little or virtually no decoration at the parks. There was a few banners (as shown above) and a few jack-o-lanterns on Main Street, but nothing like our own DL. There was no big Mickey Pumpkin on Main Street to take pictures in front of....wwwhhhaaaattt?! There was a small blow up pumpkin on a stand in the front of "The Magic Kingdom" when you came through the turn styles. But there was no real picture spot. This was a tad disappointing since, next to Christmas time, Autumn is the most beautiful time in DL. Funny, but I expected everything to be bigger and better!

We were greeted by this though! No one ever does stuff like this at DL. (at least I have never seen it) The street "washer" was washing Main Street in the form of Mickey Mouse. That was a truly amazing thing to me. We were off to a good start after all! No pumpkins, to mention, but other amazing stuff.

Main Street was familiar but different. It was about twice as wide. As a person with M.S. that was nice. It didn't feel like people were up on my heels all the time. Now, we were there in the "off season", so maybe it feels much like our own DL in the summer. But for us, it seemed spacious. There were good and bads to this. First of all it was great the uncrowded feeling was great but there seemed to be a lot of unused or unexplored space. Everything was spread out better, but there wasn't as much "magic" crammed in, if that makes since. We came in and had lunch at a restaurant located where the Opera House and Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln are located in DL.

Tony's Towne Square Restaurant was AMAZING! We had a wonderful lunch and even enjoyed all the Lady and the Tramp stuff. I will say that all the food at DW was way better than at DL.

After that we were off down Main Street. I didn't get far and I noticed that they were cutting silhouettes.

Of coarse I had to get a couple of silhouettes cut! As you know, I have a massive Silhouette collection. You can read about it here.

The interesting differences about the silhouettes. First of all, they were outside in a cart. Kind of like how the artists are sitting around New Orleans Square at DL. It was a little odd feeling sitting outside. I would assume that is really bad when it rains...which is all the time in Florida. And they are not nearly as fast as Sylvia in DL. He took a good 30 minutes to do us all. They seemed to be a outside group cutting the silhouettes and not from Disney. I will say, that since they spend more time, they are much more detailed. So that was a neat thing. And the framing is similar but not the same. They didn't have the same black with gold Mickeys on the frame and the paper did not have the word "Disneyland" (or Disney World) in the script around the mat area. But all in all I was excited about getting this once in a lifetime silhouette! I really don't expect to go back to DW and am very excited to have been able to go once an have a thing I love so much done there!

So there we all are! And yes we all had curly hair! The humidity made sure of that! So, we got to The Magic Kingdom at around noon and by 2 or so we were able to get down Main Street! Yeah, we were that slow! This didn't help any...

They have a real glass bower! I still remember there being a glass blower in Anaheim inside the castle area! Wow! I wanted to buy something, but I couldn't figure out what to get that would survive the air travel. I wanted to get some Mickey earrings because a dear Friend (who has now passed away) wanted me to get some for her on one of our trips to DL and there were none to be found. She said she remembered the glass blower having earrings in the store that were made of glass. I just could not find any. But we did stop and enjoy watching something that DL had lost years ago!

This post has gotten pretty long, so I will do a second post ASAP. As you can see...we did a lot in a week!

12,410 days, today!

12,410 days today Gene and I were married! Wow! 34 years! I have spent more of my life with Gene than without him! We've raised 2 great kids who are married too two 2 great spouses. We have 2 amazing Grand kids and are so thankful to the Lord for keeping us on the right foundation all of these years! As I was thinking about our anniversary, and wondering what I could do that would be special, the phone rang. On the other end was Gene's dad. He said they were having their 70th (makes 34 seem like nothing, but that's not important right now!) wedding anniversary and would we come to a dinner they were going to have celebrating this! Of coarse we said yes but it meant the plans we had were going to be put on hold. So, in a week we will go to San Bernardino to celebrate Gene and Mary's 70th wedding anniversary! We hope to do something fun for our 34th in the near future!

Back to my post. I rounded up a couple of photos that show how much I love my husband, hope you enjoy them!

A few years ago, while on one of our many Disneyland trips, we were stuck in the hotel because of rain. I took the opportunity to tell the Disneyland Hotel how much I love my husband. I often wonder when the window gets foggy, it was still there? I'm guessing it is gone now that they have refurbished the rooms. But I can still smile thinking another family, or couple saw this when they were stranded on a similar rainy day!

I wrote this on one of the white boards at church!

Along with that!

I had Disney put it in stone!

I asked my dear friends Rhett and Leigh to write this message in the sand on their vacation in Hawaii. It was taken at Ka'anapali Beach. Thanks guys!

I asked my BFF to write in the sand also! This was taken at Crescent Bay in Laguna! Thanks Marti!

I wish I had thought about that sooner....I wonder how many places and people I could have asked to do this! Well, you and many other people from Hanford to Anaheim and Laguna to Hawaii know that I love Gene P.!

What did I get him as a gift?

I had another couple get these silhouettes for me on their trip to Disneyland last year. They were so sweet to do it for me! Thanks so much Nick and Liz!

As you know, if you read my blog, I am a big Disneyland fan and I collect silhouettes from friends, family and other unusual topics. You can read about it here.

Happy Anniversary Gene P. and if everyone doesn't know by now! I love you!

(written in my Bible!)

The best thing ever!

So everyone knows by now that I collect silhouettes from the Silhouette Studio on Main Street, USA at Disneyland. This past Sunday I was given another one (my 42nd)! This one was very unique and quite a surprise!

I opened the box expecting to have one of Josh and Leia. They had given me one before but I thought they did one of one of them with a hat on due to this picture they sent me.

But they were so tricksy! They were just sending a picture of a random kid who was not happy about having to do a silhouette. Anyway, as it turns out Sylvia remembers me, my collection and our little church. Not long ago she cut this for me

It's of my dog Momo. I sent a picture of Momo (left profile) via iphone to another wonderful family from the church who were doing silhouettes for me, half as a joke and half wondering if it could be done. Apparently the Silhouette Studio will do silhouettes from pictures. They said they needed it to be a right profile and that the photo I sent was not clear enough. I said, "ok....next time and thanks for trying". Well, they flipped the photo and had her cut it as a surprise. What wonderful friends I have! Anyway, back to the surprise silhouette from Sunday. Josh and Leia asked her if she would do a self portrait. She asked them to come back after about 30 minuets as she needed to think about it. She graciously said yes! So she did her first ever self portrait and what was she cutting out? (you might be wondering) MOMO! So cute! Then she signed and dated it! Wow, what an amazing keepsake!

So thanks a million Josh and Leia! You are amazing!

And a big thank you to Christine & Alex for the surprise of Momo!

And if you would like seeing Sylvia talking about the Studio, click here!

Here is a cute you tube of the shop (not Sylvia)

I just love the Silhouette Studio! My kitchen takes your breath away when you walk into it! I guess if I fill up the kitchen, I'll have to go to the rest of the house! I hope they never close the shop. I have one 30 years old! I love Disneyland!

I put Sylvia up on my wall in between Momo and Josh & Leia.

I forgot to mention why I think this is the best thing ever. I am not easily surprised! I think I was named Pandora appropriately! I can't stand a wrapped package or unopened box. I have been known to open a Christmas gift then re-wrap it! (and "act" surprised of coarse when I do officially open it!) I didn't see this coming. I figured they were doing one with an Indiana Jones hat on (which would be great!). Never in a million years would I have guessed they had this in mind! So, for that surprise which I rarely (ok almost never) get, it's the best thing ever! Thanks guys!

Of Fairy Godmothers . . .

Since I have been so lame in posting the past few months, I thought it would be nice to hear from others in my life! So, if anyone is reading or wants to participate feel free to send me a post at pam.pensiero@gmail.com and I would love to post it. Use whatever topic you like. he following is from my BFF's daughter Amy. There she is above with my beloved dog Momo. You can read a few of my thoughts on Amy here. (click link)
This is Amy. Her smile it lights up the whole room! I think you will agree! So, without further Ado, here's Amy's post! (with pictures and red text added by me)-

Fairy Godmothers are a rare breed. There are not many fairy tales that actually have them. Thanks to the magic of Disney, there are a few really good ones (and I'm definitely including the the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio in this group).

Hello, everyone! My name is Amy and I will be your poster for today. Feel free to put me up on the wall. No autographs, please. ;-)

When I was a little girl (VERY little, we're talking 3 or 4 here) my favorite Disney cartoon was Pinocchio and I wanted to be the Blue Fairy when I grew up. I also wanted a cricket for a friend and a black and white cat I could call "Figaro," but that's not important right now. (Yes, I DID get the cat. I won't use the word "spoiled" though.)

Being from a big, fat, Cuban family that had originally-at-some-point-but-not-really-anymore been Catholic, we maintain the tradition of godparents. So, technically speaking, I have an actual godmother (my aunt) and as a child I really did think she was a fairy. Her job as my "fairy godmother" basically consists of giving me gifts and cards on major holidays and she still does it to this day. But, I have been blessed. I'm lucky. I have a SECOND Fairy Godmother (one more, and I'm a regular Sleeping Beauty).

She showers me with gifts. Little gifts. These amazingly thoughtful and personal things that overwhelm me with a feeling of love and security. Plus, I know that I can call her at any moment and she will be there for me in any way she can.

I know I called her my 2nd godmother, but she's also like a 2nd mother. Actually, I call her my "almost mother." You see, she had been dating my father and, after she broke up with him, was the one who introduced him to my mother. The two couples used to do everything together.

(Amy's mom took this picture in Catalina on one of our many vacations together!)

It really was like right out of a movie or a sit com. At least, that's what it looks like to me. As it does, life happened and the couples lost touch. Only to reconnect again years later thanks to the magic of Disney . . . wait, no, the magic of the Internet! =D

So, this godmother of mine knows how much I love Lord of the Rings. In fact, I do believe that was how we really got re-connected. We used to send our favorite LOTR quotes back and forth to each other . . . for DAYS.

(This is a shot of the line at Trilogy Tuesday in 2003. We needed Amy's help to tell us the words to the Hobbit Drinking Song. Then we sang it and won stuff!)

When the Return of the King came out and it was an all-day extravaganza, my FGM (Fairy GodMother) was sharing the day with me. She would ask for help with trivia questions, she would send pictures. It was a blast. And then, because I know she just adores me more than I could ever deserve, she sent a bunch of the stuff that she won to me.

Ok, I hope I've established that this FGM will do just about anything to see me smile (and no, she does not work at a McDonald's). We constantly share the simple things that are happening in our life. She will send me a picture of LOTR on TV with a quote from the movie. I'll send her a picture to let her know I'm at Disneyland and she's on my mind.

So, the other day she sent me a short video of her husband reading to their granddaughter. He was doing an accent and everything. It cracked me up to the point that I wanted to know what book it was because I definitely wanted to go buy it. She told me that she would have him read the whole thing and that she would send it to me. So, I expected to get another message sent to my phone, but this time, the message came via the magical Internet:

I can't believe they did this for me. I am so touched. I think it is just so funny!

I'm sure you know that she collects silhouettes from Disneyland now. Well, since she always sends me such thoughtful gifts,there was just one thing I could do . . . I had to send her one of me, with THE Fairy Godmother. Ms. Bippity-Boppity-Boo herself. No, the Disney people did NOT have one ready to go. I had to pour through picture books and find just the right one. The Disney people liked it so much that they put it in their book as a regular one that they offer.
(We are such trend-setters!)

I am so grateful to have a Fairy Godmother like Pam in my life. She brings magic to my world in ways that no one else can. (I love you!!)

(I love you MORE!)

Thanks Amy for the wonderful post! Can't wait to hear all about your trip to Cuba!

It began with a discovery

So here is the story behind the non-family silhouettes. In about 2007 I found a long lost silhouette we did in about 1977. (one on the right) In those days they apparently had that cool brown boarder around the edge. We decided to get another one that year on one of our trips to the park.

Then, as I said a few days ago, my friend Marti asked my husband Gene what to get me for my birthday. He said get her a silhouette. Of coarse, I think she might have thought I was crazy, or maybe that Gene was crazy. As a dutiful friend she did it.

Marti and two of her children were my first non-family silhouette!

So there is Jon and Lucy! My first!

After that it was on and the current stories are as follows-

Adam and Amy are Marti's other two lovely children. Adam is to the left and Amy to the right. She was the first one to do it with a character, the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella. You see, they call me their Fairy Godmother! :-D

I think they are the most adorable kids I know! T

And here is Marti! Her and I go way back! At least..ummmm...33 years! This last trip we met at the Silhouette Studio and we did one together!

There we are!

I started to think...Hey, I could ask people to get a silhouette, and I'd be happy to pay for it. The beauty is that you get two when they cut them. So, if someone gets one then I could just have the "extra" one! So I started to ask for the extra one or to pay for them to do one and they would get a free one! My plan was in tact!

For instance, that cutie above, Levi, is a wonderful kid at our church. He had an extra one laying around, so I boldly asked for it! He's on my wall!

Pretty sweet huh?

Then there is Pat and Kathy! A wonderful couple and parents of Luke (who I blogged about yesterday) They are AKA Mr. & Mrs. Incredible! They have been part of my life for 25 years!

Funny, but I see the resemblance with the son (bottom right) and the mom and dad-Pat and Kathy (top). He is definitely a mixture of them both!

There is Jessica. She's the aunt of Levi. She blessed me with one. She is the only one I have that has her hair up!

I love how they are all so unique! Sometimes people say..."don't they all look alike?" The answer is a big NO! And when I took the 1977 one in, they knew right away who cut it! I was completely amazed!

Here is Grace! She is an amazing junior high girl that does so much around the church.

Thanks for the silhouette Grace! I have a promise from her parents that they will get me one the next time they go!

Here are Skip and Peggy. They are also friends of mine for about 27 years! They made the mistake of texting me that they were at Disneyland and I of coarse asked to get me a silhouette! Now, the funny thing is that most people never think about doing this. They are always amazed at how quick they are at doing it!

There are Skip and Peggy in California Adventure!

Here is David and Carla. They are one of the wonderful leadership couples at our church (along with Pat and Kathy). I came into work just before Christmas and a gift was on my desk. There was no tag and they probably wondered if I could figure out who's silhouette it was.

I could tell right away it was Carla!


This is the first whole family I received. And the only one I have with 4 people in it! It is another lovely family from our Church and the wife, Sharon Lathan, is on her way to being a very famous author, I mean, she has fans finding her at Disneyland and wanting her autograph! Thanks Lathans!



Meet Zach and Katie! They are a sweet couple Gene married last summer. They went to Disneyland for their honeymoon and got me a silhouette!


Every time I look at it I think about their wedding and how wonderful it was!

Along the way I have also gotten some unique ones

We had Cecilia done with Cinderella. Which turned out to be pretty cool, since most of what I gave her for Christmas was Cinderella stuff!


Then there is this...

I decided to get an "S" made so I could work on an art project I spoke about a while ago. Click here to read. I'm thinking now, maybe I will do the letters of our last name. See, ideas keep coming!

I got one of me with the evil queen from Snow White. Why on earth would you do that? (you might we wondering) Well, one time when our whole family was there. We went into the Animation Academy and did the test where you answer questions to see what Disney character you are most like. Everyone in the family came up as a nice person except my son-in-law (who came up as Hades) and myself who came up as the Evil Queen. So, being the fairest of them all, after all, I decided to do one with her!


One time while looking around eBay, I found this for sale! A rare white on black one! Well, I had to have it! You see my grandfather worked on the Haunted Mansion (as an electrician) when it first opened! So, you see, I had no choice really!

But what do I like the best about all of this?

I love that I feel every day when I walk into my kitchen and see all the loved ones surrounding me! I love remembering all the stories and knowing I am loved enough for people to do funny things for me!

Thanks everyone!