Spot light Sunday Diane-Lee Moore

One of the cutest collections I have ever seen is Diane's Disney Beanie Collection. When Diane first started as a CM at the Disney store in 1998 she purchased her very first and favorite Beanie Plush, Steamboat Willie (Mickey Mouse). It is her favorite since to her it represents her time as a CM and the beginning of what is now her collection. Combining her love for Disney and her ability to display the cute little beanies it was easy for her collection to grow. Today she has over 100 Plush Beanies and continues to collect .

Due to not many new releases Diane takes to Ebay to add to her collection. For now she really hopes to get some of the princess or prince beanies since she doesn't have any of them yet. Though she has never been to Disney World herself friends of hers bring her back Beanies when they visit and she gets her Disneyland fix at Disneyland Paris where she has been 3 times. Though collecting has become difficult since domestic shipping can be a stressful process she still strives to make her collection larger!

QOTD: Which is your favorite version of mickey, and why?

999 happy haunts

The Haunted Mansion has been a fan favorite for ages. With today being the first of October, the new Haunted Mansion shoppe "Momento Mori" that is currently replacing The Yankee Trader next to the Haunted Mansion in Disney World, and the fact that me and my husband have accepted the challenge to put together our very own Haunted Mansion Halloween Costumes. Which is definitely sounding like a difficult task.

While I have never done a review before I think this would be a awesome time to start. While I don't have many haunted mansion items. Since Haunted mansion items are rare and highly desired, I am extremely happy with the few items I do have. I think the best way to set up the Haunted mansion item reviews would be a 2 part blog so be watching out for the Haunted Mansion playset review some time this month along with other awesome spooks, tricks, treats, and fun. 

Before I pull out the game it's self I wanted to do a little research. When I research a item I like to check Ebay, Etsy ( if it is vintage), Amazon, google , wikipedia, etc. I like to know as much as I can about a item before I purchase it unless it's really cheap. In this case my husband bought the game for me for our anniversary. He bought it from a friend from his work who got it from a auction for a great price. What I found out made me very glad he did. 

Haunted Mansion Game , The Chilling Challenge to Escape the spinning spooks is a board game copyrighted in 1975. Even with a slit in the plastic and some dents to the corner this board game has sold on Ebay $1,142.77 plus shipping. Doombuggies.com mentions the game in their article titled "Collectibles from the Haunted Mansion", saying " The intricate, 3-D game board with colorful artwork and moving pieces is hard to find in good condition today, which makes this game a valuable Haunted Mansion collectible." 

I would put mine in the category of good. When looking at the box there are some major flaws. The box is bowed out which would make me think that some time between the time of purchase and the time it was purchased for me the game came in contact with water. There are bends and rips on the sides of the box and the Base of the box is part of the game so it doesn't come apart . ( At least not that I have tried since it is in there very tightly.) The cover art is bright, eye catchy, and not damaged. 

Upon opening the box there is a fold out back drop. The inside of the mansion on one side depicting multiple ghosts and Abigale Patecleaver sitting on her husbands tombstone. A little back history about Abigale, later named Constance Hatchaway is one in the same to the hatchet baring black widower found in the Attic of the Haunted Mansion. On the far right side of the front you can find the Raven. Inspired by Edgar Allen Poes book "The Raven" while seen many times through out the mansion plays no huge role but on the 1969 record, "The Story and Song From the Haunted Mansion" the Ghost Host refers to the raven as being possessed by the restless spirit of a old nag. The Raven is attached by a plastic bar to the game board allowing it to move. On the back of the backdrop you can see the outside of the Mansion. Again the raven appears just over the logo on the gate post. 

 

The game pieces for the game for the game are a red, blue, yellow, and green Doom Buggie. The game also comes with 2 small dice and 4 cardboard standees. One set of Spectral Waltzers, the Opera singers, Ezra and Gus of the hitch hiking ghosts and of coarse the terrified care taker (or as the game refers to him the watchman)  with his poor scared to death whimpering dog. These are set on the spinning discs attached to the bottom of the board game. 

 

To Play: Players take turn rolling the dice and moving their pawns to race through the haunted Mansion. BUT ... if your token lands on a spin the turntables are to be spun a quarter turn. This could either send you to the exit door and the win or back the way you came from. First person to get to the exit wins. Simple and fun and a awesome collectible to have!

QOTD : Who or what is your favorite Haunted Mansion haunt?

References:
DoomBuggies.com - http://www.doombuggies.com/collectibles1.php
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Haunted_Mansion_characters

Celebrity Saturday Jasmine Becket-Griffith

Some people take to a craft like we take to breathing. Jasmine is one of those people. She started painting with water colors at around three or four years old and was bit by the entrepreneurial bug. She started with door to door selling when she was just a kid and started her website Strangeling.com in 1997 when she was just seventeen years old. In the early days Jasmine worked at places like Dairy Queen and waitressing to make ends meet. Though it was quickly obvious that painting was her calling which led to her husband quitting his own job to become her assistant. Today she employs 9 people that are mostly family members.

 When naming her website she decided against a self title since the length of her name can be hard to remember. She decided to use Strangeling since her husband had nicknamed her "Strageling" when she was in high school. She finds it kind funny when her creations are referred to as Stangelings since she Initially started them off as being loosely self-portraits done in a heavily stylized way. Jasmine says " I like the idea of taking proportions that are traditionally associated with cartoon characters but painting them in a realistic way, with a lot of attention to lighting, three-dimensionality, and painting techniques inspired by the old masters."

With fame comes fans, there are currently over 837,000 fans on the Jasmine Becket-Griffith like page on facebook. Like most popular artists she has and attends events often. You can find her at "Disneyland's WonderGround Gallery" on October 11th. She will be displaying her new paintings of the evil queen from "Snow White" and the tight rope girl from " The Haunted Mansion's Stretch room". Then on the 18th of October she will be attending her release party for her new oracle deck "Myths and Mermaids" at Downtown Disney's Pop Gallery. 

 


 There are also some events being planned for Downtown Disney's other Art Gallery "Marketplace Co-Op". There has not yet been a date scheduled for these but I would be more then happy to announce them here on the blog as soon as they are. Among Jasmine's favorite event to date was her first international event she attended the "Avalon Faery Fayre" in Glastonbury, England. Since she is from Kansas City, the "Kansas City Renaissance Festival" rates high for her. On this occasion her family comes out and helps her out. Over all she says she loves the Disney events because everyone is always in such a good mood and she considers herself a Disney nerd.  

Jasmine resides in Celebration Florida. This is a small heart warming town near Disney. She told me a huge part of the reason they moved to Celebration was to be close to Disney. She had always dreamed of working with Disney and was first approached to do concept art for Disney in 2006 through her connection with Hamilton Collection / Bradford Exchange. Just a out of the blue phone call from Disney led to some Tinkerbell and other classic character figurines. Her Gallery association was established a few years later when after one of the Gallery directors who had been to one of the local art shows recognized her at a side walk cafe in Celebration and sat down with her to discuss displaying her work at the popular Gallery. The Director and Manager of the Gallery met her at her house and sat down to a almost six hour conversation. Pop Gallery was her "flag ship Gallery ever since. Her association with Disney continues to grow as more time passes up to merchandise with her "Evil Queen" design being sold through out the parks. 

 



Since this is a Disney blog, we had to get a little idea of Jasmine's Disney side and this was what we found out. Her favorite Disney Character is none other then Mr. Toad! Her favorite attractions are the haunted Mansions throughout the different Disney parks especially the phantom Manor in Paris. She also said she adores Mr. Toads wild ride and is partial to the Tiki room. Jasmine say's she watches Disney movies differently than most when she is working. " I pay a lot more attention to the visual effects, background scenes, specifics of costume design, etc.  I do a lot of pausing, rewinding, freeze-frames, etc. - it turns it into more of an aesthetic adventure rather than simple movie watching.  I love seeing the sheer amount of detail that the artists & animators have put into the films." She also shared that she has been on the cruises several times, along with Disney Sea in Tokyo and Disneyland Paris. She shared, " I recently purchased a small studio flat in London, and DLP is only about a two hour train trip from my house there - it's perfect!".

Very grateful that she has been able to do what she loves for a living and bring her work to peoples homes all over the world, she wishes to continue to improve her skills and have more time to dedicate to the craft. With many goals along the way the excitement of things likes receiving a email to work with Disney has not lost it's thrill . ( Probably much like how I was when I received the reply from her that she would give me a interview, bouncing around the room like a child on a sugar high.) Jasmine was kind enough to share a little advice "I would tell aspiring artists to make sure that they genuinely enjoy the physical creation aspect of painting, because that will be how the rest of their life is spent. I think it is important to enjoy what you are doing, and to focus on the actual "art" before trying to worry about business or licensing or whatever.  If you make art you like, you enjoy doing it, and you feel good about what you have created - the other business/money stuff will follow."

One of the best parts of being able to talk to the Artists behind our collectibles are the stories they have to share. Like Mr. Shore who I wrote about last month Jasmine shared a few very cute and funny stories with me. One of which was when it first hit her that she had made the big time seeing her products available at stores. In the beginning she remembers being in the check out line at Targets getting groceries and the person in front of her was purchasing some car accessories with her designs on them. She said, " I felt like saying "Hey- hey!  I painted that! but I was too shy, lol." She also shared that she is recognized fairly often. Even once she was recognized at the pharmacy while picking up prescriptions. The pharmacist inquired about a recent autograph session.

At only Thirty- Four years old , 17 years of creating beautiful works of art that have become known to most as "Strangelings" Jasmine has made a name for her self and inspired many to go after their dreams. After all she once was a little girl peddling her art to her neighbors. From the short time I got to know her I have got to know the funny, kind, and amazingly talented person behind the beautiful art. I hope if you have never heard of Jasmine Becket-Griffith before this blog that you check her out on her facebook page https://www.facebook.com/strangeling. Be ready to have your mind blown.

Be sure to check out all of what Jasmine Becket-Griffith has to offer!

QOTD: What is your favorite Jasmine Becket-Griffith Painting?

Mickey Mouse

It has been a while since I had time to write . Life can swoop you up when you least expect it and keep you busier then you can ever imagine. I am not only a Disney travel agent , but I run a digital design business, and somewhat of a self proclaimed party planner of sorts. The timing for a boost could not be better while we are looking for the house of our dreams so I have to concentrate on orders when I get them!

With that said I couldn't miss the opportunity to write today. Today in 1928 Disney was approved of the Mickey Mouse Trademark. Since then Mickey Mouse has become a house hold name.
Mickey Mouse items are highly collectible so much so that the world Record holder for Mickey Mouse items is 6,726 items and held by Janet Esteves. While I am no where near that amount, I hope some day to have my own world record for Disney Collectibles.

Since we are in the process of trying to move I will be counting my items as I pack them. I will then add that number to the blog so everyone can follow along with me on the way to a world record! In honor of today my newest item in my collection is Sears's Mickey Mouse Lantern. I adore this years garden line and hope to get a few more pieces before they are gone entirely.