Still Winter

Our measure of this "snow emergency" is 9.5". Hubby got the day off and spent about an hour blading out our driveway. I took the dog and the camera out for picture taking but it was difficult to get my camera to cooperate with gloves on and those little tiny buttons. It was really more fun just playing with the dog. He absolutely loves the snow.

I built a blueberry/strawberry mix cheesecake pie this morning and it turned out scrumptious. I had some crust leftover so I chopped up two apples and made a miniature fritter sort of thing with it. I love being snowed in. I tend to get creative and my survival mode sort of kicks in. I find and use up every little left-over and turn them into any little treat I can think of. My Mom taught me that.

There were ten of us kids and Mom would stretch the smallest amount of ingredients to make some elaborate and very satisfying meal with absolutely no complaints from any of us. I love what I've learned from my Mom as well as from her Mother, my Grandmother.

I also planted some heirloom tomato seeds and some lavender seed this morning. I have one of those portable four shelf miniature greenhouse units. It comes in handy this time of year for starting my seeds. I get rather anxious this time of year and the smell of soil gives me an awesome burst of energy. I use to raise worms and loved the smell they kicked up. I don't have the room for them anymore so I  let them all go and make their happy homes in my flower gardens.

Here is a photo of two of our little ladies who obviously aren't fond of this weather. The other is of ironweed. If those little garden fairies are still around this time of the year, I'd like to think these little snowcones are a treat for them.

Gift Show

It is January 27, 2013 ALREADY. Time sure flies when your having fun!!
The Holiday Gift Show has long since come and gone. I did manage to fill a booth and enjoyed being back in the excitement of sales. (Compliments were awesome, too). The couch did get finished. The garden provided an ample amount of produce in spite of the drought. Birthdays, Christmas, a couple weddings, among many other family affairs are all beautiful memories. I can't believe how time seems to just get away from me.

The studio and exercise room that was in the basement that I had previously posted about, has long since been changed again. My beautiful Mother 'n law has been diagnosed with Alzheimer/dementia and will be moving in with us so that we can do our best to give her the care and attention we feel she needs. We have done a complete remodel and turned the whole basement into an apartment for her. It has turned out beautiful with only a few more fine tuned projects left before it is ready for her move. This alone has been quite a project to see through and in doing so, I've re-arranged a lot of household "stuff" in order to make it work. Donation centers are awesome and it doesn't bother me a bit to be rid of excess bulk not needed. Why we brought so much "stuff" home through the years, is bewildering.

My latest project is down-sizing my crafty junk. I've dabbled in too many different art forms and feel the need to pin-point only one (or two) projects. Or at least just one project at a time. My problem is that I like creating things and am like a child when given all the "goodies" to play with. I am now giving tons of stuff away... first to my daughter, and then to whomever wants it. I have been helping hubby with computer generated graphics for his business and have had to focus on learning the software. I love doing it, but I will still always love getting my hands into physical art forms too. In saying that, my craft/guest room will be where I put that must-have treadmill that got moved up to the barn along with my exercise bike and stationary weight machine. There's no room for the stationary, but I can make room for my bike!

Okay, for now I feel that I have somewhat caught back up. I hope all is well out there.

Been Awhile

Yes, it has been a while since my last post. It hasn't become quite the habit  for me yet, but it's not that I don't think about it. Often times when at the computer, I think that I should write something and then I think, "no, that's boring" or "no, I don't have any followers yet anyhow"... so, I go on to something else. I also planned on adding more photos than I have.

I have been crafting. There is a local show that I use to participate in years back and have been contemplating getting back into it. I need to get my product inventory built up to a great amount so that when family life gets demanding, I can take a day from it here and there.

Today was one of those days where I took a break and visited with three different people. It was nice seeing people who I don't get to see often, but I really do feel like I need to pick my pace back up again tomorrow because I lost a day of production.

Oh, before I forget... I got to go to a flea market over the weekend and hubby and I wore ourselves out walking through it, but did find some treasures that I just love. Old skeleton keys, handmade lace, baby shoes, and old tin cup, any other odds and ends that make me happy!

Goodnight for now!

Desert Sun

The heat and drought still prevails over the vegetation here in the mid-west. I quit watering long ago for fear that our well would dry up, so it feels like we are vacationing in the Southwest or somewhere. Thank God the humidity has been tolerable. It is horribly sad to see the plants and flowers wither. I put a lot of heart and soul into the gardens just because I love doing it. There comes a time when you just have to realize certain things are out of our control. "To Everything There is a Season..."

As soon as I feel satisfied with my latest decorative painting project, I will post pictures. A friend of mine looked at it today and said that she loved it the way it is. I am obviously more critical than she so feel the need to touch some areas up before I sign my name to it and apply a sealer. It does feel wonderful to get a paint brush back into my hands. I can hardly wait to start another project already.

Aside from the painting, I am still sewing some stockings and am working on some throw pillows for the newly covered couch and chair in my living room. I'll be happy to have guests over now that everything is looking a bit fresher!

Hoping all is well out there.
Tina

July 17th Already

Wow, where is this month going? I guess when you have wonderful grandkids to spend part of their summer vacation with their grandparents, time isn't so noticed until that vacation is gone. The house always seems so quiet when they leave and I miss them already.

I think that I mentioned the choice that I made about staying home to "work". It has only been about a month and first on the agenda was to get the house back in order and organized. I work SO much more efficiently if I am somewhat organized. I don't like excessive clutter. So my craft area is more on track and I started with simple things while the grands were here... some stockings that can eventually join my inventory for sale. However, I'm anxious to start painting again, so may scoot the fabric items over and start some hand painted ornaments soon.

I got a little side-tracked yesterday by cleaning up the tool area of the basement to make room for that "must have" treadmill that hubby and I had to have three years ago. We have several weight machines and benches as well as a bike down there so, in my household re-organization decided that it needed to be re-located too. Once moved, it will leave more room in hubby's office and library space. That should be the final inside house project before I can get fully engulfed in my "work".

I have started making my gift-giving list for Christmas and wish that I could get them accomplished half as fast as they come into my head. I may become more monetarily rich if I could!

For now, Still Happily Posting!

Independence Day

I hope your Independence Day was full of sparkles and shimmer! Ours was rather quiet and I'm fine with that. I spent some time in my little studio and as it is still a work in progress, I am becoming quite fond of it! Will post pictures some day.

Last night I went through some old instructional/pattern books for inspiration and then I actually started designing some Christmas ornaments. I so want to get a huge jump start so that I am not so overwhelmed closer to the season. We have a distant wedding to attend in the fall and tons of Birthdays too, so you will find me in my studio from here on out, just trying to stay on top.

I have had the pleasure of reading some of your Blogs and am happy with the creativity and beauty of your posts. I hope that we can connect in the future, but for now I will continue to learn and grow.

Until next time, God Bless!

Thank You Card

As I haven't been creating gift cards for very long; a very dear friend of ours sent me a nice sentiment the other day and filled it with some of her favorite recipes. Like handmade gifts, receiving sweet letters in the mail is also a rarity, so I decided to respond with a handmade Thank You card. This is what I came up with in a bit of a hurry, but I think she will appreciated it none the less.

Sorry, as I am my own worse critic, I had to take the photo of the card off because it just was pretty generic after looking back at it.

All I had in my stash was some brown paper card stock and some watercolor stock. I used the watercolor stock. The paper is from 7gypsies. I tea dyed the muslin and stamped Thank You from Stampabilities with Jim Holtz, Vintage Photo ink. I chose to stitch around the muslin and attach a small pale sea foam vintage button with a larger unusual pearl  button dangling, for a bit of textural effect. The velum strip didn't want to lay flat so I tacked a small snap between "for your" and "kindness". (It helped, but I will use brads next time). The medallion was done the old fashioned way and attached to it is just a small (source unknown) jute bow. 

This was a fun little project and now with all the future projects jumping around in my head and the gift giving plans, I need to get down to the craft room and ORGANIZE. I have sewing stuff in my laundry room and have been using the kitchen table as of late for those still un-finished cushions, so I am really anxious to get it all more unified.

God bless you day!