Crafts Galore

It has been a gorgeous day here today.  Too nice to stay at home so I have been out and about all day.   First I went to the library to return some way overdue DVD's, then to City Meat Market to pick up some ice-cream.  When I came home I called a friend and repaired her necklace for her, changed my shower head and installed a new Water Pix hand held shower head (because the old one leaked all over the floor and toilet when I turned on the faucets to take a bath), then took a walk to the mall and picked up a prescription for another friend. I think I just might stay in for the rest of the evening - I have lots of projects I could be doing but first of all I thought I had better create a new post.  The days are flying by and I can't believe that I have been home for three weeks since my visit to the grandkids.


On the 6th May I had a table at "Passport to Unity" and sold some of my creations.  It was a long day and as I was on my own, I regrettably couldn't take advantage of the fabulous artists and entertainment which went from 11-5.  Here are a few pictures of my table.

With the lovely Dawn, her hubby took this one.

I have been pottering around with a few things to add to my craft sales, e.g. these "vases".  They have a New York theme to them.

I should mention before I go any further, the beautiful flowers I received for Mother's Day from my darling kids.  This first arrangement was from my twin sons, my DIL and my grandkids from out of town....................

And this was from my son and girlfriend from in town..............

I am very blessed with great kids, and they do look out for me.  Thanks kiddos for the lovely gifts.

Here's another creation of mine, it's a little different, but I love it.

It kind of goes with the other picture I made, which I mentioned in my previous blog.

This last weekend I spent helping Pat with her sale at the Queen's Cupboard.  She plans on having one every Saturday so any local people reading this, come on down and see what's going on.  She very kindly is allowing me to sell my creations there also.  Excellent prices all round!!!!  This was my set-up last weekend..............

You don't think I helped Pat out with the sale and didn't buy anything for myself did you?  Before I show you what I did buy, I will tell you that I had to dispose of quite a few items around my place so that my apartment wouldn't look like a second-hand furniture store.  Next blog, I will post photos of how the apartment looks with all the new things and with the old items disposed of!!  Nearly forgot, this is what I bought and I adore it, it goes so beautifully with my cream/shabby chic look............

And, with an extra cushion I just happened to have lying around.

Well, I shall love you and leave you - until the next blog, stay happy and healthy.  Is there anything sweeter than this............

Rhys, with baby sister Katherine, May 2012

Lovely visit with the grandkids

I'm finally home after a lovely visit with my darling grandchildren.  I really can't believe that my visit has come and gone, the time just flew by and I wish I had been blessed with more time with them.  Every time I leave them I have a hard time because I miss them so much and it takes me a while to adjust again.  I told you in my previous post that my grand-daughter had just been born and how I was about to embark on a 13 hour Greyhound bus ride (fortunately, I had with me my trusty Sony e-Reader, which was presented to me when I left the Library last year) to go and see her and my grandson.  Well, she is as beautiful as I expected her to be and has already won the hearts of her parents.


My grandson Rhys no longer "makes strange" when I go to visit and picks up just where we left off.  Of course, it doesn't hurt when I take him a little gift.  This Tonka talking truck I had mailed ahead and we opened the parcel when I got there.  He has been having loads of fun with this in the garden.  It's such a blessing to see them enjoying the little things that you can give them.  Needless to say that I took little Katherine lots of pretty clothes!!

I couldn't get enough of little Katherine and got to hold her a few times.  I have a funny feeling that she is going to be a "daddy's girl" and will probably have him eating out of her hand and he will love every minute of it.

You have to agree with me, she is gorgeous!!!

Since I have been home, I have been helping a friend (Pat) re-open her business.  It's called the Queen's Cupboard and I have mentioned it many times in my posts.  This is a quaint store where I have been charmed into buying all sorts of goodies for my apartment, some finished and others to finish myself.  This sconce I picked up - it's metal.

And this is what I turned it into..................

I didn't realize at the time that this was one of a pair, so now I have to search for the other one in her store next time she has a sale.

I loved this frame, but not the picture inside, so I painted the inside and tea-bagged it and added an old plate from a door.

And this is the result.  Don't you think this is an improvement?

Just some pretty spring flowers that I picked at an abandoned building.  Such a shame for them to go unseen and they look so fresh in my apartment.

Now to the "biggy".  As you know by now, I have purchased quite a few things from the Queen's Cupboard and as I was helping Pat recently get set up, I was privy to all the items she was going to be having in her two day sale.  She was rather concerned when I returned from my holiday, and seeing things with a fresh eye, I was smitten with something she had just finished shabby chic-ing and was using for display purposes and told her that I wanted it!!!!!  Reluctantly she said I could have it but would have to wait until after her sale as she didn't have anywhere else to display all her beautiful bone china teacups and saucers.  DEAL!!  I just got it last night and had so much fun adorning it will all my bits and pieces.  Some will say that I have too much junk and border on being a hoarder - they could be right.  Yes, I will have to dispose of some of my furniture, but give me time.  Here it is in the store..............

And here in my humble apartment...............

As you can see, it didn't take me long to fill it up.  Well, folks, that's it for now.  Have to keep something for another day.  The ladies from the Queen's Cupboard have gone on a road trip south to find more "treasures" to tempt me, LOL.  Seriously, I don't think I dare think of adding another item to this place.  Please help me purge before someone recommends me for the "Hoarders" show on the telly.  TTFN.

Last post for a while

This will be my last post for a while because I will be taking a trip for a week to see my adorable new grand-daughter and her equally fabulous older brother, who is not yet three.  I can't wait to see them both and hold, kiss and cuddle them.  I'm sure the week will fly by.  I'm almost packed and have a supply of things to entertain me on the 13 hour bus ride, e.g. my Sony e-Reader (for which I am having so much trouble in downloading e-books - don't know why because I have done it quite a few times before, so tomorrow I will have to pop on over to the Library and see if they can help me), and some snacks.  The last couple of days here have not been the best weatherwise and I'm hoping that the temperature will pick up and the fog will dissipate.  Today, it was very overcast and drizzly.


Here are the latest creations I have made..................

Laurie, a dear friend of mine, received a lovely Easter gift from another dear friend of both of us, NanaDiana.  She sent Laurie a fabulous home-made Easter Fudge Egg made with Wisconsin butter and so prettily embellished with Laurie's name.  Laurie, being the big-hearted person that she is presented me with a delicious slice, so, NanaDiana, if you are reading this, may thanks from me also.  You are so special and we both appreciate your friendship.

Whilst I am on the subject of Laurie, and I hope she doesn't mind me talking about her but I do know that she has mentioned this on her blog also......  Well, the other day, I had gone for a walk to look for twigs etc. with which to decorate my artwork and came home rather excited as I had found some gorgeous bulbous dried stalks which I thought would look fab on my pictures.  Laurie being the country girl, knew exactly what they were and went ahead and told me that her hubby used to collect these things, which are called "Golls" and here I will just copy what she said about it.


"My friend Chris is crafty as well.  We see each other every day almost, she is always creating and at the moment is creating altered art on canvasses, beautiful work.


She went on a collecting trip and came back with a bag full of sticks and twigs.  She called for me to come and see and I noticed she had something that Garry once collected for Fly Fishing, golls.  They are weeds that developed a bulge in their stem and in this bulge grows a grub, something like a maggot.  They grow in there all winter and hatch in spring.  When I told her, she looked at me and her eyes got big and she was a bit shocked but she loved them and I said "well they aren't in all of them, maybe you don't have them in these" .  "Well, what about those" she said, she had a whole bag of them, Chris never does anything by halves.  I don't think she really believed me until I sliced one open and out crawled a lovely FAT grub!!  We laughed so hard - I told her the warm apartment would most likely help to make them hatch.  YUK!

Poor Chris, I'm not sure she has recovered yet, but I think this lovely fudge egg might help so I will bring her some, on the road to recovery."

Now, what a delightful friend that is!!!!  First she scares the crap out of me then makes up for it with a peace offering of fabulous Wisconsin buttery fudge.  All is well, but I can tell you that I went out and picked up some moth balls to put in with those bulbous weeds in the hopes that the smell will kill off the grubs before they can eat their way out.  Never a dull moment at #700.

Yesterday I tackled fixing my patio screen door.  I went on the Internet and looked up the problem and then followed this darling gentleman's instructions and now my screen door slides like butter.

To finish off, a beautiful photo of the grandchildren - now you can see why I am looking forward so much to seeing them.  I must be the only one who hasn't held the new baby yet.

Have a wonderful week whilst I am away.  I will miss you all.  Even though I will be taking my "Notepad" with me, it's not quite the same as using my PC, but I hope to keep up with my e-mail etc. and other people's blogs.

TTFN and God bless.

Nothing new to talk about!!

Hello there, I have nothing much to talk about except that I am working on some artwork.  I am looking forward very much to seeing my two grandchildren next week - can't wait to hold the new one and cuddle the elder one.  Grandma misses them so much, but living so far away I can only make the large effort to sit on a Greyhound bus for 13 hours a few times a year so I can see them.


Here are the latest creations I have been working on.  I wish I could sell them, time will tell and if I can't????

The Craft Shows will begin again for this year in May so I'll keep my fingers crossed that someone out there will like my weird and wonderful creations!!

Hope you all had an enjoyable Easter.  Mine was very quiet, didn't do anything except go for walks, but that's okay.  Okay, talk to you again soon when I hope to have something interesting to mention.

Oh, must remember to plug in my Sony E-reader and make sure it is fully charged for my trip, also my Notepad.  It's these things which are a pain really, because you have to remember to take with you all the relevant cords for charging - for the cell phone, camera, Notepad and Reader.  How on earth did we manage before, LOL

How blessed am I.

I am so delighted to tell you that my darling grand-daughter graced us with her presence on Wednesday, 28th March 2012.  Her name is Katherine Anne and she weighed in at 8lbs. 10ozs., a beautiful, bonny lass.  Here's a photo of her and I can't wait to go out of town (on the Greyhound bus - I picked up my ticket today), to visit and hold her in my arms....................

Unfortunately, her poor mum didn't fare so well.  After having a C-section, she became very ill, in fact very seriously, and they had to take her back into surgery where they found that she had blood clots.  She was in so much pain and had trouble breathing and spent the next couple of days in I.C.U. and the first night on a respirator.  We were all so very worried, especially my son and his mother-in-law who fortunately was visiting and stepped in to help with everything.  A girl needs her mum at a time like this and what a great mum she is.

They are home now and everyone is doing very well, thank the good Lord.  There were so many people praying for her - who says prayer doesn't help????  Big brother, who is going to be three in June, is going about his day quite unconcerned about all the excitement and every now and then will approach his little sister and give her a gentle pat on the head and then take off, LOL  Typical male.

Last Saturday I put on a Shabby Chic Craft Show here in my apartment building (forgot to take a photograph of course) and sold a few of my recently made crafts.  I have so much fun making all these delightful things but I really don't like selling them, I would rather give them away, but you really can't continually do that sort of thing.  You have to recoup some of the money you spend, as you all know, materials are not always cheap.  For the longest time we, here in my city, have been looking forward so much to having a Michaels store and one recently opened.  It was such a shock to find out just how expensive it is, even with their 40% off coupons, etc.  I was so excited to be able to purchase some mod podge, but not excited about the price and after using up my first bottle, I decided to go online and find out how to make my own, which works just as well and only costs pennies to make.  Here's a link just in case you would like to try making some for yourself.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_to_make_mod_podge_at_home

Yesterday I did very well.  A local store had closed and the owners of the building decided to use it for a couple of weeks to have a basement sale.  I guess for years they had stored personal possessions in the basement, including children's toys, unwanted furniture, etc. and decided to find homes for all that "junk".  I didn't realize just how good the "junk" was until my friend Laurie came home with a large, beautiful mirror made of wood and sporting some hooks for hanging a jacket, a hat or some other lightweight article.  (I noticed that she has already bugged her hubby to put it up on the wall in her entrance way and it looks great.)

These are some of the items I picked up dirt cheap for me to work my magic on and hopefully resell them..............

The items below are prints by Canadian wildlife artist Glen Loates, still in their original packaging.  I wonder if they are worth anything???

I also picked up something really spectacular for my darling grandson but I can't show it here just in case my kids read my blog.  It is my intention to present it to little guy when I go to visit and I don't want the surprise spoiled.

Last, but not least, I am excited to show you my first real work of art.  I have been attending an art course the last few weeks and today we finished.  Even though I say so myself, I think the end result is pretty good for a beginner and couldn't wait to go and get prints made of it so that I could give one to special people in my life, e.g. my friends at the Library where I used to work and my special friend Laurie who puts up with all my crafting nonsense and actually encourages me in my habit.  Here it is..........................

It's entitled "Gone South".  The print I gave Laurie, who is a wonderful artist, she has framed in a gorgeous frame with a lovely dark green matting.  I like hers better than mine, LOL  I will have to look out for a better frame because this one really doesn't do it justice, hers looks SO much better.

Well, I guess that's that for now - oooh, almost forgot, yesterday I met up with a few delightful ladies and had an Easter lunch with them at the Senior Centre, aren't they beautiful...............

and tomorrow I am having lunch at a local restaurant with another group of delightful ladies.  This retirement is getting better and better.  Forgive me if I boast and say that I am enjoying it, or should I say, "Loving it".  God bless, talk to you again soon.