Post holidays and illness

Hello Blogger friends,

 I missed wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and New Year but it was spent in hospital for a couple of weeks. I went in the 22nd of December and did not get out til Jan 08/13.  It was a very scary time for us and one day I will explain but I am still trying to deal with issues and still have a long recovery so for now please know that I am recouping at home and still have some tests that need to be done.

I apologize for not responding to Face book, emails and mail that some of you sent but I was not able and surely know that I appreciate those that did contact me. Your thoughts and prayers have been helpful in my recovery.

I hope that in time I can return to a somewhat normal life and continue to create and be part of blog land.

I did do some sketching while in hospital and I even gave some away to those that touched me while I was there. Some even came daily to see what I was doing next. I found it a great healing and dealing with what had happened to me and a way to express myself during down days.

I have missed you all and hope to be back in full swing soon.

♥♥♥

It helps to have....

Just a very quick post here. I have been using, up til right now, Internet Explorer as my browser and I was having issues with Blogger to even post, not everything was showing up above the composition box so I took the plunge and downloaded Google Chrome. Well here I am posting and I can see all the functions above the composition box and the screen appears to be larger. So......if you are still using IE then I suggest you switch over to Chrome.....it loads very fast and it will take any bookmarks , passwords  etc and move them over. you can set whether you want Chrome to be your Default Browser or not. I chose not to because I will still use IE for most things. Google Chrome is Free!!!!

This may be why the new Blogger is difficult to use. 

Hope this new development helps you, I say Google products are designed to work with only Google as I have just learned. 

Take care and back to art....

♥

Happy Easter

Wishing all my Friends and Family a blessed Easter.

Do you see what I see????

Well the other morning my hubs was looking out our back kitchen door and said come quick hon, I was beginning to roll my eyes because he has pulled fast ones on me before, (I rarely see deer out here and one time he made me go to every window in the house , saying come quick come quick only to start laughing and telling me there was no deer) so this time I really had to think whether I was going to get sucked in. He stayed at the door and said move slow and come quick, hurry hurry. So I get to the back door and look out and coming down the lane way (which leads back to farmer's fields and becomes our driveway) I couldn't believe my eyes, a  bunch of wild turkeys, and I mean a bunch. They were huge, the Toms were quite large and as we got to counting there were about 20 in total. They came down the driveway and stopped at the end of the driveway then proceeded to go on the road then back around to the other side of our house and towards the creek. It was quite a site, I am sorry you can't see them very well in this picture, but, if you click you make get a better view. We had to stay quite still and quiet because even when we went to our other kitchen door they stopped and were very cautious.

Other than that, not much has been happening. I have been working on making a few gifty items, working on some small 3x3 cards, turning out really cute. I will show them another post.

Hope everyone is enjoying spring like weather. We have noticed a change in temperature again and calling for snow tomorrow. Yikes, so, I think tomorrow is going to be an inside day.

Til next time, be creative and content.

♥

Gobble Gobble

A blog award and some good news

My friend Jenny from Australia over at One Vintage Day presented me with this lovely award.
Jenny has a wonderful blog and has really taken off with her mixed media. Go over and take a peek and say hello.

Here is the award, thank you Jenny ♥

It is an award for blogs with less than 200 followers... (and that are lovely)...

And now I get to share the love with 5 other gorgeous bloggers...

1. Art by Wendy

2.Becky

3. Jan

4. Jenxo

5. Kathy

Please follow these simple rules.

1. Share your appreciation with the blogger who awarded you the Liebster by linking back to their blog.

2. Post the award.

3. Share the 5 blogs you are awarding the Liebster with and let them know that they have received it.

4. Enjoy the new attention this award brings to your blog.

5. And last, but not least - have fun.

If you get a chance, please stop by and say hi to these five lovely gals...

And today.....I received an email from Leanne Seed from Gecko Galz, who is also a big sponsor over at Bella Creations Ning group, asking me to be a guest artist in the near future. Leanne is going to feature paper artists throughout the year supplying us with digital images, some design papers, digital stamps etc. I am so excited. My first guest appearance. When I know more I will let you all know.

And today I cooked a turkey dinner for my MIL and her friend. They came after church and we had a lovely dinner and time spent together. We were supposed to have it in mid January but the friend was sick with the flu so we postponed it til now and weather permitting. Even the dressing was raved about. Hmm I didn't really do much but it was very good.

Well that is it for tonight. I will be showing you all my faces in the next day or so I have been working on for cards. I was busy so didn't have the time I was hoping and being almost bed time it won't be happening tonight.

Take care all and see you all real soon.

♥

New Year, New Beginnings, New Adventures

Hi all, well another holiday has come and gone and a new year has begun.

Today I found out my friend Becky started up a blog, so I would like you to venture on over to Country Lane Folkart to say hello and wish her well. Becky is a wonderful Folk Artist I have known a few years now and we have met face to face a couple of times. I met Becky when I first started on the computer and had internet, on a painting board. Becky was always answering questions and we fast became friends. Becky has a wonderful website called....Country Lane Folkart and she is on Facebook and has an Etsy shop. If you follow the link to her blog you can find out more about Becky and her art.

Welcome to blog land Becky, good luck and I know you will find it a truly fun and great way to meet new like minded people.

And my new adventure....I follow Ink Stains with Roni and Roni is starting up her 3rd Annual Calendar challenge. Roni has all the details on her blog and is providing templates. Roni will be providing techniques to use for the backgrounds and she even has links to a calendar to put on the templates and some image sites.

So if you need a calendar for 2012 and want to learn some new techniques wander over to Ink Stains with Roni and check it out.

And the continuing saga with my car....I will be taking it to a GM dealership in town and they are going to scope it and hopefully find the dead short. Surely the maker of my vehicle can find out what is going on. Hopefully they won't have it for 2 weeks on end like another mechanic  I won't mention. Wish me luck.

2012 is going to be a great year....I can feel it already.

Cheers everyone.

♥

Wishing you all.....

May the New Year bring you good health, prosperity, friendships and joy.

Today hubby and I celebrate 23 years as a couple. My how time does fly...

Stay tuned for a little upcoming 300th post celebration.

♥

Good gourd, what is happening

I should have a pic of my kitchen table. I got a hold of Tammy the organizer of the show I am trying to get into . Just waiting to hear back from her and looks like I can squeak in to this weekend's craft show at the church. So....I was busy washing up some moldy gourds and looking in my bag of already gessoed gourds and ,well lets say, I have a gourdy mess on the table. Hee hee.

Thanks for all your encouraging words and well wishes, looks like it paid off and I will be busy for my next show on Saturday. Woot woot.

Rosie was helping to select the right gourds for me to paint either penguins or snowmen, she has quite a nose for that. Of course the whiskers had to be painted too, can't seem to get away from that when the brushes come out.

Well I will try to keep you posted up until Friday but if not, you know the paint will be flying.

I got my car back and the clock/radio are now no longer functioning as it was causing the drain on my battery as well. Oh well I can always look for a new radio after the New Year. Right now it is not a priority. I have heat in my car and it is running.  No charge too, gotta love your mechanic when he doesn't charge you for more time and effort.

Anyways take care all and so glad some of you liked the tissue tape. I applied it yesterday to my matchboxes and I have to say I impressed myself. You must try it and if you do I would love to see your versions.

Cheerio for now.

♥

November 2011 show report

The Christian High School was a good success. Huge well not huge but it was well worth it this year. I did very well Friday night and the gourds were literally flying off the table. Some peeps were debating with each other which one they wanted and don't take the one I want to buy. I am not sure how many I took with me, safe to say at least close to 20 and I should have taken more. I came home with one lowly snowman but I will give him a good home.

I really tried to be wallet friendly this year and opted to do more tree ornaments, goes to show you, you never know what peeps want to buy because I hardly sold any. My scrabble tile charms did very well, altered domino necklaces. I got a custom order to do a plate, another order for some key chains with a logo on it for a small business and a mouse pad that got chewed up by a critter to replace one I had made years ago. So I will be busy getting orders done but they won't take long.

I just got an email from a contact that there is a show next weekend and if there is room I just may try to get in. We can only hope.

Today I did NOTHING. I layed out on the couch, watched some boxing I have been waiting for, a couple movies then decided to get up and get a roast beast dinner going. Yum, what a great day. I didn't touch a craft, paint brush or piece of paper. Ahhh it is so nice to stop for a minute.

Take care and thank you all so much for your encouragement and well wishes.

I will post pics of my booth tomorrow when I feel more like it.

Off to bed soon for more rest and sleep.

Night night dear friends.

♥

A very busy day

Well we had our first snow of the season but it didn't last long. It came and it went. I didn't even take a picture because it barely covered anything. We are surely going to be getting a blast soon.

Today I was hoping just to get organized and just sit and relax....ha.....NOT.

I still had a few last minute items to finish up, hubs went to work for 2:30 and I was alone to do my whirl wind around the house and get what I thought would take an hour or so and rest before my show. NOT

I seemed to all of a sudden decide I needed to do some more scrabble tile charms and then I got into some other beading things which will be charms and so it is after 7pm and here I am. Still not completely done but for the most part I am pleased with my overall accomplishments.

I hope that this show will prove to be better than last year. I think it takes a while when you are new to a venue for peeps to get used to you and your products and style. I have often been told my items are different but I am not sure exactly how I am to take that. I take it as well you won't find this anywhere else, I hope.

So I am optimistic this will be a better year. I sure hope peeps are buying and that I can come away with some extra money for Christmas.

My car is still at the garage and I don't think it will be ready any time soon. I could have used a run into town before tomorrow but hey, it can wait, besides if I had gone to town I wouldn't have been able to get my load together for tomorrow. Tomorrow morning I will relax, take hubs to work then off to set up and wait for the crowds.

Thank you all for your encouraging words and support. Blog land has certainly been a very positive thing for me and I can't tell you how much you are all appreciated.

I will report back after the show. Take care and stay creative.

Lesley ♥

It never ends.....

I am usually a pretty calm and even tempered person but I have had it today. You remember me telling you about my car and the battery was being drained, they couldn't find the problem for the longest time and then they said after trying everything it was the automatic door locks that was causing the dead short so they disengaged them and now I don't have automatic locks. Well I ran back and forth all weekend long to my craft show and I was in town, On Tues I was doing some errands, I was getting tired and decided I wasn't going to do groceries(well I should have). Well today I went to do groceries and drop some items off to my MIL's for her craft show this weekend.....the battery.....was DEAD. After many dollars the last time I am livid. Hubby is on the afternoon shift so he needs his vehicle. I need to do groceries and many other things in the next week and NO VEHICLE. My bank account was drained from the last episode and I can only imagine this next time won't be anything great either. I feel like crawling in a hole and crying. Will this car episode ever end. I like my car I just wish whatever is going on would stop. I sure hope when I drop it off on the weekend it isn't weeks again, I have a big show next weekend and I might be missing out this weekend on some sales thanks to my MIL.

OK thanks for listening to me rant.....I just needed to vent.

Until next time....I promise I will be more positive.

ACKKKKKKK

First show report

This weekend I experienced my first scrap and paper type of show and I am sad to say it was not very good. Unfortunately Sweet Sentiments was last listed on the list, it entered as a new participant and the old reliables on the tour list were of course on the front of the page and at the top. I think new vendors should be listed first and maybe highlighted as new but I am not running the show but just my 2 cents.

We had some great peeps that did come in and check us out. There were 5 vendors that participated and we got to know each other very well over a very short period of time. We laughed, we shared info, emails and we even shared interent info.

I did not make any sales today, boohoo.

I often like to watch the peeps that come by, they admire, they stare, they look at details and one lady came for the free cider, looked around the tables then before she left she said, well I got some ideas and marched out of the store. I know people do that at these shows but some are a little more discreet than that. Sarah and I had our jaws drop after we heard that after she left.

I am leaving some items for the rest of the week. Next weekend I have been asked to leave some things at my MIL's craft and bake sale at her retirement residence open to the public so I have another little venue to place items. I think I will give her more painted things than I had at this show.

I was floored tho to find that my mini domino necklaces flew off the table and a few inchie houses. I was so happy. The mini dominos were a last minute idea and I will have to make some more before the Christian High School show in 2 weeks.

Well that is it. I can only hope in 2 weeks time it will be better.

Back to painting and getting ready for the next one.

Thanks for dropping by and if I don't post for a while I will be busy at the kitchen table.

Just a ramble

You all know now I got my car back and the door locks were causing the dead short so now I don't have automatic locks. Ok no problem. I had to go out of town for an appt today and hubs had to go to work.

I park at the office and then decided I would lock the car. So I have to do it manually now and I go into the office. I wait and wait and finally after 2 hours I am finally done. It is drizzling and cold and I walk over to my car, insert the key and it won't even turn. Yikes....so I go over to the passenger side and try the same thing, no key turning. Next I thought I would try the trunk and it opened. I go back to the drivers side and try and the key still won't turn. Now I am in a panic, hubs has the cell phone at work, he wouldn't be able to leave anyways since he just started the job. I look at my options and thought golly if I call a locksmith they are going to cost me money so well if I can go through the trunk then maybe I could get into the main part of the car, but.....before I try that.... I try the passenger door again and the key turned and opened. PHEW.....I was so relieved. I thought the garage may have changed the locks and not told me but they didn't charge me anything to change locks and I couldn't figure out why they key wouldn't turn. Boy I was so relieved and I was very grateful I got in.

Now that I am home safe and sound I can get back to doing something productive now.

How is it that an appt is after lunch and you get back home around supper time. It was packed and people were patient but you could tell some of them were getting antsy.

Anyways all is good.

Have a super day and my inchie houses are just about complete. Off to go finish them.

Til next time....be happy and creative

and....check your locks

♥

Just so you know

I have been asked about the 2nd bird cage that I used in my post yesterday. It is from Ecstacy Crafts, the product is a Marianne Design called Creatables- Birdcage Tunis. Scroll down the page and you will see it.
You can use this in the Cuttlebug very easily. The Ecstacy store is just down the road from me, that can be a bad thing sometimes, but, Dennis the owne,r and his staff, are great to work with. Most of the products they carry come from Holland and the Netherlands and Dennis is the sole distributor to North America.
Check out the link I have provided, they sell great dies and the prices are quite reasonable. They sell retail as well so you can order online.

I have my car back, many bucks later but I am so glad to have my own vehicle once again.
Now off to make inchie tree ornaments.
Lesley

So excited....I've been asked

to do a class using alcohol inks and the key tags that I did a tutorial on here at my local scrapbook store in October.
I just got an email and I was so excited that the girls Krista and Laura would like me to do this over at Sweet Sentiments.
Details have to be organized yet, I have no idea on the date but I am looking forward to it so much. It will be fun and exciting to share this with others and with Christmas approaching what a great little gifty or stocking stuffer.
I was planning on making some for my shows anyways so why not make a few while doing a class.
Stay tuned for details
Doing the happy dance

MIA not really

Hi everyone, just popping in to say I am around but been kind of busy. As I look at the calendar I am realizing that fall is approaching faster than I want, which only means winter, so I have been busy pulling out paint books and magazines for ornament ideas for my craft shows. I will also be doing some key chains and scrabble tiles and maybe a few domino pendants if time permits. Hubs has been busy the last couple days cutting out for me and I have been prepping the wood ready to paint and also some gourds.
So in case you are wondering what I have been up to I am around just not blogging much.
I will be showing my bird canvases and some mail art I recently received from a couple swaps but that may be done over the weekend. Also been playing with images in Gimp and learning all about image manipulation etc. So much fun.
Weather is still hot hot hot during the day but cools right off at night. Today while driving to town I noticed some leaves are starting to change colour, this means fall. Where did the summer go?
Take care, no pics today but I will post again soon.
Lesley

YIPPEEE SKIPPEEE

I am on Wireless and no more dial up. I can't believe I took the plunge and here I am.
I just had to share the excitement. No more waiting and waiting for pages to load and now I can watch vids.
Woot wooot.

back online

Hello friends,

we had 2 nasty storms on Wed this past week and our phone line was knocked out until late Friday afternoon. I am trying to catch up on emails and just got onto my blog. Some areas the hydro was out and still is until sometime on Sunday. The wind was very bad, a tree was knocked down in a neighbours yard, we had a limb broken off one of our trees, a birds nest in another tree was tore out of the tree and little egg shells on the ground. (boo hoo). We had hail, lots of driving rain, and a lightening show that was amazing but scary at the same time.

We are all well, happy and healthy.

Sure missed not having a phone or internet.

Anyways I am back in action.

Have a happy weekend my friends.

I won something, matchbox swap and car news

A few posts ago I showed you an Eco Shape shrine that I received in an order from Artchix. The shrine shape and door were to be used in a challenge on the Artchix Facebook page and today I found out I won a 10.00 gift certificate. Woot woot. I hardly ever win anything, I have no luck at lotteries, scratch tickets, or even random drawings. I never get too excited but today I did. I don't have to hurry to use it up so I will wait til I need a few things and use it.
It was nice to get some good news after a week without a car and money spent fixing it. I got my car back yesterday and nice to have my own wheels back. A brand new gas tank and new lines from the transmission to the rad were replaced. I can actually put more than a half a tank of gas in the car. Woot woot. I hate spending the money on a car but hey it has been a good car and I need to keep it for a while so I guess money well spent for safety reasons as well.

And the other day I received my Music themed matchbox from my friend Jan. If you recall the FlickR monthly matchbox theme for last month was music and we had to use black somewhere on the matchbox. Well Jan is always a very creative and generous trade partner. She really did it this time. Take a peek at all the goodies she included inside and outside the box.
Thanks so much Smiff. I think Jan did an image transfer somehow with the woman images and the music paper on the outside. It is really lovely.

 And below is a humming bee. Isn't it the neatest little creature? We have seen a few of them or the same one hanging around our hanging baskets on our deck and this one decided to have a rest on the petunias. JB caught it on digital. I had been trying but the thing kept buzzing around. I put the camera down and then he comes into the house looking for the camera and caught it taking a rest. That never happens so me, I am no photographer, I haven't the patience or the eye. You would think being a painter and creative person that I am that I would be able to capture such beauty but nope I just want to click and get it over with.

Anyways thanks for dropping by and tomorrow I will be showing you what I got in the mail today.

Another matchbox and 2 lovely ATC's from South Africa.

Remember to stop and smell the flowers. Life is too short to be hung up on stress and

 don't let people rent space in your head.

~♥~



I have to rumble

Maybe it's the heat, I don't complain too much, I keep a lot to myself in a lot of cases but today I am rumbling because it never fails. I recently got some income tax return money, and, thinking maybe now I can afford to get the wireless set up I have been wanting and I would have faster than this stupid snail speed dial up. Well today may have just ruined that very much anticipated thinking. I was going to town to do a few groceries and on my way the car started to hurk and jerk, not bad but I wasn't feeling comfortable about the drive so I immediately turned around and went home. I got hubs to take a peek and well one thing led to another and as he was going to take it for a test drive I noticed some oil on the driveway, but, it wasn't the good oil, it was transmission oil. So JB pulls back in as I am showing him and popped the hood and found out by the dip stick I had next to no transmission oil left and I could have really done in my engine had I not come home when I did. Anyways the ole Monte Carlo is in the shop and when they can look at it then they will call. I also have been putting off a new gas tank, I can only put in no more than half a tank and it all comes pouring out after half a tank. So needless to say, looks like all that money I got back is going to the car. I will have to wait for wireless for now. Never fails...you finally get a bit of money that you actually could use for yourself and then you end up giving it to someone else. Doesn't life work funny that way?Oh well at least I knew to come home, wasnt' stranded anywhere. Today is so humid and hot they were telling peeps to keep the animals indoors and stay cool and drink lots of fluids.
No one got hurt and I trusted my womanly instincts.
Ok enough rumbling, tomorrow will be a better day....at least I hope.
Have a great day everyone.