Getting my sh....stuff together

Ok--so my life really isn't all that exciting, to say the least! It's ok--I actually had enough excitement in the first half of my life so that I appreciate the lack of constant excitement here in the second half! lol

One thing that plagues me is the constant need to get organized. Keeping a home with all the people and stuff involved is truly a challenge, and especially if one of the people in the home is a crafter/treasure hunter/sew-er/etc.--- ***ahem*** so I get EXCITED when I find some cool and easy way to help me. While breaking down boxes yesterday to get ready for the recycle truck, I ran across an empty cheese box--you know the long narrow ones that Velveeta and/or Land O Lakes comes in? It dawned on me that my carded trims would probably fit in there nicely! Ran down to my studio and.......

AND...as if THAT weren't enough.....the two boxes fit perfectly, side-by-side into one of those shoebox size plastic tote boxes (which is where I had all my rick rack in the first place). Now I can see what I have at a glance, without having to dig through the box. I love it!

So, now I just need more of those boxes for the seam binding I have stashed......grilled cheese anyone??

Creeeeepy

Do you ever get that strange feeling that you are being watched?






Wait!---there it goes again.........
~~~shiver~~~~

Panic!

ONE MONTH AGO

OMGosh--it's time for my usual rant about how fast time is going by! Am I the only one who gets totally freaked out by this? I swear, I think something happened a week ago, and come to find out it was a month ago! Gheez. I don't like it! I was informed by my daughter yesterday--quite happily I might add--that there are only 15 school days left to the year! WHAT? It's just not possible.

2 WEEKS AGO

My baby boy is ready to get his driving permit. He will be going through his driver's ed this summer (OMG--have you any idea how much this costs?--I was totally shocked and now, sadly, I have to sell one of my kidneys--which I am quite fond of and don't want to lose).

YESTERDAY

So....how was everyone's Mother's day?? Mine was so nice this year...I really feel cherished. The kids were so sweet to me and spoiled me rotten all day!

We went to church first thing in the morning, and they both dressed nicely (no jeans!) and sang along with me during mass (which I love!). Then they took me out to breakfast--and they paid! That's a pretty big deal for a couple of kids who don't have jobs or allowance. They actually asked their Dad for some extra chores the weekend before so they could make some money to take me out to eat. HOW SCHWEET IS THAT??

Then! they cleaned my car for me when we got home! Seriously, at the end of winter, when we start getting some warm days and the permafrost that has taken up residence in the carpetting starts to thaw, it begins to smell a bit like the lion's cage at the zoo in there. Ewww. Well, it's all clean and sparkly and Fabreezed in there now, what a pleasure!

Then Linds baked me some brownies with cream cheese frosting and Joe did up all the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Mark came home from fishing and made a big dinner. Then to top it all off, I got an MP3 player as a gift (yeah!) which the kids took the time to load up ahead of time with all my favorite songs! So now I have some tunes to listen to on my walks. Am I spoiled or WHAT!

Well, that's my blab for the day. Now I have to go and get my wholesale order done....it's the one I started 2 weeks ago......(omg, has it been over a month?) Panic.

Take time for the important things......

Well, I got up this morning, as I usually do...grabbed myself a giant cup of joe and headed down to my shop to get a little work done. Do ya ever have those days when you just have absolutely no ambition to do what you should be doing? I looked at my fabric, blah....looked at my buttons, blah....looked at a couple paper projects that are sitting on my worktable, blah.....blah, blah, blah! I glanced over at my shop monkey--JoJo, and he gave me one of those looks! ( He just knows me too well.) Go play today Karen...you need a day off! Well, he didn't have to tell me twice!

Yesterday I was over at Sweet Repeats blog and was enjoying her music while I was there--so I decided that it was just what my blog needed to perk it up a bit! So, say hello to my new music player. I had a really good time deciding what to put on there--and found a bunch of my favorites for you to listen to while you visit.

If you've never heard the song "Oreo Cookie Blues"--make sure you give it a listen...it is my unofficial theme song! lol (though if you were to ask Mr. Kwitty, he would say it was "Still Crazy after All These Years"--not sure if that is because he thinks I am still crazy after all these years OR if it's because I tend to sing that song with particular gusto every time I get a few cocktails in my system) Either way, they are both good songs and I hope you enjoy listening while you are here!

Another cool thing is that you can just minimize the page and still listen to the music, which has added a whole new dimension to my computing experience! Yeah.

I then decided that my SIL will probably enjoy a little gift for her birthday. She is one of those gals who really doesn't get the appeal of handmade--so I have to actually go to a store and buy her stuff. (she's so weird!) So I parked the car waaaaaaay down the road and had a nice long walk to go along with my shopping....it's a beautiful day, and the sun is shining and no coat required! Awesome.

Now, I'm home--feeling rejuvenated! I've a few minutes to spare before the kids get home from school and I have to make dinner--so I'm just gonna sit here and enjoy my tunes and play a couple games of solitaire--so there!I did manage to list this new bag yesterday--grass and skies and butterflies! It's available in my shop.

Oh, and would someone please go purchase something from my shop--I've been sitting at 666 sales for 2 days now and it's freaking me out a little! I'll put something special in your package........

Have a great day friends!

xoxo Karen

P.S. JoJo told me to tell you all that you are to take the rest of the day off!

Strawberry Shortcake anyone?

Who would like a nice big slice of strawberry shortcake--with gobs of whipped cream on top?

Aww--dang! Too slow! Sorry you missed it, it was scrumptious, now excuse me while I lick my plate!

Look what I got this week!! I'll tell ya, I am so lucky at these blog drawings lately! I won this beautiful necklace from KatRoman in a drawing on the blog Dirty Pretty Things to Ponder

Many thanks to both--I love the necklace (in fact, I wore it to church this morning).

I'm thinking spring this week! The temp is actually around 52 right now and the sun is shining--yeah! Makes me think birds (yah, so what else is new?!) Someone on Etsy recently called me the "Bird Lady of Etsy"!! LOL so...it's come to that has it? I always thought I'd be the crazy cat lady, but bird lady will work for me. I listed these cute bird tags yesterday. I went through my paper stash and pulled out all the pink and aqua polka dot papers I had, and cut a tag from each one. I like the contrast of the serious black songbird silhouette against the playful pastel polka dots. Available HERE.
Another sure sign of spring is the fishing opener--which is coming up next weekend! You can already feel the excitement in the air around here. You know, land of 10,000 lakes and all that--fishing is BIG around here! Personally, I love to fish-- I keep a fishing pole in the trunk of my car at all times, just in case!

I've made this very cool fish tag in honor of fishing season. It's sometimes so hard to know what to get for those GUYS-- you know, those hunting, fishing, sports guys! Here is one solution to your gift giving dilemma. It's a cool crappie collage on the front and I've sewn a pocket in the back so you can tuck a little surprise in there. There is even a cool library pocket type sleeve for gift giving.

I've actually made one of these for my husband and surprised him by buying his fishing license for him, and tucking it into the pocket on the back, and tucking it in his tacklebox--so when he was getting ready to go fishing on opener weekend, he realized that at least one of his errands was already done! It really made him smile, and now he uses the tag as a bookmark every day too.

Or how about sticking a little love letter to him in the pocket and tucking it in the book he's currently reading?

My brother got one for his birthday with 2 tickets to a local ballgame tucked into the pocket on the back. Or you could tuck in a gift card from his favorite store.

You could have the kids make up handmade coupons for car washes, yard work, garage clean-up, etc. and stick those in the pocket! A great Father's Day idea.Oh, one more thing. I made up this cute little pocket for your tea bags--so they don't get all smushed up in your purse (0f course, your business cards or other cards will fit in there too, if you are not the tea type). When I was ironing on the little teapot applique, it slid off center a bit, so I am offering it in my shop at an OOPSY price!

Ok--well, I'm gonna go and soak up some sun! Yeah! Have great day.

A Little Fun with Nature

WHAT???? He doesn't want to be locked out of the dam again!

They always look sooooooo innocent, and then.........! Blammmo, splat.And last, but not least--a little cuteness!

Snow and Chickens and Wallets and Love

It is flippin' snowing again! I was just noticing yesterday that the grass is starting to get a green tinge to it......and now it's white. Grrrrr........ LOL, it's pretty much melting right away, but still! This is a little something for the Apron Queen! I just wanted you all to see what I have to put up with with my rooster--He is such a bad a**!

The Apron Queen has a really interesting blog post about the Legend of the Rooster --be sure to check it out!! AND what sounds like a really yummy Chick, taters, and beans recipe.

Look what my SIL sent me yesterday! Pics of my sweety and her cousin all ready to go to the Ball. I just can't get over how old they are getting, and what lovely young ladies they are getting to be. I sure wish I knew how to photoshop in a new background though (ooopsy!! lol--it looks like the unicorn has gored poor Rissa right through her head!).I just finished and listed a beautiful new collage--I made this one with Mother's Day in mind--though it would be a lovely gift for any time of year. The main elements are a super cute olive green polka dotted vintage linen napkin used for the background, a lovely vintage millinery flower (purchased from LisaCook at Etsy) , a beautiful old rhinestone heart button, and some pretty feminine papers. I did some interesting things with the frame on this one--pop over to my shop and check it out!I got a request this week from our mutual friend--Sweet Repeats aka Lucy Sweet Lucy at Etsy--to make her a pretty wallet for her business cards. Well, I went a little crazy and made up a few different ones for her to choose from, plus some extras for my shop! lol Yeah, that's how I roll!They are listed in my Etsy shop--if anyone else needs a cute new wallet!

If you click on any of the pictures, it will bring you directly to it's listing--easy peasy!This is the one she ended up choosing--know what? I had a feeling that she would pick this one!! lol The design on this one was inspired by the lovely artwork I won from her...see here and HERE .

Well, that's it for today--Have a wonderful weekend!

xoxoxo Karen

Is it Weird........?

Is is weird that I just bought my hubby a Old Mill Dam shirt at the Salvation Army just so I can say to him "Are you wearing that DAM shirt again?"--every time he wears it?

:oD Have a great day!

Newsy News

Phew, it's been a busy week! How you all holding up out there??? Are you finally getting some spring weather? We run the gamut here, 30 degrees and wind as heck one day, and 5o and sunny the next--a little snow, a little rain, a little sun! LOL It keeps us on our toes anyways--it's not boring to be sure.

Joe just got home late last night from his first big trip! He took a trip out to Indiana for a drill competition with his ROTC group. It was a 13 hours bus trip each way--yikes! They did pretty dang good--coming home with a 3rd place trophy and a 4th place trophy. He enjoyed the trip, but seemed really glad to be home--and he missed our good home cooking! We don't eat a lot of fast food around here--and 3 days of it was a bit much for the poor boy! lol
Look at what I got in the mail recently!!! I was the lucky winner of a blog drawing on the SWEET REPEATS blog!! Yeah for me--and I ended up winning this gorgeous bit of artwork. I absolutely love it and it's message of inspiration and creativity. Thanks so much ! Stop by her blog for a visit--she's not only very talented, but super sweet too and her's is one of the blogs I read on a regular basis. She also has an Etsy shop--LucySweetLucy--so you can get some of her lovely art for yourself!!

AND, that's not all!! I had a very good week--I also won a drawing at Amy's blog--Abundant Curiosities . She sent me this beautiful bunch of handmade quilled flowers and birds (aren't those little birds the cutest darn things?!! Yeah!) I just LOVE them and am in awe at all the work involved in making them--you have the patience of a saint Amy! Thank you so much Amy, and don't be surprised if you see some of these showing up in my work in the near future! Hers is another great blog--she has a lot of interesting things from the past to read about--be sure to check it out. And visit her Etsy shop if you are drooling over these flowers! lol

Do you like the purse my lovely daughter is modelling at the top of this post?? I found that really cool linen tea towel at a new antique shop I discovered last week (YEAH!)--and just love the colors and the stylized leaf graphics. I paired it up with a medium weight canvas, black and white with vines, and a pretty chartreuse quilter's cotton for a fun and funky bag. I love it and am going to use the other side of the towel (the one with the tiny stain) to make one for myself! It's a pretty handy little purse with the main body being one compartment and then 2 pretty good size pockets on the front. These are the best bags to bomb around with in the summer--hands-free sling bag and light weight enough to be comfortable, but still big enough to carry around your essentials. You can get this in my ETSY shop!

Here's a new item I just listed today--a cute little keychain wallet/pouch made from a gorgeous and fun vintage hankie! I love the colors on this baby! It's interfaced and lined and double-stitched in all the right places. It can be found HERE.

Our lovely friend STARRY DEBORAH is doing a giveaway on her fun blog- she is taking a trip to Paris soon--and that is the theme of her giveaway. Pop by and say HI and leave a comment to be entered. The actual prize is still a mystery, but.....she makes some absolutely gorgeous collages....... so maybe.....!

If you pop over to DirtyPrettyThingstoPonder--she is the hub for 6...yes SIX great giveaways!! Called "The Big Give"--make sure you get in on these! Pop over to her blog and meet some really great artists and get signed up.

Oh yeah, one more thing--SouthernLadyVintage is having a giveaway on her blog too--swing by and say Hello to her sweet self--and get signed up for it!!

xoxoxo Have a great day!
Karen

Ta-Daaah and a SPECIAL in my ETSY shop

Just a quickee post for now--I have a couple things to share. First is the special I'm running for the next two days:


♥♥♥♥ Tomorrow is my 2ND ETSYVERSARY!!!!♥♥♥

April 17th

In honor of this auspicious occassion, I will put $2.00 back into the paypal account of any person who spends $10.00 or over in my shop today and/or tomorrow and writes "HAPPY ETSYVERSARY" in the notes to seller upon purchase!!!

Good April 16th and 17th

Pretty good huh?! lol SECOND---we finished my little office space!! Yeah, I just love it, it's so colorful and cute and CLEAN! If you click on the pic--it will take you to my Flickr page which has some fun little notes about the room!

Well, gotta go and do some sewing--thanks for stopping by!

xoxoxo Karen