What Karen needs.....

So who's been noticing a bunch of silliness showing up in blogland over the last week or so? OK--more silliness than usual, lol! I saw some on Imaginary Fronds blog (had to laugh out loud about the boob job!). Again, on the lovely Jenn Maruska's blog (thanks for posting your little prayer--I almost peed my pants!). And Jenn was kind enough to point us in the direction of Sweet Repeats where there is some more silliness abounding! Whew! Go check it out and have some laughs!


I've been prompted by Jenn to do one myself---so here goes. ( I cheated a little and skipped over the more boring ones)

1) Karen needs to grow up! (umm, sorry! not gonna do it and you can't make me!)


2) Karen needs to have full carbohydrate stores and be well hydrated. (Can you say Pizza and Beer? yeah!)


3) Karen needs additional time for laundry and changing bed linens. (um YEAH!! all that housework seriously cuts into my crafting and playing time! Better yet- Karen needs a maid!)


4) Karen needs to check her figures. (Whew, for a minute there I thought it said "FIGURE" singular--again, not gonna do it and you can't make me!)


5) Karen needs a MAN! (well, OK. but don't tell my hubby! This one has got to be rich and love to give presents.)


6) Karen needs Dr. Pelvic's knowledge. (I don't even know what to say about this one! lol Can you say "name-change"?)


7) Karen needs a facial. (oh yes, and a massage, and a manicure, and a pedicure, and a ........)


8) Karen needs to fake her own death. (never expected THAT one!)


9) Karen needs to get real! (real what? drunk? rich? what?)


10) Karen needs to make national attention. (yeah, for something good--not some Brittany Spears forgetting her underwear kind of attention, but the makes the cutest little bags and stuff kind!)


There you have it! Everyone should give this a shot! Just go to google and type your name and the word " needs"--and hit search and see what it comes up with! Such a hoot! Please let me know when you do it, so I can go and have a chuckle!
Smiles, Karen

Yippee!

Oh yeah! It is a beautiful spring day, already over 50 degrees, the birds are singing away out in the cedars, and the sun is shining in the windows. Yesterday I noticed a very healthy batch of bright pink and green signs around town--and that can only mean one thing.....GARAGE SALE season has finally started! I know what I'm doing today, lol. Yeah!!


I need to find the perfect little tall table for our freshly finished, gorgeous staircase. The work is all done now but I really don't want to post pictures until I get the curtain done (no time right now for curtain sewing!) and get some of the pics hung. There is a huge wall that goes from about neck height up to the ceiling that we have decided is going to be a wall of fame--all the family pics are going there. It's going to be a real test of our marriage to get that all put together, let me tell you , LOL!!!!! Just kidding, luckily my hub has learned a long time ago to just hang 'em where I say! He is a very wise man. There is a small area on the landing that is just begging for a cute little table--so I have to go on the hunt--Yeah!

Oh yeah, the pic above is a little fridge magnet that I've recently listed in my shop . Bright colors, a cute little bird, and I even added some leaves to the side to snazz it up a bit!

Well, I'm off to find treasure--have a great day!

And the winner is......

Jenn Maruska!! Yeah, congrats Jenn. I just think it is wonderful that you were drawn as you have been such a nice new friend here in the blog and Etsy world!! If you will just email me with your street addy--I will send that right off to you.

I would like to thank all of you that left such sweet and encouraging comments--you are all so wonderful and I'd just like you to know that I am grateful for all of you!

Say! I almost forgot, LOL. I have something else to give away! I bought some pudding cups the other day and there are coupons in there for Baskin Robbins--*buy a sundae, get one free* and *free quart of ice cream when you buy a cake*. Unfortunately we don't have a Baskin Robbins around here anywhere--so if you do, just say the word and I'll send these to you.

Thanks again everyone and have a great night.

UhOh--Etsy is having growing pains

Hi! I just wanted to make a quick mention here that Etsy has been doing some work with their servers, and things are running a bit wonky over there! If you have been trying to do some shopping and have run into difficulties--I would advise you to either try back tomorrow some time or maybe just try and contact the seller and talk to them directly. If you want to reach me, you can just leave me a message here in my blog or you can email me. Thanks!

What you see here is a special shadowbox I made up for my Etsy shop--something really pretty for your special MOM!

Here are a couple of my latest listings. I didn't notice until I had them listed that they really look nice together! So the one is a tissue holder, it holds a travel size pack of kleenex, and the other one is a 2-pocket card wallet, perfect for your business card or credit cards. They can both be found in my Etsy shop --and if you are interested in getting them both at the same time I'll give you--my super favorite blog friends!!--a 10% off discount! Yup, just put "blog buddy" in the note to seller and I'll send you a new invoice. They are not very expensive in the first place, so that is a pretty good deal!

I've been very drawn to the pink/aqua color scheme, and I'm seriously thinking about re-doing my kitchen in those colors! (shhhh--don't tell my hub!). Right now the kitchen is basically pale yellow walls with red and white as the accessories--mostly vintage chickens. It would be a big change and I'd have to hunt down all new knick knacks and accessories--doesn't that sound horrible? LOL I know that my hub is going to say "What about all the great chicken things you have collected?" Well, I could just pack them away, and when I tire of the pink/aqua I could haul them out again and they will seem like brand new to us! Right? right?.... It's just that we painted the staircase in that pretty aqua-ish blue, and it looks so pretty--and now it kinda clashes with the kitchen. OK--have I talked myself into it yet? *GRIN* I've been mulling this over for the last month or so--and then I was reading through Angela's blog and she showed a pic of her kitchen and it just made me drool! That was the clincher! Thanks a lot Ang! Now, how am I going to break it to Mark?

Speaking of pink/aqua--here are some wonderful finds from Etsy:

A pretty tote bag from Norththreads http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=297386

A lovely bracelet from the fabulous Pinky http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5407934

A very unique and cutey bra from Swoon http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5299756

A cute elephant print by StudioLyon http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5256286

A funky and pretty tag by Polyclarific http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5513593

A gorgeous handmade gift tag by AmyElise http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5725412

A pretty patchwork wristlet by Artsycraftybabe http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5225648

A SPECIAL GIVEAWAY!!! Guess Who Is One-Year Old??? Mrs. Kwitty's at Etsy!

Happy Etsy-versary to me! yeah! Yup, one year ago (tomorrow) April 17th, I found Etsy and signed up--and my life made a major change. Isn't it funny how one day will change everything? I guess that is just how life is. Thankfully, this day had made a change for the good. I didn't actually add any products to my shop for about another month, because this was a huge leap for me. I didn't even know anything about digital photography at the time, didn't know much about computering at all actually! lol Soooo, this has been a big learning experience for me. Sometimes the best way to learn to swim is to just jump in the water, right?!! Now here it is a year later and I have a fairly successful Etsy shop (as of today: 225 sales, 488 hearts, 255 positive feedback), a BLOG, a large Flickr account, a new boutique account that is looking to be very promising, and lots of wonderful new friends! I am so thankful for all of this!!!! YEAH!!!!!

I would like to show my appreciation to all the wonderful people who read my blog and visit my Etsy shop--by giving away one of my little shadowbox collages (pictured above). It is made with an image of a pretty little nosegay from a vintage greeting card, some rick rack (of course!! lol), vintage wallpaper, buttons, glitter, and rhinestones, all framed up in a cute little 5" x 5" shadowbox frame. It bears a tag that reads "friendship"--a wonderful thing worth celebrating! After all, isn't that really what I am celebrating here? yes.

Just leave your comment here, with some way for me to reach you (your blog addy, etsy addy, email, etc.) and I'll toss your name in the hat for the collage. Let's see....I'll do the drawing on next Tuesday (april 24)--that will give people a week to find this. OK? Good luck everyone. HUGS!!

I just ran across this cutey blog and thought I would pass along the word about a nice giveaway she is having. Pop on in and sign up and look around!!

Saturday Night Special

Hello! Just a quick little note to tell you that I'm offering **Free Shipping** as my Saturday Night Special this week. If you have your eye on something, you can get it shipped to you for free--Just for tonight. Please see the announcement on the front page of my Etsy shop for details! Thanks!

I was challenged by Amber at Blurrzone to show you all my craftspace. Well, here you go--in all it's organized chaos! LOL I have a wonderful craft space. For years I did all my crafting and sewing on the dining room table--which is where we eat! So every time I'd start something, I would have to allow time to clean everything up before meal time--SUCH A PAIN! Plus, the kids were small and I had to put everything away, I mean AWAY! so they couldn't get into it. I swear I would actually talk myself out of crafting some days just because I wouldn't want to hassle with it all. My sweety pie finally decided to save me, yeah!! He told me he was going to make me a small space in the basement for my very own. Sigh, my hero! Now I want you all to understand something here, this was no small undertaking. We live in a house that was built in 1901--and the basement is nothing but a basement. It has a furnace, oil tank, hot water heater, concrete floor, huge bluestones (big, uncut rocks!) for the walls, and pipes and big rafters overhead that were full of peeling paint. He went down there and ended up turning half of our big basement into my craftroom---HALF! It's huge! He scraped all the peeling paint off of those old rafters, primed and painted all those big bluestone rocks, he put up a wall and added lots of electrical outlets so I can plug in all my stuff. Put in a bunch of shelving...it goes on and on. He even put a stereo in there with speakers in the corners so I can work with good surround sound music! I even have my little TV/VCR so I can watch my favorite shows while I work. All together, he spent almost 2 full months making that room for me--and I still appreciate it so much. It is a big cluttered, colorful, warm room and I love it!

Sisters

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter. Ours was really nice, and now we have all those good leftovers! I LOVE ham & pineapple sandwiches made on little dollar buns! mmmmm! AND cheesecake--oh mama! :-D

Here is one of my new collages. I made a few for my custom order, but she wanted to go with a little different style, so now I get to put them in my Etsy shop! Yeah! I just listed this pretty vintage style collage , framed up in a little 5" x 5" shadowbox frame this morning. If you have a "Dear Sister", this would be a perfect little gift to show her that she is very dear to you. I used a glass bubble over the image, which looks pretty cool (I think), and that delicate ivoy color trim across the top corner is actual vintage trim taken off of an old wedding gown. There are even a couple antique, slightly crusty (lol) mother-of-pearl buttons! Swing by the shop if you are interested! Thanks.

It's funny that I've been working on the Sister collages lately, and it really got me to thinking about the sisters I've had in my life. I was the oldest child in our family, with 3 younger brothers. When I was about 12 my Dad remarried to a woman who had 2 daughters and I was so excited to have sisters!! I had dreamt of having sisters for so long (a side note: I actually ran away from home, after my youngest brother was born, when I was 5- because my Mom came home from the hospital with ANOTHER baby brother! I specifically told her that I wanted a sister this time!!) Unfortunately, one of them was a troubled teen with drug problems and she committed suicide shortly after I met her. My other step-sister and I got along so wonderfully! It was great, she was only one year younger than I and we quickly became the best of friends. We had so many great times together. We are basically total opposites! LOL Which didn't matter much when we were kids, but began to wear on us as we aged. Unfortunately, we have grown apart and don 't even really keep in touch--I've tried but she doesn't keep it up, and I don't want to bug her, so ..... It's sad really, and I still love her and hope her life is going good and she is happy. I have a 9 wonderful sisters-in-law now--so that makes me very happy. You see, I got my sisters in the end--A whole bunch of them! LOL

...and the winner is......

Sorry it got so late--but we had a rather long mass this evening (Good Friday) and then Linds and I hit the video store for movies. Anywhoooo- the winner is ******iSew.biz****!!! Yeah! Congrats iSew-- email me with your address and I will send that right out to you! BTW, I just went and visited her blog today, and it is really nice--go check it out!



I have been busy working on collages the last few days. I have a custom order for 8 of them--another wedding thing! Yeah! It is fun to do something besides sewing every once in a while. I do love sewing, but I love to do the collages too. Remember the hearts I did at Valentines? The collages are a lot like doing those, only I get to put them in a pretty little shadowbox frame so they can be more dimensional. So, that means that I get to go shopping for cool, unique little doodads to put in them!! I went yesterday to my favorite little shop--Seaman's Yesterdays Treasures. I found all kinds of pretty little trinkets--some vintage cards, old jewelry, some pretty rhinestones, old buttons, and nice pieces of handmade laces. The collage pictured here is one I have listed in my Etsy shop called "Sweet Beauty". Stop in if you are interested!

Well, I wish you all a very Happy Easter full of love and family. God Bless.

A New Give-Away!!!

Hellooo. Here is a bunch of tissue holders I've done up for a special order--she wants to hand them out as gifts to special people at her wedding--you know, for mopping up all those tears of joy! Isn't that a sweet idea?! I am loving the colors! Well, see the pretty little pink and white polka dot one on the bottom of the pic?--it has a small flaw in the fabric that I didn't notice until I had it all made up. It is hardly noticeable, but I certainly wouldn't sell it that way! SOOOOOOOOO.....I'm going to give it away. If you would like to throw your name into the hat for it-just leave a comment here. I'll draw for it on Friday.

We got another snowstorm!! Yup! It is a flippin' winter wonderland out there! LOL There is about 8" of new snow and the wind is whipping around out there and causing huge drifts everywhere. OK-now where are the April showers that everyone is always talking about? Huh?

The staircase is nearing completion! Yeah! We are in the process of removing all the tape right now, a few touch ups, and it will be done! It is looking so fabulous, I can't stop looking at it! I'll be posting pics in the next few days so you can all gaze along with me *grin*.

Check out my new banner!!! Isn't it pretty? I had it custom made for me, along with a new logo and avatar--I just wanted to have a more put-together look for my shop. I think it looks like me! Thanks so much to Sam at IllustratorSam at Etsy for her patience and skill! I would highly recommend her if you are looking for something new for your shop!

Custom Work

Hello! How's everyone? I have been keeping busy with a bunch of custom work this week and weekend. Here are a couple of the results, two new "gym bags". A lovely customer of mine wanted a large drawstring bag to use for hauling her extra clothes to the gym--"Make me something that is girly and pretty and will make me want to go to the gym." she said! LOL!!!! I told her that if I could make a bag that would actually make people want to go to the gym, I would be a millionaire!

I also finished up making a bunch of tissue keepers for a gal who is going to give them as gifts to people in her wedding party--isn't that a cute idea?!!

I love it, being someone who always cries at weddings, I think it is a great idea. Anywhoo--I stitched up a bunch for her and tonight I will sew on all the buttons and ribbons while watching the boob tube.

Well, smells like the chicken is done, so I should go and help Hub mash some taters (it is so nice to have a hubby who cooks on Sundays for me!! ). Have a good night!