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

Which one do you like?

Hi friends!! The painting is all done! The wood is all stripped! The trim is all trimmed! Yeah, we have a couple of threshold pieces to install and a shelf to put up---and then it's time to mop the floor and move in the furniture. I'm so excited! I will take pics and show off either tomorrow or the next day.

We have a big snow storm coming in so we may spend the day going grocery shopping and preparing for it. The kids are off school this week for spring break, so we must have lots of food on hand....better bake up some brownies huh?!

I have been thinking about opening another Etsy shop for vintage finds--you know, linens and laces and cool old things I run across in my treasure hunting--and craft supplies. There are some in my shop right now, but I'm not sure I'm happy mixing them in with my hand mades? I'd be happy to hear any comments or thoughts you may have about this. Is it OK to have them mixed or should I go ahead and work on a seperate shop?? Help me my wise friends!! Do you guys read Ginny's blog iSew ?? She is getting married in a couple weeks and has been preparing for a real crafty/handmade wedding!! It's so exciting. She is making her own dress--which is impressive as heck to me! lol And it's turning out gorgeous! Plus she has been hard at it making all sorts of wonderful things for the tables and guests....you should really stop by and check it out!

Do you ever do this....make up a batch of things that are all a variation of one thing? I haven't had much time for crafting this week--due to the remodelling and the kids--but I did sit one day and do up a cute little magnet with a flying bird. I liked it so well that I decided to do one up in a different color, and then another, and then another, and then another, etc! LOL I ended up with 6 of them, each a little different than the next. It's kinda fun--try it! So which one do you like best??

Show and Tell Sunday

I was so excited to hear about some bloggers getting together to do show and tell on Sunday's!! LittlePinkStudio and LeesieBella got together and decided to make it official!! You can read all about it HERE.

Show and Tell was always a favorite back in elementary school--being allowed to bring your favorite things to school to show everyone and also getting to see what the other's brought. I remember the excitement that would be around on Show and Tell day! Anyone else remember this as fondly as I do?

This is a bit of a long story so stick with me till the end --OK?? -so, I'm all excited and looking forward to Show and Tell............guess what ? The subject this time is vintage millinery florals. I could've cried! I don't have ANY! No hats, no hat boxes, and not even a little tiny vintage floral. Can you believe that? Oh well, I guess I will have to see what next week brings! *wipes tear away*.

I had such a wonderful thing come to me in the mail this week---just yesterday as a matter of fact. It came in a large long box...and when I saw who it was from....I could hardly wait to open it! I was the lucky lucky winner of Kandeland's blog giveaway!! Yeah !!!!!!!! And she sent me (lickety-split too, I might add) a great big box full of crafty goodies! OMGosh--a regular treasure chest!! Just look at all that gorgeousness!! Thank you SO much Natalea--I am stunned by your generosity!!! AND........best of all...........do you see what is in there---right about center top of the pic..........

Some beautiful vintage flowers!!! Yeah! So I can participate after all----I am so blessed. :o) Thanks again Natalea--you have made me a happy gal!

Know what else made me happy this week? The weather, oh yeah. It actually got up in the 50's and we were able to open up the windows for a bit and air out the house! Lovely. Rosie was enjoying having a little talk with the pigeons on the neighbors rooftop!!

I also got a couple new bagkeepers finished this week. It's been a while since I made any of these with my own embroidery on them--and I forgot how much I enjoy doing them! This cute one with the spring colors and the cute little birds is available in HERE.

I also did this cutey chickens one--in pretty red and aqua--but this one is already sold to the fabulous EstherSunday (if you haven't ever been to her blog---you should! She is really funny and silly--a great read!). Just thought I'd show it off while I still have it!
Have a great day my lovely blog friends!!

xoxoxo Karen

Another Drawing

Guess what? I found another drawing for you to enter! This one is from the wonderful and talented Old World Shoppes etsy street team (of which I am a proud member!)

Click here and leave a comment to be entered. We are starting a new blog for the team and are trying to raise awareness with our drawing--so stop by and say HI!


While you are there, scroll down to the second entry and click the little video to see a small video featuring a bunch of OWS creations backed up by the official OWS theme song!

A Very Cool Contest

Our friend Diana, from A Muted Palette, has decided to start offering her wonderful artwork in prints--and is doing a giveaway to celebrate!! Head over to her blog and make your pick!!

This is the one that I love., isn't it fantastic??? ...hope I win!!