Whatever Strikes Mrs. Kwitty's Fancy....

What's NEW In The New Year With The Etsy Twitter Team?!

2012-01-20T15:30:00.000-06:00

What's NEW In The New Year With The Etsy Twitter Team?!

My Funny Valentines

2012-01-19T16:54:00.002-06:00

Valentines

Share The Love Celebration STLC from the OFG

2012-01-16T07:58:00.000-06:00

http://www.etsy.com/search?search_submit=&q=STLC&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US

I'll bet you all thought I'd dropped off the face of the earth?! LOl well, almost, but not quite! I'm here to tell you about our SHARE THE LOVE CELEBRATION in the Old Farmhouse Gathering group....but promise to come back soon and catch up with you all on other things.

Lots of wonderful handmade goodies for you to give to those special people you love, and maybe even a little something for yourself!

Warm Winter Wishes from the Farmhouse OFG

2011-09-19T10:21:00.000-05:00

The OFG team, (Old Farmhouse Gathering) is kicking off it's Warm Winter Wishes Celebration today! Wonderful things made by wonderful people!

If you swing by Etsy and put WWHOFG in the search box , you will see all the wonderful things made especially for this celebration. Bring something wonderful to your home for the season!

The Great State of Minnesota

2011-09-14T17:05:00.000-05:00

I got this cutie in an email today....I'm afraid that I cannot honor the original writer, but it's too cute not to share! If anyone does know the author, I'd be more than happy to share that knowledge with everyone :o)

Just in case ya didn't know...

Minnesota became the 32nd state on May 11, 1858 and was originally settled by a lost tribe of Norwegians seeking refuge from the searing heat of Wisconsin 's winters.

Minnesota gets it's name from the Sioux Indian word "mah-nee-soo-tah," meaning, "No, really... They eat fish soaked in lye."

The state song of Minnesota is "Someday the Vikings will... Aw, never mind."

The Mall of America in Bloomington , Minnesota covers 9.5 million square feet and has enough space to hold 185,000 idiot teenagers yapping away on cell phones.

Madison, Minnesota is known as "the lutefisk capital of the world." Avoid this city at all costs.

"The Mary Tyler Moore Show" was set in Minneapolis , Minnesota , and was Mary's first real acting job since leaving the "Dick van Dyke Show. The show about a single woman's struggle to find happiness in the big city was originally titled "Life Without Dick," but that was changed for some reason.

Downtown Minneapolis has an enclosed skyway system covering 52 blocks, allowing people to live, work, eat, and sleep without ever going outside. The only downside to this is that a Norwegian occasionally turns up missing.

Cartoonist Charles M. Shultz was born in Minneapolis , Minnesota and grew up in St. Paul. He was the only artist to accurately depict the perfectly circular heads of Minnesota natives.

The Hormel Company of Austin , Minnesota produces 6 million cans of Spam a year, even though no one actually eats it. Spam is a prized food in Japan & Hawaii--Spam sushi!!

Frank C. Mars, founder of the Mars Candy Co. was born in Newport, Minnesota . His 3 Musketeers candy bar originally contained three bars in one wrapper, each filled with a different flavor of nougat -chocolate, Spam and lutefisk.

Tonka trucks continue to be manufactured in Minnetonka, Minnesota, despite the thousands of GI Joe dolls killed by them annually in rollover accidents. No airbags, no seat belts. These things are deathtraps, I tell ya!

Author Laura Ingalls Wilder was raised at Walnut Grove, Minnesota, and was famous for writing the "Little House" series of books, as well as inventing the "Spam diet" which consists of looking at a plate of Spam until you lose your appetite. Much like the "lutefisk diet"

The snowmobile was invented in Roseau , Minnesota so as to allow families a means of attending 4th of July picnics

Minnesotans are almost indistinguishable from Wisconsinites. The only way to tell them apart is to ask if they voted for Mondale in '84.

Cold is a relative thing ya know....

At 65 degrees, Arizonans turn on the heat. People in Minnesota plant gardens.
At 60, Californians shiver uncontrollably. People in Minnesota sunbathe.
At 50, Italian & English cars won't start. People in Minnesota drive with the windows down..
At 40, Georgians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats. People in Minnesota throw on a flannel shirt.
At 35, New York landlords finally turn up the heat. People in Minnesota have the last cookout before it gets cold.
At 20, People in Miami all die. Minnesotans close their windows.
At 0, Californians fly away to Mexico . People in Minnesota get out their winter coats.
At 10 below zero, Hollywood disintegrates. The Girl Scouts in Minnesota are selling cookies door to door.
At 20 below, Washington DC runs out of hot air. (Ya think? Nah.). People in Minnesota let their dogs sleep indoors.
At 30 below, Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. Minnesotans get upset because they can't start the snowmobile.
At 40 below, ALL atomic motion stops. People in Minnesota start saying..."Cold enough for ya, eh?"
At 50 below, hell freezes over. Minnesota public schools will open 2 hours late.

Studio: Inspiration?

2011-09-03T12:59:00.002-05:00

Getting ready to take some product shots, and had to stop and smile at my little studio friends!! Aren't they sweet? The darling little black cat on the end is my Ralphy...a gift from the talented Theresia of StrawberriesandCream on Etsy.

Hello! This is a bit of a wider shot of what I look at when I sit on the craft side of my studio (the other side is for sewing, but it's so piled up with STUFF right now that I can't even look at it! lol) I'm always inspired by all the little goodies in those drawers and containers.

~~ Imagine ~~

Lately I've been inspired by some wonderful old magazines and catalogs that I found while cleaning my studio (well, some might call it cleaning, or attempting to clean ...we'll just leave it at that! )! I usually start cleaning and then find something cool and have to stop and create something with it! You know, strike while the iron is HOT! (it's my excuse and I'm sticking with it). Like this great line drawing of two people dancing that I found in an old 1914 issue of Modern Priscilla magazine and this scalloped chipboard. Pretty cute, don't you think?

1914 Pattern for Girl's Frocks

AND these wonderful pattern illustrations were also found in that same magazine!! OH MY GOSH I love these! I mounted this to a black matboard and added some pretty punched sheet music borders.

Well, I guess I had better go and finish "cleaning". *big silly grin*
Have fun with your crafting....be inspired ♥♥♥

Tipsy Tuesday

2011-08-09T06:44:00.000-05:00

I had a request to share my Freezer Paper tips again...so here ya go!

Today I want to talk to you about one of my favorite craft room friends...freezer paper--which I will refer to as FP in this post (just cuz' I'm lazy!).

I use it A LOT in my crafting adventures and wanted to make sure that you all were aware of it's many charms!

What is it? It's a nice weight white paper that is coated with a thin layer of plastic on one side. Not to be confused with wax paper, which has wax on both sides. Sometimes it's a bit hard to find...but just go to your plastic wrap/tinfoil section and check the very bottom shelf and the uppermost top shelf...that's where I usually find it.

What is nice about the plastic side is that you can iron it onto many surfaces, and it just peels right off, slick as can be, when you are done using it! Another great thing is that it can be usually be used several times before the plastic wears off--so it's economical too!

Here are a few ways I use it in my everyday crafting:

1) Making templates

Just draw your pattern on the paper side of your FP (which you have traced or copied from another source..see tip #6) and iron it onto a piece of medium weight cardboard (cereal boxes work great for this)--cut out, and there you have a wonderful, reuseable template. Easy as pie.

You can also cut your freezer paper into regular sheet paper size and run it through your printer (making sure the printing is going to the paper side, not the shiny side) and this will enable you to get patterns from online into your hot little hands. It just saves a lot of tracing and re-drawing and gluing of patterns.

I haven't tried this yet, but you can also iron the FP to a piece of fabric that is cut into paper size and run it through the printer to print on fabric. I would think you would have to iron very carefully (no air bubbles) and make sure you don't have any loose threads.

2) Cutting things from FELT!

I think we all know how difficult it is to cut things from felt...trying to mark the patterns without distortion and even then to have to try and remove the markings when we are done cutting them out--this is perfect for this! Just draw all your patterns to the paper side of the FP and iron it onto your felt--cut out --and peel off the paper! You are left with perfect little pieces..Yeah!

Of course this would work well with fabric too--if you don't mind having raw edges on your project or if you will be satin stitching the edges...but this leads me to my next tip......

3) Making fabric appliques

Make FP pattern piece and iron it onto your applique fabric, cut out ***making sure to add a seam allowance all around for turning under***. Make little snips all around the seam allowance area of the applique (for turning curves and valleys) and turn your seam allowance to the back. I like to spray on some heavy starch before beginning this, as it helps to hold the fold nice and firm. When you are done turning under your seam allowance, just peel off your paper and you are ready to stitch your applique to your project!!

4) Freezer Paper Stencils
So, what if you don't want an applique, but want to paint or ink your design onto say, a t-shirt for example?? Well, FP works wonderfully for that too! Just trace your stencil onto the FP and cut out ---

AND here's a bonus tip for ya! I like to use an exacto knife to do this for smoother cutting lines, as working on interior cuts with scissors is a bit tricky, and this little gadget from Fiskars is the BOMB! It fits over your finger and you can really have great control over your cutting--Love it!
Then you just take your FP stencil and iron it onto your t-shirt or fabric or whatever and go ahead and apply your paint or ink--remove the paper and WaHLaH! Cute.

5) Stitching lines
I can't tell you how many little wallets I made with crooked flaps before I figured this one out! Make a template from FP of your projects stitching line and iron it onto your project--then just stitch along the line for perfect seams allowances! This is a great way to stitch smaller items and things that have to be perfectly even. And, like I said before, you can re-use these FP templates several times before they won't iron on any more--so this is actually a pretty economical material in the long run.

6) Tracing patterns!

This one is worth it's weight in gold. Really! Any pattern you trace can then be ironed onto your project. No more ruined fabric from mis-marking! You can also embroider or machine stitch right through the paper and remove it after you are done (Yeah, another bonus tip--dampen the paper with a damp washcloth before trying to remove it and it won't pull your stitches out of place!)

Oh, and how do you like my little light box?? I looked at so many expensive light boxes in the art stores and couldn't afford one. One day, while Christmas shopping for the kids, I ran across this Nickelodean one in the children's art section for a whopping $10! LOL And it works like a charm!

OK--that's it for today. I hope I was helpful to you and that you will give the freezer paper a shot, it's really a great help.

I would love to hear any helpful hints or tips you might have too. If you blog them or leave them here in a comment, I will share them next Tuesday.

Have a great day!

People say the nicest things.....

2011-07-27T08:15:00.000-05:00

Julie of OakLeaf Hollow Primitives, the sweet gal who won my little birdy magnet giveaway, did up the nicest blogpost about her prize!! Stop by her blog and see! Then, make sure you click on over to her Etsy shop--she is a VERY talented painter and makes the cutest prim/country little painted items!! She also has a very sweet VINTAGE shop...you may want to check that out as well, some really cute things in there!!

Thanks again, Julie, for that wonderful write--up...you really made my day! ♥♥♥

Share the Love Tuesday Feature

2011-07-26T10:51:00.001-05:00

Every Tuesday the On Fire for Handmade group features a fabulous artist on a little round of blogs--isn't that wonderful?! This week features Seb Surer--absolutely gorgeous, you're gonna love it!

This weeks' Featured Artisan is Seb - Knit and Crochet Touches by Seb!

Beautiful and Delicate fashions for you! A Must have for every ladies closet!

You can find SebSurer on:

Are you On Fire for Handmade?
http://www.onfireforhandmade.com

July goes out with a Cottage Bang!

2011-07-25T19:40:00.000-05:00

Hi Friends! Can't believe that July is almost over! The Etsy Cottage Style group is having a Cottage Colors party and they asked us to share our Red, White, and Blue things as a good-bye to July!!

Sounded like fun to me....so .... Here are some of mine:

This is a little pincushion I made using a sweet old silver sugar pot.

Pretty Floral Quilted Table runner made with a vintage hanky, some real vintage feedsack, some repro vintage fabrics and some actual vintage fabrics...and, of course, some rick rack!!

This a is a pretty birds bagkeeper (for keeping those plastic grocery bags) made from a really wonderful vintage linen calendar. It was never used or washed so the colors are scrumptious!

This little guy I call Retro Baby Blue. He is a small little guy in size, but big in personality!!

Sometimes the blues at the cottage tend to lean a little to the aqua side!! Here's a sweet little drawstring bag with a cute bird and some....wait for it.....RICK RACK!

Well, that's enough! Thanks for looking, stop by my shop and see what's "new" and what's "old" and what's "new from old"!

OH!! and I have some exciting news, I'm actually in the process of cleaning my studio (someone get the smelling salts!) lol and I've opened a new shop on Etsy to sell off some of the goodies I'm running across! They are Extra and they are Good-they're ExtraGoods!

Who Gets the Birdy??

2011-07-15T19:25:00.000-05:00

Well, drumroll please! Time to draw for the little magnet--I know it's not a big deal, but they look cute on your fridge and they're made with love ♥♥♥

<p>&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; The numbers generated by this widget come from RANDOM.ORG's true random number generator.&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; </p>

The randomizer has picked #5 -- wait here a minute while I go and see who that is!

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

Oakleaf Hollow Primitives said...

They are ALL lovely, Karen! If I must pick one, it'd be the sweet little aqua one in the middle. Your birdies are awesome!
Thanks!
~julie~

Congrats to you Julie!! I'll send along that little aqua one in the middle, hope it makes you smile!

Thanks to all who played along, it's always such fun to have these little drawings. Just for you special friends, I am offering a coupon for FREE SHIPPING in my shop---just use the coupon code THANKSABUNCH at checkout and it will magically erase the shipping costs for you! Hugs and smoooshes!

A Giveaway! Which Do You Like?

2011-06-29T11:37:00.004-05:00

Which Do You Like?, a photo by misseskwittys on Flickr.

I did up a series of these little original art collage magnets and thought it would be fun to give one away---it's been a while since I had a giveaway and I always enjoy them so much!

All you have to do is tell me which of these is your favorite and I'll throw your name in the hat!

I'll pick a name on July 15th, in the evening some time, and the winner will get a magnet. If I still have the one you pick, I'll send that one, if not, it will have to be a different one.

These are for sale in my shop, so if you see one you just have to have, well--you know what to do! lol

Good luck!!

Busy Times in Life

2011-06-12T08:51:00.001-05:00

I've decided to stop apologizing every time I finally get around to posting here! LOL (sorry) Life is busy---it's that way for most everyone.

We have another high school graduate in our family, Linds graduated and we are in the process of trying to get the house and yard straightened up for the "big Grad party"! OMGosh, I have totally let things slide while dealing with my health junk over the last couple years and this is no small feat.

My darling sis-in-law's--Anita and Micki--have come to my rescue and are giving my yard a makeover. I cannot believe the magic they are working out there. I'm so grateful!!! I'll share pictures once they are finished.

Joe started college at the beginning of June. The college he is going to is only a couple miles away from our home, so we still have him here (I'm so glad!).

I haven't done a whole lot of crafting lately, but have managed to make a few cute things!

This is a pretty collaged key safe---there are 10 hooks inside for keeping all those extra keys organized.

And this is just a sweet little greeting card.

Totally annoying how the picture management on these blogs are now---what a pain in the rump! Is there a trick to this that I haven't figured out yet? It's really taking all the fun out of blogging.

Summer Cottage Garden

2011-06-02T12:44:00.002-05:00

Got some pretty new papers in beautiful summery cottage garden prints....Yummy! I decided to dress up this mail rack that I've had sitting around here for a long time (yes, still in the box!). I think it went from boring plain wood to cottage home decor FABULOUS!

Had to make some little birds from the extra paper---sweet !! I'm pretty certain these would bring a smile!

The Look of Love

2011-04-29T15:06:00.002-05:00

I have a dear online friend who is an angel for cats who are down on their luck.

the look of love, a photo by beeblecat - (working) on Flickr.

This photo sure does speak a thousand words!! Here's the caption from this sweet picture that I "borrowed" from Beeblecat's Flickr stream (with her permission of course)featuring a little kitten and Beeblecat's hubby:

"This meezer kitten showed up in our driveway Sat. She was very hard to catch but I finally caught her by the tail. After bandaging my finger and cleaning up the blood (mine), I went next door to see if she might belong to the neighbors. They told me they'd seen her hanging around for couple of days but couldn't catch her. Jim fixed her up with a cardboard box in one of our mobile cages and she hid for the better part of the day. Finally after a lot of coaxing she began to purr loudly and came out of the box. She was covered with fleas and her little ear had tiny seed ticks all over it. She's very sweet and loves to play.
We really need to find her a home. We have too many cats and can't afford a kitten."

*****I'd just like to add that, judging from the rest of her Flickr stream, they did in fact keep her, named her Olivia, and are loving her up!! Lucky kitty!*******

I have a dear online friend who is an angel for cats who are down on their luck. Her online name is Beeblecat, and she and her husband run a cat sanctuary. They could use some help with funding, as expenses come from their own pockets, so Beeblecat sells little ACEOs and magnets in her Etsy shop to help cover costs. They are so cute and really reasonably priced, and for such a good cause.

Little Olivia
All I'm asking is that you to stop by her shop and see if any of her cute pictures melt your heart like they did mine. It really revives your faith in human beings when you know some who are so self-less and do such wonderful things. God bless you guys!!

Sissy

FABULOUS Giveaway!

2011-04-28T07:24:00.000-05:00

The Old Farmhouse Gathering team is having an unbelievable giveaway---you MUST check out the Slideshow--one winner will get ALL of the prizes shown!! Wow. Just Wow.

RUN---don't walk (lol) over to the OFG Blog and get your name in the hat!!

....and the Winner Is.....

2011-03-31T20:54:00.002-05:00

Time to announce the winner of my drawing for the Pretty Points bag.....

***drumroll please***

We had 38 entries, but the Sweet Junie Moon just wanted to celebrate my hair, and not be included in the drawing. The lucky number is # 14 ...which means..... Mimi's darlins is the winner!!

"mimi'sdarlins said...
Oh, this little bag is just so sweet, you always make the most charming things....and it looks like it belongs in my sewing room! These are the kinds of things I love to collect.
I'm so happy that you're getting your eyebrows and lashes back... and your beautiful hair.
You can reach me by Flickr mail, of course :-)"

So, I'm off to Flickr to let her know!

Many thanks to all who entered and those who left their sweet, funny, encouraging messages, I appreciate them all!!

Oh, p.s. I made up an extra bag that is listed in my shop, in case you really wanted one! :o)

Go Fly A Kite!

2011-03-27T16:34:00.002-05:00

Found these fellas sitting down on my workbench this morning just waiting for me to find them something to do!!......

What??, a photo by misseskwittys on Flickr.

I told them to Go Fly a Kite!!

Eyes on You

2011-03-18T08:20:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been working on your crafts and then suddenly felt like someone was looking at you??

Lol. A little fun down in the studio!

Pretty Points Bag Giveaway Reminder

2011-03-17T10:00:00.002-05:00

Pretty Points Bag a photo by misseskwittys on Flickr.

Just a reminder that the GIVEAWAY for this bag is still going on....sign up on the posting HERE.

Pretty Prims from the SECOFG

2011-03-13T22:42:00.000-05:00

In honor of the Spring/Easter Celebration of the Old Farmhouse Gathering (SECOFG) I've done up a couple of wonderful treasuries over on Etsy. Here is my latest one featuring Pretty Prims for Spring.

'Pretty Prims for Spring' by misseskwittys

Fresh and pretty prims -- by the creative hands and hearts of the OFG team.

Blackened Beeswax B... TeresasPrimTre... $21.95	Bloom Where You are... PunkinSeedProd... $30.00	Hand Stitched Easte... valleyprimitiv... $9.50
Spring Farmhouse Ea... SweetLibertyPr... $8.00	Primitive Country R... primitiveseaso... $12.00	Lil' Bunny YorkiesPrimiti... $5.00
Hand Stitched "... harvestmoonpri... $24.95	Felt Spring Embroid... primitiveseaso... $4.50	Primitive Country E... KeepsakeKorner $24.95
Primitive Grungy Pa... VintageKeepsak... $25.00	Girly Floral Door H... primitiveseaso... $3.00	Primitive Easter St... wvluckygirl $13.49
Handcrafted Sign VI... oldecountrycup... $21.00	Handpainted Terra C... oldecountrycup... $10.00	Bird's Nest, Fr... HandmadeByBett... $17.50
HerMan anD PeTuNia ... catnapinnprimi... $24.95

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com A/B image testing.

Clicking the pictures will take you there!

Don't forget to scroll down to my Giveaway post (written on March 8th) and get in the drawing for a pretty handmade bag!!

Easter is Coming!

2011-03-11T09:20:00.000-06:00

Hello friends :o) I'm excited to share with you today some news from one of the wonderful Etsy street teams I'm involved in! It's called Old Farmhouse Gathering. The talented ladies in this group specialize in the warm and wonderful styles of primitive, country, cottage, and shabby chic. Such a varied assortment of artists: doll makers, painters, tole worker, stitchers, mixed media, you name...we got it!

WELL, the OFG is having a Spring/Easter Celebration!! All of us have made fresh items especially for this celebration and they started listing them today. It will run from March 11th to March 25.

If you go to Etsy and type SECOFG in the search bar, you can see what we've all come up with! You're gonna be happy you did :oD

Here are some of the items I have listed for the celebration!

This is Polly and her little Peeps in a Pink Pot. Yeah, having a little fun with the "P's"! lol

I had this fabulous Easter image and decided to collage it onto a wooden plaque. The image looks German to me, so I tore bits from a very old German hymnal and decoupaged them around the image and the edges of the plaque for a free-hand frame of sorts. I added a fan-fold badge up top with some grungy rick rack and lace and a pretty old rhinestone button.

I made a new Birds on a String Banner with some beautiful Botanical cardstock--one even has a pretty butterfly! These birds are a bit larger than the gift tag ones.

This is BlueBell Bunny--love her colors!! She is just a little stuffy that I made from one of my original designs--and I've added a ribbon to her for hanging. She likes to hang around for Easter! :oD

Last, but not least, is a set of pretty lilac colored glittery dot gift tags. The soft green wings say Happy Easter! How cute to hang on an Easter basket or gift!

I hope you will stop by Etsy and see all the other wonderful things the OFG is doing. Hugs!!

Pretty Points Bag Giveaway!!

2011-03-08T08:33:00.003-06:00

Pretty Points Bag a photo by misseskwittys on Flickr.

In honor (and excitement) of my eyebrows and eyelashes growing back in, I've decided it's high time to do another blog giveaway!! Yippee!

It's a real treat to see those brown hairs popping up, it's really not that attractive being bald but you can wear a pretty hat--- but when the brows and lashes go there isn't any hiding THAT...ugh! LOL, Hello Uncle Fester!

So...in honor of my pretty new hairs coming in, I've made a pretty new bag!

I salvaged the lovely embroidered points from an old hand-stitched tablecloth that had seen better days.. Paired it up with a sweet floral print for some elegant and cottage-style drawstring bags. Isn't it great when you can make something new from something that may have been thrown away?!

I like to keep it simple...so all you have to do to enter is leave a comment here,

and if your name doesn't link to your blog, I'm going to have to have some way to get ahold of you if you win.

I'll hold the drawing on March 31st.

Good luck and my sincere thanks to all who stop by and visit here, I love reading your comments and visiting your blogs ♥♥♥

Surprise from Mom

2011-03-02T08:26:00.000-06:00

My sweet Mom passed away back in 2004 (and I miss her so much!) but the other day I got a surprise from her! How cool is that?

She left me a couple of boxes of dishes, I was told that they were the dishes she and my Dad got as wedding gifts and she had saved them for me all these years. My step-dad brought them over after she passed away. I never opened them up. I just had a funny feeling they weren't the right dishes and knew it would really bum me out if I found out I was right.

Well, the other day Mark broke our platter and had the idea that he would check in those boxes to see if there was a platter in there. Sadly, I was right. They weren't the old dishes, but the everyday ones they used in their home. It's a funny thing, but I was so touched by those. She was a fabulous cook and so much of her life was lived in her kitchen--and it brought back memories of all the fun and wonderful meals we had with them when we would go for visits.

While digging around looking for a platter, Mark stuck his hand all the way down to the bottom of the box and said "what the heck?" and pulled out a fistful of crochet hooks! Then he stuck his hand in again and pulled out some more! ...and again! ....and again!! LOL totally cracked me up. If my Mom wasn't cooking something, there was a good chance she was crocheting something! AND she was a crafty-hoarder (it's where I get it! lol). Finding all those hooks really took the sting away from the fact that I don't, after all, have those old dishes and probably won't ever know what happened to them. Thanks for the smile Mom..and the memories♥♥♥ You always could make me laugh!

I was inspired to make up a couple of crochet hook rolls for my Etsy shop, and I've included 7 of Mom's hooks in each one (of course I've saved a couple sets for myself!). What the heck, she would be tickled pink that I made them a roll to go in and that I passed them along!

Two Sweeties

2011-02-28T08:37:00.001-06:00

Two Sweeties
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys

Got a picture of two of my sweeties in the kitchen the other day---aren't they cute?!!

New Papers -- Gorgeous Florals!

2011-01-27T11:49:00.000-06:00

I just got the prettiest new papers!! The most lush and colorful florals you can imagine...such a joy to work with in this dreary January weather.

Check your face...are you smiling?? :o)

(this is my favorite...the colors are all kinda blended together and there is a bunch of glitter involved!!)

There now....doesn't that feel good!!

Valentines!

2011-01-26T07:20:00.000-06:00

Valentines Day! I've got a lot of cute ideas in my shop for giving to your Sweeties---my favorite are these little mini banner cards. I started with a sweet little (they are 3" sq.) handmade envelope with an intriquing little ring on a string sticking out of it......

Open the envelope and slowly pull the ring on the string.......

and a sweet message appears! A little keepsake for your sweety that they can hang anywhere as a little reminder of how you feel about them!!

I've done these up in a few different designs....something for everyone!

AND...of course, there are some pretty new bird tags in Valentine theme to dress up your packages. Wrap a colorful bit of paper around a box of chocolate...tie on a big pretty ribbon and add a cheerful tag--happy gift!!

Last, but not least for today...I had to show you Dotty...she turned out so sweet and so warm, don't you think??

Health update: I am right now on the tail end of recovering from the last bout of chemo, it's been a pretty rough series, but the doc is giving me a break after this!! Yeah! I am looking forward to it and getting my strength back (and maybe some hair, lol...I'm as bald as an eagle and lost all my eyelashes and eyebrows too, so I"m looking pretty scary! ) Keep on praying for me, my friends....God is my Strength and you are my warriors! ♥♥♥

New Toy...New Ornaments

2010-12-07T11:24:00.002-06:00

I splurged and bought myself one of Martha Stewart's new score boards...and have been happily testing it out! It's pretty fun and I'm enjoying a new craft.

I've tried to make these sort of ornaments before, but was never that successful at it....found the cardstock to difficult to manipulate and time-consuming to score at each crease--too much work for a not-so-good outcome. Working with thinner paper turned out to tear a lot and make a not-so-sturdy end product. Like Goldilocks....these turned out "just right"!

I have made them in 3 colors so far....Pink Peace

Green Holly

Rustic Red

They measure about 5" across--so they would work nicely on the tree or also hanging on a mantle or doorway!

Available to ship immediately--from my Etsy shop!

Shipping Specials in my Shops!

2010-12-01T07:09:00.002-06:00

I don't usually run specials in my shops. I think my prices are very reasonable for the time I put into each item and I don't EVER overcharge for shipping....BUT, in the spirit of the Christmas season I am feeling the LOVE this year!!

I've decided that you, my bloggy friends and lovely customers, might just like to save a couple bucks when ordering your goodies from either my Etsy shop or my Artfire shop---sound good?? Basically, I'm putting all my gift tags, bookmarks, cards, and Christmas goodies in the special.

Details for Etsy Shop:

Purchase any 2 items or more from my "Tags, Bookmarks, Cards" Section http://www.etsy.com/shop/misseskwittys?section_id=5006269

and/or my "Seasonal and Stuffies" Section
http://www.etsy.com/shop/misseskwittys?section_id=5006275

and when I receive your order and payment, I will refund the shipping fees back into your Paypal account before mailing out your purchase (usually same day or right away the following morning).

Sorry, but this special only applies to US/CANADIAN shipping.

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to shoot me a convo (contact link under my avatar) or use this link

http://www.etsy.com/convo_new.php?to_username=misseskwittys

Details for my ARTFIRE shop:

Spend $10.00 or more on anything in the shop and get Free Shipping in the US/CANADA. Use the coupon code KWITTYCOUPON when making your payment. Easy as Pie! This special is running for one week: Dec. 1 - Dec. 8.

My New Hair!!

2010-11-29T20:14:00.001-06:00

Hello Friends :o) I hope you all had a beautiful Thanksgiving. Ours was very nice. Mark made his usual juicy and delish turkeybird and stuffing and all the fixings--mmmmmmmm! I was happy to be feeling good pretty much all week and was able to stuff myself pretty full, lol.

(Cancer is Blechy)

I'm on a new chemo now, and my hair fell out again! Dang it! Just in time for winter again. but at least you don't look out of place wearing hats in the winter, right?

BUT---my "hair" looks mahvelous, thanks to LoisStifel (aka Foxy G) who sent me this this fab hat that her Dear Mother knit. Isn't it fun...when I get bummed about being bald, I can just put this on and SMILE!

By the way---Lois herself makes some fantastic hand-knits too---some of the very best I've seen--stop by her shop for some really great , quality gift ideas FoxyGKnits

Please don't look to closely at these pics--not only has my hair fallen out, so has most of my eyelashes and eyebrows, so I can't wear any makeup--hence the zombieish appearance! LOL.

This chemo has been pretty rough, but I met with the Doc today and we are going to try a few new things to see if we can't make things a little easier to bear this time. In the spirit of Thanksgiving.... I am thankful to have God, Family, Friends, a good Doc and Nurses, and Crafting to keep me smiling and positive through this.Thanks to you for the love and prayers and support---I appreciate it more than you could possibly know! ♥♥♥

A Couple Old Favorite Recipes to Share

2010-11-22T09:29:00.004-06:00

First of all---the lovely and sweet SouthernLady is sponsoring a Marketplace Monday--start your Christmas shopping now!! There are some really great things for those who love the cottage style!! Stop by :o)

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I often get asked for my Sloppy Joes for a Crowd recipe...and I figure that, with all the office/friend/family parties that are coming up, these make a really good dish to bring to a pot luck .

Sloppy Joes for a Crowd
5 lbs. hamburger
1 med. onion- chopped
Brown hamburger and onion. Drain off fat and put in crock pot.

Add in:
2 cans Chicken Gumbo soup
2 cans Tomato soup
1 sm. can Tomato Sauce
2 T. white vinegar
1/4 c. Ketchup
1 T. yellow mustard
3 T. brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook until heated through, in the crock pot. It's even better if prepared the day before.

(Here's a new little Notepad-n-Pockets wallet that I just listed. These would make great little co-worker/teacher/pal gifts!) Aren't those Scotty dogs the CUTEST?!)

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And for Dessert--an ice cream bucket of Dirt Cake. I like to bring this in an ice cream bucket, that way I don't have to worry about my dish!

Dirt Cake for a Crowd

1 pkg. Oreo cookies--crushed ( I put them in a big ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to crush them)

2- 8 0z. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1 c. powdered sugar
18 oz. Cool Whip (1 lg container + 1/2 small one)
3 boxes of French Vanilla instant pudding mix
3 3/4 c. cold milk

2 t. vanilla

1) In a large bowl: Cream together butter and cream cheese. Blend in powdered sugar. Fold in Cool Whip.

2) Make the 3 packs of pudding with only the 3 3/4 c. milk. Fold the pudding into the cream cheese mixture.

3) Layer the pudding mixture and the cookies in an ice cream bucket (or nice glass bowl if you're feeling fancy!)

I usually try and do about 4 or 5 layers, that gives you a good pudding/cookie ratio per scoop!~

And here's a pretty tag that I just finished this moring--it's listed in my Etsy shop!

Christmas Spirit

2010-11-19T08:55:00.000-06:00

So...anyone getting into the Christmas spirit?? It's finally hit me...kinda slow in coming this year, but I've been having a good time crafting some new goodies :o)

Wanna SEE?

Just this morning I listed this new item---it's a pouch with pockets for holding a small notepad, a pen, and another little pocket for maybe coupons or receipts or a small scissor? Thought these would be great for teacher gifts or stocking stuffers (or just one for yourself to keep in your purse!)

I've also been working on some 2011 Agenda/Planners -- here is one of them. So far I've only done 2 different styles, but am working on more. If you have a color combo that you love, let me know--I'm always up for suggestions, especially from you creative/talented readers!

Then a little something fun for Christmas---a sweet little red wool felt birdie (well, you KNEW I would make some stuff with birds, right?! LOL)

AND a Snowbird too! I really like the royal blue with the white--what a striking color combo!

I guess that's good for now. I'm thinking about doing a drawing very soon---it's been a while and I really enjoy doing them and giving away a nice little goody to my lovely blog friends. ♥♥♥

Taste Of Home Christmas 2010

2010-10-26T08:43:00.001-05:00

Hey...guess who has a project in the new 2010 Taste of Home Christmas book??

Hey....I said GUESS....don't just go ahead and look before you make your guess...sheesh, how hard is it to play along?? huh?

*wink*

Just got my copy--lots of yummy sounding recipes --of course! But then there are also lots of cute decorating ideas and crafty projects too.

Here's a shot of the handmade reindeer project that I submitted:

It's always fun to see your stuff in print!

Pumpkin Soap Giveaway via the EtsyTwitter Blog

2010-10-21T11:05:00.000-05:00

AquarianBath, one of my fellow EtsyTwitter team members, is giving away some of her yummy-sounding Pumpkin Soap (all natural!)

Stop by the BLOG and it will tell you all about it and how to enter!! Good LUCK!

The Girls

2010-10-20T16:30:00.003-05:00

The Girls
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys

Just had to share---My girls decided to share Rosie's basket! Aren't they just as cute as can be?! lol

I love how Rosie has her arm around Daisy.

Sunday Sunday

2010-10-17T17:13:00.000-05:00

Oh my...went to the church annual Beef Dinner this afternoon....I am stuffed! LOL I have to say, they sure do it up good! I think it's gonna be Cheerios for supper tonight, there's no room for anything bigger :o)

Been trying to work on some new Christmas items this week, but am falling behind in the picture taking department. I'll have to see if I can get to it tomorrow. I did some little red and green mice, but sold them all already and ran out of red paper. I substituted the red paper for a cute white with red polka dots, but don't have the pictures taken yet! Arghh! I even took a trip to Michael's for red paper and couldn't find anything appropriate, can you believe that?

*********************************************************************

AND now, as promised...to share with you another one of my Etsy Teams---the EtsyTwitter team!! A talented group with varied styles who have banded together to help each other with promotion via Twitter. I was really struck by the plethora of talented needleworkers (knitting and crochet) that this group has! If you are looking for a unique and quality gift for yourself or someone else--this is a great place to start!

'Fun With Color' by misseskwittys

A little colorful fun with the EtsyTwitter Team!

Colorful Rainbow Fe... whimsyfish $30.00	Hand-crochet vitami... Ayca $34.00
LOVE pink - Scrabbl... prettywhimsica... $5.95	Assorted Colors Gla... lindab142 $2.55
Double Strand White... MindyG $62.00	Deep Grape Floral N... Butterflyalley $22.50
Sweet Dreams Fuzzy ... BeautifulPhoto... $38.00	Sea Jewels -- Sea G... EndlessSunner $14.00
Pastel Ruffle Scarf... FoxyGknits $45.00	Making Memories - D... mysassyglass $28.00
Flower soap green b... SewDanish $17.00	Pixie's Birthda... FromNancysHear... $15.00
Be My Love - Croche... knittingguru $25.00	Handmade Greeting C... caelum $6.00
Dragonfly Pottery S... MommaGoddess $30.00	Just Us Girls - Art... brefour $35.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Etsy Teams

2010-10-11T07:50:00.003-05:00

I belong to a few different Etsy teams, such a good way to meet crafty people that you have things in common with, make new friends, and to network with. Each team has it's good points and I am very happy with each and every one of them and proud to be a member of the teams. I'm going to share 2 of the teams with you today...I'll write up the other ones at a later date! I'm starting with these because I just happened to have made treasuries featuring these 2 recently! lol The teams are:

♥♥♥ Etsy Cottage Style -- which you know I love--all the shabby, colorful, sweet, pink, etc.....be still my heart! These are the best cottage style artists on Etsy and if you love that style, you should go to Etsy and search CSSTeam and see what they have to offer! Here's a treasury that I made with items from the CSSTeam

'Romantic Cottage Wedding' by misseskwittys

Soft and romantic with cottage charm....sigh, what a lovely wedding!

Romantic Snow White tiedupmemories $48.00	Pink Rose Tin Heart... BailiwickDesig... $6.50	Rolled Fabric Flowe... mybrokenart $4.50
Muslin bag french c... starrydeborah $5.00	BUTTERFLY DIGITAL ... TheDecoratedHo... $6.99	Cake plate pedestal... thecottagemark... $25.00
Vintage Style Spun ... VintagebyCryst... $65.00	Crochet Flowers - C... AnnieDesign $5.50	French script pillo... TheShabbyChicC... $26.00
Sweet and Simple Nu... JeanKnee $8.00	the long journey . ... katescottage2 $16.00	FOUND AND LOST,vint... whybecause $10.50
Pink French Wire Ed... littlethings1 $18.00	Small Rosette Pin i... ShopFullCircle $12.00	Love Gift Tags - Se... taniaisidora $

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♥♥♥ Old Farmhouse Gathering -- though this group is mostly prim and country (very well done prim, I might add!), they are the sweetest ladies and are so loving a supportive and really do work hard at promoting each other wherever they can! Type OFG team into Etsy search and see what wonderful things they make! I just recently did a treasury featuring items from OFG, see for yourself what beautiful work these ladies do!

'Pretty Prim' by misseskwittys

A collection of pretty and gentle prims...so sweet! Featuring items from the OFG team on Etsy.

Rustic and Rusty St... SnowmanCollect... $27.00	Embroidered White F... primitiveseaso... $4.50	Primitive Vintage F... rockriverstitc... $14.00
Bracelet Shabby Chi... ForElephant $18.00	Crocheted Dishcloth... oldecountrycup... $12.00	Prim Vanilla Spice ... SugarMtnMercan... $5.00
La Toilette Shabby ... mycountrycotta... $21.95	Primitve Cloth Doll... oldworldprimit... $120.00	Rolling Pin Cubby R... firecrackerkid $
PRIM PILLOW (OFG Te... primcountrycre... $12.00	PRIM SUGARCONE FLIC... harvestmoonpri... $7.95	Primitive Rag Stuff... Rabbithollowpr... $34.95
Primitive Rocking H... rockriverstitc... $7.50	CLEANSE ME --- 8 X ... VintageVerses $5.00	Ernestine's har... Baggaraggs $29.99

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Hello Friends

2010-10-07T07:23:00.001-05:00

I've had such an outpouring of prayers,love, and care from my blog friends--for which I am so very grateful and humbled!!!! Thanks so very much--I love you gals!!

I feel pretty bad that I haven't kept in better touch. The thing is that when you get sick with something like cancer, sadly, it has a way of pretty much taking over your life. I just didn't feel like having blog posts that are full of my treatments and being sick and tired, and so forth, but really didn't have much else going on to talk about. After radiation, I ended up with a weird head thing and it put me out of commission for almost 2 months! BUT--I have been feeling better and have been able to get back to my studio a bit lately---which makes me happy!

I recently finished up an order for 200 of my little birds for a wedding out in WA state, they are using them as placecards at the reception--isn't that a cute idea?!! Let me tell you, though, all my birds are cut by hand, so cutting out 200 birds and 200 little wings was quite an undertaking! They turned out wonderful and the bride was tickled pink with them!

I found a really pretty and colorful little yellow tea towel with lovely hand embroidered pink flowers (the embroidery is exquisite!) and ended up using it to add a splash of color to a new cover for a composition notebook...I think it turned out gorgeous! What a great journal for gardening or for keeping all your Etsy info or a project idea book!

I've also made one with these fun florals and dots. Sadly, there is an "OOPSIE" in the dots fabric, so I ended up deciding to lower the price by $10 and list it anyways! The cover is fully functional, so if you don't mind a little flaw, here's a good deal for ya!!

Sending out congrats to our friend Ginny from iSew.blogspot.com . Her and hubby have a brand new little girl!! Yeah!

Well, that's it for now. I'll try and do better with my blogging -- I miss you guys!! ♥♥♥

Where's Waldo??

2010-06-23T12:44:00.001-05:00

I was sitting here scanning some old photos into my computer (compliments of my SIL Mary Ann) and ran across this old birthday party photo and it is just cracking me up!! I want you to look closely at this photo and see if you can spot my son.

Helpful Hint: He is the happiest little boy in the world!! ROFL!

Happy Anniversary Baby ♥

2010-06-14T07:30:00.002-05:00

Yup---19 years ago today my sweetheart and I tied the knot! I feel very blessed to have such a friend and companion to share my life with all these years. This is especially true considering what we have gone through over the last 6 months, with the cancer and treatments. Mark has been my rock and a true and loving helpmate, and I don't think I could have gotten through all of this without him. He is a true blessing and I thank God for him every day.

How about if I tell you 10 facts that you might not know about my hubby and I?? 1...We were set up by a mutual friend. A friend that I worked with at the nursing home kept on bugging me to call this "guy who is PERFECT for you!" I never was the kind of gal who called guys in the first place so it took a long time (around 6 months!) for me to finally tell her that I would call him if she would just shut up!

2...I had never dated much---I married my high school sweetheart the first time around and had only been divorced for about a year when all this started. I really didn't even care to have a relationship with anyone. I was enjoying going out on occasional dates and having time to myself! Mark was a bachelor and hadn't been married before. 3...The guy my friend wanted me to call was named Mark---and there were 2 other men who I was dating occasionally, at the time...both named Mark. LOL At least I didn't have to worry about calling them the wrong names!

4...I totally missed our first date!! LOL As I was getting ready to leave, some people I knew came knocking on my door. By the time I got them to leave and got to the place we were supposed to meet, Mark was walking out the back door as I was walking in the front one! 5...I went to a local bar one night, to meet up with some friends, and ended up meeting this handsome and sweet guy--we really hit it off right away! We spent most of the evening talking and shooting pool and dancing to the great blues band that was there (both die hard blues fans!). Come to find out....guess who it was?? Yup! LOL Want to know how I found out it was him?? When we had arranged our first date (the one I missed), he had told me to look for his bright green coat (the one that I had seen going out the back door !!) Soooo.....at one point in the evening he went to grab a pack of smokes out of his coat that was hanging on a chair over in the corner....tah dah! Yup...that crazy bright green coat!! I just couldn't believe it! 6...We seem to have a weird psychic connection--even from the beginning! Seriously, the first night I met him, we were talking about families (Mark comes from a large family) and I asked him to guess how many kids my Grandparents had had....(my Dad comes from a LARGE family!) and Mark looked at me for a minute and then said "17". Just out of the blue!! He was exactly right! LOL AND Now...after all these years of marriage, we totally are in each other's head! It's a little weird really.

7....I was actually a little bummed out that I met Mark. I really had no intention of getting married again, at least so soon. I was enjoying being single for really the first time in my life, had a nice adorable little apartment all to myself, a good job. AND I knew, as soon as we met, that all that was over! LOL Oooh, the Lord works in mysterious ways!

8...When we knew that things were getting serious between us, I had to tell him my sad news. I was unable to get pregnant. I had met his family and saw how he loved them all and was so good with all his nieces and nephews....and I had to tell him that he might want to break it off with me and find some nice girl to marry and have babies with. I thought for sure that would be the deal breaker! lol Nope, silly man....he wanted me anyways. :o) Turns out---I was only unable to get pregnant with my FIRST hubby! LOL ( Guess who ended up preggy right away? huh?) 9...Mark proposed to me and gave me a ring...and I turned him down. I loved him but I really didn't want to get married again. He told me to keep the ring, and I put it in my underwear drawer and kept it there for a long time. He finally convinced me that we were going to be together forever and I might just as well get used to the idea...and he was going to be my husband and that was that. Period. He was so right. We got married at the courthouse. 10...In 2007 we finally got our church wedding ♥

CHEERS!

Graduation Day

2010-06-10T06:48:00.001-05:00

Today is the day my baby boy graduates from High School. Oh my, what a journey! lol He was a typical boy and scared us a few times with some pretty bleak report cards over the years...but he worked hard and buckled down and got the job done! We're proud. Congratulation Joe ♥

Our lovely niece Maurisa is graduating also--from the same school. It's been so nice that those two got to go through high school together. We love you 'Rissa and are proud of you too ♥

(Rissa is the cute little brunette on the end)

I'm glad that Rissa's folks will be sitting with us at the Graduation ceremony....Mary Ann cries like I do, so I won't be sitting there bawling all by myself! LOL I suppose I'll have to bring a big stack of vintage hankies with me tonight!

I was excited to find my Laughing Butterflies chest in the running in Linda's Top 5 Etsy Finds blog posting! If you have a minute, pop over there and cast a vote for your favorite!

Got Cookies??

2010-06-08T07:38:00.003-05:00

Hello. Today is all about cookies. *waiting while the applause dies down*

First off...I was contacted by the sweet Joanna of BakedByJoanna to participate in the Mix It Up Cookie Challenge that she is having on her BLOG!

I've donated a one of my cute little birdy potholders and then there is also a really, really cute frilly apron involved....!!! Stop by and join in on the fun! Stop by her blog post for complete details.

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NotYourMamasMix.etsy.com

Now, I know you guys are already jealous of the really great prizes I've been winning lately (it's ok) --and now I get to rub another one in your face! LOL I mean "share the good news with you"! I didn't exactly win COOKIES from NotYourMamasMix---but she does have COOKIES in her shop, so I'm gonna let it slide! What I did win was some really yummy and fun Mug Cake Mixes! You mix them up in a coffee mug and pop them into the microwave--how dangerous is that?? Cake at a moments notice. *shiver*

She has such yummy concoctions as Gooey Chocolate Toffee (which I tried first....lets just say that I've never licked a coffee mug before...) and Double Chocolate Chocolate Chip (you can never have enough chocolate)! She also has cookies mixes and scone mixes and cocoa mixes too!

NEXT, I was gonna share a link for some free Oreos (or whatever Nabisco cookie you happen to love), but I just double checked the link and the coupons are already gone for this month! I'm gonna give you the link anyways because they give away coupons every month, all you have to do is LIKE their Facebook page and remember to check in for free coupons on the dates they tell you to!

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And last, but not least...how about a recipe for some delish Snickerdoodles!

Snickerdoodles Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

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1/4 cup sugar (topping)

4 teaspoons cinnamon (topping)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Cream butter, sugar, and eggs.

3. Blend in flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls.

4. Mix 4 teaspoons cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar in a shallow bowl. Roll the balls in this mixture.
5. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.

6. Bake 8-10 minutes. Remove immediately from baking sheet.

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OH! One more cookie thing to add...I was out reading some of my fav blogs and see that our friend Lori from Faerie Window has a recipe for some cookies that she switched up for summer! Stop by and give her recipe a shot!

I'm gonna go take some butter out of the freezer....I have a sudden hankering for cookies......

HOW did you EVER find ME?

2010-06-06T12:24:00.003-05:00

Thanks to RabbitHollowPrims, I now have a sweet little "how did you find me" survey tacked onto my Paypal payment page! Sweet. I've had 3 transactions since I added it and so far 2 of them took the survey--pretty good #'s if you ask me.

So Karen, you may ask, just how did you go about getting a little survey on your Paypal page?? Let me tell you, it was easy as pie! (mmmm....pie......)

1) Log into your Paypal

2) Click on your PROFILE

3) Click MORE OPTIONS from the dropdown list
4) Under SELLINGPREFERENCES look down the list until you find CUSTOM
PAYMENT PAGES and click that.

5) Click OPTIONS ---> MERCHANT SERVICE OPTIONS

6) Put a check in the box for ADD A CUSTOMER SERVICE SURVEY

7) Customize your survey to ask what you want! Here's what I did, I wanted to know how people found my shop, so I asked the question

"How did you find Mrs. Kwitty's Cottage at Etsy?"

and the the responses:

Etsy search

Google Search

Friends/Family

Facebook

Blog

Of course, you can ask whatever question and responses you want.

Remember to hit SAVE. That's it. Fun huh?

To see if anyone answers your survey, just click DETAILS on your account page and at the bottom of the page it will show you the survey results if the person took it. :o)

Sweet Summer Berries

2010-06-05T10:48:00.000-05:00

I forgot to share my pretty new treasury with you bloggy friends!!

Sweet Summer Berries

Yummy!

Queen of Cheap

2010-06-04T08:18:00.001-05:00

OK--so, Mrs. Kwitty has always been a thrifty gal, or frugal, or some may actually call her cheap? Whatev. I wanted to be able to stay home and raise my kids.

(who can blame me...look how cute they were!)

I actually thought for many years that I was unable to have children, and I wanted them so badly. Turns out that I was only unable to have children with my first husband! lol ---my second one, the good one--"the keeper"--right away! Preggers! I was 30 when we had Joe. Then we had Linds 18 months later, almost to the day!

( "the keeper")

We made a decision then that I would stay home with the kids and we would somehow manage it financially. So we did...or, so we DO! lol Barely, by the skin of our teeth, but we do. This has been an especially trying period because, due to illness, I haven't been able to dedicate as much time to my crafting over the last year (crafting buys our groceries and the cat's groceries and other household necessities and the occasional ice cream treat!).

(Rosie dreaming of kitty groceries and ice cream treats)

So... with Joe's graduation coming up we really had to put on our thinking caps on how to save a few bucks!

Anywhooo, I came up with the brilliant idea that we would make our own Grad announcement/Open House invites and save the $275 that they wanted for the "official" school ones! (can you believe that?) ugh. I have a lot of respect for graphic designers...it took me about 3 hours to do this! lol The challenge was tying in Denfeld's maroon and gold with Joe's blue and green! I'm pretty proud that I was able to accomplish that--and it took a lot of trial and error, but I did it!

Here's the reason I'm officially taking on the "Queen of Cheap" title on this one...I designed this to fit the picture size of 4" x 6", downloaded it to Walgreens and just happened to hit a sale in their photo lab! 50 prints for $5. So, I'm thinking I just saved us about $270! lol *takes a bow* Now, we have more money to spend on the important things....like cake!

So, if you are in the neighborhood, stop by and celebrate this wonderful occasion with us! We are so proud of Joe and all his hard work and dedication! ♥♥♥

Get, Get, Getaway!

2010-05-28T07:45:00.002-05:00

Ahhhh....heading to the cabin with the sis-in-laws! Can't wait!

The sun is shining, the weather forecast is looking good, and this chicky is soooo ready to leave her troubles behind for a few days and go relax and laugh with my funny sistahs!

I might even try and catch me a couple of fish if the mood hits!

Have a wonderful Memorial day weekend everyone ♥♥♥
--see you next week!!

Miss Rosie Gets Rowdy

2010-05-26T22:32:00.000-05:00

As you may or may not know, we have a couple of cute little fur babies that live with us....there is Daisy and Miss Rosie. They have very different personalities, those two--this is for sure! lol Rosie is laid back, quiet, and very polite. Daisy is the rowdy, cocky, inquisitive one. Well, I recently won a new cat toy from Marvelous Melissa on Etsy in a drawing and the prize was one of her darn!Socks cat toys.

Let me tell you...Daisy totally loved the toy...she was up on the table inspecting the package before I even opened it, lol--and she has spent a lot of happy time playing with it since then.

But what I wanted to share with you are these cute pics of our very sober Miss Rosie getting rowdy with the new toy! LOL

It's so fun to see her playing, she rarely does.

And...here's my favorite.....

Thanks so much Melissa.....what a fun prize! I would highly recommend her well-thought-out cat toys, both of our kitties have thoroughly enjoyed it!

Lucky Ducky My Deer

2010-05-24T10:01:00.001-05:00

Just got a call that they are postponing my radiation until noon, so I have a little time to show off a couple cuties I finished up this weekend!!

I was called a "Lucky Duck" for winning StarryDeborah's drawing, and you know it's true! lol Which reminded me that I had this darling little duck/pocket knick knack sitting in my studio, just waiting to be made into something.

So I made a little pincushion to stick in the pocket and also made up a couple of flower head pins to stick in there, just for fun!

And then, I got a cute new deer stamp and just had to make a little something with that...(don't you just love Michael's 40% off coupons!)

Dear Dear

Totally girly and cute as a button---oh, and with a cute button too! :o) These are actually little open-up cards which are blank inside for you to pen a special message to your Dear!

So, is anyone else having a pain in the arse with Blogger lately? The pics don't go where they should and then when you move them (which is not going as easy as it should either), they start centering all your text?? AND trying to add a link to a picture doesn't seem to work anymore either.....Grrr.......

I'm a Lucky Lucky Lady

2010-05-20T09:38:00.002-05:00

Guess what I got in the mail??

Did you even try guessing or did you just automatically jump down here to see? Lazy..... hmph.

Well, I got something really special from our friend StarryDeborah!! I was lucky enough to win her 100th follower giveaway over on her lovely blog--I won the Tea Package. The really cool thing was that on the same day, she just happened to be the winner of my Etsyversary drawing...how weird is THAT? lol

Don't you love getting packages from creative people?? Such a treat...check out the vintage kitty tag...honestly I think this is one of the cutest tags I have EVER seen! Thank you Deborah for parting with it, I'm sure it wasn't easy!

Inside the pretty hot pink tissue was this sweet little concoction!! How perfectly lovely! I am going to hang this little cutey by my computer to hold my lip balm and hand lotion.

These goodies were tucked into that little basket...some cute sticky notes, that darling dimensional teapot magnet, which I've already stuck on my filing cabinet in my studio, and an I Love Tea pin. Love it all!! Thank you so much Deborah, what a lovely treat!

Go Ahead....Make my Day.

2010-05-19T06:27:00.000-05:00

Our sweet Miss Rosie, doing her Clint Eastwood impression! lol

(Cracked me up, she is such a sweet girl that I don't even know how we caught her looking like this!!)

Cozy Cottage Kitchen

2010-05-14T00:43:00.001-05:00

Made a pretty treasury today...isn't it fun to browse around Etsy and fantasize about redoing rooms in your home?! I would love to have all of these beauties in my kitchen at home. If you would like to check out this treasury with all the clickable links, please click HERE

Tags Galore in the midst of Blabbing

2010-05-12T22:50:00.000-05:00

Hello! Well, I did it again...I have every intention of doing a better job at blogging, and then weeks go by! lol I think for today I am going to blab a bit about stuff and intersperse it with some of the cute tags I've made lately--how does that sound??

Puddle Splashers

I've been very tired due to chemo and the accompanying anemia, but I can still sit and make tags, and that makes me happy!

Playful Pinwheels

I got a new camera from my Sweety for Mother's day...I must say it is making picture taking much more enjoyable, and the pics are so much clearer! Love it!

Sweetness

Lately I don't have much to talk about that doesn't involve cancer. I certainly don't want to just sit here and talk about THAT all the time, as if it hasn't already taken over so much of my life, dammit! But, maybe I'll just talk about it a bit and get it off my chest, huh? That might help. There is some good news...I had my last chemo treatment! Yeah! It was my 24th dose and they decided that I needed a break. Yes, thank you :o)

Punky Pinwheels

I think my Sis-in-law and I are going to try and get up to the cabin for a weekend very soon (possibly Memorial weekend)...it would be so great to get away from the city and just relax for a bit and maybe catch some fish. Doesn't that sound nice?

Tell Me Bluebirdy

Next week now they have me scheduled to go in and get set up for radiation--BRAIN radiation! YIKES. The kind of cancer that I have has a tendency to work it's way up there and they want to radiate in case there are any rogue cells up there already. I say, get in there and zap the hell out of them! Grrrrr!

Oh Happy Day Birdy

(this little bird reminds me of myself...a chubby little gal that just keeps on flying!)

Know what is really bumming me out? I have cute new little hairlets trying to grow on my head, they are about 1/4" long right now, just as cute as can be (really, I look a bit like a baby bird! lol) and the radiation will cause me to lose those little guys --dang it! lol I feel very motherly towards those little fellas!

Sweet Baby Brown

There, thanks for listening...I feel better!

Etsyversary Drawing Winner!!

2010-05-03T21:54:00.002-05:00

Hello! Well, today is the day....let's see who wins The Mrs. Kwitty's 4th Etsyversary, Vintagey, Cottagey, Flowery, Birdy, Papery Giveaway!!

Usually I do something cute with the cats or with the kids or hubby or something, but there are just too many names this time to write them all down, lol!! So I just went to randomizer.org and Tah DAH!

AND...the lucky winner is the lovely Starry Deborah from Starry Night Impressions!!!

Congratulations Starry Deb!! :o)

I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to stop by and enter and leave your lovely, sweet, thoughtful, kind, funny, etc. comments...I enjoy reading each and every one and I enjoyed stopping by your blogs too and meeting new people and seeing what you are up to!

Special thanks to those of you who helped me to spread the word by posting a link on your blog or FB or tweeting the news--the support was amazing and I ♥ all you gals!

An Etsyversary Giveaway!!!

2010-04-19T14:27:00.003-05:00

Hello friends! Guess who's 4th Etsyversary it is? Hmmmm? Hmmmm? How did you guess it was me? YOU are such an amazing guesser! I am amazed by your guessing abilities, it's incredible. Really. *goofy grin*

In honor of this prestigious occassion, and to make up for the fact that I have been neglecting my poor little blog so badly the last few months, I've decided to have a GIVEAWAY! So, the last couple days I have been working on some special prizes to offer you, my bored and faithful readers, and customers, and friends, and future friends!

I went through my stash of beautiful vintage hankies and found the perfect one to use for this special project....first thing made was this pretty little keychain/card wallet! Don't leave home ever again without your drivers license, debit card, and keys.

Then I made up this matching tissue keeper...because a lady should always have a tissue handy ya know! For the snots.

Next up, I had to include a few paper items, just cuz' they are so fun to make! Sweet little tags in bright colors. Pretty little handmade tags make your gifts extra special you know. :o)

And, last but NOT least....a few of my signature little birdy tags!! But of course. I hope you are not tired of seeing all these birds, because I am SO not tired of making them. LOL! I can't help myself, they just make me happy!

So, there you have it! The Mrs. Kwitty's 4th Etsyversary, Vintagey, Cottagey, Flowery, Birdy, Papery Giveaway. The winner will get all this junk, errrr.....stuff, errrr ....goodies!

**You don't have to check out my shop....unless you WANT to (it WOULD make me happy if some of you would stop by and see what's been going on there)

**You don't have to Twitter it.....unless you WANT to (I love it when people tweet me!)

**You don't have to friend me on my Facebook Fan page....unless you WANT to (even though I only have 28 fans so far and it would really make my day.....)

**TO ENTER, JUST LEAVE ME A COMMENT AND SOME WAY TO GET AHOLD OF YOU IF YOU WIN! That's it. Easy. Peasy. I just love you guys and want to have a little fun!

I'll have the drawing open for a couple weeks, just because I hate when I find out late that one of my fav blogs had a drawing and I missed it! Sooo....on Monday, May 3rd, I will do the drawing! Okey doke?

Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

Lookee What I Won!

2010-04-16T07:34:00.001-05:00

I entered a drawing in this scrummy shop, SimpleTraditions, and was lucky enough to win a package of Leah's lovely lip balms!! Let me tell you, the quality and smoothness of the balms is really great, I'm tickled pink--and they came packaged so nicely in a sweet little muslin bag with her shop logo stamped on, very classy! I'm a happy lady :o)

She has lots of yummy flavors, with more to come, she says. I got Toasted Coconut (my fav), Cherry Vanilla, Pistachio Ice Cream, and Butter Creme. Can you say MMMMMMM!

Thank you Leah, I really have enjoyed my gift!

OH! and speaking of giveaways....please pop back in the next couple days--my Etsyversary is coming up on the 17th (sheesh, I guess that's tomorrow!) and I'm planning a little somethin/somethin to celebrate!!

Etsy Twitter Shop of the Week!!

2010-03-24T12:12:00.002-05:00

The very lovely people of the Etsy Twitter Team have done me the honor of making me the Etsy Twitter "Shop of the Week" this week!! They did up such a lovely feature article--please stop by and check it out--everything you've always wanted to know about Mrs. Kwitty but were afraid to ask, LOL! Not really, but it is a very nice article and it also tells you about a little "SPECIAL" for the reader's at the end!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43315760

I've added some new stuff to my shop this week, including a couple more new birdies--it is supposed to be spring you know! There is this pretty pink one (I know, there are no pretty white and pink birds in the wild, but don't you think there should be...look how cute they are!) lol

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43403159

And then a cutey blue bird too!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43389441

I've also made up a couple new Page Percher bookmarks in their pretty library pockets.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43176114

There are a few more things, but I don't want to load you all up with pics! Stop by the shop and see for yourself.

I'm so glad that this feature article came out this week...otherwise it would have been a bit of a rough one for me....it was Pauly's birthday yesterday, he would have turned 44. I sure do miss him and we really felt the loss of his presence yesterday :o(

Also, it is chemo week....they are a bit rough (to put it mildly!) I go in for chemo 3 days in a row and then on the 4th day I go in for a shot to boost my white cell production as the chemo makes you anemic. I just finished my 3rd treatment this morning. Just in for the shot tomorrow and then I have 2 weeks to recover before I go again. Keep me in your prayers that all this keeps on working and for strength, it makes me feel so tired and weak.

That's it for today, my dear friends!! Have a great day ♥♥♥

Happy Birthday Baby

2010-03-19T09:29:00.000-05:00

I'd like to wish a very Happy 17th Birthday to my baby girl!!

We're so proud of what a great kid she is...she is so very sweet to others, a kind and compassionate person, helpful and honest.

She is very dedicated to her dance team, never misses practices (even though they take up so much of her time), keeps her nose clean, and still maintains a very high grade point average! Yah Linds...we love you!! Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Etsy Front Page

2010-03-13T09:08:00.002-06:00

Hello all you beautiful people :o)

I was very pleased to find out that my cute vintage Sailor dish towel made it to Etsy's front page last night!!

It did actually sell right away and brought me lots of new visitors and a few new shop heart---so YEAH!!

I know that I've been gone for such a long time from my blog--it's been a pretty rough road for ol' Mrs. Kwitty lately. Losing Paul was so hard on us all, he left a really big hole with his passing--hard on us and especially hard on his wife and kids.

Then, I had been feeling very ill for several months during the ordeal with Paul, and was being treated for pneumonia on top of it all. At the end of December I ended up in the hospital and it was discovered there that it wasn't pneumonia that was wearing me down...I was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Since then has been all the fun and games that goes along with having cancer....getting your mind wrapped around the fact that you have cancer, starting and getting through chemo treatments, losing your hair (oh yeah, being a baldy is really something! lol), and so on and so forth. I ended up closing up my Etsy shop for a while, but you know, crafting is in the heart and soul and I just had to get back into it again FOR MY SANITY! lol

So, little by little, I've been adding things back into life again and I guess it's time to get back to my little blog here and all the lovely friends that stop by to visit. I do love you guys, you brighten my day with your comments and encouragement and I thank you!! Keep me in your prayers...I can use the help from the "Big Guy" upstairs!

Sadness

2009-12-07T13:33:00.000-06:00

I am so sad to say that my dear, sweet, funny brother Paul lost his battle with cancer on Friday afternoon. He fought so bravely and I will forever admire him and love him. God bless you Paul. Rest in Peace.

Holiday Wish List Giveaway

2009-11-23T08:09:00.000-06:00

Ran across this giveaway on my travels this morning and just had to get my name in the hat!! Wow! Be sure to check it out for yourself!

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?
to have Paul with us at Christmas, struts for my car (exciting, I know! lol) , spiral binder machine(for making books), book on digital collage, the movie "UP"

2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received?
a beautiful quilt from my Mom

3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?
an embellished scrapbook/photoalbum

4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?
a sewing machine when I was 12

5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year?
iPod, Ugg boots, PS3 game, Denfeld (school) hoodie, new comforter

6. What is your favorite holiday food?
mashed potatoes with ham gravy

7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?
gift tags, ornaments, comforters, day planners

8. What is your favorite holiday movie?
It's a Wonderful Life

9. Favorite holiday song?
Silent Night

10. Favorite holiday pastime?
time with family, baking

Getting in the Spirit

2009-11-13T11:37:00.001-06:00

So, how's everyone coming along with their Holiday crafting??? I'm still not quite up to par with things, but I can do a little each day, and that makes me happy! Here's a little peek at what I've done this week.

Postcards from the Past~ I found these darling vintage-style Christmas postage stamps and decided to make some gift tags that loosely resemble old fashioned postcards!

Touches of Toile Bird Tag set ~ I think these look so cute on a package!

Love Bird Drawstring Bag ~ It's been a while since I made a bag...they are fun to make and, of course, I had to include one of my little feathered friends :o)

Toile Stocking Ornament ~ I decoupaged some of that lovely toile paper onto a little wooden stocking and gussied it all up with some vintage elements. Great as a gift topper too--it's like 2 gifts in 1!

Well, that's it for me for today--I'd love to see what you are making...leave me a link and I'll check it out ♥♥

Confession

2009-11-11T09:24:00.002-06:00

I do offer items in my shop that come from a smoke-free studio.............

But I can't guarantee that you won't find the occasional kitty hair in there! LOL This is where Daisy likes to sit when I sew ( my little pal )!

(of course, I check my products over very strictly for pet hair...just having a little fun!)

Over & Done --Thank you

2009-11-10T07:58:00.004-06:00

Well, the benefit for my brother Paul is done....it was quite an experience, and it turned out wonderfully, and I'm so glad it's over! LOL I was overwhelmed by the sweetness, generosity, and willingness to "pitch in" that we ran across while planning for and having the benefit, it really gives you a renewed sense that there are really a lot of really wonderful people in this world! ....REALLY! (sorry, just having a little fun with words ;oP)

I'd like to thank my beautiful cousins Vicki, Becky, Michelle, and Linda for all that they did. I could never thank them enough for what they did, it was a thing of beauty and love and I love them forever for it.

Left to Right: Karen, Vicki, Linda, Michelle, Becky

I also received so many gifts and donations from my online friends...my family was amazed by how many "strangers" helped out (of course, I know that online friends are NOT really strangers, they are just friends that you haven't seen yet!) lol I would like to thank all of you who helped by sending something and/or shared your stories and prayers with us. It warms my heart REALLY! I'd like to send special thanks to the EtsyTwitter team, there was a lot of love that came from the gals in that group and I REALLY appreciate it!

Oh, and a HUGE thank you to Brenda Fisher and The GATINAS!!!!

Here are some of the people who helped out--please go and visit their shops and give them some love, they are wonderful people who make wonderful things!!
iSew
Cedar Junction
Pieceful Bits
Mikiye
Handmade by Sandi
Cape Cod Jewelry
Firebird House
Foxy G Knits
Blue Cole
Holly So Lightly
High Desert Rose
Casual Cottage
Beans Things
Shes Sew Pretty
Threepeats Jewelry
Rick Rack Queen
Books Around the Clock
Starbaby Online
Bertrams Bowdoir
ReBop Shop

I hope I didn't forget anyone! If I accidently left you off the list, please contact me so I can get you on here!

Heartfelt thanks to all who helped or prayed or were one of the over 300 people who came to enjoy and support! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts ♥♥♥

Benefit For Brother Paul

2009-10-07T08:15:00.004-05:00

Hello friends! I know I've been AWOL for a while....sorry about that!! It certainly doesn't mean that I don't love you any more!

I don't know if you all remember my talking about my brother, Paul or not, but he is my youngest brother (only 43), the husband of Sue for 20 years and the father of 3 girls who still live at home (ages 21, 17, and 7) plus Grandpa to a 4 year old grandson who lives with them. (Sue is gonna be mad at me for posting this pic of her, but it's the only one I could find right now! ) This was taken shortly after Paul's diagnoses and you can really see the worry in Sue's face.

Paul was diagnosed with Melanoma (stage 4) in August of 2008. He's been through surgery to remove lymph nodes and been through radiation and ongoing chemo treatments--regular and some experimental. He has been unable to work due to the rigorous treatments and the inability to use his arm due to the surgery. He is a tough fighter though and is still kickin! They are in financial trouble though, and the burden of that is really wearing them down. HERE is another blog post I did about this a little while back.

With the help of some of my very lovely and loving cousins, (Vicki, Becky, and Linda) we have been in the throes of planning this benefit dinner for my brother Paul . There is a lot to learn when you dive into something like this, and there is a lot of planning and begging involved! LOL Sooooo....(here comes some begging right now......) I am here to ask if any of you would be able to help out by sending us a donation we can use as a prize during the benefit??

It looks like we are going to have around 200 people there and we are going to make sure that each and every donor gets the proper credit for their donation, so on top of being a very nice thing to do for a very good man, you can get some good business recognition too! Yeah, win/win!

I am also going to put a donation button on my sidebar for anyone who would wish to make a cash donation, just as soon as I figure out how to do it (this is my goal for the day!) lol

I would appreciate all your help in spreading the word in anyway you can!

(1) I have a Facebook page right HERE You can become a friend of mine and click the SHARE link of the posting I did about this benefit that is there on my wall .

(2) You could link to this posting on your blog--or do a little blog post yourself!

(3) Twitter!

If you want to send us a prize donation, please email me at kmwittkop [at] msn [dot] com or Etsy convo me HERE .

Thanks so much!!! I am going to go and see if I can figure out the Donate Button now....wish me luck!

Etsy Inspired Challenge and Cabin pics

2009-08-24T07:33:00.010-05:00

Hello friends! I have some fun going on with my Etsy shop this week. There is a group of gals who do what they call "Etsy Inspired Challenges" --this is where they choose an Etsy shop of the week and then all the members of the group ---AND ANYONE else who wants to play along----go visit that shop, get inspired by their style, and then make something based on that inspiration. How fun is that?!

I am lucky enough to be this weeks inpiration shop! It's been a lot of fun peeking in to see what they are being inspired by and what they come up with for their projects! Head on over to the

Heart Hug Designs blog and check it out. Hey, why not join in...they welcome others too...and there are PRIZES! I've donated that sweet little memo book and paper clip set that you see above...and then they also have a sponsor who donated a prize. Why not give it a shot?!

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I'm back from the cabin...it was a really great vacation and some much needed rest was had :o)I had some good time to think about the things that I needed to think about................

(see, I told you the fish better watch out! lol In case anyone is wondering, we usually catch and release)

(Linds is not a morning person! LOL)

..................and eat good food, and visit with friends and family,

The "boppers" hanging out in the morning.

(my niece and great nephew playing some sticky ball)

Yes, that's my son Joe, sporting some hair and facial hair...he's done with ROTC! lol That pretty gal with him is his girlfriend.

............and roast marshmallows over the campfire, and feed the ducks,

..............or sit on the floaty dock dangling my feet in the water, looking at pretty rainbows

But...now it's back to the real world. We've been working on getting some benefits together for Paul here in town and I'm still working on doing something online, don't have all the details worked out yet and this will be a real test of my computering skills! LOL I'll be getting back to you real soon on that. In the meanwhile, have a beautiful day and go hug everyone that you love...you just never know what tomorrow will bring :o)

xoxo Karen

This and That

2009-08-14T07:54:00.002-05:00

(Isn't this picture priceless?? I would love to give credit to the photographer and the subject, but I got it in an email and there was no information--if you happen to know, please let me know so proper credit can be made.)

It's my birthday on Tuesday and we always spend my birthday week up at the cabin. Yeah!! I am SOOOOOO ready for some fun and relaxation. My brother's and their families and some of Mark's family will be joining us up there on and off and I'm hoping that a few of my cousins will come too--should be fun!

I am actually going to shut down my Etsy shop while I'm gone....yes, a big step for me, LOL! This will be the first time in over 3 years that it'll be closed. I really need to have some time to not worry about it and just apply my thoughts to some other areas! You guys won't forget about me.....right? :o]

The fish better look out!

(the view off the dock....Mark and his nice Bass)

What a year it's been. Last year on my birthday my brother, Paul, informed me that he had cancer and he had his first surgery. AND my Grandpa died. You could say, not a good Birthday at all. Hoping this one will be better, for sure!

I want to thank you all for the lovely comments, ideas, and prayers about Paul and doing a fundraiser...you are all so sweet and thoughtful and generous that you actually made me cry...several times! :o} I'm going to give this all some thought over my vacation and come up with a game plan. I'll let you all know when we get back. Thank you again---big hugs!

Remember the giveaway I did a little while ago....well, both of the winners did up blog posts---stop by and say HI!

Lenore of A Vintage Obsession

Lisa of A Groggy Froggy

Thanks for the bloggy love, gals!! I'm glad that you liked your prizes :o)

OK...I'm off to make some whipped jello, cake, noodle salad, egg salad, fruit salad, ............. see you next week!!

Looking For Ideas!

2009-08-10T08:38:00.006-05:00

Hi friends :o)

Some of you may remember me telling you about this.... my brother, Paul, has later stage cancer (melanoma) and has been in a brave battle with it for almost a year now. He has been through every chemo treatment you can think of, radiation treatment, and is working his way through a few of the experimental treatments too. He's hanging in there, though a LOT thinner and minus some hair--worse for the wear and tear--but not ready to give up the fight!!!!

The big problem he is facing now is financial. Paul is a laborer...he worked for a mobile home company and did set-ups and repairs, siding, roofing...you know, physical things. He has been unable to work since this started (it started with surgery to remove some lymph nodes under his arms). They had some money in savings and sold some things to help make ends meet and have the belt tightened as tight as it can get. They are running on fumes right now.

Soooo, we (some of his relatives) have decided to do some fundraising for them...what I wanted to ask you guys for is some IDEAS and things you have seen others do that have been successful. I know there are a lot of creative minds out there!!!!

We are going to have a big rummage sale at a local community center to start with...get donations of items from friends and family. That should provide them with some quick cash to pay their mortgage and insurances.

Then we are thinking of doing the traditional Spaghetti dinner, auction, and raffles and such. Here's where we could use some creative suggestions!

Also, I was thinking of maybe doing some sort of online fundraiser. Who has seen anything like this done...how was it done...what are people's general opinion of things like that??

I sure appreciate any help you can give!!

xoxo Karen

Pretty in Dots!

2009-08-04T22:11:00.008-05:00

What's new?? So, my friend Teresa from CedarJunction emailed me today and gave me the "hint" that I could add a background to my blog easily with HotbliggetyBLOG---yes Teresa, I HAD noticed that I was the last blogger on the planet who still had a boring white background on my blog!! LOL If I had known how easy it was going to be to install, I would have done it a long time agon. Thanks for the kick in the pants, I am now sporting some pretty new polka dots---what do you all think?

I've been happy to get back to the studio and finished up some collages that have been in the works for a while now....of course they have BIRDS in them (are you shocked?) *wink* I tried a new thing on these three by using different paper for the matting, I think it really adds a nice punch of color and a nice dimension to the collages!

BlueJay and Butterfly

Pretty Robin Redbreast

Robin in the Garden

The beautiful bird images I used in these collages were purchased from Scraps of Time -- stop by and check out her shop, great stuff!!!

A New Treasure!

2009-08-02T08:29:00.003-05:00

Went out treasure hunting yesterday morning (seems like there is not enough of this going on this year, between my aching joints and the crappy weather we are having this summer!) Anyways, I better not start the whining, LOL!! I was so excited to find this beautiful picture in the pretty shabby chic frame! Isn't it gorgeous? I've never seen this particular picture of the Holy Family before, and it is so endearing. Love the colors too.

Now, I have a couple questions for you readers....do you think I should fix up the frame (aka give it a paint job) or leave it as is? AND It has that water stain up at the top (which actually shows up really well in the picture, but when you are looking at it in person, it's really not that noticeable) and I'm wondering if anyone has a method of making those lighter that will not ruin the paper??

Sheesh, sadly the only place I have to hang this pretty picture is on the last wall on the main floor with the ugly panelling!! Believe it or not, about 1/2 the main floor was panelled with this ugly white panelling and we are slowly but surely getting rid of it! I think that a living room redo is in the works for this coming winter and then it will be gone! Yeah!

And the winner is.....

2009-07-30T21:11:00.002-05:00

" Mommmmy.....isn't this the night you were going to do the drawing for the Page Percher?"

"Why yes it is, my little fur baby--thanks for reminding me!"

"Now...who will help me?? Wait, wait...no need to argue my two Sweeties, I think we will just go ahead and draw 2 names tonight!! So each of you reach on in and draw a name."

(it is really not that hard to please these two!! *giggle* )

"Who did you pick, Mark??" LENORE from A Vintage Obsession!!

"And, who did you pick Linds??" LISA from Groggy Froggy!!

Congrats to both of you!! Thanks to all who played along...I always enjoy doing these !

Just for the Heck of It Giveaway

2009-07-23T21:16:00.004-05:00

Hello to all my favorite internet friends! I just did up a batch of these Page Percher bookmarks and decided that I should give one away--just for the heck of it!! You are all so dang nice to me that I would like to do at least a little something to show my appreciation ♥♥

You don't have to do anything fancy or complicated--just leave me a comment here and I will throw your name in the hat. I'll draw a name in a week--so next Thursday evening I'll pick a winner. Okey doke?

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One more thing....The Etsy Twitter Team is having a Go Green event going on--great tips, products, scavenger hunt, and great prizes! Check it out HERE, HERE, and HERE!

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Oh, and feel like having a laugh? Of course you do! Check out Moggit--it's a riot!

Featured Artist!!

2009-07-21T14:09:00.003-05:00

I have some excitement this week--I am the Featured Artist on the HANDMADENEWS.org

Stop by and check it out and give the article a thumbs up (or down)! You have to register to leave a comment, but it's very simple, just name and password. Thanks to all who left their comments, I really appreciate that!! ♥♥♥

They ran a really nice article and I am grateful--so thank you to Angelica who contacted me about it and then wrote the article.

Smiles, Karen

Cool Paper Storage Idea!

2009-07-18T07:12:00.004-05:00

I have something new in my studio.....

I ran across this vintage metal ALBUM rack (for you youngsters, go ask your parents what an album is! lol It's kinda like a giant CD!) It is is beautiful shape and I love the lines of it....and it dawned on me that it just might work down in my craftroom! I have been struggling to find a the perfect way to store my big papers so that I can see them and they are readily available for use.....So........

I just LOVE how my big 12" x 12" paper pads fit into the album slots! I have the pads set on edge so I can just thumb through them to find the papers I want or to inspire me on my next project.

Plus, now I have some additional shelves on my work table to hold lots of other supplies! I love it...I get to re-use an otherwise rather obsolete piece of furniture and get some excellent new storage out of it!

So, go out and rescue an old piece of furniture today and see what excellent new uses you can get out of it! I'd love to see what you have done, so if you have a cool find or re-do of an old furniture piece, link me up in the comments here, I'd love to see them!

Colorful Cottage Goods

2009-07-13T08:54:00.004-05:00

Caught a Treasury West last night, right as I was about to log out and go to bed! Stayed up way past my bedtime, because I didn't even have a theme in mind, lol--but it turned out pretty dang gorgeous anyway

The link is here: But if it expires, here are the talented crafters links for ya!

1) Butterfly Note Cards by CatnipStudioToo
2) Sweet Pink Roses Cottage Pillows by catnapcottage
3) Not Your Ordinary Baby Quilt by SFOQuilter
4) Oilcloth Sandwich/Snack Bags by RickRackQueen
5) Altered Perfume Jar by thisgoodday
6) Vintage Ceiling Tin Heart by CottageintheSun
7) Dreaming of Paris Altered Art Journal by dishyvintage
8) Cuddly Kittens Apron by onlyu
9) Vintage Kitchen Napkin Cuffs by sosorosey
10) Friend Ornament by tiedupmemories
11) Crochet Applique Set by AnnieDesign
12) Polka Dot Pears by SugarAndSpice

Color ME Beautiful!!

2009-06-30T17:31:00.004-05:00

Just found out today that my "Meandering Birdy" bag made it into the "Color you Beautiful" voting contest on ETSY! Lots of gorgeous and colorful items there---stop by and see, be sure to vote for your favorite, and wish me luck!! :o)

Inflammation

2009-06-19T07:37:00.005-05:00

I know I've been pretty scarce around here and I just wanted to pop in and let you guys know a little bit of what's going on--I've gotten quite a few emails asking if everything is all right (you bunch of sweeties!) and just thought I'd say a few words.

I've been having some health problems over the last several years that have to do with joint pain and swelling--I've been tested for everything but they really can't pinpoint just what is going on. Well, recently (the last 4 months) it has basically gone into overdrive! My knees are swollen up like cantelopes and I can't bend them, my hips hurt like hell, it's in my neck (can't hardly turn my head or bend it up and down), it's starting to work it's way down my shoulders now (yeah!) and it's in my right jaw (hurts to chew and my teeth don't fit together right because of swelling).

The docs did a bunch of tests and one of them measures your body's inflammation--the usual test result on that one tops out at 20, mine was at 54. They retook the test 2 weeks later and it was at 82. This lit a fire under my doctor and she scheduled me for surgery (the next day!) to biopsy a piece (approx. 1") of vein from both temples to make sure that my veins arent' inflamed too. Happily, the veins are fine. Whew. They have determined that I have an auto-immune disease.

Anyways, they just started me on a medication that should bring down the inflammation, but it has some really scary possible side effects! AND it takes anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months to work! Arghhh! I took the first dose on Wednesday--it wasn't too bad, made me sick to my stomach, dizzy, and tired, but didn't do a thing for the joints and pain (yet).

I'm hanging in there, though, feeling positive about the outcome, and am looking forward to getting back to my crafting and computering and such. I'd appreciate a prayer or healing thought for this medication to do it's thing and get me back up and running!!

Lucky, Lucky Me!

2009-06-12T06:52:00.004-05:00

Wand by Ann Denise of Whimfancydesigns

Oh, you are all going to be so jealous!

StarryDeb went to the ZNE convention and met some wonderful, creative people there...and then convinced some of them to give up the goodies for a blog giveaway.

Crepe paper and other goodies---read the names on the packages and then go visit them!!! Great shops!

Guess who won it? !!

Beautiful TussieMussie and matching tag from ivacreations

It's all so wonderful! I'm thrilled with every little thing...thank you so much to all the contributors and a special "Thank You" to Starry Deb--she is the greatest!

Oh, and one more thing.....The Olde World Shoppes blog was sweet enough to include my aqua roses sachets in their latest blog post--stop by and visit, and check out the other lovely ROSE items that are featured there, it's a treat, I promise!

New Animoto Video

2009-06-02T09:33:00.003-05:00

These are so fun to make...head on over and do one yourself and leave me a link here in the comments so I can check it out!

(You'll have to scroll down the side bar a bit to pause my music player so you can hear the music in the video.)

And the Winners are....

2009-05-29T19:45:00.004-05:00

Yeah! Through some highly complicated and technical procedures involving bits of paper and blindfolded eyes...We've chosen the winners of the Glazing Review Giveaway. Drumroll please....

Winner #1 is Blondie~Vintage Primitives

Winner #2 is Kathy ~ Catnip Studios

Winner #3 is Pinky

Congratulations to the winners and many thanks to all of you who take the time to stop by and leave comments--I just love reading your comments! They make me happy :o)

Memorial Day Parade

2009-05-25T21:41:00.005-05:00

Happy Memorial day everyone. Big thanks to all those who are currently in the military, were in the military in the past, and especially those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. We really appreciate you. God Bless.

As usual, we went to the Memorial Day parade today. It is always yucky out for this parade, don't know why, but it is! This was actually a little better than usual in the fact it didn't rain or sleet on us this year ( whew!) but it was still cold and windy and overcast. This is the view of all the half frozen people lined up across the street from where we were sitting. It looked to me like the epitome of one of our Memorial Day parades (don't forget your blanket!).

Both the kids were in the parade againt this year...Joe with his ROTC group and Linds with the Danceline.

Suprisingly, Linds finished getting ready for the parade first and was able to spend a little quality time with Daisy before she left.
Joe was close behind...but he had an excuse, he had to press those dress blues and shine up those shoes!

He's looking handsome as they march along...he's holding the blue ROTC flag.

And...here comes the girls! Sadly, most of my pics turned out too blurry. except this lovely shot! (yes, that is called sarcasm!) ...Linds is the one on the far side with her face half covered with a pom pom! LOL

A good day, we all came home full of fresh air and exercise...grilled up some steaks to go with our nice big salad and enjoyed our family--all thanks to those wonderful men and women who fight for our freedom.

Oh, don't forget to sign up for the giveaway in the post below this one :o) Drawing to be held on Friday. (May 29)

An Experiment and a Giveaway!

2009-05-21T22:20:00.004-05:00

Have you ever been faced with the problem of too many choices? I know you have, lol! This is what I was dealing with after making some new little collage magnets on formica tags....what to seal them with.

I happen to have 3 different glaze products in my stash:
Diamond Glaze by JudiKins
Royal Coat Dimensional Magic by Plaid
Aleene's Paper Glaze

It just so happened that I had made 3 different collages...so I decided to do a little experiment and figure out, once and for all, which product was the best coating for my magnets. I tried to use the same technique for all three. They were all done in the same place on the same day, right in a row. They had the exact same drying time--I applyed the glaze in the late afternoon and let it dry (untouched) overnight. I checked them early the next morning. All three were properly dry and had a nice smooth feel....no stickiness or gooey spots.

On this first magnet I tried the Aleene's Paper Glaze. It came out of the bottle really thick, I had a hard time getting it to cover the image in a smooth manner. I smoothed it out as best I could and looked for air bubbles, which were difficult to see due to the thickness of the glaze.

What is nice about the thickness is that you don't have to worry about it running over your edges, and you definitely will only need one coat!

This dried nice, but the finish is a little lumpy looking and there are a couple spots where it's apparent that I didn't put the finish on evenly and there are a few air bubbles that didn't pop.

I'd have to give this one a C-.

On this second magnet I tried the Diamond Glaze. It has a really nice consistency out of the bottle, flowed on smoothly and was just thick enough to hold it's edge without running over. I liked the ease of use.

The big problem I had was a lot of air bubbles showed up, even though I was careful to start the flow on scrap paper before applying it to my project and tried to work slowly and keep air out of the procedure. After applying it, blew on the surface to see if the bubbles would pop....nope. I then grabbed a pin and attempted to pop them....nope. Then I gently lifted the piece and dropped it on the table hoping the impact would pop them....nope. The only thing that really worked was to take the tip of the pin push the bubbles to the edge and then off of the project. This actually only worked on the bigger bubbles.

It dried very nicely--I like the glaze this one has. One thing I did notice was that the paper actually lifted off the tag surface along one edge. I'm not sure if that is the glaze's fault or if I didn't glue it down properly (I thought I had??) There are quite a few air bubbles that showed up even though I thought I had most of them. Also, I used a Sharpie marker on the top paper and it bled a bit.

I think there may be a learning curve to using this stuff, I'll have to give this one a C.

The third magnet got the Royal Coat. This also came out of the bottle really nice...a titch thinner than the Diamond Gloss. I put it around the edges and it seemed to hold the edge pretty good (I did have one little spot where it flowed down over the edge) and then proceeded to fill in the center area. It filled very nice. Once filled I checked for air bubbles.... there were only a couple and I was able to pop them with a pin.

This dried very nice, has an almost wet look to it. I like the shine. No problem with air bubbles either! Yeah. I think I've found my product!

This one gets an A.

HOW ABOUT A GIVEAWAY??

So there ya go! I'm thinking that I'll add some ribbon to the top and put a nice magnet on the back and see if any of you lovely Reader's would like to have one of them ??? Warts (bubbles!) and all! LOL If you don't mind a couple bubbles, please just leave me a comment here and I'll have a drawing for each of them (3 names will be drawn). They actually did turn out pretty cute, even if there are some flaws :o)

I'll do the drawing on Friday, May 29th.

Sidewalk Sales!!

2009-05-17T06:28:00.003-05:00

Hellooo! I've got good news for all you bargain hunters out there! The Etsy Twitter Team is having a Sidewalk Sales event all this week! We have a wonderful a wonderful variety of sellers involved--I'm sure you will find something to smile about! Just click the pic above and it will bring you to the place with links to all the shops and the sales they are running. Have fun shopping!

Lucky 7 Bird Bag

I am running a FREE SHIPPING Special (on all purchases totalling over $20)---

Free Shipping to anywhere in the US and Half-price Shipping for International packages.

PLUS! each packages will get a special little free "thank you" gift tossed in, because we all love to get a little something extra, right?!

Go ahead and make your purchases, put "Etsy Twitter Rocks" in the note to seller, and I will refund the shipping fees back to your Paypal asap.

Monkeying Around Keychain Wallet

Red Roses for a Blue Birdy

Simply Blue Bird Bag

Pish ** Posh

2009-05-13T10:08:00.005-05:00

I've always wanted to do one of those paper banners...and I finally did! Some fancy schmancy new papers, scallop punches, lovely smudgy brown ink, fancy script lettering, and a beautiful variegated ribbon to tie it all together.......

Yes....it says "PISH POSH". I love that saying! Cracks me up.

Daughter: "Mo-ommmm, I don't have anything to wear. Mommy, I just love it when we go shopping together....We NEED to go shopping."

Mom: "Pish Posh"

Son: "Mo-ommm, You are so sweet and loveable and I love you so much!! Do you think you could let me take your car out cruising with my buds...we promise not to crank the stereo and mess with every button in the car..."

Mom: "Pish Posh"

Husband: "Honeeeeey...You are such a doll face and I love you sooooo much. Oh, by the way, I'm thinking of inviting all my buddies over for a "few" beers and cards...do you think you could get the house cleaned, go shopping for food and beer, and then whip up some of your famous tacos?"

Wife: "Pish Posh"

Kitties: "Mew, mew, meow...purr purr, scratch post, wink, meow"

Mom: "Pish Posh"

And, by the way...when did Blogger start making it such a pain in the ARSE to move pictures around?? Did I miss something? Help.