Just Things....

We had the most glorious day yesterday.. 18c and I opened my windows for the very first time this year.. what a wonderful feeling..so much sunshine.. just wanted to sit outside and soak it up all day.. I went for a walk down the driveway and back... it's a nice little  jaunt.. 1/2 mile by the time you get back .. once things turn green it will be marvelous... I checked some of my flower beds.. and there's little shoots poking up.. and 3 blooming violas in the rock garden.. how sweet is that? Spring is really really coming!!! Yay!!!!!
I finished up the napkin holder order and it's ready to deliver.. with a couple of extras for the sale this weekend...

I don't feel ready for this sale.. but then in retrospect I never do so will go with what I have...and be happy. I have a couple of pieces to varnish and some to price.. I will start packing tonight after work and then hopefully be able to pack the car tomorrow night.. it will be their first spring sale but the christmas ones are lovely so don't expect much less of this one.. It's a fundraiser for the grads so the kids are there when you drive up.. and help you unload and get everything to your booth.. and when its time for pack up.. they are right there to help as well.. makes for a less stressful sale for sure.. sometimes it's the little things that make you feel so good..
I did do a challenge for the I am the Diva I am not sure it meets the criteria for the challenge but oooh I love the white on navy.. My gel pen worked for most of it.. but was getting a little funky towards the end so not quite as neat as I would have like it..

Don't forget if you haven't signed up for the Sweet Summertime Hugs Giveaway at OFG to do so.....
Yesterday I met a lovely lady from Manitoba on Facebook that has a giveaway with all the vendors being from Manitoba...Cynthia Korman Photography & Design that is having a fan giveaway on her blog..Raindrops & Moonlight so take a look at what talented peeps we have here in Manitoba..and sign up for the chance to win some beautiful prizes.
I think my sign in page for my sketchbook is almost finished.. keep looking at it and wondering...lol so maybe not..
Look what my girlfriend gave me... was very excited.. I love boxes.. have quite a collection of them all shapes and sizes.. can hardly wait to do something with this one..

Well.. enough rambling for one morning.. thanks for stopping in.. and making it through all this... Hope you have a loverly and creative day..
Kath
xx

Monday??

Good Monday morning.. is there really such a thing? lol I was just outside.. listening to the geese, the cranes and the birds... very noisy morning... everyone has alot to say... and guess what I saw?????? yup SNOWFLAKES!! yup that's right.. ugh.... so not what you want to see after such a lovely day yesterday.. I'm sure they won't stay.... they just can't...lol
We had a fun day yesterday.. before we went for dinner we drove down to Lake Winnipeg to see if there's any water showing yet.. in the distance you can see a little open water but not much yet.. the open water around the edge is more from the ditches than actual melting...soon though hopefully...

so pretty much ice and snow as far as you can see... I love it when the ice starts to move and heave.. but never seem to be down there to get a good picture when it happens...

The Easter hunt was fun.. not so much chocolate as toys... etc great new Mickey Mouse pail and bubble soap everywhere lol ..dinner was lovely as usual.. the new Bbq meatballs recipe is a keeper..
I've made a good dent in the books in a short time.. and working on an order to be picked up on wed.. and I got some absolutely awesome collage sheets to play with from Cemerony.. they are gorgeous..

Hope to get another couple of bowls finished before the weekend.. I don't usually paint the insides because then you need to put a cloth  inside so there's no direct contact with food  but the inside of this one needed sanding and didn't look so great..but was a perfect shape...
Off to work late shift today.. weird I never work mondays.. lol so should go and get something accomplished before I go...
Hope everyone has a lovely day.. even if it is monday...lol.. thanks for stopping by ..
Kath
xx
P.S. check out this great giveaway on All Things Paper... I am sooooooo wanting these...lol. Just think of what you could do with these.. Ann  has some fantastic examples to show you...

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone that celebrates...I'm looking forward to a lovely family dinner this afternoon and Chaya's first egg hunt.. should be so much fun... it's rather gloomy looking outside but the sun is supposed to shine.. we shall see...lol.. It actually hit 14c yesterday and finally last night there was a chorus of frogs singing.. love listening to them...and could even hear them over the geese... which is no mean feat.. let me tell you... I realized yesterday that in a week or so it will be the end of April.. and I haven't finished up anything for the accountant.. not a good thing.. so have been working hard on them.. wondering where my intention of having them done early went.. and of course vowing never to do this again... lol (yet again this year)
So quickly painting in between and working on my journal pages.. feeling a little stuck.. there will be a button on the sidebar if you'd like to check out what everyone is doing in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Sketchbooks..
I did get my tangled eggs colored during my tea breaks... it's the first time I've used my black water color pencil.. it sure goes everywhere... no matter how little water you use...

not perfect but.. I so love how the basket turned out..
Anyways should get busy and get something done before we leave.. Hope everyone has a lovely day.. thanks for stopping by...
Kath
xx
P.S. don't forget to sign up for the Sweet Summertime Giveaway on the sidebar....

Friday... Friday... Friday!!!!

Good morning... it's friday.. and a holiday.. doesn't get much nicer than that!  Last 3 days at work have been brutal... one of those weeks when walking and talking at the same time.. doesn't work out so well...lol..and if you can trip over it you will...or apparently if you can be tripped over.. it will happen!! So glad this week is over...
Worked on my EGGZZZellent challenge over at I am the Diva's last night when I got home from work..I love this one!! can hardly wait to go and check out everyone's eggs... I think I may color mine though later..eggs are a little warped looking and the "straw" hanging.. am seeing pink and lime green there so....we shall see...

I've been getting some magnetic bookmarks ready for the sale next weekend.. these are awesome if you are a reader.. hard for little hands to pull your bookmark out..lol  they have magnetic strips in between the two tags so they just slip over your page and hold it there.. So far have alot of friends, moms and sisters done.. working on some grandmas and generic ones..but need to spend some time coffee staining some more tags today too..

They are not all the same pictures on each one but similar.. have been looking for a picture with a grandma on it.. not so easy to find..
Well it's raining again... and I so need to get caught up on laundry etc today..so I should get busy and get off this computer...
Don't forget to go and sign up for the Sweet Summertime Hugs Giveaway!! this is an absolutely awesome basket to be won...
Almost forgot.. I got another sale from my Etsy store.. whooo hoooo!!!
Hope everyone has a lovely day! Thanks for stopping by...
Kath
xx

A Giveaway!!

Good morning.. it's 0c here....Yay!!!! water is mostly gone around here.. just some mud left to dry up.. a little warmth would sure go a long way...lol
I belong to a group on Etsy called The Old Farmhouse Gathering and they are doing their 4th Annual Sweet Summertime Hugs Giveaway on May 18th, 2011. All you need to do is leave a comment on the post and if you don't have a blog, make sure you leave an email addy for them to get hold of you.  So click away on the sign on my sidebar and take a look at the lovely items that will be included in the basket.. Good luck!
This is what I put in for the basket...

I'm working the evening tonight.. nice to not rush off in the morning but.... late night.. I'm finishing up some Quilled tag magnets and framed verses for the show on the 30th... Hope to get some up on Etsy by the weekend too... I have a hard time taking pictures of the quilling.. those great little fringed flowers look so whited out.. think I need a camera course..lol

Think that's about it for now.. need to go and work on my sketchbook.. and figure out how to put the buttons on here etc so that you can see everyone's lovely pages... It's so exciting to see the beautiful art work everyone is doing.. can hardly wait to see them in person...
Hope you have a lovely day! Thanks for stopping in...
Kath
xx

UGH!

That is pretty much all I have to say this morning... just wanted to show you what I woke up to...

It's a good 3 or more inches of snow.. I guess should be happy it wasn't a foot of it but really???? lol
Off to get ready for work.. just thought I'd share this... Have a lovely day!
Kath
xx

Happy Friday!!!

Fridays are so wonderful.. weird that it makes me happy when I have to work tomorrow but.. it's just something about the thought of the weekend isn't it? I have stayed off my computer since thursday morning pretty much..and it's amazing how much one can get done...lol First off I was panicking because I had dates wrong in my head.. thinking I only had a week till that show.. but someone set me straight today and I have 2!! 2 whole weeks!!! lol...so a little of the panic is gone..Then I thought Yike's it's Easter next weekend.. and I should see what the store does for these holidays... I do not want to miss dinner on Easter sunday...There are times that living in a small town is alright.. we have a by-law that we can't be open Good Friday or Easter Sunday! Apparently the store  does require you to be open those days if we didn't.. Yay! for small towns!
Anyways.. this is what I finished off since yesterday....

I know you say.. I still see those teapots in the background...lol.. soon soon... I have 2 more of the Our Friendship coffee signs done.. and 2 of these new ones... for my tea drinking friends...

I don't do any trimming or anything of the shingles.. just sanding so sometimes they are a little different shape.. character is what they have...lol
It seems forever since I joined a site called Willowing & Friends I have watched the first class but haven't had time to watch the other one yet.. but from the first one I did this sketch.. I kinda wrecked her face abit on one side.. didn't realize that it wasn't good to use watercolor pencils on a wet paper.. so... but I still love her.. it's my first sketch/watercolor piece like this...she's not perfect but I do love how the shading in her hair came out... I  love what everyone is doing on there and would so love to have time to go and hang out there..

I saw the most beautiful clip on You Tube today.. but I am not sure how to put it on here. It's called the Power of Words...
Ok that link worked... It is so true on how a word can make such a difference to someone or something.
Well.. that's probably enough rambling for now..lol... I should get back to work.. Have a very lovely weekend.. and keep your fingers crossed that we don't get the predicted snow tonight... please...lol
Thanks for stopping by..
Kath
xx

Happy Hump Day!!

Good morning... it's sooooo cold here this morning.. that nasty wind started up late afternoon and is still blowing this morning.. took the temps down to -15c ...brrrrrrr so much for spring...lol There is so much water everywhere here right now.. imagine fields with water so deep that there are whitecaps with this wind.. we are lucky our place is fairly high and we are wet but nothing like this... here's a pic of the road and field between our place and our neighbors... what road you say???  and look.. just the tops of the fence posts showing in their field...

These are fields.. not actual lakes.. and they were taken yesterday.. arghhh I changed the month on my camera.. now the date is screwy.. sheesh.. crazy thing....
Otherwise had a loverly day.. finished my book.. sorted all Katie's Cows bills and am ready to enter them in the computer.. (accountant called again yesterday..lol promised him next week for sure..) have some things based and ready to paint on.. and did my challenge for this week over at I am the Diva... you were supposed to do your tangle in 15 minutes.. no more no less.. so no color but did a few of my fav ones ..didn't get time to outline it so is kinda looking like it may go on forever...lol It's the first time I used that Sakura pen.. liked it but when I erased my string.. the ink smudged in one spot.. not impressed.

It's back to work today..2 - 9:30.. yuck...but am liking this week though..I  don't work again until saturday so am starting to feel rested and not so harried... a good thing!  So the plan is to get things ready to paint tomorrow before I head off today...Ooh and I also sold one of those Love is boards and the lady is picking it up today at work.. always a good feeling...
So everyone have a lovely day.. thanks for stopping by..
Kath
xx

A day off...

I have the day off today.. had a lovely trip into the city yesterday.. it hit 15c which was gorgeous and perfect for a road trip.. good  music, sunshine.. what more could you ask for..... unfortunately today it's 6c so far and now it's raining..lol good day to stay in and hopefully get something accomplished. I did hit a Goodwill store.. too early for all the new goodies from spring cleaning but a couple of nice things.. love the wooden butterfly and this jug is just too cute..and the label will wash off...and there are the pie plates and kettle from the weekend.. all those teapots in the background are half done.. would probably be a good thing to finish today...lol

Inspiration Earth is having a giveaway for one of her fabulous clipboards when she reaches 100 sales on Etsy... so check out her Simply Smitten shop and maybe you will be the lucky one.. hurry though.. she's at 99 sales already!!!!
I redid the Friendship coffee sign...and added some homespun...

I am a week behind on the challenge over at I am the Diva but here is my Mooka for last week... I love this tangle.. and will be using it alot I think...never mind the colors.. was trying out some of my new water color pencils.. lol

I am excited though.. I finally started my first pages in my journal for the Sisterhood of the Travelling Sketchbooks... can't show you yet though.. soon I hope...
well off to get something done.. don't forget to check out Inspiration Earth...
Have a great day...
Kath
xx

Sunday morning musings....

Good morning ...the sale was about what I expected but had fun anyways...lol spent more than I made but did get to spend the day with my bestest friend Liz and her hubby Lawrence, that had the booth next to me...she bakes the most amazing everything!! Doesn't everything just look delicious?

Here's my booth....

There were some yard sale booths too and I scored a teapot, kettle and 4 loverly pie plates.. Whoo Hoooo!
The day was foggy and dull.. and looks the same this morning...I  need sunshine but the temp hit +9c yesterday anyways...more snow melted and the water is starting to run...
New sign I finished but think I will change it and put Our on the top of it...or do you think it is better like this? I thought it would be more personal with Our on it...

and the lake one with the lighthouse turned out pretty good too...I think...

So dislike working on sundays.. but the good thing is won't work again till wednesday... and I have a chiro appt in the city tomorrow.. so looking forward to that..lol and we'll meet Sheila and Chaya for lunch too. A perfectly lovely day.. maybe I can get some more watercolor pencil colors too..
Hope you all have a loverly Sunday! thanks for popping by...
Kath
xx

ooh pretty...

Good morning... not alot to say this morning.. woke up way too early and can't get back to sleep.. worked the past 2 days and will again today.. it's like christmas opening all the seasonal stock and putting it out...lol  You never know what it is till you open it up.. some things are abit weird but others.. well they are just soooo cute.. makes you want all these cute little things all over your yard...I actually have some grass showing... whooo hooo!! and the snow is melting slowly.. just watching the water build up and waiting for it to drain...and every day is a flood forecast for southern Manitoba..
In the mail I got the most beautiful Dragon Bead from Witchylana.. I had won thru the OWOH ... it's gorgeous and was so thrilled to win it.. she does lovely work...not sure what I am going to do with it.. so far it's just sitting here where I can admire it...

Ok.. I keep forgetting to tell how I did those tin foil backgrounds.. Jen over at Jenxo was the one who had told me about it.. but I can't find where she got the tut from or if she had just told me.. but basically I used a panel from a cereal box for each color & crumpled tin foil.. you have to be careful how tight you do this because it tears easily when you try and pull it apart again to put on the cereal box.. I covered the cereal box with gel medium(this needs to be fairly thick).. and started flattening out the tin foil.. then I put gel medium on it again when it was done.. now.. this was the other part I couldn't remember..lol I did a little corner with inks.. wasn't crazy about it so I tried the Luminart water colors and they weren't bright enough so then settled on the Decoart metallic paints and just brushed and finger painted it on everywhere...

They are beautiful but find it hard to glue collage pieces on as the background is so textured..so am thinking that the collage pics should have a heavier backing before adding them to the foil background next time. I dry brushed gold on the first one after it was dry.. and black pearl on the second one. Sorry Brandy and Les for taking so long to write this out...can hardly wait to see what you come up with...
Otherwise.. nothing is completely finished as yet... I painted a few  lake scenes.. and when I was done realized that I hadn't watched where the holes were to hang so will have to drill new ones as they are all upside down...lol So that's what I'll be doing tonight after work..
Hope everyone has a loverly day.. and thank you for stopping by...
Kath
xx

Nice to be back...

Well so much for internet.. was completely out for a few days.. so am very far behind on everything here..and I work the next few days,  But we had a lovely time with Chaya..lol.. Afi went out and shoveled all the snow around the swing set so she could have her first swing of the year..

think I need to fix the date on my camera though... wonder why it changes the date on it's own all the time..lol
I have my first show this saturday.. it's a small local one but am still trying to get some springy/summery type things done. and need to pack up what I am going to take with me. I need a verse for a lighthouse painting I did.. somehow the ones I usually use don't seem to fit it very well... any thoughts would be appreciated...lol
I did get a lovely surprise the other day though.. a friend happened to hit a thrift shop after he was at a meeting and look what he brought me....

so many skates... so little time...lol can hardly wait to start basecoating and painting them...I so need more room to paint...lol
Just in case you've never seen my painted skates.. here's a pic...

and the other side....

I am a little nervous about starting my art journal.. for the Travelling Sistah's group as I have never done one before.. and it's supposed to be about me.. drawing a total blank.... hope some inspiration comes soon..
Anyways.. should get to something.. I work 2 - 9:30 tonight.. does not sound like fun...
Thanks for stopping by.. hope you have a loverly day! It is sunny here and supposed to be +6c... whooo hooooo!!!!
Kath
xxx

Catch up Saturday!

Good morning.. I checked first to see if I could load a pic... yay!!! here's one of my first ATC's done on the tin foil and inks background again...second card ..done on the pattern paper again....

I did get my challenge done for I am the Diva..probably could have been curvier but....

And then the mini challenge with Laura's new tangle.. Versa..love it.. can see using this one a lot...

These are some of the signs I have been working on this week for the spring sales... some on canvas and some on wood..some with lighthouses..some for the garden .but all done with a sponge...

Think that is it.. it took so long for that last one to load... better not push it...lol... last night the internet wasn't working at all ... It's off to work again today..it's been a crazy week changing every price tag in the store.. now to get to the 9 palettes of freight today before any more comes in... should be fun!! Then Miss Chaya is coming out tonight till tuesday..which will be fun fun fun!!!! can hardly wait to see her...The prediction for tomorrow is more snow.. hope they are wrong... it's April already!!
Thanks for stopping by.. hope you have a loverly weekend....
Kath
xx

Yay!! I have internet again!! or not!

Good morning.. I started a post on Wednesday but realized that my internet was so bad I couldn't load anything..very frustrating to say the least.. the good side was that I had to go to work.. so didn't bother me too much.. working again today and tomorrow.. 4 days this week!! My legs actually feel not too bad so must be getting used to it.. Now.. you think with working so much I would be getting more organized... not yet..lol hopefully that will kick in soon...
Painting has not been going well.. can't seem to settle to do anything.. and when I did.. mucked things up so it's on hold for a few days now...I did play abit with paper.. and traded some of the last cards so looking forward to some fun mail...Did you notice I got my Flickr button up??? I was so proud of myself..lol next will try the Facebook one..
Here's a couple of cards...
or not.. grrrrrr.. still can't load a pic..it just keeps loading and loading.. sigh...hope it's just the internet not co-operating cuz have no clue if it's something on here...lol..
Well.. I guess will try again tomorrow..
Hope everyone has a lovely day..now you know that I am alive anyways..lol..
Kath
xx
P.S. I forgot to mention that it snowed a lot yesterday and it's snowing again this morning????  Happy spring!! lol