Katie's Clay Corner

I have a few questions....

2012-01-11T17:12:00.000-08:00

I have a few questions that I was wondering if anyone out there could help me with..... I have tried googling the answers.... and have come up with some ideas, but I know you all have better information:)

OK.... I need to age some copper.... I'm reading I can soak it in ammonia and salt.... but I'm not that patient..... any other ideas?

Then I have a customer that wants a birdhouse for a terrarium and we are having a hard time finding a glue that holds up to the humidity..... Any one have any solutions there or know of any glues that might hold up?

I'd appreciate any ideas you have to offer:)

New Birdhouses for a New Year...

2012-01-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting some of those birdhouses finished from Christmas, and thought I'd take a second to share a few with you. Hopefully tomorrow I can get them listed. I've put snow on a few and really like how they've turned out! What do You think? And I'm also using a new perch- It's a kitchen sink faucet:)

Of course I did my normal ones with the doorknobs in Christmas colors....

And even did a few without snow. This one I did to look like an old Brass doorknob- I thought it looked better than the cream...

But I have to say- I'm really in love with the faucet ones:)

....now if I could only get my hands on the rest of the things I day dream about.....

I have way Too many ideas in my head!

Until Next Time:)

OK....If You didn't know by now...

2011-12-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

I'm a weirdo! I know it! I'm not afraid to share it.... But I have been trying to keep it off the world wide web here lately while I ride these meds out. However.... I said that, Unless anything else interesting happening, I wouldn't be back..... and then I got into another car accident. Yup! But this time.... It wasn't my fault. Actually if you ask me, it wasn't really the other guys fault either, but he's the one that walked away with the ticket. I was coming back from picking up dinner when he was pulling out from a stop sign and hit me in the front- on the other side from where I hit the other other lady a few weeks ago. Other than my shoulder really hurting and I now need all the lights on the other side of my car replaced, everything is OK. My nerves are not... and I really don't want to drive any where... At All.... But when your the only one in the house with a driver's license..... you kinda have to.

I don't know.... the whole thing has got me thinking.... Thinking that someone out there is trying to say something to me.... And without offending anyone or without getting into some big long discussion on religion.... We will just say I tend to question it a lot..... and was asking my self if a higher power wasn't trying to tell me something... so I googled "subliminal messages from God, car accidents" and I shit you not the first thing to come up was a add for the Chrysler 300-
..........................................the Car that I got hit by last night!...... Umm hello.... I had to laugh- If that wasn't eerie then I don't know what is.... I still don't know what it is that I'm suppose to take away from all of this. And believe me it will drive me crazy until I do. Yes, I am one of those people that over think life, lol. Have no fear though, there are other things in my life that I am able to start relaxing about now..... I finally found some paperwork I've been looking for that I lost earlier this summer.... and Over the weekend I found a pair of earrings that I thought I had hid in Cora's dollhouse(I've been looking for those everyday since August!!). I was at the point where I was looking in pots and pans, digging through drawers, and had even begun picking threw the curtains before I decided to look in my jewelry box....again....for the 30th time.... and there they were.... as if they'd just magically been put there..... If I didn't know any better, I'd swear there's a ghost in my house that is playing horrible tricks on me, but I just keep telling myself it's this God Damn Medicine. I do think it's working though.... :D ... I haven't had the night sweats in weeks- but it's got my crying most of the day, and it's giving my heart one heck of a work out.... Other than that life is just Grand, LMAO......

And I have I'm thinking 50 half finished 'Christmas' Birdhouses sitting on my table. Another side effect of the medicine-extreme procrastination, lol. I'm close to being done with some of them though....the little ones just need roofs, and I have some with doorknobs that I'm going to try and add snow topped roofs to. Oh- and I have new ones with faucets as perches! I have several bigger ones drawn out.... and I have tons of ideas, I just can't seem to stay focused on anything. Hopefully after Christmas.... when all the holidays go away I can try and focus and I'm just going to have to list Christmas stuff all though the Spring. Then it will be on to the bunnies:) If anything I will try and have some preview pictures for you this weekend.
But for now.... I gotta figure out how to get rid of this Bah Hum Bug attitude.
I don't want it rubbing off on the family, but I'm afraid it already has. Maybe I can learn to like Eggnog?

**Thought I'd throw in some pictures of what we call 'The MarshMallows'.... They've got their winter coats on and are as big as houses....Two big White fluffy cats with black helmet heads..... That's Boogs in the top picture and Freddy in the bottom. And then there's me... I donated my hair recently! did I tell you? I have thick hair- so they were able to get 4- 10 inch pony tails! And as you can see.... it's still pretty long(I was able to sit on it before I cut it).... My father would have a Fit if I cut it any shorter- Yes! Even at my age! lol It's what happens when you come from a family of all girls. And it is soooo much easier to take care of now- My heart loves it! lol

Until Next Time

Red Paint and a Squirrel Tail...

2011-12-03T08:42:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays...... We did. We spent a quiet evening at home with the kids:) Of course the drama was over where the turkey was going to be cooked. Our oven is not working at the moment.... And I had decided I wanted to try and cook the turkey in a Crock Pot- But I couldn't seem to find a Turkey small enough to fit in our Over sized pot... So then our neighbor offered to let me use her kitchen seeing as she was going to be at her families' all day. Then the day before Thanksgiving she calls me to tell me the her power is out in her kitchen. So we called an Electrician.... and I have a good friend who also called around the same time and offered to bring me a roaster. Well around the same time the Electrician showed up, so did the power company, and the pouring down Rain mind you, lol.... Seems other neighbors were having similar problems... and something about something that is way over my head- but by the end of the evening the power was working again... and all was well. LOL. Turkey got cooked on a bed of red apples and was delicious! But very dramatic, lol.

So..... I ordered a stamp for my store. I figured I stamp my signs, only seems nature to have a store stamp right. I ordered it from The Stampin' Place on Etsy. Really good customer service- Really quick turn around and shipping! And I have stamped everything! LOL.... No Casey- The cats did not get stamped, lol.... although the new box of cat litter that sat in the living room for too long did, lol. And so did that stick in the picture, lol. I know it's only half a stamp- but at least it's the part with my website...plug, plug.

But let's talk about this red paint. I've been working on this order for a friend for Christmas. She wanted signs to give her friends for Christmas.... I made them, took them out side to seal them- but I've been having problems with the sealer. At first I was thinking it was the weather. Then I thought it was clogged. I soaked it, poked it... and that didn't work.... so I bought a new can. And made the dumb mistake of spraying all the signs. Those are the ones in the bottom set. Well.... now they are frosty....

You can see it better in this picture. Look at the middle sign. That has a coat of sealer on it. Do you see what I mean. The top sign does not. I could kick myself in the butt for spraying ALL those signs. I tried to sand the frost off ( see the 3rd sign down in th epic) but then it started sanded off the ink, too. So I just redid them.... those are the ones in the picture above in the top half of the pic. I still have to cut them down, sand them and age them..... but I refuse to send something that is less then what I would want. I think I might try and Modge podge the frosty ones to see if I can't save those. I've spent way too much time on them to just throw them away.

Now see... I sprayed this 'lady' sign with those red ones yesterday and you can't tell! It looks fine?! This is a hand carved stamp that I made a loooong time ago. Don't think this one will be going in the shop, but if your interested, I can make one for you.

...Now who does this remind you of?
Too cute- I just had to buy this set!

OK.. I must warn you... If you gross out easy- You might want to leave now..... Sorry

My youngest was walking through the backyard the other afternoon... When he yelled:
"Ahhh Gross- Maa- There's a dead Squirrel in the yard..... Oh wait- Nevermind- It's just a Tail!"

Nice!

Thanks Guys!
Cats!

...until next time....
I'm off to start listing the unfrosty signs...

Birdhouses are Listed!

2011-11-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

OK.... So I know it took a lot longer than it should of..... but those that are done are up and listed in Etsy... and there only a few small ones left to finish and list. I only made 3 big ones... and they are listed. I won't make any more to sell. For one, I can't find the other sheet I bought, and 2- I like knowing there's only going to be 3 OOAKs! (Although I may make one ooak for Cora's Gothic room at a later date?- if I ever figure out what I did with that other sheet of stickers?!)

This red one has an image on the front and an image on the back... You can see all the pictures over in Etsy:)

There's only 2 of these little ones.... A black one and a grey one.... Sally is so sweet....

I LOVE this one.... Almost don't want to part with it.....

I have this set.... and then there is another set I still have to photograph- but I ran out of sun:(

The weather here has been horrible for pictures! I had about 20 minutes of sun and then it was gone. Tomorrow is Turkey day... and well..... I will explain that after I figure that out. drama- LOL! For now.... I'm going to go clean up the mess I've made, and prepare for all that cooking we're about to do! You all be safe! I'm thinking about you all. I might not blog or comment.. or email... but I do think about all of You. I wonder if You're out playing in that snow, and damn- I missed my opportunity for Monster acorns again... or if my mother has sent You those dang on bobbins yet.... or if You've made it back from your trip yet? Of if Your hanging in there.... There's a lot of Yous out there that I think about.... I will get back into to the grove of things one day. But for now....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Until Next Time

Katie

Those new birdhouses...

2011-11-10T14:03:00.000-08:00

While walking through the mall the other day I came across these nail stickers and just knew they need to be made into some birdhouses....

Then yesterday I went back and bought another pack because if you look close there is only one single Jack sticker....and well.... I wanted one to sell and one to keep! Cora's going to need one of these in her Gothic room! To date, these are the most expensive nail stickers I have bought! But totally worth it.....

...and here's some of the birdhouses I've been working on. Each house was hand cut out of Basswood, and no two are the same. I measure each one as I go, so they are not totally perfect... But to me, that's what gives them their charm.... Then the real work begins. They get painted.... crackled, sanded, painted again, ...etc, etc.... and then some where in between all that...

...a nail sticker gets added......

...and then......

...you'll have to wait.....lol

Until Next Time.......

Maybe it wasn't that expensive after all....

2011-11-08T07:38:00.000-08:00

You know... It's a good thing my oldest is in that auto mechanics program at school now that his Ding-Bat of a mother is driving around town playing bumper cars, huh. I tried to avoid that phone call to the insurance company yesterday explaining that I was a jackass, but they seemed to beat me to the punchline and called me in the afternoon 'to check on me'... Turns out I've got better coverage than I thought I had and the two cars I hit are covered. All I have to pay for is the ticket I got for being a moron and the light that I took out on my car. And with my handy dandy son knowing how to work on cars.... He'll be changing that out that light for me this afternoon After I get the courage up to get back in that car to go buy a new one, lol......

Then I have a preview of those birdhouses I've been talking about...... all I'll say is I came across some nail stickers at the mall..... and that's all she wrote.....

Until Next Time.....

That was one expensive cup of Hot Chocolate!

2011-11-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

OK.... This should be my last Med update until I find out if it works.... which won't be for several more months, so unless something else happens, that trumps today.... I'm going to leave it alone, OK? Promise.....

But First.... I gotta go back to last week.
I finally sat down and wrote a letter to the doctor. I figure it would be easier than trying to explain it on an answering machine or to some nurse who would have No idea as to what I was talking about. So last Tuesday.... I ran the letter out there, addressed to his main PA.... because I know how busy the doctor himself is..... And Friday he called me back. This medicine is giving my mind a run for it's money... As I put it.... My mind has turned into mash potatoes! Last week I went to grocery store to purchase a birthday cake for my son.... got sidetracked by some yummy looking bread.... thought about what I was going to make for dinner, went grocery shopping.... and it wasn't until about 6 hours later, when I was at home in bed, that it dawned on me that I had completely forgotten to order his cake! I repeat myself to the kids, ask them the same questions.... And then today.....

I T-Bone someone! Yup! Me. The girl who's never been in an accident....The girl with no tickets. And I was not even a block away from the house. Totally my fault! I was turning into 7-11... Trying to see if there was any parking spaces.... and I just didn't see the little white car coming at me when I turned.... Well, when I hit her, she hit the parked car that was sitting on the side of the road. Luckily No one got hurt! But I sure made a mess out of her car! And I swear to Whom ever... It's this Gosh damn medicine! I just don't go around t-boning people. I'm that girl that gets yelled at for driving to slow! You know- They call me "Driving Miss Daisy".... Needless to say..... I was a mess.... Another side effect of the medicine- I can't stop crying! So I called the bf on the phone and asked him to bring me my 'Volume' (as the kid calls it) because at this point, one of my other side effects..... My Heart..... was kicking in. Yes, I'm now getting runs of my SVT again... which means my heart beat is in the 130s- 150s sometimes. Now I take meds for this anyways... and my heart doc knows about this. Remember I have a healthy heart, I just have electrical issues.... but when one of those electrical issues starts to act up, the rest follow, and as I was told, "I was an emotional wreck!"........LMAO- And here I thought I held myself up pretty well. After all was said and done, I had the bf drive the car home, I got my hot chocolate from 7-11 and I walked! No more driving for me! I still have to call the insurance company to tell them I f*ck*d up.... but I just don't have it in me yet. I'm honestly ready for a nap. lol

Anyways.... When I talked to the doctor the other day.... They told me to go ahead and keep taking the meds. The are aware of what it is doing to me, but we both want to see what the outcome will be, and as long as the symptoms aren't too bad, and as long as I keep my butt out of the car.... I think I'll be OK...... He said my body should start to adjust to the meds after a while, so that's a bit of good news right.....

Now lets just pray it works.

Until Next Time

The kinda days I live for!

2011-11-03T07:13:00.000-07:00

Figured it was about time I did a Happy post! (as Rufus runs right across the keyboard- Damn cats!) Sunday was my Youngest 13th Birthday! I can Now officially say I have 3 teenagers....
13, 14, and 15...... and as I said to my Mother the other day... "HELP!" lol
OMG! What am I in for? lol
So this is my baby.... all grown up- covering his ears as his buddies are Screaming Happy Birthday to him! In his defense- It was rather loud!

Of course no party is ever complete without Emma- my Daughter's 50 pound Moose. I swear she's the biggest cat we know, with the tiniest, daintiest legs you've ever seen! Too cute!

OK..... I'll spare my Ex the embarrassing after shot photo of his face.... But I won't spare him the story... Bah hahahahaaaa..... Oh this Good! Don't get me wrong- Me and my Ex get along really good- But I sure do love it when this kind of stiff happens. So my son got the tube thing for his birthday.... but couldn't figure out how to open it.... Me, I was standing in the back, behind all the boys- which by the way- have grown sometime in the last year, because I now have to stand on my tippie toes to see over them (And I'm 5'10)...anyways.... I hear a "Pull this" and a BANG and the boys I'm standing behind, back me into the kitchen.... and all you see is smoke! And here's comes my ex, Bent over.... barely whispering "They shot me!"....... And well... You know me..... I'm on the floor at this point laughing..... Because I'm realizing this tube is one of those party confetti things and what my ex if referring to- is the fact that the 'boys' have just shot him with is a tube of confetti- Right in the gut! ...... And then he says to me..... All calm like...... "Ya know, It really isn't all that funny!"..... ROTFL....... I just had to walk away at that point and help my daughter clean up the mess..... there was even confetti in the kitty litter! I'm sure my ex will be finding that stuff in his house for months! LOL.....

Poor Guy!

Cameron decided he wanted a Halloween themed cake this year so I found a Frankenstein cupcake cake at Farmfresh. Anyone want to try in it mini?

And I know it was Cameron's Birthday, but it seems my daughter has hogged up my camera. She decided she wanted to be a pretty ghost....If you look close you'll notice she has flowers on her white sheet and a unicorn in her hands- and a wee bit of a crooked face, lol. (Mind you we had to take the scissors away from her- she thought she was going to cut the eye holes out while she still had the sheet on her head- duh!) Only my daughter!

See..... at the end of a bad day..... I'll always have the kiddos to make me laugh....

Until Next Time....

IMPORTANT!!! ALL SELLERS BEWARE!

2011-10-31T12:58:00.000-07:00

There's a scam artist out there trying to get you.... and his emails go a little something like this... I have copied and pasted mine in here so you get the idea...... (When he realized I was on to him, he went back and deleted the ones he had sent to me- but the dumb ass forgot about my sent box!)

Day 1:
On 09/30/11, John Benson johnbenson1990@hotmail.com wrote:
Hello,My name is John Benson,I want to place an order in your store,I will like to know if you ship to Philippines .Do you accept credit card?.Get back to me with your website/price list.I will await your prompt response.
Best RegardJohn Benson
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Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2011
From:
To: johnbenson1990@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Order Inquiry
Hi!
Sorry.... when I first looked at this it almost looked like a virus?! I hope I am wrong!

Yes I can send to the Philippines. And you can order from my store here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Katiesclaycorner
I do believe you can pay with a credit card directly there! Thank you for your interest!

Katie:)
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On 10/12/11, john benson wrote:
Dear Katie,

Good to read back from you . below are the Items I want to order,

Birdhouse- Dollhouse Miniature
50 Quality

3 Miniature Birdhouses- Dollhouse Miniatures
50 Quality

SHIPPING ADDRESS
1)My Customer's ID # : D7LO231101LOP
2)Delivery Full Address:
16 Ayala Avenue,
Makati City,
Metro Manila, Philippines 1226

Concerning the shipment,the likes of UPS,FEDEX and POST OFFICE always don't take care of the charges down here. Charges like handling, customs duties,tax etc. I have experienced such situation before and I don't want to be the victims of such a thing again. I will be glad if you contact this freight forwarder LECH TECH LOGISTICS for shipping quote.The shipping company will arrange the pick-up of my order from your store,so you don't have any stress to face in shipping processing at all.Here is their email address ( lechtech44@gmail.com) ,Not that I can't deal with the shipper directly,but they always prefer to deal with the store where they will be doing the pick up in other to reduce the customs duties and other charges.They have a way of preparing their shipment documents whereby the custom duties payment on this goods will be reduced and if I wanted to pay for the custom duties and other charges, at times it is 40% of the whole package amount.I do trust LECH TECH LOGISTICS ,if not I wouldn't have recommend them for my shipment.They are very reliable and fast.They will take care of everything including Handling, Customs duties,Tax, Insurance etc.Contact them to obtain a quote and get back to me in the format bellow:

COST OF THE ORDER
COST OF THE SHIPPING FROM LECH TECH LOGISTICS
TOTAL COST (ORDER + SHIPPING)
Once I have these details from you, I will get back to you with my credit card information,so you can charge and make the necessary shipping arrangements.
Regards,
Benson

NOTE:The freight company will need these 5 information to get you a quote,so provide them with the details bellow:
1)My Customer's ID # : D7LO231101LOP
2)Delivery Full Address:
16 Ayala Avenue,
Makati City,
Metro Manila, Philippines 1226
3)Pick Up Full Address : PROVIDE YOUR ADDRESS
4)Weight Of The Consignment : PROVIDE ORDER WEIGHT
5)Momentary Value Of The Consignment : PROVIDE ORDER TOTAL COST
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Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2011
From:
To: johnbenson1990@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Items Needed.............................................................Contact Shipper

Hi John,
After I picked myself up off the floor, I'm really going to have to re-read this again. I'm sorry... I've never had an order this big, and am a little speechless right now...... I honestly thought this was spam from the beginning......

I can totally understand the customs issues and will contact lech tech log. and see what I can find out on my end. When I ship stuff overseas, I try and mark it as a gift so people don't have to pay that charge........but then again I generally only ship a few at a time....

As for your order, which birdhouses are you referring too...... I make several kinds and several colors..... What did you have in mind.

I usually don't check this account, but now that I know I'll be expecting another email from you.. my next reply won't take so long... Sorry about that!

Thank-you!

Katie
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On 10/21/11, john benson wrote:
Dear Katie,

Have you Contact Lech Tech with this information i gave you?Remember Lech Tech ( lechtech44@gmail.com) will need all this information below

1)My Customer's ID # : D7LO231101LOP
2)Delivery Full Address:
16 Ayala Avenue,
Makati City,
Metro Manila, Philippines 1226
3)Pick Up Full Address : PROVIDE YOUR ADDRESS
4)Weight Of The Consignment : PROVIDE ORDER WEIGHT
5)Momentary Value Of The Consignment : PROVIDE ORDER TOTAL COST

Best Regard
Benson
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Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011
From:
To: johnbenson1990@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: RE: Items Needed.............................................................Contact Shipper

Hi Benson...

I have Not contacted them yet, because I am still unsure of what it is that you want so I don't know how big the box would be or how much it would weigh. Nor do I know how much it would cost because I am a little unsure of what birdhouses you are referring to. I make several and I make them as I go, generally no 2 are the same. Once I get a little better understanding of what you want, I can call them with a better understand of the information you want me to give them. If you go to my store site you can tell me which birdhouses you are requesting?

Katie
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On 10/25/11, john benson wrote:
Dear Katie,

I just got your email right now,Just give me any good ones that can make me happy and get back to me Asap thanks a lot.

Best Regard
Benson
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And it was about right here when I found out that the whole thing was a scam.......
which you can find here:
http://stopartscams.blogspot.com/2011/02/scam-email-andrew-roundy.html
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Well Hello MR John, or whatever your name really is....

I have Googled your Lech Tech and Found a wonderful site explaining who you are and what your up to.... and I just wanted to say Thank-you for F*ck*ng up my week. You know I am a single Mom with a really bad Heart trying to take care of 3 kids and when I saw your order I was so proud of myself. I can NOT begin to tell you how crushed I was when I found out the whole thing is a scam! Shame on you!!! What a terrible thing to do to people! Didn't YOUR Momma teach YOU any better? "Just give me any good ones that can make me happy"..... what kind of crap is that? Well Buddy..... Try this some where else..... My chest hurts, my feelings are hurt... and Now I'm Pissed! Thanks!

Best Regards my Ass!
Katie

What a Joke!
Like I said......
BEWARE OF PEOPLE LIKE MR. BENSON! Or whatever his name really is......

New signs.... and a med update...

2011-10-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

I have bought a Lot of stamps lately.... too many to admit to actually..... but this little witch has got to be one of my favorites.

I can't remember where I had seen this phrase, but I knew I had to do it in mini.... and when I found the stamp, I thought it would make a cute sign- Now to find a home for it... Anyone building a witch's flying school? lol..... Neat idea, though, huh!

Just had to share these with you..... My youngest had brought one home in a milk carton and this is what they blossomed into...... so pretty! I love the rich colors of the fall!

BTW- Like my new backgrounds for my signs? It's new neighbor's walkway, lol..... I think it looks great against my 'old' signs!
I love the saying on this one......

Sorry, but before you get your hopes up, this one has already been sold...... But I can make more, but it might not be exactly like this one because I used the middle section of a big stamp to do this... I really like it, and wasn't surprised when it was one of the first signs to sell this afternoon:)

I gotta tell you..... When I went out to take the pictures, the sun was already past my yard, so I had to go across the street and use my neighbor's walkway.... And don't you know I can't go Anywhere without The Three Stooges following me... And I thought the kids were bad, lol....

... I don't think I told you yet... But do you remember me telling you about the little boy who lived across the street with leg cancer? Well.... after they took out his leg, replaced it with the rod, went through Chemo.... Went back to get checked out again and then they found out he had lung cancer. Well they removed that, went through Chemo again.... and guess what... He just went his first year being Cancer free:) And they just moved back in next door, temporally.... but it's nice to see them again every day! I miss hearing him yell... "Hi Drew's Mom!" :)

OK... You know I gotta go there..... It time for a med update.....

Last night was my recent up dose. I'm now taking 3 pills( 75mg) of Topiramate a night (don't think I've actually told you the name of the med before.) So My toes/feet/fingers/ and hands still go numb for random reasons and actually as I type my left foot is asleep. I find myself stomping my feet in the strangest of places- like in the grocery store- between my bagging issues and now my stomping issues, I know those people think I have lost my mind!). The night sweets(LOL, I had to leave that typo- to funny sweets, lol...meant to type sweats) are gone, but I'm getting hot flashes... and I'm having a hard time maintaining my body temp so I'm drinking lots of warm fluids. I'm still not hungry. I have begun my old regime of drinking nutritional drinks in the mornings again to maintain some kind of normal for my body. Not having too much of a problem with my IBS- but then again, I'm not really eating so there's nothing there to annoy me. And in the past few days I've noticed my heart rate increasing. I have SVT (Supraventricular tachycardia) anyways, and take meds daily, but if it gets worse or to a point where I think I need to call someone I will. I know how my 'Lemon' works, and I know when to push it and I know when to back off...... at this point, I'm still 'treading water'** The worst symptom is my mind and is still really messing with me. Now there's been a LOT of 'family' drama, so I can't tell if I'm just stressed or if I'm really losing it, but I've been on meds like this before and I'm kinda thinking that it's a combo of both. You know- Forgetting if I feed the cats or not- And they don't help- They always act like they're hungry! Or When you drive to the pharmacy and end up at the post office instead, but you normally catch yourself en route... well I'm not catching myself till I get to the post office and I'm sitting there trying to figure out wtf I'm doing at the post office..... go ahead, laugh... I do. I always do! Well.... I cry, too. This med just really has my head all screwed up, lol. Up down and all around. Damn it, It better be worth it! LOL...

**When I was a kid, I grew up next to a lake. We used to go swimming all the time, some days we'd swim from the time the sun came up, to the time the sun went down, and then there were the days we'd push our luck and wait for our parents to come yell at us to get out. But it wasn't till the other day that I realized that it was then that I learned how to Really tread water. Eventually you get to the other side:)

Did I tell you I had my one year anniversary with the store:) And I didn't go bankrupt, lol. One day.... I'll get around to having a blog giveaway to celebrate, but my real life just has me all hemmed up right now. So I might be giving away pumpkins for Christmas, but you guys will understand, right?! LOL

In case you didn't notice... this is why I'm not blogging.... I'm rambling..... so instead I'm working:) I'll be starting to work on Christmas signs here soon.... If I can ever get away from the Halloween signs... They are just so addicting..... SO when you get a chance- Come check out the store:)

Until Next Time...

It's me again... fussing this time!

2011-10-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

But I have pretty pictures... So does that help? LOL...

Please tell me why it took me walking all the way to the Post Office this morning before I realized it was a Federal Holiday and that the Post Office was closed?! Yup... my car is still dead, so I'm walking.... Now, don't go feeling bad... it's not far... And I don't mind! I actually like walking. My heart doesn't like it, lol.... But it's good for it! Walking never hurt anyone. In fact.... when I see my head doc every week, I take the stairs instead of the elevator. I don't understand why more people don't... You're only going up 2 floors people! I always tell her I know it's going to be a good day when I can actually make it up the stairs, I may be a little winded by the time I get up there, But I'm there, and that's a great feeling. The walls leading up the stairs are soooo white! And I was telling her the other day that they should paint murals on them, and that might encourage people to walk more?! Don't you agree?!

So... I went back out yesterday for one more pic op in the garden before the sun went away...... This time I tried to set up a 'Pumpkin Patch' picture. Oh- and you asked yesterday where the bench came from- I have no clue, lol... People give me things? I dunno why? lol- I'm not complaining, I like the things they give me... but I'm not sure where it originally came from. It goes in the garden- it's not 1/12 scale..... More like a giant barbie scale, but it works.... And I like the finish on it, too:)

We also had a visitor yesterday.... I tried to get her more involved in the pictures, but she was a very uncooperative ladybug! lol ...... and now that I'm seeing my kitty planter in the back- I'm thinking he needs a couple coats of pink paint- doesn't he look like the Cheshire Cat from this angle?

And before I go..... I just gotta bitch about this new medicine I'm on..... The doc has me on this med to try and regrow those missing nerves.... It's a long shot, and I know that, but it's a chance that I'm willing to take at this point. I've been 'sick' for a long time, and Damn it, I'm ready to move again! I know in the back of my head that there's very little chance this will work, but I have Hope... so we will see.... And I'm not giving up until it's over, so there.....

OK.... So, I'm up the 3rd dose of it, and the symptoms are very apparent! My appetite is Gone. All the weight I worked so hard to gain will soon be gone. My toes and fingers now tingle for no reason. Kinda like when they go to sleep cause your sitting on them wrong- but I'm not even sitting on them kinda thing. I'm waking up soaked every morning because my body is Not maintain it's body temp during sleep. I've taken my temp during the day and it's around 97. I get hot- sweaty, icky, I'm going to throw up hot- then so cold my teeth chatter and my bones hurt cold- It's ridiculous! My IBS is driving me nuts, I wake up in the middle of the night throwing up and find myself sleeping in the tub to get a break. Oh... and I'm forgetting things. Forgetting to mail things, forgetting to do things that I do everyday, asking the kids questions twice and not remembering it. I feel like I'm losing my mind some times.... But I'm rolling with it. Mostly, lol. In 2 weeks, I'll up the dose again..... if I can make it that far. I'm suppose to be on this for at least 6 months before we will know anything. You know sometimes in life, you just got to deal with the bs to get to the light at the end of the tunnel... one day at a time, and one foot in front of the other.... Well..... today's just one of those days where I think I'm just going back to bed, lol.

Until Next Time...

I Love the Sunshine!

2011-10-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

I sure hope the weather is as beautiful there as it is here!! I just wish I could bottle it up and let it loose every morning:)

Thought I'd drop off some pictures so you could get an idea on size. This is Momma Fox (Mrs. Slydale if I'm correct). I've had her Forever- she's one of the original Sylvanians.... In the first picture she's holding a large crackled cream colored pumpkin...

...and in the second picture she's holding a small pumpkin...

Mrs. Beaver (which came from the original Mapletown figures) also came out for the photo op...

Now that I'm thinking about it, I remember taking pictures of these ladies when I was a little girl.... of course back then I would just line all of them up along a wall and a take a picture- how boring!! Don't you think they're much more interesting this way:)

Don't forget to check out all the pumpkins in my Etsy store:)

...until next time....

Pumpkin Update....

2011-10-07T16:25:00.000-07:00

I am just now Finally getting the pumpkins loaded into Etsy. Between the rain, the car dying on us, and everyone having a cold.... well.... you know how that goes...... I just fell behind. So I thought I'd drop off some pictures to share with you:) When you get a chance, you can check the rest of them out on Etsy:)

All of my pumpkins were sculpted by me using a toothpick- and not because I don't have the right sculpting tools, but becasue for some reason I am more comfortable using a toothpick?! Each were painted with a base coat before being painted with LOTS of coats of acrylic paint. After they were crackled, I went back over them with watered down paints to add more age. I feel like I've been painting for weeks, lol. Each pumpkin was also sprayed with an acrylic sealer to protect all those coats of paint.

....look, it has a hat?! ...too cute!

Love those little pink flowers behind the pink pumpkin! With it being October- I just had to make a pink pumpkin! Save those Ta-tas!!

So... Earlier today, I was outside taking pictures.... came in the house for a minute.... and when I came back out the sun wasn't shining in my yard anymore.... So when I started looking around, I spotted my neighbors Beautiful Orange pumpkins.... and knew they'd make a good backdrop- my neighbor wasn't home, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind:)

My biggest pumpkin.... and my smallest pumpkin:)

And of course I can't go anywhere without my shadow!

My neighbor has dogs, so when she's home.... JD doesn't get to come in their yard..... But now that he had their yard to himself..... he was making sure he left his scent Everywhere! Poor dogs- When they finally get outside, they're going to go crazy trying to figure this out!

I still have some more pumpkins to upload into Etsy tomorrow.... but for tonight, I'm done...... well... with the computer at least. I have 'other' pumpkins that need to be finished and one that I'm hoping to have done for a giveaway here soon. Don't worry, it won't be one you can buy it the store, it will be special:)

Ok..... before I go..... I want to thank those of you that leave comments! I know I've been slacking in the whole blogging department and even worse when it comes to leaving you comments, but I'm hoping this will change soon. I was thinking that when the kids went back to school I'd have more time, but for some reason, some one is stealing my days, and I just don't know where time goes these days?

So....
Until Next Time......

My kinda pumpkin patch..

2011-09-26T17:18:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd give you a peek of what's to come in my Etsy store...

Now you know.... I honestly tried to paint these normal, Really I did... but when it came down to it, they just didn't look right. I had to crackle them!

I'll have them in creams, oranges, and blues....

Big and small..... (We won't discuss How many I have sculpted, we'll just say I've been busy, lol!)

Before I go.... thought I'd drop off a few mushroom pictures as well.

It's been raining here for about a week now, and these things are popping up everywhere!

I love the colors- almost like my pumpkins, huh! And those textures!

Alright....back to the patch......

Until Next Time...

And now a minute from the funny farm...

2011-09-22T16:57:00.000-07:00

Since I can't show you what I'm working on right now.... I've made a deal with myself NO picture until I'm done!.... I thought I'd show you what some of the kitties have been up to....

Walked outside this morning.... and realized Freddy Foo-Foo is a ham... look at the bottom lip- too sweet!

This is how Wilbur sits..... mind you both his front paws are hanging like that.... and he'll fall asleep like this- it just Can't be that cozy!

...Cleo.... Cleo is still as crazy as ever! Really though, she has a personality like no other. She's almost up there with that Otis:) I hadn't said anything before.... but she lost her kittens right before we left for the beach house. I just didn't want to deal with the drama of it, but before anyone asks.... I thought I'd bring it up.

Silly Girl!

Otis has been spending a lot of time in the bathroom lately. I swear he is out to give me a heart attack. The past few weeks..... he has insisted on sitting on the tree house. But then the other day we noticed he had pushed the house out, so he could lay behind it! I'd like to have died! OTIS! And he's not the fun to get out of these kinds of places. One day I'll have to video tape him- he's pretty darn mean!

Then there's Bella.... She thinks she's a tree frog this week. I swear she comes down to eat.... but she has been there for days- I think it's cause the glass is cold. She's got herself wedged between my sons bunkbed and the window! Weirdo!

And then there's my sweet Rufus who never gets in any trouble! Ever wonder what happened to the Star Wars Toystore? Well..... we will just say it has become more of a cat house then anything! It seems to be the cool thing to do around here. Right now its sitting on the coffee table because I had to clean out where I store it, but when it's in it's home, the boys.... Teddy and Bear take turns sleeping in it. I dunno- maybe I'm in the wrong business?! LOL

Hope you've enjoyed seeing the kitties.....

I'm going back to finishing what I've started...

Until Next Time.....

A new size sign....

2011-09-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

I found these tiny tiny stamps at the crafts store yesterday..... and made a few signs with them.... I ABSOLUTELY love these tiny signs!!! ((LOL... I came running in here last night after I made this one, and shoved it right up in the kids' faces, to where it scared them a little and when they read it.. they giggled! Weidro Mom!))

Just so you can see.... tiny, small... and large. I am working on a Christmas custom order, and I needed a stamp, so I called my Mom, asked her if she had it... and next thing I know, I'm getting a package with 15 different stamps in it.... Silly Mom! But now I have some different signs to make for the shop:) I love this Peace on Earth sign! And the FAMILY sign came from the same type of set as the BOO one did... too cute! I so hope I can find these at Christmas! (I bought these 2 sets yesterday- a Thanksgiving set and a Christmas set- both were only $1... oops-wait! They were on sale... they were both only .60 each! :)

Well.... I'm off to go catch up on some work that I am way behind on! The weather isn't helping this weekend... It's cold and rainy and I would just love to lay in bed all day. Too bad the kids don't get that, lol.

..until next time!

Easy Basket Idea...

2011-09-16T07:59:00.000-07:00

My Mom gave me these hole punches that she no longer needed, and it gave me an idea... I thought they'd make some really pretty baskets!

Once you figure out which one you want to use... you will need to punch to designs next to each other so they look like one continuous design. Then your first cut is going to be where I have the arrows drawn.... and your second cut is where the stitch line is- this line can be moved depending on how tall you want you basket.

I wanted mine short..... but you can still see the pen marks from the arrows on the sides...don't worry!

Use heavy paper- I'm using something colorful so you can see it better! But a thicker paper will work better. Anyways roll this piece around a Round pen until the paper is curved....

Then decide where to cut it. You do need some to overlap so you can glue it together. Let it dry.... and then this is where it's just like Marlies' pitchers. Glue piece to paper, cut out and paint. (I'm skipping the details, if you need more.. just ask:)

And here's mine..... I started these a Long time ago.... and have just finally gotten around to finishing painting them. LOL... took me forever to decide what color I wanted them... they have been white, linen, cream, moss, green, silver, and then finally vintage white...

These are going in The Painted Lady..... one day...... And what are they going to hold?

But my mini sea shell collection, of course:)

Hope everyone has a great weekend:)

...until next time...

New Birdhouses in Etsy!

2011-09-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let you know that I got the doorknob birdhouses loaded up in Etsy! I have to admit... these are probably one of my favorites:)

I love all the layers in the paint. I was thinking the other night, I just don't know if I could paint a pretty birdhouse! I'd miss mucking them up too much!! LOL I put a lot of work into these little birdhouses. There's several layers of paint, hours of sanding.... and then more painting.....

But I love them:) I even made a few of these to hang on the wall. You can check all of them out in Etsy:)

Before I go.... I want to Thank those of you that commented yesterday. Thank-you! It's nice to be able to vent!

And Casey... When I can remember, I do sign my pieces.... lol.... But most of the time I'm so excited to ship the item, I totally forget to sign it. I need to sign them right before I seal them, huh!

Well.... Now that that is done, I feel like I've got something accomplished! Now to clean the house- Yuck!

Until Next Time....

Health update...

2011-09-12T16:07:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd take a minute and give you a 'health' update seeing as I've seen 3 of my main specialist in the past week:)

The first visit was with the doctor that had done the nerve leg biopsies (the one that was done what seems like a year ago...) ....well, it seems that I have No small nerve fibers....nice. Maybe that is why my legs go numb and are covered in spots when I try and stand or sit? Either way... not too much can really be done... But he is trying a medicine that is used to control seizures to see if they can't regrow those nerves. So we shall see what happens. The medicine is so nasty. For the first 2 weeks, I have to sprinkle it on food, and OMG... is it gross! I'll go back to see him in March and we will see what happens then.....

Next was my urologist.... I had my cystoscopy- that's where they peek in my bladder to make sure everything still looks alright, and it did.... so that was good. But I must say.... I love going to a teaching hospital..... It's always so amusing! I'm getting to get personal here (or as the bf put it, a bit disturbing!), so if you think it may bother you... you may want to STOP reading Now! LOL.... OK, so there I was laying on the table, with a nurse getting ready to cath me... and she was teaching another nurse how to do it... when I hear.... "When you put the betadine on the urethra it will wink, you ready.... See... Did you see it wink".... "Yeah, I did...".... It took everything I had not to laugh..... You know-there's just somethings in life you just don't need to know, and now I've shared it with all of you, LOL!

And then there was today's visit. It was suppose to be a recheck on my thyroid. Last year they found several nodules and cysts, did biopsies and everything came back ok... went back 3 months later and they had begun to shrink. But today, when he looked at them on ultrasound, they had grown. Enough to where he kept saying he was 'concerned'... so he did a few more biopsies and they will call me in a week. If all goes well, I will see him again in a year for another followup. nice.... one more thing for me to think about. I came home from the docs today, took some medicine and then slept all day. Maybe tomorrow I'll get some 'work' done....

That is if I totally don't freak out on my neighbors first. Why, oh why, are you letting your little children ride their scooters up and down the street, in the dark... Screaming? Don't they have school tomorrow? Aren't you worried they might get hit by a car? Don't you have any consideration for your neighbors? Maybe I'm over-protective with my kids- but they are in the house at Dark! (and they're teenagers!) There are just too many weirdos out there!

Ok... I think I'm done complaining.... for now. I'm going to go sleep this off.... And try this again tomorrow.

A little of this and that...

2011-09-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I let another week go by without posting! Time just gets away from you sometimes. I can say I have been able to get a ton of 'work' done..... and a whole lot of sleep! I think my body has just been catching up from the summer. I thought I was going to be able to take pictures of birdhouses today, but the sun isn't out.... so I'll show you a few of my recent purchases.

So... ok... I finally learned how to use Ebay and man... it is Way to easy! lol..... I did let myself purchase a few things.... and then I told myself that the only things I could buy were things I need for 'work' so we will see how long that lasts, lol.

ok... So this is what Re-ment looks like. I've seen it on other blogs... and I've always wanted some for myself. I guess you could say I have a love of plastic, lol. I did my homework though... I didn't just jump on and start buying.... After I looked around this was the set I decided on. Now I know they're a little big for 1:12 scale.... But I just couldn't resist this set! It will go in Marshmallow Manor one day.... which I know is going to be way off scale, but who's to say that Grandma doesn't have Big cooking pots in her stash... I know mine did!

The measuring cups have got to be my favorite..... The Ladybugs... that stack inside each other! So freakin' cute!

Next was an auction.... My first auction! And I got it for a really good price:) Bet you can't guess why I bought it?

Yup! For the mini houses...... think I may have to repaint these:)

This next item I bought at the thrift store. I was in the game section, looking for chess pieces when I saw this game out of the corner of my eye!

Those crowns on the front are what drew me in.... and when I flipped the box over and saw the game pieces I knew I had to have it.... for $1.98! What a steal!

It also comes with these little castles, but I didn't see castles with my mini eyes, I saw them flipped over as 1/2 scale flower planters, lol..... OMG, am I ruined or what?

And this was a purchase from Etsy! I feel in love with this piece as soon as I saw it. It's a little small, but I think I may be able to make it work, and if not, it would work in a setting for one of my Calico Critters..... I LOVE LOVE all the drawers. I can Not wait to sand it down and muck it up:)

I will have some of those doorknob birdhouses in Etsy this week... they are finished, sealed and everything.... just have to get them photographed and listed! And I have a whole mess of other projects waiting to be finished....

until next time.....

I love the colors of the beach!

2011-09-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

....I haven't been away that long have I? I see blogger is changing things around? Maybe now they'll fix the commenting problem.....

OK... Enough complaining... I stopped by tonight to share with you a few pictures from the beach...

I still can't get over how many different colors you can find in sea shells.....

There's the soft ones that look like they've been tumbling around in the ocean for years.... Or the jagged ones that may have just broken apart....

I love the holes... and the dips... and the ridges.....

And even the tiny ones..... even the itty-bitty ones have personality! Just makes you wonder where they all have been!

Just a heads up... I've been loading up lots of signs over in my Etsy shop.... there's even a few for my witch/wizard/fantasy friends.... and there's more to come! I'll be back in a few days with some of the signs I've messed up... My bloopers if you will, lol...

until next time....

Summer swap

2011-08-28T05:20:00.000-07:00

Before I get to the summer swap.... I just wanted to let everyone know that we're OK! Other than a few branches in the yard, and losing cable.... Nothing big happened at our house..... LOL... and as usual I slept through most of it:)
OK... so

I participated in Cockerina summer swap this year:) It was my first swap.... and I am soooo glad I was a part of it!

This is what I got from Auxi! I've always wanted something crocheted in mini! And was so surprised when this tiny little bikini came... And look- it fits perfectly on my pig:)

Auxi sent a hat and blanket, too! I can't tell you how much I'm in love with this set! This is what I had packed to take on vacation with me.... I had planned on doing a photo shoot on the beach with her, but mother nature had other plans! So hopefully here in the next couple of weeks, I will take her to the beach here and take pictures! I even bought her buckets to build mini sand castles with!

And this is what I sent to Sonya! When I found out she was my trade buddie.... I sat down and went all through her blog to give me an idea of what to make.... And when I saw her American home... I knew she need a red, white and blue birdhouse. I have to say... this is one of my favorites!!!

So I thought I'd show you a little bit about how it was made. I make all my birdhouses this way.. First I build a shell...which is the base for the birdhouse. With the house... I knew I wanted stripes... so I took a few sticks, painted them, crackled them and aged them before I attached them to the house. I used a color called linen instead of white because I wanted it to look old.

One by one they got cut out, sanded down some more... and then were added to the sides.

Next I built a base and went ahead and finished the top. The stars were made using a pencil eraser, lol.... I cut out several before I found one I liked.

After I crackled the base I went back and scraped off the sides, sanded it down and then I went back over the whole thing with watered down brown paint and filled in where I sanded off.

...just a close up pic of the roof- Love those stars!!

And this is what I ended up with... :) And the best part- Sonya loves it as much as I do:)

I am so glad I did this. Sometimes... it's good to challenge yourself to see what Else you can do.

Until next time.....

Well.... We're home early!

2011-08-26T08:25:00.001-07:00

What a strange week! An earthquake and a hurricane?! wtf? We didn't feel the earthquake in NC, but my bf felt it here in Va... and my other sister felt it in DC.... crazy!

We got kicked out of North Carolina yesterday due to the hurricane that's coming..... in a way I'm kinda glad, cause I'd rather be here with my trailer and cats! We've been praying for days that it would just go away.... but I fear it ain't listening to us!

So while I can... I thought I'd jump on here and show you a little bit of our week!

I took this picture Wednesday evening...... Stunning! I can't wait to blow it up and frame it!

We stayed in a house that was called the Happy Crab! Which was perfect considering my Nephew's birthday party was all done in Sponge Bob:) The house was huge.... with a whole lot of stairs! We sure got our exercise considering the kitchen was on the 3rd floor! It's a good thing I've got 3 kids, cause I don't think I would of been able to run up and down all day!

We celebrated my Nephew Gavin's 1st Birthday Wednesday! He's so awesome! And busy! LOL

I spent the morning baking, and my sister decorated these:) Aren't they so cute.... and Yummy!

My favorite part though was watching him eat it:) Too cute!

We found out Wednesday evening that we were being evacuated Thursday morning.....Which was the day of the wedding. Luckily the Preacher moved up the time for us... So my sister was still able to get married.... But we had to do things a little backwards. (but if you know my family, we do everything backwards, so why not that day, too....lol)

We had to have the car packed when we left for the wedding, because we had to drive out of Duck, NC and into Kitty Hawk, and they wouldn't let us back into Duck.... So we did the wedding cake before the wedding! I wanted to make sure my sister had the traditional pictures of cutting the cake.

Speaking of the wedding cake.... Isn't it cute! I've done cakes before, but never like this, so I was kinda proud:) My Mom made the fence around the cake, and I did all the chocolates.

And this is what they did to it. We couldn't take it with us.... And were actually going to leave it in the fridge for the home owners.... But.... It started with everyone eating the chocolates, then they started using the chocolates as spoons and dug out the middle of the cake. LOL.... At least they enjoyed it, huh! Honestly... It didn't bother me! I was just glad everyone liked it!!!

I rode with my nephew to the wedding, and the poor thing slept the whole way. He's so cute.... He held that rope the whole time!

And my sister had her dream wedding on the beach! That's me on the left... then the preacher, then my BROTHER in law (I'm a little excited about that, I've never had a brother! And he's awesome, Fits right in with us!!!) Next to him is his best friend holding Gavin.... And then the guy on the right is my Dad.... Getting ready to hand of my sister! I think we all cried!!! Actually getting tears again now thinking about it!

All in all it was a good trip, just wish I didn't have to say goodbye to everyone at the end though.... I miss them already!

So... we're home.... and now we've got a hurricane coming, Awesome! I just PRAY that it doesn't take my trailer!

Until Next Time!

Duct Tape!

2011-08-15T14:27:00.000-07:00

I figured out what I want to cover the outside of my 'Cat Litter Box' Apartment Complex with...... Duct Tape! Recently I saw at AC Moore's a whole end cap shelf Full of different color rolls of duct tape. I'm thinking I saw white-which I think would make a good outside wall! However.... I'm hoping they have a brick red color.... Cora thinks I need to do a real brick wall.... but I want this to be an easy project- Something I know I'll finish.....

Today I took everything out and added a few stickers to the bottom floor. Some ABC stickers for the nursery......

And I added a big blue frame sticker to above where the kitchen table will be. (I love the numbers on this sticker!) I figure I will use this space as a bulletin board area. Maybe I can get my little friend in New Zealand to make me a few mini pictures that I can hang up in here?!

So many ideas.... and not enough time.

I'm suppose to be starting/finishing a few custom orders.... I'm suppose to be practicing my 'chocolate sea shells' for my sisters wedding that's next week.... an I really need to get a dress.... oh... and we really should start packing for.....
A week at a beach house in North Carolina!! Yup! Next week, the whole family will be heading to the beach for a week:) My sister will be getting married... and my Nephew will be celebrating his 1st Birthday! I can Not wait to see him!! Or my sister for that matter! .... and I have a mini photo shot planned:) LOL.. now that I think about it- I have my miniatures packed, but I'm not.... now that's funny, LOL!

Not sure if I'll be blogging... But you know I can't stay away from the computer but for so long....

So
Until Next Time!!

One Empty Box of Cat Litter...

2011-08-14T15:02:00.001-07:00

That's all it took to entertain me today. LOL!

I was laying in the bed last night thinking of all the things I want to do, but can't afford... so then I started to think about the things I had around here that I could use instead.... And it hit me! The empty box of Cat Litter that I was getting ready to throw away......

So I took some foamcore board and cardboard and cut out all the walls. Then I went back and covered those walls with scrapbook paper.... Ok ok... so if I had had my choice I would of used different paper, but I was working with what I had on hand. Measuring everything out to make sure it fit right was the hardest thing... But All in All it is a really easy project!

I still have to cover the outside... but my brain is thinking bigger, and I've decided that I need an apartment complex, Hahaa..... You just wait- one day I will have a skyscraper.... Bah ha ha!

So.... let's talk about what's going on inside. I decided that this place was going to be a daycare- where the owner lives upstairs. Cora had this really cute set of babies that I wanted to use.... and I still had several Calico Critters' furniture sets to use up... SO I put 2 and 2 together.

The wood stuff came from Michael's... It needs to be painted and prettied up some:) But this area will be her bedroom.

And on the left is her living room.

....and one of my favorite parts?..... The fireplace lights up.....

Downstairs on the left is the kitchen.... Although I have since rearranged everything again. I can't figure out which way I want it.... But there's a mix of stuff in here. The pink chair is from a generic set I bought as a kid.... And the microwave and its stand came from Cora's set. The little green beds in the front came from either the Mapletown or Sylvanian sets from the 80s. So did the rabbit. The rest of the stuff came from recent furniture sets from Calico Critters.

But I have to admit..... The nursery is my favorite room!

I just love those little critters with those tiny pacy's in their mouths:) I'm sure If I keep looking around here I can find more stuff to put in here.... But for now.... I'm going to go day dream about cat litter, lol....

...until next time...

Watch out Otis! I'm getting smarter than you!

2011-08-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday.... A box of supplies arrived from HBS. Of course most of them are supplies for more birdhouses.... But I did order a few things for myself. A tub of wax and some blu-tac:) Naturally I got side tracked and started tacking things down in Marshmallow Manor. So I thought I'd show you what I've done. I finally tacked the stuff on the back of the counter down. The pumpkins came from Nikki's shop... and everything else I've added. Most of the things came with a Calico Critters sets, and I've repainted them and added strawberry nail stickers. The tiny pitcher on the end, and all the veggies I made some time ago.

I do believe the cake came from the Dollhouse Shop here in Ghent.

I stacked up the stools that go with the table to give Grandma and Grandpa more room to walk around. On the top of that is a bright red flower pot filled with apples.

I also spent some time upstairs. Everything has been tacked down.... including the carpets. I rubbed a little wax all the way around it to get all of it to stay down and it worked perfectly! I even found another tree stump to use as a foot stool.

Then this morning.... while I was cleaning.... I came across a jar of buttons and remembered I needed some candle holders for my yellow candles.

I still have tons of little things to make to go here and there.... But I like this part! I don't worry myself about it.... Those pieces will come with time.... You know... when you're out somewhere and you find that perfect piece for a house....

...now to see what I can 'glue' down next.....
until next time...

Let's talk Movies, TV and books

2011-08-10T05:10:00.000-07:00

The kids and I went to the Library yesterday. My youngest loves Star Wars... and while I was showing him where the movie books were.... I came across 2 that I feel in love with. The first is 'The Art of Dreamworks How To Train Your Dragon.' If you ever need eye candy for dragons or Vikings.... this is your book. But I still can't believe that I missed this house in the movie... I'm going to have to watch it again and see what else I missed. Anyways.... The house is an old ship turned on it's side- How smart is that?! I love all the moss on it...and the shields.... and the little birdhouse by the door..... and the wind chimes made out of bones. Oh how I would so love to build this in mini!!!

Oh... and there's a lot of history in the book about the girl who first wrote the story. Did you know she was about 8/9 when she started writing this. You'll have to read the book to learn more about her summers in Scotland... What an amazing childhood she had!

The other book I got is called "Coraline... A Visual Companion" by Stephen Jones. Another beautiful book...... And this house I know about:) As soon as I first saw it in the movie, I wanted it. A pink house! How sweet is that.

But when I started at looking at the behind the scenes photos, I realized I missed my calling in life. I shoulda been a set designer! OMG- I could spend all day working on this- How about you?

This book has been a good read, too! Did you know they had to use over 200,000 faces for Coraline.... Or that someone had to make over 450 Scottie Dogs for the movie scene. Crazy huh! There's a lot of work that went into this movie! And the story- well it came from a Dad that told these stories to his little girls at night. I just love learning about all of this.... It is so inspiring!

OK... Now first let me apologize about the fuzzy pictures. I sat the other night and watched all 13 episodes on Youtube.... and while I watched I took pictures of things(lol... I won't tell you I took over 150 pictures, lol!!!) Anyways...... Remember the Wuzzles? They are one of my all time favorites! How cool would it be to build the Land of Wuz??

We start with Bumblelions house! It's a Big beehive with a sports theme....

And then there's Butterbears house! I just love all the pink! And the fact that there is a butterfly roof! And butterfly shutters..... So pretty!

And then what about Hoppo house! Love the big bow above the door and how the bow tails become curtains! I also love the angle on the front of the house... Just so different! And again so inspiring!

Hope you've enjoyed the pictures.... I'm off to think about all the things I should be doing....lol

until next time....

I added Travertine to these...

2011-08-04T16:32:00.000-07:00

While at the Home Depo buying house paint the other day, I picked up a few Travertine 1 inch tiles.

On this one, I used one at the top, and one at the bottom, I can use it either way, too. I love the texture and the softness of the Travertine.

I used a darker tile for the brown one, I think it goes well with the white bust:)

The one at the bottom is a wooden egg holder, crackled and aged.... I like how they look together!

...until next time...

The Lions are up in Etsy

2011-08-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let you know that I got the lion heads listed in Etsy:)

I added a picture to show the hole through the middle:) I can't wait to see what you do with them:)

Until Next Time....

Inspirational Pictures from my drive..

2011-07-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

Well.... I'm back....
This trip is one of those love-hate things.
I love driving through the mountains, I love seeing all the beautiful things that live there. The farms, and big red barns.... the livestock in the fields, seeing the deers eating by the edge of the forest.... the layers of trees that seem to go on forever... and even all the rocks!

But in the same sense I Hate driving through the mountains..... All the ups and down, and sharp turns- it's kinda like a roller coaster, but you control the speed.... and believe me when I tell you I crawl through the mountains, lol... this year I drove alone, so there was No one in the car to tell me how to drive. :) Needless to say it was a very quite drive:)

I did stop at a lookout and took pictures of the rock walls there... I've seen the lookouts before, so I spent my time looking at the rocks, lol. There was a family there that I'm sure thought I was nuts was I got out of my car to take a bunch of pictures of the rock walls....lol. Only a miniaturist would understand:)

This was some old fort..... and a wall leading up a path.

And this was the retaining wall in front of the fort.

I just love all the colors and the cracks.... And the age it shows:)

But my favorite part is this mustard colored moss that grows in spots...... If you make the picture bigger you can see it more clearly:)

I've always thought these 'windmills' were pretty! But it is very surreal to see because of their size... I've been up in the mountains and came around a corner before to see it pretty close up and it just makes me feel like I'm in another dimension or something, lol. Not something you see here in the city. Which by the way is very depressing to come home to after you've spent 3 days driving through the mountains. The rude drivers, the traffic, the smells..... Yup! I'm ready to go back already!

Thursday I did fine..... Friday after I picked my daughter up from camp.... I think I left my mind there! I ended up taking a 3 hour detour through Pennsylvania... and now I know I wasn't even suppose to be in Pa! Dumb ass! Had to go almost all the way back to where camp was to get on the right road! Then when I got to DC, I missed my exit and ended up having to drive back around the beltway to catch it again... then I took the wrong exit... figured out the right way and then 5 minutes before my Mom's there was a huge accident that blocked both sides of the road. Luckily the police let us drive up around the mess to pass. After being on the road since 7 that morning... and it was then almost 9... I was sooooo ready to get out of that Big Bright Red Beast of a thing (that reminded me of a smaller version of the Jeepers Creepers milk truck) that I rented to get through the mountains..... *sigh*

While I was home I had another moment of stupidity. Remember the painted I showed you the other day that I had bought because it reminded me of one at my Mom's house. Well, here's the painting....... And the only thing even close in these two paintings is that there are a few children together. LMAO! Isn't it funny how our minds play tricks on us?! I do like this painting too- an actually plan on trying to find it as well.

Finally got pictures of Dads planes..... Now I just gotta figure out how to do it in mini... Remember- I already have the planes, I just have to paint them now.

Also got a picture of a birdhouse that's been in their garage for a while now, hint, hint!! Anyways- I'd like to make it in mini one day, too. It's a big birdhouse though- that's the leg of a foot stool sitting next to it!

All in all.... it was a good trip. We're home, safe and sound, with no real drama to complain about!

Hopefully next time I'll have some mini news for you.
See ya then!

A Little of This and That..

2011-07-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

So..... I made a couple of Lion heads out of polymer clay. And I used a coffee straw from 7-11 to poke a hole through the mouth. When I originally bought the pendant... I had the same idea as many of you- Turning it into a miniature fountain..... But if you're lazy like me, you'll just use it as an accessory...

I did 5 in the same color, but I won't bore you with all the pictures... But these 2 were some of my favorites:) I did 2 whole ones... 2 that are 'broke' on one side... and then one that is just the face.... I will have a couple of these listed in Etsy sometime next week. ((At some point today I need to get my butt in gear... I've got to drive to West Virginia tomorrow to pick up Cora from camp... then onto DC to get the boys.... and then back home:) No trips planned this time, just A lot of driving! Yuck!

But before you go, I thought I'd share 2 new tins I bought from the thrift store.... Couldn't pass up the image on this one.... Makes me want to mosaic something! Love all the colors!

I also picked up this one.... Couldn't leave it behind.... Goes with my other store cans:)

And then there's this picture I ordered off Etsy from
http://www.etsy.com/shop/MyDollhousePictures . It reminds me of one my Mother has had since I can remember. Hopefully I can remember to take a picture of the one at her house when I'm home..... This one is in the parents bedroom in Cora's house..... This is one of the rooms that I still need to put back together... But I couldn't help showing it to you:) The bed is one of the first things I crackled in miniature:) One day I'll actually get around to hanging stuff up in here. For the picture I just balanced the frame on the back of the bed.

Hope you've enjoyed my pictures.... I sure do like having someone to share them with:)
SO... until next time....

After a little bit of paint....

2011-07-25T10:03:00.000-07:00

It looks perfect:) But they were crumbling apart as I painted them:(

I love how they turned out, but I'm afraid I can't really do much with them... But I do think I want to try some in polymer clay....

...until next time...

If you asked me last night....

2011-07-25T05:17:00.000-07:00

I woulda told you I absolutely loved this "pottery paper clay"! (Remember I bought it a few weeks ago on clearance...) It is just like paper clay.... but with the texture and color of pottery when it dries..... This lion was my favorite.... I just love how it split down the nose.....

But some time between last night and this morning.... They've all broke apart. I'm thinking a certain orange fella had something to do with this.... but it was really upsetting to see everything chipped apart..... I even made a few planters... All but one survived. On the right of this picture.... You can see the molds I using.... They're full of clay right now.... Drying...... Hopefully these won't break. I'm thinking I can still do something with the broken ones..... Just have to think about it....

I also painted another column.... to replace the Bright white one that was in here before.

I started with several layers of red paint..... but after my first set of pictures, I realized it was too bright..... So I added a few layers of watered down brown, then black and brown... then added green to what was left of the wash and used that for the last layer. I like it a lot better now... And once I get one of my torso's one the wall, it will balance itself out:) I hope.

I found some more odds and ends to put in here.... Jody's peaches are on the end table... and her books are in the chair... I brought the tin birdhouse out (it's sitting on the stool) but there's No silver in this room, so I'm thinking it might go back in The Painted Lady. I'm trying to stick to a color scheme- and have been pulling my colors from the fabric in the chair. Lots of reds, coppers, oranges, yellows, and blues... The greens will be in all the plants that will one day get made....

I use this glass house as a book end to keep my bills from falling off my desk- And the other day I found one of my favorite pictures and had set it back here to remind myself to do something with it..... Any guesses as to who they are??

And if that freakin weatherman says it going to HOT one more time.... I'm going poke him in the eye.... DUH! We know it's freakin hot.....

....Until Next Time....

Some new toys:)

2011-07-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

While surfing through Etsy the other day.... I found these for Marshmallow Manor!! I bought them from a seller that goes by HartsDesireMinis... I just love this rug! It matches my quilt perfectly!

The other rug I had bought for the living room...

But after thinking about it, I kinda like it next to the bed, too. I hate stepping out of a warm bed onto a cold floor! Or maybe I can put them both down stairs, and get a bigger one for the bedroom... Decisions, decisions....lol

I also wanted to show you what a friend dropped off for me last night.... He found them in a house they were cleaning out, and knew I needed them:)

They're for train sets.... but I'm thinking I can use them in my world, too! I just love the ones in the next picture:) The top ones look like German girls... then there's the clowns... and the show ponies.... And just check out them Camels!! So freakin cute!!

And in the bottom of the box there were tools! No more excuses Casey! I now have those tweezers you're always talking about, lol....

And just check out them drill bits! Crazy small! Oh the possibilities:)

I'm off to go day dream about what I should be doing...lol
until next time.....

Playing around with space...

2011-07-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

Between Carolyn's comment and what my bf had said to me... I put the chair in place and went from there. Please excuse the glare- I tried to use a book with a 'pretty' picture, but it is just too shinny- Note to self- Use a non shinny image as a background when photographing through glass.

With the exception of the wicker furniture and the garden caddy... I've made most of the items in here. The stand for the birdhouse in the back is one you haven't seen yet.... when I put the finishing touch on it, I will pull it out and take better pictures. I will say that crown molding trim on it was a pain to cut! The angel is listed in my Etsy shop... but I figured for now, I could show her off in here:)

I did remove a few items, and pulled somethings out of the bottom of Katie's Corner (which is currently a garden shop) to use in here. When I finally get everything where I want it... I'll take it outside and get some great pictures of things.

I love how you can see Otis napping in the background:)

There's still a lot of plants that I'd like to have..... and seeing as it's a quiet place to read- I'm thinking I'll need some books, too, lol.....

Until Next Time

And this is where I get stuck...

2011-07-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

I don't know why "Setting up a room" seems to be so hard for me. But it is the part that takes me the longest.....

I cleared all the items that were in here from The Painted Lady, packed them away while they wait for their new home to be finished... and then pulled out the set that came from Casey. Then started going through all the stuff around here to pull out what I thought would work best.... And now I just gotta figured out what stays and what goes... and then figure out where to put everything.

I want it to be a cozy little place where one could go to look at a book or just sit and think.... Looking at it in pictures helps- now I can see that I need more color and more plants, ect.. taller ones, too!

With the kids being gone, I'm suppose to be working.. and yet, I seem to be playing, lol. So while I ponder what to do with everything, maybe it's time to go run those errands!

Until Next Time!

Kitty Update

2011-07-18T17:53:00.001-07:00

Warning! Lots of kitty pictures to follow:)

The babies are starting to open their eyes... and they were crawling right through the bars on the crate.... so they got moved into a laundry basket..... This way Cleo can get in... and they can't get out:)

Oh... and check out how she's holding the black one:) She's laying on it's head.

Cleo loves the camera....

...but doesn't understand why I'm taking pictures of the babies and not her...

...if you look real close... you will see the black ones little face:)

Isn't this baby just the cutest:) I've had 2 people ask about them, so keep you fingers crossed that they find forever homes...

Sorry about the contrast in colors here.... But check out the black one again..... see that tiny tongue...... so sweet:)

Poor Cleo! She really is a good Mom.... but was taking a break here.... I don't blame her... these babies are full of energy!

Thought I'd share a few other pictures with you...
This is Bella.... Totally not understanding what personal space is all about, lol.

And what about a quick game of Who's in the Monopoly box?

It's Teddy and Bear....

And here's one of Freddy's Weirdo moments.... He really does love being outside:)

And a candid photo if Mini... Sometimes it's so bright outside that I can't see what I'm taking a picture of.... It wasn't until I pulled this up in Picasa that I saw his Mushroom Hat! Too funny!

Sorry I have no minis to show you.... but I've been steadily working on my trade:) I did remember to take pictures along the way, so later this summer I'll be able to share them with you:) I'm excited about it.....

Tomorrow... my Dad is coming to get the kiddos for 2 weeks:) And I just don't know what I'm going to do with myself:) Yes, I do.... I plan on getting lots of work done! I'll let you know when I get stuff listed... I did put a few items up over the weekend..... But there is more to come:)

So.... Until Next Time....

Finally some minis:)

2011-07-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd show you a few minis I've been working on for myself. Eventually they'll go in The Painted Lady. This was one of the cake shop cake toppers... I was blue with red trim. I started with a few coats of Gesso and then spent the next week painting. Every time I'd think I was done... I'd find one more spot to fix.. and now that I see it online, I see even more spots to fix, ack!!

But I sure do love this color combo!!

I even took some scrapbook paper- one of my favorite designs:) and used it for the floor. Not to sure what will go in it yet..... But it sure is cute!

This I made yesterday. It was the bottom to one of the Michael's $1.00 hutches. I FINALLY got it to break apart in the microwave- I've tried this before, and I guess I didn't cook it long enough. I will say though while trying to pry this apart- I did break quite a bit of it....

I really like how it turned out. It was a darker blue, but I didn't like that... so I added white, and painted another coat.... Then went back and sanded it down to let the darker blue shine though...

...and I didn't crackle it..... I thought about it.... but decided against it because all the other pieces I have are crackled and I wanted something different.

And while I was digging for paper, I found this. Who knows why I put it in my paper bin?!

It's a drawer, painted and aged and then lined with my fav paper again. I'm thinking it will hang on the way, and I just gotta find something to frame in it....

I have lots of unfinished projects around here, lol..... But for now....

I've got a blog trade to work on.... Oh how I wish I could share the details with you..... one day:)

Until Next Time....

Inspirational pictures from me to you...

2011-07-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

All of these pictures came from a book called The Directory of Illustration Volume 13. A friend of mine brought it over the other night..... and I took some pictures of things I thought were inspiring. Please remember these are other artist art....

I LOVE this Grandma mouse sitting in her rocking chair in front of her little house. Makes me want to finish my tree house:)

OK.... Now you gotta make this big and check out all the detail! Do you see the whale desk? How freakin cool is that.... Or the castle bed.... Wouldn't this be cute in miniature???
And I so love this picture..... Anyone want to go for a walk? Looks like there's lots to see...

This next one cracked me up.... Raccoons putting jam on their bread... I find it funny, lol.

And why is there a mouse helping a rooster cook dinner? They are cute little pictures... and very inspiring....

This last one reminded me of a lot of you.... It's just a beautiful picture!

Happy Thoughts, I promise:)

2011-07-10T18:55:00.001-07:00

Rufus is a Great Grandpa! About a month ago we noticed Cleo was getting a little fat.... We had tried to separate her from the boys... but she learned to crawl through the wall in our bedroom... and... well... you know how that works.... Poor girl is only 8 months old herself.

This afternoon, Cora came to me to tell me that Cleo had discharged this funky stuff 'All Over Her Pants'.... I came to check things out and shortly thereafter.... we noticed her water broke..... And she insisted on sitting in my lap...... So we got the bf to bring the kennel back in.... lined it with newspaper..... And I sat with her and rubbed her back for her. It wasn't long before the first kitten was born. I have to say.... it's pretty interesting how nature works, and how animals know exactly what to do. And it's pretty gross, lol.

She spent about an hour cleaning up..... And I had felt her belly, and it seemed that maybe she was only going to have one. At that point My Mom called, so I walked away for a few minutes and when I came back to check on her....

I found baby number two! And look at that coat... A tabby head- and a gray body. My guess is that the gray will turn to black like it's Momma's did... but we will have to see. Mommy and baby are doing fine.... And some of the other kitties have been through here to check things out. I may have found a home for one..... But if ANYONE is interested...... Please email me!!! I would love to find these 2 little furbabies GREAT homes. Mine is already Way to full. And Miss Cleo- "You're not coming out of that cage till you get fixed!!!

While we're talking about kitties... Mini came and visited with me while I was taking 'work' pictures that other day.....

He gets sooooo close...... and as long as I act like I don't see him, he'll stay.... But if I try and touch him, he takes off!

....while I was in the garden I had to pull my frog out, too.... Every year he gets eaten by the hosta plants:) I love my frog!!

This is one of the pictures I took outside the other day. It's one of the barns.... aged. When I first made them, I left them as if they had just been bought from the store.... They didn't sell.... So I took one and aged it..... I'm thinking I'll try and list it again like this and see what it does. Then again.... it may be the price. However... I stand behind that:) It was built from scratch (my own pattern)... Hand painted with multiple layers of paint.... and now aged with love. One day I hope it will go to a good home:)

I also made two little benches.... They are listed on Etsy, along with a few signs and stuff.... But I wanted to show you one of the pictures I took.... The nail set on the bench is one of my favorite things... I borrowed it from Cora's room for a photo op. If you take a close look.... you with see cotton balls, finger nail polishes and nail filers.... Just what ever teen girl needs.

It's getting late now..... So I think I'll check on Cleo one more time... and then start to get ready for bed:)

...until next time....

What a week!

2011-07-08T13:20:00.001-07:00

Yeah! I know... he's smiling now.... Today it's cool- Tomorrow when it starts to itch... he's not going to be smiling anymore. This is Cameron.... my youngest.... he hit one of his skinny friends, playing around and broke his ring finger right where it meets his hand.... and will be wearing this beautiful shade of green for 5 weeks. Doesn't he know it's summer time and like a million degrees outside???

However.... he can still hold the play station controller so "It's all Good!" LOL

I also want to thank everyone that left me a comment about my 'other' family. I really do appreciate it! I have cried everyday, more for the family then anything.... I miss them dearly. I've been trying to text her several times a day to let her know I love her..... I also made her some signs that she can put in her purse. LYLAS is something we've put in letters since childhood.... it means Love You Like A Sister...... I also have a book for her.... When we were in higschool, she handed me a note in the halls one day.... It was a poem she had found in the library about best friends.... Made me cry then... and still makes me cry now... But years ago, I turned it into a book, and have just been waiting for the perfect time to give it to her..... I still need to sit down and write her a letter, but I just can't get my words right yet..... soon.

Thought I'd share some cuteness.... God knows I need it.... When I came earlier... this is what I saw....

Wilbur is the black one.... And the orange one is Otis.... They just look so cozy....

One more picture before I go...... See my monster blackberry?? I still can't not believe how many blackberries we got from our vines..... And.......... I made Jam:) I'm actually quite proud of myself.... I didn't use a recipe.... But I did read several websites about how to do it before I did it... Just used equal parts berries and sugar..... mashed everything, let it sit over night, strained it and then boiled the crap out it.. I honestly didn't think it would work..... But it did :) And OMG is it yummy! I went and bought some yummy bread earlier and later me and the kids are going to have another taste:)

As for everything else..... I'm so behind! LOL.... Story of my life, hahaha..... I have so much to get listed on Etsy.... Just haven't really been in the mood to do much of nothing.......

so
until next time.....

Cockerina's summer swap

2011-07-07T05:46:00.000-07:00

Cockerina http://leminisdicockerina.blogspot.com/ is hosting another summer swap.... and for the first time... I'm going to participate. I'm always so nervous about swaps- Always scared something is going ot happen where I can't participate.... But Not this time! This time.... no matter what.... I'm going ot be a part of this!

So

Until Next Time....

Some new houses

2011-07-04T15:25:00.001-07:00

So.... what happens when the kids are away....... Mom sleeps, lol.

However..... due to some really sad news.... I had to find a way to get my mind of things.... so in between all those naps.... I've been painting houses. I've been working on 3 sizes... like this little Monopoly house...

I made several sets to go on Etsy..... Here I'm using a Monopoly house and a hotel... the wooden ones.... They've been painted with 3 layers of brown paint, a layer of the crackle medium... and then the top layer. And all the windows and doors are stamps I carved myself out of the end of a pencil eraser...

....my pictures are hazy though.... so I'll have to wait till I can get some better ones! The humidity is terrible here! It's just too darn hot!

This is the last type of house I painted. They're some kind of Lego houses? Found them at the thrift store in one of those grab bag bags.

As for the sad news.... My oldest dearest friend called me yesterday to tell me that her baby sister had been hit by a car and passed away Saturday morning. She was 25... with 2 little kids. I grew up with this family! Spent everyday at their house.... And everywhere that me and my friend went.... the little sister went, too. She was my baby sister, too. And it kills me that I can't be there with them.... I just want to hug her and tell her I love her! She knows it.... but its just not the same.

Life is just too short!

Please remember to tell the people who mean the most to you that you love them.... You never know when life will change and you'll miss you chance! I love you baby girl! LYLAS always and forever!

Until Next Time......

And now for a moment with Otis...

2011-07-02T13:21:00.000-07:00

I will never complain again!

2011-07-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

I spent the whole day yesterday outside painting! And we've only got about 1/2 primed. I will never complain about painting a mini house again! My neck is sore... we won't even talk about my back... and I feel like I got hit in the stomach! LOL... I haven't done Anything this aerobic in years..... and I feel like I just got done with the biggest workout of my life. I'm really not complaining.... Actually if I hadn't of run out of paint.... I' be out there again today....

If you look at the pictures in the last post you can see that this top part was brown, too... Eventually it will be green..... one day.....

The porch was the worst... I spent the better part of the day looking up, painting the underneath of the roof. With a brush! What a dumb ass! I told the bf we might just have to buy some spray paint and paint the second coat like that.

I will say now that half is painted white... the part that is still unpainted is awful! We didn't realize it was that bad till you put it up against all the white paint, lol. The lady from the park came by yesterday to tell me it was looking good, and asked if I was going to paint. Then she told me 'You know you have to paint both sides!' .... really? I'm sorry but that was one of the stupidest things I've been told in a long time... You really think I'm only going to paint 1/2 my trailer?? OK. lol.....

Today.... I'm doing Nothing! The kids will be off this weekend to see their Dad's.... and I have a fish tank sitting on the porch with my name all over it:) Yup.... I went trash picking and found the perfect tank. I just love free trash! lol

Hope everyone has a safe weekend! Happy 4th!!

Until Next Time....

A Little of this and that....

2011-06-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

*Warning- Picture Heavy!! LOL

So.... Has anyone else out there discovered Squinkies yet??? A few weeks ago, I was googling Belle and came across these new toys.... There's actually a whole set... I just can't seem to find them anywhere in an actual store.... But... today... I was in the 5 and Below store and found this little pack of 2 squinkies... I think they're perfect!! There's all different kinds, they'd make really good fillers for toy stores and kids rooms:)

OK, so I LOVE Disney!! And I LOVE Beauty and the Beast! Ever since I got the tiny Belle from Disneyland (on the right) I knew I wanted a whole collection of Belle stuff.... Mrs. Potts and Chip on the left came from a Disney Princess doll set.... and the Mrs. Potts in the middle was one of the squinkies I got today....

And I got the Beast:) He's just too cute!

Here's a close up of Belle.... I just love her!! I love the whole story really... and the music... and the characters! I love love Disney....

Seeing as I was having a hard time finding Belle stuff.... I decided to try and decided to start collecting princess stuff.... Hence came this pumpkin carriage:) It's a cell phone charm I bought on Etsy. I also have a sterling silver one I got from Disneyland, but I haven't decided on whether I'm going to use it or not.... ((that's Otis I'm using as a back drop, lol))

Here's something else I picked up this week.... Not too sure what I'm going to do with it... but I knew I needed it.. and it was on clearance! Just can't pass up those deals ya know, lol.

And now for something a little different.... I've been making tags. Not too sure what I'm going to do with these either.... but it keeps my hands busy! I've been using my circle punch... and cutting up every bit of trash I can find.... Cookie boxes, cereal boxes, pizza... candy... a cat food box.. a waffle box... You get the idea. I did sand down the edges to give them that aged effect, now I just need to punch holes and tie some string to them.... Maybe I can give them out as Christmas Presents this year!

... I've also been playing around with the aging techniques..... Here's the signs that had gotten washed away.... I went back over them with fingernail polish remover to see if I could get them to do anything different. The first one just smeared more..... so did the second one. The last one I took a lot of fingernail polish remover to... and it ended up smearing the crackled paint, too. It's a neat effect, but I was hoping to see my paint bubble up. Oh well..... Lesson learned....

Did you notice the background in the sign picture has changed.... Seems the park doesn't like our trailers to look 'shabby chic'... and told us we needed to paint. I started on the porch last night.... It was just too damn hot!! But it does look better.....

Tomorrow I get to paint this side... and eventually make our way to the trailer itself. I want a green trailer! Like a sage green.... I think it will look good with all my red brick:)

My poor trailer.... It hasn't had NO upkeep since I've lived here... And it shows..... There's so much that needs to be done... painting it is really my last concern, but I don't want no crap from the office, so I'm painting right over all the bs.... LOL! One day all the rotten wood will get replaced.

Alrighty then.... I'm off to rest a little while.... Been running all day, and I'm pooped!

Until Next Time!

Happy Birthday Cora!

2011-06-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been 14 years since I gave birth to my beautiful daughter!!
(This picture was taken about 2 weeks ago for her 8th grade dance)
Omg... I've already got tears coming...lol.... Over the years we have spent a Lot of time in and out of the hospital.... She has asthma and my shitty body.... not a good combo! But I am a tough Mom and have pushed her through all the crap.... and She's a survivor, just like her Mom. And I couldn't be any prouder of her! She's an honor student in an advance program... she's involved in the school's SCA.... and this year she'll be going to camp as a camp counselor! I am so glad she's not anything like I was at that age- I was a mess! (to say the least!)

I love you Cora!

This year we did things a little different! When I asked her what kind of birthday cake she wanted.... She told me she wanted to make her own...... And so she did! Of course I had no candles... so we had to substitute with one of my miniature candles, lol. Poor thing- I had her blow this candle out 4 times before I finally got a picture I liked.

I was also able to get some signs finished today.... I had made a bunch before.... sprayed them with a sealer and for some reason everything ran..... So I bought a different sealer, and this one did the job. Of course I made myself one of these- and one for the store:)

I thought the vineyards sign was neat with the blackberries?!

And then there's Mini T. He was an inside kitty, that never let us to get close to him.... And then he started spraying, so he went back out. He still won't let me touch him... but he follows me around the yard yelling at me! I sure wish I knew what he was saying! lol

.... OK.... Lesson learned.... Can't eat dinner while blogging! Cause the cats will steal my pizza and I'm left with crumbs! Nice! Not like they just ate dinner or anything!

....My back is still hurting, and I've been trying to ween myself off the pain meds... I seem to think I'm super woman when I take them, and washed half the trailer this weekend..... so that may be why I'm still sore, lol. As for the kidney stones, they're not bothering me, so that's nice! And I still haven't heard back from the doctor yet... I will give him a few more days and then I'll call to remind the nurse again to get him to look at the CT report. I know he's a busy guy... but I think I just need to hear him say everything's ok and that he understands. I will say it has been nice being pain free this past week!

Well, alrighty then..... I'm off to Etsy to get some of these signs listed:)

Until next Time!

An update on my cabinet

2011-06-26T13:47:00.000-07:00

I know... I know.... I'm suppose to be over in Etsy listing those doorknob birdhouses.... But I just couldn't help myself..... Thought you might like to see my updated cabinet....

.... On the top (all the way to the right) is one of the new game pieces I have just acquired... painted white... On the next shelf is 2 of the monopoly houses... And 2 little coffee mugs that Sonya had sent me. I cut out the tiniest K and S from another black sticker... and glued them on the mugs... The plate in the middle on the next shelf down is another one that Sonya had sent... And so is the other one with the K on it on the bottom shelf. I did add a few shells here and there this time..... But I think it needs a few more.

Oh.... and that's a cake column next to the shelf, spray painted with that stone texture stuff.... I then put a big dinner plate on it, and sat one of my doll heads on it.....

And do you see that gap on the top shelf.... I was missing some of my little jugs.... and could not seem to find them this morning. I have since torn up the living room and found them.... but wasn't going back out side to take more pictures. You'd be surprised at how long it actually takes to set something up sometimes!!

Here's a close up of the plates that Sonya sent. They were painted with several layers of gesso, then several layers of white paint. Then I went back and stamped the letter K on one and #3 in the bowl.... but when I went to seal them... the ink smeared! So I had to repaint everything several times........ and then tried to use paint with my stamps, and the prints were horrible.... So I repainted them again.... and this time choose the easy way out and just used stickers. I don't know why I didn't try that to begin with! I just LOVE my new dishes!

And while I'm here I wanted to show you another project I've been working on. I bought these letters a long time ago at the craft store.... but could never figure out how to attach them to the house..... So I came up with this.

I'm thinking it needs a little more age.... and some green mossy stuff and then maybe I'll be happy with it?! One day it may even get put on the house, lol....

Well..... OK..... I'm off to Etsy.....

Until Next Time!

Today's Pictures...

2011-06-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

Here's what I thought was going to be a finished product.... until I got the photos in photoshop and realized I hadn't dirtied up the nail holes yet..... lol, I know, you probably have no clue as to what I'm talking about... These doorknobs have nail holes... so I went ahead and dropped a drop of cream colored paint in each hole to make it look like there was a painted over nail head there.... But I forgot to go back and muck them up before I took them out for their photo op.... They have since be fixed, and will be rephotographed and listed before the weekend is up.... at least that's the plan.

But I still wanted to show you the pictures I took today:) I had door knobs, just not posts- so I made some wall hanging birdhouses instead..... I LOVE this one in this rose!!!

I tried to get a shot of them with the blackberries... but the brightness of the berries has washed away the color of the birdhouse. This one is a light teal color.

This white one washed away, too.... but I like the concept of the pic so I'll keep trying for that perfect shot:)

I do like how delicate it looks in the hydrangea bush.... Very Girlie!! And look.... we have another visitor... see the spider? one the left side?

Yesterday.... I let the kids taste the black berries and they were still a little sour..... but today, after I noticed the birds have been enjoying their new found buffet, I went ahead and pulled the ones that were ripe..... I still can't get over how big some of these are!

Tomorrow we're are either going to have blackberry pancakes or we're going to have fresh blackberries on our pancakes..... Haven't really made up my mind yet..... I just know they're so good! Reminds me of being a kid and going for walks with my Dad..... We'd pick them and eat them as we walked through the country side:)

And my last pic is of one of the little birdhouses I will be listing later this weekend.... I really do like that tiny rose image.... especially against the green like that:)

As for me.... I'm still talking it easy.... I do good as long as I'm not moving.... but I'm not one to sit still for too long. There's just too much to do, lol!

So..... Until Next Time:)

Check out this Treasury!

2011-06-23T09:07:00.000-07:00

Ok.... Wish I knew how to embed the treasury list into my blog..... but I don't..... So this will have to do..... I don't know about you.... but I think teens are the hardest to buy for! So this year, I had Cora sit down with me and make a Treasury list. Figured it would help people in our family choose something.... Or maybe you have a teen in your life that has a birthday coming up? Either way... You should come check it out here:)

Me.... Ive spent the majority of the week in bed! I'm having issues with my back and finally drug my butt to my family care doctor yesterday..... Nothing serious... just thinks I've pulled a muscle or something.... but it hurts like hell to walk. It started hurting Monday.... and I had just had a CT done last week... but hadn't heard back from that doctor yet, so I went up to the hospital Monday afternoon and got the radiologist report. Seems I have several (which according to the dictionary is more than 2 or 3 but not many, wtf??) tiny kidney stones in my right kidney... And I have multiple cysts on my ovary.... 2 of which are kinda big..... and now I've got back pain..... Lucky me! ((I'd like to know why it is that the radiologist can't put the exact number of things he sees.... can he not count? I don't want to see the words several or many.... I want to know Exactly how many!!)) So I still haven't heard back from the one doctor.... so I called there the other day, and played stupid..... I asked the nurse if the doctor had had a chance to look over it... And she said he hadn't, but that she would put a copy of it on his desk and he would call me back.... well... I'll give him another week, then I'm going to call the nurse again and start this process over again.... fun fun!

In other words I'm moving a little slower than normal over here... But I'm trying. It's hard to stay awake in between all this medicine. And believe me I'm not one to take pain killers but today they are my best friend:) I just couldn't take it any more!

Ok.... Sorry to gripe again..... but you know what it's like when you don't feel good.... All you want is your Momma and a nice bowl of chicken noodle soup.......

Until Next Time.......

I need Happy thoughts! ~Picture Heavy~

2011-06-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

First Let me Thank everyone that left me a comment on my last post. You all always know how to put things into perspective!! So with that being said.... Bring on the Happy Pictures:)

I made a set of these purple birdhouses and thought I'd use one to show you my hydrangeas... I love how it blooms within the bloom!

We had another visitor this afternoon. These birdhouse were waiting in line to be photographed and when I looked over... I saw this guy.

I moved to the other side.... and he flew off.... In the next pic you can see his wings coming out.

Our Blackberries are starting to look really yummy. My poor kids wanted to eat one today.... but I told them they had to wait another day.... I'm thinking the ones that look ready are probably still a little sour.

My big roses are ready to bloom again. I love how the flowers remind me of dancers. This one has that 'arm stretched up in the air'.

Here's another new birdhouse... And one of my chairs from my personal collection.

And another birdhouse with some flowers that my son planted last year...

Later this week... I have a couple of these to list. They are the perfect size for minis!! I just have to take pictures of it 'in a scene'. These were game pieces that I found on Etsy.

I took a lot of pictures today..... Now I just need to list everything. But not today...... it's 'nap time' for me:)

Until next time....

Is it just me?

2011-06-19T04:11:00.000-07:00

Ok.... So there's a few things that have happened in the past few days.... and I thought I'd take a minute to vent/complain.... ect, ect.

We will start with last night. I am super noise sensitive... I don't mean to be... I just am! It actual makes me mental. I really do try and work with it... but sometimes there's just no way around it. So last night after dealing with what sounded like fiesta music for over an hour... I went outside to investigate. I thought it was the kids across the street, but just wasn't sure. Until I heard an announcer speaking. So I got in my car..... and went to see what was going on. Ok.... So I live in the trailer park. In front of me there is a street, then another row of trailers... then there's the main road. On the other side of that is a field where an office complex used to be.... then there's another neighborhood- And that is where the music was coming from. Now I know I'm a total buzz kill..... But I can only take so much.... So I made a phone call, and 20 minutes later... the music stopped. phew! My heart for some reason thinks it has to keep up with the beats, and it really, really sucks!

Ok... so then there's the issue of what Adults have said to kids lately that I just don't understand. My son has a friend who has been joy-riding in his parents car and got caught. So when the police were there talking to him and his Mom.... the cop said that this was normal for boys his age to do this? What?? First off.... I never in a million years would of ever taken my parents car without the permission. Not to say that I didn't get in my fair share of trouble. But, why, why... would you tell a kid it is normal to steal your parents car?? What sense does that make? You just don't tell a kid that! Especially a 15 year old boy.

Then last week was the last week for the kids and school. My oldest is in high school, and the last week is exam week. I really really have a problem with what the school system doesn't teach our kids.... I don't think kids should be watching the twilight zone in English.... Instead why don't they spend that time teaching our kids how to write. My son is in the 10 grade and I have yet to see him have to write a paper or essay.... I won't even tell you how much in annoys me when the kids pick up a calculator to do simple math.... And it's the schools that have taught them to do this..... But going back to what I was saying........ According to the school, if the kids are 'doing well', they have the option to opt out of exams.... If there parents agree..... And well, I never have. Live is hard.... and school is suppose to teach you this. It teaches you how to push through and solve problems. I think exams are important. But what I really had a problem with is that one of my son's teachers told the kids to get their parents to sign the exempt form, because He didn't feel like coming to school. ??? Yes... The teacher said he didn't want to come to school. Now how am I suppose to keep my kids interested in school, if the teachers are telling them they don't want to be there either. So my son went to his exam.... and when he was done... the teacher told him he could go home. So about 10 am, my son comes walking through the door, and after I heard what he had to say..... I called the school. They let my son walk home?? We don't even live within walking distance. Now, yes..... he's 15 and capable of walking home.... But! He's still a kid... and the school should of never told him he could just leave! What if something happened- What if he got hit by a car crossing the main road? What if he got kidnapped? I've meet the bogeyman- I know he exists! And it makes me that much more protective over my kids. You know.... Rules are made for a reason- and when my son is suppose to be in school, he should be in school.... Not out roaming through the neighborhoods. The receptionist at his school told me I was not the first Mom to call about this, and she apologized to me. I told her I was lucky to have a good kid that came straight home!

My last gripe for the day is the day. It's Father's day..... something I try really hard to avoid! My biological father and I have not spoke in 6? years and I think it's SAD!! I can't go into the details, because. But I can tell you I miss him! My kids miss him. And it's not that I want anything from him... I just want to talk to him, and only him. I can't handle stress so I had to make a Big decision years ago, and from that decision..... I lost my Dad. It makes me Mad.... it makes me sad! And then there's Day's like today.... where everything you see reminds you of this loss. It just hurts. The last time I saw him was when my insides fell out and I had a tube coming out of me that was connected to a balloon in my abdomen that was used to hold my bowels in... Then I went through 3 back to back heart surgeries... and still he never called. And I know he knew because people in my family talk to each other. I try really really hard to just let it go... But It really hurts to know that he doesn't call because he doesn't want to. And don't think I haven't done my fair share trying... I have. I just can't take being rejected any more. So.... Dad.... if your out there- You suck! I love you... But you really really suck!

-If you're still reading this, Thank-you! I promise to have happier posts soon!

Until Next Time......

An Update on Cora's house

2011-06-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday.... I had Big plans for what I wanted to do today..... But I'm still having some health issues and didn't wake up until after 3 this afternoon. And about the only thing I care to do is lie here and watch tv (btw.... we're, the bf and I, are watching What's Eating Gilbert Grape... one of our favorite movies.) ....So to bring myself out of my funk- I thought I'd share with you what I got done Thursday evening.....

If you remember..... Otis had been in here and had made a mess of the whole house. I think I have fixed this problem now.... but he's a smart cat and always finds away around what I've done.... So I've been putting the house back together.... but I've packed up a lot of the accessories until I can 'glue/stick' everything down.

So.... Here's the living room. The couch began as a pink couch and when Cora got her first dollhouse- we painted it black. Then when we built this house we decided to use this material- I'm still pleased with how it came out! The big cabinet on the right is one i had in my dollhouse as a kid... One day it will get filled, lol. Let's see.... I built the coffee table myself and the 'glass' end table in between the 2 chairs is actually an old fauctet knob.

And here's her naked dining room.... One day I'd like to repaint the table and cabinet cause they look horrible in pictures. In person it's not that bright.

In this house..... it's always Christmas, so I did put the tree and presents back in.

Here's one of the few mini paintings I have done..... It hangs in her dining room.

I also put the kitchen back together.... and kept everything in it. How would it be a pineapple kitchen with no pineapples? When I was cleaning.... it brought back lots of good memories on how everyone helped me to finish this room! I don't know if I can ever thank All of you enough!

The last room I put back together was the pink room. Otis had broke the bed so I had to glue it back together. One day.... I need to finish this room. I have so much to hang on the walls.... just haven't got around to it yet.

One of my favorite scenes in her house is this bed. I have a tray with nail stuff (cotton balls, nail polish and finger nail fillers) and then up front are a pair of pjs that once was a scrapbook sticker. I folded them up and wrapped a ribbon around them. The white blanket is one that my Mom made for this house.... and that dingy pillow in the back was one of my barbie pillows from when I was a kid. LOL... I really need to wash it, huh!

I'm hoping this summer we can finish this house..... but I'm afraid Cora has lost interest. She'll be 14 next week.... and well.... You know how that works.... Oh well.... I'll keep plugging away at it and one day she'll come back around. Right?

.....until next time...........

More Pictures

2011-06-15T09:29:00.001-07:00

I hope you aren't tired of the flower pictures yet....
Here's a custom birdhouse I recently finished. It's a tiny birdhouse.... it's a little under 3/4 of an inch! I did a set of these, and while outside getting pictures.... Well, You know me... I had to play in the garden, too!

And here's a picture of the big order I just finished! Feels good to know it's done.... And you can see the different sizes of birdhouses I make, too! I like having them in all kinds of sizes:)

....and my other daylilies have started to bloom:) I've been growing these since I moved in- about 9 years now! I started with 3 bulbs... and now over 100 bloom at a time!

They're just beautiful! I told the bf if we ever get out of here.... I'm bring them with me!

Thought this picture was interesting..... I like the flower on the left... It hasn't opened up all the way yet... and it reminds me of a dancer. Daylilies are so interesting to me... I think it's so neat how they bloom for a day, and then die... And I'd swear each time you look at it, they look different. And then they're gone..... and then tomorrow another one will begin this dance, as I call it. I love the little things in life:)

Hope all is well out there...... I'm still dizzy here, lol. I guess I shouldn't laugh but what else can I do but suck it up. Now that I'm done with the 'big' orders.... I'm ready to move onto the new project.... and yet my body thinks it needs to stay in the bed. Man is this annoying!!

OK....

So Until Next Time!

Picture Time...

2011-06-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd take the time to share some pictures with you....
First is a surprise gift send to me by Sonya! I am so happy to have these.... Now I just have to paint them and stop worrying about 'what if I mess them up'... Do you do that.... put stuff off because your afraid you might do something terrible to it?? I do.... I do know I want them all white to go in my cabinet.... But I'm thinking I might have to try an idea out with them, too.... It's top on my list of thins to do for myself:) Thank-you again Sonya for the beautiful minis you have sent me.

Next is a birdhouse that I thought I was going to love. I found these really cute cupcake stickers at Toys-R-Us.... but they just don't show up on the birdhouses like I want them to. I've tried painting different colors, and the white seems to work best.... Maybe if I keep looking I can find better stickers:) This birdhouse is not even close to be finished.... I have to sand out that hole.. add a roof... and age it... Then we will see if I feel like it's 'sellable'.

Then there's the item's I've recently ordered to start a new project. As soon as I saw this I thought of a garden fountain... I plan on making a mold of this... and then use the cast to make some wall fountains... But we will see.... I sure do have a lot of Stuff on my 'to try' list!

These I swear were meant to be mine. I stalk Etsy for certain items that I can re-purpose and use in my miniatures. And I have been trying to find a bust for some time. So when these game pieces popped up, I couldn't help myself. I want to do some white... and some stone... And there's that blue one- I was using this color for something else and didn't want to throw away the extra paint I had.... so one got painted.

And last but not least... I wanted to show you what I have to put up with. This is me.... trying to get some 'work' done on the laptop. That is Otis.... Who doesn't care what I'm doing. He looks small in the picture- but he's not. I can barely see over or around him... and his butt will rest on the keyboard and type a conversation all on it's own. I have to fight him to get him to get down... and then he tries so hard to come back! Some times it's just easier to let him sit there!

You can't tell from me yacking away.... but I'm dizzy! Now I'm normally dizzy due to the change in my blood pressure when I move, but this is crazy. And I am so over it. Now that I've said it out loud, maybe it will just go away! I don't like feeling like I'm on a boat! Needless to say... I haven't got much done. I did re-organize my Etsy page... I now have shop sections:) But that's about it. Just been laying here waiting for the room to stop spinning. And thinking about all the things I could be doing....... *sigh*

until next time....

Behind as always!

2011-06-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

There's just not enough hours in the days anymore.... I just don't know where it is that the time goes....

I was able to get some things listed in Etsy today... and thought Id drop off some eye-candy for you guys.

I sure am grateful for the plants I have.....
but today I was thinking I need to find some tiny, tiny plants..... something that flowers and is easy to grow.... it would just give me more photo ops in the garden.

I do like the blue against the brick... especially with that little plant growing up through it:)

But my favorites are the pictures I took with the blackberries:) You wouldn't believe how many we have! I can't wait to taste the first one! Yum!

I know.... I know.... I'm getting really far behind over here in my posts.... And with kids getting out of school this week, I'm realizing my time is going to go by even quicker. I tried to hide in the living room today to get a little 'work' done, and next thing I knew all of the kids and the bf were in the living room with me yacking away about that darn PS3.... Made me realize I'm going to have to rethink my working environment.... trying to get anything done in the middle of the family is just not going to work, lol. ...sigh...

Ok.... Hopefully my next post will be soon...

Until next Time:)

Just a quick pic

2011-06-10T13:37:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd show you the difference between the 2 sizes of signs I make. I make them all different sizes..... but the width is always the same for both. I ran across this phrase "BAKED FRESH DAILY" and thought they'd make some neat signs..... and then I made some bread signs... and some bakery signs... and a few others. My goal is to have them listed by the end of the weekend:) Good news is I already have them photographed:)

I also want to get another blog post up this weekend about my recent purchases and a surprise gift I received! And I need to catch up on my comments. I was able to comment on a few blogs the other day..... but it is still not letting me comment on everyones! **Ara- is your reading this- The recent photo of Arabella in the dollhouse is AMAZING! I loved it so much I sent a link to my Mother, so she could see it too! She's just beautiful Ara!!!

Ok.... see ya later!

Until Next Time...

My day in a nutshell...

2011-06-07T01:01:00.000-07:00

Started out my day with an easy doctor appt- Just my 6 month follow-up with my Primary care doc to 'catch him up' on what I haven't been doing:) This month is actually a little busy in the dr department... Nothing serious... Just my routine exams.

I was also able to take advantage of the weather and got the rest of my pictures taken. This is the custom order I'm working on right now. It's for a lady named Kim Hammond in Texas. She makes dollhouses and roomboxes for people and had asked me to help her with some birdhouses for a Garden Shop. When I asked her about colors, she told me she had some paint samples, and sent them to me. When I first saw them I had to laugh... there were so many.... So I put them into color groups and stapled them to a sheet of paper. It has been So helpful! And so inspiring:) This is what I sent her this afternoon...... (I'm almost done with everything... Just have to finish a little here and there.

Thought I'd show you so you could see my thought process sometimes.... Once I had this.... I took another sheet of paper and put dots of all the colors I had... then I was able to color match things better.

I was also able to get the rest of the birdhouses photographed. I will get those listed within the next few days. My sleep schedule is a little off right now... took a nap this afternoon... and didn't wake up till 1 AM. It is now 3:24 AM and I'm thinking I might need a another nap before the sun comes up? lol

Anyways... Here's on of the single houses I made. These white stickers are hard to photograph... the seem to wash out in the sun. So I put it in the shade and took a picture.

My bf earlier made a comment to me about how old they look. And that's exactly what I was going for:) Takes a lot of sanding to make that brand new wood look like it's been around forever!

And while playing around this week, I made this. I used a fence post, turned upside down... and then added a doorknob.... Now I'm thinking I might of put the door knob on upside down- lol... But I like it better like this. I only made one of these; I gotta get more doorknobs before I can make more.

I spent some time out front hanging out with the kitties..... and we watched this little guy crawl over our tree stump.... (It's that white thing?!)

Love that micro function on the camera.... makes it look like he's crawling through a forest and in reality it's just a moss covered tree stump:)

Freddy made it outside earlier this week, and I have not even been able to get close to him, until today. I guess he finally remembered he was a pet and not some feral kitty anymore and spent quite a bit of time rubbing all over me. However.... both me and the bf agree..... he has a different look in his eyes now- wonder if he meet a girl kitty on his little expedition?

Even Boogs visited. Boogs loves being outside.... but he's not to fond of his brother. Fred is bossy and Boogs is really really docile. And I think Fred bullies him because of this.

Needless to say... It's been a very productive, uneventful day. :)

Oh..... remember I told you my sister sent me a laptop:) I was a complete dumb ass and forgot to put the cord away one night... and guess who ate it? Yup! That Otis..... Ask me if I wanted to strangle him!!! Cost me sixty something dollars to get a new one! That Damn Cat!! -But now that I have the laptop back, I can start surfing blog world again:) Now if I could only get google to let me comment Everytime. ((It's really annoying when you type a long comment.... and then it won't let you post it!))

Well.... it's now 4:13 and I think I might of just got my second wind..... man!

Until Next Time!

Kitty Teeth and Mini Birdhouses

2011-06-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

I just love when you look over and see kitty teeth.... They're just sooo cute:)

As you can see.... Wilbur is keeping me company.

I've been busy making birdhouses. I'm working on a custom order, so while I had the materials out.... I made some for my shop, too. I've also come across some new nail stickers.... and thought we'd have time for a photo montage....

Starting with this set of green houses with green flowers.... These are flat on the back so they can easily be attached to the wall.

As I was coming back inside... I saw that my tea-rose bush had one bloom... So I decided to use it as a back drop.... Here's a teal blue house with a yellow butterfly.... Love the pink against the blue:)

Here's a little blue house with a white hibiscus flower.

Or what about the blue against this orange day lily?

Even this little green birdhouse with it's red butterfly looks good in this flower:)

Out blackberries are coming in... in abundance! this year.... I can't wait to eat one!

...and as you can see, I have hid another birdhouse in there..... I like playing around with these kind of pictures!

And last but not least.... My hosta plants.... I love when they're blooming like this! And I really like the blue birdhouse against the white flowers....

My goal is to have these listed this weekend... First I gotta take some normal pictures, lol.

So...
until next time.......

2 ideas in one post

2011-05-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

Recognize these?

They're Monopoly pieces..... crackled of course. I made these to go in the Painted Lady... and I am really happy with how they turned out. The windows and doors are stamps that I carved out of the end of a pencil eraser. These were 2 of the old wooden pieces.... hopefully I can find more, because I Promised the kids I won't take any more of their game pieces. However there are a few sellers on Etsy that have plastic houses... and they work just as well.

Next is where I decided to go with the gazebo. I knew I wanted it white.... and that I had to cut a piece out of it so some one could get in it.... Then I got stuck....

So I googled gazebos.... and realized I wanted somewhere where someone could relax. I loved the long white curtains that made it a little more private. Then I began looking around my stash to see what I had.

And I found this little chair. I'm thinking it needs to painted white, too.... and I have to cut that loop of at the top.

The rug is a cake doily that Minikat sent me.... and the 'planter' is an egg cup- it will get a moss treatment sometime soon.

Poor little thing sits right next to my bed, begging to be finished. Hopefully Jollie gets hers soon, and it will inspire me to finish mine:)

...until next time...

Picture time...

2011-05-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

I just got done listing a few heads in my Etsy shop.... I still have a couple of more to list, but they need to be finished. There is only one of each kind being sold, the other ones will be going into the Painted Lady.

I really do love how they came out!

But I think I like them best in the garden! You can check out the rest of the pics on Etsy.

Also wanted to show you my lilies that are blooming.... These are the ones that I had just planted! I really didn't think they'd bloom this year.

The red ones were planted last year.... I Can't wait to have a whole garden of these:)

...And then there's Otis. I looked over the other night and saw this, lol. Too funny what he allows the kids to do to him!

He looks amused, doesn't he, Bah haha....

Almost as intense as the look on the GI Joes face... lol, I had the GI Joes out cause I wanted to do a body cast of one of them... but couldn't find one small enough.

Sorry I haven't been around.... it's been busy here. Hopefully here soon, I'll be able to catch you up on what I've been up too...

Until Next Time......

Homework Help Needed!

2011-05-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

My oldest is taking a food study class at school..... His end of the year project consists of him picking a country and cooking something for the class. He decided to go with Wales, seeing as I grew up there... And wants to make Shepard's pie, well.... because it's one of his favorites. However I know the recipe we use is probally not traditional....I use hamburger meat, potatoes and cheese...... And his teacher told him it's an American dish..... ((Personal, I think she's confussed... but then again, I might be wrong?)

>>>>Thought I'd insert a cute pic of me (Yes! I've showed it before... what can I say, it's a favorite!!)... This was taken when I lived in Wales.... And horseback riding was my life! I was soooo disappointed when we moved to the US and found out it was too expensive to ride.

I Loved Wales..... And would do about anything to raise my kids there... Life was just simpler!

So back to the food......

Is Shepard's Pie British?? Is there a 'traditional' recipe?

What is it that that serve custard on? Some kind of pink cake? I LOVE custard!!

I remember Yorkshire pudding with gravy, although I don't think that's an easy recipe for a bunch of 10 graders to cook.....

Not only does he has to do a presentation.... and cook it... but he also has to have loads of info on it.... So I may be back with more questions......

Thank you in advance:)

FYI- Finally got my washer fixed today! I will leave the drama out of it... I'm just happy to wash cloths again..... didn't have the money to go to the laundry mat- luckily we have a lot of clothes.... well.... lol.... Now I know what clothes fit and what cloths don't.... It was very depressing getting to the bottom of my pile cause it was all tooo small for me, this time last year, I was 40 lbs lighter.... Now I'm back to my regular size again:)

And on the mini front.... I'm up to my ears in custom orders right now:) And as usual I have tons of half started projects that need to be finished..... I need direction, lol.

Well Ok then.... I'm off to try and at least get the stuff on my bed done so I have some where to sleep tonight, lol.

Until Next Time......

Wall Art

2011-05-14T17:25:00.000-07:00

As usual.... You can tell when I really like what I'm doing, Cause I just can't seem to stop making these.....

I've used different colors....

Here I've used watered down paint to drip down into her crevices.....

This one cracked as I pulled it out of the mold, and I liked the look, so I left it.

When I was taking pictures of them, I took this 'candid' shot...

Here is another 'metal' sculpture... with white dripping down her sides....

The clay must of not been smooth when I cast this one, cause it caused a big crease across her body.... Again it was something that I liked... so I rubbed black paint into it to make it stand out a little more.

The black wholes are from the sea salt I used before I baked it- You can read about it in the last post:)

See how shinny this one is.... I used copper paint as the last layer.

So.... which one is your favorite?? I plan one using one in a roombox I have envisioned.... along with a few of the doll heads I've been painting....... No, I do not have a room box for it yet....lol..... But oneday.....

Hope I'm not offending anyone with my pics..... But the female body is one of my favorite things to paint, draw, sculpt...... And now that I've found a way to do that in Mini.... I'm one happy girl.

Until Next Time.....

How it all began..

2011-05-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

Do you remember me telling you about my parents coming down... and the fact that the kids and my Dad found a Barbie on the beach......Well...... this is what became of the Barbie. Turns out it is Mulan and not Barbie, which has made it rather hard to cast a mold of her face. Her face is squishy so when I pushed her head into the mold, her face became flat..... I thought it was funny, so I went ahead and made a cast from it.... The cast is on the left....

In between things last week, I also received this in the mail- The silver man coin:) And so I have made a mold using him, too....

You can see what happened to Mulan's body here..... the first few casts I made I did not include the neck and I really didn't like them, so I went back and made another mold including her neck...I'm using scrap polymer clay for both the molds and the casts. (Hope I'm using the right word, or I'm gonna sound like a big dummy! lol)

I used salt to create the textures.... With the mold I pushed regular salt into it before baking it... and when it came out of the toaster oven, I washed the salt out. Then after I made the cast I pushed big salt(sea salt) into the casts and baked them. When they came out of the over, I just plucked out the salt. Some times you can't get the salt out, which is fine, just run it under warm water and scrub it out with an old toothbrush. By using 2 different kinds of salt, at 2 different times, you create texture that sticks out and some that is pushed in.... You'll understand with the next set of pictures.....

Here's the man coin again.... and the mold I made, and a cast from it.
All of them got one coat of Gesso.... and then were painted with the first coats of color.

Oh.... and I just use regular water as a release agent....

Next post I'll have the finished 'Art pieces'!!

Until Next Time......

Found Something to keep me busy..

2011-05-13T15:39:00.000-07:00

....I'll be back with more later:)

Until Next Time

Who Knew- The Sand Trade

2011-05-11T06:09:00.000-07:00

Well...... I learned something new this week.... Did you know it is against the law to ship 'dirt' which includes sand. :( I can't even begin to tell you how annoyed I am with this! I finally come up with a good idea, and I can't do it! It's something to do with the 'bacteria' that could be transported.

So.....I've been trying to come up with an alternate idea..... and .... well.... I'm just not thinking of anything good. And it's quite frustrating! I was excited about this trade- Dang it!

And then on top of that.... my outside cat came home the other day with what looks like a bite mark behind his ear. So he was coned and I've been cleaning out the wound 3 times a day.... And believe me when I saw he Hates being inside.... All he does is cry, cry, cry....... And of course the other cats want to check him out, and he doesn't want them anywhere near him- There's been lots of growing and hissing- noise as I call it.... Needless to say.... He's keeping me busy, and making me mental!

Oh.... and the washing machine died..... It almost deserves it own blog post. We bought it from East Coast Appliance- And I can honestly say that we will Never buy anything from them again. When we bought it, we also bought a 3 year warranty.... But Man do they give you the run around about that..... Took us a whole day of phone calls just to get someone out here to look at it. Then while the guy was here, he left the front door open, and a lot of the cats got out. Took the bf an hour to convince Otis he needed to come out from under the trailer. Our washer needed a part... and that was last Tuesday.... Today is Wednesday.... and if the bf hadn't of called them numerous times yesterday, I don't think we would of heard anything until the guy came back. The lady that the bf talked to yesterday.... said that the guy was off Wednesday and Thursday last week, so the part didn't get ordered until Friday. And they're still waiting on the part. Nice.... I worked in customer service for a long time, so I feel like I have the right to say there's sucks!!! When the bf first called, the lady he spoke with tried to walk him through trouble shooting the problem....and as he said.... why did we pay for a warranty if they expected us to fix it?! When it was delivered the guy told us, that if it broke down, don't touch it or it would void out warranty.... and that if we had any problems, to call them and they'd just bring us a new one.... Yeah Right!!! I'm 2 weeks deep into the laundry pile and it's not getting any smaller....... so yeah.... I'm stressed!

Well.... I'm off to see if I can't get at least one thing done around here........ If I don't choke the cat first...... *sigh*

Until Next Time....

What I've got done so far....

2011-05-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

I've been painting heads all weekend, and just wanted to show you what I'm thinking. I took one of those columns used for cake decorating, and spray painted it with a coat of the stone spray. Then I went back and layered the colors on to give it some depth. I still want to add a piece of something under the girl to give the piece more height, just haven't found anything that would work yet.

Here's an up close of the paint treatment I'm doing...

I just love the crackle effect. I'm using a different brand crackle medium, and I don't think I like it as much as I like the Folk Art brand, but it's what I have... so I'm using it....

This lady is probably one of my favorites...

Her nose was already broke... so I painted around it, and left it to look like it had broke off years ago. I also added some ink to this to dirty it up a bit.

I'm still working on these... I tried painting one green and it just didn't look right, so they're either going to be white or cream-sand colored. And a few got the stone treatment. Waiting for the paint to dry in between coats has been the hardest part.

So..... as the saying goes......

Until Next Time....

A Little of this and that..

2011-05-07T07:25:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I bought this with the intentions of hanging one up in Cora's Gothic room.. I ended up with four of them..... So I did this to two of them: Whatcha think?! I think it's really neat- One will be going into The Painted Lady... the other will go up in Etsy.

Next is a picture of Rufus and Otis.... They can't stand each other when they're awake! But not today..... So cute! Don't tell anyone, but they're touching each other and don't even know it.

Next is a new Project:) I found a listing on Etsy for 13 doll heads, and knew I had to have them. And when they came last night, I totally got side-tracked and spent the next 5 hours sanding them down.

I started with an emery board- I use these to do almost all of my sanding jobs, but I soon realized I wasn't getting anywhere.... So I broke out the dremel! And you'd be proud- I didn't even hurt myself. LOL!! After I 'dremeled' all of them down, I went back and did the detail sanding....

This next pic shows you what I started with and what I got it to look like when I was done.....

Now they just need a coat of paint. Some will get crackled, some stoned- lol, and some I just want to paint white.

And then there's these......

Another find on Etsy. They are some kind of game pieces. I'm going to repaint them and a few will live in MarshMallow Manor. ((My Dad flies for a living, and I've been trying to find something that would be totally his in the house. In their real house, they have a few models of the planes he has flown on, and I plan on using those as my guide.))

So needless to say, I've got my plate full again, or should I say my bed, the coffee table, the end table.... LMAO- It's just everywhere, lol.

Until Next Time....

The sand trade update...

2011-05-06T09:55:00.000-07:00

If I read it right, there are 8 of us(including me)
*Plushpussycat
*Lataina- See Lataina, You need a blog for me to link back to.
*Jollie
*Ana
*Susanne
*Margriet
*Sans (she doesn't know shes particpating yet, lol.... but she sent me sand when I first asked, so she's included!!)
*and little ole Me:)

that want to particpate... So.. this is how this will go. If you email me, I will give you my address.... All sand needs to be in the mail by August 1... And I will have them ready to be shipped back out by September 1st. If everyone can send me about a half a cup of sand, I will divide it up, and rebag it, and that way all of us will have some sand from all over the world. I don't know about you.... But I'm excited:)

(If I'm missing anything... just ask, please! I want to make sure this works for everyone:)

See.... I have the beach on my mind.. All of these are listed in my Etsy shop...

Drew and I went back down to the beach again last night, we LIVE about 10 minutes away from it. I wanted more shells, and my son wanted to try out his new skateboard on the boardwalk. Poor kid.... Came home all kinds of banged up. We really got to work on his balance issues, lol.

These are the shells I was looking for... There's not a lot of them, and you really have to walk the beach to find them... I still need a few more, but I'll worry about that next time. Some of these are soooo tiny.

I also brought home these shells. These are easier to find, and are really pretty! And there's a few that are so tiny, you can barely see them. I do plan on sending a few of these out with my sand samples, too:)

I hope I've included everything you need to know.... My brain is a little duh today, and I feel like I'm forgetting something! Thanks again to everyone who left a comment:)

So Until Next Time....

Now these are some Big Roses

2011-05-03T16:10:00.000-07:00

My roses have opened up so I thought I'd show you how big they are. And OMG... do I wish my computer had smell-o-screen cause I don't think I've ever smelled anything like it!

I even took a ruler to it, so you could get a better idea of it's size... I have 3 blooming right now:) And do you see the small roses in the back- those are the bfs roses... See I told you mine were bigger, lol.

His roses are pretty though!

And they're so bright... Most pictures I have taken have just washed out... I took these late in the afternoon, when the sun wasn't really shining so you could see them.

And there's so many of them...

Hope you've enjoyed the roses... I know I am:)

No minis today, yet.... I did however find a nice collection of thimbles from the thrift store today that were only $1.35! I plan on using one in Marshmallow Manor, and it was cheaper to buy the bag then it would of been to buy one at the craft store.. Not to sure what I'll do with the rest of them yet...

So.... guess I gotta go find something to keep me busy for the rest of the night... Oh, what to do....what to do, lol.

Until Next Time

The International Sand Trade

2011-05-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

Awhile back.... I had talked about doing a sand trade. I'm not really sure how to go about doing it, so if anyone has any suggestions, I will glady listen:) But I would also like to know if anyone is interested??

At the end of summer, my family is going to be staying at a beach house in North Carolina, and I plan on getting sand from there, too.... So there is No rush here... And don't stress if your not near a beach and want to be a part of this... I'm sure there's something around you that you can collect a 'sample' from.... lake, river, dirt... a playground...

After I brought it up the first time..... Sans sent me some sand from a playground in Singapore... and some sand from the beach in Sir Lanka... I put them in a couple of bottles, and put some labels on them.... and I still have 2 whole bags of sand left:) My labels are starting to come off... so I need to figure out a better way to do that... But I still love them:) Thanks again Sans!!!

And then this past weekend, my parents came down and stayed at the ocean front... so while the kids were dipping their toes in the water (Why is it when you tell your kids the water is too cold to go swimming, they never believe you.... Until they get in the water, lol... Mine lasted 5 minutes, before they were back out, shivering mind you, asking if they could go swimming in the hotel pool instead..Duh!) .... I was bent over, searching for the tiniest shells I could find:) And this is what I did with them.... Each jar has some sand... and some tiny, tiny shells...

I still can't believe how freaking small some of the shells we found were, my youngest even found some:)

And.... I still have a whole bag of sand... and more shells:) I even found some odd pieces... a tiny green bear, the top to one of those safety pins that you use for cloth diapers... And my Dad found a Barbie:) The kids brought it back to me for parts:) LOL

oh... and Cora found a big rock.... Which I put in my purse.... Later in the day, I had asked my bf to hand me my purse, and he said... 'My god, what do you have in here, Bricks?' .....took me a minute to realize I still had the rock in there....lol

Do you see how tiny these shells are?! Perfect for miniatures!

So.... anyone interested in trading sand?? If a couple of people are... I will find a way for everyone to get sand from everyone that participates.

And while I'm talking about Virginia Beach.... I got an interesting email this morning:)

Do you remember the post about the murals.. the kind of mural I want on the side of the skateshop... Well, I got an email from one of the artists today. He just wanted to thank me for the post and sent me a link to his website where there are better pictures. I was so shocked that he emailed me:) His work is just amazing! If you get a chance, you should check it out:)

Well, I think I've included everything..... Except for plugging my Etsy store:) You will see some beachy themed things going up due to the fact that summer is almost here..... Hopefully this year, I can actually go the the beach and enjoy it!!

So..... Until Next Time.....

Picture Heavy this time:)

2011-04-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

I was finally able to pull myself away from the tv and got some 'work' done. But first let me start with this:

I found it at AC Moore's the other day in the clearance section for $0.50!! I bought 2... One for me and one for one of you. If you'd like to have the other one, I will send it to who ever asks first... However, If you take it... You gotta complete it and get on me about completing mine. I plan on painting mine white, and doing a little scene inside of it.... It's tiny and the roof part comes off. It's about 3 1/4 inches tall. I found it in the cake decorating section! So what would you do with it if it were yours?

Next we have the angel. I love how she looks in person, but I can't seem to capture that in pictures today...

Remember, First she was painted with Gesso...then sprayed with probably too many coats of stone spray. Then I went back and added brown and green paint to age her... And last night she got mossed.

Now I just need to take a good picture of her?!

I went ahead and mossed one of the trophies, too. I really like how it came out.

I was going to fill this one, but I kinda like it as it is... I can fill the others later. They'd be pretty with flowers, too. It stands 3 3/4 inches tall. I know it seems a bit tall... but I think it would make a good focal point in a garden...

As usual the inspector came by....I don''t think JD was impressed with the smell of the moss, because after he smelled it he snuffed his nose and walked away.

While I was outside... I went ahead and took a few pic of the roses..... This is our tea-roses.... Smells so wonderful!

And these are the bf 'Orange Crush' roses... I swear he has a hundred blooms on that thing!

My rose bush is doing well, too. But it only has a few blooms on it. LOL.... and my blooms are bigger. Last year one of the blooms was the size of my hand!

And here's the daylilies that got planted yesterday! I still can't believe she brought me that many! I'm hoping this will fill in over the next few years and that the whole fence line will be covered:) Hope my neighbor doesn't mind?!

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend... My parents will be here late tonight and tomorrow I hope to walk the beach with them.... Which will take me into my next idea... The International Sand trade. More on that later:)

Until Next Time....

Ugg!

2011-04-29T05:30:00.000-07:00

OK... So, I was a little annoyed when I woke up this morning as saw that I missed the wedding! I soooo wanted to watch Kate walk into the church! My family and I were in Scotland when Dianna got married, and we were living in Wales when Prince William was born.... So it's all rather exciting to me, as I am sure it is to you..... I'm hoping they will show it again sometime:) I woke up as they were walking out of the church... and they just got to the balcony and had their 'first' kiss.... sigh....... What I wouldn't give to be there with London right now... Everyone looks so happy!

...But my real problem is I can't seem to pull myself away from the TV, lol. I have work to get done, and a house to clean, clean! My mother just informed me that they will be here tonight, and not tomorrow.. and that makes me panic a little. I have too much to do, lol. And all I want to do is watch tv!! Terrible!!

OH, and I need to turn this computer off! I didn't tell you yet, but I got a Laptop! My sister sent me hers..... Isn't that awesome! I can Not tell you enough how awesome it is to lie in bed and surf the net!! Very very convenient!

Ok.... I guess I got to go.... I gotta go wave my magic wand and get this house clean. fun. fun.

Until Next Time...

Due to the cloudy day...

2011-04-28T15:50:00.000-07:00

I'm revisiting the garden again....

Haven't really done anything productive today.... well, I guess I can't say that cause I did get some bills paid, and I did manage to swing by the thrift store and pick up 2 pairs of comfy pants because I can't seem to get my a** in the ones I have here.... and when I got home there were two trash bags of daylily bulbs, irises and one elephant ear plant from the Flower Fairy ((Thank-you Flower Fairy!!!)) .... so the bf dug holes, and I got them all planted:) One day.. our yard going to be sooo full of flowers :) -when it's not raining I will take pics:)

As far as minis go... I've just been trying to finish things up. I have way too many projects going on! And I've been getting side-tracked so easily here lately! I wrote a list to help me out, so we will see if I can stay focused!

....shhh! This bunny is sleeping!.....

And Check out the strawberry in the next pic... It's almost all seed! And I just love this little laughing pig:)

So... Maybe tomorrow I will have something complete? LOL..... Or I'll have more garden pics:)

Until Next Time....

How about an afternoon in my Garden?

2011-04-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

I LOVE taking my little 'statues' out into the garden for a photo op! My pink Roses are in full broom right now...

I finished aging the bunnies yesterday, but got side tracked yesterday afternoon. Went to lunch with my bff and did a little shopping while I was over there..... I picked up a new pack of nail stickers, and had to run over to the craft store for some more sticks. While I was there I found something that I thought was too cute to pass up, but you'll have to wait for the rest of that story later....
Today.... I'm in the garden!

I love how this bunny is peeking over the cliff, even though he's really just sitting on a log with a bunch of mushrooms.

And I love taking pictures with the wild strawberries in it... This little pig looks like he's trying to stay out of the sun.

So is this bunny!

I think I took over 70 pictures today, lol..... Like I said I'm enjoying my garden:)

I was also able to get them loaded up in Etsy! I'm on a roll today...... haha

Until Next Time

*I didn't add moss to these bunnies because I didn't think it looked right; however, I'm still thinking on the angel and the trophies...

White or Blue?

2011-04-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

So... I got the bunnies and trophies aged... now I just need to spray them with a clear coat of sealer... and I'm thinking I may try and add moss to a few.... Tomorrow!

Today.... I'm playing with the cabinet again.... I recently ordered the tiny dessert bowls that are on the 3rd shelf. They are just so cute! I'm thinking eventually the plates may go in the cabinet, but first I gotta find a few more white items to fill in the gaps...

And then there's the blue dishes I've been working on. I really like these, but not to sure if I'm going to keep them... I just like the white a little more:)

...And then there's Fred! This is an old picture of him and how he sleeps.... Yesterday, he slide right off the counter, head first! Poor fella, just sat up and just kept shaking his head. He does this daily.... You'd think he'd learn.....but, no.... he's back there again today!

So..... I've got to finish dinner.... It's my ole' man's birthday today... and I made some rice and Jerk chicken!! So yummy!!!

Until Next Time......

Sorry to keep you waiting!

2011-04-24T17:33:00.000-07:00

But this is not exactly working out the way I planned it. We made a video- not a good video- but one where Drew drew a name out of a bowl.... But I, for the life of me, can't remember how to upload it, lol. I've had issues with the computer lately, and have lost a lot of things... I did find my music though:) Thought I had lost that.....I'm listening to Blue October right now:) It's nice to have my songs back!! So..... I know, I know... You're here for the giveaway! :)

I took everyone's name and their favorite color, and put it on a piece of paper... cut them up, and then had my son help me fold them all. Then he drew a name............

Drew drew Roberta's name! Congrats Roberta! Please email me your address and I will get everything in the mail.... after I wrap it up all perty like!

Thanks again to all the people that entered! I was shocked to have so many people involved this year! Thank-you!!!

OK... so this is another one of those things that I had hoped to have done today. When I spray and paint these animals... I first apply a coat of gesso-and/or- glue to them to help the paint stick better. And when you spray something, you can still kinda see the original color underneath, so I like to also paint a layer of paint in there.... So after they get their first 2 coats.... They get sprayed, and sprayed, and sprayed, and sprayed.... However, If is is humid- They will not dry quick enough for someone who is as impatient as me! I finally brought them in, and put them in front of the fan.... Tomorrow I should be able to age them:)

I've got a few projects going on here... There's a set of blue dishes that were those metal ones that have the spots... I gesso'ed them first, then they got a few coats of paint, before getting a few coats of glaze. It seems to take days to paint something properly!

I did manage to pick up a tube of bunnies and piggies from AC Moore's over the weekend.... I had really hoped to have them finished today being it's Easter and all...... sigh......maybe tomorrow?!

While I was taking pictures- I though I'd share one of my Mother's bright ideas with ya:) She got a new dishwasher recently, and took the silverware container out of the old one for me- She thought I could put my paintbrushes in them.... Even put little foam pieces in the bottom so nothing would fall out. But I'm using it as a paint caddy! It holds all my favorite Folk Art paints right now... Pretty nifty, huh! (Oh... and do you see the blue goat at the bottom of the page? He's the last of the antique animals I'm painting. Those that will be sold from now on out will be ones that I have found recently.)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! I'm off to start wrapping Roberta gifts:)

Until Next Time!

To hold you over until this Evening...

2011-04-24T05:18:00.000-07:00

I have not forgotten about the giveaway... I just want to wait until Drew gets home, so he can do the drawing:) Hope you can wait....

So, until then I thought I'd share a few of my tins with you. You can never have too many tins, especially when you're a crafter! This first one is my favorite. The tin itself is a greenhouse... and if you look closely, you will see that there are A lot of cats! I think it would be a perfect scene to do in mini!!

There's cats all over the tin.... although the ones on the back seem to be getting into trouble... I keep my tooth picks in this tin!

And what about this tin.... With all the birdhouses:) This is another one that would be really cute in miniature!

And this one.... Hey, I see a theme going on here... Looks like I buy tins that remind me of miniatures...lol... I just love this little caravan with it's puppet show!

I bought this one not only for it picture, but because it's a tin for Entex- a medicine that I took for about 10 years as a kid...helps with sinuses... but I just couldn't walk by the image!

And you'd never believe how much I find them for! The last 2 only cost me a quarter each! Now that's a bargain, huh!

Hope everyone has had or is having a Great Easter! Eat looks of chocolate for me! And I will be back tonight to do the giveaway!

Until next Time.....

One can of Stone Spray...

2011-04-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

And a lot of imagination can be a dangerous things...... lol..... Found a few things that I thought would look good 'stoned' as my youngest said to me the other night, lol

A gaggle of ducks.... lol- are a group of ducks even called a gaggle or does that only apply to geese? Hum! Anyways.... these were porcelain ducks that I found as a set....

And why not stoned letters?? This was bought from a set of the kids' letters that go on the fridge...

Then there's the pigs.... The big piggie is a little big- he's probably the real size of a miniature pig... But I still like it...

....what about a pig in the garden?

Or an angel blowing a horn? This was one of those Dollar Store ceramic Angels....

So, In other words..... there's a lot of things that can be 'stoned'. The ideas are endless:)

Until Next Time

New Benches

2011-04-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

I just got done listing a few benches in Etsy..... Went with bright spring colors this time... and made all of them small. The longest one is 3 1/4 inches... The one on top is only 2 1/4 inches long. I love it when you see them in the magazines stacked up, so I thought I'd take a pic like it:)

While I was outside taking pictures of the benches, I happened to peek over my railing and see that my clematis' are in full bloom..... They're just so pretty!

Thought you'd like to take a peek inside:)

I've also been working on this.... It's the one from the other day, aged. ((Do you find that when you really, really like something.... You want to take hundreds of pictures of it?? What will it look like here... and what will it look like there? kinda thing??)

I love using my garden as a backdrop to my creations.... And you get eye-candy! Call me weird, but I really think that rust is beautiful! I used the stone spray to give it it's texture, then went back this morning and added some more color to make it look really old. I have more like this... Just ran out of spray, lol. Yup, used a whole can in one night.... Everything was getting sprayed... except for the cats....

Funny story behind this little guy. My daughter and I were at 'the party store' the other day, when I found this little trophy on the floor, I picked it up, and went looking for where it came from. I couldn't find it, so I spoke with the store manager, and he couldn't find them either... And then he said I could have the one in my hands if I wanted it! How awesome is that!! Wouldn't even charge me for it when I offered to pay something for it. He said they get them all the time, so I definitely plan on stopping back in there sometime. But.... While I was at the thrift store the other day buying 'more junk' I found a bag full of them:D So you know I had to buy them.... Also came home with more white dishes for my real kitchen- my kids have been breaking mine lately(accidentally of course!), so It was time to restock... And at 45 cents a plate, I can afford this.... And they all match. I also found some new tins, a couple of fisher price people, a small nativity set, another chess set- for the horses of course! And I bought another glass sundae dish... Now all 5 of us have one. And you know what..... I only spent $10!! So now that I have a million projects going on, lol.... I got to get some of this stuff done! Back to work I go.....

Until Next Time...

Oh.. and before I forget again... Someone had asked me where I get my tiny starfish- And well, I live by the beach, and there's a sea-shell store on the pier... I do want to get some more myself... Whenever I get my car back from the shop:( However I was looking through Etsy the other night and there are sellers out there that sell them for good prices. OK.... Talk to ya'll later:)

My Birthday Present!

2011-04-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

Wanna see what I bought myself this year for my Birthday?! Isn't he just purr-fect!! As soon as I saw him, I knew I had to have it! It reminds me so much of our orange kitties:) The plate is made by a Canadian artist named Barb Plevan and you can find her Etsy link here. I had it on my favorites list for a few weeks before I bought it, and prayed everyday that no one would see it....

Don't you just love the fact that the kitty has on a turquoise sweater! And I love the color combination she used! She has a couple of other plates, and from what I understand, when she can..... she's going to make more:) She does bunnies, too:) And some pretty cool looking fish! Stop by her store when you get a chance! If you're an animal lover like me, you won't be sorry:)

So..... Two words! SPRING Break!! I have a house full of kids, cats, and the bf! Nothing is getting done, lol.... But I am trying:) Be back later with some more pics!

Until Next Time!

Thrift Store Finds

2011-04-19T05:23:00.000-07:00

It's the little things in life....

I found this at the thrift store a week ago:) It was hiding on a bottom shelf, and if I hadn't of seen the red in it, I might of walked right by it.

But for 99 cents.... I just had to have it! And it's a table- perfect for when I want to lay in bed and craft!

On my Birthday, my bff asked if I wanted to go walk around the thrift store by his house, and I couldn't say no, lol.... I swear when you have No money, You find everything... and when you actually have money, there's never anything good. ((Well I don't know if I should say never... there's always something that can be found:)) Anyways.... the bff found this:

I have a Mickey and a Minnie in the same style from my childhood- mine are 25+ years old..... They are music boxes.... and it still works. So do my Mickey and Minnie ones too. I do realize he is missing a drumstick..... But for $1.25.... it was mine!

The bff also bought me this plate- and if you look under Snow White's foot you will see the wind up key, Cause this one plays 'Hi Ho, Hi Ho... It's off to work we go' :) In case you don't know- I love Anything Disney!!! And I love plates:)

Thanks again bff! You made my Birthday a good day:)

OK...

Until Next Time..

How Collections Begin!

2011-04-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

OMG! I feel like I've been gone forever! I knew I shouldn't of opened my big mouth about how Great things were! LOL.... Let's see the car died... well its been trying to die, and last week she wouldn't start....Today, she started right up?? I wanted to kick her, lol! But I was nice, and told her what a good girl she was! Sometime this week she's got to get a check up, cause I need my car! Then the phone got turned off, completely my fault, and I'll leave it at that... and without the phone , there's no Internet... So I've been going through blog withdrawals. And.... I know there's some kind of bug in my computer.... Just can't figure out where. So that's another thing on my list of stuff to do... It just keeps getting longer and longer.

However! There is always light at the end of the tunnel.... I still have a smile on my face! And my mind is still in create mood....

So.... Here's a couple of pictures to tied you over:) First is the cabinet I made not to long ago..... All decorated with my 'white' collection. This is a collection I didn't realize I 'needed' until here recently.... And it's perfect in this cabinet! There's a horse from my farm set, one that I loved dearly as a child. There's pitchers that we all were making here recently.... The ones on the 3rd shelf were used with beads as the bases. On the second shelf there a ceramic pitcher that I have had in my belongings for a long time! I bought the dishes recently from a seller on Etsy..... And I'm hoping she puts more out:) I originally bought them because I had an idea for a project, but when I got them in my hands, they reminded me too much of my own dishes, and I realized I couldn't let them go. Then there's the doll heads! You can find more of them here (and a little history about them).... There was just something about them that attracted me to them.... I have one more head, but I need to sand the bottom of it down so it will sit properly. I'm sure over time, I will rearrange everything! I want this cabinet full!

This next pic is just a teaser..... It's a little something something I've been working on this weekend:)

I will be back soon, Armed with pictures.... I have lots of things to show you:)

Until Next Time:)

To All My Friends!

2011-04-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

Well..... It's time time of year...... Today is my Birthday! And that means it's time for a giveaway:) It's time to celebrate! Let's see?!

*I've been blogging since Febuary 2008... A little over 3 years now. I started this blog to share my polymer clay creations, and along the way stumbled across miniatures. Blogging has been my way to the outside world, I'm homebound most days, And it so awesome to know that I have so many wonderful friends a finger type away!

*I'm doing really good with Etsy! I've had over 100 sales:) Thanks to all my 'friends'! Who knew I would have to change my life like I did, and in the end, end up doing something I love everyday!

*And..... the best part! I've haven't had to deal with 'surgeries' for almost 2 years now..... And I've manazged to gain the weight back that I lost when I first got sick. My heart surgeon the other day was picking with me the other day about it.... Told me he normally has to get on people about losing the weight...But now that I had gained it back that he could see why I was trying so hard. And believe me, when you don't even want to eat, it is hard to gain weight. I think it's the medicine I'm on now, but whatever! I'm doing a lot better than I was! That's for sure:) I will have ups and downs, but I think the worst is over?! ...knock on wood...

So.... with so many good things happening~ I want to do a giveaway! First we have a Shabby Chic sign that reads friends! Thought it fit perfectly!

And then there's this:

We'll call it a sampler from my Etsy store..... There's 2 birdhouses, 1 little worn down white house... A painted chess piece to use as a decoration.... a tiny shelf.... 3 small signs.... And one pink 'nesting doll'!

So.... What do you have to do to enter?

It's really easy:) Just leave me a comment on this post and tell me what your favorite color is! Easy enough, huh?! So you have until Easter Sunday (April 24) to enter, I will do the drawing in the Morning that day:) Sound Good??

OK.... I promised myself I would stay away from the computer today... I will be back soon with what I got for my Birthday:)

Until Next Time

What does a Saint and pig and a cow have in common?

2011-04-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

Nothing really, Just that they've all been treated to one of my paint jobs:) lol

I bought these little Saints from Etsy last week..... I've aged them a little, and sealed them. Perfect for The Painted Lady! I have a few to go in Etsy.... But once they're gone, They're gone! Looks really good next to the church!

And then I thought I'd tease you a little with the plastic animals! I LOVE the pink Cow!! Looks so elegant sitting next to Jody's hydrangea!

Or what about a green pig? Isn't he just so cute?!

I'm still working on these... Everytime I think I've painted the whole thing, I'll find a spot on a hoof or something! And then there diferent things I want to do to them. Bought a big pig last night that I can't decide if I want to crackle it or spray it with stone spray?!~ Oh, decisions! Decisions! Don't forget to pop in here tomorrow.... I'll be posting about my Annual giveaway!

Until Next Time!

Have you ever painted a Rhino's Butt?

2011-04-09T12:14:00.001-07:00

No? What do you mean No?! LOL... You can blame it on Casey if you'd like... If I hadn't of seen the bottle of Gesso on her blog, I wouldn't of had to take mine out! So.... I've been squirreling away all these plastic animals for a long time now so I could one day paint them.... I want to turn them into rocks, statues and pieces of art! Here they are getting their first coat of Gesso.

So... the elephant and the rhino became bronze statues... I still have to work on that paint job:)

And then I got thirsty for more. So I pulled out my son's (which was once mine- about 25 years ago) farm set.... and 'borrowed' a few of those. Cause who doesn't need a purple pig or a pink cow on their dresser?? You'll have to wait till I get them painted and in place to see what I mean:) Then today I ran into the thrift store to see of I could find any more animals.... and I found 1 woolly mammoth.... and he's getting a coat of pink, too!

I also found a bag of porcelain ducks..... Thought they'd be cute turned into stone....

....but also debating if I want to paint them a solid. Oh, who knows what I'll do???

I do know I need some patience! I had no desire to watch paint dry!!

Oh... and I got the Last of the birdhouses listed. I don't think I'll be making anymore of this kind any time soon- I have other ideas I want to explore right now :) Like painting plastic animals' butts, LMAO!

....I haven't forgotten the Giveaway! I'm thinking Tuesday will be a good day to post it.....

so you'll have to wait till then:)

Until Next Time....

2 Posts in One!

2011-04-08T07:07:00.001-07:00

First! Let me start with my surprise that came in the mail Wednesday! I've been waiting on supplies to come, so when Cora handed me this little box, I was surprised to see that it was from 'Lataina'... One of our blog readers! She doesn't have a blog yet, But I'm working on that;)

Isn't it ALL just beautiful? From right to left..... That's a Mossy K! How smart.... and how Pretty! I Love moss.... then there is this little jug with a bird on a branch- I just love that little image! Next is the cake stand plate! I love the 'crystal' stand it's on! And then there was more moss- Moss Balls!!:) And she made this rusty holder that I decide to put it in! There's another one of those crystals! It all looks Fabulous to me!

And, as if that wasn't enough?! She made this cute little green bag! Perfect for my Beach inspired brain right now:) More on that later.........

You just don't know how surprised I was to receive such a special gift! Thank-You so much Lataina!

I also wanted to drop off some pictures of The Painted Lady... The Glass House... I rearranged some things so you could get a better look of how the shadow boxes would fit into a room....

Do you see how small some of those shells are.... in the bottom left corner, that yellow one is about the same size as the handle on the drawer. They were a pain to glue in. And Yes! Casey I tried tweezers.... I kept plinging the shells right out of its grip! Terrible! So I had use a tooth pick and a Lot of patience! Please excuse that gold bed post behind the turquoise candle... Looks silly in the pic if you ask me!

Also put my London sign in my shop.... One day it will go on the wall, but for now, I thought it was kinda fun it put it here..

And then stepping back... A full shot.... This is the house that will one day be in a fish tank... I need more room, and I want to hang those birdhouses and signs on the wall! And I need a place to put all those cabinets I've recently painted. One day I hope to put some of those kind of pieces in my Etsy shop too....

But not today.....

Today I must 'get to work'! I found a few pieces of molding so I am going to go see what I can make today............ Later, maybe tommorrow I will get to the Giveaway, and maybe a few other ideas I have....

....until next time