Amazing talent

I was just listening to a couple of songs on You Tube that my niece Nichole's husband Peter wrote and recorded and I have to say that he is so incredibly talented.  You can catch the videos at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eOYMAsECJs&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gZDfNIUWgE&feature=related.  Nichole sings as well and she is doing some background vocals in these two songs.  I guess my point is that people who are truly gifted make it look so effortless when in fact it takes a towering talent to make it look that easy.  Me, I can't sing a note, I think I scared my babies singing lullabies LOL but I do sing to my grandaughter and make up my own verses most of the time as I cannot remember the correct ones. :)  My daughter has a beautiful voice as well but is a little shy in using it and she won't sing in front of me most of the time because I get a little teary listening to her sing.  I can still remember when she was a teenager and I would sneak up to her bedroom and put my ear against the door so I could hear her sing.  The first time she sang in front of me and played guitar was my 50th birthday and I cried like a baby.  It's no wonder she won't sing in front of me but come on I had to wait 25 years.  Age is a funny thing, I used to be very self-concious singing in front of anyone (because I can't sing!) but now I just don't care and I sing to my grandaughter all the time regardless of who is there.  Hopefully she will not become tone deaf from my warbling. :)

I have mentioned before that I live next to the ocean and last week there were some incredible sunsets and any window you look out is like a living painting.  I am so lucky to live where I do, it is peaceful and quiet and very beautiful no matter the time of year or what the weather. The pictures below have been taken from my deck during many sunsets.  I am always running for my camera to take pictures and actually am ordering a new camera that takes panoramic pics.

Of course living by the ocean we tend to get a lot of ice instead of snow and I have put one of my favorites pics below.  By the way I did make my ice gems and I am waiting anxiously for them to freeze solid so I can unwrap them, tomorrow I hope and will post pictures of them to show how they turned out.  Fingers crossed.

"I hope you always have a shell in your pocket and sand in your shoes."

Winter Fun

After a day of talking on the phone a lot and with a busy two days ahead of me, I decided that tonight I would make some ice gems so when I get home on Sunday I can unwrap them and unleash their beauty. :)  It's a idea I had found on Pinterest which looked fun and easy to do.  The website for the ice gems is http://faceless39.hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Make-Decorative-Ice-Gems and I have put a picture of them below.  Don't they look fun.  I am going to try putting a small rock or something on top of the water filled ballon to make a depression where I can put a tealight.  We shall see how that goes, I will post a picture of how mine turn out.



I was back to thinking about the whole photo transfer process and I am going to try it again as I have some different ideas I want to try out but that will have to wait until later in the week.

This Saturday my friend Betty (heart sister) is helping to organize a benefit for a friend who has been diagnosed with cancer, very sad for both Tina and her family.  The details are noted below for anyone in Halifax and Dartmouth that would like to attend.

BENEFIT and dance Jan 28th 6:30pm to 1:00am Fairview legion. 50/50 draws; silent auction..draws for things like an Italian basket.. tickets being sold on a Boston Bruins Jersey with the official Stanley Cup Crest signed by Brad Marchand ...plus plus plus..
This benefit is for Tina Brown and her family. Unfortunately Tina was diagnosed with cancer April 2011.
We want this benefit to be fun and a help for this family. So anyone in Halifax and Dartmouth looking for a fun night and a way to help out a family in need, please come to the Fairview Legion Saturday night. Cash Bar.

Well I was talking to my BFF Betty and the benefit was an incredible success so thank you everyone who helped make this such a success for Tina and her family.

On the mend

Well I am getting back to normal I think. :)  My poor wee grandaughter has had a time with a cold since starting at daycare which was to be expected but she has kindly passed it along to both her nannies and her mom and dad.  So we are all walking around with our pockets bulging with tissue, one pocket for Adelyn and the other pocket for us.  Oh my but it does bring back memories of bringing up my children.

For christmas I had made my son-in-laws parents a doorstop for the cottage as whenever the back door was opened the inside door would slam shut so I had been thinking of making one for awhile and last year was the year I put thought into action.  My first step was to find a good sized fairly flat rock and without going to the beach as time was running out I thought there are beachstones around some of the shrubs in my yard.  I quickly dashed outside and starting looking under the shrubs, I am sure neighbours thought I was crazy if they happened to see me. LOL  I found one though and washed it off and cut a piece of wool to cover it.  Then it was to decide what to put on it and I decided on a "lupin" type of flower.  Once finished I wet felted the piece and sewed it to a small round piece of wool on the bottom so that when it dried it would be nice and tight.  Overall I was pleased but given more time would probably do it a little differently.

I was at my sister Rose's new shop today and was upstairs having a peek at the renovations my brother is doing (very nice by the way) and when I was coming down the stairs I noticed a new painting my sister had done.  I loved it and she said it was the one she was going to give me for christmas and then decided on the sailboat painting that I loved.  Rose then said "change it if you want",  hhhhmmmm, I think not! as I do love the sailboat painting, it just speaks to me and she has truly captured the power of the ocean and the bravery of that lone sailboat battling the waves.  I have posted the painting below, don't you agree?  It's mine all mine.  LOL

“Each person’s task in life is to become an increasingly better person.” -Leo Tolstoy

Felted flowers everywhere

I decided to take some roving to my Mom's and make some felted flowers.  They are so much fun to make and easy.  Every flower is different and like a little treasure, add some beads and you have a handcrafted jewel.  I like to make flowers, leaves and stems so that I have a selection to choose from when I need to embelish something but I have to confess that sometimes I just like to take them out and look at them.  :)  I have posted some pictures of some felted flowers I have on hand right now.  I will post pics of the ones I make over the next couple of evenings.  I can't wait to teach my grandbaby how to felt and make cookies and sew and and and the list goes on.  I have been collecting children's craft ideas for years for this very reason and I will not be denied.  LOL

"Good friends are like stars... you don't always see them but you know they're always there."

You can teach an old dog new tricks

Well I am into the second day of my new job which has been spent doing online training and setting up new equipment.  It's all very interesting and exciting but I will be glad once the initial training is over but I must say that I have learned quite a few  new things which is always a good day.

I haven't been up to much in crafts this week but I have all kinds of ideas for next week that I can't wait to get started on.  It's amazing what you find when you start cleaning out rooms in preparation for painting.  I have found all kinds of things that I can use in crafts.  Yeahhhh!  The next two nights I am off to stay with my Mom overnight so I may get a few things done as she goes to bed by 8pm and I am a bit of a nighthawk but she does have cable which I don't so I may be a coach potato and watch tv.

My little grandaughter is still a bit under the weather with her cold but was back to daycare which she loves however she does have a little bit of a stubborn streak and when they go for their walks she wants to go off and explore on her own.  Needless to say a battle is engaged when she is made to follow in line but fortunately it is a battle she loses.

My sister is going to see Jeff Dunham tomorrow evening which should be great as he is so funny.  Actually one of my brothers is going as well.  Did I mention that in my family there are 5 girls and 3 boys and more amazing is that we all get along for the most part, we have enough people in our family to have a really big party without inviting anyone else.  There are many memories that we laugh about and sometimes heated discussions but we all go home with a smile on our face.

"FAMILY... like branches on a tree, we all grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one."

Baby it's cold outside

Sunday was a nice relaxing day, my BFF stayed until about 1pm and as she was driving down the road my sister was pulling into the driveway for a visit.  Yumm, more tea and I could put off painting, I mean it would be rude to paint walls while one has company, right.  As my sister was getting ready to leave I had a lady knocking on my door regarding the wind turbine project and they are petitioning the location.  I am all for wind energy but I do think the wind farms need to located where they are not causing health issues.  So the long and short of it is, by the time everyone had stopped coming by the light was not good for painting.  I felt so bad..... NOT.

I have come down with my dear grandaughter's cold and I am hardly ever sick.. knock on wood but Murphy's Law is that I would get sick when I started a new job today.  Aggghhhh.  Ah well, right now it is mostly online training which I am doing from home so I am not infecting others and can sneeze and blow my nose in private. Hopefully by end of week it will be history.

So in between painting walls and staying at my Mom's 2 nights this week my goal is to finish a chairpad I had hooked for a wooden rocking chair that was my daughters when she was a wee lassie.  I refinished the chair and have the chairpad hooked but I had tried out a new backing which was not good at all.  Now I need to somehow fix the edges so they stay, I am thinking of using a bonding agent to adhere the loops on the underside to another piece of wool and sewing the loops together on top.  See the picture below and any suggestions on how to fix this would be welcomed, I really don't want to redo the whole dang chairpad.

Thanks,

Wendy :)

"Every day may not be good... but there is something good in every day."

Painting

Today I am feeling quite lazy but I think it's the day, it's windy and overcast.  Just the kind of day to sit and have a cup of tea, read a good book but unfortunately that has to wait as housework needs to be done and I need to get started painting.

A good friend (BFF) is coming to visit today which means a sleepover for most people as I live quite far outside the city.  She is one of my "heart sisters", we have known each other since primary and that friendship has stuck even though we lead very separate lives she is a big part of my life and my children's.  My children are the children she never had and they call her their other mother.  The kids always want her included in whatever event is taking place because to them she is family. She is a little angel in disguise as she is always there to lend a helping hand to anyone who needs it.  She is compassionate, wise and a lot of fun and has been a sounding board many times for me. So that means we will cook a yummy dinner, yak our faces off and have a few laughs.  I can't think of a better way to spend an evening.

"We'll be friends til we are old and senile.... Then we'll be new friends."

Reflection

Tonight is another crazy night for weather, there was a huge but short lived thunder and lightning storm, torrential downpour of rain and now there are gale winds blowing.  Only in the Maritimes and only on the coast. It leaves one with a feeling of what next!

However  I was sitting here thinking about why I started a blog and I started one because I have always loved to write but it seemed to have fallen to the wayside in the busy highway of life so I thought what a great way to express myself and force myself to organize my thoughts in a legible manner.  It is a lot of fun but it also makes me stop and think about my life and past experiences.

A friend who I haven't talked to in quite awhile sent me a note today expressing how much she enjoyed my blogging attempts. :)  She also reminded me of how we met and that it was upwards from there which sounds like something out of novel but we did meet early one very cold winter's morning when she and her girls knocked on my door asking if they could come in and warm up until the school bus arrived.  They had just recently moved into the neighbourhood and did not have the school bus schedule and pickup times down pat so needless to say I invited them in and offered for the girls to come to the house any morning they wished.  From there a friendship blossomed that was rich in laughter, tears, and wonderful memories for us and our children.  After time my friend found a wonderful man who became part of their family and I moved back to my roots on the Eastern Shore but the memories will always forge a connection and closeness and the rare times we do see each other I treasure.  Sometimes we are handed gifts of friendship in very unusual ways and we need to allow ourselves to be open to them and I have been very fortunate in my friends whom I will chat about here and there throughout my blogging.  I call them my "Heart Sisters" because they are not of my blood but of my heart.  Well that thought made me all weepy and sentimental, I think it's time for a cup of tea and read a chapter or two in one of my steamy romance books as my daughter calls them.  LOL  I can't help it I love them, I confess I'm truly a romance junkie.

Wendy :)

Mish Mash of things

What a wild and blustery night it was last night and now this morning it's warm and the snow is rapidly melting.  It's amazing how much snow was on the ground at my Mom's and by the time I arrived home there was hardly any snow on the ground.  Yipppeee, less shoveling.

I put in picture of a rug I had hooked for my grandaughter's room which she likes to point at all the fish.  Soon I will have to start a new girly rug as she is growing so rapidly and will soon outgrow this pattern.

The following pictures are of a footstool I had painted for yes again my grandaughter. LOL It was a footstool I had used for years and refinished and painted for her and she uses it all the time as it is light enough for her to carry to where she wants to use it.  This is a Patricia Wakefield pattern, she always had the best bear patterns for decorative painting.  I had first painted this design on a footstool as a babyshower gift for a woman I worked with about 20 years ago and I recently had the opportunity to see her again when she came to my house for a felting day.  She told me her daughter still has the footstool and it is carefully stored under her bed which is kind of neat to think that some day when my grandaughter is a young woman that she will still have her footstool stored away as a treasure.



It would be remiss of me not to mention my sister Rosella as she is a gifted artist in fibre arts, oil painting, etc. etc. she can do anything.  I always wait anxiously for my birthday and Christmas to see what she has made for me.  Greedy I know but I love her artwork.  To date it has mostly been paintings which I am thankful to have but I am going to work on her for a felted piece as I love them and as you can see by the pictures below she is very gifted.   

That's it for today as I am off to the hardware store to buy paint as I did make a decision on colors so before I change my mind I am going to buy it and get started. 

"Be so happy that when others look at you they become happy too!"

Back to the Photo Transfer

Well last night I decided to try the photo transfer process again as my daughter had made several prints on a laser printer.  So with fingers crossed I grabbed a canvass and tried again though this time I applied the gel medium directly on the canvass and applied the picture face down and smoothed out any air bubbles. Went to bed with fingers and toes crossed and dreamed of photo transfer projects. :)  I forced myself to make coffee first before approaching the canvass with a bucket of water and determination to see if it took.  I sat there patting water on the picture, sipping on coffee waiting for the paper layer to become translucent.  I started rubbing lightly, then more vigorously until I was forced to put down my coffee and hold the canvass.  I need something whereby I can still drink that first cup of coffee while leaving my hands free, maybe one of those hats they rig up for beer drinkers.  LOL  That would be a sight to behold but it's like opening a present wondering what's underneath the wrappings.  Finally I started to feel the paper loosen and start balling up and the photo image was staying the canvass.  Yipppeee.  I just kept rubbing and voila it worked, the only thing is I would rub more lightly once the paper started to come off as I did rub away a bit of the image in spots but it does give the picture a slightly worn look.  To finish it I cut some braid to put around the picture and I am going to do the foil around the edges like the picture frames in one of my earlier posts.  Once completed I will post a picture.  I am hoping to get this completed this morning as I am off to visit with my Mom overnight and of course they are calling for a snowstorm this afternoon.  I hate snow or let me rephrase that I hate driving in snow. :)  Just a quick note of a website I was looking at last night, this artist paints with oils on copper and her work is amazing, her work appears luminous in the way she captures light in her work, if you have a moment you should check her out at http://reneelammers.com/.  Her blog is very interesting as well.

I am back home now and have finished my photo transfer project, I still need to do some fine tuning for future projects but overall I am pleased with the results which has a vintage feel to it.

You can see on the picture below where I rubbed a little too hard and some of the image rubbed away.  I glued some braid around the edge of the image to give some definition.

The next picture is where I have applied glue to the rest of the canvass plus the braiding around image and carefully applied the crumpled aluminum foil.

This picture is the finished product and I have rubbed black paint with a sponge over foil and glued on some buttons.  Plus I brushed on Aleene's Paper Glaze over the photo image to give it a glass like finish.

Felted Tea Cozies

My daughter wanted me to add pictures of some of the felted tea cozies and hotpads I have made this year so the pics are below, ignore the date on some of pics, my daughter is always telling to change the date on my camera.  I have shown the front & back of the cozies along with some felted snowman pictures and a few hotpads.  Did I mention that I love working with fiber.  It's very addicting.  I have a bundle of fibers I purchased during the Maritime Fibre Arts Festival in Amherst from Heidi at London Wul and the problem is I can envision them incorporated in a hooked rug but I have them sitting in a basket where I just enjoy looking at them.  I also have in the same basket sari ribbons I purchased at Deanne Fitzpatrick's shop and they look so pretty and I get a rush of pleasure just looking at them.  I have it bad I know.

Determined

Well yesterday did not go as planned, no surprise there.  I got a little sidetracked with some business matters and then I dropped in to have coffee with the sister-in-law as my brother wasn't around to interfere with our chat.  LOL  After that I dropped in to see my sister at her new business location where guess what, yup my brother was there painting.  :)  After I chatted with them it was off to the hardware store to pick up paint samples, I hate picking out paint colors but it has to be done.  So now I have paint chips taped to the walls all over the house, looks really nice.  Maybe I should just go with that look.  :) Hopefully I will make a decision soon as I want to get the painting done.

I was talking to my daughter last night to see how Adelyn's first full day at daycare went and apparently it went great and she has a new BFF who likes food as much as she does.  She gave her a mother a great big smile and the biggest hug ever when she picked her up at the end of the day.  Ahhh she does make all of us swoon at her little feet.

Well I am off for now as I have a lot to accomplish today.  Did I mention that I work best under pressure?  I do it to myself as I put things off and then I faced with deadlines... aggghhhhhh.

I leave you with this little saying that I saw on Pinterest that made me giggle.

"You made me laugh so hard........ Tears ran down my leg"  :)

What to do, where to start

Well I am back home today after having my Nanny day with my grandaughter.  We had so much fun, she brings out the inner child in me and I could just play all day long with her whether it is crawling around the floor being some mystic animal or hiding under blankets playing hide and seek. After her nap she felt much better and was raring to go.  My son-in-law's mother dropped in for a few moments and I have to say that he has incredible parents and we are all so lucky to have them in all our lives, they are the type of people that go that extra mile in ways that make you feel very special.  My daughter is a very lucky young lady to have them in her life, mind you she is a gift unto herself.  I always say that I want to be just like her when I grow up. LOL

Today I am in organizing mode as I have to clean out my office as I am having new flooring put in and I thought, while I am at it why not paint and have everything fresh and new.  Yikes this is quite a task but it has to be done.  My goal this year is to organize all the moving parts of my life, work, children, crafts, family & friends so that I can easily switch from one to the other.  Good luck with that I know, I know, but I am going to attempt it.

I will get things packed up and ask my son & his friends (my other sons) to move everything downstairs for now.  My son is still so pleased over his picture that he is putty in my hands right now. :)  So time is at a premium and I had better get a move on.  I leave you with one of my favorite quotes.

"It's a little like wrestling a gorilla.  You don't quit when you're tired, you quit when the gorilla is tired."
                      - Robert Strauss

Addie day

Well it is not a good day for my little grandaughter as she has numerous teeth coming in and on top of that she has a cold.  On a good day she drools about a litre an hour LOL but with her cold we are now up to 2 litres and other sticky substaces coming from the nose area :) most of which is ending up on me.  Did I bring extra shirts, you know it.  But in spite of this she is still a happy little girl and determined to display her rock climbing abilities scaling the kitchen cupboards, table or whatever offers a challenge.  She is a very good weight loss program as she keeps me running.

So no crafts today, once naptime arrives I will be working on finishing a felted purse I was putting together for a friend.  By the way the embossed look frame went over well.

Have a great day and remember to receive and cherish hugs where you can as they make life shine brighter.

Wendy :)

More frames

So today I thought I would get started on a new frame for my grandaughters room and was pleased with the results overall.  Next time though I will use a glue gun to add the raised design instead of tacky glue as I feel I have a bit more control plus use a pencil as it would not be as dark as the pen and you could erase any unwanted lines.  The decorating chalks worked great for adding lots of transparent color. Anyway I am off to my daughter and son-in-law's as I am having Nanny time tomorrow and that means I have my "wee one" all to myself for the day.  Can't wait for the hugs, kisses and giggles.  Did I mention that I am totally in love with my grandaughter.  LOL Enjoy your day!


 

Metal Frames

I got this idea from http://www.cool2craft.com/ website which has fantastic craft ideas and videos showing how they are done.  I saw this technique and thought, why not do some frames with pictures of my grandaughter of course as presents to my daughter and son-in-law.  They loved them or at least the pictures of their daughter. LOL  Either way I enjoyed making them and they were relatively simple to do.

 

Felting

For Christmas my son wanted something felted or painted so I did a felted picture for him which he loved as he works in the fishing industry and we live in a fishing community.  I love Deanne Fitzpatrick's rug hooking designs, http://www.hookingrugs.com/ she is truly gifted in capturing life in her art so I did my depiction of her design "My Shoreline Longliner".  This was first needle felted and then wet felted. 

Photo transfer Project

Well today I am going to try photo transfer on canvass.  I have been reading up on it and now have the supplies and a project in mind.  Of course the pictures will center around my grandaughter as she is the world's most photographed baby.  :)  My daughter is anxious for me to do the project so she can run out and get supplies to do her own project.  It's a snowy day so I have an excuse to stay home put on an old movie, make a pot of tea and start crafting.  I have looked at some very easy and very complex videos on this process, so guess what I am going with easy.  I will post a picture of the finished product and the steps I took to arrive at the finished product so stay tuned.  I need to call my grandaughter first to put my mind in that happy place since the project will be for her room.

Well, this project did not go as I had hoped but I think the problem was is that I used my inkjet printer and for the best results they recommend a laser printer. :(  So I will have some pictures printed on a laser printer and try again as the results were encouraging and my mind is whirling with ideas to use this technique.  So sorry Adelyn but Nanny is back to the drawing board.