Tolentreasures

This was the final item in my procrastinator's challenge. I painted this for my granddaughter's toy room. Ann at A Hole in the Basket is having this challenge and it is fun to see what everyone has been procrastinating on and getting done. I finished this a took it to my daughter's house last night. These are a couple of name plaques for the room also. You will see that there is an extra....she needs to get busy and get another "name" for this one. I have one other item finished for the Little Princess but that is a surprise both for her and her Mom so I won't be posting it until after the birthday party My trip begins in an hour. We are to be at the church and loaded and ready to leave by 11, our flight is at 2:55, about a 3 1/2 hour flight, 2 to 3 hour bus ride, we should arrive at the mission center around 9 this evening. It is long day of traveling but I am thankful that it is a non-stop flight anyway. We fly into Punta Cana in the Dominican Re...

Have you any wool? Yes sir, Yes sir, Three Bags Full! I was "talking" to my painting ladies at our Yahoo Group and while many of our conversations don't really involve painting, I was so excited about my visit to Goodwill this afternoon so I had to tell them about the Three Bags Full of wool! It just made my think of that rhyme! It was quarter day at Goodwill and all these great finds only cost me $11.50. Two of the sportcoats were half price and everything else that I got was .25. Great finds and all 100% wool. Now I wish I had the time to wash them and cut them up. I love to do that, but I still have to pack for my trip and I still have to finish the Princess' birthday gifts. Her party is a mere 12 hours after I get back from my trip and while I am a procrastinator, I don't think that I want to push it that close! Off to paint!

My third six weeks of pottery classes started last week after being cancelled the first week because of the weather. The first six weeks was several years ago and my daughter and I took the class together. The second six weeks was this past fall and mother and daughter friends of mine had given the gift of the class to me for the work that I did for the daughter's wedding. Now the daughter makes great items, large bowls, plates, vases and pots, functional and decorative items...hey she's young, they are so much easier to teach, right? My daughter, after all in the first six weeks did much nicer projects than I did. So the third six weeks begins and my goal is to make something bigger than a toothpick holder or ranch dip container. Anything that I could possibly either eat cereal out of or have a cup of coffee out of (and not expresso). The first week comes and goes and I have something that might hold ketchup or 16 Hershey kisses as a candy dish, now I am not even getti...

Thanks Natalie for the award and thanks for the tech support on how to add it to the post! A true techie you are! PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are extremely charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award." Thanks Natalie for thinking of me, I am honored!

First of all there was the inspiration. My daughter wants to redo a downstairs bedroom for the Princess for a toy room. She has been wanting a set of bookshelves for the room and I bought a set at Michael's and have had them sitting there waiting for some type of inspiration. She told me that she would like to do the room sort of primitive, old toy, primary colors. She reminded me of this toy that has been around our house for a long time and said, "sort of like that" Now before I actually painted the shelf, I wanted to make sure that our minds were working in the same direction...off to the stash to see what I could paint that would be functional in the room, should she like it. This is what I found. I had bought two of these at a yard sale for $2 each. I had painted one in my craft show life and sold it. I have used this one the way it is to tote paints around and so I thought this would work. I found the plaques in another stash. The words on this are stamp...

I spent the day, other than a short playtime with the Princess, finishing up some of the stuff that has been cluttering my paint area. Some of these are from the procrastinator's challenge that I entered at A Hole in the Basket. What a good feeling to have some of these finished. The bread raising pan and the pencil holder are staying here, but I will be looking for a home for the bowl and the butter churn. This was a last minute gift for my step daughters grandparents in law. Last minute because I forgot about it, not her. She managed to tell me in plenty of time, I managed to forget.

I like those little slideshows that everyone puts on their blogs and managed to make one, however I can't figure out how to get it on the side and not on a post?

In a very brave mood I am going to post my painting area of the house. I know that I read somewhere that creative people are messy....I must be the Queen then because I always have a disaster in my painting room. The projects for the challenge are all here, plus a few where the ADD kicked in and I got a whim and had to start them also. This is a little nook/loft outside our bedroom so no one really sees it too often other than us. I do a mad dash clean-up if I am having a group of people here and we are going to have to use the bathroom in our bedroom. (that also means that I have to clean that bathroom) I love this area though and when we built the addition on to our house, I knew exactly what I wanted and had this area added for me. When all the girls were here, it was my area to have peace and quiet, the loveseat was still there for small conversations, but it would not hold the whole "gang" Another almost finished project in the Procrastinator's Challenge. It just n...

Ten days until I leave with a group from my church on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. At basically close to the last minute I just felt the tug to go on this trip. I had thought about it and prayed about it for quite awhile and everything just kept leading me to try to make the arrangements to go. The trip had been booked for the group that was going for many months and at the time that they planned this trip, I had "plans" in my mind to return to Jackson, Michigan this summer and work with New Tribes mission at their school there. I worked there last year and it was such an easy trip, no flying, no hot bus rides, no unusual food, hot showers, and even a swimming pool. There were no language barriers and we put a roof on with POWER tools. How easy is that? (the worst hardship of the trip was when the air conditioning in my car had issues and had to go the Chevy Dealer there to be fixed under warranty) Then I got the call that they were planning two work groups for J...

Yesterday was spent on laying tile in my daughter and son-in-law's house so there are not creative projects to post, although I have found that when Shelby and I lay tile, it becomes a creative pursuit that somehow involved smashing tiles, an A-1 steak sauce bottle and one of her dinner plates to create a mosiac where the tile was just not going to look "right" More on that when I get a picture. I am working on some insomnia problems that I need to get worked out before I leave on a trip at the end of the month, but for right now I wonder if I could get a job doing the morning news show, I am certainly up early enough for that. I wouldn't think that it could possible be menopausal, how could I be that old already? Anyway, in my nocturnal mind wanderings, and believe me there are way too many to ever keep up with, I thought of the gifts that my MIL has given to me over the past few Christmas' and I thought that I would share them with you. A few years ago my MIL ga...

I put this crate of yarn in my sewing room with all the little leftover pieces of yarn in it. I am using them for squares for an afghan. Gracelyn had so much fun throwing the balls all over the floor last night and then she decided to "knit" them all together. That is going to take Grammie awhile to straighten out. Actually it took a little work just to get her untangled. Obseessed? I think so. I really need to pack up the Christmas decorations but I keep thinking just one more hat and scarf set, do nativities, snowmen, gingerbreads, and Santas count as Valentine's decorations? St. Patricks Day? After all they are red and green holidays....Easter? and when am I going to get that deck stained if I still have yarn? I did get the first item on the Procrastinator's Challenge finished yesterday morning. I am sure that this customer would like something in the top of this, I am thinking a flower arrangement, not that I would want it that way but I think that sh...

Ann at A Hole in the Basket Primitives is having a Procrastinator's Challenge Giveaway, nothing like a little competition to get me going. Here is my entry! So here they are, my items that I have been putting off. I have lots of needlework started but it would not seem fair to add that because that is all that I want to work on right now. 1 and 2. The blue barrel and the milkcan that I have started for two different customers and they have been more than patient with me about them. I have trouble painting what someone else wants...I want to do what I want. Sounds bratty, doesn't it? Anyway I just found out that I may be going on a trip and I think that I am going to need the extra money that these will bring in. 3 and 4. The butter churn and the wood bowl have been sitting on my paint counter for longer than I even want to admit, let's say a year, that's my story anyway. They are not for anyone in particular, they will tell me who they are for as I paint them,...

I started these this morning from those inexpensive canvases at Michaels. They were $1 each. After I realized that the paint was not going to cover the lines, I sealed them and then basecoated them. Some of them still took a couple of coats to cover. I got this much done before I had to go to work and please note that I did manage to clean my counter, I did not realize how bad it looked until I saw the pic. Tyler was at work with us today and I brought him home with me for a few minutes to make his handprint. It is a good thing that I did this now...his hand was almost too big I went ahead and put Logan and Gracelyn's names and ages on the next two and have 5 more ready for the grandchildren to come. (that is the optimistic portion of this) I have told the girls that the quota is 8 grandchildren and that they can work that distribution out among themselves. Anyway this is my extra bathroom or guest bathroom and the one where I bathe the kids when they stay with us. I pa...

Here are the entries in my favorite pottery bowl, more about that later. And the winner is Natalie at Tins and Treasures! Another winter project for you..can't wait to see what you do with it. Thanks for entering everyone! To anyone that wanted directions for the penny rugs I will gladly help you out, just send me an email and I'll try to get you started. Thursday night I start pottery classes again. They are such a great time with friends and it is so relaxing to make such a mess! I am not very good at it, but I keep plugging away in the hopes that someday I will make something bigger than a small cereal bowl. The studio where I take classes has a unique and generous approach to the classes. You pay for your six weeks of class, however during that six weeks her studio is open for you to use at any time day or night. I have not taken advantage of this in the past, however I have high hopes to make a tea set for my granddaughter's birthday in this session and her f...

As I am work, kicking and screaming about being here. You see I was enjoying the Holiday Break a little too much and while I know that I need a little structure in my life or we would be digging our way out of craft supplies and wasting away to nothing, the cupboards and refrigerator would be a great place to start storing paints and brushes and wood....or maybe I could learn to make candles, that would utilize the stove, but in the end I had to go back to work today. The reminder would be about the giveaway for the wool. I know that initially I posted that I would draw the name sometime in mid January, but I am going to draw it tomorrow morning. I think that winter is flying by and you might want that wool a little sooner. If anyone is interested, please sign up tonight and I'll draw the winner in the morning.

This is the view into my sewing room, (I am still experimenting with curtains) I spent part of yesterday afternoon reorganizing it and trying to make the space more user friendly. This room was my step-daughters and she got married in September. It was the biggest bedroom other than ours and in my mind I wanted it for my sewing room. After John and I mourned her leaving and went through the whole empty nest thing .....for about three days.....we healed and I tore into this room painting and making it into my space. I found this old rocker at a yard sale for $10 and the seat needs recovered and I had not actually even sat in it, just set it in that room and stacked stuff on it. After I rearranged the room yesterday I sat down in it and I love it. It is so comfortable, now to get it recovered, another thing on the list. Does anyone else have one of these laying around? That would surely tell your age if you admit it. This was my husbands and I have lots of old toys in the one spa...

No pics, no projects, just a really embarrassing item. I have always thought that DH on blogs and on emails and so on meant Dear Hubby and have ALWAYS used it in that manner. I was recently informed of something else that it means to some people and I would not have thought of that term and sure would not have used it concerning my husband. I hope that I have not offended anyone or caused anyone to think that I would ever refer to my husband with that OTHER term. Please forgive me if that is what anyone thought I was saying!

How did I do this already? Yesterday DH and I decided that we had to get out of the house. We were really starting to like this staying in way too much and we do have to resume normal life again on Monday. We decided to head to Best Buy, John wanted to buy an Ipod with his birthday money...ok this is my husband that is 50, not a teenager, so off we headed to the nearest Best Buy, which just happens to be 40 miles away, BUT near a Michaels and I had a 50% off coupon. I had all intentions of avoiding the yarn aisle and was just going to get a piece of wood, (stool, shelf, etc) to paint for my daughter's nursery (her baby is due in June) and leave before I got sucked into all those wonderful colors and newfound textures of yarn. Oh what an addiction this is becoming. I was doing great until DH walked back in after his purchase and subsequent power walk across the parking lot and told me that the Christmas trees were all on sale (should I say at this point that although I knew t...