Tolentreasures

I can't claim this as my own, I am pretty sure it came from Marie at Marie's Country Woodcrafts http://mariescountrywoodcrafts.blogspot.com/ Go check her out, she is a wonderful painter and has the greatest patterns to sell! Pricing and marking things drives me crazy. I would much rather be creating. But, here is a little tip. Print your tags on the computer, regular card stock works great. Leave a blank area on the bottom.  Cut them in strips, Take the thread out of your sewing machine... and sew along the top edge of the blank area. It makes a nice perforated edge on your tag for your price. If the person is buying your item for a gift, they can simply tear off the bottom and leave all of your information on the tag. It not only allows the receiver of the gift to know that it was handmade, but it leaves all of your information for future sales! I know these pics are backwards, not enough coffee co...

One well worn pair of jeans, (well actually I split the butt out of them, but we aren't going there) Eight thrift shop zippers, leftover fabric from baby shower favors, two mornings sitting in the sewing room before going to work. And this is what you have. Lined with co-ordinating fabric. Fun project! These cute little items are from my friend Lesley at Harmony Road Studio I had asked her about the sheep that are pictured below for a friend of mine that likes sheep. She not only sent all the sheep she had... but these cute little additions to the package. She is so creative. And here are the sheep. There is a little wrinkle to the story. You will have to wait until we iron it out to hear more about it. Aren't these adorable?  I love them!

Finally finished this. Girls, Girls, Girls Wonderful Band Concert Mail from Sheila. Thanks so much! Shelby loved it. Snow in February. Added more details Painted for boys. Three finished scarves. A finished rug. Pot of chili for the week. Tyler's Basketball Practice. Dinner with Friends. Laundry is done. Church on Sunday. A visit with Kendall and Shelby. A wonderful gift. Three words will not work here. Shelby wrote a book as she calls it. Twenty some pages of our/her life so far. She gave it to my Sunday afternoon and I read it Sunday night. What a gift. So many memories and hearing them from her point of view was amazing. I laughed. I cried, I will treasure it forever! And now, on to another work week! Monday, here I come.

Before we start, here are the warnings. THERE IS NO LINE DRAWING! THE COLORS ARE FLEXIBLE! THE BRUSHES ARE SUGGESTIONS! OK, that being said.... Relax and have fun with this. I used: #2 long liner 1/2 " glaze wash brush #4 round brush. Paints Decoart Americana Khaki Tan or Sable Brown or any other beige. Bleached Sand Light Cinnamon Black Antique Gold Avocado Midnight Blue Russet or Background color of choice Blanket color of choice Any long skinny wood item would work for this. Measure out where you want the checkered border. Paint that area with Bleached White and shade the edges. Allow to dry and then tape the area that you want to remain white, and then paint back over the tape. Below you will see those steps from left to right. Repainting over that seals the tape and does not allow the next color to seep under. It makes for a really clean edge. I painted the top Russet. The bottom can be sponged or crackled or distressed and can be any color. At this point you can cut a pi...

Punxsutawney Phil, that is... when this is what we see on the way to church, I know that spring is right around the corner. Maple Syrup time! In Amish Country. A little farther on there were some not so modern Amish using the old buckets with lids. But, high heels and mud and some fencing kept me from getting close enough to get those pics. So while there is no green in the picture, those bright shiny silver bags always let me know spring in on the way! So in honor of that. I am working on this bunny! Still some work to be done I just laid the wood pieces on it for a pic. And this little sheep cabinet for my daughter. And some little recipe clips. Yesterday afternoon was so nice, so my morning walking friend and I decided to go on an afternoon daylight walk, that almost turned into a night time walk when we ventured out a little too far. I was really wishing that I had my camera. Pretty water flowing down over the hills in mini waterfalls, Deer in the meadow across a creek, Mos...

Hot off the paintbrushes, this just finished canvas board. You will have to frame it, or just use it as it is. Let's keep this simple. Comment on this post. One entry. Mention it on your blog Two entries. Oh and you have to be a follower or a new follower.  It is going to have to be limited to US and Canada only. Please leave me an email address if you don't have a blog! Giveaway ends February 13th!

Giveaway Ended! As promised, this is a giveaway for my 500th post. 500 posts! That is a lot of talking. So here is how it is going to work. I will give away several items. Some are shown here. So, the rules and regulations. Gotta have 'em! Because I appreciate all of you that have followed for all this time and those of you who recently became followers, first and second prize will be for "existing" followers and third prize will be for any "new" followers. Now, that is not to say that third prize will not be as good as first. I will post the prizes offered at the end of the giveaway and the first name drawn gets to pick first, and so on. Get the idea? So,  1. You must comment on this post to be entered.  2. You must be a follower of this blog.  3. If you don't have a blog, you HAVE to leave a way for me to contact you. And now for the entries. 1. Comment on this post  = 1 Entry 2. Repost this on your blog somewhere = 1 Entry 3. Add this link to your ...

Above, painted with snowmen... and below drawn in my charcoal class this spring. Just happened on this photo last night. And some more paintings from the weekend.