Loving having a week off!

I arranged to take a week off work and I am smack in the middle of it right now.  My hubby took the time off too and agreed to take me gallivanting for a day or two an hour and a half away from home to visit the Kitchener/Waterloo area.   We made a few stops in the village of St. Jacobs (I have blogged about this little jewel of a spot in the past) and I found a treasure or two as seen in these pics.

Here is my Hubby with a neat old stove.  Just after we walked away from taking this shot it was scooped up and carried off by a gentleman who seemed thrilled to get it.

After making a few small purchases, we heading in to down town Kitchener to seek out a little shop I had heard of.  It's called "Rare Funk" and it is a dynamic little place that represents Canadian Artists.  Here is the link to check it out http://www.rarefunk.ca/
I loved it so much I am going to place some of my work in the shop ASAP!  You can take a virtual tour of this super spot by following this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkP8zJ5Ajc0

Bye the way, the silver hand came home with me and I love it!!!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  I am finally not alone on this night for the first time in years....my hubby is shelling out treats at the door while I corral our two Shih Tzu's!  The weather is good for the kids tonight, chilly but not too cold.  They all look super cute and are having a blast.  Our own kids have all grown up and now use this occasion to have a few drinks and get silly!

I have been busy ripping up sheets for the last two days...I need to fill a big basket with rag yarn to keep me busy by the fire now that the cool weather is here.  I am looking forward to getting lots of projects finished this winter!  I do love the fall!!!

Been a long time since I Blogged.

 Hello all!  It's been many months since I took the time to blog and for that I am truly sorry.  I have missed putting my latest projects out there for all to see.  A few months ago I was hit with a compulsion and a passion for making paper beads.  For a couple of weeks it was all I could do in my spare time! 
I went "full time" at my place of work just over three months ago and it has seriously cut into my creative time.  I am hoping to fall into a smoother routine this fall in order to accommodate the time I need for my crafting....no the time I MUST spend crafting.....if I don't take the time I need I do become a very crabby girl indeed.

 I am also feeling a little reflective these days....my youngest daughter is off to college in one week.  I cannot lie...I have shed some tears already.  Today we went to Walmart with all the other parents and dropped a wad of cash on school supplies.  She is chomping at the bit to go and experience life on her own far from Mom and Dad.  I am happy to have not raised a timid, frightened child but one who wants to spread her wings!  I send her off with some of these beauties but she won't wear 'em.  My youngest is a bit of a Tomboy, more interested in a rousing game of "Assassin's Creed" on her Playstation than a few paper bead bracelets!

Need time to be creative or I get a little EDGY!!!

I am working on a rug right now that is made with felted sweaters. 

I have sooooo many wool sweaters that I picked up in thrift shops over the last few years.  I have really been feeling the burden of having too much stuff lately but I can so relate to the poor souls on the Hoarding TV shows.  I just can't seem to part with any of my precious stuff!  So what I have decided to do with some of the sweaters is to cut them into one inch wide chunky "yarn" and crochet them into a rug.  The rug is working up really fast due to the size of the material and the large hook. I don't know what I am going to do with it when it is done.  My dogs really like it and want to lay down on it every time I put it on the floor.  Maybe I should market these things as dog beds?  I could just picture a big old Lab curled up on one!  I have done this before on a smaller scale.  See this post http://mypennyheaven.blogspot.com/2010/08/another-visit-to-kniterary.html .  I just really needed to get working on something....I find that I get edgy or crabby or whatever you wanna call it if I don't have a project on the go.  Must use up the Hoard!!!!!

Hot Pads 4 Ways and Hoarding Tendencies.

I've been playing around with smaller projects lately.  Hot pads are nice and quick to make compared to working on a rug night after night in front of the TV.  Sometimes it is hard to know when a rug is done....sometimes it is done when I have had enough of it and just want to move on already!!!
 I have also been having a little struggle with my craft supply hoard.  I am not sure if it is a bout of Spring Cleaning or just a desire to lighten up my life from clutter and excess baggage.  It is a real dilemma when you love to do crafty things and you need to have lots of different materials on hand and at the ready.  Linked below is a very interesting little article that I recently read that makes a correlation between having less stuff and being more secure with who you are.  I can defiantly relate to the notion that people with a lot of stuff are prone to hoarding disorders......hmmmm...food for thought.
http://www.disinfo.com/2011/03/the-more-secure-you-feel-the-less-you-value-your-stuff/

Rolled Roses

Hello...had to cool my heels today to wait for a repair man.  It was my day off so I decided to spend some time playing around with fabric.  I have always wanted to try these Rolled Roses and I have LOTS of cotton sheets that are already ripped and rolled into rag yarn so I got my glue gun out and made these pretty flowers.
When the repair man is finished I will be free to run out to get some elastic....I am going to make some headbands for my girls.  I will post pics when they are done!  Hope you are having a great day!!!

Here are the pics of the finished headbands.

My Pumpkin Bathroom has a new resident!

My Dog "Corrie" and my latest rug.

I finished my latest rag rug last night. It is approx. 4 ft x 3 ft in size....I can't find my measuring tape so I am guessing.  It was made using some sheets that I picked up at a local Salvation Army Store.  It will need to lie on the floor for a while to get it to lay flat....I am still learning how to get the stitches just right in order to get a perfectly flat rug. 

I found this Boy yesterday at the Thrift store where I work!  I hemmed and hawed before deciding to bring him home.  He is an unsigned little oil painting and the price was right..less than the cost of a magazine.  I just couldn't leave this painting behind, the colors were so perfect for my little powder room that I just painted.  I love to pick up things that make me laugh...this little guy with a butt hanging out of his mouth is just so funny to me.  So politically incorrect!  I will have to come up with some kind of important lesson to tell my future Grandchildren about the horrors of smoking or something like that to justify this boy living in my Bathroom!  My husband hasn't noticed him yet...I don't think he will be impressed! LOL!!!

Nice old sign and a weekend well spent.

 

This old sign was an Ebay purchase that I made a few years ago when I was really diggin' Ebay and spending a lot of time on it.  It is a wooden sign, nice and old and chippy.  I am pretty sure that it once lived on a post in a train yard.  My guess is that it was used to measure the length of a train in the yard.....the sign would indicate where there was 110 cars?  Does that make sense?  Anyway it is nice and rusty and looks like it saw lots of weather so I like it!  

I finally got around to painting my powder room on the main floor this past weekend!  We moved in to the house we are in now three years ago.  It was a new build and is an awesome house but it is taking me a lot longer to paint it than I had anticipated.  10 years ago I would have painted it non stop until it was done but the old body AND my old mind just can't seem to move to the pace that it used to. 


I found what I like to call a "Boo Boo" can of paint at the local do it center for 9 bucks so it seemed to be the time to "get 'er done" as they say. 

It's a warm Pumpkin Pie kinda color and I like it.  My daughters think it looks like "POO" and will get you in the mood to use the room for it's intended purpose.  Whatever I can do to help......LOL!

Another Sign from my Travels...and by travel I mean buzzing around near home....

This is my big "D".  I found this wonderful thing at a local hole in the wall Flea Market not far from my house....I always think of that particular place as a crummy Flea Market but I really shouldn't however because I have found a couple of really great treasures there.  I was told by the vendor that this "D" came from a Denny's sign that was on a restaurant in Saskatchewan.  If that is true, it is far from home. When I haggled with him I got the impression that he was glad to be rid of it and he let me have it for $20.00  It is a beautiful thing in deep orange Plexi glass with a metal frame that is nice and chippy ( the paint is half chipped off).  Apparently Denny's moved on to a new logo design with a simpler "D".  Too bad because I love the little curly cue! It has no relevance to our family name but if anyone asks what it stands for, I can come up with any number of answers....D for Duh!....D for Dinner....D for Don't ask me what it stands for!   I am carefully guarding my "D" these days because my middle daughter, Morgan, is dating a guy whose surname begins with a "D" and he has had his eyes on my sign!!  He will have to be VERY good to my girl for me to even consider letting him have it!

Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign....more of my Favorite Things.

There is a list of things that I have a "Thing" for....old wooden picture frames, vintage buttons, little chairs, original paintings found in thrift shops, and Signs.  The frame thing really drives my husband crazy because there is quite a stack of them in the basement and he just doesn't "get it".  But the signs, he seems to be able to handle.  He hasn't really been vocal about them anyway.

This is probably my favorite sign and something that I would want to grab if the house caught fire.  It is an old street sign and is double sided and looks exactly the same on the other side with big black hooks where it hung from a bracket outside of a salon.  I found it in a little town I used to live in, Almonte, in the Ottawa valley back around 1997.  It was in a big barn that was chocked full of auction and estate stuff and the old guy who ran the place was a gruff man named Gary who went around the store leaning one leg on a little scooter/skateboard type thing because he was loosing bits of one leg a piece at a time.  I saw this sign and fell in love with it immediately.  I had been a hairdresser back when I was first in the working world (still have my license but have not worked in a salon for years).  He wanted $35.00 for the sign and I just did not have the money but was hoping and praying that the sign would still be there when I was able to get the money together.  A week or so later I went back ( I think I took it out of the grocery money, an old trick that I learned from my Mother) and to my dismay, the sign was gone! Gary told me an Interior Designer from Ottawa had come in a bought it!  I was shattered and went home with my head hanging low.  Weeks later on Christmas morning when all of the other presents had been opened by my three daughters and the frenzy of the moment had subsided, my oldest daughter, Lauren, came into the room with a large square wrapped package.  I had absolutely no clue what it was.  When I tore the corner of the paper I knew immediately and I broke down in tears....no Diamonds to make me happy, old signs will do it for me anytime!!!  My husband had done one of the nicest things he has ever done for me and my little girls had managed to keep it a surprise for weeks! I love you guys....Thanks for understanding me!

Some of my Favorite Things

I thought I'd share today some of my favorite things today.  We are snowed in here, just like a lot of people in North America and I have been told to stay home from work.  A good day to spend online!
I love to shop in thrift shops and at flea markets.  Unfortunately where I live there is limited choice of good places to go to find the types of things I love.  I am envious of  those of you who live in the States.  It seems to me from surfing the net and reading articles in magazines that you have a much more varied and rich supply of places to hunt for "Junk" and vintage collectibles.
Here in Canada it's like searching for the holy grail.  Everyone seems to be on the same hunt and you really have to be in the right place at the right time to find what you are looking for.

   This soldier boy was found at the Aberfoyle Flea Market near Guelph, Ontario.  I just had to have him.  When I was a teenager, I was an Air Cadet.  I met my husband in the Air Cadets and our daughters all did time in the program.  the uniform this WW2 soldier is wearing is  pretty much the same uniform that the Air Cadets in Canada wear today.

The log cabin quilt was made by me back in the late 90's when I was at home with my children and running a home daycare.  I shopped for wool skirts in thrift shops and was usually able to pick them up for a dollar or two each, can't do that now, prices have gone up!  The quilt on top is one that I picked up at Value Village approx. 3 years ago.  It is in fabulous condition and was lovingly hand made by someone very talented.

This painting was another Thrift shop find and I was able to pick it up for $3!  The colors are very funky and it sits proudly on coat rack shelf in the foyer of my home.  It measure 3ft across and 1ft in height.

.Just a few things that I love.  I will post more pics of some of my favorite finds soon! Keep warm everyone!

Kids Help Phone Fundraiser Update

Just thought I'd update a post that I made back in Sept. on this blog regarding the fundraiser that we had a garage sale for.  The fundraiser was in honor of my daughter Morgan's best friend Brianne.  We lost Brianne this past year to Suicide.  A very sad event in all of our lives....

Brianne, Morgan and Blair

On December 18th, 2010  a fundraiser was held at a local community center here in Oshawa.  My Daughter and 3 of her closest friends worked very hard to organize this very successful event.  The theme was "Mardi Gras", Brianne would have loved it!  Music, Food, door prizes and games.  A good time was had by all! The organizers were pleased to raise almost $6,000.00 from this event.    I am so proud of the girls who put this event together....what a loving thing to do and it helped all of us in so many ways!  Great job girls!!!

Been Months Since I last Posted.....

Hi All.  I haven't posted since October.  Life just got busy and in the way....I also switched over to a new laptop courtesy of my daughter, Morgan.  She needed a Mac for school work so I was able to take over her old computer.  It was much newer than mine but it has taken me a while to get used to it.
Honestly, I was very glad to see the backside of 2010.  The most challenging year of my life for many years.  It was a tough one right to the bitter end.  I felt a deep exhale within myself when it was over and I woke up in 2011.  I really feel like this year will be one that will see a lot of positive changes.

In the meantime.....I have been crocheting things with plastic bags and VCR tapes.  I just wanted to try it OK.  It was fun...it takes a lot of patience too.

 I made a hang tag for the bags that I made using the corresponding movie that was used to make them.
 I also added some random balls of yarn that I had laying around. 

This green bag was made using the Sound of Music. It has been a great learning experience and fun to see how the bags turned out.  I think that a bunch of these funky bags would really stand out at the checkout when grocery shopping. What a stylish way to bring home the Raisin Bran!  The VCR tape seems to be very strong and one old tape goes a long, long way while crocheting.
If I can just get myself organized a little better this year, I will get back in my workroom and get some penny rug projects on the go.  I just wish that I could control my attention span to stay focused and not jump around so much.  One day I am working on a t-shirt rug and the next day I am crocheting plastic bags.  There are half finished things laying all over the place!