Thank You Teri!

Sweet Teri from Teri & the Cats of Furrydance has given me the wonderful "Sweet Friends" award. Thank you so much! I'm supposed to list 10 things that make me happy & tag 10 other friends for the award. I think ALL of you are SWEET FRIENDS & I might have trouble rounding up 10 so I invite everyone to claim this award!

Here are 10 things that make me happy:

Being together with my family, especially on the holidays.

Visiting my best friend Cindy & talking for hours!

Leisurely weekend mornings with coffee & the newspaper.

Seeing cats & dogs being adopted & going HOME from the Humane Society!

Eating popcorn at the movies.

Red wine, chocolate & a good book!

Thunderstorms!

Antique & vintage shopping!

Long hikes in the woods.

Finishing a painting or craft & knowing it came out just right!

Being blessed with amazing blogger friends like all of YOU!

Have a wonderful weekend & do things that make YOU happy!

Bring on the Parade!

Hooray for Mardi Gras! Here is my newest painting in all its bright, colorful cheeriness! It's now up for grabs on EBAY! Get ready to catch those beads!

HAPPY DAY TO YA!

6" of Snow & No School!

We got the most beautiful wonderfully wet snow overnight & woke up to around 6" & school cancelled! It's so fun to go knock on my kids' doors & tell them "NO SCHOOL! You can sleep in!" They are so excited, especially when it's a Monday! Then I usually go back to bed for a while myself. I hurried & got a few pictures before the snow started falling off the tree branches. It's SO pretty!

A good day to hunker down in my studio & work on my next project. Think I'll have to take a break & make some of my famous pumpkin bread later too! It makes the house smell sooo good ~ Yum! I finished my Mardi Gras painting last night & will post it on my blog & Ebay later today.

How about that game yesterday??? Both teams played SO well & I don't think I've ever seen so many completed passes before! That surprise onside kick by the Saints & interception for a td were just priceless! So happy for New Orleans. Can you imagine how CRAZY Mardi Gras is gonna be now? I think it's already started!

Happy Monday to ya! What's the weather like in your neck of the woods?

One Last Valentine Painting~Frida!

" Frida's Valentine's Day" is up for grabs on EBAY!

I got a sudden spark of inspiration yesterday morning & decided to do one more Valentine painting. I love painting Frida, especially holiday themes of her, so here she is! I can't remember the last time we had a bright sunny day here (although I love the snowy, wintery weather) so I had to shoot a pic in dull lighting & the colors in the photo aren't as vivid as they should be. Will try to get a better picture soon.

In the meantime, check out Frida & my other paintings on Ebay! I'm starting a Mardi Gras themed painting next ~ should be fun! Hope you're having an awesome weekend! xoxox

Purrfect Valentine

Purrfect Valentine is up for grabs on Ebay!

Here is my latest (of only 2) Valentine paintings I've done this year. I'm going to take better pictures tomorrow when I have more daylight. It doesn't have the varnish on yet either so it's really a much brighter & prettier pink & purple than this pic shows.

I'm kind of in a rut. Just feeling very uninspired & unmotivated lately. I seem to have lots of ideas for different paintings & sewing projects but can't decide which I should do first & then end up doing none of them! I'm also feeling very amateurish about my Etsy Shop. Is there an "Idiot's Guide to Etsy Selling" at the bookstore??? I know my shop's only been open a few months & it takes a while to get noticed amongst the thousands of shops on there ~ I just wish I knew some tricks to getting more exposure. How do some shops receive 800 views just a few hours after an item is listed??? I know you can "showcase" an item which I've done a few times & that seems to generate more views but once that day is over it dies down.

Oh well, I guess I need to give it time. Any advice would be appreciated!

Pillow Heart Finished!

Voila! Got my little heart pillow finished quicker than I thought. I think it turned out really sweet. Already got it in the SHOP too. Now I'm ready to do something PINK for Valentine's Day! I'm thinking pillow cover.

Oh, & by the way ~ any of you out there have trouble with ribbon-happy cat thieves stealing your sewing supplies? I made a special trip to the store the other day to get blue ribbon, came right home & set the roll down next to my pillows I was working on. The next day when I was ready to work it was nowhere to be found. I looked everywhere! Zoolou, my ornery furball, has stolen my ric rac from my sewing box & drug it around the house several times so naturally I suspected her. Annoyed, I made another trip to the fabric store for more ribbon. Yesterday I heard something bouncing down the stairs & looked over to see my new roll of pink ric rac being batted & chased by Zoolou. She was having so much fun I just let her play with it! (she needed the exercise anyway) Maybe I should think about getting a lid for my sewing box.

A Few More Pillow Ornies in the Shop

Just a quick post to show you 2 new pillow ornies/door hangers I put in the shop this morning. They match the ones I posted earlier. I love the kitty playing with the toilet paper roll! (at least that's what I think it is)

I'm also finishing up a cute heart shaped pillow I'm excited about! Had to run to the fabric store for thread that matched so that slowed me down a bit. I'll post a pic of it soon. By the way, hearts are NOT fun to sew! Too curvy!

Hope everyone's having a happy Monday!