My swap to Deb at Paxton Valley Folk Art

The Primitive and Folk Artist group on etsy had a member swap and I was paired up with Deb Riddell of Paxton Valley Folk Art as a swap partner. I was really excited to be Deb's swap partner and apprehensive at the same time. Not that Deb is picky or anything, it's just difficult for me to paint for another painter. I sit and second and third guess what I am going to paint! LOL!

I knew what surface I wanted to use, just needed to find the pattern. I settled on an Easter bunny design by Terrye French to paint on the pocket. That was of course, after I had basecoated a second pocket dark blue. I had completely forgotten that Deb wasn't a pastel kinda gal, and the first pocket was basecoated a light green.


Since I was already late in sending my package, which I will explain later, I wanted to also send something that was springy just in case, the package didn't make it in time for Easter, so taking another design by Terrye French I painted a little spring sheep on a large wood hangtag.




I also sent this inspirational sign that Deb can keep out year round. I love this new design with the little sheepie and willow tree....too cute!





And here is the reason that I was late...seems like the goodies that I had purchased to send with the swap disappeared. I found the wrapper evidence and set about finding out "which" male in my house ate my swap goodies...it didn't take long to find the culprit. So that meant another trip to the store to pick up some goodies to send.

I stopped by Target to get some more goodies and they had the cutest little pot with coneflower seeds in it and with echinecea's being my favorite perennial, I couldn't resist. I also sent a yankee candle in cotton blossom scent...oh my, is that scent ever delightful. I replaced the goodies that were consumed and added the Lindt truffles...they are to die for! I made sure that the goodies went right into the shipping box when I got home from Target so there wasn't any temptation.

Sent hubby with the postage paid box to the post office. There was some confusion once there about the customs form...mental note to self, next time check the order of the customs forms. After a phone call the package was finally on it's way. It seemed like it took so long, I thought that the custom agents may have confiscated the package for the goodies, but it finally arrived and everything was well receive. It was really fun being Deb's swap partner and getting to know her a little better through email.

Until next time....

Happy Easter Everyone!

Wishing everyone a Happy and safe Easter. Sure hope Peter Cottontail makes a stop by your house and fills your Easter basket with goodies. Enjoy your day.

Untul next time...

My new bonnet

I can't believe how much I love this new bonnet that I got from Lecia over at Farmhouse Prims Blog. I've been drooling over all the bonnets that Lecia has been making and decided enough was enough and I needed to get me one. Yep, you heard that right...needed, not wanted! LOL!

Anyway, so I dropped Lecia an email telling her where I wanted to put it and she was sweet and sent me 4 photos of different fabric bonnets to choose from. I absolutely love the mustard one that she thought would look best and she is correct. It looks great there hanging off my dough bowl rack. Lecia is just the sweetest to work with. She sent it all pretty wrapped like a Christmas present and with the sweetest note.

I am gonna be working on the hubby for a few more shelves with peg hooks, and I'll be getting one or two more bonnets from Lecia to hang off those too. I can see this can become so addicting!

Until next time...

First Lucky Winners Are Being Drawn Tomorrow

So be sure to hurry on over to the PAFA team blog to enter the fantastic Mother's Day giveaway. Three winners a week are being drawn for the next 4 weeks. If your name is drawn as a winner in week one, it goes back into the pot for the other weekly drawings. Now how sweet is that? And speaking of sweet, what a sweet bunch of fabric daffodils that Deb of Paxton Valley Folk Art donated. They are so realistic and perfect to present to mom on Mother's Day and you don't have to worry about watering them or disposing of them. They will look lovely year round. Be sure to stop by Deb's etsy shoppe or check out her blog for more sweet home decor.


Now every mother needs an extra hand around the house and I gotta say I love this framed picture that Barb of Barb's Heartstrokes donated. Even if mom never gets a "real" helping hand, this sweet one with it's little birdie will surely bring a smile to her face. I gotta tell you that being the proud owner of a piece of Barb's artwork, you won't be disappointed. Be sure to also check out Barb's etsy shoppe and also her blog.



And how about this cute apron? It would bring tears of joy to Mom's eyes to see her adoring family wearing this, while preparing a gourmet Mother's Day dinner. This sweet apron was donated by Rose of basketsbyrose. I sure would love to see my hubby wearing this as not only is he thoughtful in protecting his clothes while cooking, it would actually mean that he was cooking for a change! LOL! Anyway, be sure to stop by Rose's etsy shoppe and her blog to see other goodies that are for sale.

So whatcha still sitting here for? These prizes and more are available in the PAFA Mother's Day giveaway. Hurry over to get your name in for a chance for all 12 prizes. Just click on the links.

Until next time...

A Tisket, a tasket, it's 2 new baskets!

Ok, so I've been shopping alot on etsy recently...well not just etsy but these two baskets did come from etsy. I'll show you what I bought elsewhere in another post.

Anyway, back to the baskets. So I've been looking for some baskets to hang on the peg hooks on my shelf and dough bowl rack that the hubby made me, and I found 2 on etsy.



The first one is a garlic basket. I purchased this basket from BasketsbyLisa on etsy. I didn't realize til just now that I was her first sale. Anyway, I just love the basket. I need to get some Sweet Annie to put in it, but that will wait for another time. Anyway, Lisa also included that cute oval basket tie on as a thank you. I need to get some jute to tie it on to the basket.


This basket I purchased from Cheryl's Creations on etsy. I was looking for a small elbow basket and this one will fit the bill. I need to get some Sweet Annie for this basket too. Darn hubby needs to hurry up and plant my seed that I bought so I have my own Sweet Annie to use! Anyway, Cheryl painted the cutest little flowers just under the band of the basket.

Be sure to check out both gals shoppes on etsy....they have some cute baskets.

Until next time...

I won Prim Outhouse's Jelly Bean Contest

Janice, over at The Prim Outhouse blog hosted a jelly bean contest. She had a mason jar full of jelly beans and you had to guess the correct number in the jar to win. My guess was 256. No one guessed the exact number but my guess was the closest...only 2 away of the 258 jelly beans that were in the jar.



Janice sent the mason jar full of jelly beans, 3 plant pokes, a carrot, flower and Easter egg, a pair of grubby candles tied with muslin, a wood sign that says fresh flowers and two bags full of jelly beans. As you can see, there is a bag of jelly beans missing already. I take no responsibility for their disappearance as I am still on my diet, so as they say in my house "Not Me!" LOL!

Thanks Jan for all the wonderful goodies.

Until next time...

PAFA Mothers Day Giveaway

Be sure to stop by the PAFA team blog and check out the huge Mothers Day giveaway that is being sponsored by the team artists. There will be 3 winners a week for the next 4 weeks. There are many chances for multiple enteries, so be sure to read and follow the rules.



I have donated this shabby chic sign with a sweet saying perfect for mom for this giveaway. Just click the link and take a peek at the other giveaway prizes. So hurry on over to maximize your chances of winning.

Until next time...

My Valentine's Gift

No, not the Annie and Andy. This is the picture of them together that I promised from my post yesterday. Although they do look like star struck lovers. Don't they look so cute there with their little critters?


And yep, you read the title right. I told the hubby that I wanted him to make me a dough bowl rack for Valentines Day. He had it made in no time flat. So why am I showing it to you two months later? Well first I had to paint it, so got that done. Then decided where I wanted to put it.






Of course I wanted to paint the wall before I hung it up. That's where the problem came in. My walls in my livingroom are a lovely Breyers icecream french vanilla. Well french vanilla walls and boys don't mix too well. They had the walls dirty and scraped up in no time. No amount of scrubbing was gonna help either as I already did that. I had saved the paint can lid with the paint chip color but couldn't find it. Tried to go to Home Depot to find it but Glidden was only having them carry 256 colors and not the 1000 that they were. My wall color was one of the ones they no longer had the formula to unless I knew the name. So after frantically searching for 2 weeks, I finally found the paint lid and chip. Had Home Depot mix the paint for me and then had to wait for a nice warm day so I could open the windows and air out the house as I painted. Well this past Monday was just the perfect day.

Tuesday I was able to get the dough bowl rack hung. I still need, notice I said "need", to order a bonnet to hang off it and I know just who to get one from. I have a small elbow basket for one of the pegs coming too. I'm thinking of making a ditty bag and experimenting with fabric printing.

Anyway, just wanted to share with you my gift of love that the hubby made me. Some girls want diamonds...I just want shelves and stuff! LOL!

Until next time...

Andy and his dog

A month or so ago I bought a lil Raggedy Annie from Diane of CountryDoings blog. Diane showed the Annie on her blog and I just had to pop over to her etsy shoppe to check her out. Well after getting the Annie in the mail, I sent Diane a email asking if she ever thought about making an Andy to go with the Annie. She said she would keep me in mind.



So fast forward to a few days ago. Diane emailed me that she had indeed made an Andy. I didn't hesitate and went ahead and bought him too. He is adorable. So now my lil Annie has company. I meant to take a picture of the two of them together, but got side tracked today. I'll have to post a picture tomorrow.

Be sure to check out Diane's shoppe. She has some cute things.

Until next time....

Pretties In The Mail ...My Swap Goodies

I received some pretties in the mail over the weekend. Deb Riddell of Paxton Valley Folk Art and I were swap sisters from the swap the PAFA team had. I gotta tell ya, I should have taken a picture of all the presents wrapped so pretty. It was such a shame to have to open them and ruin the appearance. Deb had each tied with string/ribbon and had attached a hangtag to each. Such a sweet touch. A lovely note card was also tucked inside.

Deb sent those sweet fabric daffodils. They look almost real! I put them in a 1/2 gallon mason jar and they look absolutely stunning.


Isn't this wood plate the neatest? It's a Terrye French penny rug design of a bunny. Boy, let me tell you, Deb sure can paint! I had the star plate holder and thought it would display the plate nicely for now. I may change my mind on that once I get to the craft store though! LOL!


Deb was also sweet enough to send some sugar free candy knowing that I am on a low carb diet. Haven't had any as yet...trying to be good til I lose 2 more pounds...then I'll be in the home stretch. Ok, so back to the other goodies...yep, there's more. There was a letter "D" with a hook and a note pad with the letter "D" on top...no more will the family be able to walk off with my note pad! LOL! There also was a bag of pastel eggs for Easter. Haven't figured out where they are going yet and need to find a big bowl or a basket to put them in.

I just love everything that I received. I want to thank Deb for being such a sweet person and lovely swap partner...you're the best! Thanks also to Brenda, TheRustyThimble for putting together the swap for us gals at PAFA.

Deb, your package is on it's way to you and should be there any day. Sent my hubby to the post office to drop it off...they had a glitch with it....almost didn't get it off in the mail as the custom forms were backwards in the envelope. Also the middle son, ate some of your swap gift, so had to make another trip out to replace what he ate! Boys! They will eat anything that isn't nailed down, glued o painted!

Until next time....

A Surprise in the Mail!

I got the sweetest surprise in the mail yesterday. The mailman rang the bell and there was a package sitting there. Now I am expecting a few things in the mail, but this wasn't one of them.

Barb of Barbheartstrokes sent me that little cutie in the above picture. Isn't he/she just the cutest? Barb also sent a thank you note for all my help over at the PAFA forum, where I am a team leader.

I gotta tell you, this was very, very sweet of Barb to do. I had no idea! What a total surprise! Thank you, thank you, thank you Barb, from the bottom of my heart. You made a yucky work filled/stress filled day alot brighter!

Barb paints the cutest designs on screens...I love them. Be sure to check out Barb's blog and her etsy shoppe. Just click the links.

Until next time...

D

My Swap To Tracy

I participated in a swap that Tammy A Primitive Place hosted on her blog. I was partnered up with Tracy of Prairie Patch blog. Tammy's swap theme was "So me, so you".

We were to send one thing that was "so me"....that was the easy part. The harder part came in with the "so you". That required digging into our partners blog and finding little tidbits of information about them. My job was a little more difficult as Tracy has a very diverse and eclectic style, but I did manage to pin down a few things about her! LOL!

I found out through reading that Tracy loved little prim sheep. She had received a swap from another gal, and in it was a little hand painted sheep soap, that Tracy had made comment that she was starting to "collect" sheep. Through emails, I found that Tracy liked earth tone colors...so now that I had 2 clues of what she liked I got to work. The end result was the sheep sign above painted on an tan background.



So with the "so you" part all worked out, I got to work on the "so me" part. The hubby has been on a roll recently with making me some pieces to hang on the wall, so I thought, why not have him make Tracy a smaller version of a bowl rack that he made me although this had a little twist to it. We added a rolling pin groove to the bowl rack as I knew that Tracy liked prim kitchen utensils from a blog linky party she hosted. I painted the bowl rack/pin holder in my favorite color, black. Having emailed Tracy about color schemes in her house, she said that she hoped one day to do her kitchen in brick red, and knowing that black should be a lovely contrast, I was confident in my color choice. I added a small burgundy bowl for the final touch.

I had so much fun with this swap and getting to know Tracy. If you haven't been over to Tracy's blog, hop on over and check it out. She also has a few other blogs including The Sunburnt Cow where she holds linky parties to show off things that you have for sale and she has just launched a new shoppe contest. What neat ways to promote others.

Until next time....

Tweaked My Shelf

I finished up the window frame I had that I wanted to put over my shelf and added a twig wreaths with tan/black pip berries. I still need something else...hmmm..gonna have to think on this some more. Also put 3 little stitcheries that I bought from Patti Primitivelvr on etsy. on my shelf

Until next time....

Bowling Social

Today I took Sean and Ian to a bowling social that Sean's supportive employment agency sponsored. This was their first one and if the turnout was an indication it was a complete success.



Sean giving Ian a high five after making a spare. The boys really support one another, even though at times, they fight like cats and dogs. Sean bowled on a non competitive bowling league while in high school. There you bowled against your own average and not others...that way there was lots of room for self improvement.



Ian was so thrilled with me taking his picture while waiting to bowl! NOT!



Ian watching his ball roll as he made his spare. My hubby and I were big time bowlers before we had kids and when Sean was little. As we added more kids to our family it became impossible to keep up with the sport both my hubby and I so enjoyed.



The scoreboard from the boys second game...Ian did a great job that game.




There was a incident while bowling that was very disturbing to me. Some of the participants had disabilities. One was an older women, who I guess was in her 40's. She had a caretaker from the agency with her. Her caretaker stepped away for a moment and Christine asked me my name. I told her and shook her hand. She then asked me if I had a dog, which I answered no to. Her caretaker starting admonishing her about asking personal questions. I thought what the heck? We are in a social setting and she is just trying to get to know a little about me. I realize that people with disabilities may have their quirks and maybe asking "personal" questions is Christine, but I thought hey this is one situation where her questions are absolutely appropriate.


So basically after she was scolded by her caretaker, Christine didn't ask anymore questions nor did she attempt conversation. There are better ways to handle issues and this certainly wasn't one of them. How is Christine ever suppose to learn to be socially appropriate if when she attempts social interaction, she is shut down by her caretaker? Her question to me wasn't offensive and was socially appropriate in my opinion. Maybe Christine was trying to see if there was something that we had in common, I don't know. I just wish the caregiver would have taken a step back and realize that maybe she was the one stepping over the line.

We also had a pleasant surprise when we got to the bowling alley. We wound up bowling next to Delene. She and Sean went to school together since 6th grade. Sean and Delene went to their prom together. They were voted prom king and queen by their peers that year. Delene left school that year, in 2005 and went to other programs that are available for disabled youths. Sean stayed in school til he turned 21. Anyway, it was nice to see Delene and catch up with her family as to what was going on in their lives.

The boys seemed to enjoy their time bowling...it was only their mom being a "mom" that was a little stressed out...I just can't help it!

My New Peg Shelf Is Finished

I finally got my peg shelf that the hubby made me, painted and hung up. I added a few things to sit on it, but still think it needs something else. I do have a few ideas for above it...hopefully I can tweak it over the next few days.




And remember I told you he put it together backwards. The arch side was suppose to be where the pegs are and the shelf was suppose to be straight. Well even though he had it all lined up when I was out in the garage looking at it, when it came in the house he has reversed the shelf and peg backing...the shelf is arched and the peg back is straight.

Anyway, I'd better not complain too loudly as he won't make anything for me again.

Until next time...