Mittens, a quilt and art

I was going through my studio closet today and found this little quilt top that I had made three years ago. I have it all marked to quilt. It has a little bit of everything on it. Embroidery, applique and piecing. I doubt if I get to it this year as I will be working hard to get a new inventory ready for the 2018 art shows. I had forgotten how cute it was. I had no pattern for this, it was all trial and error. The words around the edge are: Be Happy, Follow your Heart, Show Kindness, Find Bliss, Love Yourself, Take Care of the Earth, Hugs are Good, Stop and Smell the Flowers, Dance.

My friend, Karla from Kansas City Mo, was making mittens to sell at craft fairs for Christmas. I asked her if she would make me a pair also, and they are so beautiful. The yarn is so soft and the embroidery is fantastic. What a work of art!

I follow an artist who has named her business Soul Whisper Arts, she was offering a bundle of items so I treated myself to them. This is one of her prints that was included. It is precious and is called “up, up and away”.

This painting I finished right before I did the Louisville show in October. I did not have time to scan it and add it to my Etsy shop. Today I did that. It takes a bit of time to do one that is this big. The size is 20 X 40 and it doesn’t fit on my scanner. It has to be scanned in pieces and then the computer magically puts it all together. I wanted to depict Kentucky with the horse farm and the white fences and the tree lined driveway. I also added a Ford Super Duty truck because they would need that to pull the horse trailers and also there were two Ford Factories in Louisville. The title of this painting is “Home” and the quote that I have used is by Laura Ingalls Wilder…HOME is the nicest word there is.  This painting is for sale and also prints can be purchased in my Etsy shop. If you are interested send a message to me.

Handmade cards Plus

Right before Christmas our neighbor Kathy brought over a plate of Christmas goodies and this pretty card. If you can’t tell the holly leaves are raised and I just thought this was a pretty card. I seem to get more enjoyment from cards after Christmas, when I have time to really look at them.

My friend Theresa made these next three cards. It was really nice to revisit them because they are so sweet.

It didn’t come off very well but the trees are silver sparkles. It has made me happy to pull these out again!

This is my most recent one, and it is a shaker card. Love it!

Here are a couple photos of my guys. I have pictures taken in front of the tree for years. I will have to pull them out and put them up in order, that would be fun to look back at them.

I picked this cup up that says-I don’t need google, my Mom knows everything. He is always asking me questions and I say look it up, you have the resources. “Why do I need to do that when I have you?”

Kathy also brought this sweet gift for me that she found at an antique store. Said that she thought of me right away and had to get it and I love it. Kitty has a great face and sits prominently on our hearth.

 

Feeling a little melancholy thinking about family members and even pets who have left us, but also new ones that have joined our group. How we have special and unique feelings for each and every person and animal based on what you admire about them, because it isn’t the same for everyone. Who has great style, who is a good parent, who works really hard, who is really funny, who has a very kind heart or is a good cook. Enjoy more, criticize less….my motto for 2018. I don’t think of it as a resolution but to change the way I think to be happier.  What about you, any new thought process on the horizon?

Best Buttercream Frosting and Cat Shenanigans

The Christmas Baking is underway. I have used this cut out recipe for 37 years now. We received it along with others for a wedding gifts and it’s the gift that keeps on giving. This is a triple batch. They are so good you could eat them without frosting and they do not need cooled before I roll them out.

This is the best tasting homemade buttercream frosting I have come across. It is not too sweet, it is smooth and I love the different flavorings that it calls for.

 

RECIPE: 1/2 cup Vegetable shortening… 4 cups powdered sugar… 5 Tablespoons water…. 1/2 t. salt…. 1 t. vanilla…. 1/2 t. almond flavoring…. 1/4 t. butter flavoring.  Mix it together until smooth and creamy.

I was trying out some torn paper flowers that I am going to use in a painting soon. They turned out fine and are fun to make too.

The next few pictures are the cat shenanigans that have happened this week. If you saw these on facebook, please bare with me.

 

She was stealth. Plugged in the iron, turned my back and turned back around, there she was. 

Look at me, look at me. Just keeping everyone company up there.

I pulled this from the archives. It’s amazing to me that this little kitten in June.

Has turned into this big guy a few short months later.

I love this picture! We have this tree in a box window that looks out over the front of the house. It’s a favorite of the cats.

This little guy is the cat above and below. They stay kittens such a short period of time.

I am invisible.

He needs to be careful, he is growing so fast he might not be able to get out!

Love to see this big tree it makes the room so warm. I have a time getting the angel on top though. I have to remember to attach her to the top first before we add the last set of branches. Yesterday watched the classics, Rudolph, Frosty and then Elf. That one always makes me laugh. I am going to put in : It’s a Wonderful Life today. Gotta get those cookies frosted! Hope your preparations are coming along well.

 

A little bit of nature

I just could not get the perfect shot of the super moon the other night. It was sure impressive!

I am sure it was operator error but this is better, though not perfect.

Last week we had some sunny and warm days before the bottom fell out. The yellow leaves of our bush were pretty with the sun shining through.

The blanket of leaves on the ground were just as pretty.

Then we had some snow on Saturday and it laying on the outdoor Christmas lights on the bushes was very pretty.

No flash makes for  another good picture.

Katherine Hepburn

In Bar Harbor Maine this summer there was a second hand book store right next to the library. I spent a little time there and discovered some really good finds. This book is one of them- Me…Stories of my Life….by Katherine Hepburn. I find I am drawn to books about real people. After finishing the book I then decided I needed to revisit some of her movies.

So I rented The Philadelphia Story, which on a scale of 1-10 I give a 7. It kept my interest and was humorous and fun. I just didn’t finish it with, Boy that was good!!

The next I watched again was On Golden Pond. In fact we even had the DVD. This is always one of my favorites. More so now since Katherine wrote about the story and characters.

The last two I had watched with my Mom a long time ago, she has been gone 20 years! Guess Who’s coming to dinner with Spencer Tracy. He passed away a few weeks after the taping.

The African Queen which was an exciting movie. The leaches still stand out in my mind. She did so many different movies. She was such a strong women and I give the book a rating of a nine. I learned a lot and it kept my interest.

another happy home

I am happy to say that this sweet little kitten has gone to her new forever home. They had moved into their new home and got well enough unpacked and I drove her over last Sunday the third of December. She will have a great life with them. They had already assembled a great big cat tree for her.

She will have her choice of 5 people to love on her. I was so happy that they wanted to give her a home. Her name is Lily.  Another happy ending!!

Christmas on the Farm, Christmas Decorations

This past Saturday, Dec. 2nd I did just a small show-12 vendors. We were in a nice clean big equipment barn. I was fortunate to have my niece Wendy help this time. Here is a cute selfie of the two of us.

My table all set up and ready to go. I was glad that the weather had not turned really cold yet because it would have been uncomfortable for sure. They suggested that we bring electric blankets because the barn is not heated. That is a good idea!

We put the Christmas tree up, its 11 or 12 feet and is pre lit, sorta. Of course they all don’t work so I just put lights in the three bare spots. It’s a great concept, does anyone’s prelit tree ever stay completely lit?? I am really happy with the prettiness of it. There is a little brown box on the right under the tree. It has the ashes of our cat Smoke who lived to be 19 yrs old. He loved the Christmas Tree and couldn’t wait to sleep under it. Every year we put his ashes where he always slept. The quilt is very old and very tattered and very loved and I love it for the tree skirt. The rest of the year it sits on a shelf.

I absolutely love these faux candles! They are the cat’s behind!

This remote turns them all on, they will shut off in two, four or six hours. The lights can be turned down. Love it!! Last year I did a three day show at the beginning of December and I was behind the rest of the month. I will only do a small show from now on, I am enjoying December now. We really have kept the decorations in the main living area only. After 37 years we have accumulated a lot of decoration goodies. I pick and choose about what goes out because I don’t want to have to take them down, it is a chore. I have enough to give the boys and wouldn’t notice. Simple yet elegant. We also have a few lights outside and I have these 3 simple stair stepped size trees. Our wind has been strong these last few days and I cannot keep them up, two are usually on the floor of the porch. How people put lights all over their house is mind boggling to me, they just have the temperament. I am always in awe.  Temps are only in the 20’s with a little tiny bit of snow. It is now feeling like winter.