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It has been so long since I’ve actually “worked”, that I’m getting used to a life of leisure. After Birdsong, I had house guests to play with, then a gum surgery that became infected twice and kept me laid low. (Which wasn’t a highlight of my time off) Then, I took a few days off to hang with the grand fairy.

I was itchin and ready to get back to work. So, I announced a 30% off sale in my boutique to do a little clearing out before I started adding new items. But then….

My wireless went wonky.

AT&T was out here with four new modems in one week. (Which meant hours on the phone, and more hours of waiting around for that 12-4 or 6-8 window where they might show up to bring another non working modem.

Which wasn’t the problem, the issue was a port in the main box blocks from our house.

So once that was fixed, the hard drive on my pc died.

Every day, the Best Buy Geek Squad almost has it ready to pick up in a couple of hours. Key word there is almost.

Anyway, even though they are now saying it will be ready in a couple if hours, I decided to do a quickie blog post from my iPad instead of waiting to get it back. But NOT to go back to “work” yet. I’m off to the garden to search for buried treasure with a mermaid. It’s where we have been most of the morning and I kind of like it out there.

I’ll go back to work in a couple hours or so. In the mean time, I’m enjoying this new life of doing whatever, whenever as a lady of leisure and pirate captain.

Last week, I swept up some of the Grand Fairies to go to Disney on Ice. Or as I told them to refer to it, Grammie's Day of Fun. 

We all dressed in our finery and set off for KC while watching movies in the car on the way.
 Poor Clover wasn't feeling her best, but had plenty of smiles during the program.

Sugarwings had so much fun, she couldn't stop hugging, kissing, squeezing and loving on anyone near her. And her smile never left her face.

While Fin isn't as big of a princess fan as the rest of the crew, he still enjoyed the show. And when it got too syrupy, he took a few bathroom breaks to get up and move around. 

I think he'll make a fine boyfriend/husband for a lucky girl someday. Not only is he cute as a bug, he is sensitive and can enjoy a day out with the girls.
And is smart enough to know when he needs a little break from girly stuff, but polite enough to get away for a few moments without complaining or causing a fuss.

We arrived a bit early and spent some time wandering around, enjoying the crowds and looking at the Disney merchandise.  Not that we bought any, geesh.  The prices were not tempting (well to me, at least) to heavy shopping. The snacks too. Heck, I thought movie theater popcorn was high, but at least that comes with a free refill.  At this place, it was $12 for a bucket. 

I'd brought some snacks for us, and was glad that I did.

We had fun without buying cheap plastic toys without cheap price tags. We took photos of each other, and rode the escalator.  It was one of the tallest ones I've ever seen.  You could tell we live in a town without big buildings, we were very entertained by riding up and down like country hicks while waiting for the show.

The show itself was a lot of fun, I'll definately go back for another one some day. 

Afterwards, we made a stop at TRex for an exciting lunch to make up for Grammie being too thrifty to buy the $12 popcorn at the show.

And after that was a stop for chocolates and jelly beans at Russel Stover, and then home to dye Easter Eggs.

I'm not sure who had the best time that day, but I think it might have been me.

Sometimes I forget what I mention on Facebook and what I say on my blog. Or what I told a friend, or simply what I was thinking to myself, even.  I try to not be repetitive, but since some folks read the blog itself, and some read it on FB, and some don't read it at all, they only read FB posts, I try to repeat some photos or stories in different places.

I don't think that I talked about this issue of Somerset Apprentice on my blog yet.  but who knows what I have yammered on about here or there…. 

 

It's always an honor to be involved in one of Stampington's issues. I don't do as many articles as I used to. Writing for decorating or craft magazines has always been a little side hobby, never a job, and I've rarely pursued them much. It's just a fun little thing to do.  I get a kick out of it, and appreciate each opportunity. 

Anyway, this issue is on the stands now, and I'm thrilled to be in it!

And speaking of how hard it is to keep up with blogs, and tyring to figure out the best place to read them, did you hear that Google Reader is being closed down in a few months?

We were able to use Google Friend Connect on Typepad for a short time, and it was taken down a while back.  It was an easy way to connect a blog you wanted to read to Google Reader.  When Friend Connect left,  I added some connections to other blog reading sites to my side bar. 

Now that Google Reader is disapearing, you might want to explore those other sites and and chose one to transfer your favorite blogs to.

Blog Lovin seems to have gotten popular, I've had a few new followers on that every day lately.  And NetWorked Blogs is a good one too. These buttons are on my side bar, if you'd like to check them out.

What do you use for blog gazing? Do you have another site better than these? I'd appreciate any reccomendations.  Thanks!

Before  the babies left, I gave them their first real bath. They'd been washed up and tidied plenty of times, but this was the first time they'd been tossed in the tub together.

And they weren't quite sure if they liked it!

Mom jumped in with them, she loves baths.  And they decided to climb up on top of her to escape.

They just weren't quite big enough to scamper out, no matter how hard they tried.

It took a while to get everyone cleaned up, since there was a whole hoard of them to get through, and they weren't exactly patient with me.  I got a lot of accusatory stares from the group.

Afterwards, they were treated to bedding warm from the dryer and bowls of yogurt mixed up with hot water.  Kind of a puppy version of hot cocoa.

I discovered that my sweet little, Dorothy Rosebud, might be a grudge holder. She refused to even look at me after the experience.

The other guys soon forgave me. Maybe they will enjoy baths as much as Twinkle does.  She was such a good mama during the scrubbing. She jumped in and out of the tub with each pup as I took it out to dry it off.  Of course, my bathroom floor was swamped.

Tiny little Dorothy Rosebud is healing, thanks for your concern. And since Beth offered to dog sit both pups when we travel, we are thrilled to be keeping her big brother, Albie.  How could we give up a puppy that taught himself to ride a toy rocking horse?? (photos to come, its pretty cute)

I'll leave you with some photos of what's new in the Boutique.

(There is more too, this is just a few. Mostly vintage jewels and old booklets)

I thought about calling this post, "Crap that Beth Gives Me".  But I didn't want it to sound like I didn't like the crap. Its good stuff!

And its good to have a friend who sees stuff like this, knows that I'd love fixing it up, and doesn't think it's trash.

She is always bringing me goodies, like this Pyrex measuring cup for my kitchen, and a stack of old letters to craft with.

And a bagful of mini ruby slippers in glittery, red plastic.

The other day, she filled a bag with ephemera for me.  Good stuff straight from her stash. I can't wait to make something with these.

If you want to make something too, I'll share.  Here is a page of scanned cards from  the pile she gave to me, click on it to open in a larger window, save to your computer and print from that.

Thanks, Beth!

I have another thanks to say too,

Fleur sent this deligthful book that she made for the grand fairies! I look forward to flipping though the pages with them.  Thanks, Fleur!

Its so thoughtful and personal.

Its my week for gifties, apparently!  This cute set came from the Guncles down in Jacksonville.  Guncle Kevin is an avid garage saler and found this for me.  I've already filled it with glitters, ready for our Romantic Gothic Ghost class that Guncle Randy is coming to on Oct. 6th. Both of my sisters will be here too.

I can't wait for my family to meet some of my friends.

Yep, its been quite a week.  My Handsome Husband surprised me with an over night getaway for our anniversary on the 10th.  He said to pack a dress and plan to be home Saturday afternoon, and wouldn't tell me where we were going.

  I didn't even ask. I didn't even try to guess. I just happily went along.  And was just very glad when he drove East toward KC instead of West toward Topeka.

I'd have been thrilled with a free night at a Hyatt Place using his travel points, but instead he pulled up in front of the Raphael

It was pure luxury. He had lots of little romantic details too. 

Best anniversary ever.

 

 

 

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Before I left for our weekend getaway, I whipped up a couple of fairy pages for the swap.  Some people had asked for examples.

I wanted to show that its okay for ribbons. lace, etc to trail down and over the edges.

And you don't have to make all of your pages the same (unless they want to). All 8 go to 8 different people. 

Sorry, no promises that you won't get one of your own pages back.

Please, keep all 3-D goodies away from the left hand side, I'm not sure exactly how I'm binding it yet, but don't want anything in the way for hole punches.

And the color theme is totally up to you. When I assemble the books, I'll chose pages that look pretty togehter, but there will be a wide range of colors and styles.

I'll have more examples to show when I get back from my little trip. If you want info on how to join the swap, please click on the button at the top of my side bar.

I can't wait to see what everyone creates!!

 

School is out!  And for the next few weeks, it looks like Sugarwings will be spending some time here with me while her parents work.  We thought there would be an opening at her new school in June, but oops! I didn't follow up to double check before she lost her spot at the old school.

So, we are going to be doing lots of crafty things for at least 2 or 3 days each week while she is here with me. And I am hoping to take her to some gymnastic and dance classes, plus hire a tutor to work with her before Kindergarten starts in August.

This project was entirely her idea, not mine. Maybe I won't have to come up with plans, sounds like she could be in charge of that, not me. 

She read in her story book about kids making a fairy doll, so she found sticks laying around that were the right sizes for a torso, arms and legs to make one herself.

I was in charge of hot glue and ribbon to attach all of the limbs, then she picked out scraps for me to glue around her fairy to make a dress.

We added  wings from a hobby store butterfly, and she cut a Tinkerbell face out of her coloring book.

Next came lots of glitter.

And more glitter.

Then a bit more.

If you are looking for a good investment, buy stock in glitter. I see a huge jump in glitter consumption coming this summer.

It took quite a few applications of the coveted sparkly stuff till she was satisfied.  She'd stop, hold it up, and study it for a while, then add more.

Yep, we are definitely related.

When the glitter level finally met her approval, she picked a petunia blossom to add for the dolly's hat and her new best friend was ready to play with.

Thanks for all of your input about blogs. I don't want anyone to think I am contemplating quitting! No way. I'll still be typing away my ramblings long after people have stopped reading them, its become my diary of sorts.

Two art retreats I went to this year both had this topic come up and I hated to think that blogs were considered passe.  I'm glad to hear from my friends that we don't agree with that sentiment!  Yay, blogging!

Kim out did herself with her latest party.  Oh my. That lady knows how to embellish every detail with sweetness and beauty!

Everywhere you looked there was something even prettier than what you'd just seen. An explosion of gorgeousness!

She plans down to the smallest detail and it all pays off in how smoothly her events run.

Yet, she is welcoming, friendly, and seems to be having a good time herself while she is at it.  The perfect hostess!

I was thrilled to have my painting as a backdrop for photos by the Fancy Farmgirl, my pal, Tiffany.
(yes, I had trouble keeping my eyes open for photos, as always!)

So, I told everyone just to give up and photo-shop some googly eyes onto my lids.  Picmonkey didn't have any, though.  I subbed buttons. I think that works nicely. Especially since they are Tiffany Blue.

We all had fun posing for pictures, and I was glad that my roomie, Lori, convinced me to borrow her extra black dress. I'd only packed jeans to wear. After Birdsong, I was BEAT, and didn't really care what I packed. I was thinking comfy and relaxing. But it really was a formal affair for the first evening, and it was nice that Lori had something with her that she could talk me into wearing.

I had the wrong shoes, and hairy, pasty white legs, but I still felt festive.

Lori is a good friend, and was a fun roomie. She even brought a gift for me to open in bed when I woke up on Saturday, for my birthday! 

It was the best birthday! A few of us rented a car and went downtown to shop in the garment district, and they all took me out for a special lunch.

One of my favorite parts of travelling is trying local restaurants, and this one was quite the treat. Really glam, I felt like I should be seeing movie stars around the room, but was having so much fun with my friends I forgot to look.

 

 

Lori and Andrea

Hitting the downtown wholesale areas was a good idea, all of us found some tidbits for our artwork.

I'll have some photos of the projects I made later.  The classes were fun, I learned some interesting tricks and came home with completed items that I was happy with and am already using in my home.  That is a plus! Not a single, "hmmm, what am I going to do with this thing?" piece.

  I like them all.

Dear Kim surprised me with this Tiffany's box inside a Tiffany's box as a thank you for the banner I painted.  Its a precious little thing, that will be a treasured memento of the weekend. Not that I need something to remember it by, It was a remarkable trip!

 

The kids have some new pets out at the yurt, a flock of baby banties. (Silky Bantam chicks)  These are the fancy kind that look more like llamas than chickens, and are super cuddly and friendly, since they have been hand raised and live indoors.  Yes, they are house pets, till spring and a new coop can be built for them. In the mean time, they have a chicken wire encased dome over a giant, sand filled litter box to live in.

The family stayed here with us at the cottage most of the week, so we could all be a team in nursing our Sugarwings back to health, and I was really tempted to bring the chickens back with us when we all drove out to the yurt to visit and feed them, but I had a feeling that Twinkle would have enjoyed their visit a little bit too much.  

And so would the kittens. 

We are building an area for chickens at our own place, but we won't have house pet chicks, ours will be big, fat, laying hens that have their own house and a fence to keep the dogs out.  We plan on letting them roam around the yard to keep fleas, ticks, and chiggers away from us during the summer, but it will only be when the dogs are indoors.  The chickens will have to learn to take turns with the dorkies on yard time.

I am so excited, day dreaming about a chigger free summer…. Oh, what lofty dreams I have.  I can't imagine the joy of going bug bite free for the season.  Years ago, I raised birds and they really do the job. Then I decided to transform the chicken coop into an antique store, which was great for a while, but has not been in use for a few years now. Time to fill it back up with bug eaters! The fresh eggs are just a bonus for me, its the pest control quality of hens that excites me.

While I am enjoying this extra mild, no-snow winter we are having, I'm already dreading the on-slot of spring time bugs that a mild winter means.   As much as I hate snow, I love to have those pesky biting bugs zapped by ice.

Notice that both grand fairies have a favorite bird? This one is Marshmallow and seems to enjoy her cuddles.

I like Phoenix, the ginger one. I think the other is Licorice.  There are a few more orange and black ones, but only one white, and that is the fur ball that both girls seem to want to latch on to.

 We've had a nice time with all of the kids staying here most of the week.  Sugarwings is an energetic, little force of nature and doesn't like to be told not to run and play. But her injury is a serious one and she needs to rest it for the nerve damage to heal properly. So, we've done our best to entertain her while keeping her down. 

 She has spent a lot of time in her "force field" as she calls it.  I made up a fort under the dining table with lots of pillows to lay on, and her portable DVD player to watch endless movies on.   I've crawled in there too, with a good book (I'm on book 4 of Game of Thrones), and its pretty cozy.

One day, we all decided that we had to get out of the house before cabin fever set in, and we spent a day junking in Topeka.  I was on a quest for vintage necklaces to take apart for my Birdsong 2 project and its surprising just how many beads you need to make up 25 kits plus a couple example necklaces.

My goal is to use only vintage materials, so I can't simply figure out what I want to make, then order the supplies. I have to make sure that I have plenty of supplies before I design the piece.  My thoughts on kits is that they should be complete with everything that is shown in the example, so I've searched high and low for just what I needed for the project.

I think that after a few junking trips, I've got enough to get started on the creating part.  There are pearl beads in cream, white, ivory, taupe, and tan.  Crystal beads in aurora borealis, clear, amber, and pale pink.  Plus some hand carved mother of pearl ones too.  As well as a couple of surprise elements to make the pendant extra fun.

There is room for a few more people at our gathering if you are interested in joining us!  I'll have photos of the 4th project up soon.

And please consider that the Valentine Wreath class is still on schedule for Saturday, Jan. 28th at 10am.  We'll make a wire wrapped wreath, topped with vintage goodness and two nesting love birds. There will be lunch, treats and supplies for making Valentine cards too. 

$65 for the whole day

$100 for two if you want to come with a friend!