Etsy Store

Ok, well I did it, last week I opened an Etsy shop and have sold a pillow already! I also listed a few more things and tonight I listed a crazy quilt piece. I started to do crazy quilting a couple months ago and have been playing at it, practicing stitches and thinking about the design aspect of it. I belong to a yahoo group that does crazy quilting and I am amazed at their ability. It really inspires me to keep plugging away and practicing at it.

I enjoy stitching and I like Etsy....yeah, I can't seem to stop buying from the talented artists there...but I don't like having to write up a description and decide how much to charge for my items, so I don't think I will go overboard here and pull out my old projects and finish them so that I can list them on Etsy!

My photo is of the Crazy Quilt piece I listed tonight. I have added a link to my Etsy shop on my blog if anyone wants to take a look.

Fresh Flowers

One thing that always makes me happy and lifts my spirits is a bouquet of fresh flowers. I enjoy walking into a green house and taking in all the blooming plants, I like when the florist truck pulls up in my driveway with a delivery and I like walking by the small bouquets in the grocery store. In the summertime I always have cut flowers in my kitchen. Having flowers in my home just feels to me like one of life’s luxury’s. So, I decided that something I am going to do for myself this year is enjoy fresh cut flowers in my home all year long. This is the bouquet that has been in my kitchen this week.

Just One More!

I didn’t stitch this pillow, I bought it on Etsy from Joanne the craftsmanship on this pillow is amazing. The stitches are so very consistent; Joanne is very good at what she does. If you are in the market for a pillow or purse, check out her site. I sure didn’t need another pillow but the colors were perfect in my sunroom and of course the little girl holding a purse reminds me a bit of Molly who has a weakness for purses! So, today my day was made when I went to the post office to pick up my little package.

"Winter" Banner

I have seen a lot of banners on blogs lately and I have been inspired to go into my project room and pull out the glitter and papers and whip one up. I decided that above my kitchen sink would be the perfect place for a banner so I used the same blues as are in my kitchen and threaded the letters on a white ribbon. Cute huh?

Another Pillow

I finished another Valentine's Day Pillow last night. Now it's time to do some crazy quilting. Since I am rather new at that I keep dragging my feet but one of the lists I'm on is having a round robin using just green in their squares and although I didn't sign up, I thought I'd give it a try and, just like everyone says it happens, peicing seemed a lot easier this time so I may just join in on the next one.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Valentine Pillow

I’ve had a really busy and somewhat stressful week, meetings almost every evening and working during the day later than I have wanted. The week that I was going to get caught up with some stuff around here didn’t happen. I am looking forward to the weekend. I have been getting into a bad habit of staying in bed on Saturday mornings until about 10 a.m. Don’t tell anyone but…I take my laptop to bed with me on Friday nights so that when I wake up in the morning I can leisurely check my email and plan my day/week until I’m ready to start my day. I am so looking forward to reading and relaxing Saturday morning.

A couple things I did have time to do this week are finish a Valentine pillow and make a list of about 30 things that I want to accomplish in the next few weeks. If I have time, I’m going to see if I can set up an Etsy shop and perhaps list my pillow. I actually have two that I could list….

They're Gone!!

After a month of Molly and Megan being home for Christmas break, they have both finally returned to their colleges and I am breathing a sigh of relief. My niece Megan left last night and Molly packed this morning and was out of here by noon. Al is only home on the weekends right now and I am so looking forward to a clean and quiet house this week. Well the downstairs is clean…. I ventured upstairs this morning was amazed at Molly's bathroom! Towels and paper, etc. everywhere… her bedroom/warehouse is not any better! Ugh! It’s a good thing I like to clean and organize…I’ll tackle that sometime before spring break! For now I’m just happy to be home with my feet propped up.

Last week all we did was shop! Every day about lunchtime when Molly would roll out of bed (the past two nights it has been the sofa because her bed was piled with so much "stuff" she couldn’t even sleep there) she would call me and talk me into taking her shopping somewhere… Let’s see we went to State College one day, Williamsport another day because she REALLY wanted to go to Olive Garden for lunch, a movie one day (her boyfriend doesn’t like chick flicks) and of course we made a couple trips to the local mall to see what was on sale.

I do love to shop so when I say she talked me into it, it really was not that difficult of a job. During my travels last week I found some cute things that I almost needed… I found these cute bird salt and pepper shakers and these Valentines decorations. I also picked up a very cute Easter egg topiary that I can't wait to use! I also bought new rugs for the kitchen and sun room. So, next week I am hoping to spend time in the project room doing something creative. I’ll keep you posted if that happens.

Looking for Valentine Stuff!!

As I am putting Christmas away everything looks so bare so I decided to put out my Valentine’s decorations. Trouble is, I have very little Valentine stuff….. I made a trip to the mall which yielded nothing so I decided I’ll have to make a few things. I started stitching a pillow and also found an idea on a Carol Spinski’s blog RAISED IN COTTON that I found to be inspiring. So this is my version of Carol’s “Little Frame of Vintage” I plan to continue my Valentine decoration search at a larger mall this week! Wish me luck!!!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone! So far I am off to a good start with the project room cleaned and organized and the Christmas decorations coming down. This photo is evidence that Christmas is gone from the kitchen. I also finished the sunroom and most of the living room, I will finish the dining room this weekend.

Every year I make New Year’s Resolutions without a lot of success…. Hopefully this year will be different. Our gym has a challenge out for its members; lose 8 pounds by April 1 and receive $80, and an additional $10 per pound up to 20 pounds. I think that is a pretty good incentive to finally lose 10 pounds, or more. So, lose weight tops the resolution list this year. And of course, I want to get healthy along the way. Here is the official list:

1. Lose weight, get healthy

2. Drink less soda, more water

3. Go to the movies more often

4. Make friends - My daughter says the make believe people on the internet don't count!

5. Find pictures for the empty wall going up the stairs.

6. Enjoy life more