Contest: Give our stray kitty a name..naming contest is still open

I have written before about the stray kitty we have been feeding for about a year. Actually, we seem to be feeding an opossum, the neighbors cat, and 3 stray kitties that come to eat on my back porch and another cat that shows up from time to time.

But, what we call OUR stray kitty is the only one that seems to have overcome her shyness towards us and the only kitty that tags along with our Fluff Puff Kitty. If you see one, the other one is nearby. The kitties all look about the same with the exception of a white ring on the tail, a black tipped tail, and lighter faces. I think our SK is the prettiest...just saying. :-)
Here is the latest Stray kitty update: More progress...well a lot more actually. SK comes when called, and meows at the kitchen door when she wants to come in.
Stray kitty is now coming into the house all the time, and last few nights she has spent the whole night in the house. She was really well behaved. SK sleeps on my leather recliner and cries at the doorwhen she wants out. Isn't she smart, for being a kitty born in the woods and never having been inside.
SK is still very timid, but lets my husband pick her up, and wipe her down when she comes in
wet from the rain. SK is still timid, but now that she is coming in she really doesn't want to go outside. Maybe because her playmate can't go out because of the quarantine.


Anyway, my husband, Tom thinks SK isn't a good name, and so we have to come up with a name for our new kitty as I think she has found herself a home.

To win:
Leave a comment with a name for our Stray Kitty. If we chose the name you suggest..I will send you a prize.    In the past I have been told that some of you who have tried to leave a comment, but for some reason it just never shows up, and I don't get to accept your comment. I don't know why that happens, but if you can't leave a comment here and want to help name my stray kitty...email me your comment with the name you selected for my SK and I will add it to the comments for you.  My email address is EAkers@aol.com
PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN. Thanks!!!!

It's been awhile

I haven't been online much the past few weeks. Have just quickly checked my emails. Since my last post the grass has turned green, more and more flowers and shrubs are blooming spring is here in New England. We have had a lot of strange weather and each day we don't know what we will get...warm and sunny, cold and very windy, heavy rainstorms with high winds, and today for Palm Sunday it is gorgeous, warm and sunny. It is so nice to have the windows open.

I have been busy taking my elderly parents to either eye doctors, regular doctor or lab appointments. I am just thankful that I am no longer working and can do this for them. I am also thankful that I still have my dad who is 92 and my mom who is 88.                                           
My mother has Alzheimer's and her condition is getting worse. Watching the downhill progression  is so very hard. Mom's confusion is  increasing and her short term memory is basically gone. My grandmother, ( my mother's mother) had Alzheimer's, and I so hope that that isn't going to be my fate in life. 

I have had no time for art, but want to share with you some lovely art pieces that I received from the yahoo group, Art Haven. I won the monthly lottery for March. I chose an anything goes theme. I received my last art piece the other day in the mail. I certainly received some beautiful artwork from some talented ladies in the mail.  Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to sit down and create something artsy.
A lovely journal from Diann
A fantabulous armoire made of cardstock with posies on the top. The 2 drawers filled were filled with buttons, beads, brads, and spools of ribbon created by Celeste.
awesome flip card from Celeste
Beautiful card from Shirley
  lovely little book that the inside pages have pockets from Clara
open book
beautiful tag from Clara
lovely sewn fabric postcard from Vic
  beautiful hanging ornament from Angie. You can't really see in this photo, but on the insides of each rolled paper piece there is  painted on metallic green. So pretty.

Bella, Robin and Steven stopped by this morning. Little Bella enjoyed some fresh pineapple that I had just finished preparing. Our little granddaughter has 8 teeth now, and will be a year old on May 24th. WOW!!! How time flies. Bella still doesn't have much hair, but most of the time she has a beautiful smile on her little face.

For the Birds

Yesterday afternoon while I was walking around the yard picking up the dead branches that had fallen over  the winter. I found my hanging bluebird house on the ground. The old apple tree branch that the house had been on didn't make it thru the winter. I will need to find another branch that I can easily reach.
  In the mean time I have the birdhouse house  sitting on my planting table on the back deck.  Can you see the bottom of the house has a notch? A moveable nail  fits in that slot to keep the front  panel of the house closed. When the nail is moved the front swings up so it can be cleaned easily.

Unfortunately, I have never had a bluebird nest in the box. But tufted titmice, chickadees and house wrens have used this nest box every year.  The apple tree that the nest box hung from is near the edge of our property that has open space with woods close by.  I cleaned out all of my bird houses last fall, but since the house was down, I opened it up to see if it was still clean.

Photo of feather...enlarged. The feather is approximately 1 1/2 inches long.

When I opened the house, I did find a little debris inside the nest box, and in the back right corner, standing up  there was a small feather, black with white spots. I'm not sure what bird lost this feather, but I guess another bird liked it enough to bring it into the nest box.
Do you think the feather  is from a downy woodpecker? Anyone have a guess? I love the little feather that I found.
This morning it is raining, and I had no   plans other than doing some laundry and starting a pot of pea soup. While the soup is simmering and the clothes are in the washer and dryer, I decided to make a bird tag. I used my Big Kick, the Tim Holtz tag die, Sizzex bird die, and along with other embellishments I used the little feather that I found yesterday.

When I finished the bird tag, I also put together this photography themed tag that has a picture of my brother fishing in a canoe...Hoping to catch a very big fish.
 

For the Love of Peeps

Can you tell I just love Peeps from the photo I am using as my blog header? I will keep the Peeps marshmallow candy package as my blog header until Easter.  Just a little tribute to my favorite Easter candy. I guess you either love Peeps or hate them. My sons never cared for them, so sad for them. :-)

Last March, I posted a recipe that I received in an email from Taste of Home magazine. The recipe and photo were for a cute Peeps sunflower cake . Are you are Peeps lover? My favorite colors are white or yellow. I think the other colors leave a faint after taste in your mouth. Although I saw some light orange Peeps in the store the other day, I might have to give those a try.

Last week on the TV Food Network show, Kid in a Candy Store,  a segment was done on the Peeps store, and on Unwrapped,  there was a segment at the Peeps factory in Pennsylvania on how Peeps were made. I found the shows interesting, and of course the Just Born company who produce Peeps  have a website marshmallow peeps if you care to look.

Did you know that there is a Peeps cookbook?  I saw one is A C Moore and briefly flipped thru the pages. Cute ways to use Peeps to decorate cakes and cupcakes.
Personally, I love Peeps when the are very stale and hard as a rock. To speed up the process, I tear open the package to let the air get at the marshmallow chicks and bunnies. Yum!!!! So, I have to ask...Have you had your Peep today? :-)
Elaine

Huffin and Puffin for Art

Yep, that was me using kids Blow Pens. Have your ever tried these pens? Actually, they are quite fun to use for backgrounds on your art once you get the hang of how they work. I have had some of the pens for years, and they were tucked away in an Iris cart drawer down in the basement.  As they say...Out of sight, out of mind.
I came across the container of the pens last night, and sadly some of the colors I would have liked to have used today were dried out. First I had to figure out how they worked again, because of course I didn't still have the directions and it had been so long since I last used them. Once I figured out how to make them work I was ready to blow on the tubes and start making my background. The look you get depends on the distance away from your paper...further away...you get a fine spattering or close to your paper...you get bigger dots.
pen closed
pen opened with tip of marker pen still in the end cap so the felt tip doesn't dry out
pen removed from end cap, and place with felt tip in the open barrel. Don't place the marker in too tightly or it won't work. Put the cap onto the barrel and blow gently into the plastic end cap. The end cap has little air vents to blow air gently down the tube and across the felt tip pen. 
Easter is April 24th. this year, and I wanted to get a head start on making some cards for swaps or to send out.
PEEPS ATC with Blo pen background. While at A C Moore on Friday I picked up a $1.00 packages of clear stamp sets  One had the word PEEP and so I added an S after I stamped PEEP.  I wanted the dots of ink to look like candy sprinkles.

Easter check list card with a chocolate bunny rubber stamped image

Used 3 rubber stamps to create this ATC:

Have you ever had fun using rediscovering a child's toy to enjoy making your art?  It was another morning of being up real early, because I couldn't sleep, so I sat at my art table and played.

Think Spring

That's what I have been thinking and wishing for some time now, and today it is sunny and mild. We so needed a day like this to chase those winter blahs away.

Tom and I were both up early and we decided to go out for breakfast. After we ate, and since we were already out we then headed to the polls to vote in our town's election, and then we came home. Tom went downstair to potting and starting seeds for his garden. I started a load of laundry, how fun is that? Not very.
While the clothes were in the washer I sat at my desk debating what I wanted to create this morning.

I came across a seed package rubber stamp that I've had for ages by Posh Impressions, buried in the back of drawer in my Iris cart. I usually use the stamp for a shaker card, but I didn't feel like making a shaker card this morning. I grabbed a Marvy marker in grass green to ink up the big stamp. I stamped the image onto white cardstock, and then cut out the center of the image. Folded the paper to fit around the card, and cut the cardstock down to size. I taped a package of candy cane zinnia seeds to the inside of the card. I then inked up a stamp of  gardening Kliban cat with a rake to add to the front of the seed package.

My second piece was a Easter tag. I glued tissue to the tag and then covered the tag with scrapbook paper.
 I found a lovely vintage picture that was offered on a blog, and so I color copied the image. Then stamped Happy Easter. I added Easter eggs stickers. Added ribbon and a very fine ecru tulle which hardly shows in the photo below. Last a button was added to finish off the tag.
 

I also printed off some more images onto fabric canvas, heat set the ink, and sprayed a fixative onto the surface so the printer ink won't run. Debating whether to start on fabric postcards or wait and do some tomorrow. Decisions, Decisions.

April Fools

Today, is April Fool's Day, the first day of April. A day for playing  jokes on others. I had my joke last night with the snow storm. 
There is still snow on the ground this morning, but the rain we had during the night made for a slushy mess, but I am sure it won't be here for long as we are suppose to have more rain today.
I didn't sleep well last night, as the wind was really howling. I got up real early as I couldn't sleep and decided to make a quick layered card.
Since it was raining, I thought the new $1.00 wood mounted stamp that I bought at  Michael's would be appropriate to use on a card for the first day of April.  The umbrella cardstock with tiny raindrops on my card, I picked up last weekend at Michael's on a clearance rack. There were several racks of cardstock to choose from, and they were all priced at 14 cents each. Couldn't pass up that deal and I bought several papers.


Michael's also had wood mounted circus themed stamps for $1.00. I love checking those dollar bins at Michael's, A C Moore and Target. Joann Fabric's had packages of cardstock for $1.99 in lots of different colors, but the package of blue-greens the weight wasn't very heavy, but it works great for layering.

On another note...the stray kitty that I have mentioned before is now coming in the house. She remains extremely cautious, but comes when called and goes right to the food dish, and will even lay down and take a quick snooze. She follows my kitty everywhere. We are making progress.

P.S...I took the 2 photo's below this afternoon. I was letting my kitty out the back door onto the deck and stray kitty came to greet Fluff Puff. You can still see some snow on the deck.

Fluff Puff going out and stray kitty coming inside.

Stray Kitty peeking between the legs of the glider on my back deck.

 

Happy April Fool's Day!!!!!

Are you kidding me????

For the past few days the weathermen have been predicting a nor'easter spring storm for April Fool's Day. Southeastern Massachusetts, being the coastal area  we were suppose to get rain and maybe a few snowflakes.
This afternoon it started to rain, but around 5 p.m. I looked out the window and was surprised to see that it had stopped raining, and it  was snowing pretty hard.
Tonight, it doesn't know if it wants to rain or snow. The snow is heavy and wet and there is about 3 inches of the white stuff that has accumulated.
I  took these pictures at 9 p.m. I opened the kitchen door and stuck my camera out for a few quick shots using the night time photos option on my digital camera. 
Railing on the kitchen steps



Hope that I will wake up tomorrow morning and it will have rained and all the snow will be gone.  I think the old saying March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb really doesn't apply this year. Not a fun way to start off April and it certainly isn't a great April Fools Day joke either, but glad this storm won't be like the April Fools Day storm that turned into a blizzard in 1997.
Just when I saw my rose bush had leaf buds that were starting to swell open.

Domino Art Piece....winner is

Seven left comments for my domino/key art piece giveaway. This morning I put numbers 1-7 into a basket, and I had my friend draw out a winner. The number that was pulled out was 1. Vic, you left the first comment and so the domino/key is yours. Please email me your mailing info. EAkers@aol.com . Thanks to all who entered.

Vic..I mailed your giveaway Friday, March 31.

Laurel Burch Cat fabric hearts

Over a year ago I made fiber filled hanging hearts for a Christmas swap. While I was creating the hearts I cut out numerous fabric heart shapes for fronts and backs, and at the time I didn't end up using  all of the fabric pieces.
Yesterday afternoon while going thru my sewing cabinet, in a drawer I came across the stack of the cut out heart shaped fabric pieces. I decided to finish a few of the hearts.
I chose the Laurel Burch cat fabric. The blue heart I cut out a cat  and ironed it onto the blue fabric.  The finished hearts can be used as ornaments or just for decoration on a door knob or where ever you chose to hang the heart.
Fronts:
Backs:
I still have a lot more heart shapes to finish up into hanging heart pillows.  

I took a walk around the yard today, and found some of my crocus blooming in my rock garden by the fish pond. I love crocus, and decided to change my blog header photo again, but instead of my first daffodils of the season, I am using a photo of my first crocus. Aren't the crocus pretty? Daffodils and crocus blooming in the yard, and it is warm and sunny today, but Friday we are suppose to have  rain/snow.
 

Break out the Mod Podge

I bought a case with a handle that had a magnetic strip to keep the lid closed, at a salvage store a few years back. The case looked like a purse and it was suppose to have an assortment of note cards inside. Most of the cards were gone, and the container/purse was marked down  to $1.00, if I remember correctly. I didn't like the cards, or the front design on the container when I bought it. I thought the case could be up cycled into a purse or gift box. So, today was the day I decided to alter my inexpensive purchase.
Before photo:

I went thru my 12 x 12 scrapbook paper stacks and selected two sheets of cardstock. I traced around the front panel of the case to make a pattern for the front and back.  Next, I coated the front and back with Mod Podge, and added my cut out cardstock. I did the same for the bottom. I have yet to cut the shanks off of some buttons to be used as feet so the purse bottom won't get scratched.                                                                                                                  I then cut out a  piece of felt with my Big Kick die cutter and used a flower Tim Holtz die. I stapled the felt flowers in the center, and glued the back of the felt with fabric Mod Podge to adhere the flower to the front of the purse. For the center of the flower I added a flattened bottle cap with a photo of a  little girl that I had punched out with a 1 inch punch. I then coated the top of the bottle cap with Dimensional Magic. I didn't want to rely on just the magnetic closure so I  drilled a hole at the top of the purse, and then the front panel to secure a large tubular bead and loop.
Close up of the front:

Finished purse: 7 ' length x 8 ' width

Domino Art Piece ..Give away

 First thing...maybe you noticed, maybe you didn't, but I changed the photo on my blog header. The swans with the ice and snow were pretty, but I am so tired of winter.  I decided to use my first daffodils to bloom for a spot of color.

Now, on to the giveaway....



Here is another small domino that I stamped on, and applied a coating to protect the stamped image. I had an old car key that was silver colored, but I didn't want the key to stay silver. I guess it really didn't matter much, as most of the key is now covered, except for the back. I gave the key a coat of gold paint , and a coat of the dimensional magic in sepia color. I glued the domino to the key and then added tiny rust and gold seed beads. In the keys opening I added a ribbon to use as a necklace, but with the key opening the piece could be hung from anything as an embellishment.
Do you like this piece? Do you have a use for this piece? Then, it could be yours. Leave a comment telling me what you would do with this domino/key if your name is chosen.
PLEASE...leave  me an email address in your comment so I can contact you if are the winner of this piece. Thanks! :-)

Found a wonderful scrapbook store

Cleared the snow off the car this morning,  picked up a friend and off we went to a scrapbook store in Rockland, MA...The Crop Shop. I had heard really good things about this large store, but had never been there. Geesh, I didn't know what I had been missing.  WOW, what an awesome store, and I knew that I was in deep trouble the moment I walked thru door.  We were greeted first thing by such friendly staff and the owner, and then are given a tour thru all the rooms explaining the store. I didn't know where to start...I wanted everything. (LOL) I just couldn't believe how helpful and pleasant everyone was and the amount of product and samples.
The store is 4,000 sq. feet jam packed with goodies. Rooms for different holidays and subjects, lots of Tim Holtz stuff, Graphic 45 papers, Ranger products, a wall of gorgeous ribbons, 7 Gypsies, and so much more. I bought the Tim die cut of the dress form, and a Sizzex die cut with birds. There was so much to look at and the samples thruout the store were outstanding. I ended up spending over $100 and will definitely be going back, because I saw so much more that I want to get.

I bought a lot of Graphic 45 papers. I have been looking for a source for these without ordering online, and I sure found an awesome selection, and bought many. There was also a clearance room with papers, stamps, stickers. A huge classroom with a small sewing machine, Cricut, Zutter, Big Kick or Shot, I can't remember which, anyway the classroom was well equipped, and I believe I was told that  the store had 7 bathrooms...can you imagine? :-)
If you live in the area or are visiting, take some time to visit this wonderful shop. You won't be sorry as you will thoroughly enjoy the time spent shopping/visiting. Warning...you won't leave empty handed. :-) I know I sure didn't.
Crop Shop honored ,  http://www.thecropshop.net/

After we left the Crop Shop, I caught the highway to the next exit to Hanover. I wanted to stop at Joann's to look for fabric. And then we went next door to Michael's to see what they had for beads.  On the way home we made a quick stop to pick up a few groceries and then we went out to lunch.
It is still snowing, but it isn't accumulating on the ground like it did overnight. I did see 2 forsythia bushes in bloom in my travels today. So pretty especially since it was snowing all day long and I couldn't believe that they were blooming so early.
All in all I had a wonderful day. Now, to use some of what I bought and get creating.

So glad that I don't have to think about what I will be making for supper tonight. Who wants to cook when you have so many new toys to play with. Glad that I have left over stuffed cabbage and homemade apple pie that I made yesterday to have for our dinner tonight.

Wild Haired Woman

I guess Wild Haired Woman would apply to me many times when I look in the mirror. I always say in my next life all I would like different is nice hair, with no cowlicks. Actually what I am refering to here is my polymer clay pin, but it could be any of us with the March winds blowing.
I made the body sometime back, but just never got around to completing my pin.
I conditioned my black polymer clay, and rubber stamped into the clay. I then cut the clay into a triangle shape. Then, inserted a pointed metal clay tool thru the clay to make the hole for the wires to go thru. I removed the metal tool, and then baked the clay triangle in my craft dedicated toaster oven. When the clay was cool I brushed Pearl Ex over the top of the baked clay and coated it with a clear gloss coat to seal the piece.
Next, I had to select my beads... a black round bead for the head, small black tube and green seed beads, and black wire. I threaded the cut wires thru the body for the head and for the arms and legs. Wrapping wire around the bead that was used for the head. Added beads to for the hair, and on the arms and leg wires, curled the wire to finish off my Wild Haired Woman pin.

Do you craft in spurts? Lately, I just done as many paper art projects. I know, I am all over the place when I sit down to do a projects. I get an idea, and I run with it, maybe you know how that goes too. Not always a good thing, because I seem to have way to many things going on at the same time...just saying.

How many small appliances and tools do you have that are only used for crafting? I have so many doubles...appliances for the kitchen and then appliances that I only use for my crafts...blender ( for paper making), toaster oven (for clay and shrink plastic), pasta machine (clay), silicone ice cube trays for UTEE (ultra thick embossing powder), and the list goes on and on.
While digging in boxes I came across a seal a meal that I bought at a yard sale years back. At one time I made a lot water cards and just had to have one. Since the seal a meal is out where I can now see it, maybe I should make a few water cards, but maybe not...who knows.

Well, gotta run. I am going to use my real oven for cooking this afternoon. I am making stuffed cabbage and have to get peeling apples for a homemade apple pie. I will be bringing dinner to my parents.