sweet things...

Eddie peeking through the bannister.....


close-up of a very sweet kitty....

another sweet kitty.....

a sweet decoration from shabbychicadee that i received in the mail today.....

and this sweet card from patriciasart

sweet mini cheesecakes....


sweet Archie wishing he could have dessert!

Springing into action

beautiful orchids....

I'm starting to believe that spring has really arrived, finally! It is very warm today up to 20 C!! I walked Harley the black poodle yesterday and i was so overdressed in a sweater and wool coat, i was perspiring by the time i had returned... I trying to do more sewing, i've decided to add a few more sections in my shop for wristlets and ipod/cellphone holders. I also need to make some larger totes and beach bags for summer, since the only bags left in my shop are on the medium to small size.... i've got to get my butt in gear and get into production mode.

Today, i have to mail a couple of trades, one to Maine and the other to Montana, so i will wear a much lighter coat when i walk this afternoon.

I traded my handbags for some lovely artwork and a cool necklace from some fellow Etsyians. These are the bags i traded:

Olivia

Daisy

I've traded 3 times now on Etsy..... i better cool it on the trades for awhile, i need to do some selling now!

Here are some new items in my shop:

I heart butterflies tote

Lotus flower wristlet

and now i'm off to chain myself to the sewing machine for a few days....

fun friday!

I had a lovely time in the city yesterday hanging out with pals Scotty and Joe....after the train arrived in Toronto, i walked over to the St.Lawrence Market area to meet Mr. Honeyman at this cute cafe that has the most scrumptious gelato...

i was a little chilled so i had a bowl of veggie chili, spiked with cinnamon, and an ice tea but i'm def going to try the gelato next trip...
after the cafe, we walked around, window shopping and taking photos.....
then i met Joe for a latte and cupcakes, not ones i made, but i spotted some yummo cupcakes at Starbucks that had dark, milk and white chocolate...how i wish i had taken a shot of them....

Scotty and me in the shell frame...

beachy chandelier

very unique and colorful chandelier..

pretty...

i'm digging the chandeliers today..

red clock and chandelier

Conrad Blacks' office no longer...

top of Conrad Black's office bldg.

my day so far..

Awoke.... yaaaaawwwwwnnn!
looked out the window to see what kind of day it was...
(as you can see we still have a wee bit of snow)



I took a couple of pictures of Eddie before i headed downstairs...


downstairs, Archie rolled around on the hallway rug and of course, i had to take a picture of him as well..


I had breakfast, some toast and coffee...
having my new favorite spread for toast, this organic pumpkin seed butter, which is supposedly more nutritious than peanut butter, it salt and sugar free, so it took a bit of getting used to since I'm used to the sweet and salty peanut butter that i usually eat.


took a picture of these tulips and narcissus:
then went and checked my email....i got a few, including a reminder from sis Carol, that it is the first day of spring, yippee!
and one all the way from Ecuador, my blog pal Risa, replying to a comment i left on her blog.
went to check the mailbox and got a nice surprise, this cute birdy pendant came from another far off warm place ,Costa Rica, which ironically arrived the first day of Spring, how cool is that!


then stuffed and sewed up this new softy toy....

and i have no idea what it is yet, maybe you can help me out, what kind of animal does it look like to you?

.....now i have to go check out some blogs, clean the bathroom - ack! and do some more sewing and get a package ready to send out to Boston for my cute little nephew C, then walk Harley the dog to the post office to mail the package.
I'd better dress warm, it's still a bit nippy out there.

a passion for purple

These purple crocuses are so pretty, they lasted about a week, but one morning i awoke to find them on the floor...



..........one of my bad kitties decided to have a midnight snack and knocked it over, dirt all over the bathroom floor, and a half-eaten flower in the hallway. The leaves kind of look like cat grass, and I'm guessing it was Eddie since he loves cat grass even more than Archie. I got 2 little pots of lavender from a cute flower shop in the Distillery and they look very pretty on my bathroom sink, and i have the other one on the bedside table. It's so nice to have flowers around the house, it cheers me so much! We also have orange tulips and yellow narcissus in the kitchen and an orchid in the diningroom. Can't wait to see the flowers come up outside our house, although it's going to be awhile for that, we had light flurries today.... oh phooey!





..........and Easter is fast approaching and i have a little project I'm working on, it's a present for someone special.... hope i get it done in time to mail!

My featured Etsy designer is.....

........Alicia Bock photography. I will be featuring fellow Etsyian artists/designers regularly, since there are so many wonderfully creative people there. Here are some examples of her amazing photography...


titled 'Little Garden'


'Seafoam'


'Baby Blue'

Alicia is a self-taught photographer in search of light and shadows, pretty things in pink, the feeling of the ocean, and a blue moon. Her inspiration is found in the simple, beautiful moments of our everyday life.

Here is an interview with the lovely Alicia:

Q. Where were you born? And live now?
A. I was born in Holland, Michigan. Now, I live in Lansing, our capital city.

Q. What is your marital status? pets? children?
A. Married, 2 kids, 1 cat (though he needs a friend, so we will hopefully be adding another cat soon.)

Q. How long have you been doing your designs?
A. About 3 1/2 years...
I picked up my camera again after my daughter was born, after about 6 months of only taking pictures of her I decided we had way too many baby pictures, and I need to move on to other subjects.

Q. Why do you love your craft?
A. I have tried so many different things, and have always gotten bored. But, with photography I never am. I really feel like this is what I was meant to do. I love that there are so many choices, and different areas to experiment.

Q. What /Who are your inspirations?
A. My mom has a huge Clyde Butcher photograph that takes up most of her living room. I love getting lost in its details. But, I am equally captivated by my grandma's old polaroids, and the fabulous new photographs I see on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/) everyday.

Q. What would you like to do 5 years from now?
A. Hopefully, the same as I am doing now, but on a bigger scale. As soon as my kids are in school full time I hope to branch out into more galleries, and I'd really like to start doing more children/family portrait sessions.
Most of all I hope to be doing this all from one of Michigan's little beachside towns. Being in the middle of the state without water, does not suit me well.

Q. What are your interests and other hobbies?
A. I love to travel, and work in our garden with the kids.

Q. Would you rather shop for clothes/accessories/shoes or decorate and shop for your home
A. Such a hard choice, but right now I am lusting after a few pairs of red patent leather shoes, and some new springy dresses.

Q. Do you love to listen to music while you work? What do you like to listen to?
A. I really think and work best if its quiet. If I am outside, the sounds of the world around me are calming. And, if I am working from home the kids are a source of constant noise. When they are finally napping I love how silent and still things are. And, I know my husband (a total music addict) will have something playing the second he gets home.

Q. Favorite foods/drinks?
A. Chinese and a cold beer. Yummmm.

Q. Dog or cat person?
A. Cat

Visit her blog at:
http://bloom-grow-love.blogspot.com/
Additional photos on flickr are also available as fine art prints:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bloomgrowlove/

Thank-you Alicia, for sharing your story!
I will be featuring more Etsy Artists soon... If you want to see more of Alicia's photography, please have a look at her Etsy shop here.

cake and company

Remember the pink cupcakes?
I made this sour cream pound cake because i had all that leftover pink buttercream frosting. Steve asked me to make chocolate cake again but i decided to make a buttery pound cake instead. Sorry Steve. But i'm happy to say he was lovin' the pound cake! We already had got some lovely strawberries so i decorated the cake with some, it turned out just lovely!

Margaret, the nice british lady from across the road, came for afternoon tea the other day......
I served her a slice of this delicious strawberry pound cake and a cup of coffee. She had me over for tea last month so i decided to have her over for some of my cake.


We had a lovely time, chatting about her recent trip to visit some family in California and Vegas. She is such a delight to talk to and a very warm and sweet, funny lady. She has a beautiful cat named Ulysses and is an amazing gardener, and i'm learning lots from her. Because of her, my spring bulbs will most likely bloom this spring, since it was she who told me to plant my bulbs with garlic powder. The year before, most of my bulb were eaten by those darned squirrels. I'm so glad i have a nice neighbour, actually most of them are very nice and i either wave and say hi to them or have a little chat. This is the first time i can remember where i've had a neighbour over at my place. Steve and i have been here nearly a year now, well, for me, not as long but we sure do love our house and Whitby and our neighbourhood. I hope we stay a good while!


does'nt this look scrumptious?

home fashion friday

a lovely black and white window display.....



a beautiful pillow with a spot of color.....



the perfect lamp!



I have a new appreciation for black and white furnishings and this particular vignette is simply stunning! I have been in love with this bubble lamp for awhile now, when i first saw it in 'Sex and the City', Miranda had one in her bedroom. I've seen it time and again in stores and magazines and they're always in the $300-500 range, out of my price range for a lamp anyway. I've always adored anything with polka dots or circles or bubbles and this would look darling in my living room.....i think i need to sell more bags...sigh. I've always shied away from black and white themes in the past but I'm definitely re-thinking the whole black and white trend. Maybe someday I'll redo a room in my house with this look and add a few dashes of color here and there. It's a classic, elegant scheme that is timeless and 0h so very stylish. It's also a very clean look, I might be afraid of living in a room like this, lest i soil the white parts...ha ha. I wonder if i would tire of a black and white scheme? I guess if i gave it a few splashes of color, say a brightly colored pillow or picture, I think i could get used to it.

this outfit is very Audrey Hepburn/Grace Kelly...

Do you have a favorite home fashion trend of the moment?

pink cupcakes!

Nothing is as delightful as a hot cuppa tea and a yummy chocolate cupcake with pink buttercream icing to perk me up since we are now back in the deep freeze here in southern Ontario. We still have snow and ice and a cold wind to contend with when we step outside our door.............

that's why i'm spending as much time as possible inside the house baking and reading and doing a ton of organizing. I sent 2 large bags of clothes (some of the items date back to the eighties-whoa!) to the Goodwill, which gave our closets some breathing space. Ahhhhhhh.

I added a few drops of red food coloring to this white icing to give it the faintest pink hue. I made far to much buttercream and will have to refrigerate it and made a cake in a few days. There goes my waistline.


I love this vintage pink plate and it complements these cupcakes with their pretty red sprinkles. I can't wait to taste these babies.

Ohhhh, these were super duper yummylicious! The buttercream perfectly fluffy and sweet while the cupcake was slightly fudgey and dense.
Who cares about a waistline anyway, flowy, loose-fitting blouses are in for spring anyway!