Spring has come...

........the flowers have ris,
I wonder where the birdies is?


Well, the birdies and the flowers are slow gettin' here, although we are in the last week of March, so I was expecting a bit of spring to show up by now!

I'm feeling so impatient waiting for signs of spring! The only things I've seen to remind me are the articles about maple syrup in the newspaper, all the tulips and daffs at the grocery stores and in my neighbours' yard, their forsthia bush has buds on it.


I stole a few cuttings from them (I don't think they care) and I put them in a vase of water to force them to bloom. Hopefully soon they will spring forth a pretty yellow petite flower. Can't wait to see all the flowers blooming in front yards of the houses I walk by everyday while taking Lulul for a stroll. C'mon SPRING!!! SPRUNG already!!!! I'm tapping my foot impatiently now!

On a walk today I found signs of winter still, like this polar bear:


but Lulu and I did actually find a few signs of spring...




potholes! Lots of potholes!!


and this robin probably scouting out a place to build a nest.


This house has it's very own palm tree, a sure sign of summer! Fake but funky!


We're eating more pears lately, which appear (a pear) to fit ever so perfectly in my pear bowl with the chip in it. I'm trying to eat more fruit now, and less cookies and yummy pastries since my trip where I gorged on breads and desserts at the resort. I was very displeased to find out I can't wear my favorite jeans cos I gained some weight from the trip. I'm trying to cut down on chips too. I will try to walk Lulu more too! Maybe I'll be able to fit into them again next month! No Cupcakes either! Wahhh!



Steve bought me these pretty daffs to keep me happy until the ones outside start to show!



And speaking of extra weight, Archie is really packing on the pounds. It's my own fault, since I think I've been giving him too much kibble, plus I let him drink my cereal milk almost every morning and the occassional tuna or chicken tidbit. He and Eddie are real moochers! Archie needs to lose weight! Do they sell Kitty treadmills? hmmmm. .....maybe Kitty aerobic dvds? Well, I better start measuring his food instead of just dumping his kibble in his bowl. At least he doesn't have to try to fit his booty into designer jeans!

MUY EXCELLENTE!!!

That's how I would describe my trip to Mexico my friends! It was bueno!! Muy bueno!! I am still speaking spanish back home, in fact the other day I was paying for something and I said 'gracious'...haha! I actually did take grade 11 Spanish, and I remember I got a very bad grade in the first semster, probably due to ditching school, but did a lot better the second semester. I can't remember more than a few phrases and half a dozen words since that was a lifetime ago...almost!


(this shot taken from the aeroplano....duh!)
We visited my sister Cathy first in Regina, Saskatchewan...the prairies if you didn't know....and these photos show how remarkably flat it really is there) I must tell you though, being the land of big skies, they have awesome sunrises and sunsets, and the clouds look so surreal sometimes.

(flying over Saskatchewan)

(more of Saskatchewan)

(flying over the Baja penisula in Mexico)


(This is a cool shot where the wing of the plane is on the right and you can see the coastline of the Sea of Cortez)

Our trip was amazing though, despite getting ill one evening, and a bad burn on my arms and legs while on a boat....after snorkeling at a reef. I did also get to ride a horse on the beach, which was lovely but hot, we chose to go riding at the worst time, 1 pm in the blazing sun near water!!! Dumb dumb dumb. No hat and no boots either...so i couldn't get the horse to go faster. Although he did start to gallop a little and i freaked cos I thought I might go flying head first into the sand. There were about oh, a million or so spring break college students on the beach, half drunk and yelling stuff like 'Ondelaaaay, Ondelaaaay (sp?). On the boat cruise we took, we were surronded by the rambunctious randy college kids, who were getting wasted (booze cruise) and screaming whenever they saw a whale....scaring the poor thing away!! I was amazed at the sight of the whale, spraying water like a fountain, and glistening in the sun....a wonderous sight!
Lets see, we also saw a historic town, Todos Santos, which featured a lot of colonial architecture and the famous Hotel California. I had no idea it was IN Mexico! It was a lovely place....such a lovely place..(sorry, had to sneak that line in from the Eagles song.
So if you would like to see some photos of the trip, I invite you to click on this link here:
MEXICO TRIP PHOTOS HERE - the first three pages.
since I am feeling immensely lazy right now, and don't wish to upload the photos again....(just uploaded to my flikr account).

Hasta la Vista Baby!

say hello to my little friend..

....his name is Fred. Fred is sort of cute. I'm still trying to figure out what kind of animal he is. He likes to lie around and listen to the Beatles White album and drink Nestle Quik. Fred loves to stick his tongue out, not at you, he just prefers to let it hang out. Fred needs a new home because he drinks all the Nestle Quik in the house, and all the milk of course!
That's the little description i have in my shop for Fred. I always like to come up with a personality for my little kooky friends. He and Harold the bunny are now waiting to be adopted. Hope some nice people adopt them!


here's a close-up of Fred. Is'nt he cute, well...sort of?


Archie sits in my studio and loves to sit on top of the sofa in the sun.

He's waiting anxiously for spring to arrive so he can go lie in the sunroom downstairs off the kitchen, which is too cold right now. Soon though, he will be enjoying the sun in another room as will I!!! 16 days til spring!!!!!


One of my new favorite things to do is decoupaging. I've even designated this box which i decoupaged to hold all my pictures from magazines. I have a huge stack of mags in the corner of the studio which i go through while watching tv and clip clip away with my scissors, images that attract me, flowers, food, interior design stuff, etc. Why should all these pretty photos be hiding when they could be decorating some object, like a piece of furniture, or a trinket box , or anything really. I got this new book from the library which is the most wonderful book i've even seen on decoupaging, called 'New decoupage by Durwin Rice. Yes, the man's name is Durwin!!! Reminds me a bit of Bewitched when the Mother-in-law called Darren Durwood or Durwin!!
This book is so fabulous i think i may have to get it from Amazon or the bookstore.
So, I'm getting ready to decoupage stuff soon. I've already decoupaged some of my light switch plates too.

So much fun!! All you need is an item to decoupage, some glue, magazine or photo clippings and varnish.


Born to Decoupage!!! (oops! i need to fix the 'p' - should be the other way!)


This is my latest lavender mini pillow. I love this fabric with the wee owls!! So cute!

It's in the shop too!

birdie lavender mini pillow

I just put this pillow in my shop the other day, and I'm delighted to say it sold within a day! I have been making these little lavender pillows lately, and i am having fun picking out the fabrics and adding a few embellishments. I added a rhinestone for the birdie's eye and a gold/pink cording around the pillow. It's so nice when I sit on my bed and I can smell the lavender. It's my fave scent! I may try using some other herbs like camomile, which is very calming, or rosemary as an energizing aroma. I love making them, they don't take a lot of time to make, and I have starting experimenting with stamps. I have an alphabet stamp kit and I want to have a line of inspiration pillows with quotes and words, like 'Imagine' or 'relax'. I've got to think up some good short quotes to print on them. Do you have any words or quotes you'd like to see on a pillow? Feel free to throw them out!

The big One!

Lulu Belle, our little beagle girl, has just turned one year's old! I chose last Friday, the 22nd of February to be her birthday, because while i know she was born sometime this month, the rescue kennel didn't know her exact day of birth, so I decided the 22nd would have to be the day, since 22 is my lucky number.
Steve thought i was a little nutso to make a cake for her, but heck, I love to bake anyway, and i love having a special occasion to bake something! So I made a carrot cake, without nuts and raisins and made a cream cheese frosting and made it pretty with the red sprinkles on top.


Here she is at the age of 6 months and this is her now:
I wish i could have seen her as a really small puppy! I bet she was such a cutie!


While at the dollar store I found this jumbo balloon, it's supposed to blow up to 4 feet, Cool!



Steve reluctently agreed to blow it up for me...he's full of alot of hot air anyway!! Ha!

He blew until his neck veins started popping out!

Pretty soon I couldn't even see him anymore!

He didn't blow it up all the way though. I think he got about half filled before he had had enough of the giant orange balloon.


Lulu sure had a ball playing with it! We threw it around and she got all excited, barking and baying and trying to bite it. She even bounced it off her nose.
After about 10 minutes she tried to eat it and of course, it popped, um, quite loudly! Poor Lulu's balloon was burst!


But we still had the cake! Yes, we even lit the candle and sang 'Happy Birthday' to her and i blew out the candle for her. (strange, i know, to celebrate a dog's birthday, but being a nutball, i had to!!)

I have to say though, it was mighty good! I'm usually alot more gaga over chocolate cake, but it was nice and moist, and the cream cheese icing was so delicious! I think i may have to make another one soon. Lulu got to eat a piece too! She sure enjoyed that!

Just Do It!

(Warning: long-winded blog post ahead! )



Have you ever had so many ideas or projects, creative or otherwise, that you just feel like your head may explode? I am constantly inspired to make stuff, in a variety of mediums, from jewelry to sewing and painting, and i am frustrated that i can't seem to get into a productive mode. I'm great at writing down the idea, usually with drawings of details and specifics. I often start a project and find it hard to finish it, either because i don't know how to, or because i lose interest. I was complaining to Steven the other day that i think i've lost my creative mojo. I mean i used to be so much more productive in the past, especially when i was in my 2o's and 30's. I used to sew up dozens of bags in a month. Now i'm lucky if it's one a month!! I'm trying to figure out why i've slowed production of projects, almost to a halt. I think one reason is lack of motivation.

I love thinking of ideas, and i get excited about the idea, but then something happens where i just think too much about it when i should 'Just Do it'! I tend to lose interest in the project of the moment quickly and then move on to a new idea. So, does the fact that i have a different life affect my creativity? The difference between now and then, is that i had more energy 'then', than i do now. I now have a big house to take care of, complete with a dog, two cats and a life partner ( I can't say hubby yet and I'm tired of saying fiancee!). So even though Ive got a few more responsibilities 'now', you think i could squeeze in at least a couple of hours per day for creative pursuits. Well, after cooking and cleaning, and in between dog walking and errands, duties and chores, I should be able to. I'm afraid, I'd much rather plunk myself down in front of the boob tube (with Satelite and HD 42" screen) on a comfy sofa and watch a program while multi-tasking (reading, making lists, eating or playing with the dog). I've become., well.....pretty gosh darn hopeless.!I'm not happy being this unproductive. I've got at least half a dozen half-finished projects on my studio table. And YES, i do have a studio now! A spare bedroom has been made into my workroom/cats haven. Back 'then', my studio was my bedroom or my living room. I had to live around constant messiness!

I must find some way to get my creative mojo back! Do you have any suggestions? Please be as candid or blunt as you like! I could use a good kick in the pantaloons!
If you've read this far i do apologize for the long and boring post. I tried to make it a bit less tedious by inserting some of my latest winter wonderland photos of our views from the back yard. As much as i am sick to death of winter i do appreciate how beautiful the trees look after a snowfall.