Starting Production

I started the week off like a kid in a candy store.

It has been soooooo long since I have inspected and touched,

admired and ogled my vast stash of fabrics.

My long lost friends that I now have the opportunity to be reacquainted.

How I have missed them all!

 I am  getting ready for a big art and craft show on July 1,  

along with a few out door markets this summer. 

I thought this would be a good start for my Creative business.

There is so much to know about starting a business.

 I have been reading books like mad, but

I feel saturated with information so I will just focus

on the creating part and let the latter sink in.

Here are a few pictures of the things I've been working on.

Crocheted Eye/Sun Glass Covers

Clutch with strap

Clutch - still at prototype stage, but getting close.

clutch


I really do like making bags, all kinds of them..........

I'm Back

Just sitting here with my mom (aka Nana). We are on the couch, side by side, nice and close. It's a very comfortable feeling. I just bought the new Somerset Studio, spring issue, "Where Woman Cook" and I am not quite sure how Nana managed to snag it before me, but her nose is in so deep I can hardly see her face. She especially likes Orianne Cosentino's story. My mom is Italian so she can relate. hehe. It's fun just to watch her enjoy it so much!

Another 1 1/2 weeks and I will be taking Nana back to her home. We had such a nice visit as always. I will miss her tons.

I have had a few distractions that have kept me away from blogging, but I will soon be ready to get going at it again. 

There are a few changes I want to make to the look of my blog that might make me a little more accountable and make my blog a little more interesting. :)

I'm shooting for July or August to get an Etsy shop going and some sort of a web site, not sure about the latter. There seems to be so much to learn about all that stuff. I think I probably just need to jump in and do it. 

I will have more time now to cultivate my creativity and to pursue those dreams I think about every day because I will be working only one day a week instead of full time. I am very excited and looking so forward to this change in my life, but there is still that feeling of fear and anxiety. It is like a soft breath at the back of my neck. I suppose that is quite normal.

Today I am sending you all my wishes for warm, sunny, happy days.

xo

Nana Has Arrived!!!!!

Welcome back Nana! We are so glad you are here!

la nostra bella nana

Every year since my father passed away in 2000, 

my mom has been coming to visit us for nice long visits. 

Some times as long as a couple of months.

 My family and I love it.

 Nana (my mother) is such a Nana. Everybody calls her Nana and everybody wants her to be their Nana,

but lucky for me and my family, we are the WINNERS!!!

Me and my Mommsy

Nana loves everything and everybody. I guess that's why we all love her so much. 

Her love is addicting. 

She'll be 82 in March, lives on her own and looks after herself and loves to look after everyone else that comes in her path. 

She is very supportive and motivating and believes in us all. She makes you  feels so special, like you can accomplish anything.  

I love it when she comes to stay with us!

Nana's home town is in the East Kootneys of British Columbia. It has very long, cold winters.

It's a nice break for her to come and stay with us and a nice break for us to have her.

We can't wait for her to get here!

Nana loves to cook, tidy up and do laundry. 

Oh My! 

 Lucky us!

 I don't even think the diry laundry hits the floor and Nana has it scooped it up and put it in the washing machine.

We go through tons of detergent, but that's ok, I can live with that!

Here's some pictures of last years visit with Nana. I can't wait to start enjoying her presence and of course her wonderful, yummy cooking!

Our favourite is her homemade gnocci and tomato sauce....

Gnocci Day

you have to do it just right...
we all pitch in and help shape up the gnocci's

this is what Nana lives for

Us!

**** Ignorance is NOT Bliss ****

I'm almost too embarrassed to blog about this, but I am thinking that I am not the first person this has happened to.

Just yesterday, I finally realized that I have been replying to norely@blogger.com all the while I thought I was replying to you all. This has pretty much been happening since  I started my blog.

There were many sites on the internet to help me fix my problem.  This one by
Sweet Simplicity gives a very good and simple explanation on how to fix it.  I'm pretty sure I have everything fixed up and hope you don't mind a reply back from me once in awhile.

Have a wonderful evening and I hope you haven't been emailing to the black hole, like myself. hehe

xo carol

A Little Bit More

Before I start my entry today, I just want to thank all of you for your lovely comments and to let you know I appreciate them all very much.

I thought I'd post about three of my favourite exercises I did last week from the "Crafter's Devotional"

The first one is "Purse Ephemera" 

We were to empty out our purses, suitcases, junk drawers, etc and pick out things that you would throw out and then use them as inspiration in our art work. I grabbed some of the store cards that I don't use anymore and thought they would make an interesting canvas.

old store cards

I picked out one of the cards and put a few coats of gesso on both sides,  let it dry and then started creating. I painted both sides with a few different colours of purple. Added some decorative scrap book paper. Then finished it off with an inspirational saying using the word "Empathy" and I do believe a little goes a long way. 

Revamped store card

completed exercise added to my journal

The next one was titled "Gravestone Symbolism".  

Ya, that's what I thought, "Ok what am I going to do with this. However, once I started reading through the exercise, it all became very clear.  There were many different ways one could be creative. I chose the symbol of a bird in flight, which means "Flight of the soul" in gravestone symbolism. Leaving one life and moving forward to another, just like mine is now.

 A little bird told me, "I heard you were leaving your day job to live the life you imagined". 

And I said "Yes!"

I loved doing this picture and I can't wait to start my " Contented Journey"

The third one is "Sensory Exploration: Vision"

We were to take a walk in our yard, neighbourhood or local park and observe the colors around us.
We could capture the colours in our journals or sketchbooks, using markers or paints. I chose to do a knitting project in the colours I thought represented winter. Here's my version of the colours of "Winter", a knitted neck warmer.

Poor Rosie, she really wasn't happy modeling, but there was no one else around!

Have a creative, contented and wonderful week and don't forget to show a little empathy now and then....xo

Bits and Pieces

I'm into the third week of my 365 days of the Crafter's Devotional Exercise Book! 

Time goes by so quickly when you are having fun....

It's easy to fall behind, but I got myself caught up yesterday. I also have to remember that the exercises do not need to be complicated and time consuming, unless of course, you want them to be.

My journal is a book I bought at a second hand store. I loved the colour and the oldness of the pages and I wanted a hard cover.
I felt really weird gessoing the first pages and writing on them. So I only thought it fair to read the novel if I was going to start altering it's pages. I also left the author's name in tact on the front of the book and left the title of the book "Victorine" on certain pages. I'm much more comfortable with the whole process now.

My first journal entry

Had a hard time writing on the pages......

Day 8 we got to personalize our Journal. I had a lot of fun doing this. I can't wait to go through some of my own hard cover books and turn them into journals and artist pages.
Day 15 will be perfect for this, the exercise is "Starting a wordless journal".



these are fun to do




close up


I loved the day to explore the folk art. I found a whole new world of artists that I just love.
Time With Tasha is an awesome Youtube video that takes you step by step to create this sweet folk art girl. I love Tasha's Art.
I am really loving the Crafter's Devotional Book.
I have only done two weeks of exercises and I feel I've learned so much already.


First Folk Art

 There are so many wonderful exercises in this book, I won't be able to blog about them all. I will, however, continue with a few bits and pieces...... probably my most favourites.

I'd better be off..........today's exercise is starting that wordless journal I talked about and I know I will be putting more time in than I should so bye for now and have a wonderful day.

xo