The lap of Lolly

This is what you call tough access to your laptop when Lolly is close. The little Miss likes to have her sweet little face as close to me as possible. For some reason she prefers to put her face on the keyboard right when I am about to type, so I give a gentle nudge, but usually she comes right back. This is not conducive to getting things done, oh well you're worth it girl, big time. I love you Lolls!!

Name tags

These little tags are lots of fun to add to a gift for someone special. They are all different, just depending on what I put together. I truly love making these!!
I love to sew on bits of fabric and paper for a really unusual look with my favorite stitch, the zig zag. The little pieces of fabric are the ones I cut out of my scraps, and I love to use my pinking shears for a different look. This is a great way to use up your fabric, and I just collect them in a jar and use them when needed.

Little bits of this and that and before I know it, another one done.

Now I have to start making more greeting cards, which are basically the same sort of designs, just with a card and envelope.

Northern moose

This is a little gem we found in our travels, it is the cutest little store with lots of surprises. I went in for a drink and found some wonderful butter tarts that were calling my name. Then I looked up and noticed all these wonderful dried flowers hanging from the ceiling, and it was such a beautiful sight. It smelled so good between the coffee and the warm baked goods, I could have stayed for hours, but sadly we had to move on.

This is Mr Moose a la Canada, he sure is cute. Actually is was quite fitting that we discovered him in the store as we spotted two baby moose on our drive up north. They were in different areas, but apparently they came out of the bush because of all the black flies, which are really bad right now. It is rare to see a moose, especially two in one day, but I sure don't blame them for coming out to get some relief. They are so adorable full grown, but of course the babies are even cuter. I am sure the mamas were close, because they are very protective.

It is on these drives that you come across these adorable little spots, and you never know how they are until you stop and this one was worth it. I love those little antique shops as well as you are sure to find some wonderful treasures. Happy hunting!!

Petals wide open

Today was gloomy and rainy, and I spent the entire day looking at properties up north.
I am posting some little happy faces below that were smiling yesterday and looked so pretty that I had to take their picture.

I am really happy to report that I found some amazing places that made my heart go pitter patter, kind of like the beauties below. I guess it is just like a wedding dress, when you try on 'the one' you will know it is right and that's sort of how I feel about the properties I looked at today. It is a long and disappointing process at times, but it is definitely worth the time and effort.

I just feel such a sense of longing for the country, like it is a part of me that is missing. I just love the idea of being surrounded by trees, nature and fresh air since I had that as a kid with our cottage, I really need to have it in my life. It is pulling me in such a strong and passionate way, that I feel it must be in my life as it is part of my being.

Life is difficult when you have dreams that cannot always come to fruition, sometimes things just don't work out or people are going in different directions. When do you give up, when do you say that's OK, no problem? I don't know what life will bring, all I can do is live it every day to the best of my ability. We will see what happens, I really don't know what will come, but I am trying to appreciate what I have and smell the flowers every day.

Cutting and more cutting

This is my new purchase and it is the best thing ever, my cutting mat. I have been cutting on an old wooden board, which was OK, but nothing compared to my new mat. It just feels great to use up tons of scraps, and with my crazy quilt well under way, I have been putting the larger fabric scraps to good use with my 6X6 template, as you can see below.

I can see why quilting is rather addictive, as your piles of squares grow and you can see the potential. I really have to thank Claudia again for getting me started, my little French buddy, thanks sweetie!!

These are so much fun to cut out, just loving my rotary tool.

I have also been making my little scraps with the pinking shears and that pretty much uses up everything, good thing I'm pinked out!!

Fruitless search

We have been looking for a place in the country for months and it has been a real disappointment to say the least. Either the house is wrong or the land, and this seems to be the ongoing problem. Of course you can renovate a house, but what we are finding is the house is too close to the road. We go and see the property with tons of acreage and the house is 100 feet from the road, no thanks!!
These are some of the properties we have looked at, with no luck.



It seems that what we are looking for is in high demand, so the availability is very scarce and things get scooped up fast. All I have to say is pictures are very deceiving and of course they take the most attractive ones to pull you in. When you arrive reality sets in and you quickly see things are not what they appear.
Hopefully something will come up soon so we can start making it our own and enjoying our little spot.

Crazy quilts

This is what you call a crazy quilt, something that I picked up off the net, and it is easy peasy!!

This technique is great for the beginner or someone who doesn't want to cut out perfect squares. As we all know we sewers always have lots of scraps in weird shapes and sizes and this is one way to use them. I tried to sew together the rectangles and squares of all different sizes, but it just didn't work.

The thing I like about this type of quilting is you just put random colors together and it just seems to work out. You sew the pieces onto a fabric backing that you cut out to any size and just repeat this process. The number of backing squares depends on the size of your quilt and your own personal preference, mine are 10"X13". Then once I have enough squares I will just sew them together, add the batting and finally, quilt. This is something that will be used in the family room or for outside on those chilly nights, it would be great for the hammock as well.

These pics are from the very early stages, so they look kind of strange. Once I am done, I will take more so you can see the completed quilt.

Blogging Blahs

I have really had the blogging blahs lately and just haven't felt like posting a thing. Sometimes I just can't be bothered and it really just feels like a chore. I have actually been working on a few projects, and one of them is a quilt, thanks to Claudia who got me inspired to start one. I will have some pictures up soon.

This is a note to my buddy Heather, sorry I can't reach you, but for some reason my emails keep bouncing back from your address. I will keep trying.

Oh yes, she's here!

Is that sunshine I see peeking through the shed window? Why yes it is, he he.

Are those Lilac blooms that I see? Yes I believe they are, and hopefully in a week or so they will be smelling good.

Now the pond is clean, I will spare you the before pictures because it was nasty and very smelly. Those bubbles that you see are a combo of bleach and soap and yes I do this every year. I am still skimming to get rid of them. The deck is sanded, cleaned and the furniture is out, and how wonderful, we have in fact needed the umbrella.Now a wee shot inside the shed where I have been puttering like crazy. This is the cutest little shed ever thanks to Reno and Eddie, they are amazing.


Enjoy your warm sunny days my friends.

Back off

Your making a snack such as this for your beloved, and you know who comes along. Someone very sweet brought these lovely cookies over to us to thank us, how nice!! I don't think these are good for you Lolly, I'll give you something else instead.As for the coffee is has to be decaf or I will be up all night. Pete is OK with the regular, but tonight I really wanted a coffee, so it has to be D. I love these cookies they are really good, I know I made them years ago, but these are just fine from the store. Thanks Akram, they are great little dunkers!! OK Lolls time for your little treat sweet girl.

A bit of Crafty Lolly

This was at the craft show, a few pics of what was on display. I took these in haste just to get something on screen, and well it shows!! What the hell, I love the plant stand conversion and it worked out really well. I picked this up at the local nursery and spray painted it a soft green, added shower hooks, and it was functional and cool.


A soft glow.Some keepsake boxes with tons of embellishments.Another notebook!!Pinwheel fun, love this!
That's it until the next one, it was fun though!!

Namesake mania

This was my reality a few weeks ago, sewing and crafting in overload mode. It was lots of fun, but very hectic, hence my lack of blogging. Being off my feet for a week really set me back and it seemed like everything happened at once. Between a massive prep for a craft show, surgery, basketball, and life in general it has been rather crazy. It is tough to do nothing and stay off your feet when your to-do list is growing and deadlines approaching, but I managed to make it through.
This is something that has taken time to get used to, assembly line sewing, but it is vital to time management. Wow does this ever work well, while it takes patience because you want to see the finished product, it has to be done. I have to say, they do look kinda cool all cut, pressed and ready to go.
Here is a sampling of what I took to the show, and I was really happy with all the colours , because it is a very personal choice, but things went well. After all, these are one of my favorite things to make, so I was smiling a lot. I was customizing them on the spot, so the girls were very happy about that because they didn't have to wait. Little girls are so cute and it is such a joy to watch their little faces light up.So now it is on to other things with a possible show in May. I am so looking forward to the garden and planting. The cleanup is done, and the leaves are opening so the garden is staring to green up and hopefully I will have some pics soon.