Monday, November 29, 2010

almost Dec.2010






















The show is over and to be honest..I still have some great little gift items as well as good prices on paintings and floor mats, which by the way I was having a hard time getting people to walk on the one I took to the show, and by the time the show was over this mat looked walked on . Once home a simple wipe with a damp rag and she is as good as new, these can be walked on, a lot.






To our excitement when we were setting up , as well as crafter's we see on a regular basis ,here come a few we have not seen in a couple years. So much fun and reminiscing of the good old craft show days, when money was to be made as well as great people and friend's to meet. Some of us have sadly passed away over the years and we all talked of them on Sunday. Doing the show circuit as we called it back then, never was there a weekend without a show.There was so much there at this show in Liverpool ,wonderful well made products, and the knitting, over the years I have heard from some saying oh, there are too many what they call Grannie crafts at the shows, if what these people meant and I believe they did mean mittens ,socks etc. well this talent is being lost, hopefully young people are learning to knit, rug hook ,Quilt etc...for this is what the Maritimes are all about, our talents passed down over generations. I bought a few pair of socks and mittens yesterday, wish now I would have gotten myself a pair of mitts so I will go to the next show on Sat. Dec. 4th at the High school here in Liverpool as a costumer this time and get some more little treats such as warm hand knit mittens. There was a lady there selling mitts that were recycled from wool sweaters and felted, so warm ,well done and pretty.Must get a pair.






I could have done better at the show to be honest, I really thought I had great products at a steal..so anyone out there who as I said above still is looking for something different ,give me a call.






Back to our old friends from shows past, I am uploading a few pictures from the show,with a few of us, of course as the show was dieing down we got a big case of the "sillies" which always happens, jokes start to fly and cameras come out.Talking with some of the old gang who still travel and do these many shows especially this time of year ,I was told all in all the shows are still good,of course we can't even dare to compare to the shows in the 70's and 80's and of course when you consider the price you pay for the big shows, prices need to go up because of the price of the materials ,shows etc. So as our Dear stain glass friend's said, they find they are making their show rents by selling smaller items but still must take the larger pieces just to show what they have. Actually I had only one problem at the show, my legs and feet..I was in a great deal of pain by the end of the day, you thought I was going to complain about something else?...no ,just pain, we hit the so called sack by 7:30 PM last night and I slept, not continually ,that could never happen but I rolled out at around 7:30 AM this morning. I am headed out on my bike soon for my morning run and will not be making anything today but a clean house, so much to look forward to, wish someone else would clean it and I could still look forward to seeing it done, not the case.


One more picture I want to share with you is of my mats displayed on the floor , they are looking for a home. Well, it looks like I uploaded two pictures of my mats..forgive.The picture of the Poinsettia is a flag I did for outside my house.It is painted on canvas both sides, I make all my own garden flags and I will be doing more for sale this Winter and can do commissions if requested. Can anyone...Lynn, tell me if I spelled "Poinsettia" correctly? I can't find it in my dictionary anywhere.So now off I go to get my day on..."Merry Christmas all" Blesses sent your way.
Thanks for the spelling Lynn..I have corrected...my error:-)I couldn't spell my way out of a paper bag...D:-)

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Santa is on his way

Merry Christmas!!!
these are snowmen needle felted pins. Barnboard Santa's.
A couple examples of my needle felted figures. Plus I have much more then what you see here .






Summer is done and Santa is on his way,it was nice to have folk's drop by to take a look this past Summer, me being one, not of a few words, met a lot of very nice people who have stayed in contact with me since returning to their own sleepy little towns and saying that they are returning next Summer..these people make my days, not always buying but spreading a smile and joy sometimes fills a gap much bigger then a wallet... the cold weather hits and wow!!we need to keep as much of that green in the oil tank and where did everyone go?I do believe back to their own little pieces of Heaven . These past few years we have not done the big Craft Shows that we did for so many years before. In a way it is great not doing them , and again in another way ...sad...our crafter/Artist friends we got to know from doing shows together year after year, meeting new people, old friends and hopefully sell enough to not put you in the hole after food ,lodging etc. as well as gas and the price these big shows charge.It is nice to be home and stay put.The excitement over the years when we were younger out weighed any hardships of lugging heavy displays and product. This season I find I am itching to get out and say Merry Christmas to all as well as I am working hard on gift giving products ,thinking of the economy, something for that person in the office or a buddy exchange gift we all dread because of the prices of just the simplest gifts. Give me a call ,make an appointment to visit my studio/gallery Deb,354-3690 or come see me at the Craft Show Sunday November 28th from 1-3 at the Liverpool Fire Hall ,you may be surprised at what I might have to fill that so hard to shop for acquaintance or friend as well as your loved ones. Walk by some day or evening ,look in my window ,see a little bit of what I have here .Where are the days when you could get a homemade gift for under $10? Right here, in my studio /Gallery, 142 Payzant St. Liverpool. Funny, I had someone say "I was looking in your window the other day," my answer was, "Great!"Just about everything in my Studio/Wardroom Gallery is on sale from now till Christmas including some paintings.I have a few very interesting fun needle felted figures left ,as well I made two needle felted Santa scenes this past while along with needle felted under $10 gifts. Here you see some of my cushion floor painted mats which I was forced to put on the floor to show how durable they are and you can keep them on the floor to walk on or you can have them framed and put up on a wall, these I am offering just for Christmas at a very reasonable price. Sea People figurines ,many people know our "Sea People" well I have a couple of Santa's and Wizards left from the Summer Season, they will be offered at a lower price as well. I mean business this season as do many of our local businesses, I know, myself included , will find what we are looking for right here on our own back doorsteps this Season. Our Maritimes, we have some of the most talented people right here in our midst, we need not travel far from our homes to find that special gift for that oh so special person. But only look from where we stand. Liverpool Merchants like many small towns these days find it difficult to maintain throughout the Winter Months and sometimes one feels like we need to travel to Bridgewater or Halifax when in fact every store here in town and Artisan may have just what you are looking for and if not ,you may be pleased to find out it can be ordered in or still handmade by someone like myself still in time for Christmas.
One more thing, I am starting a list for after Christmas into the New Year workshops ,felting,painting ,hooking, copper work etc. Anyone interested in doing a workshop with me can add your name and what you are interested in doing to the list and we will discuss details at a later date, after Santa returns to the North Pole. And we again are idol with time on our hands waiting patiently for warmer weather.I will have this list at the show on the 28th or you can add your name here at the Gallery or by phone.





Saturday, November 13, 2010

gone too long and whats up?











Well ,I have been away from writing here in my blog for about 2 weeks, since Halloween when I last whaled on my drum..look out today..i am whaling, I already informed Chuck of this ..and sure enough I will see once he hears the music it will then get under his skin to then find him whaling himself, seems to always happen that way. You know when you don't think you feel good and then a great tune gets in your head and well, you could say "Game over " and another game takes it's place.

Here is a photo of my Gallery window, Christmas is in the air now as we can all see when looking in the store windows, so not to be out done, I came up with this, I decided to do a very tiny local craft show, tiniest one I have done in years and years. Our last shows costing not the art and crafts trade show which is way expensive ,our last big show cost $475.00 for 3 long hard days ,well now you know why we slept in attics ,basements and in our camper out in the back parking lots of some of these shows, I have the stories ,trust me ,you can only imagine the goings on we witnessed in the middle of the night in Halifax sleeping in our trailer in a large empty ,creepy parking lot in the middle of the city. Another time for those stories. This is the same display I will use at the show, it is at our local fire Dept. here in Liverpool on Nov. 28th, do drop by if you can. Here I posted my two Santa scenes , needle felted in his red long John's "The night after Christmas" relaxing ..the other one is called "Thank you Santa" and here he has a little girl on his lap ,she holding a Teddy Bear.

As well as my Santa's I have been trying to do a few things to do with Christmas and keeping in mind ,money is hard to find for gift giving when bodies need fed and kept warm throughout our yet to come ,seems so long Winters, so I am working on what I call treats , gifts one can justify buying to give to someone special without breaking the bank ,so to speak. Like I have said before in my writings , I for one do not believe in spending heating money on gifts for people just because it is Christmas ,my thought is to give that gift to whoever is special in your life ,whether it be Christmas or just a regular day, for the giving of the gift at whatever the time is a gift to be cherished not just because it is Christmas ..a gift is given with Love whenever you feel or see something that moves you and makes you think of the person for who it is given.

I am working on products ,little treats for special people in your lives under $10.00. And, if I am lucky enough to sell ,I will then put that money in the oil tank to keep our tired ,weary bones warm this Winter..so come on by the show or my Gallery and check out my products,there just might be something that talks to you .

Now to our little adventure the past couple weeks, I found in a news paper an ad from Bridgewater for bidding on a drafting table ,well I won the bid,and after we drove there to get what we thought was a simple table so the measurements said to find a yes by measurements it would fit ..not so big..but.. to our surprise ,this thing was very heavy made, old and lets say well made. After a lift, we decided to leave and call in some troops for help, after a week of wonder and worry not to loose out regarding what I paid ,we finally called our Dear friend Brian F . and he came to our rescue with his truck yesterday and we now have this table here, not for my tiny house but Chuck can use it in his shop. And as usual after finding this large drafting table and mentioning it to my friend Betty ,she informs me she had one ,much lighter and may fit in my house, well we picked that one up yesterday as well..now this one we could handle ourselves, but not to out do ourselves from another adventure, we arrived at Bridgewater Frenchies to meet my friend and this lighter table to find fluid pouring out from under our engine hood, anti freeze ,the cap was left off...:-( after Chuck checked under the hood before we left, he forgot to put the cap back on..well lets just say the drive home with the lighter table on the roof of the car was exciting and we prayed the whole way home to get home.....and of course we did not have Brian's cell phone number with us..so he and the other heavy table in his truck had no idea we were somewhere out on the open road...just ageing a little more with worry, and people wonder why we seldom go far from home these days....how does it go? yes ...we would screw up a glass of ice water:-)

I am better off sitting here puppy sitting which we have also been doing for two weeks, Lady Baby Belle , who is our other adopted doggy daughter along with Miss Laura..who also has been here for about the past week...they play so well together ..Laura being like a big sister.Here is a shot of them looking at me while I sit here on the computer...so cute...they are very good girls and great friends..and they Love Aunt Deb and Uncle Chuck, these two lovelies sure do fill the void which our Dear departed Eddie filled...and Eddie will always be in our hearts...he was a wonderful..spoiled lap dog.