another day closer and deeper in dept...

Santa's looking for a home...still here..

Merry Christmas to all out there in Internet World ...pass on the blessings to all you meet.

First off with this installment ,I have been holding back regarding information on a little project I am working on and it will come to be ,but my hopes are that it is a success. I have been working on a Children's book , my story board is done and I am working on the first draft of illustrations these past days while silent here from my blog. It is a book about love and happiness and it's star character happens to be this lively puppy "Baby Belle" who we puppy sit days while her Mom and Dad work. Along with her Dear Friend Laura who stays with us on a regular basis while her busy Mom is away. Belle is a Border Collie with much energy and I am, her main character when she is here,she never leaves me alone because Aunt deb is the one who always plays with her .When I am done playing I try and sit and paint or whatever I am always busy with while she sits and stares at me with her ball in her mouth, actually I can't even look at her and smile or laugh because she takes that as a lets go...wheeeeeeee...playyyyyyyyyyplayyyyyy..so I have been making up all kinds of stuff in my head regarding this Puppy,singing little songs ,poetry and one day the light came on and it is coming to be...with oh so much more work ahead of me, I am thinking that the actual writing and illustrating of this book may be the easy part. OK, we will talk more about that later after all the excitement of Christmas is over. As we all know anything, everything will happen when one least wants it too..."Murphy's Law " anyone? That Murf is always close by around some corner ready to pop out at any moment, one must always be aware and never step too quickly in fear of tripping over him, we tripped this AM. We headed for the gym same time while wearing our Santa hats this morning, working on making work fun, had a few laughs as always with the rest of the gang there. We left all sweaty and being such a drab ,dreary ,wet rainy day here in the Maritime's, I suggested to Chuck that we should stop by the post office first before heading home to then hopefully stay in the rest of the day. So we did just that. He jumps out ,very busy there, gets the mail and we are ready to back out, yes you can see where I am going ,but, don't ruin it for me?do let me tell...long story short, there is a truck with a large dent in the back in the shape of our broken tail light. Now the fun begins, remember, we had just come from the gym and we only literally live if two blocks away so Chuck did not have his wallet ,only the car keys, we will never leave home without such things ever again, I promise. Now to our luck, the Mountie car which was coming from down the road and only maybe two cars back from the truck we hit ,kept on going and didn't even bother or noticed what had happened, the truck driver who we later found out knew of us, Oh ,can that be good? Anyway the truck driver did not freak and stop right there but peacefully drove into another empty parking space and business was taken care of then. But gee, no business card or license to be had from us. Thank you ,out there Mr. Truck Driver for being so nice . Off we drove after picking up the pieces of our tail light ,realizing that we were going to end up at the end of the day with a bit of a bill...but lucky to have hit someone with a big ,kind ,heart. By the time we got home ,I was feeling oh ,so sorry for us ,considering I had an other little personal issue going on in my life at the moment the past few days,I was about to spill with sorry ..sorry, poor ,poor me tears when the phone rang, I looked at Chuck and said you answer ,it must be to do with our fender bender, I can only wish it were a fender bender. But no ,it was a call from Labrador ,from a lovely lady who received a gift of one of my smaller paintings . She told me that this scene was of her family homestead ,now abandoned on the coast of Labrador, she looks across the way to the open sea daily at this old house and buildings where sometimes families raised well up to fourteen children. Smoke rising from the kitchen wood stove chimney and wool long johns hung frozen on the line ,OK another painting I am seeing for in the future . So back to my story, she has commissioned me to do six paintings of this ole place for relatives of hers in the New Year. Amazing how things happen, this commission may not pay for all the damage but will put a dent in it..so to speak...my little pun.....Thank you ...

I am sharing with you again pictures of my Felted Santa's who are still looking for a new home for Christmas. Reasonably priced at $60. per in hopes of selling ,give you one guess where the money will go?...you guessed right, I love smart on the ball folk's. Call me:-)

So my Dears, may the sugar plums dance in your heads and in your bellies ,may your hearts fill with joy , and may you all be blessed with happiness and Health for 2011.

And may you have no excitement such as ours in any way shape or form over the holidays.

Thank you all who bought from me this Christmas , I pray your choices are a great success and I look forward to hearing from you in the New Year.

Beauty all around us...

I have been beating my brain trying to remember the day I saw this "Fire in the sky" just a week or so ago.Wow!!!I see a painting in the near future. Actually I have so many wonderful sunset and sunrise photos ,many from back when living in Charleston and so many from Summerville Beach that I am considering doing a whole series of paintings from these dramatic shots.We have such beauty around us all the time here on the South Shore,everyday ,always something to photograph. Today after biking to the gym ,I came home, changed and went out again on my bike . I did my usual run to Fort Point where I saw the most incredible ocean roll as the tide was coming in and the waves were huge . I stopped for a bit to watch and was so disappointed that I did again forget to ride with my camera. Or if one could have filmed the ocean as it slammed unto the shore over the smooth beach rocks to then roll back with the sound of the rocks as they rolled back over each other , such a sound ,so powerful. It has been awhile since I have heard that sound.

Last night here on the South Shore we had rain and wild wind, but woke this AM with no loss of power ,unlike many in other neighboring Communities. When we lived in Charleston the power was out whenever we had a bad storm, here in town,knock on wood ,we have never been without power in the four years we have been here. That is a good thing ,for we no longer burn wood and it just might be a bit more of a challenge without the kitchen wood stove to cook on . But we are survivors and I am sure would live through any loss we had.Plus we have nice people around us who burn wood...knock...knock....:-)

I have been seeing many flocks of birds this last few days, whether they were down because of the storm or headed elsewhere and the Ducks are circling mornings for a treat from one of our neighbor's ,so many I wish I could paint the sound of their quacks as they fly over our house.There is one pure white one amongst God knows how many others .I had a few more felties leave for new homes this past while and also have picked up a few neat props for new future felties. Last night I finished a dog commission. I have one more t0 start today as a gift and am putting the last minute touches on a gift or two but besides those I can say I am pretty well ready for the old guy in the red suit. I am sorry to say that those of you out there who in the past received my Bites and Bites, not this year, I refuse to do that to myself again this season...because of taste testing, quality control I always gain so much weight that this year I will take control and help you all as well by not sharing this oh so nice treat, one of my favs..oh well I will survive and hopefully you all will too. Back in Charleston when we fostered we made homemade root beer, chocs...everything that was delicious, we would make gifts from all this and then we all ,kid's and adults would divide up what was left and Chuck would be sitting evenings in the New Year with one of his Chocolates cute in two pieces with a piece of Old Cheddar cheese while myself and the Kid's would be watching him enjoy his treat because we all had eaten all of ours. We worked hard on the farm back then so we could indulge once in awhile with these types of treats and not really gain any weight, not so today. One more thing before I head off to start my needle felted dog , since joining the gym I have been feeling so good and I find my Arthritis in my feet has been better, maybe with the lose of weight, or the fact i am using the treadmill and exercising my feet, one thing I do know ,it is thankfully helping. I just may walk again...not really so bad ,but has been bad enough..wish me luck:-)

Santa business everywhere

Well I have been up to my ears in Yes Santa business as I am sure you all out there are doing your part as well, for the Jolly Ole guy is right around the corner.Liverpool is in hopes of getting a Farmers Market up and running for next Summer. So we are all brain storming at the moment. Anyone out there can hop onboard with this project ,if you are close enough to come and sell,super!!! or visit once it starts in May.Get in contact with me ,I will give you the info.

A few of my Felt Folk are on their way to Ontario to be given as gifts. Great to know they will be given to someone who will enjoy something different. The New Year will find me making a few new Characters as well I have some thoughts regarding paintings, I guess Christmas of course makes me think of the New Year and new creations to bring forward from my mind into the light. Liverpool has also been given an opportunity to possibly be chosen for a 10 week documentary "A Village on a diet" gosh!!!and Chuck and I just had to get on a fitness routine ourselves these past Months and both are going to the Gym and see a tremendous difference in our strength and weight, we may not be big enough for their show..we laughed and did consider it..but believe maybe we might be just under the wire...plus I do really find I do my weight/strength moments most times better by myself, not being one to follow along with the crowd but to waver off course on my own. But this may be an opportunity for those who find it hard to get fit and healthy on their own. Some just can't get started without a buddy system. Actually I enjoy challenging myself, the Gym is wonderful, such a variety of equipment and you can joke and have a few laughs to help the time fly or focus and work alone . Happily I have lost weight ,which makes my problem with walking ,oh ,so much better..I am a new girl..almost.I am even thinking of getting my cross country skies up and running after their hiatus for the past 4 or 5 years. When living in Charleston it was nothing for me do do miles by myself on the old highway along the 103 in Mill village as well ski during a snow storm around the Medway River from Charleston to Mill Village ,back around to Charleston and ski to work when I worked at the Village Store, back then ,it was different , not much going on down there, I would wear a headlamp and had no problems at all except the times it would start to rain and the snow would disappear and I had to get a ride.During snow storms we would drive our tractor up the back road ,me sitting in a large fish tub strapped to the back of the tractor, one night, there was so much snow our tractor couldn't go through it so we all walked back to our house to play a few tunes . What wonderful days ,old time music Kitchen parties, Kid's sitting on parents laps ,eyes closing while listening to some good time sing alongs.

A reminder that any of my cushion floor mats are still at a very reasonable price till Christmas.anyone interested ,give me a call. Here is a photo of "Mona"and my "Gauguin "and yes you can walk on any of these I have more check past blogs for photos,or email me I will send along any info .

I still have a few felties at reasonable prices as well as paintings and some gifts still under $8. for anyone interested ,just call ahead. We are out more these days running around the Gym with the rest of the Kid's. I did get out on my bike yesterday after the Gym, I had to ,she was calling me, but I will be removing the air from her tires soon and hang her up after I give her a bath so to speak, she has a bit of salt on her from these Winter rides.

Check back here again soon and I will share a photo of one of the only or very few ever store bought Christmas Trees we have ever had, we like a natural tree, but this year because of dog sitting ,we had to do a table top..I like it and it fits in rather well, indeed.

something old,something so new

This sign is as you can see from the United Church in Mill Village... the story on this is as follows. We moved to Charleston Mill Village in 1985 as I have mentioned here in my blog many times before and when our son Clay became old enough to go to Sunday school ,the only local Sunday school class was at the United Church in Mill Village, several combined denominations.

I taught Sunday School there back then and of course I was known by the locals and was asked if I would refurbish their Church sign by updating the new Clergy .So over the years while living there I would happily to this for them. The last time I changed the name was just before moving to town from Charleston about four years ago. Never really thinking about the sign these past years while here in town. Well,the other day the phone rang and it was a member of the congregation asking me if I would update their sign again. I was surprised to hear from them, I thought they would have forgot about me by now or maybe find someone else nearer to them to do it. But, I was tickled pink and pleased that they did remember me and I was only too happy to help them out, my hoping there might as the old saying goes, be " a Star someday in the sky with my name on it??" So the sign was brought to me and as always I get them to give me the new Clergy's name written down by them so I get it just right and to my delight, knowing this but not realizing it was this Church? our Dear friend Peter Anthony's name was on that piece of paper . We knew he had been studying hard for sometime to get his own Church. I have known Peter for many years and he taught our son back in the lower grades. Peter decided to change his career and do what he dreamt of doing. Congratulations!!! Peter, we are very happy for you . So I have been working on the sign the last couple days , redoing it front and back and re lettering in honor of Peter's new posting . I removed all the old cracked paint and gave it a new face lift. It will be bright and cheerful for it's new Boss Man, Peter. Now this is what I meant in my title by,something old...now to the new...which is a "GYM" amazing I can even spell the word Gym..for ,since I was a child , I have Kayaked and Cross Country skied , but never was one for shamefully exercising in such places as Gyms. I have worked very hard on the farm , in the hay fields, woodpile and chasing cattle through the woods as well as swim everyday ,Spring,Summer and Fall in the Medway river, but the inside of a Gym was very new to me. I went up awhile ago to get a quick feel as to whether or not I could do this and to my surprise today was my second day with my new found exercise,not so bad ...seems to be working for me the Gym experience.I am focusing and careful not to over do it in the beginning. I only stayed on everything I tried for no longer then ten minutes each and not ready yet to try all that is offered there . I am feeling good for this new adventure and must be on the look out for exercise type clothing, gotta love Frenchies for that. So ,wish me luck, I may be putting my bike away for the Winter,then again if we have a nice day, she may call me from her shed and me being the caring person I am ,may have to take her to town for a run, we don't want her to gain weight over the Winter sitting idol.I Love my bike, walking has been a challenge with my bad feet and legs but getting some weight off has made a great difference and just maybe I will again be walking up a storm someday.

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:-)

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.

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.