My Everything Corner

Combing the beaches of Cold Lake near our home is one of our favourite things to do. The first nice day after a bit of a wind storm is always the best time go. A fresh supply of beach glass and new, polished stones are there for us to chose from, and to add to our, getting rather large, collections. People often associate beach glass with ocean beaches, and I've met quite a few people who are very surprised when I tell them that I have a large supply of glass from the tiny little beach right beside the Marina. The collection looks fantastic diplayed in a nice jar, but the plan is to eventually create some jewelry from the various pieces. It is good to have a wide variety of shapes and sizes to chose from when creating a piece. For the longest time, my little ones scoured the beaches with me and gave me their finds to add to my collection. But they have recently asked for their own jars and have started up their own little collections, and I will have to be replacing their jars for ...

Question: What would be a good idea for an art project this afternoon Munchkins? Answer: Feet painting!!! Question: Feet what? Answer: You know, 'From Bill Nye the Science Guy'. Question: OK, should I go find the supplies? Answer: Yes, right now Mommy!!! Question: (In my mind) Why did I agree to this? Well, it wasn't anything to worry about. I just brought out some warm, soapy water in a bowl when the kids were done, and left the paintings to dry in the sun. Now we have some updated art for their rooms, and some great keepsakes of their little 7 and 5 year old feet.

We finally had some sunshine here yesterday, and not a moment too soon. Everyone has been feeling a bit low with all the unseasonably cold weather and rain. Along with the sun, the familiar colours of Fall finally came out of hiding and inspired us to make these delectable little morsels. Sugar cookies cut into oak leaves and acorns and decorated with the colours of the season became the highlight of the day. The kids also wanted to decorated some sort of animal, so they chose cats, and along with acorns and leaves, we also had some very interesting looking kitties. After enjoying a few of our homemade goodies, we headed outside to start cleaning up all the plants that the early frost had put to an end. The kids mostly spent their time saving the slugs from ending up as compost, and thank goodness, because what is a garden without those wonderful, little, slimy critters? Our next job well be to download the collection of spider pictures my Daughter collected from the backyard and ...

This cake features an antique John Deere tractor. It is a 1953 Model 40 to be exact. It was a fun one to do, and I hope my customer's Father is happy about it. This is a Zhu Zhu Pet cake. Actually, it is a replica of the one I purchased for my 5 year old at the end of August. He loved it, especially when he was allowed to decapitate and devour it.

This is officially the third shop I am running on Etsy. I know at least a few people will consider me to have completely 'lost it'. To those people I say, 'Oh well, I do what I do to keep me sane in an otherwise insane world." Of course there is the first shop and the most serious of the three, 'Blue Jeans Jewelry' , and then there is my daughter's shop, 'The Crafty Gecko' , and since she refused to share her little space on Etsy, (and I can understand why), I opened up 'The Crafty Bug'. This new little shop will be for all the little extra things I like to do. I tried paper quilling sometime ago, and decided to start with these cards. Etsy is far more than a place to try and sell your wares, it is a creative community, that shares ideas, opinions, and life in general. It is fun and inspiring to see what everyone is busy creating, and to share the things that I am doing as well. Of course, getting the sale is rewarding too. After all, the ul...

Canada is getting ready for Fall. Whether we like it or not, (and I love it), we are at the end of our short summer. I will take a short summer any day, as long as you give me a nice, long Autumn. What is so great about this time of year? Well, the list is long, so have a seat, (if you haven't already). I doubt anyone can argue me that Nature's colours are at her grandest during this season. Not only do we still have flowers blooming, but the leaves against the much more crisp blue of the sky is breathtaking. Our lake has taken on a beautiful, hazy green hue. If you have a vegetable garden, there is nothing quite like filling a bowl with fresh carrots, red potatoes, green beans and my favourite, red-off-the-vine tomatoes. OK, so what, the colours are amazing, well, how about those clothes? Beautiful, chunky knit scarves, hats, and sweaters are everywhere. I don't care what size you are, we all look better in a sweater. And I've never seen a gal that didn't...

Some time ago, I was browsing Ebay and came across the Vintage Jewelry Section. In it was a remarkable necklace, that I just had to have. A new obsession was born. I started to look for other pieces as unique and beautiful. Some were part of a collection being sold, and so I ended up purchasing several of these collections just for one or two specific items. Most of the items were in good condition, but some had seen their last days as is, and needed to be upcycled into something new. So started the idea to start designing my own pieces. While researching techniques, I came across the world of wire jewelry, and the possibilites were endless. Both of my young children will be in school this fall, and finding a job that allows me to come and go as I please seemed very unlikely, and so 'Blue Jeans Jewelry' was born. A small business to focus my energy on while my kids are busy cutting the apron strings. Things started off slow, but are now gaining momentum, and just in tim...