My Everything Corner

My daughter and I were out exploring and enjoying all the life that has returned to the area. The "pond" as we call it, is teeming with life. We spent some time just observing and entertaining ourselves by watching all the different birds. The little black and white ducks are called Buffleheads. We cracked up when we read that. As if ducks weren't goofy enough, someone had to give them a goofy name. Part of the description in our bird book said "tiny, chunky ducks." Again we had to chuckle. The photo of the three swimming is cutest - look at the center one. Chunky definitely describes that one, and I think they should be called "Blurbs." You can't tell by the photos, but these ducks are very small when compared to the mallards swimming nearby.  The last shot is of an American Avocet. They are not shy and are very easy to photograph.

Needing a gift for my sister, and unable to go shopping, I decided to try my hand at felting again. I watched a couple of videos, following one to a T and created Nester. He's a simple mouse and I owe plenty of credit to The Woolly Rabbit's video HERE . She gave very clear instructions, with absolutely no guesswork involved. The wee cat, well, I just wanted to try my hand at sculpting with wool without a reference, and I made him the same day. Kitty is just a little over an inch in length. The next day, I was hungering for more needle felting and decided to try and create a rabbit - you know - for the season and all. Again, without a reference, and I think he turned out very nicely. I especially love his wee scarf, and doesn't he just look proud as punch to be wearing it?

The snow has started to melt and that is when I love to go for drives to enjoy the changing landscape. It's not just the water everywhere that makes this time of year so interesting, the returning wildlife (mainly birds) has my camera clicking again. I didn't get many opportunities, but here are a few. Those eagles really keep their distance!

That mess you see on my kitchen floor is the wonderful DIY project I had so proudly completed about an hour before I had to get the broom out. It was a dry erase calendar. I had picked up an inexpensive frame, (yes it had to be glass) designed a calendar in Photoshop, then put self adhesive magnetic stripping on the back. Yeah, it wasn't adhesive enough. So while I was having my dinner feeling quite pleased with myself, when it came crashing to the floor I nearly choked on my food .  My husband was able to glue the frame back together, but the cost of replacement glass was nearly the cost in the first place, so I just went and got another frame and some strong, double-sided tape. I did reuse the old frame sans glass and it looks just lovely, so I now have two finished projects to be proud of. The much needed calendar is currently on my fridge, but it won't always be and is actually part of a larger project that I will share with you at a later date.

Hi there Birgit, this post is for you. You mentioned you were interested in seeing a bit of my scrapbooks. The albums I use for the kids are Creative Memories. I just love the quality of their products, but they are not economical, so for the big album with 300 photos, I purchased an album from a department store for $20, and filled it up completely. My style is very simple, minimalist compared to some.  The Creative Memories albums pages all have protective sleeves, and you start with a 12by12 blank slate, so layout possibilities are endless. I try to fit in at least 6 photos per layout. These albums also lay perfectly flat, so they are very nice to look through. The quality of Creative Memories cannot be beat. I actually used to be a representative, but no longer. That is a long story. I just love the herringbone tweed on this one. Major size difference! Creative Memories albums are not designed to hold that many pages. All pockets in t...

I've scrapbooked nearly 500 photos in the past month or so, and have my desk all cleaned up and ready for the next project. I'm just not too sure what that will be yet. My next big job, that has nothing to do with crafting or my desk, is getting my daughter ready for her Grade 12 graduation this Spring. And then she plans on moving out and it's happening so fast (insert scream) and I wish I could just hit pause. I know I'm not alone in feeling this way. Life has a way of making us feel like we're stuck in a little dingy on some violent rapids with no way of getting to the shore. Was that overly dramatic? It was meant to be. Life is yikes and I'm currently what I believe will be the worst part of raising children. Correct if I'm wrong. That said, I have two healthy, happy wonderful children and I feel incredibly grateful for that.

I think we've all seen the cute reindeer made from logs. I like miniatures, so I came up with these little guys made from dowels and copper wire. I ended up with eleven of the wee creatures, and have given a few away to my family. The rest are fenced in on my work desk. I wouldn't want them to get away, but they are generally content and don't often try.