Tolen Treasures Tutorial

I have always wanted to do Tole Painting. Unfortunately, paint, brushes and I do not get along very well. I always tend to overload the brush and get paint everywhere but where it is suppose to go. My technique applies to all types of painting....exterior house, interior house, crafts or whatever....it doesn't matter....paint and I are not friends. This being said, I was and still am amazed that I could work with ceramics and have my painted and stained pieces come out looking so nice. I do miss working with ceramic pieces. It was one art form that I was good at, even if I do say so myself. I have a few boxes of bisque pieces packed away, waiting for me to take up my brushes again and hopefully I will get to working on some of them this year. As for Tole painting I have, for years admired anyone who could do it. Judy, my ceramics teacher did beautiful Tole work. I loved it when she would bring a piece to class to let us see what she was working on. I miss my ceramic classes with her and I miss seeing her latest art projects, be it ceramics, making beads, working with glass or tole or oil painting. Judy you are one very multi-talented lady and I miss working with you.
With Tole painting, I love the way the colour gets blended and played with to give depth and a 3D quality to the piece that is painted. I really do enjoy looking at that art form. For the past few years I have been following a blog written by a lovely lady named Cathy. It is called Tolen Treasures and it is on my list of "Blogs that make me go Ohhhhhh". I love Cathy's work. She is such a talented artist. I enjoy reading all about her hectic life as a woman, wife, mother and grandmother and I love it when she posts pictures of projects that she has done or is doing. Cathy.....you ROCK! Cathy has posted a "HOW TO" project on her blogs side bar. If you go here you will get a tutorial on tole painting a Chalk Message Board. That is one project that I am definitely going to try to do this year. There is also a tutorial on a Snowman Board that is another project that I am keeping in mind for this year. I can hardly wait for summer to come. I have to wait till then to try any painting because me and paint do best outside. It keeps Hubby John happy too that way. So go and grab a cup of tea or coffee and drop by and take a look at the tutorial. Then sit back and take a few minutes to read what Cathy has been up to in her hectic life. I promise that you will enjoy every minute of reading her blog.
By the way, don't forget to let Cathy know you dropped by and tell her that Lois sent you.

Go Check Out Joyce

Joyce at Pattern and Perspectives has a contest going for a free give-a-way. Why not go over and check it out? Joyce has some things from SarahJane Studio's that she is giving away. I copied this picture from Joyce's blog. I hope that is OK.
I really like her blog. I must admit I poked around a bit and checked out
some of her older posts. Lots of eye candy........some very neat designs on almost everything.....wearable, non wearable, organic, usable.... all kinds of designs to look at and just some neat pics. Check out the cherry tree pictures her dad took in Washington.....so pretty! Joyce, it seems, also likes to share her sources. What a NICE LADY! I have added her blog to my list of "Blogs That Make Me Go Oooooo". I will be back time and again to visit her until she gets tired of me. Could that possibly happen?!?!?!? LOL! I hope not! Anywho.....go and give Joyce a look see. You'll be glad you did!

You'll be all set to go!

It constantly amazes me at what I stumble upon while using the computer. Today during my lunch hour, I was checking out one of my favourite blogs, Goddess in the Grove, and I wanted to leave her a comment. I drew a blank when I was trying to remember the name of a certain flower (this happens more often then I care to admit) so I went to the subject line and typed in "names of flowers".
The neatest site came to my rescue. It is called
"The Flower Expert Online Flowers Encyclopedia ". It is filled with all kinds of information and pictures. I am so impressed with it that I am adding this site on my sidebar under a new title of "Neat and New Info Sites to Explore". Don't be surprised at what you might find there in the near future as I tend to surf subjects of all kinds all the time. Just remember that when you feel like you want to take some time to smell the daisy's you can go to my sidebar and find a whole bunch of them to check out. Spritz some of your favourite scent around your computer and it will be just as if you were sitting in a beautiful garden. You'll be all set to go!

Have Fun & Enjoy!

This post was actually started in October. Then I cut and pasted it into another new blog in December and now I have done it again in January. This time I am posting it for sure!
Today (this was back in October) I was cruising my "Blogs That Make Me Go Ohhhhh...." and while I was reading one blog in blog land I checked out a blog that someone had on their blog and then went onto a blog that that person had on their blog and well the next thing I knew I had no idea where I was. I was enjoying myself thoroughly but you can loose track of time so easily in blog land can't you? Anyway four hours later I am back to reality. Since I put those words on a Post waiting to be published I have added to it.
INSERT..... cut and Paste...cut and paste....more blog reading and more cut and paste....HERE.
So finally after3 months here are a few blogs that I have visited. Some of them I have added or will be adding, to my side bar in "Blogs That Make Me Go Ohhhhh...." and also in "Save Your Gas...Let Your Fingers Do The Driving" so I can visit them again and again. Go ahead and try them...you know you want to....have fun and enjoy!

Free Religious based E-Cards. Add this to your favourites and use it to send e-cards for every occasion.
http://www.dayspring.com

Awesome card blog
Sweet Miss Daisy

Pictures of a Wedding in Canada. I stumbled upon this site somehow and I loved the pics taken.
I think they are taken at St.Louis Church in Waterloo.
http://artistiquephotography.blogspot.com/2008/10/fall-wedding-in-canada.html

Free Craft Templates For All Sorts of Things - A great site with lots of ideas
Paper Scarpz

Everything To Buy For Scrapping & Card Making
Scrap Hut

Great Craft Site For All Sorts of Stuff
The Artful Crafter

This Is My Favourite Children's Book

Grrr.......!!@@##$%$#!@!....I am having a bad day with this post so I am leaving it as it is because I have done this at least ten times and it still doesn't look right. But it's only a blog and it's Saturday and I have things to do so this is it!

....THIS IS...MY FAVOURITE CHILDRENS STORY....

Being a grams to a cutie-patootie brings me into contact with all kinds of neat things. Especially story books. Neve loves to be read to and I love to read so it is one thing that we have in common. Her papa John and I keep books in the van to keep the cutie-patootie amused when we are out and about and most outings will find me sitting in the back seat with her and reading out loud to a captive audience. So I like to have a few choices to read as I am getting tired of

"Where's My Blankie?" by Anna H.Dickson. Don't get me wrong! It is a really good book for little ones with a lesson on learning how to be a big girl or boy and giving up baby things. However after the one thousand time of reading that book I swear I can read it without even looking at the pages. Ahem... and I quote..."Malcolm Monster never went anywhere without his blanket...." This is the first line of the book. Sometimes I wish Malcolm's grandmother would pretend that the blankie really did get lost and that would be the end of it....Sigh.... So as you can probably tell by reading this, this book is NOT my favourite children's book. However one of my favourite children's books is Scaredy Cat by Joan Rankin. This is a fun book. It gives a really good message to young children and shows how things may be different when you look closer at them. The illustrations show how new and everyday things can be scary until you know what they really are. The pictures are wonderful. If you have a little one in the three to four year range I would highly suggest it. My all time favourite children's book is one I first read as a young girl some forty odd years ago and have re-read several times since. The Velvet Room by Zilpha Ketley Snyder is a good story. It's about a young girl named Robin who is at an age of self discovery and the story is how she finally realizes whats most important to her. This book is a classic and is one that that older children of all ages will enjoy. I highly recommend it.

I COULD USE A GOOD LAUGH!

One of my oft visited blogs, Lenie and Rose, had a marital test on it.
It looked fun so I just had to do it. What a laugh! When I was done doing the test I realized that my final score result probably would have been grounds for divorce had this been 1930. There would have been a really good chance of me being arrested for assault or murder. Apparently, had it been back then, Hubby John may not have survived my attempts at killing him with poor wifely attention to his comfort and well being. Thank God I missed the thirties! I bet Hubby John is happy too! Have some fun and take the test. Please let me know how you did. I could use a good laugh!

This is My Favourite..........

I have joined the ranks of hundreds, well maybe not hundreds, but a lot of blogger's who write a blog on a specific subject. Each week a different theme is picked by a different blogger. This weeks theme was chosen by http://http://www.threebuttons.blogspot.com/.
I am a bookworm. I love words. I love to read. So when I saw this weeks MY FAVOURITE theme was about a book, I was in a real bind...no pun intended.
This was a really hard theme for me. How can I pick one book out of hundreds of books that I have read, some of them over and over again? I had to be brave and choose only one so I got scientific. I closed my eyes, pointed my finger and said the magic words.... eanie, meanie, miney, moe.

MY FAVOURITE BOOK.........
OUTLANDER is one of my all time favourite books. It is the first book in a series by author Diana Gabaldon .
Although it is a fiction, Ms. Gabaldon infuses her stories with historical fact. If you like historical romance then you should read this book. Even if your are not into history this book is a good read.
This book is about a woman by the name of Claire (nee Beauchamp). She is a married to Frank Randall. The time period is during the second world war. While in Scotland on her honeymoon Claire is transported back through time to the eighteenth century via a cluster of standing stones. She meets a dashing, handsome, younger man and her once uncomplicated life suddenly becomes complicated.
This is all I am saying about this book. I don't want to give the story away. Please be warned that you will most likely get hooked on the series should you decide to follow Claire's adventure. You can get more Outlander storyline by following this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlander_%28novel%29
Anyway, if you haven't read this book yet, what are you waiting for? If you have read it, then what are you waiting for? Any good book is worth a second look and if it is worth a second look then you know it's a good read.

A Poet For All

A TIME TO TALK

When a friend calls to me from the road

And slows his horse to a meaning walk,

I don't stand still and look around

On all the hills I haven't hoed,

And shout from where I am,

"What is it?"

No, not as there is

a time to talk.

I thrust my hoe into

the mellow ground

Blade-end up and

five feet tall,

And plod: I go

up to the stone wall

For a friendly visit.
Robert Frost

One of my very favourite poets is
Robert Frost (1874 - 1963).
I love his poetry and read it often.
I think Frosts' poem
"Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Afternoon"
must have been among one of the first poems
that I ever had to memorize.
I remember that I had to recite it
at our school Christmas pageant.
I must have been around seven or so.
In the small village that I grew up in everyone went
to the school or church pageants and talent shows.
All the grown-up ladies and your little brothers or sisters
sat on those hard wooden chairs
while the men stood at the back or side aisles of the room.
One by one, we children went up and showed our talent,
or in some cases, lack of talent.
No child was ever exempt from any pageant or talent show.
EVER!
Even if all you did was wear your
Mom or dads bathrobe and a towel on your head,
to be transformed into a shepherd or wise man for the evening,
remaining mute and never speaking a word for an hour or so,
you were, to your parents, grandparents and snickering siblings,
the star of the evening.
Sigh.......I am doing it again......I digress.
As I was saying, Robert Frost is a good read.
He is a poet for all.

To read more of Robert Frost's works or to

read more about the man himself:
http://www.emule.com/poetry/?author=43&page=overview http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/frost/frost.htm