My favourite blog of blogs...

One of my very, very favourite "Blogs that make me go Ohhh....." is written by my daughter Jaime. She is an amazing young woman: wife to Mike and mother to the wee fiend, Mr. B. aka Kian. Her blog, Gingham Skies, is filled with all kinds of things she makes and stuff she does. She is a sewer, knitter, baker, crafter and all around really nice lady. Of course, it goes without saying that she must get her talent from her mother....LOL! Not really. Anything that Jaime has learned to do has been self taught. Well maybe she did learn a few things from me but mostly she learned by herself or with the help of other family members. She is a very talented person. Jaime had an Etsy store for a year or so and closed it down while she is on maternity leave. Hopefully she will have it up and running again this summer.
Of course this whole post is very biased. But that's OK! Jaime really is a special person!
So why not grab a cuppa whatever, go over to Jaime's blog....Gingham Skies....and read her posts, both past and present. I am sure you'll find something that will make you smile and I am also sure that you'll be glad you stopped by.

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.