New Page!

There's nothing I like more than finding something in a thrift store or a yard sale that isn't quite what I'm looking for but has potential!  You see I'm cheap!  Not only that I get a great deal of pleasure from giving something that has been thrown out a new lease of life, it also means that I end up with something quite unique!  So I've added a new page, dedicated to those finds and what you can do with them, where they can easily be found.  I will also post things as I do them on the home page.  I hope you will be inspired to try some Thrifty Revamps too and I would love to see what you do.  If you would like to share your creations send me an e-mail with a photo and a link to your blog post. On the first Thursday of each month I will post a round up of the months Thrifty Revamps! 

Cupboard Love
 

Ok so the first project isn't strictly yard sale or thrift shop, it is a cupboard in my kitchen.  However it had been put up as something of an afterthought I think in that it doesn't match the others!  It was one of those cheap white melamine covered chipboard ones and had become home to various cookery books, telephone books, drawing pins, pens, string and a whole host of junk!  So first I emptied it, dejunked it and took off the doors.  I hid these in the basement and quickly filled all the holes with white wood filler to prevent Lovely Man from putting said doors back on! (He doesn't always like my inspired DIY).  Next I bought a roll of sticky back vinyl from the Bargain Store for $3 (think Blue Peter here!) and covered the back wall of the cupboard and replaced the shelf.  Lastly, after washing everything down, I glued some vintage style lace that did actually come from a thrift store for the grand sum of 50c, to the edges of the shelves.  I placed one of those battery operated LED lights that you hang in closets behind the letter rack.  Et Voila!  Cook books neatly lined up, a few pretties and I have and brand new look bookshelf, AND it looks real pretty all lit up at night!

Today Is The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life - Charles Dederich

That just about sums up how I feel this morning!  Day One of Big Dreams Small Wonders and I'm feeling really fired up!  Isn't it a great feeling, when you give yourself permission to do something, make the time and then actually do it?  As you are all probably tired of hearing I have this craft fair coming up and I set myself the goal of producing two bags per day until Easter.  As usual there are days when I procrastinate and I don't meet this target, then I give myself a hard time, which usually results in getting even less done the next day because I decide the answer is to give myself a break (literally) and not be so hard on myself!  Good technique eh?  Tried and Tested!
However I won a place on this course, and that to me is a HUGE opportunity and not one to be wasted.  so this morning I got up at 6 am with Lovely Man (he went off to work at 6.30) and allowed myself until 8 am to check in with BDSW, do the coursework and blog.  I now have fifteen minutes left and I have completed what I set out to do.  Oh and how good does that feel?  Blimmin' Great!
So here are my notes for Week One, Day One.  Setting the scene as it were and my overall intentions.

Four years ago I had a dream to emigrate from the UK to Canada. I wanted to live in a small community way out of the city and most importantly I wanted to write that book I’d always wanted to write, to follow my passion for art and craft and to be able to make enough money that I wouldn’t have to work for someone else five days a week.  I’m half way there in that I got to Canada, to the small community way up in Northern Ontario.  Now it is time to bring the second half of the dream to fruition and that is where I am struggling.  Partly due to lack of confidence and fear, I find that I am putting things off, being half hearted and generally being ‘fluffy’!

By joining this course I hope to be able to share my fears, gain insight and support from others and also to offer support and encouragement to others based on my experiences thus far.  By the end of the six weeks I would like to feel as determined, confident and focused as I did when it all started four years ago.

I expect from myself commitment first and foremost, to schedule in time everyday to check in and work through the course, and to banish any avoidance ‘techniques’ that I am so skilled at practicing!  From myself and from everyone, kindness and honesty.

My overall intention throughout the course is to believe in myself again and to at least give my dream my very best shot whilst I have this chance.

So there we are!  I have put it out there!  It is in the Universe, and in Blogland, so no going back now!
And so now I have ten minutes left to hop over to Facebook and check in with my FB friends before showering and then it's off to my trusty sewing machine.  When the allotted two bags are complete I will pamper myself with the treat of preparing the front and back cover of my journal for this course and set up a little corner where I can sit quietly and meditate each day, a practice that I used to uphold but has sadly fallen by the wayside of late!  Have a great day everyone... and follow your dreams wherever they take you today!

Week 15 - 52 Week Project

Oh my gosh what a week!  I seem to have leapt from week 9 to week 15 already (sorry Lorrie!).  I remember my mum, just after she took retirement, commented how busy she found herself these days and that she simply didn't know how she managed to go to work and do everything else.  Well you know what?  I'm right there with you on that one mum!  Since giving up full time work I feel the same!  But anyhow this week.  This week has been a week of good fortune, a week of abundance and I feel very blessed.  It all started with my friend, Jeanette, who when I asked how to add pages to my blog for tutorials, recipes and such proceeded not only to add pages but to tweak.  Actually it was more of a totally refurb than a tweak and I was totally a very happy bunny!  Then my lovely new business cards arrived in the mail from Zazzle.ca along with an order of all my postcards.  Next came a big win, yes I won a giveaway courtesy of Louise, a place on her Big Dream, Small Wonders course!  Again I was one very happy girl.  Another parcel, this time art supplies, lino cutters, rubber block, acrylic inks... so exciting.  Last, but not least, my best friend Jan in the UK sent me a copy of my favorite cookery magazine, some Cadburys dairy milk buttons and some sachets of hot chocolate.  There were also two bars of Dairy Milk, sadly they couldn't  make the photo shoot this morning having been abducted late last night by the grumbling tummy monsters!

On top of all of that good fortune the sun is shining, the temperature here has risen to plus 12, Spring is here at last!  Lovely Man is fixing the car ready for our first big shopping trip of the year.  I have cleaned the house, tidied the basement and my studio and done all the laundry!  Tonight we are out to supper.  So although it's been a busy week, it's been a totally great one and I feel very, very blessed.  How has your week been?

Have a lovely weekend all. xoxoxo

Fly-By Post Just To Let You Know

It has just come to my attention that some of you who have been following this blog weren't aware I had another blog, Rona Gregory Art:New Challenges.  As I am running my first giveaway I thought I better post on here so no-one misses out!  Sorry Peeps, but s'ok still got six days to enter!

Oh My Goodness

Can you believe it?  I just found out today that I won a place on this e-course on Louise's First Friday Giveaway!  I had so wanted to do this earlier in the year, but I also wanted to do Tam's M3 course and with Lovely Man still going through the trials and tribulations with the College of Nurses Ontario I couldn't do both and had to choose one or the other.  I planned to sign up for this course later when we were both more financially better off and then looksee what happened! 
So here I was madly typing up two articles for the paper and an e-mail popped up to say I had won!  So I have just about completed one article but I'm so super excited now I'll have to do the other one later because I can't concentrate!  I feel very blessed right now.  Our future looks more secure, the sun is shining (between the snowflakes ha ha!) and it just feels so good.  Thank you Louise! xoxo

A Day Indoors

Well who'd believe it?  4th April and it snowed ALL DAY!  nothing for it than to put the fire on, and the radio and get down to some creating.  It all started fairly well.  I made a video tutorial making paper flowers for a book sculpture...but then it all started to go to rats :(  Try as I might i could not work out how to upload to my laptop.  I have a MAC and whenever I connect my camera it automatically opens in IPhoto.  Fine for very short videos, done those before, however 600MB didn't want to play at all.  I tried closing IPhoto and looking for my camera as a device but no matter where I looked on the hard drive I couldn't find it.  So in the end I gave up and  took stills and sequenced them in Photoshop!  Then I turned my attention to the making of the wedding ring cushion that had been floating around in my head for days, the one to match the bridal purse I made on Saturday.  This, thankfully, went well and ta da!  Here it is

 

I also managed to almost complete a sweet midnight blue devore velvet evening purse which will be on my bag page soon!

Busy week!

Spring is definitely in the air.  The sun is shining, the snow banks are receding fairly quickly now, although for the locals who are used to it, probably not fast enough!  Lovely Man has found work to keep him busy until he takes his exam on 1st June, or he's granted temporary registration allowing him to nurse until that date, whichever comes quicker.  Life at last looks like things are beginning to settle and we can start to enjoy our new life without the overhanging shadow of uncertainty of whether or not we could stay.  

So this week we have both been 'doing bizzies' as Lovely Man likes to call it!  For my part I have been keeping house, writing for the paper, working at the library and making purses and bags for the upcoming craft fair in Wawa at the end of the month.  With the help of my friend, Jeanette, I now have two very professional looking, and pretty, blogs.  I even managed to make a nice banner for myself - given that I struggle to understand/remember how photoshop works this is especially gratifying!

Today we have friends for supper - hop over to the recipe page for scrummy dessert - I am going to work at the ski club for a couple of hours and then maybe later when all the washing up is done I'll get another purse cut out (if I don't then it's going to float around in my head all night!).

O the five bags this week, I think this is my favorite...and I have plans for a matching ring cushion!