April 7th . . . finally a blog post! It has been a bit of a challenge . . . !!!!

Hello!





I fully intended to post waaaaay before this, but I had some computer glitches and challenges in February. BOTH of my laptops had to go to the shop! I have had  home computers for more than15 years, and have NEVER had a computer with any problems. I realize I have been VERY lucky! So, I guess my time had come . . . and double!





Winter has been so long . . cold . . snowy. We have stayed close to home and monitored our old 1846 abode so we would not end up with frozen pipes. There were many nights when it was close to zero with wind chills to minus 10 or 20. We had a blizzard just two days ago . . . and we are sooooo ready for Spring! The calendar tells us it will be here on March 20th, but since we live in upstate New York, near Buffalo, we already know that is just a number on the page . . . We are not out of the cold weather just yet!





So . . . while I have been spending a lot of time at home, I have been able to work on my real estate career from our home office and get into my studio to work on various projects. I joined an on-line craft group in the fall and have enjoyed meeting the other women in the group. I have participated in swaps and in challenges. The group is on Facebook and is called The Craft Hole. If you are interested in learning more about it, check it out. Since I craft alone, and often in the evening, being a member of the group has been good for me.

Here are some photos of things I have made over the past few months . .  .

a little out of chronological order . . . I had some computer challenges, and just uploaded them from time to time when my computer would cooperate!

I can't remember if I posted this in January . . . or not. I made this card for my husband. . . to celebrate spending the January blizzard together. I actually love to be "snowed in" . . . as long as I am warm and safe.

I made these tags for a swap I joined in an online group called The Craft Hole on Facebook.

 

Close up of tag made for my swap Partner Jodi

Close up of tag made for my swap partner Margaret

This pretty image was downloaded for free from The Graphics Fairy.

Close up of tag made for my swap partner Rhonda

Tag made in February as a challenge to try a new technique . . . .

Tags I made with the Once Upon A Time theme . . . They are sold locally in a little shop.

Tag made in January as a challenge to try a new technique.

My work table . . . when it is picked up! I love the cubbys that we bought for my table.

They are supposed to be for shoes, but work even better for my supplies.

Tag made for Valentines Day using Graphic 45 Sweet Sentiments.

Valentine made for my swap partner Traci

Valentine made as a challenge to learn a new technique.

White fish baked the way my  mother used to make it . . . .

Half n half, margarine, dill, pepper, paprika. Easy and delicious!

Card made for a friend

Three tags made for a swap.

Close up of the tag I made for my swap partner Traci

Close up of a tag made for my swap partner Yolanda

Close up of a tag made for my swap partner Anita

Two button fairies. These were really fun to make!

Button fairy made for my swap partner Traci

The pretty lady is a free downloaded image from The Graphics Fairy

Made this cute little button fairy for my swap partner Traci.

The bunny image was a free graphic from The Graphics Fairy.

Tag  made as part of a challenge to try a method by Tim Holtz.

I improvised with most of it since I did not have all the Tim Holtz materials. :-)

We spent our wedding anniversary at Niagara Falls.

This is the view of the American Falls from the Canadian side.

We drove north to Niagara On The Lake in Canada, a beautiful resort town,

where the Niagara River flows into Lake Ontario.

I fell in love with the ensembles in this store window.

I think I may need to start sewing clothes again!

A quick trip to Tuesday Morning on the way home, via Buffalo,

where I snagged some cool things for my studio! Bottles of flowers, Tim Holtz Grunge Board Letters, and a Tim Holtz Alterations die of the Eiffel Tower and a Fleur des Lis.

We had a swap in the Craft Hole . . called Oh La La Corset Swap.

I had sooooo much fun making the corsets for my swap partners.

We plan to have more corset swaps and we can each hang the corsets on a little clothes line.

I plan to hang mine in my studio and I am thinking I may make more.

The ones below were sent to my swap partners . . .

We included little clothes pins, too. I made smaller corsets to hold the pins.

Red striped corset for my swap partner Margaret.

Coral and yellow corset for my swap partner Jodi.

Ivory and beige corset for my swap partner Alicia.

THE END!!!!

Now that I have my computer back and in working order, I will post more regularly.

 As it is . . . this post was started in mid-March and today is April 7th!!!!!

Oh well . . . as you know, sometimes that is just how it goes!

I wish you all the best and thank you for stopping by!

 As always you comments are welcome and appreciated.

What I have learned:

I have a hard time living without all of my technological toys! I am more attached than I thought!

What I want to learn:

How to accomplish more of the things every day that are on my To Do List!

What I am grateful for:

The end of winter!

What I want:

World Peace.