It's Crunch Time

I'm sorry to say that this will be a quick blog post.  I have so much to do this weekend that it isn't even funny!  You know how you have a deadline and then all kinds of stuff pops up and keeps you from your task? Well I should be the post child for that this weekend.

First Kraft Outlet is having a slamming month {due to all the Spring weddings that are happening}.  Then the Prim Nest has its website launch on March 1st {and guess who isn't quite ready?}. Then one of my girlfriend's daughter is having a wedding shower and I need to get the gift and of course I am making her something and it is waiting for the finishing touches, we have a party to go to on Saturday and the best news ever, my son Trey got his first professional job! 

He will move to Dallas in two weeks and we have so much to do to get him ready to leave. Add to all of this a celebratory brunch for him on Sunday with his brothers. I'm just tired thinking about it all.

So, today I will make this quick little post and tell you all to keep your fingers crossed that I can get it all finished in time.

Thanks for stopping by.

It's A Blog Link Party!!

Every morning I visit my favorite Primitive Forums and Communities and then do a little blog hopping just to find out what is going on.  Today I went to Prim Mart and found out Tina from Tattered Sisters Primitives was having a blog Link Party. Then I get to A Primitive Journey and Tracy from The Prairie Patch is having one too!

So today I will join in on both of these Link Parties and I hope you will too.

Tina's Challenge is Tattered Crows

Tracy's Link Party is all about Primitives!

Come on and dive right in, I did!

Thanks for stopping by.

It Feels Like Spring!

The weather is warm and Spring is in the air! 

photo curtesy of Bowtoo from Flickr.

We have had great weather all week and it looks like we could get a few showers later today, but I am not letting that squelch the feeling of Spring!

I have been accumulating new things for this years craft season and they have been piling up in my garage for several months.  Now that the warm weather is here Mr. MySpareTime can finally get these things out of his domain.

I found a few more things last night when I ran to Hobby Lobby.  That is a great shopping center for me, Hobby Lobby, then Dollar Tree and then Goodwill. {a trifecta of crafting stores!}

 I didn't hit Dollar Tree last night but here are the things I snagged at Goodwill.

I have so many plans for this weekend and I know that I really need to be productive.  March 1st is the launch of the Folk Artist group The Prim Nest and I am sorry to say that I am not ready.  I only have to have 4 items on the site, but to tell you the truth it is hard for me to come up with Spring/Easter items.  I have all my ideas ready just not started or finished. 

One of my biggest faults is that I cannot leave things alone until they look EXACTLY the way I want them.  I'm not a girl who SETTLES,{ask Mr. MySpareTime!} and the smallest detail can sometimes set my teeth on edge.  As I mentioned, The Prim Nest is getting ready to launch, so a couple of days ago I needed to do all the boring stuff on the site like uploading my banner, writing all the shipping info and policies and getting the administration stuff on my little page ready for the products.

Nothing is as simple as it seems.{read that again out loud!} I thought this will be an easy upload and then I would be off and running.  Oh no, the banner{the one above} was too large, so a simple Photoshop session and it will be just great.  Oh no, every time I uploaded the darn thing it had white fringe around parts of the banner and that was driving me crazy!  So I ended up spending several hours completely redoing that banner {all 27 layers} to take off the shadows and make the thing smaller.  Then I thought while I am here I will make my Etsy banner to match, well those darn things are so short that I had to adjust all the layers {again!} to get them all to fit.  Well it is done now and I love the way it turned out, but boy what a mess. 

Mark your calendars to fly by The Prim Nest and check out the flock!

Thanks for stopping by.

I Won!

I just had to share the wonderful box of goodies I received from Linda at PrimMart. She posted on that site that she wanted to thank everyone on that community by having a Give-Away.  All you had to do was comment on her post and your name was entered in the drawing.  Her 2 year old grand baby drew my name. Whoo Hooo!

The box was just full of all these wonderful Spring Easter items.  She did a wonderful job on everything and with the weather warming up I can hardly wait to get out the Spring things.

Speaking of warm weather, the temps are back into the 70's and the weather man said we were through with cold weather!  Mr. MySpareTime started the annual yard clean up and you know what warm days mean, we can SPRAY PAINT again!  Now all those projects that have been piling up in the garage can finally get started.  I will post pictures as soon as I get some things finished.

Thanks for stopping by.

What is this?

Mr. MySpareTime was out on business and when he came back into town he stopped by one of our favorite thrift stores and this is what he found.

I love the way it looks, but I don't really know what it is. He thought it was a table from the 1960's Early American decor phase.  I think it might have been a magazine table or maybe just a decorative bench.  Back in the '60s your mother's decor was either Early American, Danish Modern or Mish Mash. 

My Mom was Mid-Centrury Modern all the way

and Mr. MySpareTime's mom was Early American,

so I will defer to his expert opinion on this one. 

When you come from a home where you have an eagle over the fireplace and a wagonwheel lamp in the den, then you have probably seen a table like this.

All I know is that I think it will make a great holiday table!

Thanks for stopping by,

I have a plan!

Well, kinda.  Because of all the icy, cold weather lately Mr. MySpareTime hasn't been able to get outside and prep all the things I need to be working on.  I already have four "special" projects just waiting for me to get to them.  

I am very blessed that I have a bunch of girlfriends that scour their closets, their favorite junk/antique shops and  department stores for things they want me to transform into items for them. 

Rhonda wants a matching chair for her other grandson.

Barb just wants these painted with a simple crackle finish and some holly added.{Sorry to say she said do them at your leisure and it has been a year!} 

Sharon has a list going. 

She brought this chair for an overhaul and then her poor Santa needed a spa day.

I have to say that this is a testament as to how well built Mr. MySpareTime makes our items.  This old guy is at least 10 years old and all that is wrong with him is that he is faded and his tree needed some work.  We removed his arm to strengthen it and as soon as the temps get into the 50's for a few days I will head out there to get him all spruced up! {I will post a before and after picture when that happens}

Most of these things will be done once the weather warms up and they really shouldn't take too much time, probably a day or two. 

But back to my plan. 

I have been wanting to take my folk art business in a slightly different direction this year.  Due to the huge amount of sales on both Print Me Prim and Kraft Outlet it is impossible for me to make enough product to fill four days of shows.{also, my girlfriends like to come over for preview days}

Each year I try to make a list of all the old tried and true items I will make for the shows and then add at least half of those numbers in new products.  Sometimes it is just the same products with a new design or sometimes it is something I have never done before. Here is where the fun creative side runs into the analytical business side.  I love to try new things but I also have to make a profit.  So my plan was to make about 2/3 of my inventory Christmas/ Santa items, then 1/4 Snowmen and 1/12 in Halloween. As usual I have come up with way too many Halloween ideas. {did I mention we love Halloween around here}

I have a list going in my inspiration book and will be finalizing that list this week.  My goal is to be finished with all Halloween items by Easter! I have to come up with my materials list this week and head to Lowe's on Friday.  This is a great plan, but I don't think I have ever hit my deadline! {life just gets in the way}

Oh, and take a look at what I got Mr. MySpareTime to snag out of the trash!

Score! A full size solid wood door and a newel post. {He is still a little squeamish about dumpster diving, but he is getting better!}

Better get some work done so that I can work on that list. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Cancelled!

Well as you guessed the road trip to Canton has been cancelled.  WE were supposed to get 1"-3" of snow, but all we got was 1/4" sheet of ice!  It is a mess, they have closed all the freeways and said it won't get much better until tomorrow.

This is Mr. MySpareTime's car!

And the wimpy little icicles on the side of the house. 

Nothing pretty, just a traffic mess. 

I was in the winter storm mode yesterday and cooked up a storm.  I made chili, and homemade vegetable soup, gluten free German Chocolate Cake and Gluten Free Pizza.  Now I have dinners made and I am going to take advantage of the time stuck at home. 

I am a great believer in lists and planning.  I'm sure this is because it makes me feel like I have some control, but it also gives me peace of mind to see all those little check marks. 

So this long cold weekend I will get my "game plan" ready for the new season.  One of my problems is that I see so many new things, in magazines, on Etsy, on eBay and on websites, that I want to make.  I would say one of my biggest faults is sometimes not being able to reign myself in.  I will still be adding things to my product list a week before the first show. 

I will use today to catch up on all my other work and then I will make a huge bowl of buttered popcorn and a big Coke and watch a marathon of 1890's movies.  Mr. MySpareTime hates those movies, but I'm sure once he gets his fill of weather reports he will find some movie that blows things up and we will both be happy.

Hope you have better weather and thanks for stopping by.



Old Man Winter Has Us On Hold

It has been warm and balmy here in South Texas for the last few days and I was all excited about this much anticipated trip to First Monday Trade Days in Canton, TX.  As most things go when you are trying to plan an outdoor activity the weather throws you a curve ball.

Now I'm from Oklahoma originally and I know that weather can change in a heart beat, but come on, we went from mid-70's on Monday to low-20's tonight!  The weather in North East Texas is getting pretty bad, sleet and ice and probable snow. We even have a chance of SNOW here in Houston on Friday morning! 

Now I am all for a road trip, and Canton is a fun filled day, but there is nothing in Canton worth freezin my tater's off for.  All that junk will be there next time, but it's the "what if" factor that keeps you headin back.

I had my list and I checked it twice, I was ready for a full day of shopping. 

 Now I checked the weather and Friday in Canton is supposed to be mid-50's!  I really don't know what we are going to do, so we are on hold here and probably won't know what we are going to do until Thursday. 

I will keep you posted!