I had a good time this last weekend.  Didn't sell much, but I met some superior people.  I met Kathleen of Kathleen's Radical Kreations (just outside Picton).  She makes centrepieces, decorating plates with candles and jewellery, and is such a sweetheart. Look what she gave me.

I also bought some salt rock lamps from A Stone's Throw Studio, just outside Picton in Cherry Valley) for the family room.  Here they are in situ on the shelf above the tv.  We lit tea lights in them last night and they look wonderful, giving a lovely glow to the room.

In the corner of the back wall that the tv sits on is our wood stove.  It hasn't been lit yet this season, but Pete worked hard splitting and stacking our wood, and I think on a dull, grey, drizzly day like today we will appreciate the warmth of a fire tonight.  I just realised you can see my slippered feet reflected in the stove's glass door!

I received a commission on Saturday, so I'm stitching away at the moment as it is for a Baby Shower on Friday.

Have a happy day!

Tell them about the Honey, Mummy!

You may remember my recently completed Yeti.  Look at that cute face!  I have a two day craft fair this weekend at the Arena in Picton, and I'm hoping the folk there will love the Yeti as much as I do, so I've made another one.

The Yeti with green eyes looks a bit like a mischevious little boy Yeti to me.  My new Yeti with lavender eyes looks like a helpful girl.

Once she was completed I thought I would use some honey fur I had in my stash.  I did not realise immediately, in fact until Pete pointed it out, that the honey fur made my honey yeti resemble none other than the Honey Monster.  This goes to show how versatile the pattern I created is!

When last I mentioned the steamer trunk I had removed the paper from the interior, the next job was to clean the exterior.  Unfortunately, the glue beneath the canvas had disintegrated to a revolting state, combined with dirt.  Bucket after bucket of filthy water was disposed of and still it looked disgusting, especially where the canvas had been torn and ripped.  In the end I had to remove the canvas from the side panels, it just wasn't salvageable   The canvas on the top, fortunately cleaned up nicely.  The wood actually looks quite nice, so it will get a light sanding and then some restorative Tung Oil. As I want to store, among other things, fabric inside the trunk it would be inappropriate to use oil on the interior in case it got onto the materials.  Therefore the interior is to be sanded and then sealed with a polyurethane.

I'll keep you updated on the progress.

Have a happy day!

Touring Prince Edward County and new Felt Softies

We had a lovely day yesterday.  We went with Cousin Suzanne and her daughter Madeline to "The County": Prince Edward County in Ontario.  It is a gorgeous area just south of Belleville.  Sandbanks Provincial Park  has two of the finest bay mouth sandbar and coastal sand dune systems in the province.  You can see that in the summer months it is an ideal place for people to visit.  But we were not heading for the beach, rather we chose to explore two of the lovely settlements on The County.

We had a lovely lunch at the Lake on the Mountain Inn just to the east of Picton.  The location requires a visual double take because it defies all know geographical and geological theory.  The Lake literally sits 62 metres above the Bay of Quinte. 

Here is a view of the Lake.

We have seen some very nice, but very expensive black and white photos of local scenes which have been transferred onto A3 size canvases, so I thought I'd try being 'artistic' and turned a couple of shots into sepia tones. 

 

 

This is a picture taken of the opposite view, down onto the Bay of Quinte which may give you a sense of perspective.

We had a pleasant stroll window shopping in Picton thence on to Bloomfield.  A-ha you may be saying, that sounds familiar!  Indeed dear reader it is the village I went to in July for an Artists' Showcase and craft fairs.  

Call me biased, but I particularly like Bloomfield, it is very attractive.  The shopping on the main street is geared towards tourists with various artistic gift and antique shops.  There is also an ice-cream shop offering ice creams which are freshly made using real ingredients.

Decisions, decisions.  Suzanne chose the butterscotch which was lovely.

Maddy chose Campfire.  It tasted of toasted marshmallows or smoke.  Personally I thought it disgusting, but Maddy and several other youngsters who exited the shop whilst we sat enjoying our ice creams disagreed with me.

My choice next.  Rhubarb and ginger.  It was lovely, a real taste of rhubarb and chunks of crystallised ginger.  Yum yum - definitely the right choice.

You'll notice Pete was the only one to choose a cone!  His choice of strawberry and banana was, for him, quite a leap of faith as he usually only ever chooses straight strawberry.  He thoroughly enjoyed it.

Despite all this frolicking around, I have managed to finish two new felt softies.  Firstly a rooster.

I must say I'm very happy with him.  Don't you love his tail!

My second new softie is a new T-Rex.  The first one was purchased for a lucky little boy's Christmas present.

 Isn't he great!

Have a happy day!