The Winner Is......................

I let the Random Number Generator choose - and it chose..................

DANIELLE!!!!!!!!

Congratulations!!!! Please let me know which bag you would like and your address and I'll get it in the mail to you!! Then you post the remaining bag on your blog and have the last contest!!!
Great way to start the day!!!

http://artfullyooglebloops.blogspot.com/2009/04/another-fabulous-giveaway.html

if you forgot what they looked like - just click on the above link for that post!!

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My thought for the day - visualization is everything......................................

Fridge Poets

Look What I Found!!!

Yesterday, I finally got to it - I started cleaning the garage!!! The husband was doing "his" half and I dove into mine. We have a 3 car garage which will never have a car in it!!! Actually, none of our garages have EVER had cars in them!!! It is a standing joke with some of our friends!!!
This time, our garage is stacked with boxes from our move - almost 3 years ago!!!! I have boxes from my shop, my mom (who lives with us) my son (who does not live with us), my daughter, and household stuff still packed from that move.

I am proud to say, I made quite a dent on MY side of the garage!! The husband got lost in reminiscing, and then had to load the truck for the trip to the dump!!! I have a yard sale pile, which will later become a donate pile, and a dump pile!!

While going thru the boxes, I came across my quilts,( which can't be hung until we paint), and found some treasures, long forgotten, in other boxes!!

These wool penny rugs were made in 2001!!! They smell like Great-Aunt Taimi's moth balled cedar chest - but that protected them from getting holes!! I am airing them out as we speak!!

The floral basket was a round robin- our own Pat Sloan made the blue forget-me-not in the middle! Other participants were Joanne Sangrey,quilt designer Ann Weber,Sandi M,Linda, Maxine, and Dot Elliot. I'm glad I saved the card that accompanied the wool piece, but I wish some of the ladies had put their last names down!! Joanne, Pat and Ann were local, but the others were out of state, I believe. This group also did a spoolie exchange, and if I can find that box (!)- I will post pix of those!!!

My poor little basket of flowers needs a little careful steaming to get the wrinkles out, the edge needs finishing, and maybe some additional embellishments or embroidery.

The other wool piece is one I made to fit an antique coffee table that I no longer have!!! I will have to find another use for it - any suggestions??? I am not sure if this was part of an exchange or I did this myself- word of advise - save all paperwork with exchanges or round robins!!!!

If anyone out there in cyberspace is up for a 'woolie' exchange of some kind - I'm ready!! At a later date, I will post some other pix of ones I participated in - I have a wonderful needlecase that I use every day, and some multipurpose wool "envelopes" that are great for holding sewing supplies. I am just "itching" to get back in wool!!!!!

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Thought for today: Less clutter=clear head!!

Here's What I Won!!

Ooops!! I forgot to show the bag I picked!!!
Here it is - and here is the lovely surprise that Pat chose for me!!!! I love this fabric, and there is a coordinating ribbon and button!! What to make, what to make...............!!!!! Thanks so much!!!!

Don't forget - visit my previous post and leave a comment to enter to win one of the two remaining bags!!!!

Another Fabulous Giveaway!!

"This is Round 4 of the unique bag giveaway begun by Barb of Bejeweled Quilts (click HERE for her blog). Here is the story......once upon a time, Barb, who lives in the beautiful island paradise of American Samoa, made 5 cute little bags (with zippers....and VERY nice are they). She wanted to share them with her friends and decided to have a giveaway with a twist. The winner would get all 5 bags, BUT....had to choose just ONE of the bags and then have a giveaway on her (or his) blog for the remaining 4. When a winner was selected there, the bags (along with an extra little gift) would go to that winner.

The winner of the first round was Mary of the Quilt Hollow blog (click HERE to read her blog). She chose her bag and sent the remaining 4 to Pat of "A Little Bit Of This, A Little Bit of Pat" along with some nice fabric." Click on Pat's name to see her blog.

I entered, and to my surprise - I WON!!! The first time ever, that I won something on a blog contest - WOOHOO!!!!


I picked my bag - and it was sooo hard - I love all the colors, especially the blue and brown - but the bright floral spoke to me more!!!
SO - there are two left - and they are beautiful and soo well made. And to think, they came all the way from Samoa!!! They are the perfect size to hold sewing supplies, rotary cutter, small scissors, or makeup, or cellphone and Ipod- perfect for dropping in your purse or tote!

If YOU would like to win Round 4, just leave a comment on THIS post .

The winner will be randomly selected next Tuesday, April 28th - so mark your calendars!!!


The 2 remaining bags, along with an extra surprise, will be sent to YOU, the winner. Whoever YOU are, must then choose a bag for yourself, put a photo of the last bag on your blog and post the final Round 5 of the giveaway.

So, tell all your friends, leave a comment, and keep your fingers crossed!!!

Thank you so much Barb, for having this very different kind of giveaway, and making these beautiful bags!!! I am so happy to own one of them - from Samoa to Virginia- thru the magic of cyberspace!!!

(The part of my post in 'quotes' was taken from Pat's blog- I wanted to make sure I got the details right, and she wrote so well about it - I hope you don't mind, Pat!!!!)

Posted by Pat at 5:00 AM

Twitter, Twitter, Tweet, Tweet...........

I have just spent the last hour on Twitter!!!! I now officially have way too many cyber sticks in the fire!!!

Spurred on by Oprah, I decided to re-activate my Twitter account, which has been dormant for quite a while. I was so excited to be 'conversing' with Oprah and Ashton, and Martha, until a kind fellow twitterer, let me know that Oprah, Ashton, and Martha, don't know I exist, if they are not 'following' me! Which, of course, they are not!!!!
Martha Stewart does not know, (or care, apparently) that she and I are both up at the crack of early, twittering away, at the same time, in our own little worlds!!!! If she cared, she would be following ME - and we would be tweeting back and forth!!! :>)

If you thought blogging was addictive, Twitter is worse!!!

But, the upside is, you can network with some really fascinating people. Or at least, be inundated with their "tweets" every day!

I have found quite a few interesting artists on Twitter, which then leads me to their blogs, which then finds me, HOURS later, STILL on the computer!!!

Well, my cup of tea is now cold, I have checked (and responded to) my email, checked my two blogs, written on one, downloaded (or uploaded- which is it?) my pictures from my camera, checked and updated Facebook, Twittered for way too long, checked my bank account, looked in on my Etsy store,, and apparently forgot to check Myspace!!!!!Wheeew......!

Time to step away from the computer and get on with the real world activities!!!

But, if you decide to Twitter, please look me up!!! I'd love to tweet atcha!!!

I've Succumbed............!!!

Follow me on Twitter - I'll follow you!!!!

http://www.twitter.com/ooglebloops

Spring Giveaways!!!

No, it's not mine - but it's a good one!!! For all you gardening enthusiasts- this is a great prize!!!!! Drawing is April 27th, I believe, so make sure you run on over and enter.
Now I have to figure out how to add her contest to my sidebar to qualify!! Hopefully, just posting about it will do, since I am still not totally computer literate!!!:>)

http://golanigo.blogspot.com/2009/04/spring-giveaway-yippee.html


Here's another one!! If you want to update your stash - this blog is celebrating a 2 year blogiversary with a fab fabric giveway - in your choice of colors!!! so make sure you drop in TODAY!!!! Contest ends tonite!!!!
http://mrsschmenkmanquilts.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/it-is-all-about-the-cotton/#comment-2596

The Disintegration Collaboration

I am sooo excited to be a part of Seth's Disintegration Collaboration

My churning brain fell asleep with one thought, and awoke with the same thought- what will my project be???

Some who clearly don't know any better, call me an artist. But, truth be told, I prefer to think of myself as an artistic wannabe!! Creative in alot of ways, yes, and definitely 'artsy', but a true artist - nah.....!! Without any formal training, I fly by the inspiration of others - sometimes soaring, other times, crash landing!!!

I truly appreciate the innate creativity in others, and am amazed by what their minds can imagine, and how their hands can make that vision real.

The Collaboration of 120 artists will be revealed May 1st. Then, all the participants have until August 1st, to take what nature has eroded, and give it new life!

I have not seen all 120 pieces, but the few that I have seen are already perfect in their present state. Those are the true artists- they have the 'eye'!!! Their bundles were artistic at the start, and nature just added a tweak here and there. To dismantle some of THOSE bundles would be a shame.........

Other bundles are so varied in their components, composition, and deterioration, that rebuilding them into a new creation will be both beautiful and amazing!

I hope I can rise to that challenge!!

It's raining here this morning, so I quickly added a vintage Hemingway novel and a watercolor sketchpad to the mix.With this weather, I think these two items will quickly catch up to my original group in decay!

While putting these out in the early morning rain, and taking pictures, a chickadee, white crowned sparrow, and red headed finch alternately landed and gave me the eye!! The Disintegration project is set up at the bird feeding station, in hopes of hastening the decomposition!

I put breakfast out for the birds, and the watercolor pad became a runway for incoming, and the Hemingway novel became a lookout perch!

So, from now thru the summer, I will have a pencil and paper by my bed- in case some truly creative notion escapes the depths of my sleeping brain, telling me what I will create out of the detritus on my porch!

I think the secret is NOT to over think, but to just DO!

Here's hoping the creative juices flow properly - and thanks to Seth for bringing the creativity out of all of us!!!

Be sure to check out his blog, to read about the project, and to see one of the brilliant lights of NYC shine!!!!

Z-egg-tangle Easter "Egg"

Kimmie, from Art in Red Wagons
has a great basket of Easter 'eggs', that she designed after seeing an example on another blog. She took some river rocks and used fine and regular Sharpies, and zentangled Easter eggs. They are beautiful!!!
I took a walk to the river today, in search of some perfect egg shaped rocks. Of course, when I am looking for them, I can't find what I want!!! Then, I remembered the jar full of white rocks from a beach on the North shore of LI. I have these on display in a vintage canning jar - and there are some perfect egg shapes!! The rock is 1 1/2 inches long and 1 inch wide.
So, I got out my Pigma pens and got busy. The white of the rock, with its tiny bit of sparkle (which does not show up in the picture) works beautifully with the black designs. I might have to try another one in color!!!

Rules of Propriety and Creative Endeavors

My dear friends are so talented - and so polite!!! After our tea last week,for three days in a row, I got little surprises in the mail. I LOVE little surprises in the mail!!!!

After a 'proper' tea party, what follows but a proper thank you!!!!

Being all creative ladies, their thanks reflected that!!! Lennie sent me actual photos (no digital!) of scenes of the day!I love photos I can hold in my hand!!

Judy sent me a beautiful handmade card - made by her, the queen of stamping! With tiny cut out pansies, it's a keeper!!

Patty, did a beautiful altered postcard- I am sure I will hear from the postmaster about it tomorrow!!! It has pictures of my flowers and the heart rock she found!
Now I will have to sit down and create a little memento book of the day, with all these goodies inside. I hope I can do their creativity justice!!!!

Thank you all for my thank yous!!!
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To have a friend is wonderful, to BE a friend, sublime...........

Seth's Disintegration Project

Seth, over at The Altered Page
had organized a Disintegration Project a while back. There are well over 100 artists participating all over the globe. All sorts of creative and interesting bundles of objects have been put outside to let the elements have at them. If you check his blog, you can see links to most of the artists participating.Some of them are quite fascinating!
I was a little out of my element here, but I put together some stuff. My first one, attached to the rusty drum cover, is just an assortment of things, to be used in other projects down the road.
The second one, I called the Deterioration of Politics. It did not turn out quite like I imagined! I took layers of the Washington Post, with articles about the election, and inaugural, tied it with twine around a brick, and hoped for the best. I have even put both projects near my bird feeding station, with seeds on it, hoping the birds' interaction would have an interesting effect!!!
I had started a third little project, entitled 3 Blind Mice( a little macabre, I know, but we live in the country) The project started off well, but my subjects were carted off under cover of darkness for 'someone's' late night snack......:>(

The final unveiling of all the projects will be May 1st.

Another Challenge......

......from Linda and Rosie at Awfully Big Art Adventure

I managed to start it today, and finish it after a hectic evening (read about that tomorrow on my other blog!!!!!)

Anyway, the challenge was to create something out of felt- and I used hand dyed felted wool. The ones shown on ABAA's blog are soo cute!
I decided to do one of my 'Mugger Huggers'. These are a classier version of the cardboard sleeve you get when you buy coffee at Starbucks, etc.
They will also fit thru a handle and around most pottery coffee mugs- hence the name!!!

There will be a tutorial, per request, coming sometime soon, on how to make these!!!

Take a Look................................

Got to Seth's blog, The Altered Page, to see a fab short video. Very artsy, very cool!

Tea Party

Had some friends over for tea today - see my other blog for the details!!!

I thought I'd just share one of the goodies that was handed out.
I call these my 'mugger huggers'- a classier version of the cardboard sleeves you get with your Starbucks coffee.
I was trying to think of a little easy gift and this came to mind, while drinking my store bought decaf caramel macchiato!
The fabric is from some thrift store batik squares I had and hand pieced together. The backing is felted wool, and it fastens with a loop and vintage button. I'm sure I can't be the first one to think of these, but I liked the way they turned out. I hope the gals did too. They will also fit around a handled coffee mug - hence the name!!!I may do some revisions on future ones.

Another New Blog!!!

No!!!!! It’s not me - 2 is more than enough!!!

My little brother has decided to join the ranks of bloggerdom. He is a very good writer- I hate it when a sibling decides to do what you do - and then does it better!!! LOL

I am kidding, of course - he is very good - but totally different in style.

He describes my blogs as family friendly, “g” rated, Green Acres( minus the water tower), and artsy.

His will undoubtedly be controversial, politically incorrect - or correct, depending on your point of view, rabble rousing, thought provoking, insightful, and aggravating. He’s not afraid to throw out there whatever is on his mind!

Whereas I prefer to fly under the radar, and not create waves- Billy is out there, surfing the big one in a thunderstorm with a lightening bolt in his hand!!!

So, no matter your political persuasion, drop in, tell him I sent ya’, put your seatbelt on and be prepared for a bumpy ride!!! Anyone under 18 should leave the room!!!!

We Have a Winner!!!!!

I wrote down all the names, in no particular order, gave everyone a number, and entered those numbers in the Random Number Generator (http://www.mathgoodies.com).


And the winner is...............................drum roll please........................




MOLLY!!!!!!!!!!!


I want to thank everyone who commented, everyone who could and became a follower, and everyone who reads either of my blogs!! I will try to keep it interesting, to keep you coming back for more!!! LOL Followers and comments always welcome!!! And I will be following and reading everyone who visits me!!

Have a great rest of the day!!!