Snow Sleet Rain Ice....

...can Mother Nature make up her mind? Typical woman! Always changing her mind. I've had enough of winter. I can't wait for spring but in the meantime I was thinking that if I had a penguin it would look like this--I call this watecolor PENGUIN JOY...well I do have some penguins but they are all virtual on Farmville...I like virtual I don't have to feed them or pick up their poop.

Anyway....the penguin ACEO is on auction on Ebay here's the LINK

Crows Creek Primitive

It's an Old Farmhouse Gathering Team member I feature today. Debbie Turner of Crow's Creek Primitive. Deb sells a wide variety of primitive goods. She has been selling for 8 years to local shops , website , ebay , gozbay , etsy ,and hope to open a new brick and mortar store in the spring .

One of my favorite things she does is making things out of bees wax. This snowflake ornament caught my eye. It's available in her etsy shop. Click the picture to go to the listing.

You can see her things on Etsy at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CrowsCreekPrimitives . If you are into blogs, please check out her blog: http://debsprimitivecountrykitchen.blogspot.com/

Luvs2Paint

Today's feature is Brenda Thour. Brenda is a Member of the DAWG Team. A painter if you haven't guessed by her Etsy shop name Luvs2Paint . Brenda does large art as well as miniature art (ACEO's).

This is one of her pieces of larger art that I just love. This particular piece is a print available in her Etsy shop. She also had pendants and magnets in her shop. She loves to do animals and will do commissions if you need a pet portrait.

The "W" in Christmas - Moving!

So today is Christmas Eve....it's here finally. It seems like the year has flown by and not so long ago Christmas felt so far off. Today instead of featuring someone from OFG or DAWG Team, I feature some one from up above. This is a wonderful story borrowed from my DAWG Team friend Marlene (LazyHawk).

The "W" in Christmas

Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations -- extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six-year-old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's Winter Pageant." I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then.

Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise. So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.

Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title. Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads.

Those in the front row-center stage -- held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love." The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down -- totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W."

The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W." Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities. For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

"C H R I S T W A S L O V E"
And, I believe, He still is.
Amazed in His presence...
Humbled by His love.
May you have a Merry Christmas as you reflect on His Amazing Love!

Firecracker Kid!

Today's feature is on Etsy from my Old Farmhouse Gathering team....it's Carol Anderson aka Firecracker kid. The link to her shop is: http://www.etsy.com/shop/firecrackerkid

Carol offers some beautiful things in the way of primitives, folk art, and one-of-a-kind handcrafted woodcraft, home furnishings, decor, and more. She has some unique & different items to use to decorate your country, early, primitive, folk art, and shabby or chic homes.

You know me I'm more on the cottage side so the picture of the Vintage Kitty Cat Cupboard Peg is up my alley. Click on the photo go to to the listing on Etsy. Check her out! :)

Gina's Drawings

Gina Sutton is a member of my Designing Artists Women's Group (DAWG Team) and one of my facebook friends (Gina Sutton).... she's another talented artist and also does miniature art (ACEO's) She sells on Ebay under Ginasdrawings. Here's the link to her Ebay My World LINK I don't think she has any auctions up a this time.

She has such beautiful art. The last thing I saw on Ebay was a really cute handpainted toddler jacket....too bad it was too small for Mason!

I tried to copy the photo from Ebay but it wont let me sooooo here's the link to her last auction LINK

A Good Turn....

...deserves another. Well as most of my friends and family know I've been sick for over a week. I guess the blizzard was a blessing because it didn't tempt me to go out but made me stay and lay around.

Well today I was checking email and one of the Members of my Etsy.com Old Farmhouse Gathering Team did a feature on 3 members and I was one! I instantly felt so much better. So I was thinking I need to get back to featuring people again. I have been so bad at my blogging and featuring the 2 teams I belong to.

So today I begin. First off I should tell you a little about the 2 teams I belong to. Both are made up of wonderfully talented women. The first is Designing Artists Womens Group (DAWG TEAM) which features primarily miniature art (ACEO) artists. The other is Old Farmhouse Gathering (OFG TEAM). OFG is made up of mostly primitive artists but there are a few of us on the cottage end. Our former leader Linda (Prairie Rose) was on the cottage side. She recently passed away from a massive heart attack. What a great loss to the world and our team. She was the driving force and a wonderful person who always was there to help us out).

The team member who featured me today is a member of the OFG Team. She does beautiful baskets. Her name is Rose. As I was going through her etsy shop, I was thinking her prices are so reasonable. I think about those Longaberger baskets and the prices people pay for them. Her baskets are beautiful and priced so reasonably that I think she can give Longaberger a run for their money! AND she does beautiful quilts. Here are a few of my favorites from her shop....please go and browse she has 49 items in her shop and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Christmas is Almost Upon Us

and the year is almost over. I was thinking, I used to be so good at this blogging thing. Almost everyday I would post something but I've gotten out of the habit. So I'm taking a moment to blog today. Not that I could do much else with a couple of feet of snow LOL.

The snow is so beautiful but it is so deadly. I was watching the news at all the accidents caused by it. How can something so beautiful be so deadly. I guess it's just one of those mysteries of life.

Christmas is almost here and thank God I'm finished. Everything has been bought and most things are already here and wrapped under the tree. I am hoping that Christmas doesn't bring us more snow. I would like to be able to spend this Christmas with my grandson.  He's so cute. He's  just 3 and amazed that Santa knows he has 2 houses and he will get Santa gifts at both houses. And also that he will get lots of gifts from other people in the family.  His big thing is "Why".  I told him, "Why? Because everyone loves him and he's special."  This Christmas will be even more fun because the Christmas thing is really making sense to him now.

I'm hoping we won't have more snow for Christmas. Glenn is working and I have to drive to his Sister's house. I'm not a fan of driving in snow...I should have gotten 4 wheel drive in my SUV...lesson learned...next time I will.

But I'm ready for the next snow. I spent yesterday doing lots of online shopping and one of the things I ordered was a snow blower..it was worth the money. I'm too darn old to do that shoveling anymore. It's electric so it's light weight. That way if Glenn is working, it's not too heavy for me to do myself.

The moon santa picture is a metal plate. It has a hook on the back for hanging on the wall. Click the picture to go to the link at my Bonanzle Shop it is $25.