A New Friend

 Over the past year I have been volunteering at a private independent Catholic school Divine Mercy Academy. I've made a lot of friends but my best friend there is the art teacher. She studied at the Mitchell School for Art. She is very talented and her portraits are amazing. This is one of her still life works. She's teaching the kids how to do still life.

I love working with Mary Etta. She has a lot of fun and has an infectious laugh not mention a strong faith and love of God. Although I work in the office doing the administrative work I love to sneak in there to see what wonderful things Mary Etta has planned for the kids. 

Recently I took a class on watercolor on rice paper batik . Last weekend I shared my new "skill" with her. We had a great time Arting together...I look forward to more fun times. 

Mason the Safety & the Maryland State Flag

Acrylic on wood. Available in my Etsy Shop

Mason, my grandson, is back in school. Can't believe he is in 5th grade. He applied to be a Safety this year and was thrilled to be chosen as the Flag Safety. That means every day he puts up and takes down the American Flag and the Maryland State Flag.

We had a big discussion about the Maryland State Flag and how to remember which way was up. I told him the  right corner should have the cross that goes up to Heaven, like Jesus did. I googled it and showed him how it should look.  So the day before yesterday before he takes the flag down, he runs up to my car and say's "Granny Jo look at the flag." I almost spit out my coke. He had it upside down!!!

I told him so but he said that one of the teachers told him that when he put it the way I told him that it was incorrect. I told him, I knew my flag. I worked 35 years for the State of MD and that was one of my pet peeves!  So yesterday he runs out to the car pointing to the flag and I gave him a thumbs up because it was correct.

Mason said the teacher told him again  it was wrong again and instead of being diplomatic, he told her she should google it because Granny Jo worked for the State for 35 years and it's her pet peeve.

Well if this apple box doesn't sell I just might have to give it to her as an apology at the end of the year.

Something to Look Forward To!

So tonight begins the first of three nights of my church, St. Jane Frances de Chantal's Lenten Mission. This year's theme is 

"Back to Basics: Following Christ Today"
Father John J. Lombardi (a.k.a: "Father Jack") is a dynamic speaker. He did the Homily at Mass yesterday. 

According to the Parish Bulletin: "Father Jack is the administrator of St. Peter & St. Patrick parishes in Hancock. He is a true outdoorsman and loves to spend his free time in the beautiful waters of the nearby Potomac River, or hiking up the various mountains in the area. Always up for a game of softball or soccer, Father Jack keeps the youth and elders of his parish on their "athletic" toes! He has a great devotion to Our Lady and Our Lord's Divine Mercy."

I am really looking forward to these 3 nights and getting back to basics!
----------------->The icon is not for sale. I painted it and donated to Little Sisters of the Poor in Catonsville for their Silent Auction a couple of years ago.

Winter's Coming...Fall is Here!

Well it's Fall. It feels like it here. For a long while it was an extended summer which was okay by me but it didn't make me want to get my butt in gear for the craft shows and events.  I did manage to come through as I generally do.

There will be new porcelain and lots of new decorative painted items. Like this cute little nutcracker snowman ornament.  I've also made more jewelry, cards and painted 6 canvas Christmas stockings to just name a few things.

My crafty friends have worked hard on having an incredible variety for this season. I'm excited to go just as a shopper! I plan to starting my Christmas shopping there.

So drop by for the craft show this coming weekend. Here's the flyer!

I would love to see you there.....oh and my Etsy team is hosting their Winter's Coming Celebration.  If you are in love with Prim or Cottage, you really need to check out my team.

It's called Old Farmhouse Gathering Team. Search everyday for OFG Team on Etsy. But if you want to see some awesome crafts just for the winter season, search on Monday for WCCOFG on Etsy.  I had the pleasure of checking out the new items when I uploaded my photos. There are some beautiful pieces on there and I plan to do some Christmas shopping here too!

Fun Afternoon

Market Street Frederick MD

Today I met my friend Rebecca in Frederick Maryland for lunch. I love Frederick. It is such a quaint little town with lots of boutiques, antique shops and eateries. It's a little hike (about an hour away) but it's a nice drive on mostly high speed highways! We ate at the Orchid on Market Street. I had gazpacho and a Polynesian stir fry...yummy.

Patrick Street

Polish Art Glass

After lunch I took a stroll around town in and out of some of the shops. One of shops I love is Amber Coast on Patrick Street. It has lots of items imported from Eastern Europe. I bought a piece of Polish art glass. This is my second piece. The last one I bought in Laurel. It's a wine glass...cobalt blue .I love the Polish pottery & glassware and cannot help thinking about my grandparents who immigrated from Plock Poland in the late 1800's when I look at it.

 It was a tough decision to buy the little bird because they also had Polish Pottery which I absolutely love.  But they didn't have my patterns so  I passed it up for the cute little bird. She looks cute in my window.

If you are ever in the area, visit Frederick, you won't be disappointed.

Don't Like the Weather? Wait a Minute.

I was thinking yesterday that Easter is right around the corner. I need to get up into the attic today and pull out those Easter decorations. 

But this morning the weather lady said there is 60% chance of snow on Sunday. How can that be? Wasn't it just 80 degrees last week? Well you know what they say about Maryland weather? "Don't like it? Wait a minute it will change."  So maybe by Sunday the chance of snow will go away. I sure hope so.

There are daffodils all over my front yard! I would hate to see them covered in snow. They are so pretty, the other day I picked one for my grandson. He was so tickled when I gave it to him. He loves flowers because they have green on them. It's his favorite color. He is the President of the Green Club. I'm in the club of course. Not that I'm a big green fan but he thinks I am! LOL
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Easter Egg Salt & Pepper Shakers pictured above are in my Etsy shop. Here's the link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/70391626/easter-egg-salt-pepper-shakers-hand

St Vincent Cemetery

Well we have come a long way since my first blog. The grounds have been cleared. We have researched a number of new names of burials. Cataloging of the tombstones has begun. We have a photobucket site up that shows all the stones we've photographed and the transcriptions AND we have a new website.

Please take a moment to look at the site I just put together. Check out the names. If you are from the Baltimore and are Italian, Irish or German, you may have family buried there. Check out our new site: Http://stvincentcemetery.tripod.com

Want to get involved? Join our Yahoo group for information sharing of current research and upcoming meetings and clean up events:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StVincentCemeteryRestorationGroupBaltimoreMD/

There was no money set aside for maintenance of the cemetery. It now relies on the generousity of interested parties for periodic mowing and upkeep.
To make a donation please send it  to:


St. Vincent de Paul Church
Attention: Rev. Richard Lawrence
120 North Front Street
Baltimore, MD 21202

In the memo portion of your check please write:
St. Vincent Cemetery Renovation Fund.

ACEO's & Mat About You

Today I'm featuring one of my art cards or ACEO's. ACEO's are miniature pieces of art.

ACEO stands for "Art Cards, Editions and Originals". These cards are always 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches which is the size of a trading card. Cards will be sold either as originals or editions. Make sure you know which you are buying! If it is a print it should say so, and it should be numbered and signed, usually on the back.

Art Cards were intended to be traded! In the past artists would swap these trading cards. It was difficult for the public to obtain these cards. Now you can bid or buy the fun original pieces of art. You can obtain these little precious pieces of art from artists from all over the world in different mediums and of different subjects and in all style of art work from Realism to Abstract and everywhere in between. Frame them or trade them. These are collectable and now very affordable.

This one is of a largemouth bass. It's in colored pencil on black suedeboard. Titled "Largemouth". Here's the link to the listing in my shop LARGEMOUTH

Now for another feature! A wonderful shop in Ellicott City, Maryland. Recently 2 china painting friends and I put some of our pieces in MAT ABOUT YOU. Go visit their website. MatAboutYou.com You can find some wonderful American handmade crafts, art, jewelry and beautiful framing......check them out!