Good Morning, 

We have just enjoyed the most beautiful weekend and I have today off work on top !
The weather was so warm and sunny - the neighbourhood was filled with people out washing cars, cleaning garages and little kids on their bikes. All wonderful and happy things.

We had our girls craft weekend - woo hoo ! This time it was at our friend Mona's home. The food was so scrumptious, the time spent together is always so good for the soul and of course the creations are always beautiful. This year Morgan and Emma ( my friend's teenage daughters) worked on their own quilts. Squeal!! so super exciting. Morgan made the sweetest rag quilt and Emma a beautiful strip quilt. As soon at they are finished I hope to post pics. It's so nice to see them enjoying the girl's weekends with us. 

My friend and I are working on a star quilt together (Oh my stars quilt along) This quilt has been in progress for over a year. We leaped in all excited, then somewhere along the way we seemed to get discouraged.This weekend was the do or die moment, thankfully we regained the motivation and excitement (although suffice to say we won't likely do it again...atleast that's what we say now)  We nailed it !!! we made so many blocks. Evelina finished all the medium and large and I made a considerable dent in the small. There is now an end in sight. The quilt will be so beautiful and it felt so good to really dig deep and say we can finish it! 

Here is a pic of it after our weekend efforts!

Finally, although I've been absent from my blog - no particular reason other than sometimes you feel you simply need a break. I have a few cute cards to share that I've made of recent. 

Have a wonderful day! 

Hugs, Diane 

Seriously it's November already ??

Oh my goodness have you ever wondered where all the time went? It's November 1 today - I can't believe it.  This fall is flying by and I can't say that I've been super crafty either.
I have been trying to clear some of the clutter around the house so I'll let that be my excuse for not being as creative.

Last evening after all the kids had finished their trick or treating at my door ...and my own daughter and her friends left for the bar dressed as the Trailer Park Boys                ( awesome costumes by the way) I sat down to make some cards.

You know when you sit down and all of sudden you have that "don't have a care in the world" feeling - you know what you're doing is a good thing. That's exactly how I felt last night as I worked on my cards.

Here are the creations :-)

I like them all and it's good start to replenishing my stock !

Have a wonderful day,

Hugs, Diane

Fall here already??

Hi everyone,

Incredible that it's September already,  where the heck did summer go?? I have been busy - you know the good kind of busy spending time with friends, working in the garden and even crafting.

I had the most wonderful experience learning to paint from a beautiful artist Annie Lockhart. Her work is so inspiring and her personality was incredible!! Just a blessing of a woman !!. You can find her work here at Annie Lockhart Soulful Paintings

We spent two days painting from our soul- amazing !!. I was so pleased with the two pieces I completed. They are bright and full of colour.

I've always wanted to be an artist so in many ways this was a dream come true for me because I left the workshop feeling like artist :-)

These are my two pieces which I still need to offically title.

I'm thinking of calling this one "Meadows"

and this one "Happiness"

In addition to painting I also completed a repurpose of a wood tray that I snagged for $2.00. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Duck Egg Blue then used Old White to paint the grain sack lines and stencil the word Vintage. I was super excited to use my Vintage stencil. I just recently purchased it in a set from Funky Junk Interiors. The stencil is so sturdy and nice to use. I'll be using it again ..and again... and again for sure :-)

I love the finished look of my tray- so pretty!

In just a couple of weeks I'll be hanging with some girlfriends for our Fall crafting weekend.
Woo hoo!! We all have quilts that we'll be working on. I can't think of a better way to start the fall.

Have a wonderful day !

Hugs, Diane

Back from Vacation !

I am back from vacation and what a relaxing vacation it was!  Went out west to visit my brother and SIL in Saskatchewan.  It was incredible, we painted their kitchen cupboards with ASCP in Old White. It brightened up their space beautifully. We also worked on a wood porch for them to sit out on.  I read a few books - hardly find time to do that when I'm home so to have read three books while there  was so nurturing for me.

The prairies are so beautiful if you've never been please make it a point to go there just to see the beauty of the land in such a stunning yet simple setting.

The gorgeous purple of the flax fields !!

We went to Montana for a few days to sight see and shop at some of the quilt shops. We also went to Alberta to shop at my favourite quilt shop Crazi Quilters Lair - love Randi, Elaine and Dennis - the sweetest people you will meet!

My SIL has turned her life around incredibly by losing weight through eating and exercising (over a 100 lbs!!!!!). I'm so proud and inspired by what she's done.  She spent our vacation coaching me on how to make better food choices and care more about what I eat. I came home 8 lbs lighter ..I know eh back from vacation lighter than when I left :-) It's exactly what I needed to get on a better track health path.

I have actually been crafting too, certainly not as much as usual however it is summertime so I like to be outside in the gardens if I can.

So I thought I'd share a couple of the art journal page that I've completed.

This one was done using Dyllusions acrylic paint - lovely to use! I then just added layers of different colours and patterns, added the Donna Downey Poppy stencil and few more layers of paint and Viva Cream. I'm pleased with the finished look.

This page was done using a Prima stamp for the girl's face, then adding extra lines of hair across both pages.  I used some watercolours paints, Dyllusion sprays, H2O's for the hair and of course my trusty black and white markers for lines and highlights. The verse is from Unity. I really like this one with all the bright colours. It just makes me happy :-)

I'm headed outside to work in the yard. It's beautiful and sunny so I love to enjoy as much of it as possible!

Have a wonderful Sunday !!!
Hugs,
Diane 

Rain, Rain go away....

Oh my goodness we have had a lot of rain of late. It's great for the grass and plants, however not so good for enjoying the summer fun. Heck, even my pool is flooded - yep later I have to go out and drain some water off the pool !

The other good thing about the rain is that I don't feel guilty about not being outside so I can craft with complete contentment (tee hee)

I completed a journal page last night that I had started at my last art journal class. It was done using Dylusion paints, modelling paste, liquid glass, washi tape, inktense blocks and a pen. Its different than my normal style, as it has a little "edge" to it however I really like it.

This is the card I made for my niece's graduation from university in nursing. I love the simplicity and colours.  The message says it all

 This card was used for a Father's day card- fun and manly :-)

I'm planning to spend some time quilting today - woohoo !! Super excited. I leave this week to visit my brother and SIL in Saskatchewan - so very excited to spend some time with them. There's an awesome quilt shop in Medicine Hat - Crazi Qult Lair that we'll head to. The shop owners are an absolute delight and I can hardly wait to top up my fabric ( like I need any at all).
We'll also head to Montana for a few days to check out the quilt shops there as well.

Hope you have a wonderful day filled with time with family and of course crafting :-)

Hugs,
Diane

Summer is here !!

I can't get over where the time flies. Like seriously, it's summer already. In just over a week I'll be flying out west to visit my brother and sister in law. I can hardly wait !!!

I've been busy working on some sewing, cards, chalk painting, and of course gardening :-)

Here are some of my latest projects.

I bought this chair at the Thrift Shop for $8

gave it a coat of Annie Sloan "Duck Egg Blue "  (my fav!) and changed out the cushion fabric with a soft beige material. I love the finished look. 

I had this little oval stool I had bought, it was an golden pine colour. A coat of ASCP in Duck Egg Blue, add a stencil and it looks so much more pretty. I have to tell you I did this little stool just so the kitty's could sit on it and look out the window. Hey what can I say they deserve pretty things too....

I also completed a couple of cards recently. Love this Sarah Kay stamp!! She looks so sweet with her basket of flowers.I coloured the card with my Copic markers.

 Another card done with Copics. I tend to pretty much colour with Copics. I do have watercolours and pencil crayons so I really should make a concerted effort to stretch out of my comfort level.

This week is a busy week filled with many wonderful events. My daughter has her college graduation from Interior Design. She has decided to return to college to study Horticulture as a complementing program to her Design. That means she can help me with designs both inside and out tee hee.... I also have my Copic Colouring class and Art Journal Class at my local craft Studio. 

This is gonna be a great week !!!!

Hope your week is filled with all the things you love !

Hugs,
Diane

Shelf Upcycle!!

So this was a very fun project for me. A friend's son purchased his first home. As they were cleaning it up to move his stuff in they came across this old shelf- gotta love the heart cut out!!

They were going to toss it out, however that little upcycler in me just didn't think that was necessary. Soo...out came the chalk paint for a little refresh in a lovely shade of Graphite. I had also decided to trim down the side curves so it wasn't quite so feminine looking in the "guy house ".

Okay now how to get rid of the heart, well a trip to my local Home Depot solved that - some aluminum from HVAC aisle held in place with upholstery tacks.

So what was once a country treasure ...

has been turned into a manly more industrial look !!

As I said this was so much fun for me. I hope you enjoyed it too !

Have a wonderful weekend!

Diane