Out with the Old...

in with new! ... new possiblities... new ideas... a new administration...a chance to start fresh and learn from past mistakes. I hope you have a safe and FANTASTIC New Years Eve!!! Break out the fancy Dinnerware!!! Eat fantastic food!!! Laugh lots!!! Kiss your loved ones!!! Peace out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEcLYw3Sb-4

xoxo Inge

"Better get to livin"

That's what Dolly says! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-H5Nr25pLU
I think I'm addicted to youtube lately... I guess there could be worse things to be addicted to! Back to work for me tomorrow... I will be dropping off some resumes and applications before work... wish me luck! ...but until I find something new, I will remember the Dolly Parton video and not dwell on the negative... life is just too short to waste on crap!
Have a good Monday and don't forget to laugh out loud!
xoxo, Inge

My nephew is a member of a band in Switzerland named "Bye Shelley". They are considered hard rock over there which I think is funny compared to what us Americans call hard rock. Check them out...http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=197552480/ My nephew is the cute one with the dark curly hair... he goes by the name Chew but we call him Julian.

I'm sitting in Starbucks

using my laptop... my son would be so proud! It is sooo peaceful here and the patrons are clean and quiet! I bought my Starbucks coffee card and signed up to use the in store wifi. I brought some job applications with me... one of them Barnes and Noble Bookstore... I know we are in a recession and jobs are hard to find, but if I don't take a chance I definitely will not get out of my present job, and frankly that environment has become too toxic for me to be in. The two pictures above are typical customers I have to wait on daily! I don't want to whine about the place I work... believe me, I have already done enough of that! Now it's time to take action.. I read somewhere, that if I don't like the the script, I need to change the play! ( I think it was a quote from Leo Buscaglia...if you never heard of him, check out the website www.buscaglia.com/) He is quite inspirational! I decided, I'm headed for Broadway baby!

I better get going with the apps, I could blah, blah all day.

Hope you survived Christmas and got everything you wanted!

Did you laugh outloud today... no? What are you waiting for???

xoxo Inge

Stop here first Santa!

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanuka, Happy Kwanza, did I miss anyone? Hope not ! Hope you get your hearts desire!

Don't forget to laugh outloud!!!!

xoxo Inge and family

I'm feeling festive so...

I decided to do something different today... and added some Christmas joy to my hairdo and went to work. My customers were speechless. What do you think?

I decided to show off

my new antlers to my doggie friends! Don't tell mom I know how to blog ...

Happy Sunday!

woof! Charlie

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

The temps here are absolutely FREEZING! 6 degree below zero in Chester! What the...? Chico is hovering around 22 degrees at night and up the hill in Paradise just 14 miles from my front door... SNOW! I worked at the antique shop today and kept my finger crossed if it did snow it wouldn't stick... I don't have chains and don't know how to put them on if I did. When I drove up this morning there was left over snow on the ground from 2 days ago and by 3 o'clock the rain tried it's best to turn to snow but could only pull off slush... whew! I must admit though I secretly was hoping to see some good sized flakes... I rarely get to see it... infact last February

(when I moved in my booth) was the first time I drove in snow in over 20 years.

The picture of Cooper and Olive are from the Christmas party we went to at John's work. He works as a chef at a retirement home and management thought it would be fun for the residents and staff to include pets. We had a blast... as you can see they dressed for the occasion... Cooper decided on an elf costume and Olive wore her pink party dress and leopard coat... I have a matching coat but I didn't get into the picture this time. Charlie got one of his Christmas presents early... a comfy bed. Doesn't he look content?

Have a fun day tomorrow and don't forget to laugh out loud!

xoxo Inge

I admit it...

I'm a crazy about my doggies... ok, all doggies... well animals in general. I love those four legged babies, birdies, and throw in some fish and reptiles... actually I can't hug fish and reptiles... comfortably anyways... but I still love em! and will go out of my way to rescue anyone one of these creatures when needed. When I was a kid, I didn't like dolls... still don't... they give me the creeps... so I put clothes on my stuffed animals and continue to do so today.

I am always looking for accessories for my Chihuahuas... leashes, collars, harnesses, clothes... and I found a great online shop that makes handmade leashes, collars, and harnesses. They are so fun and cute! Olive, my Chihuahua wants one in every color... she is such a fashionista!

The owners at http://www.thecoolpuppy.com/ / began their love affair with pooches with a puppy named Lili Sushi... she was a Valentines Day present... then six months ago they decided to leave their corporate jobs and created "Cool Puppy". All their products come from their dedication and love for pets. You can also find them at www.thecoolpuppy.etsy.com/

I know the holidays can be hectic... and this year money is tight, but their doggie accessories are so unique and reasonably priced you can afford to buy a few for you four legged friends. I think Olive will look great in a pink collar.

I better get to bed... hope you have a restful sleep... If you are living somewhere that is going to freeze tonight (like Northern California) don't forget to bring your pets inside they need a warm place to sleep too!

xoxo, Inge

It's all about the Bunnies!

Have you ever heard of a bunvention? Neither did I until the other day I was left a lovely comment from Qi Papers... owner of two adorable rabbits, Sydney and Tyler... bunnies like to chew things to keep their teeth trimmed... apparently these bunnies did not like how their chew sticks were stored so they complained to management and a new storage place was built. The sticks are secured to a box turned on it's side and filled with hay so the bunnies can gnaw on the sticks without them rolling around the floor. Sheer genius! If you live with bunnies you might want to try this idea!

Well, it seems that d. moll owner of www.qipapers.etsy.com/ is an acupuncturist, something I highly recommend. A few years ago I entered perimenapause and I had a great deal of medical issues associated with it and acupuncture was the only method that helped me. I also had a sprained my left knee while sitting crossed legged for an hour during mediatation (don't ask) and could not walk until I went to the acupuncturist and I literally walked out of their office! I have many other stories from other people saved by Chinese medicine and acupuncture... so if you need medical help and have tried everything else, try acupuncture.

d.moll also creates lovely Japanese style prints called Moku Hanga design. The picture you see is based on her two rabbits, Tyler (on the right) and Sydney, who are rescued English Spots. This print used two blocks, two colors, has a square, vermillion, studio stamp in upper right and is signed in the margin. It is printed on Echizen Kozo natural, a high quality handmade Japanese paper. It is matted using archival materials. You may choose mat color black, maroon, dark blue or cream. Image is 7 by 5 inches, mat outer dimensions are 10 by 8 inches, inner window is 6 3/4 by 4 3/4 inches, and fits into a 10 by 8 inch frame. She also has many other prints to choose from... a perfect Christmas gift!

Stop by her blog http://theqipapers.blogspot.com/ and her etsy store www.qipapers.etsy.com/to see what her bunnies are up to.

Have a fun day and don't forget to laugh out loud!

xoxo Inge

It's beginning to look alot like

Christmas Craft Faires!

I am having a great time at the Diva Designs Annual Christmas Fair! Terry's house is gorgeous and soooo Christmasy! Is Christmasy a word?... well it is now! There are soooo many terrific Christmas decorations I could go hog wild with my credit card... good thing it's sitting in a frozen cup of water in my freezer... I have zero will power and freezing my cc card prevents me from using it... by the time it defrosts ... (that's the secret)... my euphorea has passed and I don't have a huge cc bill to contend with at the end of the month. I did budget some money to spend on Christmas though so I do not completely deny myself some goodies.

The weather is the only party pooper.... fog and lot's of it! It was so foggy this morning visiblity was only half a block. We haven't had any fog this year... I swear it waited for the Christmas

Fair! My booth is outside and I do have a gazebo tent but everything was wet when I came back this morning... I did pack up my things and brought them home though because the fog was forming before I left last night... I noticed some of my collage pieces were curling... not good... because it was so damp. Well, now I know... collage is not compatible with damp weather.

The pictures are of the inside Terry's home and my booth... I have not figured out how to label each of my pictures with the blogger page... any advice is greatly appreciated, in case they are any computer experts out there... check out the handmade stuffed bears and how about the frog ballerinas! oh my goddess, I am crazy about stuffed animals and when they are wearing clothes... forget about it! ... and I almost forgot... I am selling some of my creations! Yay! I am always self conscious when I sell my work when I compare it to the other artists and crafters.

Well, tomorrow is another day at the Christmas fair, I hope the fog goes away! I still cannot warm up my feet!

Have a fun Sunday and don't forget to laugh out loud... I did today... there are some very funny people at this fair!

xoxo Inge

I had no idea how many

wonderful and interesting people I would meet via the internet when I purchased my laptop a little over a year ago. I have come a long way since then, starting out selling on eBay, then etsy, then starting a blog last spring. I receive many kind and encouraging comments on my blog and I want to say thank you to all!


A few days ago a poet read my blog and left a comment, as usual I checked out her blog and discovered she is a poet as well as a "green" artist... like me...except I'm not a poet. I read her poetry and really liked it... soooo I thought I would share her prose with you. Here is the first one :



dusk


turn stones scurry

grey white movement

against grey white pebbles


the shush of the sea


the skirr of stones


turned by probing beaks





Inspired largely by the lovely bird,


the turnstone, which we saw on the coast at Oban, and partly by this post on obscure words on Write Anything
Crafted by Crafty Green Poet at 6:33 AM
Thinking about: birds, nature diary, poetry, Scotland





Here's another:


Frog, Waving



The last wild golden frog


waves* from its rock


to attract a mate.





The biologist stops


and picks it up. She wishes


she could leave it here,





remembers the care needed


years ago to avoid crushing frogs


with every step along this river





but now a deadly fungus advances, will reach this valley soon


and the frogs have no chance.





The biologist adds the frog


to her collection and walks down


the now less golden hill.





In the frog hospital


the last golden frogs in the world


sit in cages and wave.





*the male golden frog waves a front leg to attract a mate and to warn off other males. 2008 is the International Year of the Frog. Many species of frogs and toads around the world are threatened with extinction. You can read more about the problem and how you can help save the species concerned at Amphibian Ark (and follow the other links in the post too).



Crafted by Crafty Green Poet at 6:23 AM
Thinking about: extinctions, poetry





Juliet Wilson is based in Edinburgh, Scotland. She blogs at Crafty Green Poet, which features her poetry and ideas for reusing waste materials in craft items that are useful rather than works of art.





"The focus in my crafts is to reuse materials in practical ways that hopefully inspire people to think about how they can reuse their everyday waste. An example is: http://craftygreenpoet.blogspot.com/2008/11/recycled-diary.html - recycled diary I also like to reuse materials to make collages to publicuse my blog or to use as postcards, here is a recent example: http://craftygreenpoet.blogspot.com/2008/10/collage-for-japanese-inn.html I also sometimes make bags from scrap materials, here is an example:http://craftygreenpoet.blogspot.com/2005/09/gift-bags.html Of course at this time of year I'm starting to make Christmas cards from reused materials:http://craftygreenpoet.blogspot.com/2008/11/first-christmas-cards-2008.html

Thank you Juliet for sharing your beautiful and thoughtful poetry with us.



Oops I have to run....

xoxo Inge

Five days and counting

until the Diva Designs Annual Christmas Fair. I have been working like a six foot elf making what I hope are enough treasures to sell at the show this coming weekend. I did find time to do some house cleaning and play with my furbabies... I am so thankful to my hubby for taking care of most of the chores including feeding me. I am so lucky to have found him... it only took three tries to get a terrific husband!... hee hee! I work the next three days and I just do not have any time to work on my crafts those days, so I only have Thursday left and I need to price, take inventory, pack... wait I cannot think about that now I am getting nervous.

Here are some photos of some of the items I will sell. The bird motiffs are refrigerator magnets, and gift tags, the plates are cookie and cupcake plates... in case you were wondering...

Hope you had a great holiday weekend spending time with those you love, and doing things that you enjoy!
Don't forget to laugh out loud at work tomorrow... it makes people wonder what you're doing.

Inge