Hello??? Anyone Home?

Wow it has been so long since I have posted. I would love to say I have been busy but I haven't, not really. I think I just needed a little break to get my life/family/home back in some kind of semblance of order. 
I stopped making crafts to sell and it is such a relief. I feel like it is a huge burden lifted off my shoulders.

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Like a nice cold refreshing drink on a hot summer day......

My motto!!!!!!!!!!!!

 So I really have missed everyone and hope that all is well in blogland. I see there have been some changes to blogger. Doesn't seem to be anything serious so just another "go with the flow".

I have been rearranging rooms. Moved my craft room upstairs, the game room down stairs. The game room is set up with the exercise equipment and all the extras so makes it much more convenient to have it on the first floor.

My son comes home from college next Friday so there will need to be some serious organizing again. That task is so worth it though. I love having my kid home. It is going to be a great summer. I miss him and I feel like I have been so busy working a full time job and doing crafts for sale that I have missed the past two years. Again, heavy sigh.

So I hope to show up more often, I do pop in often to at least catch up on your lives, so maybe I will make time to share some of mine.
Have a great weekend.
Kat

Good evening Everyone

Well it has been a beautiful day and I am still decluttering this house. That is the best part about winter. I am trying to hurry and get it mostly done before the warmer days arrive. I have so much that I need to do out on the deck. Just can't do it with temps below freezing. I don't know about you but it is a little difficult to sand when you are hugging the sander for heat. :)
I have been trying to complete projects and clean the craft room this weekend. It makes me so happy, even if I am just giving the extra supplies, fabric, patterns, books and such away.

Last summer we had some horrible high wind/mini tornadoes and I posted pictures of the wooden swing my dad had made me about 17 years ago. It blew down. So after it was taken all apart I saved the boards. In case I haven't mentioned it in the past we would like to move to Bath Maine. Traveled around southern Maine last summer checking out the different areas to find a great place to move. Well Bath was the place. Since we still have a college student in the house moving soon is not an option. I made this room to be my "Bath Maine". I am truly so happy with how this room is coming out it is so bright and cheery. I used one of the boards from the swing to make this sign. If you look at it close you can see the dried moss and such that had grown on it outside. I left it there.

Just a little stool I got for a dollar at the thrift store, I should have remembered to take a picture of it before because it was gross lol. I love it for this room now

A runner I made with just blended whites. I don't know if you can tell but the color part is a fence rail pattern

haha I forgot about these old Good Housing keeping magazines.

So these are just a few of the projects I have done this week or last, really trying to complete and declutter and loving every minute of it.

I hope everyone has a great week.
Kat

Happy leap Year!!!!

Are you organized? Are you decluttered? Do you have time for yourself? Take time for yourself? I so wish I was all of these things. I am more the fly by the seat of my pants. I just can't seem to get anything done lately. Although I feel like I am always doing something. So I thought I would get on here and just ramble around a bit.
I miss everyone.
I hope everyone is doing great.
Kat

Snowflurries in Northern Maine

Oh what a beautiful day. They said we were going to get some snow this weekend so I got prepared. Chicken stew is on, games are out. candles ready just in case. I love snow days.

So pretty

Don't think I will be going anywhere for a little while

Still snowing

There is a rose bush in that pile lol

I stepped off the deck, couldn't find the step, and the snow is up past my knees

The front of my house. HAHA

Making the snow blower looking mighty small.

Where to start, where to start.

Beautiful though

Waking in a Winter Wonderland

I feel like a little kid. I am going out to play/shovel. Guess some of it needs to be cleaned up before the wind starts to blow. That will be very, very bad.
MY SON IS HOME FOR TWO WEEKS.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Kat

I have it figured out.

Well it has been a strange two weeks. I am however keeping up with my Leap List. I have been doing the sorting and organizing, the new projects, and finishing some old. However I am having a bit of a hard time feeling motivated.
So on Friday night I was talking to some ladies and one of them said something that really hit home. She said she used to do all kinds of sewing, woodworking, and the likes. She quit doing it all because she just got tired of all the supplies everywhere.
That was it. That is what is wrong. I have so much just for supplies. So I have decided to sort through it bit by bit and give away all the stuff I don't absolutely think I love.
I LOVE woodworking, sewing next, and hand work too. Needlepoint and handquilting.
I did so good. I went through my craft room closet and took out shelves of fabric. I called my friend and said, "come and get it". She sews a lot more than I do and will use it. I can't even remember why I had bought most of it. I didn't even really like it anymore. So bye-bye. It felt really great. While I had all the fabric out I did find some awesome prim Easter fabric. We whipped up a couple of table runners and some Easter eggs. Any bits left over went to trash.  Seriously though, I took out a body size trash bag full of fabric and didn't blink an eye about it. After sorting through and keeping what I liked, I went through the little bit I kept and pulled out even more. YES!!!
My next clean out will be scrapbooking supplies. I loved it when I did it, but really spending a lot of time on that and then tucking the albums in a drawer or shelf makes absolutely no sense. I am saving the really great paper and such, making some cards and then giving the rest of that away too.
I am so happy about this. All the supplies are over whelming. Too much to do, too little time.
So I hope everyone has a productive week.
Kat.

Deceiving Dishonest People

For those of you that don't already know... I am not longer selling my creations/gifts at the Works of Heart in Caribou. The owners decided to double the commission rate and then didn't agree with the price increases. I could not afford to make things for free. I am very saddened by this as I have worked really hard for the store for a year. I have given up so much time with my family and friends, which I am so sorry I missed. They currently have about 150 vendors. Out of the 150 my sales were 1/6 of the total for last year. That is a lot of work.
So I go there tonight to pick up the rest of my stuff, at their allowed time. After not agreeing to the rate increase (doubled) I could only pick up my stuff at their convenience. I go in and I see that Sandy is now copying the items that I had been selling there all along. THAT IS JUST WRONG. There is no way any of the vendors can compete with that . She doesn't have to pay a high commission rate. She can keep her prices low.

Maybe that was the plan all along. Ask us how we make things, share all our knowledge so that she can do it her self cheaper. I feel like I have been slapped. What was I thinking, I should have listened to my friends. They told me this is what was going to happen. She knew nothing about any of this before I went there. Nothing about painting or woodworking, or any of it. NOT A CLUE.
I am too nice, and too trusting.
Thanks you my dear friends, and you know who you are, for putting up with all this for the last year. Sorry I didn't listen to you.

I can honestly say I am very happy with my decision, like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I want to craft and create because it is fun, because I love it, because I can do it with my friends and laugh. Because the people that I do it for appreciate it and love me. Anyone that does crafts knows there is not a lot of money in it and so not worth the time to do it as a second job.

When one door closes another one opens. Who knows what my next journey will be.

Hope you all have a great week.

Kathy

GO PATRIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck to both teams. Just hanging out, doing needlepoint, paperwork, banking and watching the superbowl.
What are you doing tonight?
Kat

A Very Sad Day

We went to the shelter about 6 years ago to get a short haired female kitten. We came home with the best long haired, male cat I have ever seen.

All spread out, lounging around. He fit into our family like he had been here forever. I love him. He wanted to be wherever everyone else was.

He thinks he is king. And he is probably right.

Well my heart is so sad, he died today. I don't even know what happened. He was running back and forth, I thought he was chasing a bug. I asked my husband to come and see what he was trying to get and he picked him up from under the chair and about 1 minute later he died. They become such a part of the family. They bring their own personality for sure. I don't even know how old he was. I just know that I am going to miss him terribly.
A very sad heart
Kat

*sigh*

Sunday 2012 Leap List Week 5

Well week 5 is here and I am still chugging along. Thank God for my home friends and my online friends though because I think I could seriously curl up, watch tv and just do nothing. lol
I get so much inspiration from each and every one of you.
1. Finished some prim pouch/bag thingys. Just to hang or bowl them.

2. I made some hearts that Misi had done here. She does a much better job but I had wooden hearts and this was such a great idea to use them.

Tree Decorated for Valentine's Day

Some I made with Jute and some with twine. Just for bowl fillers.

3. I cleaned my son's room. I made the shelf and hung it to hold his VHS Disney tapes. He wants to keep them, so in his room they went. I wonder if he will notice. Hahaha, I bet they will be sent to storage in the attic. I didn't take a picture because I am too lazy to go back upstairs to do so. :)
1. I finished making some flannel coasters for my coffee table. I saw them somewhere and have so much flannel/fabric it was a good way to use some up.

The picture is ugly but they really are nice. Again too lazy to retake. 

1. Oh and thing I am most excited about, and thankful to my friend Sharon for, is getting my quilt backed and the binding on it. I swear I could set and sew 100 quilt tops. I love that part. However the backing part drives me insane. Sharon made it so much easier, and of course we did both of them together, (hers and mine), so was fun.

I am still going to hand quilt around all the stars but the hand stitching I love doing.

Finished primitive Betty's pattern #2. Again love handstitching so this was fun and relaxing.

Made these crochet stars and then left them in the spare room with yarn and instruction. In case company wants to make me some more and leave them there as well. So if you come and spend the night you know where the entertainment is. :)

So that is about it for this week. Can someone tell me how to do a link up thing. I want everyone to share their finished projects. Leap List Link UP.
Would anyone like to do that? I know I am not the only one with unfinished projects.
I hope everyone has such a great week.
Kat.

2012 Leap List Week 4

Week 4 was another busy week. I am so addicted to Pinterest I am not getting as much done as I would like. Also joined the American Legion this fall so that is added to my list of to-dos but so worth it. The people there are great. Life after empty nest syndrome. 

So for my Leap List week 4:

2. Started another needlepoint from Primitive Betty's

2. I made curtains for my spare room. Got this linen like/type fabric at Joann's on clearance but it was perfect for what I wanted and it only cost 12.00 to do both windows. Works for me.....

I haven't figured out how I want to tie them back so .... another week. I used buttons at the top to make the fold. I like them a lot. They hang so nice.

I sorted most of that mess in Ryan's room and you can see I am still alive.... he slept on the sofa. hahaha. I told him he could sleep in the new, bright spare room and he just gave me a funny look. lol I took it he meant no. He is just a tad bit tall to sleep on the sofa but he managed lol.

If you saw my previous post you will know that this was is a major accomplishment in itself. I gave most of it away and some of it will go to the attic in a "small tote". The vhs tapes are waiting for me to get my butt to the basement to make them a shelf to live on. I wish I were rich, I would just go out and buy all the blue rays and hopefully he would let me throw these all away. Oh wellllll...... A shelf it is. IN HIS ROOM.

1. Finished putting up the trim in the bedroom. Put some of the stuff on the walls. It is coming along. I am hoping it will be finished this week. HOPEFULLY!

Paint cans and such still need to come out and this shelf definitely needs some work but I still have lots I want to do in here. It looks so bright and cheery when go in there now. :)

4. I went to Bangor with one of my dear friends and had such a great time. I think making time to spend with my friends is going to be a big priority this year. I miss them. Working full time and always crafting for the store takes up so much of my time. I don't want that to be my whole life though. So that is changing.

4. Brought my son home with me from Bangor on Friday and took him back this morning. It is a 3 hour drive down. Shop for an hour or so, and then 3 hours back. Of course I got stopped for speeding. It is hard when you get off the I95 where you can now drive 75 and then drive 55. Of course I got stopped in a 30 doing ..... (can't say), it just wasn't good lol. They were so nice though, gave me a warning. PHEW!

Well that is about it for this week. If i got nothing more done, other than spending time with my family and friends, it would have  been enough.

I hope you all have a great week.

Kat

I Am A Dead Woman

You all know I have been redecorating my spare room. In a previous post I showed you pictures of the huge mess. Well I packed it up and stuff it all in my son's bedroom because he is away at college. Well tomorrow I have to work all day and then leaving for Bangor after work. Bringing son home for the weekend. Can't say no. But oh my goodness when he sees his room he is going to kill me.
It was really nice knowing you all by the way.

Spilling into the hall. hahahaha

A view of further in, dark but you definitely can get the idea.

I have a meeting at the office so I won't even be able to do any of it during lunch tomorrow. I could at least bag it all up and move it somewhere. Hopefully we will be back early enough on Friday I will be able to do something with it before he needs to sleep in there. hahahaha he can sleep in the newly painted spare room.
I see the humor in it but I am sure he won't.
Have a great night all. Wish me luck.
Katherine Ann... ( I can hear my mom yelling my name right now)

Sunday's 2012 Goals

Well it has been a nasty week for weather, a busy week at work, so not as much done as previously but still got some stuff done.

1. I finished inputting all of my business receipts into a spreadsheet. Getting ready for taxes. Paid bills, balanced the checkbook for the first time in over two months. SHoot me!
1. I finished my first "Primitive Betty's" needlepoint.

I am so happy with this. Thanks for the free pattern Betty. I got it done yesterday and thought "oh I will have to frame it later". Then I remembered today was Sunday and I had to finish my goals. This is seriously working for me.

3. I emptied out the spare bedroom. haha I moved it ALL right across the hall into my son's room. Thank goodness he is at college because there is no going in there right now. It is literally spilling into the hall.
2. I painted the bedroom. I was going to go all white but I had already bought the tan so wanted to do both. I still have to paint the little trim but that will be my finish for next week.

This is the only spot that I have the trim on. I will finish it this week.

3. I cleaned off my kitchen table. haha not sure how long this one will last. Probably a while if I don't go shopping and empty stuff on the table.
Well it has been a little bit productive this week. I need to get back to finishing stuff I already have started. Just gets a little crazy when it is tax season and working full time. Not that I am complaining. I am very thankful I have a job.

I hope you all have a great week.
 Kat

A Cool Old Trunk

I have been working on the spare bedroom. I have this old trunk in there and I had forgotten what the inside looked like lol. So just a few pics. I keep bounce in it to keep it smelling fresh. And bugs out!!