Life is sweet.....

....so I wrote everyone's name on a little strip of paper that commented on the last post and then I threw them all down on the ground for Ozzy to pick...before he could grab one, Lita grabbed one and took off running....then Ozzy grabbed one and ran the other direction...Lita grabbed "Joanna" and Ozzy grabbed "Anita". And that's the "surprise give away" ~ you both win a pair of these awesome "Starry Starry Night" earrings!!! Congratulations!!! They'll be shipped out tomorrow! I hope you love them and perhaps, just perhaps, you'll get them in time for New Year's Eve! Hooray!!!!!I think Lita was feeling a little jealous because I'm always taking pictures of Ozzy and posting them on my blog, so here's a picture of her standing in the snow {that's been on the ground for over a week now!}. She is such a sweet little dog. But, she's not very nice to Ozzy and I guess that's why I'm always treating him a little "special".Well, I finally ventured out in the snow yesterday. My Louisiana blood [and driving skills] has kept me confined to my house since Friday before last! I just went to deliver a few Christmas gifts and then down to the farm to bring all my leftovers, after cleaning out the fridge. Boy, were those chickens, geese & rabbits glad to see me! They all came running as soon as I pulled up!And did you know that rabbits like spaghetti! And old "Tom Turkey" was running around with all the others ~ thank goodness for Bill & MaryAnn, he lived to see yet another holiday season pass him by! And it's the little things like that, that keep me smiling :)Life is sweet!!! enjoy it to the fullest!

♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone!! We are headed over to some dear friends' house this evening for a traditional Christmas dinner, with all the trimmings and a "White Elephant" gift swap {which I can't wait to participate in ~ I love stuff like that}. I still haven't decided just what I want to bring as my gift. I can't bring jewelry, because that would just be way to obvious coming from me. I'm going to bring something that will be a total surprise and that everyone will want! I'll take pictures, of course, and post them here later this week. I just hope I end up with something cool and useful! I remember the worst thing I ever got for Christmas were these huge red panties that my grandmother gave me! The worst part was, I opened them in front of the whole family, including all of my cousins, and everyone just cracked up laughing. I don't know why she thought I was a size 14 when I was "age 14". They were probably even too big for her! Now that I look back on it, it was rather funny. I could have used those panties as a jumper! Hee hee ~ what's your most awful {but funny now} gift you've ever gotten?? Share here by leaving a comment. And, of course, all that leave comments will automatically be in the drawing for these gorgeous earrings:appropriately named "Starry, Starry Night" ~ they are just gorgeous!!! I know you will love them! I'm giving them as gifts to a few of my dear, dear friends, as well. Ozzy will pick the winner Sunday. Good luck!!

Well, I gotta run for now ~ I have things to prepare, gifts to wrap and snow to shovel! Have a wonderful, wonderful Christmas everyone!! And thank you again, from the bottom of my heart, for being so awesome and always reading my ramblings...
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags! "It came without packages, boxes or bags!" And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. "Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!" ~ The Grinch

Happy Winter!

Wow! I can't believe it's the first day of winter! Of course, if you look out my windows, you can believe it! The snow come in Thursday and it's still here! My driveway is a slippery slope. Ozzy & Lita had a ball! It didn't take them long to figure out that the snow was edible and then they were eating & licking it like it was a treat {which, in all actuality, it is}. So, if you want to see all of my "snowy pictures", you can see them all on "flickr". It's supposed to "warm up" today to a balmy 46 so, hopefully, it will melt some of the ice on the road and my mail will be delivered! I haven't had any mail since Thursday and I know I have a big stack of Christmas Cards awaiting! I love getting Christmas cards, seeing all the little kids, parents and pets. Not to mention the newsletters from those I only hear from once a year. To me, that's the best part of Christmas ~ the "catching up" ~ life goes by so fast that sometimes we don't even realize how long it has been when certain things happen in our lives ~ like this:it's a picture of me, on my brother-in-laws boat ~ taken in June of 1987! Twenty-two years ago! TWENTY-TWO years!!! Oh my goodness, I remember this day and how much fun we had. I can't believe it's been that long. I guess the good thing about being "snowed in", is that it's given me a chance to look through a bunch of old pictures and reminisce.

So {without being to philosophical} ~ wherever you are and whatever you're doing when you read this post, stop for one minute and be thankful for the winter and the people you love in your life. And then see if you can think of something from long ago that made you happy and then, you'll smile :)

Happy Winter everybody!!! Don't forget to check back on Christmas Eve for a super surprise give-away! Enjoy your day!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else." ~ Emily Dickinson

Life is a great big bundle of little things....

Thanks so much everybody!!! All of the packages are in the mail! And remember, you still have until midnight Thursday [December 17th] to purchase something and have it in time for Christmas {U.S.A}. And I have to share this awesome little print I just ordered from my dear friend Sandy ~ she's so talented!After Friday [December 18th], I'll be on vacation from all of my internet shops {shipping stuff, that is}. Of course, you can still purchase things, but they won't be shipped out until after December 26th. I'm looking forward to a little R&R and enjoying the holidays. I did get my tree up and it's gorgeous:I love getting out all of the boxes of decorations and looking at everything. I have all of the ornaments from when I was a little girl ~ my Mom stopped putting up a tree several years ago, so she gave the ornaments to me. My favorite ones are these:

Raggedy Ann & Andy! I love them. How can you not smile looking at those little faces. So, I think I may just have the perfect tree! Now it just needs some presents underneath it.....speaking of presents, Tamara won the awesome little personalized necklace from last week's post! Congratulations Tamara!!!!! Ozzy picked your name up and took off running with it. He sends his kisses your way!!!! I'll have this made up and on it's way to you in two shakes of a lamb's tail!

So Christmas Eve I'm going to have a surprise give away! Just comment on this post and I'll announce the winner and the surprise on Christmas Eve! I promise you'll love it!!!

Welp, I gotta run for now peeps ~ we are going over to some friends to watch the season finale of "Dexter"! I love it!!!
Have a wonderful evening!

♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"Consider the postage stamp, my son. It secures success through its ability to stick to one thing till it gets there." ~ Josh Billings

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

...so why not stay in and shop on the internet! I've already bought a few little goodies this morning myself! Today I was supposed to have my jewelry for sale at the "Whimsical Art Sale" here in Brevard. But, I'm still not feeling 100% and it was 20 degrees this morning when I woke up. So, I decided I should just stay home and make some things for the shop and have a weekend sale!! How about that!! Everything in my Etsy shop is 20% off until midnight Monday, December 14th! I'll refund the discount through PayPal, after your purchase and payment is made. Plus, I have "free shipping" and 15% off in my ArtFire Shop. So stay in your PJ's, drink lots of hot cocoa and shop from the warmth of your own home! Sounds good to me!!

Click on the warm, cozy fire and start shopping now!I just got in a whole bunch of new faceted crystals! They are gorgeous! These are some earrings I made with the "Tourmaline Purple" ones. I named them "Purple Harem". They are stunning! And I just had so share this picture of Ozzy ~ looking up from his bowl of Egg Nog! Yes, Egg Nog! He loves that stuff! He only gets about a tablespoon, so he's getting just enough. And he remembers it from year to year. As soon as I see it in the store, I bring it home and he can always smell it through the bag! It's so nice to have things to look forward to! And I'm looking forward to tomorrow, when I'll be having a small dinner party with friends who are coming to help me decorate the Christmas Tree! Have a great weekend everybody!!

♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"It is no use to wait for your ship to come in, unless you have sent one out." ~ Belgian Proverb

P.S. don't forget ~ you still have time to leave a comment and enter the drawing for this awesome little personalized necklace that I'll be giving away Monday!

Oh Happy Day.....

....good morning! It's a perfect day for decorating! I just wanted to pop in and say hello and thank everybody for their comments on my last post. Don't forget, the drawing is Monday for the personalized necklace, so if you haven't yet, please do leave a comment here for a chance to win! And, there is still "free shipping" in my ArtFire Shop and you can shop up until midnight, December 17th and still get your package in time for Christmas gift giving. And I can ship things wherever you want, with a precious little handmade box and gift tag, like these:these were all shipped off yesterday to their happy new homes!

Have a most wonderful day everybody! I'm off to do some dusting before I drag out the decorations. I can't have baby Jesus sitting on a dirt pile, now can I!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

P.S. So I bought this book @ the Library Book Sale and it's titled "The Quotable Woman" [An Encyclopedia of Useful Quotations] ~ and some of them are just hilarious, like this:

"If I didn't start painting, I would have raised chickens" ~ Grandma Moses

It's beginning to look a lot like....

...winter! It's just so strange this year! I'm usually in the full "Christmas" mode by now, but I feel like I'm still stuck in "Thanksgiving"! I can't believe Christmas is just under three weeks away! We don't even have our tree yet.....and I'm not sure when [or if] we are going to get one. It sure seems as though I've been a busy little bee lately, but nothing is getting accomplished. I did have an awesome day with Anne yesterday, though! We went to "The Big Crafty" in Asheville and I was going to get a jump start on my Christmas shopping. I got a few little things, but still wasn't in the Christmas shopping mode quite yet. But, we did freeze our butts off and had an awesome lunch @ Salsas! The fish tacos were superb and the "Ginger Hibiscus Tea" is to die for! So all in all, it was a perfect day!And, I've been busy in the studio, making lots of new things ~ including these awesome little personalized necklaces! They are so cute! Seems as though the "personalization" things are really "in" right now, so I decided to have something to offer. Let me know what you think!! Actually, one of these will be the next "freebie" ~ all you have to do to win one is comment on this blog post. Ozzy will be picking the winner next Monday (December 14th). And please excuse the extra steps you have to take to leave a comment. Some "viagra" site hacked into my comments section and left pages of comments on the last post, so now I had to add "spam security" to it. As usual, the good suffer for the bad. So good luck in the drawing!!!!

Welp, I gotta run for now ~ I have lots of things to make and get off in the mail, plus I've got lots of things to make for the 'Whimsical Art Sale" Saturday! If you live close, please come out and see me. Like last year, I'll have a nice big heater and a big pot of "Chicken & Sausage Gumbo" to share! Have a great week everybody!!!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve." ~ Joseph Joubert

Giant Beers, Mariachi & Cheese Dip....

...dinner last night, but it don't get much better than this....

..we went on a drive yesterday up to a place called "Garden of the Gods" ~ it was gorgeous! Look how tiny Wayne looks compared to these massive rocks. And today it's cloudy and hazy, so I'm glad I'm staying in. Orders are rolling in for Christmas ~ don't forget, today is the last day for "free shipping". Have a wonderful weekend!!!

♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"I can live for two months on a good compliment." ~ Mark Twain

Happy December!!

Hey everybody!!! Happy December! First off, I want to congratulate Jen!!! She won the awesome earrings from my last post ~yay!!! And then, I want to congratulate Kay! She won the $50 Gift Certificate just by shopping with her "Thanksgiving" discount! Yay!! Congratulations to both of you and "thank you" to all that left comments on my blog, and shopped with your "Thanksgiving" discount. Ya'll are the best!! And this week you can still get "free shipping" until midnight Friday, in both my Etsy shop and ArtFire shop. You still have until December 18th to have gifts shipped out for Christmas.Even though it's not looking a lot like "Christmas" yet, it certainly is starting to look a lot like "Winter" ~ I took this picture from my front porch....makes me want a cup of hot chocolate! And I have been fighting a nasty cold, but I think I'm on the upside of it now.

I'm off to make some new things!!! Stay warm & toasty!!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"The things which our friends do with and for us, form a portion of our lives; for they strengthen and advance our personality." ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe