Memorial Weekend - Green Bay (Part 2)

I've been back from Green Bay for a couple of days now, took a couple of days to recover from that 10-hour car ride! If I didn't mention it in Part 1, the whole reason we went to Green Bay was to celebrate my husband's grandmother who turned 100. She amazingly still lives on her own with a little help from her daughters! Here's a great shot of her smiling down on William, her Great-Great Grandson who was just born 2 weeks ago.

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The inset picture is from the invitation and was taken when Grandma was a teenager. I just love old family photographs. We all agreed, that change the hair to a more contemporary style and one of our nieces, Lynn, is the spitting image of Grandma! Below is a Five-Generation photo, pretty cool, huh?

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Memorial Weekend - Green Bay (Part 1)

As a lot of you know, I'm away from home right now. My husband and I left for the memorial weekend to travel to Green Bay to help celebrate his grandmother's 100th birthday! (100!!!That still amazes me!) That celebration is today, but here are a couple of pics thus far.

Here's the love of my life in front of the Manistique lighthouse, in Manistique, MI (the upper pennisula). He was such a good sport pulling off the road everytime I asked to take shots of lighthouses and the Mackinaw Bridge along the way. I can't wait to get back home and add some of these great shots to my lighthouse series in my Etsy shop!

Here I am holding my new grandnephew, he's only two weeks old and SO adorable!!! His mom & dad made sure to put him in his little hand-crocheted converses that I got for him from fellow Etsian, ktpatino. They're almost as cute as he is!

Wordless Wednesday - A Little Marge Wisdom

Item of the Day - Cool Car Decals

Custom Car Decals with your Shop Name

by Monkey Threads

I was thrilled this week when I peeked into the shop of MonkeyThreads to find these cool, custom car decals. They come personalized in your choice of font, with your shop's URL address & you get two per order (One for each side of the car)! I'm pretty sure they can be considered a tax write off, too. I can't wait to plaster them on my car and advertise H20works everywhere I go!

Super Star Blog Candy

Wanna Win All This?

Joy Kaneohe has this great blog giveaway going on in her blog A Place to Be Me. May 31st some lucky person is going to be give this scrapbookers/cardmakers treasure (I hope it's me, I hope it's me!) This all started out because Joy's daughter came home with a Super Star award from school, so she decided in lieu of her goal of reaching 36,000 hits on her blog, she would offer this spectacular giveaway. Way to go Joy!!! For more details, go to her blog A Place To Be Me.

Possible 'The Cobbler' Banner

This is a proof for http://www.thecobbler.artfire.com/

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Happy Mother's Day!

Here are the two that have brought smiles to my face & laughter to my days for the past two decades. These are my two sons Michael (almost 20) & Nicholas (just turned 17).

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Thank you God for entrusting me with these two beautiful souls. They have grown into such fine young men and I am so proud of them. Everyday I look forward to my morning hugs, the constant laughter & the closeness we share as a family. I know that in the future they will be such good husbands and fathers, then and only then, will they understand the joy that they bring to my life.

Friday Featured Artist - Amanda (aka. Ulixis)

I had the good fortune to be featured a couple of weeks ago in myHandmade Resistry.com's More Meaningful Gifts group. I was also asked to pose a challenge, and being inspired by Earth Day, my challenge to the group was to use something from nature or something recycled to create something new and interesting. I'm proud to say that Amanda (aka. Ulixis, Uli, Ulimanda) won the contest. Her submission was this really cool recycled notebook that she sells in her Etsy shop.

I've come to know Amanda really well. She is this uber-smart chick, who will go way out of her way to help someone out. If she doesn't have the answer, she'll keep digging until she figures it out for you. She was the perfect choice to moderate MyHandmadeRegistry's Ningcompoop Group, because she is always willing to share her knowledge with us! Her blog is one of my favorites to keep up with. This is where you really get a good sense of who Amanda really is as her personality just shines in every post she writes.

Uli was gracious enough to answer a few questions for me:

1. Tell me a little about yourself, what makes you so special?

I've been creative my whole life - when asked in grade 2 what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said "artist" instead of "teacher" like all the other little girls!

During high school though, 3 great loves came into my life, pushing crafting aside. These were math, science and Pat, my partner (almost 8 years together now! And I know "partner" sounds ridiculous, but after so long, "boy friend" just doesn't seem appropriate). I am continuing my education in science (I'm currently working on my Master's in Medical Sciences) but after a few years, the creative itch returned. Some online tutorials got me started, and a friend pointed me towards Etsy. I've only been selling on Etsy for a little over a year and a half now, but during that time I have fallen in love with the wonderful community and garnered a lot of great advice from somewell-established artists and new-found friends.

While "scientist" and "artist" go a long way to introducing you to who I am, there are many other categories I fall under. I'm also a proud Canadian, a hick (I grew up in the middle of nowhere Northern Ontario), an avid reader, a pretty darn good cook (I love experimenting in the kitchen - it's like a combination of science and crafting!), a mentor, a teacher's assistant, a gardener (if I had a garden that is), an animal lover, an abuser of brackets and much more.

2. What's some of the best advice you ever received?

Life - "Just relax and breath." Etsy - "List something every day (or almost)."

3. When's your birthday, and what's on your birthday wishlist?

My birthday is August 21 and I want: a new camera (a "real" one that requires manual adjustments and lenses and stuff... :D), a garlic press, a Kitchenaid mixer (not going to happen unfortunately), and pretty much everything in my Etsy favourites...

4. What is your most cherished handmade item?

A couple of blankets my grandma knit for me.

5. Where can you be found besides Etsy?

• Twitter: http://twitter.com/Ulixis
• blog: http://ulixis.blogspot.com/
• MHR: http://www.myhandmaderegistry.com/profile/Amanda
• Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21386656@N02/
• Facebook (not that I've been updating it): http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Hamilton-ON/Ulixis-Crafts/56755009850?ref=ts

Wanna know what Amanda's prize was for winning my challenge? She got her choice of any greeting card or ACEO from my Etsy shop and she chose this Blue Leaves Whirlpool ACEO.

Wordless Wednesday

Will You Be My 100th Sale?

I can hardly believe it, but it's true! I'm almost at 100 sales! To offer my appreciation, I want to offer to my 100th sale, $20 in shop credit to be used for anything you want in my shop. In addition, I will do a feature on the winning shop right here on my blog. Thanks to all of you who have made this possible! ♥♥♥ Love, Kat ♥♥♥