Getting New Ideas for 2011

I spent a few days of Christmas cheer at DD1's house where ten of us mucked in and had a really wonderful time. When we're all together, I love having the opportunity to play cards and Rummikub punctuated with frequent tucking into chocolates and other little sweetmeats.

I think I may have found a way into selling my artwork in London which is chock-full of arty-farty shops. My grand-daughter lives there whilst at university and is going to be my ambassador! I was so excited last night and full of ideas for new products, I couldn't get to sleep. I'll let you know if this takes off.

I put my Etsy shops on vacation till 3 January but sadly I can't do anything with listings in that mode. My to-do list is creeping up already!

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas!!

Little Foodie Snippets

What should you expect if you're invited for zakuski?
Small Russian dishes - probably served with iced vodka.

 What language does the word 'bistro' come from and what does it literally mean?
It is from Russian bystro, meaning 'quick' and used by Russians in Paris during the Napoleonic wars who demanded their food be served quickly "bystro, bystro!"

We all know that Harry's Bar in Venice is famously expensive, and is where the Bellini was first created, but what classic cocktail was first created in Harry's Bar, Paris, in 1921?
The Bloody Mary.

Good for a bit of conversation round the Christmas table!!

Merry and Happy Christmas everyone!

And a Christmas Present for Myself

I've treated myself to a Hungarian goose down duvet - light as a feather (pun not intended) and soooo warm! Just got an email saying that it will arrive tomorrow.

The one I have is a feather and down mixture but although it's warm, I find it too heavy - DD1 said 'you're getting just like your mother', aah it comes to us all!

I made myself wait to switch on the computer today till I'd wrapped the presents and done a few chores. The rest of the family arrives tomorrow - can't wait to see them.

Foodies Observation

Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian

Wine and tarragon make it French

Sour cream makes it Russian

Lemon and cinnamon make it Greek

Soy sauce makes it Chinese

Garlic makes it good

Alice May Brock

Here's the birdhouse

Well, I've been taken up with other things and have stupidly got a hamstring injury! And I did the same thing again 2 days ago, so limping at the moment. I look like a 'real' granny hehe!!

 And the snow is back so I'm marooned once more.

But finally I got the birdhouse photos done, you can see how hard the perches are to stay straight!!

Little Birdhouse

I've been making a fabric birdhouse with some lovely American fabrics which I bought at the quilt show - spots and old roses. I'll take some photos tomorrow as it's dark now. Getting the perches inserted into the wadding wasn't easy, I tried using eyelets to support them but it didn't work - there must be another way to do it....

Fresh snowfall is forecast for tonight - hope it's not as bad this time.

Got the Xmas decorations up - seem to want less each year but always want more lights! I'm going to keep some of the lights up all year round, it makes the house look so magical!!

Fabric Labels

I was thinking of ordering some fabric labels on Etsy and made my sample on Photoshop (which took ages BTW). But before finalizing the order I had a look at the feedback and was put off by the various comments.

So I thought I could do them myself with inkjet cotton sheets, I'll be sewing the labels on so I don't mind frayed edges. Next problem - the colours on the printer aren't correct probably because I haven't used it for a few weeks. My next job is doing the maintenance - how I hate that, it's always so time consuming and takes a good while before the colour is perfect again..... wish me luck!

Found it!

Quite by accident I found a ist of blogger blogs I follow - in case you need it see here:

http://www.blogger.com/manage-blogs-following.g

Secrets Shared

Kim Carney of Little Somethings blogged about Secrets Shared by Keri Smith and it makes for a great read - thought you might like it and learn something really useful as well.

Californian Poppies

I painted this a while ago and thought I'd keep it for myself, but on a whim I've listed it on ETSY (I can't keep them all LOL) -- here it is:

Aargh I deleted my fav links by mistake!

I was editing my links and accidentally deleted the whole lot - I've looked back at yesterday's bloglink but they're gone!! Oh my goodness, I hope I can find them again.

If anyone knows how to undo that delete I'd be so grateful for any help.

Upheaval and sewing

I'm still clearing stuff in my studio so I can start painting again. I have had a passion for boxes since childhood and have loads of them - just can't resist.

But I managed to 'decant' into fewer boxes and now have empty shelves for my paints which are stored under the bed! I also have lots of canvases to use but as soon as they're finished, I'm moving onto paper as I like the fact that I can move paint around with a razor blade but that doesn't work too well on canvas as it can tear it.

The snow is still battering down at the moment!

I finished another pair of baby shoes - they do take ages to make because they're small and fiddly - but they're so sweet. I listed them here http://www.etsy.com/listing/63374150/baby-ballerina-shoes-in-red-black-and

Snow and more snow

We've had heavy snowfall for 4 days now and people have been stranded in their cars for hours in sub-zero temperatures. It's like looking in on the antarctic and not a soul to be seen (that is the sensible ones)!

I've taken some photos this morning to give you an idea of how deep the snow is.