Monday, November 30, 2009

New Gorgeous Holiday Punch Needle Pieces from my Sisters!

My two sisters who sell their finished punch needle on eBay have finally finished some new holiday pieces! This one is going to be MY Christmas present, if it doesn't sell. I don't think there's much of a chance of that happening, but this Santa said he wanted to come and live at my house! hee hee..

(Click on to enlarge)

She has another Santa piece listed as well. Here's the link:

Magpie1217


My other sis has punched up this wonderful vintage style snowman piece called "Moonlight Skate"...

(Click on to enlarge)

These are both Brenda Gervais designs, who has just THE BEST primitive and folk art style designs around! They are a bit pricey at around $12.00 apiece for the pattern, and then the shipping cost, but well worth it in my opinion.

You can find Moonlight Skate here:

Kindred Spirits Mercantile


Once you get there, you will want to click on "See Other Items", under "Seller Info" on the top right hand side of the listing! She has two other listings for punch needle birds mounted on small wooden candlesticks as make-do's. I think my favorite is the cardinal, but that goldfinch would look beautiful in my blue and yellow living room (hint~hint).

Well, gotta get moving and get back to work on getting the Christmas decorations done. I think we will hang ornaments on the tree tonight! I always say we are going to get done early because the season flies by way too fast for me. Christmas is our favorite holiday of the year!

'Til next time,

Mary

Monday, November 23, 2009

KSGP on eBay this Week

Here's a peek at just a few of the new items the KSGP sisters have listed for you on eBay this week. Find the link to the KSGP auctions in the column to your right, (about halfway down the page), OR sign in to your eBay and type "KSGP" in the eBay search menu!



I'm going to be going away, tomorrow I think, to travel to Atlanta for the Thanksgiving holiday with my family. Nothing makes you feel more grateful than to spend this time of year with those nearest and dear to you ~ family. I'm grateful to still have my parents at 82 and 83 years of age. So many have already had to say goodbye. Even though this has been a tough year economically for us, I am grateful for what we do have and for the Lord's continued blessings every day. Wishing you and yours a blessed holiday season as well.



Til next time,

Mary

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Now on eBay ~ Chipboard Christmas Tree Ornaments

Working with vintage postcard and trade card images, I created these chipboard Christmas Tree Ornaments. Starting with scroll shaped chipboard from K & Company's Urban Rhapsody Naked Chipboard Tags, and a kit from Crafty Secrets (love the ink stamps!), I layered images and elements in an altered art/mixed media manner, providing lots of twinkle with Rangers' "Stickles", (a glitter glue), textured snow, flocking from Martha Stewart, mica flakes, and German glass glitter. I even gave up a few of my vintage buttons to provide a little extra special embellishment.



These are all on eBay this week ~ the link to my auctions can be found in the column to your right.

Thanks for visiting!

'Til next time,

Mary

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Letter Everyone is Talking About...

The following letter read on Glenn Beck's show, is rapidly circulating around the country. Americans everywhere identify with this 53-year-old woman. She has given us a voice. Once you read this, you will want to forward it to all of your friends...

GLENN BECK: I got a letter from a woman in Arizona . She writes an open letter to our nation's leadership:

"I am a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. Instead, we are burdened with Congressional Dukes and Duchesses who think they know better than the citizens they are supposed to represent.

There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would feel so horribly disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut-job am I? Well, these briefly are the views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This is not to be confused with legal immigration.


Two, the STIMULUS bill. I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you No, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars. I want the circumvention of our constitutional checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution, and honor it.


Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There are many conflicting opinions and it is too soon for this radical legislation. Quit throwing our nation into politically-correct quicksand.


Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision that will burden me, my children, and grandchildren. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night without even reading it. Slow down! Fix only what is broken -- we have the best health care system in the world -- and test any new program in one or two states first.


Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. More is not better! Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real [Constitutional] obligations. Why don't you start there.


Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes -- how did they pull that one off? Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with any of our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.


Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs -- and that is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person! Why do you want me to hate my employers? And what do you have against shareholders making a profit?


Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.


Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Every company must sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. (Have you ever ripped off a Band-Aid?) We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.


Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please stop trying to manipulate and appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.


Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now. Take a breath. Listen to the people. Slow down and get some input from nonpoliticians and experts on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed-reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in
the home of the free and land of the brave.


I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is needless urgency and recklessness in all of your recent spending of our tax dollars.


From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on bringing our concerns to Washington . Our president often knows all the right buzzwords like unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.


We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented.. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work, pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone... and we are now looking at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic freedom spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office.


We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us who will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.


Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution, and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them.. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you.

If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming."



Now I don't know about you, but that pretty much sums it up for me, and I totally concur. She only left out one thing ~ Git your nose out of our religion, and quit subsidizing and enabling abortion, which is against the religious beliefs of many of us.

'Til next time,

Mary

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Honeydo's and Sweat Equity

I'm so lucky to have a "handy" man! We've only been in our house for 2 1/2 years, but hubby has tackled so many home improvement projects in that short amount of time. Last weekend it was digging up a modest garden plot measuring 50 x 30 feet. Although he had use of a mini excavator, it was a whole days' worth of work!


Today's project was one he'd been wanting to tackle for awhile now ~ a sidewalk from the driveway to the front porch. He called on me for assistance for the layout, and we tried several different designs before agreeing on how it should line up with the front door, the inside and outside radius, and the width. Once decided, he started digging with a pick and shovel, getting nowhere fast. He called in reinforcements (a couple of guys from his concrete crew) and they knocked it out in a couple of hours. The forms now have to be set to get ready for concrete, which we hope to pour next weekend.







Yup, I'm a very lucky girl!

'Til next time,

Mary

Monday, November 2, 2009

Wonderful news! Our Kindred Sisters Gathering Post group has welcomed another two new members, Cindi Conrad from "The Pixie's Thimble", and Susan Babich of "Cozy Little Quilts." We are thrilled to have you both with us!

With Christmas fast approaching, all the Kindred Sister elves are busily toiling away in their workshops, to bring you the most unique handcrafted Christmas items for your primitive holiday decorating. The graphics for our web site have been switched out to a more seasonal Winter Wonderland, and the theme of the items being offered beginning November 1st is "A Kindred Christmas." For the first week of November, we have focused on providing you with a unique variety of Ornaments. But do check back routinely ~ we change our inventory out often to keep your shopping experience fresh and exciting! Here is just a sneak peek of what is available now:



To visit today, just click on the link in the column to your right.

Thanks for visiting The Sisters!

'Til next time,

Mary

Photobucket