About Me

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I LOVE to design and to paint whimsical items that will put a smile on your face. Each day I share my simple life with you as I try to encourage, to inspire and sometimes JUST to make you smile as I recount my life growing up on a dairy farm! I've never had many material items in my life, BUT I have been blessed beyond words with love and encouragement from WONDERFUL Parents who instilled in me WHAT was important. I have had EVERYTHING that I needed and WAY too much of what I wanted. I am slowly learning to be a better person each day through my interactions with my friends on Facebook. Some day I hope to be as good as people seem to THINK I am! I am BLESSED! Welcome to my little corner of the world...Please stop by and visit often!
Showing posts with label gifts from the heart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gifts from the heart. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Whacky Wednesday



Whacky weather we are having!!




We have had those loooooooooong drawn out rolls of thunder, and I just have to smile.



Yep, that is whacky, huh!



It reminds me of my Daddy’s sister, Aunt Lattie, who would say the “tater wagons are rolling.”  Daddy would smile each time he said that, and of course, then I would be smiling.  I often wondered if she learned that phrase from her mother.  I know so little of their mother since she died when Daddy was 22 months old.






Another whacky thing that brings smiles to me, is my friends.  Yes, most of them are CRA CRA…I guess birds of a feather…



I have been way too long in getting my THANK YOUs posted, and I am ashamed, but life has been happening quite a bit, lately…




OR as I have been telling my friends: I am thinking of starting an on-line class on the finer points of Procrastination…I haven’t decided yet if I will do it, I’m just thinking about it and well, I will let you know what I decide, when I decide, and if I decide, but you will be the first to know, I think…maybe…hmmmm….I don’t know…oh, look…a shiny, sparkly SQUIRREL!!  =)





The first item I want to share is a jar painted by my friend, Crystal of Backwoods Artist.  I happened to be awake, still, one morning when she asked who was awake. I answered ME…and because of that, I was rewarded with this awesome painted jar!  HOW COOL IS THAT?  Be sure to ask to join her group, where she sells her painted wares…






Next, a real surprise came from my sweet friend, Maria!  She has had her hands full being a caregiver, and for her to find the time to send me this awesome bowl with a hand painted Santa (design by Prudy Vannier), candy (I have no clue WHERE the candy went) and 2 big ole dog bones for DA BOY from one of his Aunties…oh, and paintbrushes--lots of my favorite filberts! WELL, I am blown away!  What a gift Maria is to this world…






Next, another awesome friend, Sheila, sent me these sheepies to paint…I love to paint sheepies, and she knows it!  Sheila is multi-gifted and is one of the best scroll saw cutters.  I can’t wait to design something extra special to go into these lovely sheep.  If you need some small wooden pieces cut, Sheila is your gal....she sent 6 of the small  ones! 




This last gift is very special, too.  It came from my friend across the Pond, Karen.  Karen is one of the best photographers and her gifts don’t stop there…painting, clay, and well, she has a daughter with a beautiful name!  =)  She saw these napkins and thought about Charcoal.  I am going to decoupage them onto a surface as soon as I can find one that I think will fit…hmmm….might have to draw a puppy shape for it!  AND then, these beautiful charms of pictures she took of the alliums in her garden…and THEN…this adorable card with the tiniest, cutest little mouse EVER…I am at a loss for words!! Oh, her page is Little Tinkers.







These are, yet, another example of what I have gained from painting~~friends from all over the world.  HOW WHACKY awesome is that!  These are people I have never met, and possibly, never will, but I consider them to be friends. 



THIS is one of the many positives I have found about facebook.  We are all drawn together by our love of life, our crafts, our beliefs (sometimes these are challenging, but what good doesn’t have a few challenges), our desire to give a little bit of ourselves to get to know others…Hey, as I say, you find what you are looking to find!  I had no idea what FB was, but I cannot express the joy I feel in finding so many “good eggs”. 





Thank you, my friends…I am once again humbled that you would take your time and money to send me these gifts as a reflection of who you are~~AWESOME PEOPLE!  I hope to live my life as a reflection of your goodness and to be reminded that I must pass this love and unselfishness on to someone else, so they can feel this way, too…See what you have started!  HOW WHACKY!  LOL



Again…I am blessed…May you FIND your blessings and yes, miracles, all around you each day…~charlotte ♡


Saturday, January 9, 2016

The Gift of Love Continues...

I have a few more gifts to show that I got from my friends around the world!

I do not show these things to boast, but to share how generous people are and what can happened if you take just a few moments to say HI to someone.

The first thing I want to share is the dip mix I got from the dip, shoot, I mean, from Ramona...
I  love dips...again, apologies, I  meant to say that I love DIP.  I was already thinking that Charcoal and I would enjoy it watching the Super Bowl this year....YUM!!

The next awesome gift, that made me cry, came from Jolanda who lives in the Netherlands...
Isn't it beautiful!! She "fussed" at me because I didn't have a good picture of Charcoal for her to use, but it looks like him, anyway!

Usually, I  grab my camera in the dark to take a picture of Charcoal being silly. He does NOT sit still for long,  but I will make it a goal to get ONE good picture of Charcoal before the year ends! We will see how that works out...

You know, thinking back to Ramona, she left the price tag on the gift! hmmmmm...
Back to Jo...she and I met in a painting group when she shared a picture of a rolling pin she had painted and I commented...she had no idea what I was talking about because they called it something different...we laughed about it and became friends who joked, which, by the way, is what I like in a friend! 

Mother said that if I teased someone, it was a sure sign that I liked them! 

(Wonder why Ramona sent me dip but sent our other mutual friends something she painted...I thought she liked me just as much...sigh...)

The other gift came from my scroll saw buddy in Canada...she is a mis-placed Chicago girl...Sesame Street Smart, she is! LOL  I will use her picture to show what she sent me.
She designed and cut them! She is amazingly talented!

(Don't get me wrong about Ramona...I appreciate that she sent me the dip because she sent it out of love...I think it was out of love...it is hard to tell with Ramona...she is a stinker! )

Sheila also gave me several little sheepies with yarn wrapped around them...so pretty and colorful! I love colors!
Oh my goodness...they are the sweetest little things EVER!
We had a close call with Charcoal thinking this sheepie was for him...ugh...

Look at the detail!

I  just can't stop thinking about that dip...I guess I need to see what I need to make it because I only shop about once a month for groceries and the Super Bowl will be here soon!

The dip reminds me of a Christmas present that my brother got one year. He had just moved in with a bunch of his college buddies and so he got this gift that was in a box that said: Avocado Green Chip and Dip Set.

He sarcastically said: "just what I ALWAYS wanted--an avocado green chip and dip set!"

He opened it to find: (say it with me) An Avocado Green Chip and Dip set!!

Boy, was he embarrassed! We kidded him mercilessly! The next year, he got a cross-stitched sign that said: Just what I ALWAYS wanted!

In my house, we take gifts to be what the box says they are!!

Back to the dip...I got the ingredients listed in my smart phone grocery shopping list....I wonder what the mix looks like...
Wait....that isn't any dip!!!
She DOES love me (ok...we are sticking with this)! ! I  got 2 of her hand painted Nickelettes! I'm so excited!!

But now....I have no dip for me and Charcoal to make for Super Bowl Sunday...heavy sigh...ROFL

I have shed true tears this Christmas with each gift I have received. I am amazed at the generosity of friendships.

I  have wasted far too much time protecting my heart from any more hurt, but yet, these friends have taught me and reminded me more about friendship and how vital they are to living a complete life.

Once again, I have reaped far better than I have sown! Blessings drop like rain as I am reminded that we are NEW EVERY MORNING!

Thank you, my friends for helping me to see the MAGIC of the season...of the generosity of people...of unconditional love and of the JOY in encouraging others!

I am humbly blessed...Let's keep Christmas alive all year!~~charlotte♡