TONIGHT on Early Work Mercantile...

Unfortunately, my sewing machine has been giving me fits which has limited my stitching time to zilch. So I only have my Folk Art Whale offering.

BUT after some tinkering, I do believe she is back in working order and that means so am I.
What's even better... I decided to turn our spare bedroom into a larger studio to create in. Yippee!! There's lots of natural light, too!

Soooo when you have a moment, click on the banner below to go directly to the Early Work Mercantile site.



You're whalecome.
Get it?? ((giggle))
I slay me.



Happy Sunday!!

:> )

They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To...

Man, I'm showing my age when I say stuff like that. But it's so true.



I have my parents vintage Boston rocker. I love it!
I have a new rocker my sweet hubs bought for me and there is no comparison as far as comfort goes. The old one contours to the body so much better. Insert "they don't make 'em like they used to" here.

Next, I needed to order a cushion set for it. I hopped on old faithful JCP site and found a set with just the color I was looking for. "Original" price stated 80 bucks but they were having a 40% of "sale." So I ordered the set.



Well, the tufted cushions (especially the seat cushion) were so sparsely stuffed. It didn't feel cushiony at all. I hoped it would feel like I was sitting on a cloud. Instead it felt like I was sitting a sparsely stuffed cushion. What's even more frustrating the stock photos and the customer photos from a few years back looked fully stuffed. Insert "They don't make 'em like they used to" here.

Oh well, I'm going to keep them anyway.

I guess the longer you've been on the planet, the more you complain about the way things used to be.
I totally get that now.

:> )


Happy Monday.

As many "celebrate" today...

Sorry, but we don't need a special day.

Just some daily good old fashioned
common sense.

♥

Enjoy nature.

:> )

"Rainy Days and Wednesdays always gets me...

to move furniture all around."

Wait a minute. That's not how the song goes.

Anyway, that's just what I've been doing this rainy Wednesday afternoon.



So I've got one wing back chair here in the keeping room and the other one in the living room with the plaid settee and sofa.

I'm still not convinced on a new sofa as much as my sweet hubs is. It is not necessary.

I just need to figure out a way to make the sofa we have more comfortable for him.
Maybe I need to throw some throw pillows at him to him and make it more cushy soft. ((giggle))

Stella doesn't care where she lays her precious little head. As long as she's not far from me.

I can hear her sing...



"Funny, but it seems I always wind up here with you. Nice to know somebody loves me."

♥

Happy Hump Day, all.

P.S.
Enjoy nature.
Go jump in a puddle.

:> )

Happy Easter!!!

:> )

It was fun while it lasted...

I knew it was just a matter of time before my sweet hubs would realize our last furniture purchase (especially the sofa) was too uncomfortable for him to sit on. But to his credit he "survived" sitting on them for almost two years. Truly a record for him! ((giggle))

As the wheels turned frantically in my head trying to figure out what I have to get rid of to keep the sofa or the two chairs somewhere in this old farmhouse, we decided to do some sofa shopping. We hit the usual national brand furniture stores but of course our idea of a sofa are worlds apart. He kept zeroing on oversized, man cave (too big for the actual room) furniture. Very similar to our "gigantic brown turd" sofa he previously picked out.

I was able to talk him into going back to the furniture store where we purchased the wonderful set we now have. Of course he was hesitant knowing most of the furniture is my taste and style. So I told him to wear a garlic necklace and carry a few silver bullets just in case. ((hee hee))

Well as we gave up all hope, there it was! A comfortable oversized sofa with a perfect farmhouse cottage look!! We both sat down on it at the same time... Ahhhhh. Perfect! He was happy with the puffy, wide cushions and I was happy with the esthetics. Jackpot! It's by Craftmaster.



I made it a point to bring the fabric from the arm covers (from the furniture that I love) to see if one of their fabrics would match. I was thrilled to see there is a close enough match to them.



The sales guy mentioned they are having their yearly store sale in May. A sale???!!!! Well, you all know my eyes got as big as saucers when I heard that! So we will wait until May to order it.



Until the new sofa arrives, my sweet hubs will continue to sit on our living room floor and watch TV. (He can be so dramatic)


Happy Saturday, all!

:> )

Blessings to all this Easter weekend...

♥

Ol' Betsy Got her Tat..

FINALLY!!! Man, I've been champin' at the bit to get this on her and today was the day!! Yippee!!



I had it done in distressed "etched glass" vinyl and I am thrilled with the subtlety of it.
Just what I was looking for.

Here it is in the sunshine. Ooooooh...




If you're looking for any type of vinyl decal, check out Vello's Vinyl. Brian can do pretty much anything you want.

Okay, that's it for now.

Happy Palm Sunday, all!!

:> )

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah!!

This is all that's left of the snow!!



Man!! This was like the winter that wouldn't end! But I think we're in the clear. (Bet I just jinxed myself on that comment)

We're seeing lots of wildlife at the old Countryfolk homestead. Bunnies, birdies, fox, deer and woodchucks.
I FINALLY saw a beautiful eagle fly right over my head. This is a first for our area! You have no idea how thrilling that was for me!! I actually welled up. I know. I'm such a sap.

I'll definitely have to keep an eye to the sky when I have my girls outside. But I've always had to keep an eye on little Gracie since we have lots of hawks.
When she strays too far from me I break out into a Gloria Estefan song. But instead of singing "The rhythm is gonna get you" I sing "The chicken hawk's gonna get you." ((giggle))

Of course Ralph the Chipmunk is making himself known more and more everyday. He's got quite the "condo" in our lawn. I should start charging him HOA fees.

Happy Tuesday, all!!

:>)

Happy April Fools!!!

But this is no joke! We woke up to it snowing!! ACK!!!

When I walked outside to fill the bird feeder with seed, I heard crazy Ralph the chipmunk yelling, "You've gotta be sh*ttin' me!!!!"
I didn't realize chipmunks could curse. Who knew???

So even though spring has sprung and it's the first of April, it's still snowing here.
We'd better have any amazing summer...

Enjoy your weekend.

:> )

The Infamous Drop Ceiling Tiles...

It's no secret I'm not a fan of them. Okay, I really despise them. Too harsh? How about I strongly dislike them.

Sure, they serve a purpose. Especially when hiding massive plumbing like in one of our rooms. And boy was I grateful for those tiles last summer when the bathtub pipe blew. Hubs had easy access to replace it. Although I did almost mess my drawers when the saturated ceiling tiles fell to the floor. SPLAT!!

But man, unless you get the fancier high end tiles, they just don't look all that great.
And knowing me, I wasn't about to spend a fortune on ceiling tiles. No siree bob.

Another problem with the room is it's on the north side of the ol' Countryfolk farmhouse. So not only does it have a butt ugly drop ceiling, it has limited sunshine so it's always cold in there. Icky-poo-poo.



So after 17 years (I still can't believe I waited this long), I decided it was time to give it a facelift. All I needed were a few cans of spray paint and new drop ceiling tiles.





I was giddy when I found they offered a "smooth" surface tile instead of those crinkly ones. Heck, I have enough "crinkles" on my face and knees, I don't need to be seeing them on the ceiling, too.

First I spray painted the metal channels...



Talk about a nightmare. I wrapped my head, face and mouth up tight. Had fans blowing outside and I was still woozy from the fumes.



Then hubs and I removed the old nasty tiles and replaced them with the new ones.
There were dead bugs and petrified critter turds all over those old ones.
Ahhhh... Country living at its best. ((giggle))

Then a few hours later...

Ta-dah!!!



Yeah, I know. Nothing spectacular. But for only 130 bucks total, it works for me!!
Woo hoo!!!!

Oh and I have my Folk Art Polka Dot Hen listed on Early Work Mercantile tonight.
So if you want to scoot on over, click on the link below.




Have a terrific weekend everyone!!

:> )

Outdoor Creativity...

Still waiting for all the snow to melt. So for now, I've been clicking through Pinterest and enjoying all the photos of green grass.















"Brick Books" for your garden.

Happy Sunday, everyone!!

:> )

May joy and peace surround you,

Contentment latch your door,

And happiness be with you now,

And bless you evermore.

– Irish Blessing



We're all a little Irish on St. Patrick's Day!

:> )

Random Silliness...

Ready??!!















I'm hoping to see him, too.
((giggle))

Happy Thursday, all!!!

Stay warm!

:> )

And The Survey Says...

**DING**





Thirty inches of snow is a lot to contend with.

I noticed some news media kind of poo-pooing the storm since it didn't hit NYC as they had predicted. But it packed a wallop north and west of the Big Apple.

So please keep everyone here in Central New York and other northeastern states hit hardest in your thoughts and prayers. Especially the elderly.
Many counties are in a state of emergency, including ours.

Now they are predicting an additional 4-8" of lake effect snow in our forecast for today.

Ack!

"March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb."

Really?? So what the heck do you call the middle of the month??!! In like Godzilla??

Man, Nor'easter Stella has been relentless!! I swear it has not stopped snowing since early this morning and we have more on the way.

I snapped this photo of our stone front porch when I opened our door.





Our area is going to have a lot of digging out to do when all is said and done.

Stay warm and shovel on...

Ol' Betsy's getting some bling...

Most of you know Betsy's my Jeep YJ. Man, I do love her.



While Jeep owners of all ages really love to deck their vehicle out, I'm a bit more reserved and tend to focus more on the details.

But when I came across this awesome distressed, etched glass American flag hood decal, a light bulb went off in my head!!



I contacted Brian at Vello's Vinyl Lettering in PA and asked him if he could bring my light bulb idea to life.
He did exactly that!

Ta-dah!!!



Since my Jeep is an old timer, the hood design is different. So I wanted a smaller decal.

I also got her some side steps. Ummm... actually they're more for me than her. But hey, she looks pretty spiffy!



So for now I will curse the bitter cold and snow storm that is about to hit us and wait (very impatiently) for warmer weather.

Happy Monday, everyone!!!

:> )