HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

Have a safe and wonderful evening as you celebrate a brand New Year!

RABBIT EAR ANTENNA ?!!

"Reception is perfect, don't move!"

I don't know where I found this photo but I thought it was so funny that these two ladies look like they have rabbit ear antenna's on their heads. I just had to add the caption "Reception is perfect, don't move!"

Now that Christmas is over and the New Year is about to arrive I will be going through all my 2008 files and storing them away as well as cleaning up my computer files. I am also coming close to 500 posts so I want to have a Giveaway at that time. I plan to give my blog a new look soon and will be hosting a Valentine ATC Swap in a couple of weeks.

I am so blessed with such a wonderful family and so many wonderful talented friends and for that I am thankful. This past year has brought sorrow with the loss of my Mother but also has brought joy with the news that my youngest son was able to fulfill his life long dream of going to seminary full time to become a pastor.

My wish for 2009 is that our country will prosper and our soldiers will return home to their families.
My personal goal is to reach my weight loss goal. I am 7 lbs away!

Happy New Year to you all!

THE BRIDE

I have been working on a new idea. I am trying to put a signature on the type of work I do so I have decided to just do Victorian and Vintage Image Collage Art . I think that offering the original collage, the collage print, note cards with an ACEO of the same may just tell people that Treasure Barn does Victorain & Vintage Collage Art.

I have cleaned up my Etsy Shop and removed my clay art and added a couple of new Victorian & Vintage Items. You can check out my new look at www.pchickki.etsy.com and let me know what you think.

Here is my latest creation.The Original Collage "Bride"

a Set of 4 Note cards made from the collage. All tied up with antique lace.

The entire set includes the Original Collage, a set of 4 note cards and an ACEO. These items will be listed in my Etsy Shop .

I am hoping that this will be a more professional looking way to sell. I am also going to take a class in how to display my work for a photo.



I have also made another Comfort Doll.

I also have been asked to take over the "Calling All ATC Swapers" network on ZNE so I plan to be making alot of ATC's to swap with the participants .

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY !

Today my husband and I have been married a dozen years!
We met at a flooring company about 16 years ago where I worked as a customer service rep.
My boss collected vintage Corvettes and my husband sold vintage Corvette parts. I used to see him come to deliver parts to my boss and we became acquainted over the years. What attracted me to him was his new bulldog puppy. I used to sit out on the grass to eat my lunch and he would stop to talk and one day he had his puppy with him. She melted my heart and so did he.

We were married at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino Wedding Chapel at 4PM. We had a breakfast for our 25 guests at the Rio Buffet the day before. My baby brother gave me away and after the ceremony we had a reception dinner in the casino and cake and drinks to toast the bride and groom in our suite.

My husband actually picked out my wedding dress and we did all of our invitations and decorations ourselves.

We honeymooned at Hoover Dam, The Grand Canyon, Laughlin where the great London Bridge is, Palm Springs for 4 days.

As with all couples, we have our ups and downs but all in all he is the sweetest most romantic man I have ever known. Our song was"Keeper of the Stars".

I love you my darlin' and look forward to many more years as your wife.

TO ALL THE WONDERFUL WOMEN IN MY LIFE

Time passes. Life happens. Distance separates. Children grow up. Jobs come and go. Love waxes and wanes. Men don't do what they're supposed to do. Hearts break. Parents die. Colleagues forget favors. Careers end. BUT......... Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you. A girl friend is never farther away than needing her can reach. When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on, praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the valley's end. Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you...Or come in and carry you out. Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters, daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, Mothers, Grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins, and extended family, all bless our life! The world wouldn't be the same without women, and neither would I. When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would need each other. Every day, we need each other still.

IT REALLY IS A SMALL WORLD

Today I met with a couple of my Etsy Team members to have coffee and ironically Nadine ask me to put an ATC she had received from a swap partner. It was a surprise when she told me it was from Vickie Coonfare of Whispers of Inspiration ! She is my oldest blogging friend!


Nadine was so pleased with Vickie's work that she ask me to put it on my blog since she does not have a blog so here it is. Beautiful as all of Vickie's work is! You have made another HAPPY friend Vickie!

Speaking of beautiful work...you should go check out Nadine's Etsy shop nadineandkathleen . Along with Kathleen they have some really beautiful creations. They decorated a Christmas tree for auction here at our local" Mill Casino" and they won THIRD place and their tree went for over $400.00. Their work is amazing!

MORE COMFORT DOLLS

Well the days have gotten by me again and I am behind in keeping my blog up to date.
I am still going in circles it seems.

I have been busy these last few weeks but did get a chance to make a couple more comfort dolls.
The angle is also an entry for the ZNE Christmas challange.

Here they are...

SAUSAGE LINK ??

Petey and Sampson. Three years old.
Are they just so handsome!!

This is too funny!
I know my dogs mirror each other often when they sleep, play or just stand there but this was just so funny!
Here they are sleeping and they look like a sausage link!


Hey...do any of you feel like you are going in circles at times? Lately no matter what I do I just can't catch up on blogging, adding pictures, reading all of my networks, making collages, comfort dolls and now I have to think about Christmas Cards! Yipes! I feel lost!

PINK CHRISTMAS

I am part of a Pink Christmas Challenge on Etsy Cottage Style and this is my contribution.


An 8 x 10 mixed media collage with an image inspired by Victorian Trading Catalog , done on canvas panel with acrylic paint and embellished with paper flowers and trimmed in lace. The image has be embellished with acrylic paint and water color also.


I also have just finished this altered art collage that will be on sale in my Etsy Shop tomorrow. "Born is the King of Israel"

ETSY TEAM AND FAMILY

Well Thanksgiving is over and I have just now had time to post about what's been going on in my world the past few weeks.

First of all Thanks to all the participants of my ATC Thanksgiving Swap. I think all the partners now have addresses for their partners. I am missing only one and that is JANE VICKERS so if you are out there Jane or if anyone knows Jane, please send me her address for her partner.
The swap was a success even though I think we were ALL late. It was fun!!


This is my Etsy Team OCEAN, which stands for Oregon Coast Etsy Artist Network.
We recently had our Christmas luncheon and gift exchange. The rules were that it had to be handmade by each OCEAN member and be under $15.00. We exchanged gifts and good conversation.

From Left to right, Brenda, Kathleen, Pamela, me, Nadine and Lynn. Kae left early and missed being in this picture.

We received things like a hand painted tile...this is Pamela

a crocheted ornament...this is ME!

a beautiful collage...this is the my latest collage.

Look at the detail on these fans done by Kathleen !

a beautiful handmade fans made from paper...this is Jann

a gorgeous hand made necklace...this is Nadine

the cutest greeting cards...this is Pamela and Kathleen

A really nice handpainted picture framed and ready to put on your dresser or table...this is Kae.


When of course you all know I went to Nampa, Idaho for 4 days to visit my family so I wanted to share them with you. Nampa is where I grew up and where all of my aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and brothers still live.

This are my, nieces Mandy and Cassidy.

This are two of my grand nieces, Teal and Emmy. They just got caught with their hands in the bubble gum machine!

Here I am with my two younger brothers, Richard and Randy.

This is my handsome nephew, Jason.

These little cuties are Mandy's two girls, my grand nieces, Emmy and Addy. She had just baked a cake for her Grandfather Richard, my brother. She is also the little darlin' that said she was going to text message my Mother, her Great Grandmother after she passed away last February.

Grayson, Addy and Emmy's brother.

My niece Mandy and her family, Grant, Emmy, Addy and Grayson

My nephew Jason and his family, Roxanne, Kalee and Jaden

My long time friends, Jerry and Sherry Durante

Well that is what I have been up to the past few weeks. I am now working on some things for a couple of challenges I have entered so I will be posting them in a few days.

Off to bed now. Hope you enjoyed looking at my family..
I love them all !!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your families.


I have so much to be thankful for everyday. Though I am not with my family on this day I will be thinking of all of you and hope you have a peaceful wonderful day. I love you all !


Here is my latest collage, similar to the one I made for my granddaughter Melissa . It is kind of different for me but my best so far I think. It is 8 x 11 and done on Masonite with a page from a National Geographic Magazine from 1927 using the image of a light house. I used acrylic paint and embellished with string and star fish.
What do you think?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SON

This is my baby boys birthday. I can't express the pride I have for this child. He is working to fulfill his dream of becoming a pastor and having his own church and congregation someday. He is presently attending Westminster Seminary Collage in Escondido, CA full time.

He was the cutiest little baby and he is a good looking young man.

I love you Tony and wish I could be there for your birthday but just know I am thinking of you and sending happy wishes for a wonderful birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONY

THANKSGIVING SWAP

Well as promised I am hosting a Thanksgiving ATC Swap.

All you have to do to participate is leave a comment with your name and I will partner you off next Sunday.

I will be out of town from Wednesday 11/19 through Sunday 11/23 .

Also I made another Comfort Doll and plan to make many more. After the tragic news of Alisha, a fellow ZNE member's niece being murdered by her husband it just makes me want to do these dolls even more.

Those of you that don't know what a comfort doll is, it is a doll made no bigger than 6 inches,sewn or glued fabric and painted with fabric paint and embellished with trinkets or jewels and a short written message i.e, "Made with Love" I wrote Jesus Loves You on the two I have made.
They are for Battered Woman's Shelters across the world. These little dolls can be carried in a purse or pocket just to remind these battered women that someone cares.

PRAY FOR ALISHA'S FAMILY

It is with a heavy heart that I received the following message from a fellow ZNE member an hour ago.
Alisha her missing niece has been found and her husband has been arrested.



Dear Patti,

They found Alisha this evening. We have lost her.

Her husband was arrested.

Just wanted to let you know.

Thank you for your notes and prayers.

Gail

The following was a message from one of the founders of ZNE just after Gail sent her message to me.

A message to all members of ZNE Network

Hello ZNEers,

It is with a heavy heart that I share Gail Whitegull's updated blog post about her niece Alisha.

A little over an hour ago, Gail posted this brief update, which speaks volumes to grief and speechlessness over such horrible news:

"Alisha was found this evening. It is not the news we wanted. Her husband has been arrested. "

ZNE will be sending Gail flowers in her lovely nieces memory. Anyone who want to donate to the floral fund may do so by sending a dollar or two to info@ZNEart.com.

More important than any donation or flowers, are our prayers and condolences for Alisha, her family, and Alisha's two young son's who now face life without a mother and a father who has been arrested for her murder.

You may leave Gail a message on her ZNE Network page, here:

http://zneiscrafty.ning.com/profile/crazysisart

Please hold your family tight tonight. In memory of all women who have lost lives so senselessly - remember teach your children love, empathy, and nonviolent means of conflict resolution.

xoxo - Chel

COMFORT DOLLS FOR BATTERED WOMEN

Some of our Etsy Team members have just gotten involved in this wonderful group of women that are making these little dolls that get mailed to Shelters for Battered Women all across the world! If any of you are interested click on the link to read more about it.

I think it is a fabulous thing and I made my first doll today and plan to do many more!

http://www.comfortdolls.blogspot.com/

PLEASE START A PRAYER CHAIN FOR THIS YOUNG LADY

As you all must know, I am a member of a network called ZNE. This morning I received this message from another member. I wanted to share with all of you so that you may post this on your blogs in hopes it will help fine Alisha. Please Pray for her safe return.

Thank you so much.




Every so often I see on the news a missing mother,daughter. It always seems so far away,yet I feel the anguish.
I can't imagine it happening to me or someone close.
Well, it has happened.
My step-niece, Alisha Sidie,27 has gone missing.
She left her home on foot last Friday night after an argument with her husband
and has vanished. We have been searching the area now since Sunday and no leads.
Alisha is the mother of 2 yr. old twin boys,who really miss and need their mother.
She would never leave those boys.
She was very close to her family and friends and would call someone if she could.
She did make one cell call to a friend minutes after she left.
She left a message saying she needed help.
We will continue to search until we find her.
Her family is in total despair. The night she left it was cold and rainy-sleet
and she wasn't wearing a coat. Time is of the essence.
Please offer a prayer to bring her home.
We need all the help we can get!
Thank you for listening. I just needed to get this out.
Gail

Alisha lives in Hatfield, Wisconsin.
About 10 minute drive from Black River Falls.(Hour from eau Claire/LaCrosse.
Hatfield is a summer tourist area and is in the midst of county and state forest.
Jackson County is a large wooded county with areas of deep forest and swampy areas.
Makes the search very difficult. The weather has been poor, rain,sleet ,and fog this
afternoon. My husband and I went out on our own a while ago and searched the river bottoms.
He hunts this area and knows it very well.
Alisha's mother,Sue is doing her best but she has started to give up on finding her alive.

WONDERFUL VISIT

For the past 5 days my 20 year old (I CANNOT BELEIVE SHE IS 20 YEARS OLD!!) granddaughter, Melissa has been visiting me from Vegas.
She recently graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Collage and moved in to her own apartment and is growing up so fast.

We had such a good visit.First day we took her to breakfast and toured Coos Bay and walked on the boardwalk where she took pictures of the bay.

Doesn't she have the most beautiful smile ever!

Next morning she made us her own creation...stuffed french toast.. It was fabulous! Texas Toast with cream cheese, strawberry's and bananas and put together like a sandwich then cooked in a frying pan and topped with powdered sugar. It was soooooo good and I ate one even though I am on a diet! If you are interested in the recipe I will be glad to post it for you.

Melissa's Stuffed French Toast

Bless her heart. Even though she just graduated with honors from the culinary collage and has so many neat techniques she still wanted grama to make Lasagna. Made me feel so special.

We took her to Bandon so she could see the ocean. She has always loved the ocean, dolphins, whales and all sea creatures. It was cold and windy but she said if it wasn't she would have stayed there on the beach all day.

We had hot cocoa at Kafe 101 here in Coos Bay the next day and then we went to get her hair trimmed. We went to the mall and got a soft pretzel and a Orange Julius. It was fun just being together, just the two of us.

New hair cut? Well when she was a little girl I used to put glue on nails on her just like grama so of course she wanted glue on nails to go with her new hair.

She wanted jewels on her nails so we did that too.


My dogs Petey and Sampson LOVED her and Petey must have loved her new look because he just had to give her a kiss during the nail process.

I took her to Shore Acres which are acres of beautiful flowers and scrubs and also has a trail that leads down to a private beach so we took the trail. She can be so cute and so silly.

We stopped in front of this amazing tree and she posed for a picture

She was amazed at the rocks on the Oregon Coast. So different that the coast in CA

She wanted to capture this wave crashing on the rock. It was a pretty day even though it was cloudy. The rain stayed away for this day.

If you close you can see a small waterfall off the rocks


This was a stream from that waterfall running into the ocean

We heard sea lion in the distance so we drove about a mile up the road from Shore Acres and we found them. A small island full of sea lion. Melissa was so excited. We used our zoom but could not get very close as they were way out there in the ocean off the shore.

We stopped at the functioning light house on the coast of Winchester Bay.

The coast guard live right there on the primises. This is Melissa standing in front of the light house. Behind the fence is where the coast guard famlies live.

Melissa enjoying the view of the coast and also the dunes. She wanted to take pictures for her Daddy since they do have 4 wheelers in Vegas but enjoy the desert scenery there. What a difference for her to see.

Beautiful coast plant, dunes and the oregon shore in the background
Oregon Dunes off Wichester Bay

Oregon Dunes and the Oregon Coast line.

We took her to the Oregon Dunes off the coast of Coos Bay where all the"Dune Buggies" ride all year round. We have so many visitors to the beaches of Winchester Bay and the RV parks there most of which are ATV riders. There are also many accidents on the Dunes during the summer from the ATV riders.

Melissa and Grapa looking at a brochure together where we stopped once again at Kafe 101 for Hot Chocolate. She seemed to like that place.

Relaxing with Grampa and Hot Chocolate.

Me and my beautiful granddaughter Melissa Renee!

Grapa wanted us to pose for a picture so we surprised him with a goofy pose!

I couldn't pass up taking her to the Mossy Rose. She loved the shop and had so much fun trying on all the masks. This picture is so precious of her

Mask # 1


Mask #2

Mask #3

Mask #4

Mask #5

Last but certainly NOT least since there were dozens of masks, Mask #6
The Mossy Rose (Remember the post on the Mossy Rose?) is having a Masquerade Ball on Saturday the day after Melissa went home.
She was so disappointed that she missed it. Next year she wants to go ! It would be so fun.

Melissa insisted on taking her grandparents out for dinner so we went to Bennetti's, an Italian Resturant right across from the Bay. She had a good time and the food was wonderful. This is the hallway to the stairs that go to the second floor of the resturant. She had a goofy bug for this picture..so cute!


We looked at old photograph albums, we talked about boys, her new job and life. We watched Pirates of the Caribian Worlds, End with Johnny Depp and also Maid of Honor with Patrick Dempsey. We ate popcorn and chips and we stayed up late just talking.

She caught a plane home on Friday night and is safely back in Vegas now. Granpa and I and our dogs are kind of lonely without her. My dog Sampson is still looking for her and seems to be a bit depressed today.

She is coming back next year and I am sure I will go to Vegas before then. We had a wonderful time and I am so blessed to have had her here. Thanks for coming Melissa!!! We Love You Honey!!!