Can you see her?

We have an addition to our herd of critters.  We lost our last cat of 13 years about 2 years ago and have adopted this 3 month old black kitten.  She is nearly impossible to see when she hides under the bed or the sofa or on a suitcase in the storeroom (which she finds quite comfortable).  I have decided that she will be called Coalette since except for that white tuft on the end of her tail she is pretty much coal black. She has been in a home with dogs and has just moved right into ours as if she were the queen of the realm.  She will be strictly a house cat as we are in a pretty busy neighborhood.  Next week she will get her vaccinations and spaying will follow in a few more months.  She has long hair (which I swore I wouldn't have again), but it is not as long as our previous cat. 

February stuff

 This month has been so busy, but what month isn't? Don't know where my life is going, but it is moving way too fast.  We celebrated our 48th anniversary as we always do..with food!  The Mr. played in a couple of tournaments which allowed me some time to haunt the flea markets and vintage shops and spend time with friends.  This cute little gnome suspended from his britches with a clothespin will hang above my gnome home this spring and summer.  I just couldn't resist him on the shelf in a garden nursery I visited.

 I scored another tray in the same vintage shop in Ft. Collins where this original blackboard tray idea tickled my fancy.  So...well, I hurried and got these on the wall too. The little birds are exactly the right color for my kitchen decor and grace my window sill.  I hesitated at the price of $8.00 each and after a brief discussion with the clerk, she went to the back and came back with a reduced price.  Couldn't resist them either!  Turns out she was the granddaughter of a dear woman who cooked with my mom for years at the school cafeteria where I attended school.
Small world sometimes.

Crafting again

 I knew yesterday that I was in for a rough weekend.  Woke up with one of those head colds that suggests impending misery!  Today my head felt like it would explode and my sinuses are so sluggish, I find it nearly impossible to breath.  Roger and I took a nap after lunch and I do feel a bit better.  I really don't have the time to be sick.  I missed my workout at CURVES and a UFO (unfinished object) quilt meeting today. 

The tray project is finished.  A great place to make notes, the blackboard pleases me.

The large tray, and you can see by the yardstick, that it is pretty big was given to me by my mother-in-law about 45 years ago and in the past, held my silver tea service.  I really am not into serving on or with silver, but have kept the tray.  After my earlier post about the trays I saw, I knew this would be perfect for a vacant spot on my dining room wall.  Not wanting to paint on the tray, I used a piece of vinyl flooring as the surface.  The backside of this flooring works as a great surface and I had taught a floor cloth class using this as a canvas.  So with a coat of gesso, and you can paint anything with gesso, and a couple of coats of flat black paint sealed with an 

acrylic spray, it was born.  I was not wanting to buy a large can of blackboard paint, and with my past experience with the alternative method, I knew it would work fine.  I used adhesive back velcro to adhere it soundly to the tray and I am loving it.

More projects

 OK, I have been away from this blog for a few days, but life happens!  At night sometimes, my brain works so rapidly, that I know I have to prioritize my projects because my life isn't going to last long enough to finish all that I want. This piece of glass as you can see, incorporates two small plates, one just a candy dish and the other a blue depression piece.  I saw a similar art piece years ago in a magazine and knew that I would do it one day.  I lost the example, but luckily one of my dear friends had kept the same magazine and I found it while looking at her stash last year. These pictures show the piece in the foiling progress and although I have begun soldering, it still sits unfinished as I have other fish to fry before I die.  (Honestly, I jest as I plan to live forever!)

 This past week we had a snow storm that could have been a doozy, but luckily for us, most of it went south, so for us it was only a typical winter snow.  The boys below, both being imports from Missouri, don't much care for the cold and snow so they stayed warm by snuggling together on the couch.  That doesn't happen very often, but they have begun to bond a little more it seems.

Three of my quilting buddies decided to take a FART (fabric acquisition road trip) before the storm last week so we traveled across the border to the greenie state and they have wonderful fabric shops. We also had a great lunch and found a new vintage shop that was WONDERFUL!  One of the blackboard projects on silver platters has already been given birth downstairs in my studio and I can hardly wait to share it with my friends.  So the teapot glass project is still unfinished, but will hang in my kitchen soon I am sure! (along with the blackboard project of course!)