"Hey, if I had somewhere to go, I certainly wouldn't be in Cleve-Land." -Howard the Duck

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

I have many memories of playing with Dad.  Here we are around 1955 or so...playing in the sandbox he built for me.  It would later have an awning on top...and that awning would slide down poles at the side to protect the sand...probably from the neighborhood stray cats. 

My Dad, Ernie, was the typical 1950s/60s suburban Dad.  He was an electrical engineer by profession...and he would ride the bus to & from work so that Mom could have the family car for grocery shopping.  We were quite middle class...I didn't have the latest clothes and we did not lead an extravagant lifestyle...but we took road trips for vacations & we knew we were loved.

Getting an education was very important in Dad's eyes.  Once we started school, we had an encyclopedia in the basement...which we referred to quite often...no internet back then.  Trips to the library were common, especially if we had a big report to write.  Back then, the Parma schools rewarded "Straight A Students"...and you can bet I was one of them.  During the last 6 week grading period of each year, if you got straight A's, you got a pair of tickets to a Cleveland Indian's game.  Dad & I went every year while I was in elementary school.  In Junior High, the stakes were raised to something like 7 or 8 pairs of tickets...boy did we have fun at those games.  I made sure I got those tickets for him every year.

Dad was active in church, ran the Blood Drive, played baseball with a men's team after work...it was fun to tag along to watch him play.  He bowled, played golf, and provided a good home for us.  When Mom & Dad were married, he knew that my Grandma...Mom's Mom...would be moving in with them.  Grandma lived with us until she passed away in 1961.  Dad was a loving & giving family man...and I was definitely Daddy's Girl!!!

Dad & Mom made it possible for me to go to Kent State University in 1970...the first class to enter after the Ohio National Guard murdered the students.  I know it was hard for both of them to let me go...but they did.  I did not need to work my way through college, although I did have a job at a flower shop that I could go to when I came home for the weekend.  I was the typical strange art student of the day...and while that had to be difficult for him to understand with his extremely analytical mind & career choice, he always supported me & let me make my own decisions & mistakes.  He gave no criticism when I announced that a boyfriend & I were moving to San Diego...and that I had just quit my job at Halle's so we could leave before winter.  Dad gave me no unrealistic expectations for an easy ride in anything I'd do...and when I'd call crying about something I'd hear "no one ever told you it would be easy!" 
Realistic support...exactly what you need from your Dad.

Dad crossed over in November 1988...just a few months after my brother's wedding.  I was living in San Diego at the time & he was gone by the time I could get a flight back here.  Dad was only 66 when he died...far too young.  But the life lessons I learned from him live on. 

Happy Father's Day, Dad!  I love you & miss you.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Photos of my latest swap goodies!



I know I should have posted these awhile back, but better late than never, no?  The pile of wonderful surprises above is from Sandy of 521 Lake Street.  Her blog is delightful & I've had so much fun getting to know her through our latest swap.  I've been participating in these one-on-one vintage swaps through
A Swap for All Seasons for quite awhile now...and each one is more & more fun.  The next swap will be announced August 1st, so if you like vintage & you'd like to play, check it out.

The theme for our last swap was "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue" and we were to send one item representing each category to our partner...as well as sending a vintage wedding photo.  The only thing that had to be wedding related was the photo.  Half the fun in these swaps is getting to know your partner through her blog & emails...and then wrapping & sending her some special treats. Here are my treats from Sandy...
The unwrapped gifts:
Something Old:
Something New:
Something Borrowed:
Something Blue:
And a Vintage Wedding Photo:
There was also a special package of destash from Sandy's studio...all wonderful art goodies that were new to me...awesome!
Thanks again, Sandy, for the wonderful swap goodies...and thanks to Linda from A Swap for All Seasons for being the hostess with the mostess for organizing another wonderful vintage swap.

Until next time...I'm busy working on more to list in my Artfire studio...don't forget the link is on the top right hand side of this blog.  Have a great week!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Announcing Kitten Creates Artisan Studio on Artfire!!!



I've FINALLY done it! 

After months of saying I was going to open an Artfire Studio, Kitten Creates is up & running. 

I am currently offering my book thongs for sale, but will be adding other handmade items, vintage treasures, and destash from my studio. 

You can browse my shop here or by clicking the link on the right hand side of my page.  I would love to have you stop by & then let me know what you think. 

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Spring Cleaning = Mystery Treasure Boxes

I know it's been awhile since my last post.  I've been busy with some swaps that will be blogged about soon...but I've also been working on cleaning up & reorganizing my studio.  Right now, it's in that stage I always go through when cleaning & reorganizing...making more of a mess than I had when I started.  Do you do that???  It seems I can't avoid that step.  No photos today...maybe after it's all cleaned up.

And while I've known this for a long time, my biggest problem is that I simply have TOO MUCH STUFF!!!  (I can hear that George Carlin routine about stuff every time I'm in my studio!)  It's all GOOD stuff, of course...because I like good stuff.  However, when you can hardly even get to the shelves in your studio because of all the stuff, it's time to do a serious purge of that stuff.

Here's where the Mystery Treasure Boxes come in.  I've started to fill some Medium Flat Rate boxes with an assortment of stuff.  It's all stuff I like to use or have too much of...or couldn't resist because it was a great deal in that clearance bin years ago.

I've moved part of the studio mess into the living room where I have some room to work & so far I have 3 Mystery Treasure Boxes filled up & waiting for new homes.  From the looks of things, I can fill many more boxes before I'm done.  I'm offering these boxes for sale...I'd love to be able to just share them, but since I'm still not working, that option is not available.

Here's the deal...each box sells for $30.00 which INCLUDES the Priority Flat Rate postage & Delivery Confirmation.  I can fit a lot into one of these flat rate boxes...the people at the PO are always amazed at that.  I'm not just shoving a bunch of stuff into a box...I'm making sure there is a good assortment of everything that's currently available in these.  They're great for mixed media, collage & art journals, any papercrafts.

Each box is an assortment of paper, ephemera, embellishments, stickers, fibers, ribbons, trims, vintage greeting cards, playing cards, tickets, tags, book pages, fabric pieces, vintage advertising & much much more wonderful stuff. 

If you'd like to take a chance & see what fun new-to-you things are in these boxes, please email me privately with your name and snail mail address.  Paypal is the easiest option for payment, but if you'd prefer to send a check, we can work that out.  At this time, this price is only for US mailing addresses since it's Priority Flat Rate postage. 

We are a non-smoking household, although we do have a sweet kitty.  I try my best to keep her hair off of my supplies, but she loves to rub on boxes & check things out, so if you're severely allergic to cats, this may not be the treasure for you.

Thanks for reading this no pix post...I'm heading out to work on packing up a few more boxes.