Summer Times Best Kept Secret-The Caftan

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Good afternoon dear readers,  we are all experiencing this nasty little heat wave.  How do you deal with it?  What is your favourite thing to do?  I love caftans. When its too hot, I change out of outdoor clothes and put on my caftan.  I love how it makes me feel.  It's loose and flowing and it forgives all body types.  You do not feel the heat.  I have several that I wear and I wouldn't be without one.  What is the definition of a caftan?  It's a loose flowing garment worn over other clothing for example a swimsuit.  You can be like me and wear it like a dress.  Celebrities have adopted the caftan some even wearing them during their pregnancy. Here's my favourite one. It has a lot of vibrant colors and is so light weight.

If you don't have one you should treat yourself to one. Check out these caftans found on amazon.

Now that you have your caftan  you can sit back and enjoy some funny  summertime  reading.

Thrifty Finds-Old English China

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Good Afternoon dear readers,  sorry this is late dealing with another health issue.  I had another vision problem episode so now their telling me it might be migraines.  We'll have to wait and see and now back to the lovely china I found.  The first two pieces are Old English China.  Looking at each piece you can't help but notice the delicacy and the beauty of each piece.  How can you drink tea from them I'd be afraid of breaking them they look that delicate.  They are just lovely to collect. The first piece I'm showing you is a James Kent Ltd  Longton Sandringham  China Creamer.  This pattern was made in the 1950's.

This next piece was made by Sampson Smith Est. 1846 Longton Old Royal China.  Haven't been able to findout how old this set is now.

This is a french cobalt blue bell with 22k gold with a kissing couple on the center portion.

Have you ever collected china? What type do you collect and what is your favourite piece?

here are some of things associated with tea and teacups on amazon think christmas in july.

Have you heard about Ebates

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Good afternoon dear readers, I wanted to tell you about a lovely little program.  I'm loving this site because you don't have to send anything in the mail to them. I'm going to give away my age here.  I can remember the lengthy process of getting receipts and forms and mailing them in to get my rebate.  This is so easy to do and its free to join. All you have to do is go through their portol when you go shopping You get anywhere from 1% to 10% back depending on where you shop.  Shops included in this site are amazon to walmart.  You can even shop the annual sale at Nordstroms and get 6% cash back what a great deal.  You can also get referral fees and make a big fat check just for shopping. So check this out and use my link to join please 

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=hiByEEFwCmhStIJ9igZCMg%3D%3D&eeid=28187

Don't forget you can stock up on school supplies too have a meowy day.

Caturday Art-Snowshoe Purple Overtones Kitty

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Good Afternoon my furbuddies,  we are joining in Athena/Marie's caturday art hop.  The place where you show what you've done to your cats latest photos.  If you haven't tried playing with your photos you really should its fun.  It's been a quiet week.  I played with my boy and his foot is finally better. Mom got some quiet time the boys went to Folsom lake with the church.  I waited by the front door for hours for them to come home.  Is that what mom calls separation  anxiety.  Do you experience this when your humans leave you for awhile.  Mom says snowshoes (that's me)  don't like to be left alone.

Have a great weekend and don't get to hot.  I have to stay in front of the air thingy because its going to be real hot  

Don't forget its Christmas in July in our zazzle shop come and check out our latest ornaments and things use code JULYXMASDEAL and get up to 60% off.

christmas ornaments
by lorraine

snowshoe purple overtones kitty coffee mug by artsylorraine
Make mug designs online.

snowshoe purple overtones kitty outdoor pillow by artsylorraine
Check out Snowshoe Accent Pillows online at zazzle

Dormdecore Sale at Zazzle Starting at 50%

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Good Morning dear readers, It's that time of year again where we send kids back to the college dorms.  They need all kinds of lovely decorator items to make them feel at home.  If you have a son or daughter who loves kitties then they'll fall in love with Frankie at artsylorraines shop.  The sale goes on through Tuesday and here's some of the wonderful items you can get to decorate your dorm or apartment. Be sure and use code DESIGNZSPACE during check out.

                                                        These items are 50% off

snowshoe stunning kitty coffee mug by artsylorraine
Create unique custom cups at Zazzle.

snowshoe still life kitty coffee mug by artsylorraine
Check out more Snowshoe Mugs at Zazzle

snowshoe still life kitty poster by artsylorraine
Look at more Snowshoe Posters at zazzle

These items are 40% off

Snowshoe What Neow? Kitty Aquarium Clock by artsylorraine
Browse other Snowshoe Aqua Clock

snowshoe cartoon like kitty serving tray by artsylorraine
Shop for another Service Tray online at zazzle.com

These are 30% off

snowshoe tartan kitty stone magnet by artsylorraine
Browse other Snowshoe Stone Magnets

snowshoe hiding in the flowers kitty wood print by artsylorraine
Check out Snowshoe Wood Wall Art online at zazzle

Here's what you can get for 25% off

pillows
by lorraine

Everything else in the shop is 20% off so hurry before its over.

Sunday Selfie and A Vent

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Good Morning my furbuddies,  I told mom I wasn't going to do a selfie if I couldn't vent.  She says okay you can vent.  Well furbuddies they abandoned me again this weekend. They were taking My Boy to the movie theatre for his 18th birthday.  I knew mom was going to abandon me when she brought my radio to the dining room and plugged it in.  She always does that so I wont be lonely-got news for you mom still lonely.  When they came back my boy was INJURED.  He was limping around and had to use moms metal walky thing.  Mom said he had a sprained ankle.  I was so mad I ran around at top speed and was trying to love on my boy and bite mom on the feet.  HOW DARE THEY HURT MY BOY.  Mom even took my tub bed and put ice in it for my boy(not your tub bed future fairy garden).  Well that's my vent my boy is fine just staying off it for a few days. Here's me in all my glory. I'm such a stinker.

Please check out my shop theirs a big sale going on through Tuesday.

snowshoe stunning kitty accent pillow by artsylorraine
More Snowshoe Accent Pillows

snowshoe praying kitty stone magnet by artsylorraine
Check out Snowshoe Stone Magnets online at zazzle

snowshoe still life kitty poster by artsylorraine
More Snowshoe Posters

Dutch Oven Goulash

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Good Morning dear readers, It's been awhile with the recipes.  The weather has been making me sick and not so able to do any major cooking.  I've been wanting to make another type of goulash recipe one that doesn't require any dairy products.  I wanted a recipe that screams comfort food plus I gave it a veggie boost.  When I think of comfort food, I imagine sitting in front of a fireplace with my feet up eating a bowl of this goulash.  It's that good and so easy. Here's what you'll need.

1 lb ground beef

1 box elbow macaroni-cooked until almost done i.e. box says cooks in 9 minutes turn it off at 7 minutes

1 Bag Frozen Frajita Peppers and Onions

2 cans Tomato Sauce (15oz)

1 can Tomato Soup (15 oz)

1 Tablespoon Chili powder

1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 Teaspoon Oregano

Brown meat and saute veggies with meat after browning for 2-3 minutes cooking in large pot or dutch oven.  Cook noodles while meat is browning. Add soups stir and add noodles.  Season with spices and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Bon apetite serve with bread and salad.

my favourite amazon picks:

Think comfort while you relax

Vintage Jewelry Find for July

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Good Morning dear readers,  I took the day off yesterday feeling the effects after Conors 18th birthday celebration.  I did manage to hit one yard sale this weekend plus I have this advertising tin to share with you. Here's the first piece this lovely brooch.

Some of the things I've been learning about vintage brooches.  The clasp itself can give you a clue has to how old the brooch is going to be.  This one has what is called a safety pin clasp and that started being used in the fifties and is still used today.  Another way to tell if its older is the back textured or smooth.  Smooth and shiny indicates its older.  This one unfortunately is not marked will keep doing research and share later.

This is a Blue Bird Confectionery Tin made by the Harry Vincent Limited in Worcester England.  It has the lovely Nefreteri Motif. The company was founded in 1898 and made toffee. The company was discontinued in 2002 after being bought out by Ashbury Confectionery  I just thought it was fun.  Tins with interesting image on them are fun to collect.  Conors like your not going to gesso it are you.  LOL no I'm not its safe from the gesso.  Do you have any tins your collecting would to know.  What did you find this weekend?

                                                Relax and Chill and join us on twitter 

                                                http://www.twitter.com/lorraine2448

Today is amazon prime day so its a good day to go shopping

Turning a photo into art

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Good Morning dear readers,  do you ever wonder what it takes to turn one of Frankie's photos into art. Well I'm going to go through the process with you to give you and idea of what you can make with your photos.  First off get one of your photos from your camera going through your cameras own editing process.  Here's the photo we are going to start with arting up.

Then go to pic monkey and hit basic edits and crop it and you'll come up with this photo

Now your ready to play with this photo.  Scroll on the sidebar of pic monkey.  You'll want the wand looking icon for the effects.  I clicked on soften edges and applied it to Frankie's photo.

Now I'm going to take the photo to the editing program dreamscope. They have some interesting effects on the photos.

I chose the Cezanne chateau effect.  You will upload your photo to dreamscope and select the effect you want and hit start painting button and this is what you'll get really cool.  Have some photos that need some work check these apps out.

picmonkey.com
dreamscope.com
pizap.com

Amazon prime day is coming sign up today see my sidebar.  So many deals on 12 July much like black Friday and cyber Monday check it out.  Some of the things you can get with the prime membership.

4TH Of July Weekend Thrifting Haul

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Good Morning dear readers, I had a pleasant surprise from my local thrift store montly sale two days instead of one.  First day was really crazy the lines were super long but the sale was worth it.  I did go back on the second day and got a couple of things as well.  Here's what I found this weekend.

I love the look of angel collectibles and this piece was really cute with the lace.  Their were no marks on this piece so not sure who made it.

German pottery is another piece that I have collected.  I got started with majolica and really love it. You get to the point when you collect something you can recognize it when you shop.  This one is marked W. Germany 271  22.  Still researching this one but its just lovely.

The original grumpy cat who doesn't just love garfield.  I could not pass this one up to cute.

This is a cute little piece.  It's marked with the "Carol"  First Edition 1998 part of the Dreamer+friends collection created by Sue Dreamer.  If you love collectibles this is the one to start collecting.  Well happy thrifting what are you collecting this holiday weekend.  I got several bottles and some books on crafting but the photos didn't turn out. I'm running out of batteries so next time will share more from this haul.

linking up here:
http://blog.bernideens.com/2016/07/4th-of-july-patriotic-transferware-for.html

Upcycling-embellishing a candlestick

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Good Morning dear readers,  first off Happy 4TH Of July.  I hope everyone is having a great holiday. I finished my candlestick project and wanted to share with you.  This was an easy project a little paint and some pretty embellishments and it turn out really cute. Here's the finished project.

Here's what it looked like after Conor sanded it down a little

Here's what you'll need to finish a project similar to this one.

Candlestick

sandpaper

acrylic paint-used red apple, parakeet green and purple iris

craft pearls

sticky studs 

glue gun

I painted the candlestick in stages and let dry.  Painted the roses first and then went on to the leaves.

     

Once the leaves and roses are dry paint the rest of the candle stick and once that's dry you can add embellishments.

Glue your pearls in the center of the roses let dry. Stick your studs anywhere to make the candlestick stand out.  That's all you need and your done.


linking here:
http://blog.bernideens.com/2016/07/4th-of-july-patriotic-transferware-for.html

Check out the craft supplies to make this project.

Caturday Art-Snowshoe Stars and Stripes Kitty

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Good Morning my furbuddies.  we have been missing in action for a while. I made sure mom got up and did my post this morning.  Yes she's running to the monthly sale at that thrift place she likes to hit up.  The boys will cat sit for a little while.  Mom took me outside this week on my leash it was nice to stretch and roll on the cement. It's 4th of july weekend what is everyone doing for it.  Mom said I had to stay in my room with my radio on cause the noise scares me.  That's okay I'll sit in front of the air blower and listen to the pretty music.  My photo was played with in picmonkey and stickers were put on it in pizap.  Happy Fourth of July everyone and stay safe.

linking here:
http://blog.bernideens.com/2016/07/4th-of-july-patriotic-transferware-for.html

Mom has played in the shop lately and here's some new items

Snowshoe Spring Time Flower Kitty Coffee Mug by artsylorraine
Design a unique personalized coffee cup from zazzle.com.

snowshoe still life kitty accent pillow by artsylorraine
Check out Snowshoe Accent Pillows online at zazzle

Snowshoe Turquoise Eyed Kitty Card by artsylorraine
Make a card online at zazzle