Such a sweet shop

Have you seen this shop on etsy? It is called Tangerine Studio and I am so taken with her artwork. Her paintings do a phenomenal job of capturing the spirit of animals. She does commissioned pieces, you can find the pricing info on her blog The Bee Charmer. Here is one of her paintings.

Bernese mountain dog art by Maggie Crawford

Some Woodsy Picks

I have been shopping on etsy for quite some time now. I actually started under the user name boogiesgalore... and, holy cow, I just looked it up and I joined in November of 2006. I had no idea it had been over two years. But my 85 pages of favorites makes more sense. I have no idea how I managed to accumalate over 800 favorite shops, but they all are important to me. I go through them and I honestly "know" each of them. I sometimes am a tad frightened at how many etsy shops I "know".
So, I picked these gorgeous woodsy finds from page 84 of my 85 pages of sellers. I have bought from two of these sellers and just haven't been able to make up my mind on a favorite to purchase from the other two shops, they have so many wonderful things.


Grassy Hill - Original Fabric on Wood Art by shellieartist



The Artful Raccoon Print 8.5 in x 11 in by johnwgolden



Squat orb ground sphere - an ikebana style vase by Earth N Elements Pottery

Earthy Pine Cone wrap scarf by circularaccessories

Enjoy!

Enamel Me Please

I am loving the look of enamel on metal. And it does not take long to find some gorgeous enamel pieces on Etsy. Check these out:


Red-Hot-Enamel-Poppies-Hook-Earrings by jewelrybynatsuko


teeming (necklace) new by smashing

Double Copper Enamel Rubber necklace Prairie Collection by Steinvika

Aqua Enamel,Red Glass Flower and Sterling Silver Earrings by sweetVintage

Jack & New Camera

Jack
Originally uploaded by BackwoodSophisticate

Our little kitty is growing like a weed. When we first got him, he immediately came down with a bug that sent us back to the vets for an antibiotic, but looking at him now, you could never guess he was the lethargic, bony, homely creature he was 4 weeks ago. All of his energy is back, he runs around here like his tail is on fire. He can run up the steps like speed racer. I adore him!!
My new camera is going to be so much fun. Ii can not believe how wonderful it is to finally take a picutre without a delay. I always missed the good shots with my Kodak, every time I take a picture with my new Canon and it happens when I touch the button, it makes me want to do a happy dance. Woo Hoo!

What a day! Guess what I saw this morning...

So, today is such a momentous day in our history, I was excited about it anyway. But then driving to drop my daughter off at the babysitters, I saw something so cool, it made the day even better.
Above our town office building, in the sky, I saw two large birds, they were flying erratically and I soon realized they were fighting. Then I saw something fall from where they were in the sky and land in a parking lot adjacent to the town offices. That was when I put it all together, they were two Bald Eagles, one had a kill and the other was trying to take it. I was so tempted to pull in the parking lot to get a close look at what they were fighting over but I was in quite a rush. As I drove by I got a pretty good look and from driving by three more times today, (always running, to work, from work, to home) I was able to determine it was an adult duck!!! Crazy huh? Sad that they would not come back to get it, I guess the area was too busy for them.
Anyway, I thought that was so cool. Living near the river, we get some awesome views of our nation's bird. They are so majestic and impressive.

I did it!

I just bought a new Canon Rebel XS with two lenses. I waited 'til the last minute and when I went to purchase it, many of the sites I had been watching had removed the deal I had my eye on but I was able to grab it at newegg.com so check it out here. That really made me realize how much I had really wanted it. Yay, now I am excited!

Hmming & Hawing

I am thinking about purchasing a new camera. I am just not sure if I want to commit that much money to that purchase. It is a hard decision for me to make because that is money I could commit to one of my other hobbies. I have so many hobbies, sometimes I feel like I am the ultimate Jane of All Trades. I was just discussing with my hubby how hard it is not to have one stand out natural gift. I would love to be a stand out artist/photographer/seamstress/fiber artist/cook/builder.... something... if I could just find that thing I excel at. I can sew a pillow, I can install a new doorbell, I can knit a scarf, I can take a really good photo, I can cook good spaghetti, I can build a document in any Windows Office Application.... I can do it all, and I can do it well, but I am not a star. I think it is my lack of ability to commit, or possibly I can say it is my ability to easily pick up new things. And my love of variety and all things interesting.
So, that leads me to the camera purchase. It is a big decision to spend $500 on a camera, quite a commitment, but it is my favorite hobby, and taking pictures of the family is a good thing. I think I am going to go for it.

Our family is crazy

Honestly, our family is whacky. For example:
Yesterday, my son comes home from kindergarten all excited about movie night at his school. I figure it would be fun to take the whole family so we decide to eat quick and get to the school a little early to get good seats. They are showing Kung Fu Panda. So, I grab his bookbag to double-check the flyer for the start time, yep, it is 7:00pm so we order dominos pizza and chow down. We did good with the time and were all piled in the truck by 6:42, blankets for the kids to sit on, all wrapped up in our big jackets (it is cold outside). The school is about a mile from our house. We are all like "whoohoo, movie night! this will be fun!".... about half way there, my 10 year old daughter pipes up "I sure hope we have the right night" and it hits me, I never checked the date on the flyer, I was just riding on the planning ability of a 6 year old. Well, we come in view of the school and, wow, it sure looks empty. My hubby pulls around to shine the lights on the sign out front "Movie Night 7pm Jan 16th". Hmmm, well, we called the movie dry run a flying success and decided we will be well prepared for the real thing on Friday, LOL! Since we were all out we decided to go to the grocery store and actually accomplish something. Our family is so crazy.

Our new baby

Our new baby
Originally uploaded by BackwoodSophisticate

Here is our new resident. My daughter has been asking for a kitten forever so we decided to get her one for Christmas. I went to the local animal shelter the Saturday before Christmas. There were about 12 kitties in the cat room. There were some real beauties in there. One was a gorgeous white and grey long hair who looked like he was about to bust with personality. His cage was a mess, food everywhere, paper all tore up and when I took him out to see, he clawed his way right up to my shoulder and behind my head. I figured he might have a little too much personality for our house and knew he would have no problem getting adopted so back in the cage he went. Well, when I had walked in there, there were a few plain jane kittens, two black ones and I think two grey ones. I decided to hold this pitiful looking black one. Well, he laid out in my crossed arms and slinked his way from one elbow to the other, finally rolling over on his back to get me to pet his belly. He was a ugly little thing, fur all dry, filled with white flakes, nose all icky, dirty.... pitiful. So I put him back. My plan was to ride to Richmond to check out the kittens at the PetSmart so I left the shelter but it was not long before I was back asking if I could get the little black kitty tested for Feline Leukemia to make sure he was healthy. They took him across the street and tested him. I waited for the results and it was negative, yay! So that was the decision maker, he was going to be ours. I filled out the paper work and asked if they could hold him until Wednesday. It was a LONG three days and I was excited to go pick him up. I met my mom at the shelter and she took him to the vet to get his shots and deworming. I met her after his appointment and took him home and put him in my daughter's room in with a bow on his carrier, a bow on a litter box and a bow on his food dishes. Them mom went and got the kids. When Megan walked in, I fussed at her to pick up her bookbag and take it to her room. She walked up stairs and there was a long pause.... then a giant gasp and she came running down the stairs asking if it was for real. She took him out of his carrier, with tears in her eyes and told me how he was the best present ever! Since being home with us, he has gotten all those icky parasites out of his system, his fur has gotten shinier and he is beginning to put on weight. I don't think he had much more time left if he had stayed in the shelter. He literally was being starved by the parasites. He did catch a cold when he got here, but with antibiotics, that cleared up quickly. He still is bony but he has so much more energy and is now acting like a lively, active little kitten. Greta has finally accepted him and they are playing like best buds.