"The Leather Lady!"

 At shows, I am referred to as the "nun lady", so I am transferring this salutation to my friend, Karen, who could be known as "the leather lady" for the beautiful leather collections she creates! Karen Gunna, of Karen Gunna Designs presents her beautiful handmade leather creations at shows across Canada. This photo shows Karen presenting at the 'One of a Kind" show in Toronto this past spring.

 Karen creates a multitude of fine leather goods in her home studio, everything from handy change pouches, to large leather bags and knapsacks. She has some wonderful items for travelers, and her work shows her fabulous sense of style.

 One piece that I own is this little 3-zipper pouch. Karen uses one of these as her actual wallet, with cards stored in the middle compartment, change and cash in the other two side compartments. I am finding this piece to be very handy indeed, and store all of the cards that one seems to collect for airmiles, department stores, etc. They are much easier to find when I need them, plus the bright orange color that I have is very easy to find in all of the "clutter" that I seem to accumulate in my actual handbag!

However, my favorite piece of all is my red "Ella" handbag which Karen is sporting here. It has many zippered compartments on the outside of the bag, and a few on the interior as well. I receive many compliments when I carry this bag! So nice to have something made by hand than something mass-produced!
I hope that you get the chance to visit Karen at one of her many shows throughout the year. Unlike me, Karen is busy doing shows all year long, and across Canada, so you may have a chance to meet her in person, and find your own special 'Karen Gunna" creation. If not, please visit her website and enjoy "browsing" her fine work!

More "kids" in "lids"!

Meet Mr. K. and Miss A. in their new "kidlids"! These little darlings sported their new toppers to go to one of their doctor's appointments. Born at just a little over 2 pounds, the babies are now just over 5 pounds each, and doing well. Their mother is a marathon runner, and will be in trouble once these little folk get their own running legs, if they inherit her love of running! :)

Talented Artist....

 Recently, I attended the "One of a Kind" show and sale in Toronto as a customer, not a vendor. It was great to take the time to visit booths that normally I do not have time to do while "working" the show with the "Sisters". Odile Gova, of "Woollyfabulous" was there with her amazing creations. Odile is the master of everything, it seems. She is one of the most artistic people that I have ever had the pleasure to meet, and she is always "on to" something new, while still providing her classic loved designs from the past to her customers as well.

 Odile featured unique pincushions at this show as well as her beautiful brooches and pins. The pincushions are little works of art. I could not resist bringing one home. Some are perched at the top of a bottle, or "thrifted" item, to hold pins, buttons, etc.

 Odile loves to work with felted items, which she felts herself. Her signature use of the metallic zipper in her designs is beautiful, and adds that bit of "bling" to each of these pieces.

She is working with a new product now, as well, and has fun with her embroidery skills to further embellish the pieces. Antique buttons are part of many of the designs as well.

Perhaps you will get a chance to visit with this talented lady at a future "One of a Kind" show in Toronto. If not, please visit her shop, "WoollyFabulous" at "Etsy"!

The Number "Crunch"....

"The tax man cometh", and Sister Calculata has been busy preparing her return. Our U.S. friends have had their deadline date come and go, so their annual job is hopefully done! Here in Canada, we have until the end of the month to face the dreaded chore.
  Are you organized, having your files ready to do your own taxes, or to bring to a tax preparer? ...or, are you more apt to have a shoebox overflowing with receipts, info, and various slips of paper in hopes that someone can make some sense of it all? I imagine that the tax preparation offices will be very busy with the last minute work this week here!

Easter Dessert....

From the files of "Pinterest", my greatest find so far! This is a recipe which I have searched for, after having tasted it at a local tearoom. In my mind, I had "figured it out", but was glad to have an actual recipe to determine actual ingredient measurements, etc. Imagine my delight when I found this recipe "pinned" on Pinterest...appropriately called "Lemon Delight"....
    This recipe appears to have been successful....we will found out later when it is served. However, I am fairly certain that I did something wrong with the bottom layer.....thought that I needed more, so attempted to increase the recipe for this by an extra half. Seems crumbly....
  Second, I found out why the recipe says to add the icing sugar slowly to the cream cheese required for the second layer. We may not have had much snow this winter in our area, but believe me, it was snowing at the moment I added the icing sugar my way (all at once) to the recipe. I posted in my personal "Facebook" page about this fact, and it was amazing to hear all of the confessions of similar experiences...everything from leaving the top off the blender while preparing berries, to dropping a turkey, to having a pressure cooker explode splaying beets throughout the kitchen. I guess I am not the only "Lucy Ricardo" in the kitchen!
   My recipe was changed only in one other way, by preparing actual lemon pie filling rather than instant for the third layer. I believe this is how the tearoom version was prepared.  We will see how my lovely looking Easter dessert is received later on today. Amazingly, it does look like this picture...but looks can be deceiving! Happy Easter to you all!

Source: grandmaskitchen.com via Peggy on Pinterest

What I Learned from "Pinterest"....

If you have not yet discovered the "Pinterest" site, then please heed my warning. Do not attempt to visit this site unless you are prepared to find yet another internet "addiction". This site, which shows listings and information which other subscribers "post", is the ultimate "eye candy" for SO many interests. The beauty of this is that once you "join", you are then able to create your own "boards", and therefore can refer to them for the interesting material you managed to find.
   So far, I have found and "pinned" recipes, healthy and otherwise, great cleaning ideas, fashion, hairstyles (once again forgetting that I do not have the type of hair needed to accomplish these styles...my hairdresser will laugh the way she did when I brought in the picture of Oprah's hairstyle...), room decorating ideas, quilting, funny quotes and cartoons, and products/creations I would love to buy. Once you "pin" the information, "clicking" on that info will generally bring you to the original post, and to the tutorial, recipe, information that you would need to explore further that particular idea.
   Hint....Keep a timer by the computer when you gaze at this site and limit yourself. When the timer sounds, walk away from the computer...or re-set it for a longer period of time like I do! Happy pinning!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

"Sister Patty O'Lantern" once again coming your way to wish you the best of the day tomorrow on St. Patrick's day. For those who are Irish, and those who wish to be, no doubt there will be lots of green beer, and Irish tunes wherever you may be!