May 17th 2011 would have been his 57th birthday, I miss him dearly and always will...

Would love feedback, I'm really proud of this book!

We took advantage of a nice day to take the pup to the park for some pictures.  His Aunt Hilary sent him a spring patterened bandana ans we wanted to get some pictures to send her.  He was such a good sport, he loves the ducks!

My mom, her friend and I along with s few more crafty ladies get together One Saturday per month for Craft Day.  Each person brings a project to teach everyone else so you go home with lots of new ideas and items. 

Over time we have developed a little take home 'game' of finishing of a card in your own way to see how one item has so much possibility.  WELL if you forget to bring your project back there is 'punishment' of having to wear the misfit hat.


I've found the most handsome hat model!

I finished all 10 pages and I'm so happy with the outcome...

the ongoing saga of my new product :D

I know that a lot of people like handmade scrapbooks but have no time to work on one themselves.  I am trying out a few for my shop...  Here is what I have so far

Any feedback, thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.  I am loving the results so far....

Creating jewelry began very innocently. One day I walked into a local craft store and bought a beginners jewelry making kit and a set of four basic tools. Well, that lasted all of five minutes! The next day I was off on an adventure to find local bead suppliers and discover new techniques. About a year later when I owned more jewelry than any sane person should and my friends and family were equally bedazzled, JanJat Jewelry was born. JanJat actually comes from an Indian term 'jhan jhat' which loosely translates as 'bits and pieces'. I felt it was an accurate description of my distinctive creations ranging from the delicate and dainty to the bright and bold.

I believe my creative instinct and love of artistic expression is entirely due to my Mom. Ever since I can remember we would spend hours in the craft room making something - paintings, drawings, clay pots, papier-mâché and the list goes on. She was always incredibly supportive, encouraging and, most importantly, gave me the freedom to color outside the lines. As I grew up school and sports monopolized my time and art was put on the backburner. I still love to play basketball, ride horses and be immersed in water be it swimming, scuba diving or just playing the in waves. However, I am so grateful that I have once again let loose my creative self, it gives me a sense of peace and tranquility as well as joy when a piece of jewelry finally comes together.

The actual process of making a piece varies. Sometimes the inspiration hits and two hours later I have a finished piece and other times I spend hours considering, changing, coming back to it, adding an element and even scrapping the entire idea to start again. It all depends on how I feel. I have learned to trust my heart over my head and I have realized that if I am truly happy with a piece then others will share that experience.

In the future I hope to eventually open a brick and mortar store that would be able to showcase not only my work but other talented local artists. As well, I would love to have a huge library in my home, a couple of little ones and publish a novel or two and put that old English Lit degree to work. For now, I am incredibly grateful to have a very loving, supportive group of friends and family who always encourage, critique and inspire. Plus three rambunctious cats whose idea of 'help' is flinging beads off the table and chasing them around or climbing through the tissue paper walls of my light box!

We are a husband & wife team who enjoy making beautiful yet functional bath, body, & home products. We specialize in goat's milk because we both have very sensitive skin, however we also make shea butter & glycerin soaps. As well as, soy candles, creams, lotions, colorant free splashes & room fragrances.

This is truly a blessing to take a hobby & make a little business out of it, something we can share. It gives us an outlet for our creative side & we love the end result. It's amazing to lay awake in bed at night because you have so many ideas running through your head...then you get up in the morning and make it happen. It's amazing to see a finished product that you created yourself.

Some of our best sellers are our Pink Sugar scented products, our sheepie soaps, & the cute "Slipper When Wet" Soaps...you've got to love a little soap humor.

Come on by & check us out when you get the chance.
www.LostRiverRags.etsy.com

TheOldBarnDoor!  Our very own OBD...

You know that great line from the end of The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy looks up at her friends and family and says something to the effect about “looking for her heart’s desire she wouldn’t look any further than her own backyard.”  Well, my life is sort of like that…except I discovered I didn’t have the right backyard.  So, after a 25+ year high pressure career, my husband and I chucked it all, sold the house in the big city and bought the farm…really…we bought a farm.

I’m not entirely certain what made us think we could be farmers as we didn’t grow so much as leaf lettuce when we lived in the city but knew we needed to make a change in our lives.  We have always been outdoor people with a deep appreciation of the world around us.  Our lives had become one of constant “take” and we knew it was time to “give back” to nature and the world around us.  So now we find ourselves 3 hours away from family in a beautiful log home (means drafty) with no neighbours in sight and a view of Lake Ontario. Not that we are anti-social but we do enjoy the peace and quiet. 

We are organic farmers and do most of our work with as little equipment as possible (means we can’t afford a big tractor).  We raise meat sheep, laying hens, meat chickens, and we are graced with the presence of a lovely retired race horse (pacer).  There is also an assortment of cats (Frankie Beans is my avi) and our crazy collie Abbie.  I have a large market garden of heirloom veggies and grow anything you can think of

I shared a love of stamp collecting with my father.  We could often be found pouring over scraps of paper leafing through catalogues and I’m sure to the uninitiated we must have looked like spies plotting our next great adventure. When he passed away a few years back it fell to my (means my sisters dump this on me) to dispose of Dad’s large collection of stamps, covers postcards etc.  I quickly found that it rekindled my interest in geography and history, two classes I should clearly have attended more often in high school.  I have acquired some cards of my own along the way and this is how I come now to Etsy to share these beautiful vintage cards with others.