Belated Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Bandits. Sorry I'm a little late. Taking a break until the new year. Enjoying time with family. From my home to yours have a Happy and Healthy New Year.

K

Storm Watch

Hello Bandits,

The storm has come and gone. Joe, Zoey and I ate, watched movies and cuddled up on the couch. A perfect way to spend a stormy day and night. Here is what we woke up to


This is the view from my office/craft room. That is our drive way below that I dug out this morning. My arms and back are killing me. I did manage to fit in some crafting today. I made some more doll pendants and a play set. Here are just a few the rest will be in the shop over the next week or so. I can't believe Christmas is right around the corner. I hope everyone enjoys the season!

Mmmm Cupcakes....

Mmmmm and they're peanut butter and jelly my bandit friends! It doesn't get better than that! I would love to makes these one day. I found them on Martha Stewart

I was in the mood to bake something today and since I wasn't ready to tackle these delicious little fellows I made some peanut brownies! They hit the spot with a nice glass of cold milk. I'll have to take a picture tomorrow for you dear reader, but trust me they were divine. Don't worry there's still some ready for consumption tomorrow.

If you live on the east coast then I hope you are ready for the first official snow storm of the year. It's supposed to start falling tomorrow night into Sunday which means a possible work from home day for me on Monday! Hubby and I are ready with a house full of food and movies from blockbuster. We'll be up early tomorrow to do some last minute running around gathering "supplies" for Christmas dinner. I don't want to leave it to last minute next week and have to fight crowds.

I guess we'll have a white Christmas after all. It's been quite a few years since NJ has seen one. I think I was a kid? Wherever you are dear reader enjoy your weekend.

K

Are you watching Jersey Shore???

I know you are. This train wreck is so bad it's too good not to watch. Even Joe my husband is hooked. I'm a born and bread NJ native, Joe is a born and bread NY'er, we're ashamed to say we have come across one or 2 of these himbo's and bimbo's, but please believe me this is only 10% of the population here. The other 80% of us don't talk or act this way. It's a terrible stereo type but I have to say damn entertaining.

My favorite messes are Mike "The Situation" which is how he refers to his abs (come on now. He thinks any girl will fall for him and according to him, he determines when they will ROTFL.

My next favorite mess is Nicole "Snooki" she is so delusional she thinks she is a little version of Kim kardashian, again ROTFL. The girl is orange from spray tanning herself, on top of that she uses bronzer. Kim Kardashian?? try Umpa lumpa.

If you aren't watching this show and love a good train wreck (Rock of Love and Flavor of Love - sorry flav and brett fans) check it out on MTV Thursday nights.

Those of you who don't live on the east coast please note not all NY and NJ people talk or act this way. Just my disclaimer.

Just a quick hi..

Hello bandits, just dropping in to say hello and let my friends living in the states you still have time to purchase/order from the shop for the holidays.

My buy 2 pendants get 1 free is still going on all December long. I'm also working on making silk nylon cords to hang my pendants from and they just might be free when you buy!

TTFN - K

Team Edward or Team Jacob?

Hello Bandits, I finally got to see New Moon today! I went with my dear friend and go to movie pal (when the husbands won't go) Dyana. LOVED IT! Better than the first Twilight. It was more accurate to the book than the first.

I've read all 4 books and just love them. After reading the 2nd book and now movie I was torn between who I like more Edward or Jacob. Both characters are so sexy. I think just as when I read the 2nd book I'm now on team Jacob. You just feel that pain he feels in his love and desire for Bella who in return loves and needs him but is Edwards soul mate.

I can't wait for the 3rd and 4th movies to come out. I hope they don't cut too much out from the books or change it around. They ran a preview of Sherlock Holmes. It looks awesome. It's on my list of movies to see along with The Lovely Bones, which is a book I've yet to read. I think it's next on my reading list.

If you are a Twilight fan and have both read and seen the movies, are you on team Jacob or team Edward?

TTFN - K

My teeth hurt

Hey Bandits. I've been a tiny bit under the weather and busy at the same time. 1 week ago today I got my wisdom teeth pulled with pretty much little or no pain WELL.... I still have pretty much no pain but yesterday my lower left side of my face was a little uncomfortable, and as my husband so eloquently put it your "breath smells and your breath never smells" Thanks hon. I begin to think it's getting infected. I called my surgeon and the nurse assured me I'd be in excruciating pain and my face would be swollen. It's probably a dry socket???? She had me come in and she flushed it out and put a medicated gauze in the opening. Ah relief!

I kept it in until this afternoon, went back to the surgeons office where they took it out and showed me how to use a syringe to clean out the socket if food gets stuck in side.

Appprently a dry socket is when the scab that is forming in the hole loosens exposing the wound. All is well know and hopefuly soon this darn hole will close so I can eat normally again. I'm tired of soft mushy food LOL.

Now that I grossed you out. Enjoy your night. Oh more lovely doll pendants popped in the SHOP

Buy 2 Get 1 Free...

Yes it's true bandits, buy any 2 pendants get 1 free ALL DECEMBER LONG!

Holiday ordering notes: I will be taking custom orders up until Dec 5 for guaranteed Christmas delivery. Any orders placed after Dec 5 can not be guaranteed for Christmas.

These little cuties made their way into the shop







Hope everyone is enjoying the start of the holiday rush.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

In my house that is! That's right the decorations are up, christmas tunes are playing on the sirius radio and presents are finding there way under the tree.

Here is the fireplace in our family room





The Dining room



The stockings hung oh so carefully. I have to finish the other banister with more garland.



I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving. We ate until our jeans popped! The little pup got her fill too.

Friday I got my wisdom teeth out and believe it or not I'm in no pain, my jaw is just sore. It's weird to feel four holes in your mouth though. I'm happy that I got away with no pain. I'm still taking it easy and relaxing. I'm taking advantage of it by crafting away. I have some new stuff in the Shop stop by for a look.

TTFN Enjoy the weekend! K

Little St. Nick...

This little one has found it's way into the shop

Little by Little...

These will be finding there way in the shop.

Has it really been that long....

Since my last post? Hello bandits. I've been so busy with family, work and crafting I've haven't a minute to stop by and "chat" I have a ton of new stuff to share on the crafting front. I'm starting to up load pictures now. I hope to get them in the shop asap since they are mostly Christmas items.

Are you ready for Turkey day! I am I just love hanging out with family and eating until your busting! I have to get my fill that day, on Friday I will be going to the oral surgeon to have all 4 of my wisdom teeth pulled.

Long story short I cracked one of my wisdom teeth on a tootsie roll, how you may ask? Good question after going to my dentist I've come to find out my wisdom teeth are slowly decaying. I must of had a slight fracture and the tootsie roll did the trick. My dentist doesn't pull teeth so I went to any oral surgeon for an evaluation and decided if he is going to pull one do them all and get it over in one shot. I know I'm crazy. They aren't impacted so I don't expect to have too much pain. Eating is going to stink b/c you can only have soft foods.

I woke up today to a lovely email from an etsy member who featured me in a treasury

We'll back to editing pictures. Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend.

Oh and I already decorated for Christmas, tree and all. Only because I usually do it this coming weekend and with the surgery I'll be in no mood to do it.

My Creative Chaos

Hello Bandits! I have a little treat for you! A peak inside my creative space. It's a work in process as far as 1. organization and 2. all out decorating. We plan on painting the entire top floor of our house next summer.

Here is my creative mess from Sunday. I normally don't have my ironing board in the room but I use it when I paint shirts and I happened to be painting a shirt sunday for a lovely loyal customer. After I finished the shirt I moved all my works in process to the board to give me more room on my desk. OK so here is picure 1.

My closet is FULL of supplies lots of t shirts in bins from when I was heavily painting shirts on ebay. A roll cart with paint, stencils, paper blah blah. I want to eventually get a nice bookcase with bins that are labeled. I have no idea what is where and usually go through several boxes before I find what I need. I also have tons of stuff still in bags from AC moore and Michaels.

In the corner of the room is a little cut out that perfectly fits a bookcase we had in our apartment. I love my bookcase. It holds all the books Joe and I have read over the years plus drying or finished projects LOL. Oh and one of Zoey's beds has to be there. She likes to supervise. She also likes to stand on her back feet and look out the window.



Next is a close up of what's going on, on top of the ironing board. Some may become gifts for xmas or wind up on Etsy there are some wood blocks I covered with yummy christmas paper, a wood doll half painted. and one ornament finished. If you notice I tend to start many projects at once.



Lastly is my desk. I really shouldn't be crafting on it but I don't have anywhere else to do my projects yet. Joe will kill me if he looks at it closely. It has some war wounds :) I have some pendents in the works, more ornaments, blocks and dolls.



There you have it my lovely space to create that more often than not looks like a bomb hit it. Next year I hope to show you a more organized and smartly decorated work space. Do you have a spot devoted just for you to create? Show me! I love looking at creative spaces. Inspires me, I hope I inspired you!

I almost forgot. Here is the shirt I was working on. Beast from Beauty and the beast.



TTFN - K

5 Things I can't live without...

Hello Bandits I had a very productive crafting weekend. I took a picture of my crafting mess and will post a picture tomorrow. It's quite a site.

I thought I would share 5 things I just can't live without. Here they are...

1. Peanut butter(how could you think not?) I eat peanut butter with a banana every morning.

2. Chap stick - I must have one in every room of my house and 2 in my bag

3. The unconditional support of my husband.

4. Coffee - Enough said

5. Sirius Satellite Radio - I literally can't listen to regular radio anymore. My portable goes with me every where. The work day would drag with out it.

What can't you live without?

Sweet Victory

Whoo Hoo!... Thank goodness I don't think I could take a game 7

Love is in the air...

Happy Halloween Bandits! I hope everyone had a haunting good time today (hee, hee) Joe and I stayed home bound and handed out candy to all the neighborhood kids. Not a huge turn out but some adorable ghost and ghouls did show up.

I finally up loaded the pictures I took from the wedding I went to last Saturday.
The first is Me(on the left)the bride (my dear friend Dyana) and my other dear friend KerriAnn



Next is Me and Joe


The lovely Bride (Her dress was just gorgeous)



KerriAnn and the awesome James (her boyfriend)



I didn't get a good picture of the Bride and Groom together. Sorry Lou(the Groom) It's all about the Bride anyway.

A lovely evening all around. Congrats!

TTFN - Kathy

Just a quick hello

Hi Bandits

Popping in to say a quick hello. I had a wonderful busy weekend including a wedding of 2 very good friends. I managed to take a few pics considering I'm not the best at remembering to take pictures. I'll post them later. I feel sorry for my kids if and when I have any, they may not have any photos of their childhood if I don't correct my picture taking ways LOL. Case in point I never did take a picture and post it of my Halloween lights did I?

On the crafting front I got a wave of inspiration and have some cute Holiday goodness coming your way. We'll that's it for now. I'm at my real job and guess I have to tend to my Job Blah!

TTFN - Kathy

Changes.....

Nothing major! Hey Bandits. In my little absence I've been creating and thinking about my business. Peanutbutterbandit is actually a second store I've opened on Etsy. My original store BedknobsnBroomsticks is still open and where I sold my hand painted shirts. I did very well with my painted shirts on Ebay and only ok on Etsy. I think due to lack of trying?

I'm thinking of going back to it (keeping peanutbutterbandit open) moving my painted knobs, ornaments and switch plates there and leaving my watercolors and original paintings in peanutbutterbandit. If it gets to hard to keep both I'll scrap one or the other. I just want to have a uniform feel to both. Right now I feel like I have to much going on at the bandit.

Now for the good stuff..... I've been playing around with fabric buttons. I made some cute pony holders and bobby pins. They are now available at bedknobsnbroomsticks without further ado......

These are just a few I made there are more in the shop. What do you think of my photos with book prop?





TTFN-K

New Fancy Knobs

Hey Bandits, I hope your weekend was fun. Mine was, I got to do some crafting which always relaxes me and I think I found my mojo again LOL. I discovered covered buttons and boy are they fun to make. I have lots of ideas in store for them but here is what I did this weekend... I added them to some dresser knobs that I've been working on.

RETRO DOT IN HOT PINK

FANCY FROG


COUNTRY STAR


CAMBRIDGE PINK


I also painted this switchplate cover to match Pottery Barn Daisy Garden in Pink



On the halloween decorating front I have yet to head to Target or Lowes for another extension cord so still can't show pictures yet. I will make it this weekend LOL.

TTFN- K

Ebay

Had the bug to list my safari jungle set on ebay. I haven't listed/sold on ebay for a while. Jungle safari is now up for those who like to play with lady luck. starting bid is 15.00 flat rate shipping of 8.85 priority mail

TTFN and Good Luck!

Jungle Safari

Hey Bandits! I've been a lazy and a busy bee (is that possible?) I finally got the outside of my house decorated HOWEVER my pumpkin lights still don't light. I'm short an extension cord so one more trip to Lowe's and I should be good. This weekend I will have pictures to post.

On the art front I've been busy painting these 4 4x4 canvases called Jungle Safari ( Not very original I know) They will be in the shop as a set of 4. I think they would make a cute addition to any of the popular jungle bedding sets. I have some other stuff I'm working on but nothing to show yet. Knobs and switch plates so cute. What have you been up too?

Something Wicked this way comes...

Happy October 1st!!! I love this time of year. Today is the perfect fall day here in NJ cool and crisp. I'm ready for some pumpkin picking and hot apple cider yum!

I hope to get the outside of my house finished as far as decorating for halloween this weekend as long as the rain holds off. I have to head to target to get more orange and purple lights along with some outdoor extension cords. If I get to finish I'll be sure to post pics.

What do you do to get ready for the holidays?

I stink

I stink. Lately I can't paint for crap. Everything I paint I hate. I'm in a funk and can't seem to get out. I painted a little this weekend and blah, yuck nothing even worth showing. I need to clear my head. I think I have too many ideas cluttering around up there.

Oh and who thought to invent reduced fat peanut butter? It stinks. Give me full fat all the way.

How do you clear your mind to get creative?


TTFN - K

Mmmmm Peanut Butter....

How yummy do these look...

Peanut Butter and Jelly Truffles from Vintage Confections

Gourmet Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Fluff and Fudge Brownie Smores from BlissCandies

Peanut butter surprises from Julies Cookie Jar

Lastly not peanut butter by my other favorite CARAMEL and to top it off the best girl scout cookie EVER! Samoas Cupcake from Tabbycat13


Pure bliss.... TTFN - K

Back to the Kiss..

Hee, hee bandits. Butterfly Kiss is now up on ebay! It been ages since I've listed anything on ebay. I thought I would have some fun and list butterfly kiss.


Today I received some wood beads and door knobs I ordered last week. I hope to be able to play around with them this weekend.

I also found some yummy peanutbutter finds on etsy I'll share with you tomorrow. Now it's off to bed I have a very tired pooch snoring in my ear right now.

TTFN - K

First day of Fall and a SALE!

Hello bandits! Today is the first day of fall my absolute favorite time of year ( I think most people say that) for me it truly is. I love the anticipation of the holidays, cool weather, crisp falling leaves, hot apple cider, caramel apples, family gatherings, and building a fire ( in my case flipping the switch on the gas fireplace) I miss my parents house. We had a real fireplace and my dad always built one during the fall and winter. Almost every night.

In honor of fall arriving I am having a buy 2 get 1 free ornament sale. Buy any 2 ornaments in my shop and get one free! How cool is that? At check out in notes to seller just mention what ornament you would like as your free ornament. This includes any personalized ornament too.

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Works in process

Happy Monday Bandits.

Sharing 2 aceo's currently on my desk. Bandit cat which is done I just have to scan and snowmen 3 this one is hard to see I hope to finish it tomorrow. We'll see, I have to start practicing bow making for my friends upcoming wedding. She asked me to make pew bows for her. I've never done this before so I'm sure it will take some practice. I found some useful youtube videos to walk me through. Wish me luck


Oh and yesterdays art adventures are now in the shop
Happy Monday!

Thank you Direct TV

Thank you for having every possible football game collage and pro imaginable, it's a baby sitter for my loving husband! It gives me uninterrupted time to myself where I can just paint paint paint. Direct TV you are my hero.

With that said I was able to paint 4 canvas' today and make 2 more ornaments. I also played around with my new light box. I love it but I know I must be doing something wrong b/c my pictures have a slight pink tint to them. Photographer I'm not. I'm wondering if it's the settings on the camera? I'm going to give it another shot tomorrow. I was rushing myself so I'm sure it's the operator.

Here is what I painted today. 3 - 4x6 flat panel canvas' they are a series I'm calling "Bandit Houses" Then I did a 6x8 gallery wrapped canvas called "Ladybug Kiss" I really love this one.





How was your weekend?

It's Here, It's Here!

My tabletop photo studio is here! I'm so excited to set it up and start using it. I ordered it from LTD Commodities for only $39.95 well worth it I think. We'll see when try it out. It not only comes with the light box BUT it comes with the following....(per the website)

Use your own camera with the Tabletop Photo Studio to take crisp, clear photos.

Set up a studio to take pictures of small items for online auctions, brochures and more.
Includes:
Compact light box (16" cu.) with an integrated diffuser screen that balances light while softening distracting shadows
2 High-output lights (3-1/2" x 2-3/4") with adjustable, retractable legs (adjust from 8-1/4" to 10" high) and power cords
2 Backgrounds (light and dark)
Adjustable mini tripod (9-1/2" dia.; adjusts from 6-1/8" tall to 10-1/8")
Built-in nylon carrying case with a handle
Two GU10-C halogen bulbs (110V/120-Watt) are included.
Take beautiful, professional photos at home!

I tried to borrow a picture for you but if you click on the link you can see it. I'll post photos when I have it set up in my studio. Now I can get decent pictures I can't wait. This will be a huge help for my ornaments.

Hope you had a fab Monday!

TTFN-K

Butterfly Kiss

Hi Bandits. I hope you had a fun weekend. I did, I was able to get some quality crafting time in. Here's what I did...

Butterfly Kiss 6x6 gallery wrapped canvas



I Do announcement block sitter or ornament this can be made with or without the hook.




Son and Daugther block sitter or ornament




Lastly Mother and Father Ornaments




They will all be listed in the shop between tonight and tommorow.