IT HAS BEEN A VERY LONG TIME
Blogging and crafting has simply come to a complete stop since having gone back to work.  It's sad but true.  I'm finding it almost impossible to care for a 9 month old and keep this stuff up.  Don't give up on me quite yet, I just might not be as frequent as I used to be.


I would however like to take this opportunity to give a good friend of mine Ann Symington some publicity for her  little hobby/business.  Ann has been making some great little things for babies and mom's since she's been off on maternity leave.  You can check her out at the following web addresses.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/littleheadbands
http://littlemissheadbands.weebly.com/index.html

A DONATION FOR A VERY GOOD CAUSE
I recently stumbled upon two sisters from Ottawa who are really great illustrators.  They started a project called theDADproject (drawing a day) after having sadly lost there father to metastatic stage 4 colon cancer in his lungs and liver this past October.  They opened an Etsy shop selling the  drawings and donate $10.00 of every print sold to the Canadian Cancer Society.  They have also been accepting donations from other artists on Etsy and have been selling them as a weekly feature and donating that money as well.  That being said, I felt it was a very good cause and a wonderful idea, so I have donated one of my knitted goods.  It will most likely be featured this Friday, Jan 21st in there shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/theDADproject).  You can also check out there blog to see my bio ( www.theDADproject.com) 


Here is the neck warmer that I donated to this great project!

AND THE WINNER IS....THE ONE AND ONLY PERSON WHO ACTUALLY ENTERED IN THE GIVEAWAY...MY BEST FRIEND MEL!!
CONGRATS MEL AND THANKS FOR ENTERING!

ONE MORE DAY FOR THE FREE GIVEAWAY!!!!

GETTYSBURG
My father in law is only slightly obsessed with that place.  He literally travels there at least twice a year all the way from Ottawa to hunt for ghosts, no word of a lie.  I'm pretty sure if he could travel back in time he would have a giant handle bar mustache, a horse, a musket and would definitely reside in Gettysburg.  That being said, he asked my husband to ask me if I could draw him a picture of a famous photo taken of 3 prisoners in Gettysburg a very long time ago.  I decided to surprise him and paint him the photo instead for Christmas.  Needless to say he was pretty friggin excited to see it on Christmas when he opened it.  There was a lot of little detail in that painting and being the procrastinator that I am left it, for the most part, until two weeks before Christmas.  There were times when I was going to give up, but I knew how stoked he would be to get it and that kept me going.  
So check it out!  I'll post a photo of the original as well.

THIS IS THE ORIGINAL PHOTO

ONLY 4 MORE DAYS...free giveaway!
January 14th is quickly approaching and only one person is in need of a free baby hat!!??  All you have to do is check out my Etsy shop and tell me which item is your favorite item and become a follower on my blog.  It's really simple. 

YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.....
If you want it...come and get it!

BACK TO WORK TOMORROW
I'm sooooo sad!!!  Best make the most of this day.  I'm going for a family walk because it is so nice outside.  Some laundry needs to be done and perhaps I can fit some crafting in before I hit the sac at 9:00.  
That's that! :(

REALLY OLD PAINTINGS....by me!
I was going through some files that my husband just compiled on to a massive server that he's been working on.  We sadly lost some precious photos recently, so we thought it might be a good idea for us to start backing up our stuff.   You'd think we would know better because it's not the first time this kind of thing has happened to us.  Anyhow...I came across some scans of paintings that I did many years ago.  16 years ago to be exact!  Wow, it's some what weird to think that it's been that long since high school.  These 3 paintings have been in good hands for years, and those hands would be my mom's.  She pretty much refuses to allow me to take any of my art from her.  Oh well at least I know where they are.  
So here they are.

Still life 1996

Still life 1997

Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols 1997 

KICKIN OFF 2011 WITH A GIVEAWAY!!! FREE! FREE !
So I was thinking what better way then to start the new year off with a lolospetals giveaway.  Everyone loves free stuff and it's really simple to enter the contest.  I'll be giving away this super cute little baby hat that I knit up for a 6-9 month old.  It's really bright colors and looks great on. Makes for a great little gift for someone's little one, or for your very own little one.

 Here are the contest rules:
1. Check out my Etsy shop at www.lolospetals79.etsy.com
2. Leave a comment on this post including your name, e-mail address and which item in my Etsy shop is your favorite.  
3. One last thing, add me as a blog that you follow!!!


Contest deadline ends January 14th, 2011 at midnight.  You may enter more then once, however only once per day please.  All names will be entered into a randomizer to see who wins.  Good luck!!

AND CHRISTMAS IS OVER...JUST LIKE THAT!
So I guess I can finally start posting some of the things I have been working on that were gifts.  This is a painting that I did for my brother, he is obsessed with anything wildlife, nature, and especially trees.  The painting is of an Australian gum tree and has a line from the Australian nursery rhyme "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree" written on it.  
It is acrylic paints on a wood canvas.  I attempted to cover this painting in a resin coating.  It didn't quite turn out the way I had hoped, however it looked pretty cool the way it did turn out.  Mixing that resin was not a fun task.  I had plans to finish two table tops and this painting.  Lets just say the tables went to the dumpster and some how I managed to salvage the painting.  
Back to work for me in one week!  I can't believe it's been 7 months already.

20 DAYS UNTIL I'M BACK AT WORK 
I cannot believe how quickly the last 7 months have gone.  My baby girl is 6 months old tomorrow :(  She is growing and changing so fast and I'm really not looking forward to leaving her.  I apologize for the lack of posts, but after Christmas it should be better.  I have tons of gifts that I have made and taken photos of to post on here.  I've also been working really hard on my Esty shop to get it up and running.  If I don't get a chance to get back on here in the next week, I wish you all a very merry Christmas!!!!!

FUNKY BABY HEADBANDS FOR SALE ON ETSY

Check out my hand knit baby headbands in my Etsy shop!!!  They are a great way to accessorize your little one.  Each one is originally and made with love. 

LOLOS PETALS ETSY SHOP IS OFFICIALLY OPEN!!!
I'm super excited about this and I'm saying a little prayer that it works out for me.  It's officially open, i'm just working on getting the items for sale up there.  Give me a few more days and it should be open for business.  Here's a link to the web address: www. lolospetals79.etsy.com
Check it out and please feel free to send it to anyone you think might be interested.  For now i'm still focusing on knitted items, however eventually I would like to have other items up there for sale.  
Thanks everyone for continuing to view my blog, I really appreciate it.  

FIRST ORDER!!!
Here is the finished product of my very first order.  A cream version of the neck warmer.  I love knitting this one, it's fast, really soft and pretty simple.  It's got a cable in it, which is new to me, but it's not too difficult.  I've been avoiding cables for a long time, so I decided to try it out to see what I was missing.  I love the look of it!!  Thanks Erin for being my first customer, I really appreciate it.  Enjoy!!

HELLO KITTY
I just love knitting things for my little girl.  It's honestly a never ending job because she doesn't fit into things for very long.  I have been generally making her a new hat every month.  I also do love for her to have a variety.  Accessories are important...I think!  So here's my recent creation for the wee Willow.  Hello Kitty is always a great way to go.  This is a neck warmer I designed for her considering it's probably not a good idea to put a scarf around a 5 month olds neck.  
She loves it!!!

KNITTED ITEMS FOR SALE

So the main reason I haven't been spending a lot of time on here lately is because I've been working on items to sell on Etsy.  These items will soon be for sale in the Esty shop that I am working on.  However if anyone is interested in purchasing them now please feel free to contact  me at ebeers79@hotmail.com and I can get you an order done up!  These are a few items that can be made in the color of your choice, however the items in the photos are also for sale.  

Here are the details and the photos. 


*SHIPPING FEES NOT INCLUDED IN PRICE*

Grey Neck Warmer $45.00 CND
80% Acrylic 20% Wool, very soft, hand wash /dry flat

Blue hat $60.00 CND
100 % Wool

Grey NeckWarmer Cabled $45.00 CND
80% Acrylic 20% Wool, very soft, hand wash/dry flat

Grey sloutch hat $60.00 CND
100% Acrylic, very comfortable and warm, machine wash & dry
available in different sizes (hat in photo is medium)

I KNOW I KNOW...
I'm going to work on some photos today of the work i've been doing and post them ASAP.  I was without photoshop for 3 weeks and Willow was teething.  It's just been hard to get on here.  Stay tuned....

I KNOW IT'S BEEN AWHILE....
I'm trying really hard to focus on my knitting lately and get a stock pile because I'm really hoping to open an "Etsy" shop.  So that's why I haven't posted anything for a good week now.  Knitting takes awhile to accomplish anything, however I have managed to finished two hats and a scarf this week.  I'm also finding as the baby gets older she is much more demanding :)  She is my main priority, obviously.  Thank god it's Friday...daddy is home for two days!!!  Well i'll try to keep up with this a little more in the next couple of days.  Happy Friday!!!

HOO HOO......OWL STUFFIE!

I made little Ruthie a stuffed owl for her birthday.  I really love owls, especially stuffed owls...they are super cute.  I pulled out my bin of fabric and decided to make a denim owl.  I was also kind of going for an Asian kind of look with the colors and the choice of ribbon.  Anyways, I really love this owl and I hope that Ruth does too.