Hard Times, Rough Times and New Times

WOW! I can't believe that it has been a month since I last popped in to say hey! My only excuse is on going health issues and my kiddos are out of school. Blue my little "Rainman" has had a really rough time to the disruption to his schedule. I have had very little time to work on new items-either dolls or graphics and plan on setting my nose to the grind stone in the upcoming weeks. I have added several auction template to my template pages on the website. You can see all of them Here! This is one of the logos and I really like it If you have a store on ETSY and need a banner I have also listed a few new banners. You can see them Here! Be sure to check back every once in a while to see all the new goodies I will be working on. It is getting that time of year that I start working on Halloween items. Although I love Christmas, the spooky items are my favorite to work on. Maybe I have a little witch in me. Until next time, B

Stars and Stripes--The Olde Primitive Sister's Vendor Challenge!

I just have to drop in and say that I am amazed again by the talent over at Olde Primitive Sister's Online Marketplace! We had eight vendors participate in the Stars and Stripes challenge and once again the ladies have come through with some wonderful primitive creations to honor Memorial Day! Here is my Old Sammy Crow that I created for the challenge! You can click the picture to visit the listing! Be sure to check out all the gorgeous Primitive Creations in the slide show below and vote HERE for your favorite in our poll. Click on the pic to visit the listing! Let us all take a moment this Memorial Day Season to remember those that have served and paid the ultimate sacrifice for our Freedom and those that continue to serve! Blessings, Bebe

Exciting Challenge on Olde Primitive Sister's Online Marketplace

WOW! WOW! WOW! I can not believe how time flies! Where does it go? I haven't a clue because it never seems as if I have enough of it to get everything done that I want to get done. I wanted to drop in on the blogoshere and let all of you surfers out there know that we have a great Vendor challenge going on over on Olde Primitive Sister's Online Marketplace. There should be some awesome creations emerge from this challenge and best of all, they will be offered for sale and the customers can vote on which they think is the best. The challenge is in honor of Memorial Day an is entitled "Stars and Stripes". The vendors were instructed to create something star themed in line with Memorial Day! Be sure to mark it on your calendar--May 15th becuase I am sure everyone will be impressed with what the "Sisters" come up with. I have been working around my house trying to get it cleaned before Spring passes me by. It is a never ending chore. In between cleaning, I had one of my great customers ask if I could create some u print tags for her, which I did. I am now offering them in PDF format ready to print out on my web site. You can hop on over to Off The Beaten Path Designs to see all the sets and the enlarged view. The set of six shown below has three different images and will measure approx. 2" by 4" when cut. Images are my own copy righted mouse drawn graphics and are for printing only and can not be used in web or digital projects. Click here to purchase $2.50 Instant Download Of course the downloaded PDF file doesn't have Sample writen across them. LOL! Until the 15th, Toodle Doo! Bebe

So Much to Say, So Little Time!

Hi folks, Wow, how time flies, even if you are not having fun! I am way behind on my blogging and have a ton of things to catch up on. First, I was so honored that Sondra from Whimsy Stitches sent me this Special Artist Award! I am tickled pink with it! It is especially nice coming from such a truly gifted and talented artist such as Sondra! Thanks so much, my friend, for honoring me with this award! Now I would like to bestow the gift of this award to another wonderful artist, Linda of Linda Pinda Designs. She creates just awesome primitive graphics and deserves an award such as this. Next, I just finished moving my "A Man Outstanding In His Field" piece to the Olde Primitive Sister's Online Market Place! You can click the photo to visit the listing. This was one of my all time favorite creations and the most difficult for me to work on for a variety of reasons. I also have new websets listed on my website and on DIYestores.com Below are a couple of the sets on my site- Off The Beaten Path Designs I was also tagged with a meme tag. I will have to think on that one and get back to you on that though. Six words that most describe me??? The only one I am sure of at this point is CRAZY! I hope all of you out there in cyberland have a peaceful and restful evening! Pray for our soldiers, our country, and our children! Blessings, B

The Special Friendship Award Tag!

Morning folks! Yesterday, I had the great honor of being "Tagged" with a Special Friendship Award from Deb of Willowtree Treasures. It seems my job now is to accept the award and pass it on to another of my deserving friends. First, let me say I was shocked to even get the award. LOL! You see, most of those who I consider my bestest friends, I have never seen face to face. Sitting here in my home, nestled between four hills in the middle of nowhere, I am mostly cut off from the outside world. The closest house is about three miles away as a crow flies and the people living there are family. Not that I do not consider them friends as well, but I didn't get to choose them. Family is thrust upon you by God and Fate and you love them regardless of weather you like them or not. Friends are different and special! They are the persons that come into your life by whatever means (even blips on a computer screen) and touch the very heart of who you are. You have a choice to hold them close and nourish the relationship or shut the door because you just don't mesh. You choose love them because you like them. They compliment and sometimes even challenge you you are. LOL! I have one dear friend with whom I argue about everything. We love to debate even the smallest details. At times, I agree with her totally, but will still take the opposite view, just get her going! I am sure she does the same with me. Now Deb, who sent the Friendship Award to me is one of those people who you just can't help but like. She is a FRIEND to everyone. Never a harsh word escapes her, and if it did, she would instantly be apologising! LOL! She is one of the most understanding and caring persons, I have been blessed to meet. Deb, I may not say it enough, but I am so thankful to have met you. Thank you my friend also, for passing the award to me and all the truly wonderful words you had for me! Now I am in a quandary on who should I pass this Special Friendship Award onto. It is not the that I don't have many choices---THAT IS THE PROBLEM. How can I choose just one??? Well I guess I am just going to break the rules and choose more than one! My first Special Friend Award goes to Jane of Jane of Ark Designs. Jane is such a talented woman who juggles a family, crafting, and career, yet still has time to check on her friends. We live a thousand miles apart but I know I can count on her to always lift my spirit or offer a helping hand. Jane, I just want to say, You Inspire Me! Now I know Jane doesn't have a blog yet, (we are still trying to nudge her into creating one) but she certainly deserves my Special Friend Award! The torch is yours my friend! My next Special Friend Award goes to Lelsie of Primitive By The Hollow. Leslie has a great talent in the primitive field. I absolutely love her creations. I consider her a great friend as well! She is always ready with helpful advice to anyone who needs it, or a cyber hug or smile if the situation calls for it. She is courageous, caring and has a great sense of humor. Leslie, I am proud to call you FRIEND! I hope you enjoy the Special Friend Award I am sending your way and find someone equally deserving to pass it on to! Lastly, I want to share a poem that says much about my friendships. I did not write it, but found the author's words so true! I hope you enjoy it as well! Friends Without Faces We sit and we type and we stare at our screens, We can't help but wonder what all of this means. With mouse in hand ...we roam through this maze, On an infinite search...lost in a daze. We chat with each other, we type all our woes, At times we'll band together to gang up on our foes. We wait for somebody, to type out our name, We want recognition, but it is always the same. Soon friendships are formed - but - why we don't know, But some of these friendships, will flourish and grow. We give kisses and hugs, and sometimes we'll flirt, In IMs we chat deeply, and reveal why we hurt. Why is it on screen, we are so easily bold, Telling our secrets, that have never been told. The answer is simple, it is as clear as a bell, We all have our problems, and need someone to tell. We can't tell real people, but tell someone we must So we turn to our 'puters ...and to those we can trust. Even though it sounds crazy...the truth still remains, Most of my "friends" have no faces...and odd little names ~Rusty Black, ©1996

How Do Folks! I thought I would hang out here and chat for a bit. I have a freebie for you as well so read on! Not much happening in my neck of the woods. We had a flash flood last week and it washed a couple of bridges out on our driveway. We have been busy trying to get that repaired so we can get out of the sticks if we need to. One of our hens has gone to setting so we will have baby chicks here in a few weeks. The kids always get a kick out of watching the hatching. I will post some pics, if I can catch the event. It is almost sheep shearing time too. I am not looking forward to that and there will be no pictures of me trying to wrangle the sheep. LOL! I do love spring time! Everything is blooming and all the critters are having little ones. Turkey season is almost here and the gobblers are strutting around taunting us. Actually they are striking a pose to impress the hens, but all that strutting sure taunts us as well. LOL! I also have fishing fever. I have only been once so far this year, but the blue gill are already biting. I can't wait to have a nice big bunch of fresh fish to fry up. Yum! With all the rain and everything blooming my allergies have kicked into high gear which in turn leads to some serious headaches. Yuck! I have managed to get a few things done. Mostly I have worked on graphics. I have a couple of new web sets up on my web site and should have a couple new ones listed over at DIYestores as well. You can see them full frame by clicking on the thumb shots below. Are you still reading? Well I thought I would offer a freebie on here. It is not much but if you like the prim hang tags, this is nice. You can click on the photo and download a zipped file with the hang tag graphic and another surprise graphic. I hope you enjoy them! They are created from my original mouse drawn art work and are not to be resold as they are but you can use them along with your prim wares for sale or for your personal use. Now as Elmer Fud always says, That's all folks! Blessings, B

Checkin' In and Chillin' Out

Howdy Folks,
Thought I would drop in share the latest with you. I have been busy finishing up local orders here. The Kentucky Derby is coming up in May and I am bombarded with people wanting my little stick hobby horses and then the bigger stick horses for the stick horse races that are held locally. It's good for me.
I wish spring would hurry up and arrive in my neck of the woods. The sun was out today and it was so pretty and soooo deceiving. The wind was blowing and it was cold! Too cold to let the kids out to play for long. I am sure I will be complaining about the heat before too long so maybe I'll just hush about the cold! LOL!
I have a Patriotic Kitty listed on Olde Primitive Sister's Online Marketplace. You can visit her by clicking on her picture.

Well, I guess, I had better get my tail up from this chair and wash the dinner dishes. The meatloaf was yummy, but I sure hate the clean up. It is also the kiddo's bed time and they still haven't had their baths. The night is still young with much to do!

Love until the next time!

B

Pssst, Have you heard the news?

Good Day Folks! As my title implies, I have news to share. Sharing it secretly seems the only way the word is going to be spread too! What is she blabbering on about, you ask? Well, I am referring to the latest "improvements" that the eBay executive's are putting into place, effective March 31st. This change is going to affect hundreds, if not thousands of eBay sellers and some still do not know about it. The one's that do know have found out by someone going "Psst! Have you heard the latest?". Thats right! No Mass emails letting their sellers know that on March 31st all digital listings in auction format, buy it now format, and store format will be in violation of the new policy and cancelled. What we did get, was a memo style note buried on the announcement board. This change has effectively put me as well as most of my eBay seller friends out of business on eBay. I am talking about legitimate sellers too--not those trying to scam buyers out of a buck to increase their feedback. My friends and I offered real products like primitive e patterns delivered by automatic download or email, or web graphics and auction templates. All those selling any type of e books with recipes are gone too. Up until recently, I was an avid eBay supporter, both as a buyer and as a seller. Not anymore. Lately, it has been more of a love, hate relationship, that has now ended in divorce. For all of you that buy from eBay, if your favorite sellers disappear, start searching the web for them. EBay has forced many of us else where with all the new policy changes that supposedly protect the buyer. I guess that it is protection in a way. If you can't find any sellers then you can't buy anything, thus you are protected. I am participating in the May boycott (neither buying or selling) and really have no plans to sell anything on eBay ever again! Thanks for listening to all my ramblings about eBay. I do have a couple new auction templates listed on my website. they work with several auction sites, not just eBay. Below is a thumbnail preview of the template. You can click the link to visit my web site where I have it available. I also want to invite you to visit one of my friends website. She is also trying to move from the eBay choke hold. Leslie is a great gal who does awesome work. If you see something you must have from her, tell her Bebe sent ya!

Dipping my toes into the blogging pool! Is the water cold?

Good Day to All! This is my very first entry into the blogging pool. I am a chicken and always wait for others to "test the waters" so to speak before I dip my toes into the pool. LOL! I see so many of my prim friends having fun, splashing around in the blogs that I thought it was time to dive in head first. So where to begin? I have no idea! I mentioned to Lex, of NorthWind Star a month or so ago, that I just wasn't that interesting and couldn't imagine anyone being interested in reading about me plucking a chicken for dinner that night. OF course that got a good chuckle from her. So I guess, my blogging days will consist of some of my daily routines, the chalenges and rewards of living and loving an autistic child, my rants over my frustrations with different things and my newest creations or those of my firends. The world wide web has become the vehicle in which I now drive to visit with friends. I have made so many and consider some my family. I hope to introduce them to you and hope to meet many more onliners to add to my friends list. Until tomorrow~ B