Fine Prints by Are Kay Elle!

I just wanted to do a post about my really great friend who has recently become a member of the blogging community! Give a warm welcome to Are Kay Elle! Fine photography created by Robyn L. She is an amazing photographer and has a great eye for interesting shots! This is just one of her pieces. Her work is on etsy now as well and can be found Here. You can follow Robyn and her photography on her new blog! Are Kay Elle Blog

Tid Bit of her first blog! :)

"Welcome to Are Kay Elle - Prints, these are many of the photographs I have taken over the course of the last couple of years, some are from all over the world, like Portugal or England."

Cheers!
Hil

Endangered Commissions

This is a commission piece that I have done...really fun to go back to the endangered animal series, I especially had a blast painting the lion. What a face eh! You almost want to hug the painting. haha.

Hugs and cheers!!

Hil

Tooth Fairy Buddies!

Bring on the teeth!! Tooth buddies are ready for action! Hand sewn little friends that can later be used to hide little trinkets or keepsakes :)

Kitty Tooth Buddy loves to snuggle and is very friendly with other plush animals.

Molar the Polar Bear Tooth Buddy loves being there to help and helping out the tooth fairy is what he knows best! :)

Tooth Buddies available now on Etsy!

Hugs and Cheers!
Hils

For the love of paper :)

please click on image for expanded view :)

Who has a cat that does not like paper? I certainly don't know anyone. I thought up this little sketch after I saw my cat Malachi the other day wondering which scrap piece to sit on on our craft table. He seemed to go for the small one at first but decided for the larger one after, haha....and by the end he had stretched himself right out so that at least some part of his body was touching a piece :)
Enjoy!
Hugs and Cheers!!
Hils

Illustration Friday - Impossibility

Silly Mer-Kitty, you know its impossible to catch fish with tridents! ;)

This is my Illustration Friday painting.
5" x 7"
It is up for grabs on Etsy!

Hugs and Cheers!
Hils

Etsy Update! Kitty Dreams of Saving Endangered Animals

What a wonderful moonlit sky, little kitty is again dreaming! This time he is off saving endangered animals!

Item will be available on Etsy
1pm est

A fabulous addition to any Goldbutton kitty collection! :)

This sweet little 5"x 7" painting was inspired by looking over at my armchair where my cat spots loves to nap and seeing him cuddled up to one of his many many stuffed animals haha.Cheers!
Hilary

Renee Award!

Thank you very much to Suzi from Art With a Touch of Whimsy for this wonderful Renee award. This is a brand new circulating award and: This Renee award was created by Bella and Ces in honour of their friend Renee. In Bella's own words "this is a brand new award and I the pleasure and honor of spreading the seed, watching it grow. I hope it finds it's way to those who are like Renee: the acorn, a small package becoming a tall and sturdy oak, giving more acorns, becoming tall and sturdy oaks, giving acorns..."
Now I will nominate 8 women who I think are wonderful!
1. Paris
2. Michele Reed
3. http://thebeehivestore.blogspot.com/
4. Jerdle
5. http://bowquet.blogspot.com/
6. http://www.florlariosart.com/
7. Maria
8. Laurie

Cheers!
Hilary

Oh the moss and the Sunshine!

Please click on the pictures for an even more mossy view!

I was doing a little bit of cleaning up in the backyard yesterday and happened upon a whole bunch of moss! Its my favourite thing about spring and summer, so fuzzy and spongy. I always want to bring it in the house with me and grow it in my windowsills...lol...not sure if that can be done or not. They should really invent moss carpets! :) These little green treasures were being sheltered by the beautiful cherry tree that resides in in my yard, they are so sweet poking their little faces out to see the sun! :)

No end in sight for my glasses!

A little while back I was wanting to save up my money and go to get laser eye surgery done...I was asking friends who had had it done and they raved about it, "Its so simple!" "only takes 45 seconds per eye!" "you have to get it done!" So I was all excited about the possibility of not having to squint at hot guys, whom I thought were good looking but in the end would be someone only a mother could love...haha...anyways....back to the story, so I thought it out...priced it out and after many a heart attack thinking about how much it would cost, an angel fell from the sky and it was called...."How its made" or "How its done..." something along those lines....a television show from heaven. That day it happened to be....How Laser Eye Surgery is Performed! I was so excited! I could finally see the process and be in awe of how simple and wonderful it was! So I watched....and I watched....and I covered my eyes.....and I squirmed.....and almost barfed....and I decided I never wanted laser eye surgery again!!.....I mean, why do you need to cut open the cornia or whatever to perform the surgery?! Why not just shine the big laser into my eye and well get it over with! Anyways....needless to say within 10 min I had changed my mind completely and Im not going to have it done unless they bring in the booth where you pay your 2 bucks and be done with it...no cutting....no nothing! Maybe they can throw in a gift certificate to have before and after pics done in the booth next to me!
Cheers!
Hilary

Scrap-Kitty Clutch! :)

I was at the sally annes earlier today and a burst of creativity came over me, what if I made...little black kitty plush toys from recycled clothing!? They would be so cute on Etsy! So I scoured the rows looking for soft cat like fur when I happened upon a girls jacket made by a certain H***nah Mo***na.... haha.....hopefully she doesnt mind me cutting up her clothes. lol
So I pranced back home with all my new things...sewing thread, cotton balls (filler) and a not so worn jacket I was about to hack up. So I looked and looked at the jacket wondering where to make my incision, and a clutch jumped out at me! Well....not exactly...I just saw in in the bottom of the arm. I started cutting and cutting and cutting....fuzzies flying everywhere...sewing and sewing and finally I came out with SCRAP KITTY!! A clutch/purse/handbag to scare all your friends and relatives! ;) Actually he is darling, and as much as I would love to keep him for myself I must allow him to be in the public eye cause hes just that cute! Hopefully he fills someones life with as much fur flying joy he has created for me!

Scrap Kitty is available on Etsy! :)

Cheers!!
Hilary

Mer-Kitty Learns to Swim

5" x 7"
What a gorgeous day for a swim up to the surface, mer-kitty is just learning to swim, his sweet little mermaid friend is helping him out.

Done in acrylic on canvas.
Item available on Etsy!

Somehow I am sure my cats would love to turn into little mer-kitties, I watch them every day try and get into the fish tank. They are so sweet and devilish at the same time, trying to eat all the fish, yet acting innocent...staring at you blankly when you catch them. I am sure they would have a blast swimming around chasing the little fish. :)

Cheers!
Hilary

Happy Easter!

I was not sure what to write about this time so I've decided to just post a painting I did a while ago that I think reminds me of Easter...the colours and the rain :) Spending Easter with my kitties and my own pack of chocolate mini eggs is puuuurfect for me!

Etsy Shop Update!

3 Little updates!

Wow 3 posts in 1 day!! Thanks to my fishtank and Illustration Friday I have lots of stuff to sketch and write about! (please scroll down to figure out what I am talking about) I have wanted to re list these beautiful little earrings, they unfortunately had homes for a minute but were not payed for. So they are in need again of finding loving homes :)

SOLD!! Thank you!! :)
Feel free to click on images to get a closer look :)
This little guy is my painting for this weeks illustration friday :)

These guys are so adorabe! Little twin owlets :)These earrings are modeled after row houses in St. John's Newfoundland. They dangle so nicely!

Illustration Friday - Fleeting

Kitty is fleeting in and out of wondrous dreams about chasing beautiful butterflies!

A Day In The Life Of My Fishtank

Algae Monster!
Click on picture for larger view

Ahhhhh......my fish tank, an ongoing source of...well... i don't know whether its entertainment....or frustration. Entertainment in my head, frustration in the real world. haha.
A few months ago a couple of my best algae eaters died on me :( Ever since, I have been dealing with this tank that gets out of control within a week! Every week when I clean the tank I swear that i'm going to go out and buy a couple new algae eaters, and in the end not doing so. I had gone out a while ago and gotten a few bottom feeders that were apparently supposed to solve all my problems, but they have not done anything except take over the local castle and wage war on my tetras. :( However, this week I actually did go get a few of the algae eaters and well....I guess we will see from here. Let me know if you have any tips or tricks on keeping your fish tank clean :)
Cheers!
Hilary

Gratitude/Attitude Award :)

Thank you very much Silke for awarding me this Lemonade Stand Award for great Gratitude and/or Attitude!

1. Put the logo on your blog or post
2. Nominate 10 blogs that show great Gratitude and/or Attitude.
3. Be sure to list and link your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know they have received this award by leaving a comment on their blog.
5. Nominate your favorites and link to your post.

Here are my nominees!

1. Charlotte of We Blog Artists
2. Hilaria Galleries
3. Kim of Under the Ginnip Tree
4. Lapuertademisuenos
5. Bonnie of Boutique By Bonnie
6. Kimmie of Once Upon A Blue Crow
7. Laurie of The Litterbox News
8. Carol of Wytchwood Ramblings
9. Rena of Rena Jones
10. Lance of Crescent Hill Designs

Thank you to all these bloggers for making my day full of beautiful art and laughter. :)

Ginger Cookie Time!

You know those yummy treats that make you say to yourself..."why do I even have these in the house?!"

I went on a baking spree on Saturday and decided to make spelt ginger cookies. Let me just say a few words......chewy.....gingery.... goodness.....get these things away from me! Thank god they are all gone now cause I won't be making these babies again for another month or so...haha. They are super easy to make and only take 8 min in the oven, and really if it took any longer in the oven I would have had enough time to eat all of the ones that JUST came out. The recipe makes atleast 24 and I think between Greg, his buddy Chris and I we polished off 15 before they even had time to cool!

Recipe!

Wet:
3/4 cup soft butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp water
1/4 cup molasses

*Wisk together*
*Add Dry Mixture*

Dry:
2 1/4 cups spelt flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

*Mix together, consistency will be a little more wet than other cookie recipes. They are the most chewy, delicious things on the planet! :) Oven at 350 and bake for 8 min.

Enjoy!
Hilary

Are you scared of oatmeal??

Hi my name is Hilary, and I suffer from oatmeal-aphobia.....I have come to you today to share a story of a love hate relationship coming together in a bowl. All my life I have hated oatmeal, sticky and gross and soooo not my kinda thing. Now don't ask why I did it, but the other day I bought a bag of oatmeal from the local bulk food store. I have been testing new and exciting things out for breakfast, and for some reason thought that buying oatmeal on this particular day would mean that it was possibly grown differently...taste differently...I don't know....I guess I was hoping that Kellogs had taken over the oameal industry and now every piece would be an Oatmeal Fruit Loop.

So....I put the boiling water over the oatmeal, having added crushed sugar sprinkles and hoped for the best. Well...... it was not the best and my new found relationship with oatmeal came to a screeching halt, however I was determined to make this work and decided to have a look at what others where doing to make their relationships work. I punched in google...."what to do when your breakfast sucks" and on the 30 thousandth page I saw my bowl of oatmeal....staring at me through that little picture, only it was not alone! Oatmeal! Have you been cheating on me all these years? Not telling me that there is something out there that makes you whole!? Well I clicked on the picture and there was my oatmeal, getting friendly with a packet of hot chocolate...and some stevia...and cinammon. I almost died....oatmeal and hot chocolate??????? You have got to be kidding me.....

Well.... I marched into the kitchen threw open the cupboards and grabbed the packages of hot chocolate, threw water on the stove and put a few heaping tablespoons of oatmeal into a bowl.

I swear...my life with oatmeal has forever changed, we have a loving relationship now that hot chocolate is around....I told stevia that three might be a crowd.....but cinnamon is allowed to join in sometimes.... ;)

Recipe!!!

4 tbsp oatmeal

1 pkg of hot chocolate

1 sprinkle of cinnamon

-Just enough boiling water to cover and then mix together!

mmmmmmm yummy!!

Cheers!

Hilary

Illustration Friday - Talisman

Mommy's boy was being a bad kitty when she went out to get him treats!

Click on image for larger view :)

Nana cracking the whip!

Haha, made you look at my little blog...i was talking to my nana recently and she told me, "Hilary, get your butt onto your blog and put up the kitty winners! lol" I was like, "I know! I know! my life is so busy, blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda....I cant spare 20 minutes to type haha...." but alas my Nana is right and I need to get my butt into action. So here we go! The winners that I wrote on a piece of paper so very long ago lol please forgive me.

The kitty winners are!:

1. Buskitten! (I swear she didn't win cause she has kitten in her name ;)

2. Rena!

3. Once Upon A Blue Crow!

4. Creative Minds!

5. Cheryl!

Thank you to everyone who entered! School is finally done for the year and its again time to breathe! I am going to be revamping my site a little for the summer....I seem to be coming up with all these funny little comics in my head and wishing to draw they out and post them, so I might be changing the look a little to suit my new ideas, also for anyone interested I am going to be posting wheat free recipes! I have recently discovered my allergy and wish to share my alternatives with everyone! :)

Thank you to all my followers who kept coming back when I was off in la la land, and thanks to my Nana for kicking me in the butt and getting me to post! haha

Cheers!!

Hilary

Team EFA

I have been wanting to give back to the animals for a while now and since being on Etsy I have kept running across this tag called Team EFA...I decided to figure out what it was all about and sign up!

I am now a proud member of Etsy For Animals! I will be making a donation to a charity of my choice...the charity may change every few months.
At the moment I am donating to a local charity, the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Center! In the next few days I will be making turtle earrings and necklaces. Check Etsy for updates! :)

10% of my sales each month will be donated to this wonderful Center!

If you would like to sign up to this wonderful cause please contact mvegan5

Cheers!!

Hilary

Kreativ Blogger Award!

Yay!  Thank you Lisa from Creating Art in the burbs!  I have to list 7 things that I love.  

1. I love.....I love lamp....haha (for all those anchorman lovers)

2. I love my kitties :)  

3. I love myself! (hard point to get to but I think im there...or almost there! haha)

4. I love crafting and drinking coffee in the morning

5. I love playing my sitar...now that I have a teacher! 

6. I love my family!! 

7. I love going to school and learning about glaciers!

8. I love.....oh wait....I have to stop at 7.....

I would like to nominate 7 more people to receive the Kreativ Blogger Award!!

1. Kimberly - http://kimmisattic.blogspot.com/

2.Carol Leehane - http://wytchwood-ramblings.blogspot.com/

3. Rena - http://renajjones.blogspot.com/

4. Suze - http://pinkcrayonstudio.blogspot.com/

5. Thelma - http://paintingsbythelma.blogspot.com/

6. Cynthia - http://thefairiesnest.blogspot.com/

7. http://theoldoakenbucket.blogspot.com/

Cheers!!

Hilary

The Great Kitty Giveaway!!!

Hey there Blogging and Etsying friends!! I have started to make sweet little kitties that are up for adoption on Etsy! However, I thought it would be fun to have a Giveaway to kick off the adoption center!! My cats range in sizes...but are mostly between 1 1/2" - 3" tall....they all have their own little stories about themselves and would love to go to loving homes!

The giveaway is very easy, please just leave a comment to this post and I will add you to the draw. I made a cute little poster for the side bar for those who would like to show it off on their blog! Please link the picture to this Giveaway post. :-)

I will be making the draw Feb. 20th!! So there is plenty of time to get a few people involved!

I will be drawing 5 people randomly, they will be notified and also listed on my blog!

Cheers!!!

Hilary

My babies!

Well...here he is in all his glory, haha! I saw this and had to take a picture...usually he is sleeping in here but he was cleaning himself in his toy basket! To your left Kermy's legs are stuck up in the air...that has always been his favourite toy. He is just thinking....what a silly human....why would she take my picture when i'm doing this...and why are you playing with my toy camera!!



And my sweet sweet Malachi...I found him sleeping in this paper bag... Oooopse I think I woke him up!

New Pictures! Fantastic Earrings!

Hey there! I have been away on an earring making holiday...which essentially means I was at my dining room table shedding blood sweat and tears over my new earrings, well maybe it wasn't that bad...I am happy to announce though that I have uploaded a bunch of new artwork and taken all new pictures to really show how lovely my little earrings are. I have done an Etsy makeover and would love to share it with you. I redid my banner and my pictures and this is where I am at :)

This banner is the link to my New Work :)

Cheers!!
Hilary

Etsy update!

Hey everyone!! As I had mentioned earlier I have a few sweet surprises up my sleeve for new artwork!! They are now available on Etsy! Anyone looking for sweet little valentines surprises...or even every day wear....here are a few teaser photos of my new little earrings!

Any Newfoundland lovers out there, these are wee little rowhouses...I gave them to my aunt as Christmas presents and she is getting compliments left right and center!

All these little guys are available in my Etsy shop :)

Goldbutton Studio Etsy Shop

Fabulous Award!

I just realized going through my comments after a few weeks that I was given a wonderful little "Your Blog is Fabulous" award from Rena Jones. I have to write 5 addictions that I have and then pass the award onto 5 more blogs that I love. Here are my addictions :)

1. Espresso - love it! note to self...do not drink before crafting.

2. Calling my mom - y..ea...h.......this is described in full detail a couple posts back.....

3. Chocolate - cutting back now that christmas is over..... haha

4. Hugs - ....listened to to much Hugabunch as a kid :)

5. Cinnamon Apple Christmas Holiday smell - this year I bought a spray can of it....it now permeates my household........and Im not sure what happens to the christmas trees when they are picked up....I sprayed the tree a little.................I hope they dont light them on fire....

I now need to pass on this wonderful award to 5 blogs that I think are fabulous :) I wish I could give it to everyone I follow but I can only give away 5....so here we go......drum roll please!

1. Carol Leehane

2. Julie-ann

3. Elizabeth Gunby

4. Once Upon A Blue Crow

5. Lance

Happy New Year!

Well, I am back online (gone for a few weeks). I am more excited than ever about this year coming up. In making all my christmas presents I found out a wonderful new way of directing my creative waterfall. My new works of art will be available soon on Etsy. They are the cutest things!
I don't know about anyone else but I must have gone to some sort of party every second night this holiday season....I am now winding down my christmas gorging. Putting a halt to my chocolate pig outs. Its now green tea and finn crisps for the rest of the year....well maybe after todays wine and blue cheese tenderloin feast......
Writing this in between 1 of 10 movies being watched today in my pajamas. Hopefully everyone else is in their pj's too! It's become a new years tradition in our house. :)
Better be off......Gandalf is about to kick some ork butt!
Happy New Year to all and to all a day of wine and relaxation!