I bought a cheeseburger for a cat....

Yes...I really did buy a cheeseburger for a cat! I didn't mean to buy a quarter pound cheeseburger, I meant to buy a jr. hamburger. There was a really long line and I didn't want to go back to tell them, so the kitty got a yummy quarter pound cheeseburger from Wendy's! LOL! My husband and I went to the drive-thru at Wendy's and I could see a little cat under a tree between us and K-mart parking lot. So when I ordered our burgers, I just ordered an extra, drove to the parking lot and threw out the bread and meat. There were some more, so maybe its a good thing they sold me a bigger burger!! Anyway, those kitties should have a good meal tonight!

You see this owl picture? How many times have you seen it? I can't tell you how many times I have seen it and not appreciated it. I think my Aunt Diane had one in her house. I went to the thrift store one day and bought this for the frame. I was going to peel off the owl print and paint my own painting on it. I've had it a while, just sitting in the corner. The other night I decided I would paint on it. I started to peel off the print and I actually looked at the owls and noticed how cool they really are! I just couldn't bear to destroy it, so I used some antiquing medium on the print to fill in the scratches and scuffs. Then I painted and distressed & antiqued the outside part of the frame, thenI put a crackled sealer on the print. Now I love it and I guess I'll just hang it in my living room. Isn't it funny how many times I saw it but never paid attention? Maybe its because I just did an owl swap...it made me appreciate owls, I guess!

Doll Challenge deadline

I just want to remind everyone that the deadline for the doll challenge is coming up...the last day is Sept. 30 so get your pictures in to me!! You can go to www.thecatspyjamas.com and you will see a link on the home page. Click the banner to get more info on how to enter!!

Is it fall yet????

I'm thinking fall weather will be here soon....except for the past couple of days, it has been cooler. I am ready for it!! When the weather starts to change, I love to cook & cozy up my home. I wonder when I will get to use my fireplace??? I just hope Pumpkin will be over his fascination with the fireplace. I had to keep a constant eye on him last year and he even caught his tail on fire!! Luckily I was in the room and put it out before he was hurt. But that was pretty scary!! We are remodeling that room, so I will definitely be adding a screen in front of the fireplace before we move back in!

Last night I had a traumatic experience! I went outside to feed my kitties and there was a BLACK WIDOW spider on the porch! It was on a web between two birdhouses and Rusty kept brushing his tail across it while he was eating. I finally moved his bowl to get  him out of the way and screamed for my husband to come out.....he probably thought I was being kidnapped or something!! We couldn't find it and finally took the bottom off of one of the birdhouses and it was inside there!! (Thanks for the bird/SPIDER HOUSE, Helena!! ha ha!) I have a phobia of spiders and have nightmares about them. Half the time I don't remember, so my husband will probably tell me what I said in my sleep when he gets home from work. (Sometimes I have to turn the light on several times in the night because I think spiders are in the bed....then I wake up, but I go ahead and check anyway!! )

On Saturday we had a get-together with all my great aunts and uncles on my Momma's side. It was great....I haven't seen them all together in a long time. My uncle (Momma's only brother) came down from Smithville, TN and we all went to Momma & Daddy's house. The weather was great....there was a breeze and we all sat outside and talked and ate lots of food. There were all 5 of my Papa's sisters, one brother (he's the only brother of 5 left), and all of the husbands & wives. One cousin, me & my husband, all 3 of my sisters, my niece & nephews and one brother-in-law. So there was a bunch of us! I am hoping we can all get together again soon. I was really sad to see them all leave!

I have been extra busy lately.....I have plenty to write about, just not enough time to write!! I entered some stuff in the fair and won some ribbons, so I'll be taking some pictures of those things and posting  here. If only there were more hours in the day.....or I didn't have to sleep so much!

Baby Frankenstein

While I was at my last show I drew lots of little characters. I had such a good time with them, I started thinking.....I always like my drawings a lot better than my paintings. They always seem to have better details. So I decided to draw out my little characters like I like to do and paint them with watercolors, then add even more details! So here is one of them.....Baby Frank!! I love how he turned out......he's one of those "so ugly he's cute" kind of guys, right? I painted a few Christmas ones tonight and have plenty more in my head. I would love to hear what you think of him!! And if you want him for your collection, you can bid on him on ebay!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280154763777

Cats & Puzzles

I haven't gotten a puzzle in a long time.....found one on clearance the other day, so I bought it. I never thought about cats liking them, but Strawberry had the best time when I poured it out on the floor! He jumped & spun around on those puzzle pieces and carried them around. And guess what....when I finished the puzzle, there was a piece missing! That's okay, because it was fun seeing him have such a good time!! Does anyone else have cats that love puzzles????

New studio!!

I am so excited.....we just bought the house next door to us for me to use as a studio!! I have been needing this.....my work is all over the house and I need more room. They are still over there cleaning out their things, but soon I'll be slapping some paint on the inside and outside so I can start moving my whole studio over there. Besides having more room, we will actually have a dining room....and no more dolls hanging out all over the house and baking in the oven. Now when my husband comes home and smells something yummy baking, it will really be food!

I have been wanting to teach art to kids for a long time, so I am planning to give some lessons in my studio too. My niece and nephew are already first on the list of students!

I have a show on October 31 and some other things to do in between, so I may not get too much done before then, but I can't wait to get home from my show and get to work!! Of course, I already have paint samples and sketches of how all the rooms will look. Let the fun begin!!

My talented nephew!

Last school year my nephew, Tyler, entered his poster in a contest. His poster was one of the winners and is in a calendar by the Department of Education. We are so proud!! You can go to the Alabama Department of Education's website to see the whole calendar. Tyler's poster is on the April 2008 page. The superintendent gave him an award on the last day of school....He was graduating from Kindergarten when he received it!

More on The Yellow Daisy Festival

Now that you know all about what I GOT at the festival....I'll share some pics of my booth!!

This is where you walk into the festival. We had to park a  LONG WAY from my booth and walk. I was wishing I had a golf cart to ride on!! I thought it was about 1/2 mile to my booth, but my husband says it was about 1/8 mile. LOL!! Whatever it was, it seemed like a long way. And there was no need to try to fix your hair and make-up. It was so hot! Luckily I was in the shade and even luckier that there was a bathroom nearby.

Here's my booth....I bought a new sign to go across the front of my tent. When I put it up, it hung too low, so I had to put it in the back!! Normally I have dolls covering the back.....guess that's a project for my husband, to make a stand for my sign!! ;)

I dont' know if you can tell, but my husband built me some shelves to go along the side and they are held up by old trunks. Its hard work putting all that up, but worth it once I get it together. I can put my extra stock on the bottom shelves and move it up to fill in when things on the top sell. Seems like there was a lot of wasted space by just using tables with fabric on them.

Here are some displays from my booth.....

 

    

I'm home!!

Well...I made it home! I'm still cleaning out my ol' suitcase, but I'm happy to be home. I'm including lots of photos, so be patient if they are slow to load!! :) 

Sissy was mad at me for 2 days. She crawled under the hoosier cabinet and wouldn't come out. I laid in the floor to reach under there and pet her, but she got in the corner and turned her back on me!! ha! The 2nd day, she laid under the cabinet with her head sticking out. By the end of the 2nd day, she was over it and ready to be petted.....see how happy she is now???

Momma came and fed all the kitties inside and out while I was gone. That made things a lot better--she filled me in on what they were all doing, so I knew they were okay! She came over after I got back to see all the goodies I got at the show and Sweet Pea was happy to see her. Maybe he thought she brought food! lol!

I got some AWESOME stuff while I was at the show....did lots of trading. That's one of my favorite parts of doing shows! I would feel guilty to spend so much money, so swapping is great!!

 

One of my favorite things was this set of bat paintings!! They are so cool and I knew they would look perfect with my orange graveyard paintings in my living room! (I was right about that!!)

The lady who painted them was funny....I had fun chatting with her! Those bats are painting on plywood....I love that they are made from recycled materials!

The first thing I swapped for was this bracelet made from an old spoon from 1905!! My husband got a ring--very art deco. I couldn't find it to get a picture, but it is really cool! I wanted a pendant too, but I waited too late and she sold out. :(

I was going to buy a really neat hummingbird feeder. I saw them the first day, but I wanted to make sure I made enough money. I wanted one for me, one for momma and one for my mother-in-law. I went back on Saturday and he has SOLD OUT!! I keep wishing I had went ahead and gotten them now. Boo hoo!!

 

I bought some Halloween collars for the kitties too....I couldn't afford one for all of them, so Mr. Spock and Pumpkin are modeling the ones I got. How cute? I think Pumpkin liked it--after I put it on him, he zoomed around the house and jumped around. ha!

I was lucky enough to get a mosaic AND a crow from Helen Helwig! Check out her site and you will see how lucky I am to get some of her artwork....It is even nicer to see in person....

Auntie Reba gave me a signed copy of one of her books.....plus a whole sack full of ornaments!! Reba had a BEACH in her booth. I walked over to her booth and she was sitting in a lawn chair with her feet in the sand with Hank Jr. music playing!! How fun is that? I recognized her booth way before I got to it!!

I got this COOL purse from The Bag Girl! I love the "Show Chick" on the front, don't you?? I got another purse from her at Cottontails Village and a big bundle of fibers. I love using those for my jewelry! I even used some for hangers for my ornaments.

I guess you can tell what a fun time I had at the Yellow Daisy festival....now you can check back tomorrow for some pictures of my booth, etc!!

Takin' a break...

I had to have a break....I've been trying to get my house in order before I go out of town. I'm not sure why, but I have to do a spring cleaning on my house every time I go on vacation!

Tonight I saw this artwork on Yahoo! Its a diamond-encrusted skull by British artist Damien Hirst and it sold  for 100 million dollars! (The most by any living artist.) Can you imagine?

I will be leaving for The Yellow Daisy Festival on Wednesday. I hope any of you that are there will stop by and say hello to me! I'll be there Thursday-Sunday. Then I just found out the Monday after I get home, I have to go to jury duty all week. I tried to think of reasons I wouldn't have to go....but I guess I just have to face it. I've gotta go! I haven't been in about 10 years, so I guess its about time I go again. I'll just take a sketchpad to keep myself busy. I'll bet I have time to come up with lots of new designs!!