Has anyone missed me???

I have been away from the computer all week....I've been taking care of Pumpkin. When I got up on Monday, I carried him around for a few minutes, then checked my emails. Probably about 5 minutes later, He had eaten a thread and had about a foot hanging out of his mouth! I tried to get it out, but he had already swallowed it, so I cut off as much as I could. I called the vet just to be safe and they wanted me to bring him him. They gave him peroxide to make him throw up and we stayed until after hours until he finally threw up. (No string!) We came home and he started to throw up a little blood. It kept getting worse until I finally called the vet and she recommended we go to the emergency clinic if he didn't stop throwing up. He didn't, so at 2 am Tuesday morning, we took off to Huntsville with tornado watches going on all around! They x-rayed him and everything looked okay and he got some shots to keep him from throwing up (he didn't stop) and to help his stomach. They said he had a reaction to the peroxide that irritated his stomach! Of course I couldn't sleep because he was so sick all day on Tuesday. I tried to feed him, but he wouldn't eat or go to the bathroom all day and he was so sick and weak that night that he couldn't even hold his head up. Took him to the vet again on Wed. for fluids, more xrays and force feeding and he was a little better. (He had lost 1/2 lb in one day!) The vet said if he didn't go to the bathroom pretty soon, she would have to do surgery.....I force fed him Wed. night and Thursday and he finally started to eat a little on his own by Thursday night and even played (and went to the bathroom). He's been playing and acting like himself, except I have to entice him to eat and he doesn't eat much yet. The string is gone and it didn't cause any problems, but it could have. I am so careful about my threads, needles and pins, so I don't know where he found it. I have been sewing with white thread and this was the color of my furniture, so all I can figure out is that he pulled it out of my furniture?? Anyway....that is why I have been away all week!

I did manage to get all my dolls painted. Some have been stained and are drying now and the rest have to be sanded and stained. I am guessing maybe I have 40-50 to finish...maybe more? Hopefully I can finish them all by the time I go to my show on Oct. 30. I'll be cutting it close if I do. Plus, I have an order for a painted window that I have to do. I am STILL waiting for my husband to cut the wood to go in it! I will have to insist tomorrow! Tomorrow is my sister's big Halloween party, so I will take a few hours off to go to that. I'm not making anything fancy this year--just some little pizzas! I had big plans for our 2nd party, but we will have to wait until next year for that. Maybe when I (finally) get into my new studio, I can work on some things through the year for the party.

I got a great package in the mail from Kathy at Vintage Snaps & Scraps this week for our Grapevine Hollow swap. I will definitely post a photo of it so you can be jealous!!

Buddy has a home!

Wow....Buddy has been popular! So many people are wanting to know what happened....he is living with my brother and nephew now. I went to see him Sunday and I'll bet he's put on 10 lbs! Here's a picture of Buddy and my nephew. I will definitely get some new pictures so everyone can see how he has put on weight. My nephew is thrilled he is staying with him. The first day we went to feed him, my nephew almost cried. He kept saying, "I wish I could have him" and "I wish you could have put him in your truck and brought him with you"! So I guess his wish came true........

I am working on some last minute dolls for my show. I have some really different/unique looking dolls I just finished and can't wait to put share pics to see what you all think of them! I even have one with pink hair! I've had some pink wool and thought I might never use it, but when I was painting her face, I knew she has to have pink hair!!

Donna Clark won the Doll Challenge. That was a lot of fun! Maybe I will have another one soon, so if you have a favorite doll from one of my patterns, be sure to save a picture so you can enter!

New art on Grapevine Hollow

First of all....I want to keep Buddy's picture at the top of my blog so maybe he will find his forever home soon! Click here to read Buddy's story!

I have some new art listed at Grapevine Hollow. Since I'm trying to get ready for my show, I haven't had time to list much on the internet...but I do have 3 new pieces there. This purse is one I made a while back that I decided  to paint on it. I like how it turned out and think it looks even better in person! When  you get to Grapevine Hollow, be sure to check out the other artists there. You'll find some great artwork there!

Yesterday was my 7th wedding anniversary. We went shopping and the best place we found was a Halloween store! Its hard to believe, but I didn't buy a thing in there! I got two little jack-o-lantern candle holders at Michaels to replace 2 I gave away last year. Recently I did buy myself something for Halloween. (But she will probably stay out all year long!) I bought this witch from Sam at Gollywobbles! (Thanks, Sam, for letting me use your ebay photo too!!) I just love her and I planned to put her on my front door, but I ended up hanging her right beside my desk so I can see her while I work. And she'll probably stay there!

I need to drag out my Halloween stuff. But we live in an old house that only has 2 closets. (It had one when we first moved--now we have one for clothes and one for the rest of the "stuff"!) So I dread going through all that stuff to get my Halloween decorations. Last year I splurged and bought a fog machine for our Halloween parties! We go all out for our parties...one of my sisters has a big party with a hay ride and her kids invite all her friends. Then we have one just for family. We make gross looking food and have a "fear factor" game where we make disgusting looking foods and someone has to eat it or they are eliminated. The kids take it pretty seriously and its a lot of fun!! One year I worked hard on a "bleeding heart". It was made from jello (and other stuff) and when you cut it, the liquid inside looks like blood. I guess it was too realistic because no one would watch me carve it! ha! They wouldn't even eat my witch fingers and they were just cookies with almonds for nails. I won't even try to describe the eyeballs I made! So now I try not to make the food TOO realistic! (We save that part for our game!)

"Buddy" needs a home!

Someone abandoned this little dog....he is a sweet, cute little dog, but no one is there to take care of him!! So we have been taking turns dropping food & water to him until we can find him a home. (He is staying where no one lives now.) I only have a small yard and he looks like he is going to be a big dog and he needs plenty of room to run and play. Someone has taught him to shake and he seems smart and very easy going. I think maybe he is a Great Dane. Then I thought maybe a bird dog (because of the speckles), but now we think maybe he is a Dalmatian. (But I'm no expert, obviously!!!) I am in Alabama, but if anyone can give this guy a good home, we can arrange to get him to you. I have no idea how old he is, but he is still a puppy. I have already contacted some rescue groups, but if you want to contact me directly about him, email me and let's get him a good home! My nephew has already named him "Buddy" and he will be sad for him to go, but this is what is best for him. I know someone is going to take a look at that face and know that he is meant to be a part of their family. And if you wonder why he is looking so sad, I took that picture as I was leaving. He is so happy and fully of energy when you get there, so I could't get any good pictures. When I got in my truck to leave he just sat there just like you see in the picture. How sad!

 

I went to Wal-mart last night and they have a bunch of new sweaters, collars, beds, etc for pets! I bought a shirt for Pumpkin that says "Pumpkin Love"....I thought that was made for him!! ha! It was so small he could barely walk, so I put the bigger sweater on him.....he reminds me of Piglet from Winnie the Pooh!! LOL! Don't worry....he didnt' wear it for too long. But he got used to it after a while. Bilbo wore it a while too....they are the only ones small enough to wear it!