My favorite shirt....

This is my favorite shirt--you can tell that by looking at it!! I got it right when I started dating my husband. When it started to get a little worn, I started wearing it to paint in. It is so soft, comfortable....its way too big and now it has holes all in it! I like being able to wipe my brush on my shirt---that's why paint is all over it! I don't know how much more use I'll get out of it before it just falls apart, so I took its picture. I'm afraid one day I'll wash it will just fall to little pieces. I have two other painting shirts for cold weather, but they aren't this bad yet. Maybe they'll be this worn one day.

I've been working on my big project all day long and I've got a lot done! Here's Strawberry helping me out....he always like to "help out".

Frazier

As promised, here is Frazier. I got an email about him last week....this is the information I got on him:

"Frazier"  08-0250  just came in and is still very upset.  I can't tell what his temperament is going to be like.  He is not happy right now.  He may not be a nice kitty but he may just be horrified by the shelter.  He was caught in a cat trap and put in his cage with a catch pole.  So that is enough to cause some ill will.  He won't move from his corner at all.  And he hisses if you put your hand in.  Can someone with experience give this poor boy a chance?

So....see how I couldn't turn him away? He looks so pitiful and scared. He's probably feral and won't be adopted. Even if he's not feral, how many people would adopt a kitty that hisses at you? I thought he didn't have much of a chance, so I offered to take him. Even if he is feral, he is welcome to eat and sleep here and I promise not to hold him down and pet him. lol! If all goes as planned he will be fixed Tuesday and probably come here on Wednesday!

Pumpkin gave me a scare...again! He coughed up a hairball and when I cleaned it up, noticed it was glittery! There was something like a wire or stick in there with gold glitter. We looked all over the house and couldn't find anything like it. As soon as I sat back down at the computer, I heard him behind me. I looked and he had found a doll with a glittery garland around her head and he was already chewing it again! I don't think he got much--but I'm going out of town on April 8 so I will be worried the whole time about him now! As if I didn't already worry enough!!

We went to a couple of thrift stores today and just bought "stuff" for some of  my projects. I bought some old farming books, convinced they were worth a little money. Of course I was wrong, but they will be fun to look at anyway! And I found a really cute miniature red wagon that is perfect for a doll. I'll bet my husband was glad because I had been bugging him to make me one!

Flowers...for me!

Look what my husband brought home to me today! Ain't that sweet? He picked them just for me....I thought they made a pretty arrangement too!!

And as I was working here at the house, he was working in my studio. He decided to pull up the floor in my office and guess what....there is a nice, old wood floor underneath! It will need a little repair in a couple of spots, but I know he can fix that. I'm so excited about that!!

Its now almost 3 am and my allergies are getting to me...gotta go rest my sore eyes so I can get back to the dolls when I get up. And I have to make a trip to the thrift store....for something for my "projects"! :) Tomorrow I will tell you about the new family member (Frazier the Kitty) coming to live with us next week....

I'm Still Here....

Have you missed me? I've been slacking on my blog for the past couple of days!! I've just been really busy--everyone keeps asking for hints on what I'm doing. And I've had some good guesses. But I'm still not going to tell it yet! I think its pretty fun having a secret....just mark your calendars. I'll be telling y'all what I've been up to after April 12. 

Today I decided I needed a pretty pin cushion....so I stitched up this one in just a few minutes. I loved this fabric that I found at wal-mart today and I used a tiny piece of it for the pin cushion, plus a scrap of felt and some brown linen thread. I was thinking of doing a tutorial for the pin cushion on here--what do you think?  If I had thought to take pics tonight I could have done it, but I didn't plan ahead on this one. Maybe for the next one!

Have I ever mentioned that you can click on any of my pictures for bigger pictures? Didn't know if I had mentioned it or not!!

I had been promising my niece and nephew we could have a "Ratatouille" party. So they came over a couple of days ago and we went shopping for ingredients, made Ratatouille and watched the movie. We made toasted french bread with Parmesan cheese to eat with our ratatouille. I love it--they didn't like it so much. So after the movie (which was really cute & funny) I spent the afternoon bringing them snacks! lol! But we had a lot of fun! The kitties enjoyed their visit too.....

Have I ever mentioned how much Pumpkin & Elvis love each other? Elvis lives outside, but comes in to "visit". Pumpkin loves it when Elvis comes to visit! (He loves it so much, sometimes Elvis gets tired of him and wants back outside.) They snuggle and sleep together, bathe each other, play. Its so sweet to see them together! I think maybe I should get some of those "best friends" charms for them to wear on the collars. You know, the kind you split with your friend--you get one half of the heart, your friend gets the other! I think they are BFF's!

Design contest

Just a quick note to let you know I entered the "What do you have to say?" design contest! I entered this banner:

 

Vote for me! 

If you like it, click the link above to vote for me....and there is info there if you want to enter too! Just think--if I won, maybe I could buy myself a new laptop! ;) I may enter a few more later on.....

My Easter

I've been tagged again--this time by Lisa of Skunk Hollow Country Store!

So now I'm supposed to tell you 5 things about myself!
1. My favorite food is a fresh tomato sandwich (fresh bread, fresh juicy tomato, mayo and salt--perfection!)
2. When I was little I once wanted to be an airplane pilot
3. I started learning to play the piano in first grade and have a degree in music
4. I have a degree in pschology too
5. I wish I could sing!

Now I'm tagging these people....
De of Bowls-n-Annies
Helena of Snowpond Primitives
Michelle of The Studio at Crow Haven
Linda of Linda's Goodies

So--did y'all have a good Easter? We had a good time! We had lots of food--Potato salad, macaroni casserole, fruit salad, baked ham, slaw, vegetable casserole, hashbrown casserole, rolls, baked beans, chocolate cake, tangerine cake. My sister, Jamie, made the chocolate cake--it was really cute, made to look like a sunflower with chocolate chips in the center and peeps for the petals! I don't know why I didn't know it was a sunflower until she told me--it looks just like one! I believe this is the first year we didn't hunt eggs! I was the only one who colored any to bring to Momma's so we only had 8 eggs. ha! The kids had already hunted them--maybe with a new little one next year we will have an egg hunt! Its always funny too because the dogs find the real eggs and eat them. They have as much fun hunting eggs as we do!

The guy that works for my Daddy has the sweetest dog! His name is Monkey ... or Roscoe . And it looks like he likes getting his picture made too! He is part lab and part mastiff so he is a big dog. I guess he could look scary being so big, but he is a big teddy bear!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! I've been busy today making tater salad, macaroni casserole, fruit salad, colored Easter eggs....yep, I colored eggs all by myself!! lol! I forgot to take a picture--everything is over in my fridge in my studio for tomorrow. The weather is soooo nice today, it has been hard to stay inside and work on my top secret project! (Sorry, De....no hints!!!). My husband is outside taking the old siding off our house. Even though the paint underneath is green, it is looking so much better! I wanted to paint our house gray, my husband wants it green....so I think we're going to compromise and paint it a mossy green, kind of a cross between green & gray.

O'Malley came to visit me today after almost a week! I guess he wants me to be so grateful to see him when he finally comes back. He looks so good--his ol' head is all healed up and he looks a lot better. I'm always glad to see them back after they are all healed up and feeling better. I'm thinking the other kitty (with the short tail) might not be feral after all. He is starting to hang around more....I did get to snap some pictures of him today. He was so far away, so they aren't too clear, but you can see his crazy tail! He is  really handsome--so shiny and healthy looking. And LOUD!!

Okay--back to work I go! Its a shame to be inside today, but I do have my windows up and I'm planning my garden in my head as I work!!

Last person without a cell phone?

I think I was the last person in the world without a cell phone! I really didn't care, but I have a trip coming up so I thought I needed one. So....maybe everyone in the world has one now! LOL! I even got a headset although I think it is so strange to see people walking around talking when you can't see their phones. I got mine for driving--maybe I'll be using mine all the time. Even though I'm on the comptuer a lot, I guess I'm not really into technology that much. I don't have a high definition tv, no laptop. We didn't have a game system until my husband bought my nephew's used one. Now I'm kinda up to date--a cell phone and a used X-Box. Maybe I'll even get a laptop one day!! Besides playing with my new phone, I worked on some graphics. I made a new banner for Helena and helped her get her colors matched up on her blog. But mostly I worked on dolls....got a bunch finished that I will be putting on my site pretty soon!

I hate to do it but I am going to have to take about a month off from working on my studio. But my husband worked over there today and took over my job of painting. I'm sure there will be plenty left for me to do even with him painting for me!

And last but not least.....some cute kitty pictures!

 

 

You're not going to believe this!

Are you sitting down? Seriously--you're not going to believe this....I got a doll done! I still didn't get one of my new patterns done, but I finished this cute little Annie that I made from one of De's patterns. I think she turned out pretty cute!!

Don't have much time today--I have a big project I'm working on and only have 3 weeks to get done!! I can't tell you about it now, but I will. I will tell you all about it after April 10. :) Don't you love a good secret?? Sorry--no time for kitty pictures today. I'm on a mission! I'll gather up more for you tomorrow though, I promise!

Playin' in the water!

Pumpkin loves to play in the water....once in a while (like last night) he likes to play in the water from the sprayer at the kitchen sink. He likes to bite at the water...its pretty cute! Click on  his photo on the left to see  his funny face with water all over it! I wanted to get a better one, but its hard to try to spray water and take a picture too. :)

Remember the other day I said I took some pictures that I would share....first we went to the park on the river. There really wasn't much to look at there. Besides, there were a lot of people there and I felt crowded. ha! I hate it when I find a nice secluded place to park and someone parks right next to me! That day someone pulled up right in front of us while I was in my truck eating my taco. Then a couple pulled right behind us. That meant it was time to go. ha! I like a little privacy....

Then we went to the graveyard across from our house-- Its called "Cedar Hill Cemetery." Still not a lot of good pictures--I guess it just wasn't a good picture takin' day! I would love to take a whole day off just to ride around and take pictures. Lately I haven't had time...I was busy all day yesterday. I baked 4 loaves of bread! And none of them would rise. The last 2 I made look like rolls! I wonder if its the weather? I'm new to bread making so I am not sure yet what all affects it. The first two I made from this recipe turned out better and I accidentally put half the amount of yeast that it called for. Maybe I should give up on that and get back to the dolls!!

 

Doodling

Do you like to Doodle? I love to doodle! I can't just sit around doing nothing--if I have to wait in the car, wait for a dr. appointment, sit in the office....any time I am just "sitting there" I find a scrap of paper to doodle on! This is a doodle I thought was pretty cute so I brough it home with me. I dug around in the drawer at work and found a pencil, black ink pen and a red ink pen. I'm working on a doll with bent pigtails like this so I guess that's what was on my mind! I never really knew but I guess my Daddy doodles too. lol! I see papers at work where he has little drawings all over it while he's talking on the phone. Now that I think back, all our telephone books had doodles all over it. Our Sears catalogs and magazines had people with glasses, beards and blacked out teeth all through it! When I had to have a "real" job we had a staff meeting all day long every friday.....B-O-R-I-N-G!!! I drew the whole time and entertained our whole little table of people! (Especially with my version of our boss!!!)

This weekend the weather was nice again and its supposed to be warm the rest of the week (but we may get some rain too). I am fighting the urge to plant flowers.....I know it will get cold again, but those flowers at home depot were so tempting! I got a lot done in my studio this weekend. I did get my blinds up like I planned. We got the frame for the closet doors installed (it was there already, just barely hanging in there!), closet doors painted and I started working on painting the doors in the office. I'm guessing I might be able to move into my office in a month or two if all goes well. The expensive part will be getting a floor to put down in there, even if I do have "connections". ha!

I have officially named the new kitty O'Malley (after O'Malley the Alley Cat, of course!). I think he may have adopted another home since he's gone so much, but when he's here he will be O'Malley! He actually jumped up in my lap while I was sitting on the front porch. I thought Rusty was mad at me over it--I could tell something was wrong with him when I saw him out the window. Silly me, I thought he wanted some attention so I went outside to pet him. But he ran to his bowl to show me it was empty! lol!

This is Bilbo--his favorite thing is standing on his hind legs. I don't know why, but it sure it cute! And he is the friendliest cat in the world....he loves everyone, even new cats!

I got an award!

Well looky what I got! Sandra at http://babycakesdesignsspeaks.blogspot.com/ gave me a ...

" You Make My Day" Award. Thanks, Sandra--I'm honored!

Now the rules for the “You Make My Day” award are to re-present it to those whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blog land. Let them know through email or by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times, and if you do, consider yourself really, really loved.
I award the "You Make My Day" award to:

1. Missy at http://missyballance.typepad.com/crafty_carnival/

2. De at http://www.itsaboutannie.blogspot.com/

3. Helena at http://helenacstudios.typepad.com/snow_pond_primitives/

4. Sharon at http://www.mustardseedoriginals.blogspot.com/

5. Linda at http://lindasgoodies.blogspot.com/

6. Kay's K9s http://www.kaysk9s.blogspot.com/

7. http://cuteoverload.com/

Today was another nice day....and I just couldn't bring myself to paint today either! But we did run around taking more pictures! These are from yesterday's trip to the Heritage Center. I haven't downloaded the ones from today. We went to an old graveyard....is it weird that I love old graveyards? Maybe I have some really good photos from there. This cabin is at the Heritage Center just down the road from me. Every time I go, I wish I had a whole little community of cabins just for myself!

This is the kitty that lives at the Heritage Center--he follows us around the whole time. I guess he gives us a tour every time!

Perfect Weather!

The weather was just perfect today! Yesterday after work I saw one of the stray kitties. He came at 5:00 on the dot. (Does he know when the vet's office closes?) So I hurried to call them and they waited on me. He was pretty easy to get into a carrier--didn't need a trap for him. So he spent the night at the vet and I picked him up this afternoon. They all talked about what a sweetie he is!! After I brought him home there was that giant dog in my yard again. She made me nervous at first, but she is just a big baby too. I still kind of worry about her getting after my cats, but she doesn't even act like she notices them, even when they hiss at her!

I sat on the porch this afternoon and snapped pictures of my kitties lying in the sun, bathing and just being lazy. This is Rusty in the first picture. So handsome! Then it looks like Elvis had his own little photo shoot! ha!

 

There are more....I had a hard time deciding which ones to share. Elvis is so photogenic though--I love taking his picture!

This is a crazy picture of Dill, isn't it? Ha! I guess its the sun shining through his hair? I love it....He has been living outside most of his life--he used to get to come in to visit until he started marking everything in my house....including some antique books. That was the last time he came in. He just couldn't help himself and I couldn't keep an eye on him all the time. I really felt kind of bad about it though. Lately he has been scratching at the back door when he hears me get in bed, so I let him in for a few minutes, carry him around and pet him. I wonder why he started asking to come in?

I snapped this picture of Dusty last night--she has such long thick fur in the winter! I have to bring her in and try to brush her hair--I know she looks kind of mad in that picture, but that's just how she looks. ha ha! She's Elvis' Momma....can you see the resemblance?

Now....I really must get to those dolls. They are begging for some clothes!! I meant to paint in my studio today too...it was just too hard to work inside with such nice weather!!

Primitive Christmas Angel

Check out this primitive angel....I made her from a pattern from Folk & Whimsy. She was one of my new Christmas dolls to take to my Christmas show that I didn't make. (Dang sprained ankle!) She's been hanging on my door in my studio and while I was cleaning today I thought I should offer her for sale on my blog! So this is only available here on my blog--haven't even listed her on my website! She's $45 plus $7 priority shipping. (She would have been $75 at my show and if she doesn't sell here, I'll list her for that much on my website....) Click on the photos to enlarge and if you like her, you can click the "buy now" button to get her! If you are outside the U.S. shipping may be a little higher--you can contact me first to find out. If you want to purchase the doll, click the "add to cart" button on the left.

    

My cupcakes turned out pretty good--I spent most of the day making them! They tasted better than they looked. I started out trying to be fancy with the icing, but that lasted for about 3 cupcakes. Then I ended up just smearing the icing on there and putting nuts on top. They were really good, but by the time I finished I had sampled so much that I felt sick at my stomach! My husband wouldn't test anymore either. I did red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing and chocolate cupcakes with salted caramel icing.

I've spent the morning trying to catch some kitties to be fixed. Its not as easy as it seems...I put some canned food in the trap but the bob-tailed kitty just kept coming on the porch to eat with the others. As soon as I go on the porch, he goes around the corner of the house so I put the trap right around the corner but he's just too smart! The other cat hasn't been around since Sunday. Of course he stayed here all day Sunday....he laid in on the air conditioner and looked in the window all day. Then on Monday he didn't show up. They are just too smart, I guess!

Get to know me....

Like my skull? This is one of my newer jewelry designs you can find at www.tcpstyle.com. I love designing jewelry, etc. I just don't have enought time to get it done! If I just didn't have to sleep......

I got this in  an email and thought it would be fun to share....Copy this entire list of questions and change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then tag and pass it along to other blogging friends. Let’s see how well we can get to know one another!

1. What is your occupation?
Artist/Graphics Designer/Pattern Designer

2. What color are your socks right now?
White

3. What are you listening to right now?
The Breakup on TV

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
Does a Frappucino count as eating?

5. Can you drive a stick shift?
Yes

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Magenta or Midnight Blue

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
Momma

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
Yep!

9. Favorite drink?
Coca-Cola with lots of crushed ice

10. What is your favorite sport to watch?
None--if I had to choose one, I could tolerate American Gladiators

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?
Yes

11. Pets?
Yes--lots of Cats!