Doll Contest!!

I just had a great idea tonight.....a contest! Now through Sept. 30, send me a photo of your favorite doll you have made from one of my patterns. (One entry per person) After Sept. 30, I will open the page to votes to see which is the favorite. The winner will receive a $20 credit to use towards any patterns on my site!! I love seeing what people have made from my patterns, so this should be fun!! You can click on the doll challenge banner or click here to read all the rules. Feel free to post this banner and link on your blogs or sites too. The more entries we get, the more fun it will be!! These flyin' pigs will be available by tomorrow on my website.....get busy creating!! :)

Scary Witches!!

I had to have a break from getting ready for my show, so I painted a few Halloween paintings tonight! I did these 3 witches.....I hope they're not too scary! Actually, they look a little sad.....It was nice to get some painting done though. Its been too long! Maybe these girls would look good as dolls too.

This morning, around 5, I decided to go have a look at the lunar eclipse. I went out in the yard barefooted and it was really neat seeing the eclipse, no one else around, a little fog on the ground. But then when I tried to come back in the house, the door had locked behind me!! I had to peck on the bedroom window to wake my husband to let me in. I fed the kitties while I was out there, thinking the raccoons wouldn't come around since its so close to daylight. After I got inside, my husband decided to go see the eclipse. He tried looking from the back yard, but we had to walk to the front and I could smell a skunk and it got stronger towards the front of the house. I was so nervous we would run into one on the way, but I guess it ran the other way. I did not want to have to get rid of skunk smell at 5 in the morning!! ha! (I'll bet y'all thought I was going to say I got sprayed....that would have been a more interesting story!!)

In case my witches were a little creepy....I have the vampire bunny. He's not too scary! Lisa has been on this Halloween joke-tellin' kick...She told this one: "What has webbed feet, feathers, fangs and goes quack-quack? ...Count Duckula." I thought it would be cool to paint a Count Duckula....I couldn't do it. Instead I painted a vampire bunny!! ;) Actually, I couldn't remember the joke. I drew out my bunny and started to paint him and couldn't remember how the joke went. I went back to read the joke and it was about a duck, not a rabbit, and he already had ears!! ha!

I've had my excitement for the night between the lunar eclipse, being locked out of the house and almost having a run in with a skunk, so I better go to bed now!! Sweet Pea and Pumpkin are playing chase now, so they will probably have me up for the rest of the day!!

Pumpkin & I just wanted to share a little smile with you this morning!! :) Not much going on around here, just a happy, lazy day!!

Woe is me!

Okay....the same thing happened to me last year before the Yellow Daisy Festival (kinda). Last year right before we were leaving for the festival, I decided I wanted to take some magazines with my designs in them. So I had to crawl on top of my desk to get them. I got them down and when I stepped to the floor, I turned over my ankle. So I hobbled around during the whole show!! Then, the other night I did something dumb. Too dumb to tell....but I did something to my ribs. I seriously thought they were cracked at first because it hurt just to breath! I am hoping they are just bruised and I'll be better in time for the show. (Hmmm....or maybe I will hobble around so I can get help setting up and carrying heavy boxes!! LOL!)

I was looking at the newest issue of Create & Decorate and saw my friend, Lisa's ad in there! Ain't "Pinch Lips" a hoot?? I lerrrrv the kitty cat!! ;)

Tonight another dern raccoon came snooping around my porch!! I forgot to put up the food before dark and he knocked it over and helped himself. I put it away and came back in. In a little while, I peeked out and he was out there. My husband laughed at me. He said he heard me say "Get outta here.......awwwwwwwwwww!!!" But he was cute--he had a little round face and small ears and he looked like a cat! I was kind of sad to run him off!!

Fresh Blueberry Cake

I came in to work today and my Daddy had gotten a recipe for a Fresh Blueberry Cake. That sounds delicious!! I am on a diet and won't be trying this any time soon, but I'm sharing the recipe with you.  After you make it, let me know what I'm missing....

Fresh Blueberry Cake

• 1 Pint Blueberries, washed & dried



• 1/4 pound butter



• 2 c. sugar



• 3 eggs



• 1 c. milk



• 1 tsp baking powder



• Pinch salt



• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream butter, sugar & eggs. Stir in milk. Sift dry ingredients together and add to mixture. Add vanilla extract, then fold in blueberries. Bake in tube pan for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Glaze

• 3/4 c. powdered sugar (sifted)



• 1 Tbs water (melted)



• 1 Tbs water

The Art Cabin

When I was about 6 or 7 I took art lessons for a week. I barely remember the lessons, only the tissue paper project we did on the first day. (I was disappointed....I thought we were going to draw!!) But what I remember most was the old cabin where I took the lessons. It must have been around the time that Little House on the Prairie was coming on because I remember going in the bedroom upstairs and thinking it reminded me of somewhere Laura Ingalls would live. I have thought about that cabin a lot and I always look for it.....have been on the lookout for it for years. I was pretty sure I remembered what road it was on and I always looked for the cabin when we drove on that road, but I could never find it.  Just the other day, we went to the Heritage Center to walk around and look at the old cabins (and visit the resident cat). We go there all the time, at least once a week, sometimes more than that. I was looking at one of the cabins and I said "this kind of looks like the cabin I took art lessons in." But it didn't look just like it....I looked to my left and there is a cabin over there that we never really go to (I'm not sure why we've never been over there!) I said, "That one really looks just like the one I took art lessons in." I walked over to sit on the porch and there was a sign that said "Joan Harbin's Art Cabin" over the door! Just to be sure, I called Momma to see who the teacher was....at it was Joan Harbin. So the cabin I have been looking for all this time was moved to the Heritage Center just a few miles from my house. It has been under my nose the whole time!! Now I have to go there when the cabin is open so I can see inside....and of course take some pictures!

I have finished some new designs and will have the patterns for them listed some time this week. Here's a sneak peek!!

 

   

The infamous acrylic Cat....

Okay....this has to be quick because I have a birthday party to go to. (I am meeting my husband at 1:00 and he thinks I will be late. So that means I MUST be on time!!)

Here are the plastic animals I collected. Suz found a picture of some!! I was so happy to see them....I had forgotten about the swan! And my dog was blue, my cat was pink. Later they had them in the machines at the front....miniature versions of them. Now, THAT made me happy! I always loved anything miniature, but that is another story.....