WIP's for Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts

 Oh boy, I told myself I wouldn't be in this predicament again, trying to get something done last minute for the show. They changed the jury process though and want to see the actual pieces for the show so this fella has to be done by the end of this week or so to get my photos and such sent in. Yipes!

 I still have the leather tooling design to add to the base, and then painting the piece. Or and smoothing out the rough areas a bit more. Although I do rather like a bit of texture to imply muscle.

So back to work I must get, as the time is flying and it's already March tomorrow! What a whirlwind week this will be for sure! What are you working on right now?

The Circus is in town....

Have you heard the news? The circus has come to American Holiday Artists Studios & Marketplace! So grab your popcorn, cotton candy and take a trip down memory lane, or see the goodies to be had....

AMERICAN HOLIDAY ARTISTS STUDIOS & MARKETPLACE

"UNDER THE BIGTOP" SHOW

Treat boxes for your sweetie....

 Two designed treat boxes that I created as part of a challenge that May Arts Ribbon was having for Valentines Day. There are a lot of wonderful entries. Not sure why they don't have the description for my project, and all the photos, but that's okay. It was fun to do, and I have a bit of scraps of ribbon to use for other projects. Here's where you can view the other entries... May Arts

What did you create for Valentine's Day?

How Do I Love Thee?

Another Ruffles Folk Art Easter baby has been featured in an etsy treasury!

etsy treasury

Another Ruffles Folk Art Easter baby....

It's really starting to look like Easter over at my esty shop! Bunnies and chickies and lot's of love to share. So take a moment if you would and see all the bright and colorful Spring items that are popping up at etsy. Thanks for stopping by. :-)

Ruffles Easter Bunny is hopping over to etsy!

I have so much fun creating these little Easter babies! An egg shape is perfect for all sorts of Easter baby delights, so there will be more to follow.
With the advent or hope of warmer weather, which we will have a taste of this weekend (yippee!), sometimes we have to deal with the rain or muck or melting snow and slush so decorating for Easter is a great way to brighten up your home. I like to bring Spring indoors early by spreading a little color through out ours with my hand crafted Easter goodies. This year I'm hoping to have a feather tree in pastel Easter colors, and I can just imagine how one of these little fellas would look underneath it. In the mean time, I'm offering some one of a kind creations in my etsy shop for you to enjoy as well. :-)

Give a little love this Valentines...

What to do with a cute little pocket that had hot cocoa in it I wondered. The plaid pattern was too nice to just toss the pocket away, so I trimmed the top flap off, added all sorts of doo dads and fluff, and whaalaa! a Victorian style Valentine treat pocket for that special someone. This inspired me to create some of my own by hand, and they will be showing up soon. For now, this little goodie pocket can be found at my etsy shop.

Queen of Hearts Doll on etsy

Just added her to my new etsy shop and she already has been featured in a treasury! etsy

A gift for my daughter, hand made stationery

As I talked to my oldest daughter recently she mentioned that she was thinking of hand writing letters to her friends in Alaska. With her birthday coming up this week I decided to experiment and see if I could make some art stationery for her. I first thought of scanning all sorts of lace trims and such and then it donned on me, oh duh! I have some of my art sketches on the computer already, so why not try those?! 

These aren't too fancy mind you; hey it's a start, and I'm going to experiment with different scanned items to see if I can add a touch of vintage to my stationery as well, but these turned out pretty nice. My favorite is the Pansies with it's lavender lines. I created lined sheets without the art as well, so she could have the first page with the art and the rest just for writing. These are done two to a standard sheet of paper so they are smaller, the half sheet size, which I personally like more. She will get a stack of all three designs with a request to let me know which she likes the most. So here's to a happy birthday for my Stephanie!

Teenie Tiny Topsy Bunny WIP

I'm trying to make a mad dash in to share one of my latest WIP's. We shall see if blogger cooperates. :-) This roly poly little bunny is about 4" tall. I have a little chicklet that's waiting for it's ruffle but I will wait until the twins are down for a nap again. I'm even thinking of a little kitty in this style. These are so much fun to make that I may end up using all my egg shapes to create more, perhaps a puppy as well? I'll keep you posted. What are you working on right now?

Adorable Vintage Style Sketches

 

My mother-in-law creates the cutest little sketches! Considering the fact that she is almost legally blind I think she does fantastic. Coming from that era where they lived by the motto, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without", she will put little illustrations such as these on presents that she's wrapped with white paper she has kept, or on the corner of a birthday letter envelope or even the letter itself. She will cut out pictures of flowers and such from magazines and ads to use as stickers as well. I've been saving all I've gotten from her to use for embroidery designs on baby blankets and such. Our nephew and his wife just had their first baby so I asked Mom to create some pictures I could use to make something for the new little one. Here's what she did for me, so I'm using the one on the top left in a wall hanging with the baby's name and date on it. I can't wait to show you what it turns out like. It may take a little bit though as I save working on it for when I'm with Mom and Dad so I can do it while chatting with them. After I get the embroidery done I will be covering the mat with a quilted cover that has tiny buttons from great grandma's button jar and "pearls" from a little necklace this little baby's grandma had when she was little. A little bit of history in the design that I will type up and add to the back of the finished work. I found a shadow box frame with mat at the DI store that will work perfectly for all of this. So many of you have inspired me with your creative ways, so I credit you for all you do. I will share a photo of what I'm doing soon.