Promises of good things to come.....

...unless the cold weather reported over the next couple of days takes it's toll, these lovely peach blossoms are a promise of good things to come! Heavenly gifts, sent sent from above, by the ultimate artist. I can already smell the sweet fragrance of a fresh sliced peach, juicy and bursting with flavor. Peaches for breakfast, sliced into yogurt, or over pancakes, or just by itself as a snack. Peach pie, or cobbler, spicy warm from the oven with vanilla ice cream. And don't forget peach jam on homemade bread with lots of real butter! The fun part of making jam is that you get to sample as you go. It's what all good cooks do, right? I hope that Spring has sent you promises of the good things to come as well.

Wishing you a wonderful Easter full of loving memory making. May we all take a moment to reflect on the gift Heavenly Father gave to us through His son Jesus Christ. The Atonement made it possible for all of us to have eternal life. May His love fill your life with all the good there is in the world. Happy Easter!

American Holiday Artists

See the link below for a peek at another one of our great artists! She's got a new blog and we are happy to have her in blogland.

anotherlinda: Paper doll mixed media art 6"x8"x1.5"

anotherlinda: Paper doll mixed media art 6"x8"x1.5"

Fresh Fruit is done!

Finally! It sure feels good to get a painting done for a change. Need to do this more often. I created two of these, though the lettering is different and the colors a bit different as I was playing around with color and style. I gave the other one to my stepmom for Christmas or a birthday, gosh I can't remember now. Anyway, this one has been sitting in a box waiting to get done. This is done on a 9" x 12" gallery wrap canvas so the sides are painted and it comes ready to hang. I'm putting this one up on my website at www.mothersdreamartworks.com. It can be yours for $145.

More WIPs

Fresh fruit for sale! I've been going back and pulling out things that were started and not finished. I have a real desire to get back to painting for a bit so I will start with finishing these.

Now I'm committed so someone will have to hold me to this.....lol.

Just a Little Tease for PFATT

Blooms

Time is running out!

Who will help me makes this bread?

New WIP"S for PFATT

Okay, I hope Sandy doesn't have heart failure if she sees these, I'm really farther along than it appears here....:-). I'm trying my first cloth and clay doll, who will be a patriotic angel when done.
Another White Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland style. This will be a clock when all done. Check out PFATT Marketplace on the 10th for all the new creations for Spring.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Couldn't find an edited copy, but here we all are at various ages. Mom is the beautiful lady in the top left hand photo. The photo to the right of her is me with my little sister Elain, and baby brother David, way back in 1991. We hadn't seen David since he was 4, and he was 22 in that photo. Bottom left is my sister Joanne. And the photo to the right of her is me at 13. I did this collage for something, can't remember what. Anyway, a loving wish for you today Mom, we have missed you so much! Hope you and Elain are having good times with Grandma and Grandpa and all the other's that have left this life to go back home. Love you, Sheryl

Sharing a new purchase from Chicken Lips Studios

I love getting packages and this one was no different! I was lucky enough to drop by Chicken Lips Studios in time to find this adorably fun piece up for grabs. So I ran over to etsy and snatched him up before anyone else could. If you would like to see a better photo click on this one, and get a better view. If I were you, I'd be watching for more of these! David is one of our wonderful AHA artists and we are glad to have him with us!

Roosevelt, the Dutch Chocolate Bunny

Can't seem to stay away from the computer today. I've been working on some graphic design work including updating my blog page, added this bunny to my website, and added some things to my etsy shop. I created this bunny for submission to Celebrate 365, a premier ornament collectors magazine and he was featured! Love the professional quality of the magazine and several of our AHA members also had pieces featured. You can learn more about them by clicking on the banner to the left.

Another give away from a member of AHA

Isn't this a darling little chick? Well see if you can win this adorable little creation by running over to Wings and Paws Whimsies and get that name in there. Melissa of Wings and Paws Whimsies is a recent addition to AHA and we are proud to have her join us! American Holiday Artists are some of the best, okay we are the best of the best on ebay and etsy! When you see the line up of artists we have in our wonderful organization you will surely have to agree.... now scurry on over, get your name in for the give away and then stop by our AHA blog .

That Creative Place Give Away.....

Oh what a lucky gal I am! I was visiting That Creative Place blog and signed up for a giveaway that I thought I would surely not win and to my surprise and joy I did! Here is the fabulous book and wonderful buttons I received yesterday. I'm so thrilled to be able to have the buttons for my collection, and have already used a couple of them in my new blog page design. A huge thanks to Lisa Gatz and friends for hosting this give away.

Recognize this anyone? 101st post give away answer and winner.....

Here's a look at the finished creation. Thanks so much to everyone for stopping by and taking the time to play! It was fun to see the questions and questions given, and I learned a bit from this on putting a give away together. We had two folks who got the answer correct, so to make it fair we did a drawing and the winner is......drum roll please............David of Chicken Lips Studios! A big thanks again to all who stopped by, and for those who have come by for the first time or are somewhat new, please take some time to visit the artists blogs listed on my blog. You will find the best of the best in Folk Art, Primitives, Whimsy, and get to meet some very nice folks in the process. Happy April 1st everyone!

Jack the Gripper

Jack is a naughty boy! He won't let me have any of his candy! Well, all I can say is that he better not turn his back on me, because I will sneak up behind him and rip his head off, and then I can have all the candy I want! Bwaaaa-haaa-haaa-haaaaaaa!

He's my newest on ebay!

While you're here scroll on down and enter my giveaway.......

Get those questions and guesses in

Just a little reminder to get those questions and guesses in for the 101st post give away. Scroll down to learn more!
Have a wonderful day, Sheryl

101st Blog Post Give away.....

I've noticed that a lot of my blogging friends like to do a give away for their 100th post, but we are going to try something different so I'm doing the 101th post give away. The cute little bunny ornament you see could be yours if you are the one who can guess or get fairly close to what the start of this creation in the photo to the left is going to be. I will run this give away until April 1st, so you have five days to think about it and get your post in. As an added bit of fun, we can play 20 questions so you can try and get clues out of me. You may post as many times as you want, but hold on to that guess until you think you are sure what it is.
So put those thinking caps on, start asking questions and let's have fun!

Features and Awards and a tease.....

Well, today has been a twofer for me! I just got an award from Debbie of Beehive Cottage, with instructions to pass this along to 8 other wonderful and creative folks, so now I will have the difficult choice of who to choose! Aaah, if life's problems could all be such....... Check back and I will have my list figured out, and....an announcement.......

And, not to brag or anything, okay will maybe just a little, I was featured on the AHA blog today as well. What a great Tuesday for me! And to top it all off, I get to play with my grandson after he wakes up from his nap. Yay! We have a date to go outside! Life is good!

A NEW BOOK GIVEAWAY!

Thanks to a new blog friend I learned about this wonderful book give away by Susan Tuttle. Click on the title here to go to her Amazon page Exhibition 36: Mixed-Media Demonstrations + Explorations . Here's her blog to enter the give away. Have fun, and I hope you win.....well sort of, okay maybe, NOT!!! :-)

Taa Daa!

Here he is! I was holding my breath all the way with this one, as I have ideas that don't always come to fruition but this little guy sure did.
I sure hope you like him!

Get a sneak peek......

Hee hee...... can't show you the whole creation yet.....he's in the final stages.....but, he's dressed, and looking quite dapper if I do say so myself. He's having an issue with his time piece, so we are waiting for that to get repaired, and then he will be ready to be on his way.......
This little bunny is another of my Go Green Challenge pieces. He was sculpted over a pimiento jar, so he is glass on the inside and clay on the outside. He would be a perfect jelly bean cup, or paper clip holder...or...well you decide. These will be up for auction on ebay starting Monday afternoon and ending Saturday the 28th. Check back for more photos......

White Rabbit is finally dressed!

It's about time! It was getting embarrassing having to make excuses for this otherwise dapper fellow! Now comes the choosing the colors for his suit. I'm thinking a light color for his vest, perhaps a soft yellow with a plaid design, but the coat I want perhaps a grey or slate blue color, and then the scarf perhaps red? It seems I always have to get red in there somewhere. Well, we shall see. Any suggestions?

It Finally Came.....

My invite to come back to the Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts came in the mail last week and I'm so excited!!!! It was a dream come true to get juried in last year, and since I won a blue ribbon for my lemons painting I have the incentive to come back again. Isn't that a lovely lake setting? I can walk up there every morning when I'm in Oregon, and I love the peace, serenity and beauty of the place. My mom still resides in spirit there, so spending time in Wallowa Valley is a healing place for me, and getting to fulfill our dream of being a part of the art community in Wallowa Valley is so, well, wonderful! The folks who dedicate so much volunteer time to make this show happen are truly amazing, and such nice people as well!
The building you see with the red pick up and trailor in front of it on the left, is now a real estate office and has a restaurant where the tavern used to be, but the real estate office used to be an eatery called the Gold Room. Mom worked there for awhile and we used to love going there to get large plates of fries for 75 cents, along with thick creamy milk shakes. Yummmm! We have our home 2 blocks away, so we can walk downtown easily, and I often ride my bike there to get supplies at the hardware store. What a place that is! The clerks greet you and help you find whatever you are looking for, and are always good for a joke or tease. If they don't have what you want, they can order it. It's a home town hardware store, with a bit of housewares too, so if you need a bowl, or grater, toaster, you name it they have it. As much money as we spend there each summer we should own half the store by now.
Anyway, I have 2 months to put together 3 pieces for the art show, so I'd better get to it!

Eek! There's a naked rabbit in my studio!

The nerve of this guy! I've been trying to get him dressed all week but he just wont' hold still! He keeps looking for his watch and exclaiming, "Oh my ears and whiskers, look at how late it's getting!" Well if he doesn't hold still and let me dress him, he will miss the big event...whatever that is.....

What does Uncle Sam, a Bunny and a Witch have in common?

There's a lot going on in our neighborhood, with Spring just around the corner, "Go Green" challenges and as always what's the news of the good old USA today.

The witch you see above was created for the "Go Green Challenge we are having at AHA. She was made from a wood box I found at a yard sale, and her hat embellishments include a strip of a net orange bag, and a vintage button.
Uncle Sam was created from a chunk of closet rod, clay, tree branches and a small wood base. His arms are wired into place.
The darling bunny is created over a gourd, she actually opens for a place to stash wrapped candy. Stop by my ebay today to see more on these. They are 3 day auctions only and will end on Saturday so don't delay!

PFATT Marketplace for March

Here's a sneak peak at what I have for sale at PFATT this month. Catch them while you can!

More WIPs

This little bunny went to market.....oh wait a minute....lol. She's a topper, and you will have to come back to see what I mean.


In the mean time, my hubby bought me Les Miserables for my birthday, not the complete version mind you as he doesn't like really long books, but this one has at least 1000 pages with all the commentary. So far I'm enjoying it thoroughly! It really makes you think about people, situations; what's going on in the economy right now that mirrors the philosophy of Victor Hugo's writing. Life can really be as simple or as complex as we choose to make it depending on whether we base our lives on values and solid principles or living by a whim, and what ever makes you feel good at the moment.







I love the saying, "Let a smile be your umbrella." Smiles are a sure way to light up another persons life, and help chase the clouds of doubt and despair off to rain on another unwatchful recipient. So, in a good portion of my creations you will see a smile. I'm not into the sad and morose looking Folk Art, so artists like Suzanne Urban of Smirking Goddess Studios, constantly delight me with their fun and whimsical art. Visit her blog to see what I mean.


Wheels and carts, some say we may end up back in the horse and buggy days, which will really put a cramp on internet sales don't you think?! But seriously, being down to one car since our roll over has me really thinking about transportation and whether we really need to get another car to replace mine. I'm a tad selfish in that I really don't like a manual transmission or a car as small as a roller skate, so I'm having a hard time with the idea of not getting a car for myself. But we will have an excellent opportunity to pay off the roller skate. I'm thinking we teach Annie to drive the roller skate, and let her buy it (well sort of, she is a starving student) and then get us a slightly larger vehicle with all wheel drive for winter driving and hauling things around. Something used and cheap, but still running . :-) No need to decide now though and in the meantime I'm getting ready for this months PFATT Marketplace.

Going Green!

We are going green at AHA for the month of March so here's a little preview of some of the re-purposed items and their partly finished creations. My little bunny will actually be on PFATT this month, but he will be utilizing toothpicks.....

The taller bunny will have a covered jar lid for a base, and his neck was a cork.

The man in the moon will be a candy container created with the gourd head, and a tin can for a base. The top hat I will create for him will utilize an empty shampoo bottle and toilet paper roll. I will continue to take photos as I go so you can see the steps and how I recycle throw away items into my work. We don't have a recycling center here so for me, the queen of recycling, this is an extra fun challenge. Oh, the challenge will start on the 8th of March and run through the 31st. We will be featuring the winner on our AHA blog. Stay tuned for more info!

A new Bunny in town....

Meet Bernard P. Wigglebottom, a rather dashing and distinguished rabbit. Bernard is a professor at Hassenpfeffer University and chair of the department of antiquities. He has recently acquired for the universities collection a rare signed set of the Beatrix Potter series. Proud father, grandfather, and great grandfather, his progeny looks up to him for his wisdom and wit. He's the newest of my one of a kind creations found on ebay.

Featured on Layers Upon Layers

Nancy Malay of Vintage Whimsy and Folk Art Originals shared with AHA artists a way to be featured on Layers Upon Layers, a blog devoted to mixed media art, so I thought why not try it?
I sent off an inquiry with photos and a couple of paragraphs of my work and association with AHA and she was very happy to add me to the snow art features. A big thanks to Nancy! So, head on over to Layers Upon Layers and see all the wonderful artists and articles. I'm heading back myself as there are things to be learned and seen. P.S. I still have that secret something waiting to be unveiled.......