Autumn Elements...

Another of my Autumn clothing favorites was pulled out of storage, and thus the inspiration in part for this necklace. I figure that if I want to sell jewelry, it doesn't hurt to be a walking advertisement for what I do. Or, it's probably a great excuse to make jewelry for myself. :-) This soft burnt orange faux suede top matches a skirt with the many colors of this piece. So now I'm ready to show off some more new work as we head to the city today for temple and feasting at Benihana.

 Brass acorn beads, vibrant ruby Lucite leaves, moss green pearls and soft turquoise twists are complimented by gray wood beads in this Autumn elements necklace. I found a new bead store in Salt Lake City, and while some of the beads I know I can get much cheaper on ebay, they had some pieces that I've not seen in my internet travels through bead land.

Of course, what jewelry ensemble would be complete without matching earrings? Who knew jewelry making would be so addicting? If you have a special outfit that you would like some matching jewelry for, contact me and lets see if we can come up with a custom set or piece for you. You can email me at mothersdream@mac.com

Taking a bite out of Halloween

Ahhh, Jackson, all dressed up for Halloween festivities. We hear you've been taste testing the other trick or treaters, naughty boy!

To make matters worse, your pet spidey there has been scaring all the children. Now who can have a party with all that going on?! Now Jackson, if you promise to behave, you can stay at the party, otherwise, you will be sent back to your cave where you belong! Now please don't think I'm being too hard on Jackson, he has been giving me fits since I started working on him. His arms kept going where they shouldn't have, he wanted to tilt each time I added another layer of clay to his light bulb body, and then he would try and bite me as I painted his gourd head and the rest of him. I think I may need to go get some shots, if there is such a thing.... Well, I finally was able to finish him and get his little spidey friend put together, along with his little treat bucket. He's ready to come party at your house and promises to not take up much room at 13 + inches tall. Jackson will have no twins, so he is a one of a kind original who comes signed and dated. Jackson can be found by following my ebay link to the right. :-)

It's beginning to feel a lot like Halloween.....

 Everywhere I go..... I sure had fun pulling out the green tub and going through all my Autumn decor! I've hung the garlands, pulled out all the Halloween decor, and realize I need to buy a collectible for this year! Well, I may just have to run over to the American Holiday Artists Studios site and see what I can find. Hee, hee, I just found something to add to my collection! Yay!

 See how many artists work you can find here!

 and here! I got my feather tree from Benita Giacherio at Willow Springs Farm... you really should see the variety of feather trees she has. I have two now.

So it's time to get the mess cleaned up and enjoy the evening. It's raining here so I have the windows open to let the fresh air drift through the blinds....don't you love the smell of an Autumn rain?!

Two down, one to go....

 I just love it when a plan comes together! I had visions of fruit coming out of the tall Santa basket base last year, but just couldn't decide whether I wanted to paint, sculpt or add the fruit to this piece. I do love the vintage and antique fruits available at Blumchens so I dove right in and he came out just as I'd hoped! I do wish I could get a better photo of him as mine just don't do him justice, but here's a peek at him anyway.

 A simple and slightly rustic Santa is what I was going for here, and it looks as if that's what I got. I hand painted greenery and cones around his hat, and again, the photos just don't quite do him justice, but it is what it is.

 Don't you just love the long loopy hat on this jolly fella?

This little guy is a small but charming Santa that would go well with any collection. Now to decide where they will end up....

We Three Santa's.....WIP's

are waiting to be finished. Somehow our creator thinks she needs to feed her man person, and not attend to us. WELL!!! Ummmm, oh, excuse us, we forgot we are supposed to be jolly for a moment.... Okay, she says she will get to us later, whatever that means, but in the meantime here we sit. Guess we are going to have to wait until the morning because they are watching a movie later. Hey! We are sitting with a birds eye view of the TV.....wonder if the movie is any good.....will let you know tomorrow.

Tuesday's WIPS there's no more room on my work table...

 I think they are about to run me out of my work room here, some are missing eyebrows, some faces, some are done, but all are feeling a bit crowded. I know I sure am, along with the waning evening light and one little light bulb to help me, I guess it's time to stop for now.

 Doesn't this jolly Santa have a look of anticipation for the coming season? I hope I can capture his twinkle when I paint him.

 Eeeek, alien Santa! Well actually he's just waiting for the next step, but he's in drying mode right now. The spool Santa hasn't told me yet whether he should have arms or not. He better hurry though as I'm getting a bit impatient to get things done!

And these two are commiserating a take-over I can tell..... I wonder if I turn out the light.....

Gourdie or Gourdelia, the gourds are taking over ebay!

 I actually got some pieces done while working at the Utah State Fair last week. I had such fun meeting so many nice people, and the best part is, they asked me to come back! I may have some classes to teach as well as a nice bonus to this.

Gourdie the Party Guy above, is ready to join you in your Halloween festivities. And Gourdelia is making a return visit, looking to find the best haunted house to dwell in. Perhaps someone can help these two out. For a little more info, stop by my ebay Happy Monday everyone! May you have a most creative week.

One Little, Two Little, Three Little Saaantaaas....

 four little, five little  six little santas..... I see a gourd Santa,

 a light bulb santa,

 another gourd santa

 a crystal bell santa

 and two driftwood santas.

 No, I don't have all ten yet, but am working on more...:-)

Life is a Whirlwind right now....

 I think I've spent one of the busiest weeks of my life this past one, trying to catch up and just "do" things I've wanted or needed to do. There was the garage sale to get ready for, finish these paintings, finish a batch of Santas which I will have to share in another post....

 work at Roxy's most of the week, pick blackberries and process them, More work at Roxy's....

 I re- worked the face on this gourd bust, but am debating making him look bronzed.....

finishing this little pumpkin guy, texturing and painting my living room walls.....still need to finishing glazing them, and then tonight I will need to clean....whew! I have one Halloween piece to finish, another Santa, and then it's sculpting on more....no rest for the wicked.....

Queen Cucurbita Maxima, Ruler of the Pumpkin Patch!

 

All hail the Queen Maxima, ruler of the pumpkin patch! She reigns with a gently but firm hand. She's looking for a place to hold her Harvest ball, so if you are willing, she would love to make your "castle" her new home! You can view her at ebay.

A Christmas Song Quiz & Giveaway - The Winner!!!!

 I was going to start by stating that it's been quite a week, but I'm beginning to notice they have all been like that lately. No excuses though, it's time to gather all the names and write them on slips of paper.

 Then they go into the hat, cute isn't it? I draw one name out....ooooh, who will it be???? Oh golly, this is exciting.! ;-0

 The winner is Denalee!!!! Thank you so much to all of you who participated, and those who left comments in general! This was fun, I've learned that I'm not as thorough on thinking rules through as I need to be, but hey, all in all we had a good time!

So now I contact Denalee and let her know that she won! I'm thinking she will choose the Santa ornament as I know she collects them, but watch, she will surprise me and pick the little pumpkin guy. For a fun and friendly blog stop by and see what Denalee is up to over at Silver Strands.

A Christmas Song Quiz & Giveaway Part 5 Final...

Those are a lot of eyes staring at you.....heeheee! I will keep this short and sweet tonight as I have some clean up to do. The drive to Spokane was lovely! I want to take my husband up there soon. For now, let the games, begin...to end...lol. Those of you who have played are amazing! Here are your final 4:
17. Behold! I envisioned a trio of nautical vessels.
18. Listen, the winged heavenly messengers are proclaiming tunefully.
19. A joyful song relative to hollow metallic vessels which vibrate and bring
forth a ringing sound when struck.
20. As the guardians of little woolly animal's protected

A Christmas Song Quiz & Giveaway Part 4

I must be a glutton for punishment. After running 3 1/2 miles I came home and finished the trim on the roof of the garage, patched some repaired holes in the house siding, (ugh, renters!), and then got a wild hair to repair the walls in my living room and paint. I pulled off all the baseboards and window trim, taped the seams and cracks, and slathered joint compound all over the walls.  Tomorrow we are driving to Spokane to go to the temple and then I will be back hopefully in time to paint. Friday is my first day tending the store for Roxy, a gallery owner who is running down to her sister's to help with her BIL as he had back surgery today. I will get the opportunity to set up and work on my sculpting and painting while tending the place, and plan on making the most of it. If you have a moment, check out some of the amazing hand crafted furniture and such she has here - Roxy's. Friday night we are having a Shelf Reliance demo at my place, so I must get the walls done and things put back together before folks show up. Gee, think I have enough to do? Well, it's fun and games time as 4 AM comes very early....

13. Uncouth dolt has his beezer in the booze and thinks he is a Dark Cloud's boyfriend.
14. Far back in a hay bin.
15. Leave and do an elevated broadcast.
16. That exiguous hamlet south of the holy city.

Have a great night all!

A Christmas Song Quiz & Giveaway Part 3

Today started out with a bike ride, and then I held my breath as I climbed our 18 foot ladder to finish the trim on the back of the garage. It wouldn't have been quite so bad if the ground the ladder stood on was level, but it's in an alley where there are boulders here and there, weeds that have been matted down, and it appears that while we are gone, someone likes to use our side of the alley to dump their junk. UGH! So, I crept up the ladder and fastened the paint bucket to one of the rungs, and gingerly reached upward to paint the areas that hadn't gotten done two years ago. Long story, but hey I finally got it done! Whew! I didn't even drop the paint bucket, well okay not this morning anyway. Yes, it hit the gravel in front of the garage when I was working there tonight. Almost done, have one easy side to do, yay! Oh and some touch ups as I got yellow on the red. Ooops! Then it's on to the living room. It's bugging me to death to see the scuffs and marks from a renter and our house sitter. Besides, I want to feel like I accomplished something here this year. So tomorrow I will tape and mud cracks and seams, and then texture and paint, whoohoo. I did get some work on creations done as well, it's fun what you can do with a light bulb. I will be sealing this little guy and some other pieces before antiquing. Okay, I'll stop already....here's the next clues......
9. 288 Yuletide hours.
10. Do you perceive the same longitudinal pressure which stimulates my auditory sense organs.
11. The red-suited pa is due in this burg.
12. Stepping on the pad cover.

A Christmas Song Quiz & Giveaway Part 2

 I bet you thought I forgot, huh?! Well no, but here's how my day went. At 4:45 this morning I got up to well, you know, and as I got back into bed the phone rings. "Who could that be? Oh, my Amanda!" So I pick up the phone, "Hello? Helloooo?, Amanda....answer the phone!!!!! AMANDAAAAAA!!!!" My daughter had done it again, she was out for a bike ride in the wee morning hours in Fairbanks, and she accidently speed dialed me. Happens a lot. I think she might need to find a different number for me. So I tried to go back to sleep, but no dice. I went for a run, almost 3 and a half miles, and then came back and canned cherries, some rhubarb and cherry, raspberry, rhubarb and cranberry conserve. Don't they look yummy? After that it was time to go outside and see what damage I could do out there.

I pulled weeds around my berries, unstrangled the hold some netting had on my plum tree, and knocked some wasp nests off the garage peaks so I can paint the trim when the weather warms up. I watered plants, came back in, showered, lunch and time to paint. Here's the progress I've made, and somewhere in this pile is the giveaway piece. Hmmmmmm, which one will it be? Then I had a widow neighbor over for dinner, and went for  a walk to work off the dessert we had.
Now, more fun and games! I boobooed yesterday as I forgot this posts on the Hive as well. So all you Hivers who might want to try and take a stab, I will count the first right guess on the Hive as well.
Okay, here's today's 4
5. A B C D E F G H I J K M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.
6. Present me naughty but dual incisors for this festive Yuletide.
7. The smog-less bewitching hour arrived.
8. Exuberation to this orb.

A Christmas Song Quiz & Giveaway

Santa let me know that he didn't want this to be just any old post. He thinks we should jazz things up a bit. Sooooo.......

We want to have a little give away, because we love you! So here it is, we want to offer a cute little Santa ornament, he will be a surprise, perhaps posted later on in the week. Here's the quiz....
How many Christmas songs can you identify?
1. The apartment of 2 psychiatrists.
2. The lad is a diminutive percussionist.
3. Decorate the entry-ways.
4. Sir Lancelot with laryngitis.


Here are the rules:
1. Each day for 5 days I will post 4 song prompts. Name as many songs as you can and post here.  The first person to post all the right answers wins for that day. If no one gets it all right, then the closest will be the winner and if I have to I will do a drawing for that day to choose that person.
2. You must be willing to send me your mailing address so I can send your gift to you. 
3. You can only send one answer each day so think these out carefully. 
4. You must have fun! Okay, get those thinking caps on. There will be 5 winners to draw from so your odds are pretty good that you could be THE one in 5 to win. Good luck.

A Country Style Santa, or is that Primitive, Rustic, Northwoods?

 I googled Northwoods Santas and guess what?! My Santa listing on Reasons to Believe came up top of the list. Wow! I'm going to have to give Scott a high five for that one! Anyhew.... Santas come in all sorts of shapes and styles. Fat, skinny, tall short, round, smiling or serious, or even frowning!

Color themes vary from  the ever popular red and green, to purple and gold, blue and white and all shades in between. This Santa has a touch of Victorian with his long robe and flocked greenery, but goes country with the leather belt and homespun ribbon on the wreath. He's a bit rustic  with his wired on arms, and Northwoods with the vine wreath and birdhouse with cardinal, as well as the driftwood he's made of. So no matter your Christmas style, this handsome fella will fit in well. He stands 19 inches tall. He's ready to find a new home, so if you are interested please send me an email and I will paypal you. $175.00 with free shipping

Muuuwaaahaaahaaahaaa....he's dooone!

"Did you move him?" , "No, I didn't, I thought you did!" , "What's going on here?!" I don't know, but it's probably time to find a home for Jack. He has been showing up here and there, and I'm not moving him, sooooo......
 He can be found on ebay