My skelly dolly.....

Well, this is my skeleton dolly so far.....she's still naked, so I didn't think she would appreciate me taking her picture in her birthday suit...LOL. I decided for my next Halloween dolly I'll do a JOL/Pumpkinhead. I did one last year and she turned out great. As for this girlie, I've only got the painting on the face done...I still have some detail work left to do and attatch her arms and legs (and of course give the poor girl some clothes...tee hee). Now for the not so good news....Sage was sick with an ear infection a little over a week ago and I'm afraid it's back. Here we go again! This was her very first ear infection and we had given her the Amox faithfully, I'm wondering if she needed something stronger?? She started crying today and holding her ear saying it hurt. Of course all the pediatricians vanish like a fart in the wind any time there is a holiday or three day weekend, so I either keep her comfy at home and do the home remedy thing for her earache until the Dr. is back Tuesday or take her to the emergency room if things get worse....we'll just have to see what tomorrow will bring.... soooo....I'm hoping I can get her finished mid-week if Sage is doing better and I'll be sure to post more pics and a link to her auction when I do..... :0)

Jody

My first blog award..THANKS!

Awwww..... My very first blog award! ....Linda at Meadowbrook Cabin Primitives has chosen me along with a few other gals to receive this award. Thank you so very much Linda, I'm very happy you thought of me! I just love visiting your blog and if you had not already presented me this award, I would have passed it on to you. :0)

The rules of this award are as follows :

*Put the logo on your blog.

*Add a link to the person who awarded you.

*Nominate at least seven other blogs.

*Add links to those blogs on your blog.

*Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

I get to pass it on to 7 other gals....tough decision. So many great blogs and talented artists out there to choose from.....so here goes:

I'm passing it on to:

Joleen- The Primitive Bucket~she is one of the nicest people you could ever meet (she also makes awesome candy corn ornies and pinwheels...)

Carolee- King of Mice Studios~ This gal can sure paint! Talk about being born with a paintbrush in your hand...be sure you check her stuff out!

Joyce- Enchanted Productions~I so admire her talent! She makes the most wonderfuly spooky little dollies....so much detail and personality in each piece!

Chris- The Antique Pallet~ Another master of the paintbrush! I don't think there is anything this girl can't paint on and turn it into a work of art!

Christy- CC's Whimsies~ She makes the most wonderful, whimsical little paper clay pieces! This girl can paint, too! Check her out...

Kathy-Kittredge Mercantile~ I had the pleasure of meeting Kathy a few months ago and truly admire what she can accomplish! She makes some nice primitive handmades....I even have a few of her old quilt bears and love 'em!

Shelley-Kissing Fish Primitives~ She sure makes some neat dollies with tons of detail and character. I think my fav of hers is Olivia and her Pumpkin suit-love those pumpkin slippers.... :0)

Last camping trip...

We took advantage of the last bit of summer and took a final camping trip while the weather was still cooperative. We only stayed one night, but had lots of fun. Our campsite was right at the shore of a mountain lake in the Wind River range- not too far from South Pass City. We hauled our driftboat up with us and took it out on the lake and let the kids fish. Of course, they would rather stand on the shore and throw rocks in the lake...LOL. They did have fun and got really dirty. That's what camping is all about! :0)

This was our view from the boat...really beautiful. The day we left, as we were loading the boat on the trailer, a cow moose came out of the willows right by the ramp- of course my camera was packed in the back with everything else, darn it. But of course I will have plenty of opportunity to get a pic of another one again...we always see wildlife whenever we go to the mountains.

We drove up the road just beyond the lake and fished the Little Popo Agie River(pronounced Po-po-jha). Luckily, we didn't run into any moose while we meandered our way in the willows. Whew!

We mostly let the kids fish and Sage caught 3 Brookie's. She was so excited, she could hardly remember which way to turn the reel when reeling it in. Can you tell she was so proud of her catch?

After we got back and got all the camping stuff cleaned and put away, I buried myself in my craft room...I need to get stuff done! I have a big craft show in November I'm doing dolls for, and I need to get my doll done for my PFATT listing...I did make my own pattern for this one myself, which took a little time. I haven't decided if she'll be a skelly or a pumpkin head. She will have bare feet with sculpted toes, and her hands have long, separate fingers which are wired and poseable. I'm still deciding how I want to make her dress, too, but she's coming along. Maybe I can post a sneak peek in a few days or so. Sooo.....I should probably get off my butt and go work on her...... :0)

Happy Birthday, my Little Man!

Well, today my little boy, Chad turned two years old! My, how the time flies by...it seems like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. Both my kids are growing up so darn fast....if they could just stay litte for a wee bit longer...Sage turns five in October and starts her second year of preschool in two weeks...because of where her birthday falls she didn't make the deadline, so she will nearly be six when she starts kindergarten, but thats ok. The past few days, Sage has been sick with an ear infection..ouchie! She's on meds now and feeling better- already asking for some birthday cake so I know she's getting back to normal again.
We had a small B-Day party for Chad tonight- he just loves that Disney Pixar movie "Cars", so that was the theme....I asked him the other day what he wanted for his birthday....he tells me "MONSTER TRUCKS!!"..LOL...and that's what he got... He's always got some sort of toy Hot-wheels car or something he packs around and plays with...definitely ALL boy! Here he is being a ham with his party hat on and some monster trucks he got as presents in tow (which I'm sure tonight he will insist on them getting tucked into bed with him, lol)

....he's such a gentle, good natured little guy.....and I sure love him to pieces!

Also....I added a guestbook at the bottom of my blog page, I'd be tickled if you signed it before you left.... :0)

Homemade Laundry Soap and Old Rusty Bed Springs....

By chance I happened upon a really neat recipe for making your own laundry soap from Heather's blog at Fall Creek Primitives. She makes the neatest prim stove and sink covers, you should go check her out. So I saw the recipe and apparently everyone is raving about how wonderful it is, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did cuz it's so easy and quick to make. Best of all, its super cheap! The soap ingredients only cost about $6, plus you will have leftover to make many more batches. Here's what you need:

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

*16 cups water (appx. 1 gallon)
*1 bar of laundry soap ( I used Fels-Naptha)
*1 cup of Arm & Hammer washing soda
*1 1/2 cups Borax

First, finely grate your bar of soap.
Boil the 16 cups of water in a large pot. While boiling, add your grated soap and whisk continuously until it completely dissolves, then remove it from heat.

Next add borax and the baking soda wash and whisk it up real good. Be sure you keep whisking it throughout the day as it cools, or it will separate on you (this is experience talking...LOL). It will start to gel up, but you can start using it right away.

Use ½ cup soap per load. (I use 3/4-1 c. on dirty loads)

*Keep in mind it will not be a runny liquid like the detergents we buy at the store, it is really pretty thick when it finally cools. Once mine was room temp I whisked it again really good and bought one of those big, 2 gallon glass jars at Wal-Mart (the ones that look like giant clear cookie jars with a metal lid) to store it in because its easier to scoop the soap out than try and pour it out of something. I bet I've washed 10 loads of laundry with it and it really works great! I remember the first load I did- I peeked into the washer while it was agitating and the water was so dirty...I couldn't remember the water being like that with my store bought stuff. It was getting all the built up soap residue and dirt out better. It was proof for me that it was a better soap, so I'm hooked! If you use it to wash a pretty soiled load, you might opt for a second rinse.


Now about the bed springs...I happened upon another mattress to salvage springs from. Once I started taking it apart, I was surprised to see there was no wire holding the springs & everything all together, but old strips of pillow ticking and heavy jute cording. Isn't that something? Of all the old throw away mattresses I've salvaged, this was the first I've seen like that. It was a big mattress, too. I think I got somewhere around 70 springs from it. I'll probably list them next week sometime on ebay...I haven't started any new dollies yet- I wanted to see how my witch was going to do first...and I see I have some bids *yipee!*, so I'm motivated now.. LOL. It's my turn to list something with PFATT now.....I got some ideas rolling around in my brain, but it'll have to wait till next week cuz I'll be gone until Sunday for a wedding in Nebraska....so I suppose I should quit flapping my gums and get packed and everything........Jody

The Witch Is In....LOL

Well, she's all finished now and listed on ebay..her auction ends next Sunday night at 9 pm Mountain time. You can ~CLICK HERE~ if you want to take a peek at her auction. We'll see if she sells...LOL. I tell ya, I've been striking out as far as my dolls go lately. The last three I've listed have a forever home with me now....LOL. I mean its nice sometimes to keep a dolly for myself cuz I usually sell them all, but if I keep going I'm gonna start running out of places to keep dollies that my 2 yr old can't get to! :0) Anyone with munchkins knows what I'm talking about.... I sure wish I knew what people were wanting as far as dolls lately...maybe I should start a poll...hmmm......guess I'll just keep pluggin' along. :0) Not sure what kinda doll to do next....I'm up for any suggestions at this point...LOL. Gotta hit the hay now.....

Just a Sneak Peek....

OK, I'm not totally done with her quite yet, but she is turning out pretty neat, I just wanted to share some pics! I used a wonderful pattern from Tanya at Back Porch Pickins...

Still a few little things to add, etc before I will be listing her..... I was going to make her a full sized cat to hold, but I just love using those antique bobbins, which is what he is secured to. I'll probably list her on Sunday evening or so...

Jody

Trick-or-Treat Annie...my first PFATT listing...

Well, I finally got her done....and I must say, the wool for her hair and nose was TOTALLY worth the wait! The color in person is just beautiful! Carolyn at The Flying Ewe does a fab dye job! She was fun to do...it felt good to work on a dolly again. It seems like my summers are always so busy, I hardly get any crafting done. Plus, I have to gear up for the Twelve Days of Christmas show later this year...yikes! :0)

Anyhoo......this gal measures somewhere around 30 inches from tip of party hat to her feet...almost all of her trimmings were hand stitched... her arms are wired and poseable...her lil pumpkin bucket is made from paperclay ( a fun little venture for me...) and I tucked in preserved sweet annie. I also made her a BIG Halloween pinwheel with a rusty bell center.

Her banner is osnaburg- it reads Trick or Treat and has black german glass glitter on the edges....I got her listed now and she will end Sunday afternoon. ~CLICK HERE~ to see her auction. Now I'm off to work on my other dolly...I'll be sure to post pics when I'm done...

-Jody