New Folk Art Santa....

I just finished this dude this afternoon ...... I'm still editing his other pictures- so this is all for a sneak peek. Hee hee...I made him from one of Kim's (thesmilinggoat)patterns. I am planning on listing him on eBay tomorrow night, if all goes well and I have the time. This last week has been fairly busy for me- I was down for a few days last week with a bit of a stomach bug- must have been a touch of whatever has been going around so that put a cramp in things for a few days....but things are back to normal now (whew!) and I've been busy busy making ornies for a few group swaps. I'd like to wait for the recipients to get theirs before I share any pics- wouldn't want to ruin the surprise, now would I? :0) I have some packages to get in the mail, so I have to scoot, but I will be back later to post a few more pics of Santa and give his eBay link when he's listed. I also have a snowgirl doll I made a while back- I'll probably list her, too. Oh, and I will have few Christmas pics from around the house to share as well........Be back later! :0)
-Jody

What I've been up to lately....

Maybe it would be easier to say what HAVEN"T I been up to lately. LOL. Sage stayed home from school on Wednesday with a tummy ache, and that night I noticed her eyes looked a little red, but she said they felt fine. Last week I already had an appt set up Thursday morning for the pains in her leg (which turned out to be just a bad case of growing pains- thank goodness nothing serious), he thought it (the eyes) was allergy related because at the time she had also been getting itchy little welts on her skin which went away with Benadryl. I took her to school on Friday and thank goodness her teacher told me while Sage had been gone from school quite a few other kids had pink eye. So I called the Dr and he went ahead and called in some eye drops. At the store Chad kept telling me his tummy hurt. When we got home, I was taking him out of his carseat and he got sick all over himself, the carseat and me. He feels a little better now, but we're laying pretty low this weekend. If he isn't better by Monday, we're going back to the Doctor's, or sooner if he starts running a fever.......Well, for the last week -up until a few days ago anyway- I have been up to my neck in naked- and mostly headless- doll bodies and parts as you can see a few in the works. A few in the pic are already done and going to a local prim shoppe in town. Right now I'm actually working on 4 more dolls- 3 are surprise gifts for someone (I can't say who because they might read my blog and I don't want to spoil it) and the 4th is another dolly for ebay.
You might remember this one I finished a while back- in January I think, but then it seemed like we had all sorts of stuff going on and I never got to list her on ebay since then. Well, I'm ready to list her, but I need to swap her "Americana Spring" tag out and make another that says "Americana Summer". I'm gonna wait until the other doll is done, too before she goes on ebay, but sorry no sneaky peeks of the new one. Hee hee! :0)

A few weeks ago, we needed to get away for a few days, so we took the kids and went on a spur of the moment type of trip to visit Craig's sister, Heidi in Denver. We had such a blast! We took the kids to the Denver Zoo and the Downtown Aquarium which was just as much fun for me as it was for the kids cuz I had never ever been to a zoo before, either. I ended up taking like 400+ pictures, so I need to get them loaded and edited on the computer before I can share a few with all of you! :0) I did get to meet Kathy of Kittredge Mercantile and see her shop in person as she is just outside of Denver. All I can say is WOW! Tons and tons of eye candy! Every room in her shop is filled to the brim with her wonderful handmades, antiques and vintage finds and collectibles as well as one room dedicated to reproduction iron pieces. Kathy is a hoot! I could have spent hours in there just to see everything and I did leave with a few little things, although I could have left with tons more if we weren't all crammed in Heide's little car. :0) Hee hee! I got the crow make-do, and old quilt pillow with a heart and a little quilt pinkeep.That crow make-do is BIG! I just love him! I put him on the shelf on that big wall in the front room and he is perfect there! I was sad I didn't get to meet Joleen on the way down- she was visiting her sister that weekend, but it was my fault- I didn't give her much notice because it was a last minute decision trip. Sorry Joleen! We'll be down again soon! :0)

I did promise a pic of our finished bathroom, so here it is. We went from pretty much gutting it like this:

and thisto this!It turned out so great! Well, it still has a few things missing- the piece of oak trim above the wainscoting by the toilet and a bit of wainscoting right next to the vanity there, but its minor and we'll get to it on Craig's next days off. The original vanity was really long with double sinks, which for us was a huge waste of counter space- so we opted for a shorter one which we bought unfinished,then stained and finished ourselves and cut the countertop longer to allow for a laundry hamper to be concealed behind the homespun curtain. And here is the view from the doorway in. That is actually an antique china cabinet of my moms which I am keeping for her- she's going though a really miserable divorce with the possibility of moving again and right now she doesn't have room for it at her place. So instead of putting it in storage, I'm using it to store our bathtowels. It's empty right now cuz we just moved it in here yesterday. The wall on that side is bare, I was waiting to decorate the walls until I got the cabinet in there. Hope you like our bathroom! Well, I should go and get some stuff done. I'll try to post some of our Denver pics this week sometime. :0)

Americana Spring Doll...

Just got this gal all finished up yesterday, but won't be listing her quite yet. I made her using a pattern from Two Dancing Crows. I am hoping to get another doll done or something else to list for each of my three groups. Seems like I haven't had anything on ebay forever....I looked and its been since like November...eek! LOL. I really wanted to do something for Valentines Day, but with my local orders here time has run out now- so I will probably make some St. Patty's Day stuff or Easter stuff....so anyhoo, back to this gal! She is somewhat of a make-do--She is free standing and secured to a distressed wood candlestick and stands 16 inches. She has a full head of wool hair and as you can see, she is finished all the way around, which would make her perfect as a centerpiece or whatever. Her skinny arms are wired so she can pose and hold onto things. Like I said, I'm not sure when I'll be listing her, but I will surely post here when I do. :0).

A few dolls to share......and a few awards!

I know, I know! It's been a few weeks since my last post, but honestly I have been working my little fingers to the bone in the craft room. I have a few dollies all finished for a local gal and I wanted to share. My camera was giving me problems, but now its working again- thank goodness! I think its days are numbered and its trying to tell me that I need to hurry up and find a replacement and quick, LOL. This first doll is from a You Are Special pattern. Love the big head and squinty eyes! This washday Mammy doll turned out so great, I think. She is so much neater in person. She is from a Be Fruitful Kreations pattern. She is pretty small (15 inches..), but has tons of details on her. I needle sculpted her nose and lips, fingers, toes and even her washboard. I penciled on her eyes, toenails and fingernails with artists pencil. She has a wee bit of sheeps wool felted in place with a headwrap updo. Her arms are even button jointed so they will move up and down. I was really happy how her skin color turned out- a beautiful golden brown.

Linda over at Meadowbrook Cabin Primitives gave me two awards and I promised her I would put them on my blog in my next post.

'This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers' aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!'

I am supposed to pass this award on to eight fellow bloggers, but so many have either already received this award or wish to be an award free blog. So what I will do is offer this award to anyone on my blog list and please feel free to snag it. She also gave me this award, too! Thank you very much Linda! :0) Now, for this award I am supposed to list a few addictions I have......let's see here....

#1- My family. They rank #1! I don't know what I would do without them around me! :0)

#2- Stoneware. I love everything stoneware! Crocks, jugs, jars, bowls- you name it! Of course you can tell from my earlier posts that I collect Red Wing....I guess I could say I am addicted to all primitive antiques, but stoneware is my fav to collect.

#3- Fabric. Yes, I admit it! I have a fabric problem! LOL! It's beginning to take over the craft room! Yikes!

#4- Thrift Shops. I am a thrift store junkie through and through! Of course I can't pass up a yard sale or antique shop either!

#5- Pepsi. Yes, I am a Pepsi-holic! Call me crazy!

#6- Trident Chewing gum. I love chewing gum- but it has to be sugar free. I know, I'm weird!

Ok, I am supposed to pass this along to other bloggers, but again, with so many already getting this award and those that have gone award free, I will leave it open for anyone wanting to play. Again Linda, thank you so much for thinking of me! Girls, you should really go have a peek at Linda's blog. She makes the neatest dollies and things! She also has some goodies on Ebay, WSOAPP and Simply Primitives.