Cyber Monday Sale

Hey there everyone- I'm having a nice sale in my etsy shop starting ....NOW. Get 25% off of any purchase just by using coupon code SAVE25 when you check out. Enjoy!!

We Three Kings....

Are these guys adorable or what? I found them at a flea market and just couldn't resist.... They're vintage bone china and apparently from what I could find on the internet, they are part of a whole Nativity set that was made by Napco. Sure wish I could find the whole set, but they're pretty sweet just by themselves. I love finding teeny treasures like this... I have so many little vintage things just laying around that I've decided I'm going to reopen my long vacant etsy store, "FancifulFinds" and try finding new homes for some of this stuff, (then I can make room for new stuff) lol...

Little Man with Little Umbrella

I've been very busy making lots of new dolls. I thought I'd share my new favorite... I just love this little guy.... isn't he the cutest?? And the umbrella was so much fun to make. Don't be surprised if you start seeing all my dolls with umbrellas- lol. I'm actually using this idea to make a pair of dolls for my mom and dad for their 50th Anniversary. There'll be a boy doll and a girl doll wearing yellow raincoats, facing eachother and holding one big umbrella between them. I've already started. If I'm successful I'll post some pictures. This little dude was posted in my Etsy shop tonight along with a new Wheely Bird doll. Drop by and check them out. I have two more dolls that are almost finished, so stay tuned...

Amazing News to Share...

I am sooo happy to share the news that I (yes, me) will be teaching three workshops at Artistic Figures in Cloth & Clay, which will be held in Columbus Ohio from April 25-28, 2013. Is that awesome or what?? I can hardly believe it, but it's real!! Registration started September 1st and there I am, listed as one of the instructors. I will be in the company of so many amazing artists. It's a little overwhelming.

 You really must check out the website- there's information about all the instructors and links to their websites so that you can see their work. I've recieved the event schedule and there's just so much going on. It's gonna be an incredible experience.... I'm sooo excited.... :)))  Just had to share the news!

Here's the official website: www.CyndysDolls.com

I've Curated My First Treasury!!

Yay! I finally did it. I've been thinking about creating a treasury on Etsy forever, and today I finally sat down and did it. So fun, but so stressful. It's pretty hard picking just 16 items out of like a gazillion beautiful possibilities. However, I think it turned out pretty well for my first time. Stop by and take a peek and let me know what you think.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NjQ5Nzk2OHwyNzIwNjEzMDYz/creative-contrasts?index=0

Something New...

Hello, hello.... hope everyone's summer is amazing in spite of the heat. I've finally had a chance to play around in the studio this past week and I just thought I'd share my new creations. Presenting my new "Mixed Media Art Doll Ornaments". They're made of all sorts of trinkets and tidbits that I have accumulated over the years, bingo cards, vintage handwritten pages, old jewelry, buttons and even some rusty paint chips. Aren't they great? ...and so much fun to create. I've just posted them in my etsy shop. I think I'm addicted... heading up to the studio again this morning to start a few more :) What a fun and pretty way to clean out the clutter! Have a wonderful weekend and stay tuned for more....

***Sale***Sale***Sale***Sale***Sale***

Everybody loves a sale, right? Well, to celebrate the upcoming July 4th holiday, I'm hosting a sale in my etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/WeeMeeWhimsies?ref=si_shop.

Just use coupon code: GODBLESSAMERICA7412 when you check out and get 10% off the price of your item. Happy Shopping and have a wonderful holiday!!

Still Alive with Black Olives and Missing Tupperware Lids

Yes, I'm still alive, but the busyness of summer has invaded my life. Between graduation parties, weddings and various other weekend commitments along with weeding, planting, weeding, yard cleaning, weeding, shed cleaning and more weeding, it seems I've had little time for anything else. However I'm still alive.... busy, busy, but alive.

Sooo, anyway.... I've developed a bit of an addiction to black olives. For the past few months I have been doing my best to eat well, which means I eat lots of salad. The two luxuries I allow myself are unsalted peanuts and black olives. Tonight I had to open a new can of black olives and it seems it's always the same thing..... I grab a tupperware container to store them in and I can never find a matching lid! How is this possible??? It seems like I clean out the tupperware collection every other week. I throw away containers with no lids and lids with no containers and still I end up with missing pieces!!! While frustratingly pondering the tupperware mystery, another question popped into my head... Why is it that green olives come nicely packaged in jars (allowing them to be stored just as they are), and yet black olives come in cans (requiring tupperware storage... grrr)? I decided it would be best to tackle the tupperware mystery another day and I proceeded to look up the answer to my olive question. Much to my surprise, I found out that I'm not the only one asking this question. I found a great site that gives an interesting and detailed answer. I'll just give you the short of it... apparently all olives start out green, it's just that green olives have been picked before they ripen, if they were left on the tree to fully ripen, they would turn black or purple. However, nobody's making any money sitting around waiting for olives to turn black naturally, so they ripened them artificially. It's the artificial ripening process that requires them to be packed in cans because glass jars could not withstand the process. For anyone who's interested in reading the full story, here's a link to the site I found:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2885/why-is-it-that-green-olives-come-in-glass-jars-but-black-olives-come-in-cans

So there you have it, the answer to that question that's been nagging you for years. Well, at the very least you'll have something to talk about at your next summer function :)

Side-Tracked

 

Well, life got me a little side-tracked recently, and my creativity has been stuck in a rutt, but I've managed to get a few things done and I thought I'd share my latest creations.

My first is an art doll ornament inspired by visions of what I hope my garden will be (since it's not coming along very well yet), meet Carri Carrot. If you recall from one of my previous posts, I'd attempted a painting involving carrots and I totally destroyed the carrot tops. As you can see, Carri's top is much nicer than those in my painting. I actually made it out of thread that I stiffened with mod podge, painted and stiffened again. I was so happy with the results that I decided to use the same technique and give Carri some stringy roots as well.

My next creation is a Moon Keeper Angel, and I really think I want to do a painting of this doll. Unfortunately it'll  have to wait, since I have a few more dolls to finish before I can start any more paintings.

So the plan for this afternoon is to get going on some of those dolls. Here's hoping that I'm able to jump start my creativity. There's nothing worse than spending a whole afternoon my studio and ending up with nothing to show for it.

Anyway, both of my new doll ornaments are now available in my etsy shop. Why not stop by and take a look. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

I just had to share this awesome song by Natalie Grant (who happens to have an awesome voice). It might have been nice if I'd thought to share it at Easter, but no matter, there's never a bad time to remember that Jesus is alive!! Enjoy :)

Spring Flowers and New News

Yesterday was such a gorgeous day that I spent most of it out in the yard getting a nice headstart on my spring clean up. It always amazes me how fast everything grows this time of year. It's as though you can actually see things growing right before your eyes. Here are a few pictures of my blooming trees and plants-

I also had some very amazing news this weekend. Jane DesRosier (aka grittyjane) chose my Wise and Wacky Owl as one of the dolls to be featured on the main page of Cloth and Clay Dolls (I'm sooo excited). You can see him here http://clothclaydolls.ning.com/ 

and... as if that weren't enough, I've been featured in 3 Etsy treasuries over the last 3 days. Here are the links if you care to take a look:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/ODA1OTY2NHwyNzIyNjgyNjAw/just-take-a-breath

www.etsy.com/treasury/MTY5NDA4OTN8MjcyMjY4NjQzNA/casual-summer-days

www.etsy.com/treasury/NTUxNDE4OHwyNzIyNjg5MDQ2/can-you-hear-them

What an amazingly great weekend and lots of exciting news to go with it. Hope yours was a great one too :)

By the way- my carrot doll is coming right along and I'll have pictures to post real soon.

Carrot Top Disaster

Well it's going to be a gorgeous day today with temps in the 80's- I'm lovin it!! I've been working on a couple different projects this week and nothing is coming easily. I really hate getting in spells like this.  I had a fun idea for a painting - a bunny in a garden of giant carrots. I got off to a good start but then it came time to add greenery to the tops of my carrots, and the results were ... well... YUK! I tried them one way, I didn't like them so I tried to paint over them and ended up  making a complete mess.  For some reason I seem incapable of painting greenery of any kind. I can paint great trees as long as they're bare, and flowers without stems and leaves, and apparently carrots as long as I leave the tops off. You know, I suspected this would happen even before I started painting. Oh well... all is not lost. I'll finish the bunny and cut him out for some future use. The good thing that came from all this is that I've been inspired to create a carrot doll- I've already started and with any luck I'll be able to give you a preview soon. Have a wonderful weekend! 

Another Treasury....Yay!

How very nice to wake up again this morning and find that one of my dolls has been included in a beautiful Etsy treasury that is curated by TheDolls Uniqe, who has put together a wonderful collection - take a look...


www.etsy.com/treasury/MjA0ODk2MTh8MjcyMjY3MTMxNA/alice-in-wonderland

Paper Dolls

Check out this great set of paper dolls I found it in my local thrift shop. Still good as new. Looks like it's from 1978 and in perfect condition. I'm soo tempted to start cutting and playing! I used to love paper dolls...

hmmm... maybe I should start a collection...  

New Look

I just love, love, love my new header banner. It was designed by my very talented daughter and she also made me new business cards and item tags. I think she did a fantastic job. What do you think?

Bright Spot in My Day...

I woke up this morning to find that this little doll of mine has been included in an wonderful spring themed, Etsy treasury curated by Gwen from dancingintherains. Thanks Gwen for adding a bright spot to my day....

Lots of nice things were featured in her treasury, why not take a look? http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NzE4NzkxNnwyNjYwMTE2NTU2/spring-spring

So... Where Have I Been?

Well... long story as short as possible... ecomony dictated that take a full-time job. I got a great job in a dental lab. Loved working there, but after some time, I developed an allergy to 2 of the chemicals I was working with, which was causing extremely severe dermatitis. I very reluctantly had to give up my job.

Within days my very dear friend who also happened to be my mother-in-law, came to stay with us. She had been battling metastatic breast cancer for a very long time and chose to decline further treatment. With the help of her husband and hospice, I cared for her until sadly, she left us on January 11, 2012.

I was left with no job, and my mother-in-law was gone. I didn't quite know what to do with myself. I started to think about trying to do something with my art work. About mid-February I got a message through my Etsy shop from a local woman who said she loved my work and wondered if I would be a vendor at local craft/artisan fair. That kinda got the spark going again.

Within 4 days of receiving that message another woman contacted me out of the blue and asked if I'd have any interest in teaching a workshop at a convention next spring. WOW!! I was floored, to say that least. I've never even attended a workshop, much less thought about teaching one! After hearing all the details and checking things out, I thought, "why not?". So I went ahead and submitted my proposals and in a few weeks we'll see if they've been accepted.

...So that's where I've been, right up to where I'm at now. Working hard to get my Etsy shop moving and maybe do something with my art aside from letting sit around collecting dust. I have lots of work to show you, but tonight I'll just post the pictures of the dolls that I submitted for the convention workshop...