Sugar Plum Fairies and Nutcrackers!

Well, what a wonderful time we had yesterday (except for the driving through the snow storm part!), we all went to the Nutcracker Ballet presented by Ballet Minnesota. It was wonderful! And Sabrina was able to add to her nutcracker collection, and get a souvenir at the same time.

Here she is waiting somewhat patiently for the show to begin. It was hard to get a good pic inside, but I did my best. I just love the story of the nutcracker, and of course the music. But the best part for me is the dancing, I never get tired of watching ballerinas dance on their toes, how do they do it? They wouldn't allow pix of the performance, of course, but I can tell you they did a fabulous job. If you ever get the chance, you must see it at least once! Bye for now!

I've been published!!!

I'm so excited! I was fortunate enough to be included in this wonderful new book by artist and author, Lisa Kettell. She is such a sweet person, and very supportive of other artists. I was so excited when she asked me to be a part of it. She asked me to include one of my fairy creations. The cover of the book is above.
Art Circus! takes the reader on a magical journey into the artistic world where they can discover their creative muse which is waiting to come out and play. It is at heart a technique book for altered artists, but is housed within a wonderful, spectacular fantasy land. The book will bring the reader, the daydreamer, the explorer, the artist, to a place have never been, where they can unleash their artistic dreams and explore hidden worlds through cutting-edge techniques, creative projects, and beautiful images.
The author of this book, Lisa Kettell is a wonderful, wonderful lady, a mixed media artist and writer with years of education and experience in altered art, graphic and print design, business, and marketing.
The Art Circus is available on Amazon to pre-order, with a release date in Feb '09.
Plus, because of the book, I was mentioned on Teresa McFayden's blog! Ididn't even know that she knew about me art! Boy, that made my day! Please check out the book on Amazon, it would make a great gift for someone or yourself! Bye for now!

Gingerbread house, no eating!

This is the house that Sabrina built, using a kit she got from Grandma Viv and Aunt Denise. But don't drool, because it is made out of foam and glitter!

Now, these cookies are real gingerbread. Sabrina decorated them at a sleepover she had at her friends house last weekend. She had a blast of course! Bye for now!

I'm on "The World for Blogs"!

Check out this new blog I'm featured on today! It's all about helping bloggers gain exposure and helping people find blogs. I'm think it's pretty cool!


The World For Blogs world4blogs

Baby it's cold outside!!

These are from a recent snow we had, and it has snowed more since. I always feel like I'm in a snow globe when I see those big flakes. It's been really COLD too, down to zero last night! These pictures are even more beautiful in the black and white version I think, and makes the snow flakes stand out a bit more. Hope you are enjoying the flakes from inside where it is warm and cozy! Bye for now! :)

Come and see my Lollishop!

Yay! I've got a new place to sell my art, and I hope everyone checks it out! It's a wonderful new store called, "Lollishops"and there are many talented artists there. It is still in beta right now, but it is ready for business. Below are my newest pieces especially for the shop. First is the mixed media painting I did called "Lollipop Shop". It was done for the gingerbread house challenge, and I really had fun making it! It combines acrylic paint, colored pencil and paper

ephemera. Since this is done on a flat canvas board, I gave it a paper frame trim and a length of yellow lace to hang it with. It's done in candy shades of pink, yellow and green.I also embellished with white flocking for snow and clear glass glitter for sparkle.
Next it a mixed media painting called, "Do you hear what I hear?" with a lovely fairy and her dove. It's done in pink and cream with vintage silver stars on her crown and mica flakes for sparkle. And she has a vintage millinery flower at her waist.

Last, but not least, is my "Dove fairy" which was the inspiration for the painting above. She has a paper mache hand painted head, and a soft stuffed body. Her arms and legs are vintage chenille stems and her skirt is made of pink and cream crepe paper. The crown and her wings are paper, and she has a vintage millinery flower at her waist.
She also carries a cage with her dove inside. Isn't she lovely? Please go check her out in the new store! Bye for now!

New Banner! Again!

Okay, I know, another new banner. But I really hope this will be it, for awhile! My art has been evolving a bit over the last year, with a lot of experimentation. But I'm starting to settle on a style I feel comfortable with (I hope). I guess I've always had a hard time fitting into a "catagory", since I like so many things. But it makes it hard to market myself. Now, I'm about to open a shop at "Lollishops" and I decided to get more into paintings. So, I did something that relates to my dolls. Here is a sneek peek of the painting:And a sneek peek of the doll:
Will let you know as soon as my shop is open, I have another painting that I'm doing finishing touches to, so want to finish that first. Bye for now!

Puff the Magic Dragon by Sabrina's class

This is a video Sabrina's class did showing their art:
Sabrina's drawing is at about the 2:06 mark.

All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth!

Well, she managed to loose the other front tooth! Now she can sing that song as much as she wants! She's so happy!

Finally took some pics of my fall decorating downstairs, lots of pinecones and leaves. I love the light on a fall afternoon. So golden.

I mixed together some non-fall items, that have the right look. Tarnished and old always looks good for autumn. Hope you like it. Bye for now!

1st Snow of the Season

Well, this is what I woke up to yesterday, and it's already gone! At first I wasn't thrilled to see snow, but when I saw how magical the garden looked I just had to get out and take some pics!
I felt bad for my little fairies and gnomes, but they seemed to take it in stride!

Everything looks better with the contrast of white snow, like a frosted cake.And this little gnome (below), he just slept right through it! Maybe I can do that too, from about February 15th till spring! Bye for now!

All Star Squirrel Wrestling

"What was that noise?!" asked Tigger the tiger cat. "Did you see that? That squirrel came right up to the window! "

"Hey, there they are now! Look at them go at it! Just wish I could get my paws on those little...."
Alas, Tigger was forced to watch from afar. But, hey, it's better than t.v.! Bye for now!

A Day in the Life of an Elf

Finally I have time to show you my pics from the Macy's 8th floor audatorium Christmas display! This year they chose to come up with an original story about "the day in the life of an elf". It starts with they elves having breakfast, below, while a snowman sits outside. Next is a forest of singing Christmas trees! It's hard to see in this picture, but the trees have faces.

Nearby, are some forest animals decorating trees. I love the penguin sitting on the polar bear's head!

Next we spot a hot air balloon just landing, filled with letters for Santa from the girls and boys. There is an elf hanging on to the bottom of the baloon!
Now we have entered Santa's mailroom. In the background you can see the reindeer learning to fly with the help of balloons!Next we enter the workshop, where the elves are busy baking, and candy making, and.............................................................................................................................................................
contructing lots of wonderful toys!! See the candy cane machine to the left!
Look at all the toys waiting for good little boys and girls! Here is Daddy with one little girl who is trying to be good!

From me and Sabrina, Happy Holidays! Bye for now!

Autumn Leaves

I just love a blustery, rainy, autumn day. For some reason the rain makes the leaves even more vibrant than they already are! And the wind was really blowing, so the tree in our back yard was

really dropping the leaves! I was like a golden ballenina in the wind!

I also did some decorating for fall inside, using mostly natural elements, and any turkey collectibles that I have.

Above is the top of the china cabinet and the pic below is the inside.

Those collages in the pic below are one of the only times that I have left frames gold. They look great for fall.

Every year we collect more leaves to press, so I have lots to use for decorating.

Below is a little display I did on top of the dresser in the living room. I love, love, love tarnished silver! Hope you like my efforts, soon I will have pix from the Christmas display at Macy's, so stay tuned! bye for now!