wild at heart art

A FINAL GOODBYE!

2010-01-11T14:18:00.001-08:00

Hello Friends!

THIS POST IS TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THIS BLOG NO LONGER EXISTS AND HAS MOVED TO ITS NEW HOME! (You can read the explaination for this in the last post)

PLEASE VISIT OUR NEW HOME: http://vagabondcreations.blogspot.com

AND OUR FARM/JOURNEYS Blog: http://beyondvagabond.blogspot.com

Thank you friends!

The Strange, Twisted Path Towards Change..

2010-01-09T10:03:00.000-08:00

Alrighty, Friends!

So here is the big reveal that I've been alluding to for months! You may remember the various stories about the neverending job hunt, and my frustration with trying to negotiate my art life, my farming love, and animals.

This all sort of came together when I was interviewed by MaryJanesFarm magazine (yup, I'm in a national magazine--and you can pick it up at your local magazine carrier or Barnes and Noble, just look for the Feb/March issue).

Now, at the same time, I went to register my Wild At Heart business as something legitimate and taxable, and was surprised to find out (from a lawyer friend) that I couldn't 100% avoid prosecution for using it since there had already been a film by that name. And though I'm sure that David Lynch has better things to do than to bother with a small-fry like me, it didn't sit well with me.

Weirdly, I'd already been thinking this could happen, and had been thinking of other names that might better fit what I was doing with my life. By the time the magazine interview came out, I had already decided that I would find a way to meld together my life in art, animals and agriculture, and create my own job and take control of my life. Now, while this sounds deep it's been a behind-the-scenes journey that came down to a simple decision.

...Not only that, but I was trying to consolidate the many MANY areas online where I seem to be writing online....SO...

Since this blog bears the name Wild At Heart and I also have Wild At Heart Farm, I am letting you know that they will be moving to TWO new homes. One is a literal move of this blog to its new home. THE SECOND blog is the new crazy farm, art, agriculture musings along with a VERY SPECIAL project I am working on.

View them here:

Beyond Vagabond

Vagabond Creations

The latter will be the continuation of this blog. While I am sad to discontinue with Wild At Heart (especially since the magazine article makes a pointed mention of it--ouch! AND the Etsy store will need to be changed--d'oh!), I think that the idea of free-spirited, journeying, imaginative vagabond-ness works MUCH better!

PLEASE join me on these new little adventures!

Besides following my silly little ramblings, I will be holding several giveaways on BOTH blogs January 13th, and....this blog will become inactive on January 10th!

So hop on over there! Hope to see you soon!

New Year, New Decade, New Plans!

2010-01-06T20:51:00.001-08:00

A belated New Year, Everyone!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile..since my last post I've actually been enjoying the holidays with my family in Florida.

This time of year is always perfect for reflecting on what has happened this year, and tell you about a few of the goals and plans I have coming up!

In 2009:

*Participated in One World One Heart
*Joined Art Dolls Only, became a blogger, and then a blog administrator (thanks ADO!)
*Continued my Dream Farm Job Search from 2008
*Finished working on my online magazine, Big Town Farmer
*Continued working with animals on a freelance basis
*Went to Pennsylvania, Kansas, and several other places only to find heartache at a lack of jobs that wanted me.
*Began working with 3 hives of bees in New York City
*Said a final goodbye to our sweet family dog
*Hosted a Mermaid Parade and a Monster Mash.
*Participated in several blog parties, blog challenges, made many new, creative, imaginative souls and learned so much!

Up for 2010:

*Learn to play my violin, which has been gathering dust!

*Perfect my knitting

*Add to my etsy store

*More doll swaps!

*Finish up THIS THE MERMAID TALES

*Finally find the dream farm and the dream farm job

* Do something daring...

WAIT! The last three are happening sooner than you'll know! And I'll have a special announcement about THIS BLOG! It's gonna be big, so hold onto your seats!

Catching up!

2009-12-30T18:35:00.000-08:00

So here I am, like you probably, trying to catch up to myself before the New Year. Lately, I sometimes feel like it's a never ending cycle of running to keep up with myself.

This has been a crazy year, for sure. Maybe you feel the same way. Merely two years ago, my life was predictable, even in its unpredictability. I worked a steady job, and ran around overtime doing art. I felt my life had purpose and despite the fact that I wasn't quite living up to my parents' idea of what a "good job" or good life was, I was happy. Not rich, not glamorous (although oddly, I WAS in performing arts), but happy.

Fast forwarding to the present, it seems as if I've fallen down some ridiculous rabbit hole and ended up somewhere completely nonsensical.

Anyone who's known me has known for some time that I've worked freelance in one of the most expensive cities for the past two years.
It's not a grand living, and in the meantime, I've been searching for jobs that are sort of more "meaty", and not necessarily near the city. Nope, not anywhere city-like at all. See, I have a fever. Again, if you know anything at all about me, I have this unbelievable desire to live the life of a farm-girl. And, no, I don't have a definitive reason for this except I've always loved nature, animals, old fashioned life and...well, anything FARM-like.

As you might know, "ain't no money in farming." Although, apparently there IS, according to some ads I have seen in the past two years of searching. Farm jobs seem to be a plenty--some more legitimate than others, apparently. Oh, I could tell you some funny stories of ads from even high-end corporate farms and dairies looking for people with my background skills, which SOUNDED great up front, but never really lived up to what they promised in the way of compensation. Looking back, some of these scenarios are now hilarious..if they weren't a little tragic (Cometragedy? Tragecomedy?)

Well, you see where this is going, right? I'm telling you this because you may remember this post awhile back (yep, I'm trying to catch up here!) where I might finally have a great job going in Kansas. A whole farming family with 700 acres and three generations of farming(swoon!) of corn, soy, cattle, and other Big Ag products was looking to diversify their farm. They needed ideas, someone organizational, and maybe some big city consumer insight. So guess who stepped in?

They actually paid my ticket to come out and I spent an amazing two days being on their unbelievable property. I loved their family vibe (the kids and their families lived within a two mile radius and were always in and out and helping the matriarch and patriarch--and boy was there a lot of food served!). The visuals were breathtaking!

This old house was built by the great-grandfather of the Moore's. He was the first to buy the property...

The family was very nice, they took me to farmer's markets and antique stores and organic stores (there is a suprisingly huge organic movement in Kansas that resembles something more on the line of LA or New York City!) and basically had me fall in love with Kansas. I loved the beauty of the wildflowers, creeks, the deer, the spotted tailed hawks and owls we saw every day in the fields....

But then when it came down to talking about the logistics of actually having me manage their farms, the family couldn't agree on what to do...the older ones being afraid of change, although the younger ones were the ones pushing forward for diversifying their farms. In the end, I couldn't guarantee them success (who CAN, really, though?) and I gave them the best business plan that they could use. I think it was too much of a change for some and I didn't end up with the job.

Now, let me say that I love this family and hold no ill will; I can TOTALLY understand being in their situation...dealing with business and money is never a sure-fire proposition, and they were simply being cautious. They were quite lovely to me and I will cherish the experience of being there.

But there is an internal grummmbling in my head. How do I get a green job? Or something remotely like it? How long do I wait before some sort of fortune comes my way?

Well, it might be sooner than you think....so while I won't be moving to Kansas, other things will certainly be moving! And that's another story I'll soon be telling you!

In the meantime, here are some lovely "souvenirs" I bought back from Kansas:

A feather from a hawk, and giant oak acorns:

An old hat box in pink and white, a hand sewn bag from an antique store, several sawed ancient oak trunks and an old metal tea box, from the old house on the Moore farm that was pictured above...

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T10:49:00.001-08:00

Wishing you Peace, Love, Friendship and Kindness!

A few pictures I took around Town:

A Snowman from this past week's snow!

And a famous New York Christmas Tree....

Many Bright Blessings!

SNOW!

2009-12-20T11:56:00.000-08:00

Alright Lovelies...I had a totally different post ready to go today, which would explain my wee absence from blogging. Lots of changes are headed to Wild At Heart...some good and some perhaps challenging.

But why worry about that when there are CLEARLY more important and timely things to talk about such as:

SNOW!

As a child, I always loved snow. Something magical overtakes the world, in my opinion. And no matter how much science tries to define snow as crystalized water molecules, there is just no getting around it's magic.
Somewhere along the way, though, I lost my love of snow. Maybe it's one too many years of living in New York, where snow quickly become dirty sleet underneath car tires and such.

Luckily, over the last few years, snow has managed to weave it's frosty spell on me again...and just in time!

(CLICK on PICS to enlarge!)

This is what I woke up to this morning:

It's the back of our brownstone, in our little gardenstead. I booted up and climbed our (precariously slippery!) fire-escape to go to the roof and check on the bees. The bees are okay (I think!) but I did need to dig out their little entrances. Not that they needed them to fly in or out of--they are now in a big ball, huddled deep in their hive for warmth.

While on the roof, I took a different shot of our little garden:

From there, I decided to trek down to the mother of all nature areas in the Big City, Central Park. I love Central Park, it's one of the few places for a nature girl like me to get her fix of flora and fauna.

Once in Central Park, something magical happened. The wintery spirit of cheer and imagination seemed to come from everywhere and everyone. As I made my way into the park, I was first struck by the beauty of snow everywhere.

No it's not a painting, this is really a scene from atop a hill in the park!

Clearly, Jack Frost had his hands full last night!

I still love the ivy clinging to the tree in the foreground!

I also saw the sweetest and happiest scenes of people all around me. There were loads of children accompanied by parents and various sleds and snow gliders, such as this little rabble, walking in front of me:

Children in colorful and impish winter-wear ran about like wild wee elves!

The snow had turned everything enchanted and romantic, such as this path under the bridge:

Ahh, amore!

And New Yorkers showed just how creative, self-sufficient and surprising they could be!

Look again, she's on skis!

Perhaps my favorite pictures are these, of this hill where everyone gathered. Children being chased by their sweet family dogs, sledding downhill, friends talking together, and so much more.

By the way, the large building in the background is The Metropolitan Museum, which I talked about in this post.

Anyhow, the picture very much reminded me of the works of Pieter Bruegel, who seemed to have a penchant for expressing the energies of winter.

Cold as it was outside, it was a very warm day today; people smiling and greeting each other, stranger or not, even New Yorkers can surprise me with their kindness every so now and then!

Ahh, but how to bottle this sort of love for the whole year round?

I hope your holidays are as special as this.....

Thanksgiving Mayhem! Part 2

2009-12-08T07:16:00.001-08:00

Continuing the story of Thanksgiving Adventures from the last post...

A few days after we went to several food markets, my sister and I went to both the Metropolitan Museum and Times Square.

The Metropolitan is one of the largest (if not the largest) museum that holds antiques in one place. Artifacts, art and priceless relics from various civilizations and times make up this HUGE museum. It takes up an entire city block, and could probably take a whole day to see all of it (I've never been able to visit all of the exhibits in one visit, there is definitely A LOT of walking involved!)

Here are some highlights:

Ancient Egypt

Hatshepsut the Pharaoh Queen

The temple of Dendur--a temple accredited to Cleopatra.
The whole temple is INSIDE the building!

Ancient Indian Civilization

Medieval

Ancient China

There's my sister, again!

American

Here is a whole courtyard of Nouveau American Sculpture!

And that was a fraction of what you would see if you went!

The day after the museum excursion, we went to Times Square--the heart of Broadway!

Actually, I think much of it is an advertiser's dream--huge electrified signs...not unlike Vegas, or a big crazy circus:

Here is the tower from which the New Year's Ball is dropped every year! Very different during the daytime, no?

The Hard Rock Cafe:

More crazy lights....

These next two pics illustrate the difference between my sister and I...

Who do you think was the straight A, top 10 grade point average bookworm?

Or the ultra flamboyant performing arts student? I know, it's hard to tell which is which, right?

Anyhow, after that, it was a trip to a bakery shop for hip-inducing food and fun! And that, my friends is the story of our Thanksgiving mayhem!

Thanksgiving Mayhem! Part 1

2009-12-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

Hello Lovelies!

As promised in my last post--here are a few of the MANY MANY pictures my sister and I took while she was visiting me over the Thanksgiving holiday...

First--because I am such a farm-girl, we went to the large and lovely farmer's market downtown (really, you wouldn't think this was in the middle of New York City!)

Squash

...and more squash!

What could scream "Farmer's Market" more than a huge chicken display sign? Oh, believe you me, I was thinking of how to sneak it home!

Lovely dried flowers and plants

Mmmmm...piessss....

These guys were at a Christmas fair next door to the farmer's market. They were selling Swedish and Norwegian foods. The costumes were definitely a selling point!

Then we went to Chelsea Market, which is a renovated historic warehouse (apparently selling many goods in the 30's and 40's), which is now home to some high end food and goods stores. It was wonderful!

Here is an amazing cake bakery! Love the little Sesame Street iced cupcakes at the top!

At the same shoppe were some gorgeous wedding cakes. We were in love with the one on the right, which LOOKED like a wedding dress! (Click to enlarge)

The inside of the warehouse is all exposed brick and structural magic. Here, my sister stands in front of a "fountain" that is made of an old, exposed pipe!

Further along, in front of a lovely organic produce store, we found an interesting carved pumpkin display--maybe a lasting ode to fall?

Check out this interesting bunch! Note the "turkey" on the right:

I loved this guys nosepiece:

And I really loved this hand carving and little lightbox next to it...

Other interesting carvings:

Just in case you get lost....

A pumpkin carving of a...pumpkin! Plus, the name of the organic produce store:

And, of course, in case you wanted to look it up:

(Hmmm...I wonder if they will give me free products in exchange for free publicity?! Ahh, well, a girl can dream, right?)

Next up, a visit to the metropolitan museum and Times Square!

Post Holiday Thanks and Thoughts...

2009-12-03T06:15:00.000-08:00

Hello Lovelies!

Once again, it seems I'm never faster than a week to post here, and I might STILL be digesting Thanksgiving's meal! Wow, that is a story unto itself which I will share soon....

In the meantime, I hope everyone had a festive and warm Thanksgiving!

Here at Wild At Heart, the good news continues!

First, I was given an award By Athena of Miss Millificent's World! Thanks Athena!

The Best Blog Award is awarded to any blog that you might discover that you think are wonderful. Aww, thanks again Athena, you sure know how to make a girl blush!

According to Athena's site, the rules are: "besides linking back to the blog you got the award from, are to pass it along to fifteen other blogs that you've recently discovered and think are great."

Whoa! 15 is quite a number. I'm sure I could easily name 15, but for all intensive purposes, all I will say here is I will leave the award up for grabs and anyone who would like it can feel free to add it on!

By the way, feel free to check out Athena's awesome work (click the link to her blog, in red, above)...she recently participated in the Monster In the Closet Swap and her doll was a hoot. You can also check out the story behind Frau Honkerbooger in the post immediately below this one! Great work, Athena!

And speaking of monsters...a few little monsters have apparently crawled into the Monster Mash a little late. You can CLICK HERE to check out the Monster Mash again to see who made it fashionably late to the party (and check out those cool monsters again!)....and I'll give you a few clues here:

Can you guess which cute and creepy li'l creatures these are? Well, hop on over and visit the Monster Parade! And many thanks once again to these wonderful artists!

Also, an extra big hug to Denise of Odd Imagination...she was my partner for this swap (in case you were curious!) and here is the amazing treat I got from her:

Mwahahahaaa, mine, alllllll mine! Umm...I meant that in a not-gloating kind of way, really I did!

THANKS DENISE!

In the meantime, I've managed to update a few links in my blog, and "cleaned up" a few of the side bar elements. If you'd like to reciprocate links, feel free to contact me!

Also, I will update you on Thanksgiving in my next post, including the MANY pictures my sister took while she was visiting here with me for the holidays! (It's funny and fun to get to be a tourist again.)

And then there is the pesky update *NEWS* I keep alluding to...which I'll have to still allude to until I catch up with myself ---I KNOW. I'm HORRIBLE about this.

But let's not put the cart before the horse. Or get too much dirt under our nails. We sometimes have to slow down and just say "Whoa" in our lives! Or move on!

Haha, actually, I left you a few clues in that last paragraph! I double-dog-dare you to guess what the news is! Maybe I'll have a prize for the correct guess!

Until Next Time!

Giving Thanks ....

2009-11-24T11:40:00.000-08:00

Just a little note wishing all of my friends and family a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have many things to be thankful for...do you?

I am thankful for meeting so many wonderful, creative, and imaginative people online and in person!

I am thankful for being part of so many wonderful online groups.

I am thankful that my family is safe and well.

I am thankful that, though I don't have as much money as I used to, I can still afford the things that are needed, and am rich in many other ways.

I am thankful that I still can be generous, even in my own "poverty."

I am thankful that I have the opportunity to use my imagination and spunk to hopefully get another job.

I am grateful for my imagination and spunk in guiding me through life.

I am grateful that I have a warm house and food, even if that means high grocery bills and electric bills.

I am thankful my little sister is here with me this year for Thanksgiving! I never see my family except for Christmas, so this is a treat!

I am grateful people seem to like my art...speaking of which...

THE WILD AT HEART CREW WISHES A HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU!

Ok, I know some of these guys look like they're laying about--but obviously they've eaten too much Thanksgiving supper and needed to lay down!

More soon!

Monster Tails --err, Tales..

2009-11-20T06:47:00.000-08:00

Yikes!

Where does the time go? How is it now a week after the Monster Mash?

Well, while I am STILL trying to catch up to myself, I promised you I would give you a few background stories on some of our delightfully creepy creatures. These are based on some of the descriptions the artists sent me of their monsters! Enjoy!

Frankencat by Lisa of Lisa Nelson Art

It's Frankencat - created in my catbratory especially for this swap! His head is half tuxedo cat, half Siamese. He has one orange tabby arm and one gray tabby arm and one calico foot and one black foot. His tail is from a Persian cat.

Som-Som by Amy of The Heart of A Seed

"Som-Som" was a "monster" that used to wake my oldest son when he was around 4. He would wake up crying" the Som Som"!~

Josef Knob by Caroline of Caroline's Crafts

Knobs were once happy little creatures traveling through time. After the darkness came, they were banished to an unseen portal in your closet. The Knobs derive a twisted joy from implanting nightmares while you sleep – a devilish habit thwarted only by the skeleton key lashed to their neck. As long as the key remains in place, they are dormant. If the key is ever untied, the spell is broken and you will never know another night’s rest.

Frau Honkerbooger by Athena of Miss Millificent's World

A Honkerbooger is everything that balls itself up into a big THING: dust, hair, buttons, etc. My sisters and I absolutely hated those things, and couldn't stand being touched by them (we used to play and hide under our beds, so we came in contact with them more than we liked!). I couldn't really do that (I didn't really *want* to do that!), so I made up a story about Frau Honkerbooger; an old hag who creeps out and collects things from under beds, desks and couches.
She has wild hair and a badly-stitched dress, and stained cheesecloth dressing, and errant threads and buttons throughout her hair and dress. I also gave her some fake blood stains because if she finds you, she'll try to collect you, too.

Hope you enjoyed some of our little Monster Tales and, once again, thank you to all of our Monster Swappers!!

And, I am still trying to get to the big news that I've been trying to share with you forever. So, maybe next time? I hope?

THE MONSTER MASH!!

2009-11-07T16:37:00.001-08:00

Whoa! Don't you hate when life gets in the way of the fun stuff? Sorry for the delay!! Without further ado....

This Halloween was exciting---

How far away, I did roam!
To Pennsylvania, downtown NYC, and a theater party,
and then, back home!

When I opened my door, though, something didn't seem right...
I heard noises in the darkness,
and then saw eyes, shining bright!
I shivered in the darkness, then turned on the light!

And there all around me, surrounding me in a flash
Were the craziest monsters, in a Monster Mash!!

Click on pics to enlarge

The night was cold, and the moon was high,
As monsters, devils, and witches surrounded me--oh, my!

There were SCARY MONSTERS!

Scary monster by Raedell of DellaRae Dezines

Candy Corn Monster by Theresa of Sycamore Moon Studios

Alexander by Waxela of Spirit Mama Art and Soul

And cute monsters galore....

Lavender Lulu by Jeane of Wild Woods Studio

cute monster by Vivian of Viv's Whimsy

Cute Little Monster by Genevieve of Bella Enchanted

Sweet Monster by Moriah of MLB Studios

Oggy Monster by Kim of Soggy Dog Studios

....and witches...

Witch by Stephanie of Pixies In the House

...banshees....

Bad Banshee by Georgina of La Llorona Arts

...evil characters, and more!

Evil Scary Nanny (Alice In Wonderland inspired) by Kaerie Faerie of Twigs Faerie Land

There were strange creatures upon which to look!

Otto by Hope of Pixies Ponderings

Herbert by Cindy of ThimblePrims Studio

Monster by Michelle of The Studio At Crow Haven Farm

Ms. Harriet Booberman by Shawn of QuiltinFairy/FairyDustFabrics

Alien Monster by Denise of Odd Imagination

Monster by Becky of WhosiesandWhatnots

There even was a monster book!

Book of Monsters by Sue of Rabbit Hollow Prims

There were elegantly spooky creatures....

Isabella and DuPree Dust Bunny by Sue of Barton Originals

Gabriella by Colleen of Loopy Boopy

Mary Anne Nicols by Sonia of Dark Raven's Nest

Gothy Lovely by Jandee of Jandee's This And That

Som-Som by Amy of The Heart of A Seed

..and some with creepy and amazing features!

Frau Honkerbooger by Athena of Miss Millificent's World

Josef Knob by Caroline of Caroline's Crafts

Baby Monster and His Bunny by Deanna of Blue Dragon Arts

Halloweeny Monsters...

Frankencat by Lisa of Lisa Nelson Art

And Halloweeny monsters spooky and well-fed...

Punkin Head by Cindy Lou of CLBCreations

Even Christmas-y Winter monsters...

Scary snowman by Jacqui of Odd Dollz

And let us not forget those monsters that are under the bed!

Monster Under the Bed by Diane of Dianie Mac Designs

Evil Dust Bunny (from under the bed) by Nicole of Mealy Monster Land

The Monster Afraid of Monsters Under the Bed by Zan, Your Host

And as I shooed them away, after they gave me a fright,
I said: "Happy Halloween to all, and to All a Good Night!"

(and after all of this fear, I can't wait to see the monsters coming out of the closet,
NEXT YEAR!!)

MWAHAHAHAHAHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Here IS THE FULL LIST OF PARTICIPANTS OF THE SWAP!

*Mealy Monster Land ~Nicole
*Barton Originals ~ Sue
*Odd Dollz ~ Jacqui
*Thimbleprims Studio ~ Cindy
*Blue Dragon Arts ~ Deanna
*Kaerie Faerie ~ Kaerie
*Odd Imagination ~ Denise
*La LLorona Arts ~ Georgina
*Dark Raven's Nest ~ Sonia
*"Q Bee C" ~ Marlene
*Spirit Mama ~ Waxela
*Pixies In The House ~ Stephanie
*Viv's Whimsy ~ Vivian
*Pixie's Ponderings ~ Hope
*Halloween Jingle Bells Boo ~Debb
*DellaRae Dezines ~ Raedell
*Loopy Boopy ~ Colleen
*Soggy Dog Studios ~ Kim
*QuiltinFairy ~Shawn
*Whosies ~ Becky
*Peach Street Primitives ~ Jamie
*CLB Creations ~ Cindy
* The Studio At Crow Haven Farm ~ Michelle
* Bella-Enchanted ~ Genevieve
* The Heart of A Seed ~ Amy
* Rabbit Hollow Prims ~ Sue
* Jandee's This and That ~ Jandee
* Daphne White
* Dianie Mac Designs ~ Diane
* MLBStudios ~ Moriah
* Lisa Nelson Art ~ Lisa
* Miss Millificent's World ~ Athena
* Sycamore Moon Studios ~ Theresa
* Caroline's Crafts ~ Caroline
* Wild Woods Art Studio ~Jeanne

* And ZAN YOUR HOST

Many, MANY Thanks to the wonderful swap participants! Your creative expression, talent, and time are soooooo very appreciated!

STAY TUNED, I'll have some of the artists' interesting stories about their dolls, coming up next time!

Halloween Part III/Monster Mash Part I

2009-11-07T06:36:00.000-08:00

Alrighty Folks!! I know we are supposed to be getting to our MONSTER MASH--and we are-- but first, I wanted to finish posting up my Halloween excursions--otherwise, it will just be a huge tangle of Halloween insanity all over the place, right?

So I'll post up part 3 of the Halloween festivities (part one, in Pennsylvania is HERE, and part two at the Village Parade is HERE) and a WEEE bit later today, the monsters will come out and play!!

You can wait just a little more today, right?? Mwaahahahaaa, yes, I am evil!

Ok..so...when we last left our Wild Haired Main character, we had just finished watching the Annual Village Halloween Parade. We were stoked to go the Theater for the New City Halloween party afterwards--I mean, the puppets in the parade were created by a well-known puppeteer FROM the theater.

It also helped that my dance troupe danced there a few times FOR Halloween. The gist of the whole thing is that performers perform for free, and they get a HUGE audience because it's relatively inexpensive to get in--so A LOT of people come to the shows. Because the performers aren't auditioned before being "hired" (there's no pay, remember), there is a huge bit of unpredictability in the shows you will see. But that's the fun part...

Because there are 4 theaters within "the" theater, there are four shows going on simultaneously. Plus, they have tarot readers and a spooky homemade haunted house in the basement--so you get to pick and choose what you will see! Fun, hilarity, craziness abound!

Here are a few pics of our night (CLICK ON PICS TO ENLARGE):

Here is the announcer at the main theater, where we first stopped off. I love the big spider web in the background!

Here is the first act--Jon Grimaldi, who is a magician and acrobat. He actually was a client of ours when I was a veterinary technician. He had circus dogs :)

Here he is with flaming sticks!

Back out in the main hall, this guys lay in a coffin ALL night like this in the area of the coat check ins! Nope, it's definitely not a mannequin!

In another theater, this strange lady mostly sang about love lost. I think she eventually realized where she was and finished with "An Ode to Psycho"--yes the movie!

After her came an amazing yogini. While it still wasn't very Halloween oriented, it was definitely entertaining! She's 54 and could do these amazing contortions!

Yes, I'd love to be able to do this when I'm her age! Wow!

Besides the performances, it was also great to see the creative decorating the theater did for Halloween! It was quite a feat as much of the stuff was created by hand by staff....

Haunted pony and masks at the entrance of the basement haunted house...

One of the giant scary masks hanging out in the lobby!

Little coffin signs near the bathrooms indicating which side was the "men's" and which side, the "women's"!

One of our favorite places was the ballroom theater. They had converted it into a Halloween Swing Party, with a huge swing band and plenty o' ambiance!

Here is the back wall of the theater, lit by a "witchy" spotlight....

One of the spooky long banners that lined the side walls...

Here's what it looked like when I used my flash

Here is the swing band! I loved them because: 1. The conductor was a woman 2. She was funny and witty 3. Most of the band wore some sort of costume.

We laughed, danced and had much fun!! What a night. Even after all of that, we still went out and grabbed something to eat...

After the parade, at a restaurant--one tired-but- happy-witch!

AND THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS THE STORY OF HALLOWEEN!
UP NEXT, MONNNNNSSSTTTERRRRS!

The Most Wonderful Time--Part II

2009-11-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

So, if you remember my last post, I was mentioning the crazy TWO day affair we had this year in celebrating Halloween. You can click here to read the last post about visiting lovely Amish country in Pennsylvania on Friday.

Once we were done with the rural festivities, we returned in order to partake in the VERY New York City Halloween excursion known as the Village Halloween Parade. Some of you may not be familiar with the parade, although it has been covered on the Sci-Fi channel and other cable networks in years past.

The Halloween parade has been going on in the Village for almost 30 years and has quite the history, drawing people in from nearby states, and definitely the imaginative New Yorkers. The parade was started by several staff members from Theater For The New City, which is a well known East Village theater that hosts independent plays focusing on current social issues.

At that time, one resident puppet maker began creating puppets for a renegade Halloween parade, which started off small. Those same puppets, as well as the theater still exist today (in fact, we were going to their Halloween show after the parade!) and the parade has become a big massive costumed free for all of fun!

What I like about this parade is it differs from other parades in that ANYONE can join IN the parade--including those with floats, their own puppets, or just walking in full costume. So unlike, say, Macy's which provides their own floats for the Thanksgiving Parade--you can either be a spectator OR a participant. And that works out perfectly in the East Village, which was historically the beatnik and artist quarters in the 40's and 50's.

Anyhow...on with the story! We managed to get to parade central around 6pm. Under cover of dark, folks already had the party going in the streets: hundreds of costumed folks, costumed children, and even costumed dogs walked madly through traffic on the way to the parade. Devils, goblins, witches, cartoon and TV characters and more than one Octo-mom rambled madly along.

Here are some pics of our night (click pics to enlarge):

Even the buildings were "dressed up"! Here's front stoop of one of the brownstones we passed on our way to the parade.

We stood by the old church that had been converted to a library. Besides the beauty of its old clock tower, the reason for this is because there is a tradition that puppetmakers would lower a huge puppet spider down to signal the start of the parade. For some reason they lowered the spider a bit later than usual but...

As you can see on the right of the above pic, they finally do lower the giant spider down.

Here it is doing a little dance in mid-air!

...And more dancing. Yes, this really is a marionette puppet! You can see the puppet-handlers on the tower above!

Then the parade began! You can see some of the old Puppets from the early Halloween parades, below. They are the skeletons for the "Dia de la Muertos" section of the parade, below. They are included every Halloween parade:

Yikes, it was raining slightly for the parade...which made for a weird affect when taking pics!

More skeletons!

I SWEAR I did not realize this skeleton had a naughty bra on when I snapped this! The dead apparently have a sense of humor!

Here is a large skeleton. Notice all the folks underneath that have to hold him up!

Right after the skeletons, a bevvy of cool articulated snakes came by. The guy on the right is holding a yellow "bat" which has flapping wings!

After this, there was a group of folks who seemed to do a "water" themed display. The blue scarves are water. Some people held up model ships that "sailed" in the water. Others held sea monsters ( like the one on the left side of the pic) that looked like paper mache lanterns with lights in them....

Some of the carriers in this water section also had..umm, fish on their heads. Like I said, it gets crazy around here for Halloween!

Here's an ethereal, haunted ghost floating overhead. This was all floaty silk and the face looks like a Victorian print.

Another ethereal ghost. Notice how tall it is: you can see it above a streetlight.

For a sudden change of pace, how about these painted ladies standing next to the wacky painted car?

Or these guys, in their home-made "Where the Wild Things Are" costumes:

I like this picture, of our fellow Halloween revelers, too:

So then FINALLY, when the parade was over, it was time to go to the party AFTER the party! But--yikes--since this post is ALREADY so long, I guess I'll have to continue this madcapped story for yet ANOTHER post!

Which should be fun because on SATURDAY we finally reveal the finished works of art from our MONSTER SWAP!! WOOHOOO!

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year....

2009-11-03T06:41:00.001-08:00

Ok, I know that old Andy Williams tune in today's title is really supposed to be about Christmas...but for me, Halloween comes to mind when I think of those sweet old lyrics. Because, well, Halloween IS just that for me.

I love Halloween. I live it. I keep Halloween decorations up all year. I cast magic around when I can. I am the undisputed Queen-o-Halloween. Okay, okay. I'm the queen in my own little corner of the world, as evidenced by other Halloween Queens so plentiful here on the web. Indeed, the other Halloween royalty inspire me highly!

So this year, for Halloween, my sweetheart and I decided to do TWO days of Halloweeny fun. Usually, Halloween is a bit somber as I am out on my lonesome because my Other Half is at work....which usually means I get to make mischief all on my own, but that's never quite as fun as having an accomplice.

So this year, a whole two day affair of Tricks and Treats was underway. Note: this means I'll have TWO posts regarding this (trust me, there was A LOT going on!)....and since I've always wanted to go to an old-time farmer's market in the fall, and I love Pennsylvania, we decided to go into Lancaster, PA.

Now, if you've never been there, you are missing out. I already love the artist friends I have made, who are from PA. There is something about the place that makes for some fine artists, I tell you!
Some of my friends:

Jen of Gypsy Mare Studios
Carolee of King of Mice Studios
Michelle of The Studio at Crow Haven Farm
Marie Patterson of Marie Patterson Studio

...and there are probably more of you out there that I don't even know about (in fact, feel free and comment if you are a PA artist, I always love meeting new people!)

Anyhow....so off we went on a two hour drive that covered all sorts of quaint and bucolic scenes, that made my farm-loving heart happy as we whizzed by barns and lovely foliage and horses.

We finally arrived at our destination: in this case, we chose one of the largest farmers markets in the country--GREEN DRAGON MARKET has over 300 stalls, and yes, I didn't disbelieve them once we got there--the whole thing was an endless myriad of amazing food, crafts and tons more. Pennsylvanians, I have envy!

I have never seen anything like this place!! Again, if you have farmy tendencies, you will be in heaven. If you like great bargains on food, you will be running around like some sort of possessed banshees....we definitely were. We were the tacky tourists saying: "wow, I can't believe these LOW prices!" Sadly, I later realized that it was more likely that we lived in a place with highly inflated prices, and we'd come to accept it. One more reason to determinedly keep looking for a life outside of NYC (ahh, but that's a story for another time, kids!)

Anyhow, to say I was wowed by the experience is something else. We had endless fun looking through the various fresh food stalls, antique book stalls ( I managed to find a 1910 published The Secret Garden for only $5! And tons of other books I had no time to look through!), candy shoppes, primitive shoppes, country stalls and SOOOO much more.

It was a treasure trove. We looked, we shopped, we ate too much sugary food and comfort food (I've yet to eat the Shoofly Pie), we talked to Amish and Mennonite folks, we learned new things, we probably scared the locals a little ( I mean, I still have that crazy hair o' mine!), and we had too much fun that could have went wayyyy past the 5 hours(!) we spent there. If it weren't closing time (at 9pm!) we would have kept going....even with 5 hours of fun, we hadn't seen everything there was in this huge and wonderous labyrinth of PA goodness.

OK, so can I say, again to my PA friends: How could you keep this a secret from me???

Having said that, here are a few pictures of our day (click to enlarge):

Of course, since Halloween was around the corner, we had to check out the huge variety of pumpkins at the produce stalls. I have to say, I was fond of the unusual "Speckled Pumpkins"!

I loved these boxes at one of the larger country and prim shoppes!

...and these clocks at another prim shoppe, especially the ones with the star shaped pendulums!

And here is one of the flower and plant stalls. I love the way they painted the pumpkins!

I particularly liked some of the primitive and country decor...like these cloth chickens, cleverly sewn with potato mashers for "feet"!

And here are some of those same types of chicken in pink and other "girlie" colors!

And, of course, more Halloweeny stuff, in primitive style!

There were sweets....

...and more sweets. Heck, we were too busy eating sweets to log in all the amazing sweets being made in various booths.
Candies, Whoopie Pies, fruit pies, cakes, home-churned icecream...how does anyone stay thin?
I'm not EVEN mentioning the homemade Amish Potato salad and Macaroni Salad and various meat specialties!

At the end of all of this, we lugged our 20(!) bags of things back to the car and, as if by magic, the horse that lives on the farm across the street came up to the clearing, and stood long enough to take a picture.

I say it's magical because HE came up as we came up to our car as if he wanted to meet us for the picture....

And, he literally stood long enough for me to take the picture.

Here he turns to give us his "good side"....
...and stands for us to take the photo!

The minute I snapped the shot, he turned and walked back over the hill!

And, as if that weren't magic enough--I wanted to show you what we got for roughly $100 for our trip. It would be IMPOSSIBLE to get HALF of this for that amount here in New York. We loaded up our acquisitions on our kitchen table to demonstrate the amazing things you can find at amazing prices in PA:

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. The whole table is full of all sorts of things...I will try to describe here (CLOCKWISE): Vintage porcelain pie plate with vintage rolling pin, two large tubs of fresh spinach sitting on top of a vintage scale (which I needed for soapmaking and baking), 4 yellow peppers, one stalk broccoli, 10 sweet potatoes, one blueberry pie, one chocolate chip Whoopie Pie, one package chocolate wafers, 2 zucchini, two yellow squash, 10 apples, 10 pears, a dozen oranges, half a dozen jugs Turkey Hill beverages (which we found at one of the various local Turkey Hill stores--don't ask, my sweety has some sort of Turkey Hill fixation), another broccoli stalk----MIDDLE, CLOCKWISE: 3 older books, including The Secret Garden children's book from 1910, vintage copper mold with grape design, 2 pounds of seedless grapes.

Trust me, this would cost over $250 here in New York! So how do I move to Pennsylvania, again?

So....that was our Friday. Up next, Halloween in downtown New York City!

Halloween Wishes and A Monster Swap Announcement!

2009-11-01T07:08:00.000-08:00

Hello Lovelies!

Hopefully, everyone is getting over their "Halloween Hangover" in which excessive costuming and revelry are just now a hazy blur (but the sweet taste of way too much candy still lingers!).

My sweety and I had TWO whole days of crazy Halloween fun (Halloween is our dating anniversary), one in Pennsylvania (yes, we FINALLY managed to get out there, despite our impossible working schedules)! And can I just say--to all of my Pennsylvanian artist friends--HOW COULD YOU KEEP THIS PLACE A SECRET?? And, when can I move there?

Haha, all of the details of the Green Dragon Market and the Village Parade in New York City are for another post (or two!).....

Rather quickly though, I wanted to give a heads up to the swappers of the Monsters in the Closet Swap and everyone who might be interested in seeing all of the finished creations on this blog--the scheduled show was supposed to be Nov 4th/5th, but because I've been asked for the extension by a few people (hey, Halloween revelry happens, I know!)--this has now been pushed to NOV 7th. Which means the new deadline to turn in your doll is Nov 6th at Midnight US Eastern Standard Time.

Hope everyone can make it over to see the haunted lineup! Happy Halloween and more, soon!

A Treatise on Kindness...

2009-10-29T12:50:00.000-07:00

Alright, everyone....

I had planned to post about Missouri--and I will catch up--but even during this hectic but wonderful time heading up to Halloween, I wanted to stop a moment and tell you a few stories of kindness.

I'm not the luckiest person in the world. I've never had the job that would make my parents proud or that would keep me secure. I've never been the prettiest, skinniest, most popular. I've often taken the path less traveled to find much of it coming to a dead end. I've been downright hard to deal with at times, even unloveable. Despite this, though, people have bothered to care, to bless me with little tokens of love in one form or another. Friendship, small gifts, a hello...well, you know what I mean.

I wanted to share a little (more) of this today....

Several weeks ago, I hosted a bee workshop. The attendance was low--a group from PA, with children showed up. The owner was a highly sustainable farmer who grew mushrooms. At the end of the discussion, this is what I was gifted with....

Mushrooms....

And more mushrooms...

So many, in fact (those fuzzy guys are mushrooms called pom-poms, by the way)...

That we barely could fit them into the fridge!!

Trust me, you're looking at HALF of what was given to us!

And they were EXCELLENT! So, if you are interested in some amazing mushroom products, PLEASE stop by Phillips Mushroom Farms website! Great people and great product!

The second act of kindness is a little different. I have a friend, fellow farmer and farm writer Tina Michelle who has the fabulous online Small Town Living...she is funny, very kind, the kind of person who radiates and loveliness....

From her, I learned of a family with three wee girls whose mother was having surgery, and that they might not have Halloween festivities (though I was sure that was the least of their problems)...and would anyone be so kind to send the family Halloween things?

Who could say no to this? So, off went three wee packages of goodies in a box, to three wee girls, a little earlier this week.

I had an acquaintance earlier this week who, when I told her the story said: "well, you don't have much money, why are you sending gifts to people you don't know?"

The way I look at it is this: we all are given opportunities to show kindness. WE are the gifts, and we are all gifts to each other, potential friends to be made--friends in waiting--and not strangers. Yes, it's sappy. Perhaps unrealistic, even. But I won't apologize. The idea of three little happy girls makes me happy. And sometimes, it's as simple as that.

Happy Halloween everyone!
What are everyone's Halloween plans! We plan a full day of fun and festivities Friday and Saturday! More on that, soon...

Hello From Kansas!

2009-10-25T08:25:00.000-07:00

Hello There!

Well, if you read my last post, you would know that I am deep in the Heart of America right now, on a farm journey of sorts! Today is my last day here, so a little bit of news!

First, these two are finally in my Etsy store!

So hop on over there as they are for adoption at a VERY reasonable price!

Next--a few pictures from my stay in this amazingly beautiful place, the Moore's Farm in Kansas.

It's funny, because most New Yorkers and metro dwellers tend to think they are the center of the Universe, and that places like Kansas are "the Middle Of Nowhere." I'll let you in on a secret--as you can see by just a few of my pictures of this unbelievable loveliness: sometimes you can really be in the middle of Everywhere, and Everything, even in the middle of nowhere...

More of this story--and an announcement--soon!

Somebody Pinch Me!

2009-10-23T05:59:00.001-07:00

Greetings Lovelies!

I'm sorry, once again, for my small absence--as usual, I am off and running with various projects. And, with continued gratefulness, I can say they are both keeping me busy, and seem to be prospering....

In other words, MORE good news is afoot!

Firstly, I wanted to thank everyone who stopped by my little blog for the Halloween Party, and thank you to all the new readers of this blog! Thanks for joining up to read my ramblings!

NEXT--the beekeeping has finally gotten me into the New York Daily News! (You all do know I wrangle animals and run into the wild when I'm not dreaming over here, right? If not, check out my beekeeping adventures HERE)

Here is the link to the article (ignore the silly picture, they kept asking me to smile WIDER. Doh!)

AND--as I write this, I am a few hours away from jumping on a plane and going to MISSOURI to check out a possible farm job! 400 acres of farm fun! Woohoooo!

I'll post more when I get back on Sunday! That and the crazy tales of too many mushrooms (trust me, it's quite a story!

AND IF THAT WEREN'T ENOUGH -- in the midst of all of this running around, I have managed to finish these creepy and cute Halloween Dolls/Ornaments!

click to enlarge pics

Spooky Kitten and her magical, glittery pumpkin friend

(front)

(back)

Spooky Kitten is roughly 7" tall and made of muslin that has been painted, sanded, and entirely hand painted and detailed. She has a cute seude and lace ruffled trim skirt and a wee button in the back that you can attach string for hanging. Spooktacular Low Sale Price: $13.99

"One Eyed Jack"

(front)

(back)

One Eyed Jack
Is quite a guy
Who excels at Spying with his little Eye
And be sure that what he says is true
When he mentions that he has his eye on you.
But if you make fun of his pink doll, he surely will be hurt,
And next thing you know, he'll have you for dessert!

One Eyed Jack is 5" inches tall and painted, sanded, and then handpainted and detailed. He has a button on his collar and button in the back for hanging.
Spooktacular low sale price: $13.99

Shipping for each is just $2.00 first class mail...

I will list these guys on Etsy tomorrow since, as I've said, I've got a plane to catch--so this is an opportune time for one of my readers to snatch up these little guys for a slightly lower price, before I list them there.

You can also see more cute characters and get your last minute spooky fix by visiting my Etsy Shop HERE ...

Actually, I'd LOVE it if SOMEBODY would adopt ONE of these guys! It's getting rather crowded at the Magical Creature Orphanage!

More news SOON!

A Halloween Soiree!

2009-10-17T05:11:00.000-07:00

And now, Lovelies, it's time to join a magical party, as part of the beautiful vision of Vanessa, of
A Fanciful Twist....

Gather round, dear dreamers, while I tell you a story from "Ye Olde Book of Halloween"....

Once upon a time, there existed an enchanted world called Wild At Heart, where Halloween was celebrated every day!

Where the world was:

*Halloween is based on ancient pagan beliefs that this time allows for the dead to walk amongst the living. Costumes were worn by the living to fool the dead and escape any harm that might befall them

...and lit by creepy candle-light!

The first jack-o-lanterns were actually carved turnips with a candle placed into their hollows--a makeshift torch, of sorts...

Where ghostly pot holders gave the kitchen a fright!

Kitchen witchery is the act of using magic in the kitchenplace, whilst preparing food. Many determinants of this included the time and day you made the food, how you handled your utensils, and even which direction you were stirring your food while cooking!

And old pumpkins hung out with little crows...

In Native American mythology, the crow is seen as a clever trickster...

And other crows flew about to only-heaven-knows!

Meanwhile, in parts of Europe and the Middle East, the crow was seen as a harbinger of death, or the intermediary between the living and dead...

And little Halloween devil-bears wove spells, warm and fuzzy!

The art of spell-casting was mostly done by witches--however, this tradition of divination passed on and was used heavily during the Victorian era..seances, using ordinary objects (mirror, etc) to answer unknown questions (especially about love) parlor games, and general superstition harkened back to pagan times.

And little owls hang out with their buddies...

Owls were seen by many as intelligent..possibly for their ability to locate prey by dark, and because of their huge, curious eyes. To hear an owl's cry meant someone close to you would die, according to some superstitions.

But beware of spooky cats, that's the thing!

Cats were thought to be shape-shifting witches; thousands of them were burned, tortured, or hanged in Medieval Ireland, England, and Scotland. Conversely, ancient Egyptians revered them as Gods and embalmed them in several areas of Egypt.

And make sure you greet Wild At Heart's Halloween Owl King!

Oldegarde was Wild At Heart's first ever art doll!

...and..ahem...Queen!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Adopt A Magical Creature Today!

2009-10-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

Whew! Have you ever tried to get anything done, only to find that it's taking you so very long to get to it?

Yesterday was sort of a wash for me, as far as getting dolls done --but I'm not complaining--I was interviewed TWICE yesterday, one for the New York Daily News (wooohooo) and one for a nationally known magazine (which I must keep top secret for now, but more on that later...double wooohoooo)!!!

So, I'm just NOW getting around to the lovely dolls I was mentioning in my last post! So please go to my ETSY STORE, HERE, if you are interested in any of these lovelies---and, of course, feel free to email me if you'd like more pics and info on them!

The Little Owl Sweethearts--finally finished!

The Spooky Bros!

...without their SPOOKY sign!

More devils! This time...a Devil Fish!

So to balance it out, of course you'll need an AngelFish..

Catfish and her Kittenfish...

AND MANY MORE! So hop on over there and adopt a Magical Creature TODAY!

By the way, I STILL have about 6 more of these little guys to upload onto Etsy, including a few Halloween crows--so crossing my fingers--they should be on later tonight!

Finally, Some Dolls! Well...Sort Of...

2009-10-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

Eeep! Ok, I am embarrassed to say that the TIME has proven illusive, yet again!

It skulks, sneaks, slithers past me and LAUGHS at me while I desperately try to catch it, hold onto it---and laughs at me all the while. Yep, that TIME is a big ole deceptive thing, it is! So waaaay, way in the past...or maybe it was almost a week ago, I mentioned I would have a few goodies for sale. AND I DO, but as usual that thing called LIFE makes me much more slow than I'd like to think. But goodies are to be had!

BUT--before I jump in, I also wanted to point out some lovely happenings that make LIFE interesting.

For example, I just received a lovely package from Waxela of Spirit Mama (or, I like to think of her AS Spirit Mama, she is such a sweetheart!)...I just LOVE what the outside of the box is saying:

In case you can't read it, it says: "May you discover all the best LIFE has to offer." I love that, don't you?

Inside, she had packed a lovely assortment of stickers and cards that show other wonderful things she makes:

And then here is a lovely box that my gift came in:

A letter told me there was a monster hiding in there! And that he likes candy corn!

Once I opened it, sure enough, there was a wee monster holding some candy corn! His name, according to the letter, is BOO BOO Monster!

I also got some sweet candy corn earrings from Waxela, that I shall be wearing for Halloween. That is, if Boo Boo Monster doesn't eat them first!

HE IS SO CUTE! Thanks Waxela!!!!!

Waxela is ADO's Featured Artist today, by the way! Congrats. You can see our team blog HERE.

Also, I just finished up another ADO Halloween Challenge article a few days ago HERE! Fun stuff!

Also, I have been profiled by the lovely and talented of Robyn Coburn on her All Things Doll Blog. You can check out the post with my dolls HERE.

Here is my "Double Trouble Devil Doll" as seen on her blog:

Here are the fellows without the "Spooky" sign, which is removable. I have added nifty new colloars to their necks:

By the way, they will be listed again on Etsy TOMORROW (yes, they've been hanging out here the whole time! Gah, if only I had time to relist them more often--didn't I mention TIME was weird and illusive around here?)

AND, there are a whole slew of new dolls and functional art coming up!

YEP, JOIN ME HERE this weekend as I unveil all new art and some art you might've come to love!

Fun Halloween Stuff like these two sweetheart owl ornaments:

I have their little wings drying on the rack and ready to sew on, as I type this....

And Darkly themed (and funny) pin-cushions:

"Black Eddie"

"Devil Voodolly"

Don't let his deflated look fool you, people! He is sheer evil, I tell you! He steals cookies, turns off the hot water while your showering, and uses your toothbrush while you're not looking!

"Voodoo Annie" (actually, I think she has a twin running amuck somewhere around here, too!)

And other newfangled pinkeeps/pincushions!

Plus some of the Sea Swap dolls of mine FINALLY go up, such as these two, who are my favorite:

And they're all at at REALLY nice prices! Some I'm practically GIVING away--so join me here starting tomorrow! Help save your imagination--adopt a magical creature! They definitely need new homes! Woohoooo!

All Hail October!

2009-10-01T12:02:00.001-07:00

Ahhh, it's finally here! If you're like me, there is something grand about the coming of October. There is a silent signal that quietly whispers: "Fall is finally here."

You'll know that it's officially okay to kick big heaps of colorful leaves as you walk outside, break out the apple cider and hot cocoa, worship all things pumpkin and pumpkin colored, and eat a few naughty, sugary things to celebrate the season (my particular favorite combines those last two sentiments: I like pumpkin ice cream!).....

Of course, if you're like me, you'll jump headlong into Halloween; in fact, in some ways I celebrate October all year long. Some of my Halloween Decor NEVER goes away (as you might remember in THIS post).

My kitchen holds the showcase piece of Halloween. Here is my "Ye Olde Book of Halloween."

click images to enlarge

Notice that I have a little wand from a Renaissance Faire in days gone by and a magical star, just for ambiance .....

This really is a refurbished art book that holds every last bit of Halloween knowledge that I have collected over the years. Call it a big scrapbook of Halloween history, lore, recipes, and other secret magic. Plus some cute drawings, pictures, scrapbook bits, and other renderings. Consider it a modern day charm book for the big Fall Holiday!

Don't believe me? Here is the opening to my "Halloween Recipes" Nifty, eh?

And here is another divider page in the recipe section: a mishmash of stickers and homemade cut-outs to make a cute scene.....

But the rest of the book is a secret.....shhhhhh.....

In the meantime, this cutely spooky duo is on hand to help me pull out hot dishes from the oven.

Or, rather, they sit there on the wall eying me while I use the "functional" potholders to do the work. Obviously, they are too sweet to warrant getting stained. So they wait to see what I have cooking.

What do I have cooking, by the way? Not food---most of what's new comes from the sewing room!
Here are two of the little devils now....

Ummm...yes, I meant devils literally....

Just who are these guys? Find out tomorrow!!

I Really Don't Know What I've Done to Deserve This!

2009-09-28T12:47:00.001-07:00

..this sweet goodness, that is!

Really, I don't know why I am so blessed (what did you think the title of this post meant? You know there are no negative thinkers here!) Anyway, in my last post (in many of them, actually), I am always amazed at this lovely little online community and how many opportunities it has afforded me. I have met new people, won many beautiful things, traded many beautiful things, written ALOT, and been awarded and have given awards.

The past few days have been no different. It's like "The Secret" could be applied to me...more wonderful things have been headed my way!

Firstly, the sweet and wonderfully talented Julie of The Art and Life Of Ruby Nest awarded me with this:

THANK YOU JULIE!!

As part of accepting the award, I am supposed to name 5 other blogs that I feel are superior scribblers. Hmmm...okay, I will make the attempt, there are so many of you that are amazing writers, and I'm not sure if any of you have already been awarded this, so here goes:

1. THE STUDIO AT CROW HAVEN FARM: Michelle is a total sweetheart, so very supportive..and her writing serves as a backdrop for her amazing work, and the sheer quickness with which she produces it! She is just an amazing, shiny person. If you're not familiar with her work, STOP BY NOW!

2. Sue Barton Originals: My wonderful friend Sue, from "Up North" Sue is an AMAZING doll artist. She makes dolls with such sensitivity to details--I just love them. And her blogs contain profiles of other wonderful artists too, there is so much to see on her site!

3. The Mare's Tales: My friend Jen has an enchanting blog that focuses on her love of animals, nature, and her amazing work! Her pictures are stellar, and the glimpses into her life are full of fun and magic. If you love horses, you're especially in for a treat.

4. Loopy Boopy Art: Colleen is a doll artist who adds a touch of creepy to everything she does. I love the way she adds little background stories to her olde New Orleans dolls. Creepy and cute!

5. And I love Julie's work and blog too. Thanks again, Julie, for the award!

Then the uber-talented Yve over at Freaky Little Things awarded me with this!

I have to say that I'm bowled over! THANKS YVE!

I think I am supposed to list 7 little known things about myself and then name 7 nominees to pass this to. Hmmm...ok:

1. Zan Asha is not the name on my birth certificate (though I dare anyone to guess what it might be!)

2. I know how to make homemade bread, butter, pie, and ice cream. Yes, from scratch. Can you imagine that meal?

3. At one point, I owned 10 doves. Rather messy!

4. Drawing and painting were the first artful things I'd ever done, and I've been drawing since I could remember.

5. When I was 10, I had a few of my works shown in two different galleries.

6. I am a purveyor of old things old: old fashioned dresses, aprons, enamelware, antique type dolls, kitchenware, you name it!

7. I love old tales as well: Civil War history, Women of the West, horse drawn wagons, gypsy stories....

OK--now the seven I nominate:

1. Sonia of A Dark Raven's Nest
2. Jeanne of Wild Woods Studios
3. Nicole of Mealy Monster Land
4. Lisa of Lisa Nelson Designs
5. Cindy of ThimblePrims
6. Kim of Prims By Kim
7. Joyce of Enchanted Productions

Thank you again!

Also, a note to my Monster Swappers! Just in case you somehow missed it, you SHOULD have your partners already emailed to you, along with instructions for the swap! If you didn't get an email, or you HAVEN'T HEARD FROM YOUR PARTNER by now, then EMAIL ME ASAP!

I doubt it should be a problem, but just in case, I want to make sure everyone is covered.

In the meantime, I've also completed another ADO interview--this time on a whole bouncing bunch of Halloween dolls! Check it out HERE

Now, off to do a few Halloweeeny things! More news on more goodness, soon. And I still promise to make my big announcement. In fact, I just gave you a clue somewhere in this post!
Mwahahahaaaa!

Welcome, Fall!

2009-09-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

Today is officially the Fall Equinox (officially known as Autumnal Equinox, which alot harder for me to say, than spell!), and magic abounds!

Equinoxes were often associated with magic, as the changing of the seasons is a mysterious and unpredictable thing. I'd like to think that there is high luck associated with this wonderful time and, so far, I haven't been wrong!

For example, have you ever felt blessed, just for being who you are? Have you ever had things bestowed upon you for no reason at all? I ask because, just as I got home from work. The AMAZING Melissa Valeriote of * THE HOLIDAY QUEEN* emailed to tell me that I had won THIS from her Friday Fantastical Find!

Mind you, since I was already a follower of her wonderful blog, I was automatically in the drawing! So I was walking around not even knowing that I had this wonderful opportunity awaiting me! How LUCKY am I?

If you don't know about Melissa's work, or blog--you are SADLY missing out! Her work is of such unbelievable quality that she's been featured in various publication--and if you're a Halloween fan, you're going to kick yourself for not joining yourself up! So hop over there by clicking HERE!

THANK YOU MELISSA!

The funny thing about the lovely Halloween potholders is that I was just thinking to myself: "wouldn't it be cute to have some Halloween potholders for the holidays?"
And *poof*! Just like that I am granted a sweet wish...

Now if only this would work when I think to myself: "gee, I wish I could get some cheap farm property with a couple of nice horses and a cute barn." Ok, that one may need a little work!

In the meantime, I've gotten together the list of the Monster Swap Members and am busily making these elaborate charts in order to match everyone up! Yep, Homeland Security doesn't have this level of detailed mapping going on! I'm kidding of course--so FBI agents, please don't come to the house! (Because, you know, they obviously read this blog!)

Anyway, I also realize that I've gone past 100 posts! I didn't realize I had so much to say! I'll have to commemorate it somehow, so stay tuned!

Have a Happy Equinox!

Alrighty, my Monster Loving Friends...

2009-09-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hello, Lovelies!

I hope you are enjoying this lovely Sunday! I just wanted to post a small note reminding everyone that if you would like to sign up for the Monsters In the Closet swap, please do so by Midnight EST Time TOMORROW to be included in the swap.

For those of you who have already done so, thank you so much, this should be fun!

I realize that I have been bad about telling you what my exciting news is. Hmmm, looking at my farm blog, I realize that had forgotten to add a new project I am working on. Which means I will have to change that blog up and add......

Oh wait....I think I will announce this after the Monster Swap has been decided on Monday! (Insert evil grin here)

Some New News...

2009-09-18T13:35:00.000-07:00

Hi All---today was just beautiful outside, but I wanted to post at least one important note and some other news.

First--THE MONSTERS IN THE CLOSET SWAP signup deadline is fast coming to a close. I originally posted that Deadline is Sept 20th--Sunday--but I will extend it to Midnight on Monday Sept 21st jeeeeest in case someone is sort of on the fence. So click the "Monsters In the Closet" SWAP link, above, if you need more information on the swap or would like to sign up.

So far we have an amazing list of folks joining in. You can check them out on the top right hand side of this blog. Thank you ever so much for participating!

Also--I wanted to wave a lovely "Hello" to all of the wonderful new people who have decided to follow this blog. I am constantly fascinated that you guys think I have something interesting to say. Big hugs, and I am humbled!

Ok---now for some exciting news! I am hosting a Beekeeping workshop at the end of September! Ok, this may just be exciting for my little beekeeping heart, but I thought I'd mention it.

However, this is not the exciting news I was mentioning at the end of THIS POST.

Meanwhile, one of my best friends just had a baby boy! Which means Auntie Zan will be over there to visit, all laden with gifts! Congrats Robert and Belen! However, this is STILL not the exciting news I was talking about.

So what's the exciting news? FIND OUT SOON...mwahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa!

A Few Words From Your Friendly Neighborhood Dreamer..

2009-09-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

Hello Lovelies!

Hopefully, you had a wonderful weekend. Just a quick post to catch up on all of the things I missed out on over the summer...and so forth.

Firstly, I want to thank all of the new readers to this blog! I love it when you join in on the fun! Thank you for taking the time to read my li'l ramblings!

I also wanted to thank Sonia of A Dark Raven's Nest and Melissa of Ardea's Nest for garnering me with a few blog awards. You sure know how to make a girl blush! Thank you so much!

I also wanted to let you know I am back writing on Monday's Art Dolls Only Blog. My latest interviews with our talented members involve the HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE! Click HERE for more on that!

And DON'T FORGET! You only have 6 days to sign up for the Monsters In the Closet Doll Swap!

And finally, I'll have a big whoppin' suprise announcement in a few days about yet ANOTHER crazy project I am doing--heck, even I'm surprised at myself! So stay tuned!

Giveaways, Monster Madness, and more!

2009-09-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

Yikes, where does the time go?! Everytime I turn around, it seems a week or so has passed since I've gotten back to my blog! To be fair, there has been a LOT of traveling going on in the last 4 or 5 months--I think I've been gone to various places about 5 different times (eep!), but since my last trip this weekend, I will now be staying put for awhile (well, at least until the holidays!). So, hopefully, the blog will not be so willy-nilly (!)

I have ALOT of people to thank for past awards, and many things to catch up on!
Firstly, I still want to remind everyone that the MONSTERS IN THE CLOSET SWAP is still open! If you want to create a small token of your childhood fears, this would be the place to do it! Celebrate Halloween and all things creepy! Just CLICK HERE to enter or for more details! Deadline for entering is Sept 20th and I'll announce a few days later.

By the way, if you want to see how successful our last swap was, CLICK HERE to see how well our Under The Sea Swap participants did! Some truly amazing work came from the wonderful craftspersons and artists who participated!

Also, a warm thanks for those of you who have the buttons of the swap on your blog, or are spreading the word. Special thanks to Jenna of Swapdex, who always seem kind enough to add all of my crazy swaps onto her amazing swap list. You REALLY should check out the swapdex page, there are all sorts of wonderful people with equally wonderful swaps listed--all types of crafts and styles! (By the way, my swap is on the second page of their blog)

FINALLY! SWAPPERS, PLEASE MAKE SURE I HAVE YOUR NAMES TO THE RIGHT OF THE BLOG, on the "Monster Member List."

The list is current, as of today, so if'n you're not on there, email me ASAP because my advanced age has finally set in and I have forgotten you because of senility! Or some such!

Ok, enough of that! Onto the next bunch of fun things! Apparently there are many other fun giveaways and swaps going on the Interwebs! Yes, other people are doing fun stuff on their blogs, who knew?!

My friend Cindy of ThimblePrims Studio is doing BOTH a swap AND a giveaway! Yep, you best hurry up for this super-double header!!!
First, if you love Raggedy Ann, jump right in and join her Raggedy Anne swap by CLICKING HERE!
Then, take a look at this amazing piece of work:

It's a Halloween Pinkeep/Pincushion called "Witch Cat's Night Out."

Truly beautiful, right? Can you imagine that THIS is being GIVEN AWAY??! Just CLICK HERE for details on how that lovely might be yours!! Mwahahahahaa!

My other talented friend, Marie Patterson, who is part of SpookyTimeJingles,
is also having a giveaway of sorts on her Blog!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Ok, that should do it for now on the blog swap/giveaway/funtimes! As always, have a magical day! And, YES, I will be playing catch-up for the next few days!

Monster Mayhem and Wonderful Weekend Wishes!

2009-09-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

Wooooohoooo!!

Wow, guys, let me just say, again, that I am sooooo very happy to see people jump in and participate in the crazy ideas that come out of my li'l noggin! Thank you for participating, or even considering, the Monsters in the Closet swap!

If you look to your right-hand column, I have already started putting some of you up, and am slowly getting all of your blog links together. If you DON'T see your name up there yet, but you've emailed or commented, then DON'T panic (well, at least not yet!), I am slowly catching up on all of the emails, etc, and am getting you to the list on this blog. I will do so by this Monday, promptly after Labor Day, so after Monday, please feel free to *thwack* me if you aren't showing up on said list!

As I am an old lady (my birthday is tomorrow and I found a grey hair last week!!! Eeep!), I may lose one or two of you, soooo, make sure you double check the list!

And of course, if you still want to sign up for the swap, and need more info, please check this link:

http://wildatheartart.blogspot.com/2009/08/monster-mash.html

In the meantime, if none of you minded, please don't forget to add the swap badge to your blog so some of your blog friends might come out and play, too! I personally think monsters hiding in the closet is just plain universal fun, don't you?

Thank you friends, and I hope you take the time to celebrate the three day weekend and the end of summer, unless of course, you aren't from America, in which case I hope you take the time to savor whatever free time you have and enjoy fun, beauty, and merriment!

Thanks!

Monster Mash!

2009-08-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

Gruuuuumbbblee! Alrighty folks, I want to preface this post by saying I had a whole lovely post with pictures all planned, and then my camera went ahead and died on me. Did I happen to mention that Technological stuff dies on my right when I need it?

Sooooooo, I know I am waaaaay behind...I appreciate everyone bearing with me! I really do want to thank all of the great and wonderful people who read these crazy ramblings o' mine, and all of the people who have included me in their giveaways, awards, and other wonderful things that make this community so dear!

So while I figure out how to get my rascal-y camera to curb its delinquent ways, I wanted to jump ahead to what I was planning right before the camera decided to conk out on me!

You might remember awhile ago, I was washed away by enchanted mermaids and was joined by several AMAZING artists, crafters, and all around super-humans in the UNDER THE SEA SWAP!

Despite a few kinks in the road, I found that I loved the wonderful work and spirit of the participants so--I decided to do yet another swap, and it helps that Halloween is around the corner! But this isn't just a regular Halloween-y swap, folks!

SO...do you remember your earliest fear? The ones that plagued you in childhood? Not just the average cuts, scrapes, or the playground bully but, the darkest, creepiest crawliest nightmares you could think of?

In other words, THIS:

Yes! That universal childhood fear of fears! The boogie man in the closet and the goblins and ghoulies under the bed! Each of us has our own version of what the monster in the closet looks like, right? So, why not celebrate our own creepy crawly friends by creating them as dolls and swapping them?

THAT'S RIGHT! Just in time for All Hallows! The craziest swap yet!

Bring out your best Frankenstein, Hob-goblin, Flying Purple-People-Eater, Hop-devil, and more!!

If you are interested, please read BELOW! And let's get this spooky show on the road!

PLEASE READ ALL OF THIS, before you decide to begin!

1. THIS SWAP is open to ANYone, including artists, crafters, and Halloweenies. But please note that you DO have to make a DOLL. ACEO's will not be accepted in this swap.

*PLEASE ADD THE BADGE ABOVE to your blog--the more we get here, the merrier!!*

2. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED in participating in the swap, you may leave a comment here, but please EMAIL me at wildatheartfarm@aol.com as well to let me know of your interest. IF I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH YOUR WORK, please attach a few pics in you email. It will make it easier for me to match you up with a partner.

3. Any and all styles are welcome! I accept anything including: prim, gothic, victorian, cute, faery, dark, whimsical, etc---HOWEVER, your doll SHOULD be a monster of SOME sort.

DOLL SIZE: anything from 4 x 4 inch to 7 x 7 inches

4. I hate having to say this, but it has to be said: PLEAAASE please put your best foot forward for this swap. I DO realize that everyone has different skill levels and interests and will take it into account, BUT IF YOU ARE TOO BUSY to participate and do the most heartfelt version of this swap, PLEASE DO NOT PARTICIPATE. I've already had to deal with heartbroken swap members in the past and I really love for all of my participants to feel like their partner put their best effort into the swap.

5. Conversely, please come to the swap in the spirit of DOING your best, and not EXPECTING too much of your swap members. Consider your work a gift to give instead of a free way to get art, and you will find magic and surprises everywhere--most of the swap members do really go out of their way in the swapping! We have had amazing doll artists and crafters in the past!

6. Noone is judgemental about the swap, the goal is to challenge yourself to come up with your "monster in the closet," to meet new people, and have FUN!!

DEADLINE FOR SIGNING UP TO OUR MONSTERS IN THE CLOSET SWAP: Sept 20th

FINISHED DOLLS DEADLINE: NOV 4th (NOT TO COMPETE WITH THE CRAZY FUN-NESS of HALLOWEEN PROPER!)

SEND OUT YOUR DOLLS: Nov 10th

I will add your name to a list on the right of this blog, as I get them, and will do my very best to match you up! I will announce match ups on Sept 20th!

SO SIGN UP NOW!!! Mwahahahaaa!!!

Whhhhhoooooa, part II

2009-08-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

Umm, ok, I am sooo embarrassed! Yes, my LAST post mentioned that I was so sad to be away from my blog, and then I went and did it again!! DOOOOH!

Wow, I didn't expect to be away from my little blog for soooooo looong! I am sure there is some sort of blog purgatory for people like me! Apologies friends! It's funny, because I can remember many farmy-blogging friends nearly abandoning their blogs because farm work got too overwhelming, and I thought: "gee, that won't happen to an ultra savvy city-girl like me! And I was right...except for the part where the ultra busy urban insanity, mixed with near unemployment, and wrapped in farmy overtures would eventually take me out! Gahhh!

So, here I am to catch you up on the bedlam of the last few weeks.
I am not sure how to describe the past month. My best analogy would bring up an image of a tornado--it's unpredictable arrival and violent crazy nature. Sometimes all you can do is hold on and try to ride it out and watch the pieces of your life flying all around you. Yeah, that's sort of my life right now. To be clear though, not all of it is horrible, but there certainly an uncontrollable element that I can get a hold of and that, piled with so many other little things, sometimes makes it hard to get to the computer, or too crazy to even WANT to write anymore.

Secondary to that, there are certain impracticalities going on that I am trying to alleviate so that I can write in a better and more timely fashion. It is no secret that I write....ALOT. I have this blog, the Wild At Heart Farm blog. I have the Wild At Heart Farm. I write for Art Dolls Only (and you know it's bad when you haven't written a blooming thing for ANY of the three).
And now, apparently, I might be adding a blog about beekeeping (not my idea, TRUST ME, but rather the owner of the company for which I am starting all this beekeeping), and yet another blog(!!) on some top-top-secret-blog-which-I-will-announce-later blog. And I'm trying to figure out what to do with BigTownFarmer as well.

You see where this is going, right?? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love writing, adore it but...you know...the outside world still calls. And then there is that pesky thing called a job. Yep, that rent ain't getting paid on this half dozen or so NON-PAYING writing stuff. Plus there are bees and gardens to take care of. So I am trying to think if I should combine this blog with something else? Or maybe combine the farm blog with something...who knows? I also have to rethink the account status on this blog because the AOL email of mine is pesky and I'm trying to switch out. Sooo...lots to think about.

What do you think? I would love feedback about this!!

I have no idea, and am not sure that any logistics will work, though my mother jokingly (err, I think jokingly) says I should stick to one interest. Pssshaw! Why, when there are so many beautiful things in the world to learn and see?

....so stay tuned, I will try to find a sane way to work with the writing problems, and the other sticky situations I seem to be getting into, lately!

Thanks everyone, for your patience! And thank you to all who emailed me in concern. I'm still here, though I can't account for where my mind is lately! DOH!

Whoooooaaa!!!

2009-07-16T09:29:00.001-07:00

Yikes!!!!

Wow, I cannot believe how long it's been since I've blogged---my deepest apologies friends! I'm not even sure if I can explain it all here, but somehow the end of June eventually became a huge 4th of July shindig and then that next Monday, I was called to TWO interviews for two jobs out of state(s), Maryland and Connecticut--(*ahem* that still haven't turned into anything viable)and then a foray into an URBAN farm, launching a beekeeping business (sorta), taking care of our bees, which might be sick. All of this in the span of 10 days! Eegads!

But all of this doesn't matter at the moment! I promise I will catch you up on all of the real life bedlam, but for now I must get back to the LOOOOOONG awaited next chapter of the Mermaid Tales!

By the way, in case you missed out, you can see all the Mermaid Mayhem here:

Mermaids 1
Mermaids 2
Mermaids 3
Mermaids 4
Mermaid Parade!

**ALSO, FEEL FREE TO CLICK ALL PICS TO ENLARGE!

...When last we left our story, I had just finished watching the most magnificent welcome parade in the entirety of the Water Realm. I was still reeling from the beautiful colors and saucy characters I had just seen pass before me. So many beautiful spirits and wonderful creatures!

I had gotten up from where I'd perched and turned to Nemone with a huge grin on my face.
"That was wonderful! So how do we get back home?"

Nemone shook her head. "Not yet, we still have to meet the grand citizens of the Water Realm."

"The citizens?"

Before I could speak further, they suddenly appeared from the dark blue depths! I was surrounded by fantastical beings!

There was this cat fish mother, and her wee kittenfish baby, who extended its arms out for a hug...

An Angel Fish:

....with angel fish all about her....

A devil fish, with a wry smile. "Don't mind him," said Nemone, "he's a trouble-maker."

A Clown fish with....a clown fish:

"G'day, Miss," said the Clown Fish, whipping all around me.

"None of that," said Nemone, "this is our honored guest."

"Oh dear," said the clown fish, who then took of its tall clown hat, revealing a cute spotted hood.

"Beggin' your pardon Miss," said Clown Fish apologetically.

Just then Reef, our seal companion, began blowing on a conch shell. The crowd became quiet. Clearing his voice, Reef announced "The Prince and Marquis will meet the Human Guest."

Wow, I thought, I'm the "Human Guest." Who were the Prince and the Marquis? Would I make a good impression.

Two shadowy figures stepped into the jeweled blue light. I quickly saw that they were both Catfish!

"The Prince Hubert of the Oceans!" said Reef and bowed deeply. Everyone else bowed deeply, so I followed suit. A friendly looking young orange faced catfish stepped forward. He had a cheerful looking scepter of a whale on a shiny blue orb.

When he turned his back to bow to the citizens, I could see his coat of arms emblazoned on the back of his vest.

As he turned back to face me, Reef cleared his throat again: "And the Marquis Felix of the Southern Waters!"

Up swam a melancholy looking yellow catfish with an equally melancholy looking fish scepter.

"Greetings, Mademoiselle," said the Marquis, in a Cajun accent.

"Ahh...uhh, greetings," I replied, and gave a little curtsey. But out of the corner of my mouth, I whispered to Nemone: "Who are they?"

Nemone smiled and whispered back: "They are royals coming to meet you. There are many princes and princesses and queens, kings and dukes and duchesses of many parts of the vast waterways. The Prince Hubert travails with his family in the cold ocean. And Marquis Felix is his cousin, who rules the deep dark waters of the South."

Then Prince Hubert stepped forward. "We welcome you to the Water Realm. Very few from the Upper Realm get to see such places. You can visit magical places at all times now. That is our vow to you. And of course, you will keep your promise to us."

I was puzzled. "Wait, what promise?"

The Prince raised his eyebrow, then stared at Nemone. "You didn't tell her?"

My calm little friend seemed a bit unnerved now. She stared at me, then at the Prince, then looked at the sea floor, silent.

"What is going on here?" I said...

"My dear," chimed in the Marquis, sadly,"not everyone can just come to these magical worlds. And they must be guided to places such as this. Once you are guided, there is always a danger that you will use your knowledge in bad ways. Unfortunately, such are the ways of the Humans."

Similarly, once a guide has seen the way to the Upper Realms, who can say what they will do with this knowledge? We are not to meet at the Upper Realm, either. So...it takes a courageous soul to volunteer to guide a Human down here. Once they have done so, they must permanently be cast away from here."

"Wait a minute," I said, " Nemone has to leave?" I looked at her, surprised. "Why did you volunteer if you knew you would have to leave?"

"Because I had seen the Human world and thought it was wonderful. So many inventions and other things that people do. And through the little fountain I saw your home and it was so lovely. You seemed like a nice person, and you knew about the map...so you were worthy of being here...and that was enough for me. I would like to be part of your world."

"Yes," said the Prince, but then shook his finger, "but she cannot return. A home must be found for her at once!"

"Indeed," interjected the Marquis. "There have been stories of those who could not find a home, and..." he couldn't finish, but just made a motion with his hand of a knife running across his throat.

"That's ok, I'll just take her," I said.

"Nono," said Prince Hubert, "it is forbidden. You having seen the magic here, and Nemone seeing the magic of the Upper realms...that is too much magic! She has to find another home."

"Oh dear," said Nemone, and started crying.
Just then, Reef blew on his conch shell. "All Hail the Queen!"

Everyone quickly bowed. My heart started beating faster. What would happen to us?
TO BE CONTINUED (mwahahahaa, yes, my evil ways of cliff hanging continue! PS, do you see some sea swap items I had for my partners here? I do!)

Nice News Keeps Coming...

2009-06-29T11:48:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

Thank you so much for the Mad Tea Party Fun! And thank you for hosting Vanessa! So amazing!

Last week was so chock full o' stuff that I forget to mention several things going on in this corner of the world:

Michelle of Studio At Crow Haven Farm awarded me with this award:

If you know Michelle, you know she is an amazing artist and friend to have and--if you ask me--she is friends with everyone she meets! She is such an amazing and generous soul, her artwork is fantastic, and she happily will share art tips on her blog. She is a beautiful soul!

The award is as follows:

The Uber Award is a blog award given to sites who:
1. Inspire you
2. Make you smile and laugh, or maybe give amazing information
3. A great read
4. Has an amazing design
5. Any other reasons you can think of that make them Uber amazing!
The rules of this award are:* Put the logo on your blog or post.* Nominate at least 6 blogs* Let them know that they have received this Uber Amazing award by commenting on their blog.* Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from.

Oh dear! I know WAYYYY more sites than this that I can consider UBER amazing! I think I will come back to this tomorrow--I just really wanted to acknowledge Michelle for giving me this award---but I'll definitely have to think on this one!

Then I was lucky to win an online blog giveaway from TDIPT! To Dwell In Primitive Thymes is an Ebay Group of artists that dedicate themselves to Primitive and Old World Folksy arts--perfect for my farmy heart! I love their blog, and the various artists within the group, so I entered without thinking much of anything might come of it, but it couldn't hurt, right?

Look what I won:

THIS WONDERFUL FOLKSY BIRD Pinkeep!!!!

This beautiful pinkeep is done by Audrey of BAY RAYS CHILD. It's perfect for alllll those straight pins I use for sewing! I will cherish it always. I love it!

Thank you AUDREY!!!! And the Entire TDIPT Group for hosting the giveaway!

On another note: I've just finished my daily Monday blog article for Art Dolls Only--check it out if you wanted to see what's going on with our Elements Challenge (CLICK HERE)...

And finally (FINALLY!)--the citizens of The Water Realm are waiting to continue the Mermaid Tails. Here is a sneak peek:

SEE YOU SOON!

A Spot of Tea?

2009-06-26T23:24:00.001-07:00

In my opinion, one cannot have enough Tea! Besides art, and farming, there are no better things--at least in my little world-- than old fashioned delights....so I'll let you in on a little secret---SHHH! I love teapots and tea service items!

I have a ridiculous amount of such paraphernalia--so today, I shall share in teapots, tea lore, and other fun enchantments! Welcome to my Mad Tea Party! (As always, click any picture to enlarge!)

What would tea be without proper tea service? Here is one of my mother's tea services. Old bone china from Europe. Alas, for some reason the saucers have been lost in time. As is the sugar pot. Hmm, perhaps not quite the typical tea service, after all! Perhaps a lovely tea for two!

What better way to have tea than pair them with scones, by the way? If you are the baker sort, you might have a go at this lovely pumpkin scone recipe. I WISH I had time to make these more often than I do, they are just wonderful!

Pumpkin Scones
2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup pumpkin (if canned, be sure there are no spices or sugar added)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Cut butter into small pieces and cut into flour. Mixture should look like coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl mix together the pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and mix until the dough comes together (don't overmix).

Transfer to lightly floured surface and knead gently 3-4 times, and then shap dough into a circle about 1 1/2 inches thick. Slice in half, and then cut each half into 3 equal pie-shaped wedges.

Brush with egg glaze (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk), and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar.

Bake on a cookie sheet for 375° for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Makes 6 scones.

Optional: Add white chocolate chips or chopped pecans or cranberries or ALL THREE into dough before baking. YUM!

Of course for a change of scenery, why not visit Japan to watch their tea ceremonies? Here is my Japanese tea set, complete with decorative (Zen) quail and dove eggs (yes they are real!) Incense holder, incense cones, cups and tea kettle.

Japanese Tea Ceremony Procedures (Simplified)

The steps to the ceremony are quite simple: clean the serving bowls, boil a pot of water, serve a sweet treat to guests before the tea, mix powdered bitter green tea (Matcha) and water to make a frothy tea, serve the tea to guests. The flavors of the sweets and bitter tea compliment each other. This is a sign of harmony.

Bow when you receive the cup of tea which is called a chawan.
Take the chawan with your right hand and place it in the palm of your left hand.
Turn the chawan clockwise three times before you take a drink.
When the tea is gone, make a loud slurp to tell the host that the tea was truly enjoyed.
Wipe the part of the chawan your lips touched with your right hand.
Turn the chawan counterclockwise and return to the host

A more thorough examination of the Japanese Tea ceremony can be found HERE

Of course, one can always go back to England--or is it Neverland? Here is a unique and whimsical tea kettle and set that I picked up in an old cooking store in the city. It was the LAST one they had--I fell in love immediately with its unique design:

Click to enlarge

If you look closely the tea kettle top, itself, depicts a tea setting with a little tea set and flowers on top!

Surrounding the set are "sugar bears"--little sugar shakers (which are great for holding salt, but something about the design says "sugar" to me), which is part of a vintage collection I picked up long ago, at an estate sale. You can also see the sugar spoons next to the bears.... a nice Victorian scene...

Speaking of Victorian (or was it England?) and sugar, why not replicate the practice of creating floral sugars? In this case, the love of scented flowers/herbs plays well with the sugar. Common practices of making lavender sugar, verbena sugar and more were a staple of the Victorian tea service:

How To Make Lavender Sugar
6cups sugar
6 teaspoons dried lavender buds (make sure they are Culinary lavender, which is lavender approved for eating/not treated with any dangerous chemicals).

Take dried lavender buds and mix with sugar. Store in airtight jars, place in cool dry place. Shake once every few days. It will be ready to use after 4 weeks. Strain/sift out lavender from sugar before using.

And what would tea be without a few accessories? I LOVE Tea Serving Spoons --here are a few I have:

A small heart shaped sugarspoon with its own tray--both in pewter:

Two more magical spoons, also of pewter. These can scoop other dry goods such as coffee, dry tea, flour, and sugar:

....Ahh, one day perhaps I shall open a little tea shoppe to show these things off....

And of course, the love of tea wouldn't be complete without tracing our love back to our childhood--literally! Here is one of my childhood tea sets! Ahh, how many dolls lived through drinking endless cups of Imaginary Tea!

And finally--here is a tea set I call "Wonderland"--how appropriate for this post! Here are some interesting miniature cups and a charming little tea server! And notice, they sit upon a tea imprinted tablecloth!

Click to enlarge

How colorful, how enchanted....perfect for.....

A Clown-Fish....wait...WHAT?!

To be continued.....

Somebody Clone Me!

2009-06-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

Gahhh!

As usual, I am trying to catch up with myself. This week has been unusually, ridiculously busy, but in a good way.....ahhh, the stories I have to tell you---

Making Mulberry Jam-thinking the bees were sick, but relieved to find they weren't-maybe getting a new job at a city farm!-Going to the city farm!-contest winning-awards getting-FINALLY finishing the mermaid tales characters (DOH!)-and more craziness!

But before all of that, it just occurred to me: I've a TEA PARTY to attend tomorrow! I'm late, I'm late for a most important date over at a Fanciful Twist! Doh!

See you tomorrow!

Sea Swap Works In Progress....

2009-06-23T05:55:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, Solstice and Father's Day. After recovering from Sea Swap Mayhem (which was rather lovely, I must say!) I thought I would share a few behind the scenes news of the swap.

First up--an official announcement and apology. I didn't put in all of the pictures for the Sea Swap Parade. In a couple of these cases--because I am apparently old, or senile, or deranged, or some combination of these--I totally left out two pictures that were sent to me in a timely fashion. Or, it could just be all of those beautiful colors and patterns of all of those other dolls I was posting! Distracting, I tell you!

Seriously though: all of the dolls have now been put into the Mermaid Parade, but in case you don't want to revisit them in the last post, here are the dolls that arrived to the party late:

Mermaid by Marilyn Butler

Little Blue Mermaid by Denni of DenniDoodles Creations

Pink Mermaid by Kathie of Little Cotton Aprons

Seahorse by Melissa of Ardea's Nest

On an altogether different note, I also wanted to show some lovely "behind the scenes workings" of the swap--the Works in Progress!

Here are a few that some of the members decided to share:

Jamie of Peach Street Primitives shows us an early sketch of her Sea Horse...

...and finished Sea Horse

A Sea Goblin being created by Cody of Cody Goodin Art....before it goes in the shell...

...and after

Here is The OctoKid by Flora of Bone Head Studios in Progress...

And what he looks like "all dressed up".

I hope you enj0yed this little tour behind the scenes! Once again, thank you for this beautiful experience, everyone!!

You may be asking where MY swap creatures are....mwahahaha...that's coming up soon!

A MERMAID PARADE!!

2009-06-19T11:44:00.000-07:00

When last we left our Mermaid Tales, our heroine was preparing to be whisked down through the magic fountain in her house by trusty magical mermaid, Nemone.

"How will I fit down this tiny fountain, and how will I breathe underwater?"

"So many questions," said Nemone. "Just hold my hand and trust me. Do you trust me?"

"Ok," I said, and off we went.

Sure enough, I was able to fit down the fountain and was surprised to find I could breathe and see clearly as if I were on land. Next thing I knew we were swimming waaaaay way deep, further than I think any person has explored. Past glorious fish...

And through a cave--where a seal came curiously closer, and closer, as if it were coming to meet us....

Then, suddenly, I was astonished to hear it talking to us.

"Hallo there," it said," I'm glad you finally brought the girl, Nemone."

"How...what...how are you talking?" I sputtered, duly shocked that I didn't drown by opening my mouth in the middle of the sea....

"Why, I'm not talking, your hearing has been compromised so you can hear me in your own language. Water does funny stuff in the ears," said the seal with the wink.

I still was in shock as he added, "My name is Reef, and it's good to have you here. We can finally start the parade."

"The parade?"

"Yes," said Nemone, "So very few humans come to the Water Realm, and so we always greet them properly. It's a very exciting time."

Before I could ask the flurry of questions in my head, both of them dragged me to a clearing at the ocean bottom. A huge cacophony of music started and suddenly, I was greeted by the myriad of colorful citizenry of the world of mermaids!!

(Click Images to enlarge)

Amidst music, and choruses and water cascades, I saw so many creatures And was greeted by myriad mermaids!

There were enchanted mermaids....

Mermaid by Kirsten of Kirsten Beason Designs

And colorful mermaids!

Mermaid by Marilyn Butler

And joyous ones with sweet messages around them

Mermaid by Waxela of Spirit Mama

There were blue mermaids.....

Blue Mermaid by Deanna Larson of Blue Dragon Arts

Deanna Larson (close-up)

Little Blue Mermaid by Denni of DenniDoodles Creations

And Green Mermaids...

Mermaid by BunnyKiss'd of Fairy Garden Fancies

Mermaid by BunnyKiss'd (closeup)

And Pink Mermaids, too!

Pink Mermaid by Kathie of Little Cotton Aprons

Funny Mermaids, wild as the sea...

Cha-cha by Georgina of La Llorona Arts

Unusual Beauties...

Eclectic Being Mermaid by Michelle of *The Studio At Crow Haven Farm*

Faerie Mermaids...

Faerie Memaid by Kaerie Faerie

And even MerMEN!

Merman by Kiem of Purlgurl

There are Haunted, Poignant Mermaids...

Fiji Mermaid by Sara of Oak Hill Studios

And those sweetly creepy...

Water Witch/Mesmeria by RaeDell of DellaRae Dezines

Skelly Mermaid by Marie Patterson of Marie Patterson Studio

As well as "sister" mermaids, oh so lovely!

Mermaid by Krista of Soggy Dog Studios.....

Mermaid by Kim of Soggy Dog Studios

And what is a celebration without clowns?

Clown Fish by Maudina Piper

Maudina Piper (side view)

Clown Fish by Cindy of ThimblePrims Studio

And of course, Sea Animals are a must...

An enchanted fish...

Fish by Lee Anne of Sun Soul Art

A Seahorse!

Seahorse by Melissa of Ardea's Nest

And magical Narwhal, with a wee penguin on its tusk!

Narwhal by Clarisa of Goblin Fruit Studios

Narwhal by Clarissa (full view)

And other fantastical creatures swam in this Parade of the Sea!

Sweet ...

Sea(horse) creature by Jaime of Peach Street Primitives

Mirmouse by Susan of Crow's Nest Pass Primitive Folk Art

Sea Bear by Kim of Prims by Kim

Star-fish Man by Stephanie of Pixies In the House

Odd.....

Nanami by Jacqui of Odd Dollz

Sweetly Odd....

OctoKid byDenise of Odd Imagination

Sea Beezle by Cheryl Prater of Praterposte

Or just a bit cute and spooky!

Octoboy by Flora of Bone Head Studios

Sea Goblin by Cody of Cody Goodin Art

Sea Monster by Nicole of Mealy Monster Land

Sea Monster with Black Balloon by Caroline of Caroline's Crafts

And what is the ocean without catfish!

Mer-cat by Hope of Pixie's Ponderings

Mer-cat by Hope (close-up)

Catfish by Michelle of 3rd Eye Muse

Catfish by Michelle (front)

This magical Sea Parade is beyond anyone's wish!

THANK YOU SEA SWAPPERS!!!

HERE ARE THE FULL LIST OF PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR LINKS:
*HOST: WILD AT HEART ART ~ ZAN
* Mealy Monster Land ~Nicole
* Ostrich Girl ~ Sheri
* Kaerie Faerie
* RoseCreations ~ Tammy
* Spirit Mama ~ Waxela
* Praterposte ~Cheryl
* Maya Sohoza
* Paper Doll Post ~ Debbi
* Odd Imagination ~ Denise
* Studio At Crow Haven Farm ~ Michelle
* DebiDesigns ~ Debbie
* Lady Artisan ~ Eva
*Avidly Dreaming ~ Cyberdelia
* Odd Dollz ~ Jacqui
* Caroline's Crafts ~Caroline
* Pixies In the House ~ Stephanie
* Peach Street Primitives ~ Jaime
* Bone Head Studio ~ Flora
* La Llorona Arts ~Georgina
* 3rd Eye Muse ~ Michelle
* Marie Patterson Studio ~ Marie
* Maudina Piper
* Halloween Jingle Bells Boo! ~Debb
* Marilyn Butler
* Faerie Garden Fancies ~BunnyKissd
* Marlene a.k.a "QBeeC"
*DellaRae Dezines ~ DellaRae
* Six Sprouts Designs ~ Jennifer Goode
* Prims by Kim ~ Kim
* Kristen Beason Designs ~ Kristen
* Bairbre Aine
* Oak Hill Studio ~ Sara
* Little Cotton Aprons ~Kathie
* Denni Doodles Creations ~ Denni
* Green Man Designs ~ Cynjon
* Cody Art ~ Cody
* Ardeas Art ~ Melissa
* Pixie's Ponderings ~ Hope
* A Broken Art ~ Christy
* Sun Soul Art ~ Lee Anne
* Purlgurl ~ Kimmie
* Paintncloth ~ Kim
* Side Of The Road ~ Tracey
* GoblinFruitStudio -Carisa
* Deanna Larson
* Crow's Nest Pass ~ Susan
* Iva's Creations ~ Iva
* Thimbleprims Studio ~ Cindy
* The Heart of a Seed ~ Amy
* SupriseDelightJoy ~ Suzanne
* Soggy Dog Studios~ Kim
* Soggy Dog Studios ~ Krista

YOU ARE ALL AMAZING!

*Up NEXT: Sea Swap works in progress
AND! "MEETING THE CITIZENS of the DEEP"

Nice News

2009-06-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends!

I few little updates: super-artist and person Nicole of Mealy Monster Land has awarded me with this award:
Woooooo Nicole, I love ya, and I still don't know how you have 3 wee ones at home and seem to pull off making your monsters soooo fast! AND Run ADO, and a million other things, I am sure! I bow down to your amazing energy and creativity!!

My understanding is that the award represents how all of your blog buddies make differences in our lives everyday. I agree--I have gained sooo many friendships and have learned so many new and wonderful things by reading your thoughts, ideas, and creative ramblings! Hooray!

THANK YOU NICOLE!

I know I am supposed to pass this award along, but since I am not sure who may have already gotten it, please feel free to take this award as your own, readers!

Next, there are two big events coming up! First up is ADO's Four Element's Challenge.

Why am I telling YOU this, even if you might not be an ADO member? Because THIS CHALLENGE IS OPEN to all doll artists whether you are an Art Dolls Only member or not! Yep! The goal of the challenge is to create a doll based on one (or more!) of the four elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water)--and be part of this huge event. Click on the link, above, in red, for more info.

Still not sure? You can read the profile of our own artists' work that I did on our ADO Blog, HERE, and see examples and interpretations of the elements.

Next, over at A Fanciful Twist, there are preparations for a tea party like no other!

Join us for a huge blog party-- A MAD Tea Party, on June 27th! And don't be late--for this most important date!

AND FINALLLY!!! Tomorrow, we continue the Mermaid's Tales, and this time, our UNDER THE SEA SWAP participants are featured with their own Sea Swap Creations! Mermaids and Sea Monsters and Starcreatures, oh my!

UNDER THE SEA SWAP PARADE!
Revel in fins, and fish, and sea beings!

Here's A Sneaky-Peek
(Click to enlarge)

(Top from l-r): Kim of Soggy Dog Studios, Jaime of Peach Street Primitives
(Middle l-r): Deanna Larson of Blue Dragon Arts, Cheryl Prater of Praterposte
(Bottom l-r): Flora of Bonehead Studio, Raedell of DellaRae Dezines

See you tomorrow!

A Few Tidbits....

2009-06-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

Hello All, just a quick little note about some things I am doing (before I go off and finish some of them!)

Still finishing up sewing and painting dolls--I wish I knew the secret of how to be as prolific as some of you! Ahh, well...

Today is my day to write for the ADO blog, so if you click on the link at the top left-hand side of this blog (you'll see it highlighted in the super-bright pink!) you can go directly there.

I am profiling some of our awesome doll artist members as they work on their challenges of the Elements (air, earth, fire, water). Some very creative stuff!

**Of course, once again, just a short reminder that those of you participating in the Under The Sea Swap have until the 18th to send me pics of your doll if you want them showcased on this blogs "Parade Of Mermaids"...however, it is not required, so if you're running behind, or you don't want the dolls profiled, no worries.

Finally, I am very excited to let you know I will be profiled in a documentary about natural food and urban farmscapes--this because of my beekeeping. The documentary is tentatively titled "Queen of the Sun," and will be shooting in roughly two weeks. I'm definitely not the star here, the bees are! As, rightfully, they should be!

Dang it, I gotta go lose 10 pounds for my closeup! ;)

And Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Program....

2009-06-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

Wow and WOW, guys!

I am so touched by your sweet words and advice for yesterday's post, what wonderful kindness and friendship! I am moving forward in little steps, so we'll see...

However, some things will not change because YOU KNOW I am a fool for art and mischief--and, doing a lot of things at once, apparently.

Today's adventures included:

* Waking up extra early for a phone interview for an animal shelter manager's job in Maryland (which probably won't work out since it's a kill shelter and I can't bring myself to kill perfectly healthy fluffy cuteness).
*Taking the subway to the East side to walk a mastiff, then a springer spaniel.
*Coming back home and picking mulberries off a mulberry tree in the city! (see more about that, below)
* Checking the bees. I am surprised they haven't started picketing because it's been raining. For 4 days in a row. Uggh
* Taking the train back down to the West side to give a cat it's insulin shots for diabetes.
* Coming back home. Cooking dinner.
*Planning new and, hopefully, money making, artsy, crazy adventures. Writing a small paid for article about city gardening. Wrangling with the evil--I mean-- *ahem* high maintenance sewing machine. Finally cleaning the bathroom (you don't want to ask me what it looked like in there, but I had to break out the hazmat suit, I tell ya!), and blogging.

Yep, which brings us up to speed. Plus, there's all this WRITING ABOUT my adventures...

So, if you want to hear the continuing chronicles of the beekeeping, you can visit my farm blog--what happens when one girl, two guys, and two packages of 6,000 bees commingle? CLICK HERE to find out!

What happens when a girl loses her mind and starts picking FRUIT TREES that happens to be growing in an empty lot in her city neighborhood?? CLICK HERE to read about that!

Plus, I am also supposed to start another round of blogging for Art Dolls Only on Monday! Yay!

There is so much writing, in fact, that I've added a new feature to the top left-hand portion of this blog; you can now read all of my other stories if you just click on the link. Hopefully, you will enjoy my farm-life and other travels, as well.

And, it looks like other mayhem is on the horizon, which I will update you on shortly!

Thanks so much again for your inspiration and support :)

Dreaming in the Rain, part II

2009-06-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks again for the sweet words yesterday, everyone! You are all so kind...

Well, I think a few of you round-about asked what is going on, so here is the short gist of it:

My father is an ill man, he has been this way for much of his life. As he gets older, he gets weaker, and thus his condition is exponentially more serious. It makes me think that I should move home and help my parents...because I need to AND want to; it occurs to me, as I get older, that I'd like to live closer to them...

Also, last weekend, the sweetheart of the family had to be euthanized. I wish I had a better picture, but all of those are in the family photo album in Florida, so this will have to do:

Gypsy lived with us for 11 years. She was truly a super-dog, patient, obedient, as smart as a human I think. If you've ever had a pet, you know what I mean. Funny, I work with animals and counsel people on pet loss, but it's never less devastating, especially when it happens to you.

Of course, my mother is completely heartbroken--this dog looked exactly like a childhood dog of hers, AND, my mother is a farmgirl at heart, which means she automatically LOVES dogs. My poor mother, I feel like she needs a hug and some companionship :(

What to do? It also doesn't help that right now, it is critically bad on the job front for me--how does a girl who takes care of animals, make dolls, run a magazine, take care of bees, and dance here and there STILL have a hard time making rent? I am not exaggerating! Ahh, maybe one day I will find some way to cleverly combine these, but it's not working so far!

So I don't know--it's very cross-road-sy at the moment..we will see, but I can't guarantee that I won't have to up and move or do something drastic! Hmm...anyone with suggestions?

I appreciate everyone's kindness, again, regarding this...wow, I hope this doesn't sound TOO negative, but I just wanted to let you know it might be a bit of a rollercoaster ride for awhile--however, it does occur to me that my hardest days are dream days for others in the world--and I can be grateful for the fact that I do have room for choices and dreaming :)

Dreaming In the Rain...

2009-06-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's hard to know what to write on a blog. It seems most people keep their blog either very business like (geared towards their business) or upbeat or witty and funny...I know there is a question about how much people should know about a person online, and how they present themselves.

I am probably not much different, in that regard and, like many of you, I try to present the happier, enchanted, dreamier aspect of life...

But there is a bit of back-story going on as well lately, probably less happy--and the only reason I bring it up is that it might affect where I might be living and what I might be doing...I don't want to go too much into it (at least not today), and I will say it really won't affect my level of happiness because there is soooo much to be grateful and happy about...but right now is a bit of a confusing time.

Instead, I will focus on the kindness that has been shown to me--wow, so many kind things going on lately!

First, I received this super-sweet package from Nikki Ghilain of SunSoulArt. She is a member of the Sea Swap and wanted to give me this just for hosting it! Wow, that is tooo much!

Here is the cute wrapping paper! Notice the sea theme :)

Here is what's inside!

A Fantastical Fish!

And a sweet letter came with it!

According to it, this fish's name is "Prissy Pescado" I love this fish, Nikki, I will cherish it forever!!

Next, fellow artist Sonia of The Dark Raven's Nest awarded me this....wow, Sonia, I am bowled over! I don't know what to say--other than THANK YOU! You are a sweetheart!
Here is the award:

This award was developed by Tessa in honor of Dr Maithri Goonetilleke's birthday. Tessa was inspired by the way Dr Goonetileke reaches out to others and, with his humanity as her guide, she created this award "to acknowledge the depth and breadth of the warm open-heartedness from bloggers all over the world who reach out and touch their readers with their words."Tessa goes on to quote Dr Goonetilleke: "It has been my experience that whenever one human being reaches out to another in compassion, a bridge is built. A bridge which leads out of despair, into the light of hope and the possibility that tomorrow will hold a few less tears than yesterday."

Sonia, this award seems so timely to me, and I cannot believe I am one of 3 people you picked! I am sure you know many people much better than I am! :)

Now I am supposed to give this award to other people--wow, that would be hard to narrow it down! There are SO MANY of you that clearly should get this award...but here are a few that come to mind:

1. Michelle of *The Studio at Crow Haven Farm* Anyone who knows Michelle for a second will tell you how funny, generous, sweet, and encouraging she is! She always seems to be doing 10 different things at a time, teaching mini tutorials on her blog and showing her accomplishments in such a wonderful and inspiring manner! She really loves art and loves other people doing art! Go Michelle!

2. Kimmie O of Once Upon a Blue Crow (hmm, there seem to be many crows and ravens attached to this award)...Kim's art is so sweet and expressive as are her words of wisdom. I love her encouragement and her wonderful outlook on life.

3. Cheryl of Praterposte....Cheryl just makes me laugh. Out loud. While drinking coffee. I love reading about her adorable creations and her humor and style and sass just make my day. Go over and read her blog, you'll know what I mean.

Wow, that was hard--I love what so many of you are doing creatively, artistically, and spiritually! Please know I would fit you all in there if I could!

THANKS SONIA!

Then another fellow doll maker (and sweetheart!) DellaRae of DellaRaeDezines just awarded me with the "One Lovely Blog Award". Again, this is just too much! Wow, how wonderful and kind...

This is how it works: Rules of Blog Award Acceptance
1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
2. Pass award to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Whoa! 15 blogs! That haven't been chosen for this award already? I'm not sure I can figure it out--so here are my thoughts: anyone can feel free to take this award--yep, if you are reading this, and would like it, please repost on your blog!

Thanks DellaRae

I am so happy that I am part of this community of lovely, funny, outrageous, dreamy folk! It is a pleasure to come online and read all of your stories and have your read mine :)

To change gears a little bit:
Sea Swap Friends!
If you want your work showcased on the blog for the Mermaid Parade on June 19th, don't forget that YOU NEED to SEND ME PICS of your FINISHED doll by June 18th. HOWEVER! If you don't mind not being in the parade, the due date to have your dolls sent to your partner is June 27th!!

Thank you again!

Something about the water in Pennsylvania...

2009-06-04T12:11:00.001-07:00

So, maybe it's me...

But I've noticed that almost every time I turn around, it seems that some of my favorite artists are from PA. Now don't get me wrong...there are SO MANY amazing artists from different corners of the world, but a strange goodly amount are from Pennsylvania. Is it something in the water? I don't know...

For example, my wonderful friend (and probably yours), Michelle of * The Studio At Crow Haven Farm* is from PA--and she makes these amazing, quirky whimsical characters and SO MUCH MORE because she has some kinda unnatural stamina--dolls, busts, journals, tags, you name it--she puts her own special touch to it!

Then, the ever-amazing Carolee Clark of King of Mice Studios is from PA--if you are looking for amazing enchanted and Halloween fare, check her work out--she hand paints everything without using patterns, and the intricacy and precision and IMAGINATION in these pieces is unmatched, I think. I will never tire of seeing her beautiful work!

Awhile back, Carolee recommended fellow artist Carol Harnish of Harnish Arts, who makes these beautiful tiles. They are beautifully decorative and remind me of work from an older time; amongst them are old-fashioned scapes of farm animals, leaves, and other nature-based scenes. I am simply in love with them and vow that I'll order from her when I go to do my farm kitchen.

Then my friend, Jen MacNeill-Traylor, of Gypsy Mare Studios, creates these beautiful pieces of nature, horses, Halloween and more horses! Her work is amazingly realistic and she loves animals and nature, a bonus in my book.

And finally my new friend, and sea swap partner, Kim Maillard of Prims by Kim, is from PA...which is funny because I looked through her shop of fantastic old-fashioned stuffed beauties, including the mohair and prim bears, bunnies, elephants and more and thought "wow, this is some amazing old-fashioned looking stuff...it'll be funny if she is from PA"...and sure enough, she was!

Is there some correlation between amazing art talent and PA? Not sure, but these artists sure make me think so! And, yes, I'm sure I'm missing some artists in this group, so feel free to let me know!

**UPDATES:
SEA SWAPPERS! You now have approximately TWO WEEKS (June 18th) to finish up your work and send it to me if you want it featured here on the blog! I need to receive it no later than MIDNIGHT EST June 18th and will put it up June 19! Feel free to add any Work In Progress pics, if you'd like!

And yes, my sewing machine is back in working order! So now I will double time it to finish up mermaid tales! Woot! Stay tuned!

Grummmmble (a.k.a Why I Envy Clay Doll Artists)

2009-06-01T06:51:00.000-07:00

Dearie Me!

So you remember awhile ago I mentioned machinery hates me. Like, the computer dies on me right when I need it most. And you remember waaay back that I also mentioned my sewing machine hates me, also, right? Apparently, now the sewing machine hates me right when I most need it, as well. Such as when I mention that I have to do a big blog production of the Mermaid's Tales. Yep, I have apparently jinxed it. And mind you, this is the NEWER sewing machine! I am telling you, I have no kind of luck in the electronics department!

For some reason, it started giving me a tough time with the tension--snagging a bit or getting too loose. No matter what I tried, the line would go all wonky in places. I managed to get about half of my "characters" done, but I am so hopelessly delayed that I will have to delay my plans for the Mermaid's Tales for bit (boohoo!).....I swear I am becoming a clay artist!! It cannot possibly be this hard!! It's already an "adventure" sewing these little creatures when everything goes well! DOH!

A friend suggested I oil the sewing machine...it is rather dusty in here and that could have mottled up the inner workings so that it "catches" and causes problems with the sewing line. So I will try....

In the meantime, I apologize everyone!! I hope everyone can be a bit patient, and I will figure it all out. Hmm, the only thing I can think of to make up for it is have a bigger giveaway than I was planning...does that sound like a good idea? ;)

More soon!

An Observation and An Announcement....

2009-05-28T08:39:00.001-07:00

First, the observation....

Lately, I've noticed something about my work:

Hmmmmm...

Rather Curious...

Wait! I've got it!

I think....

...I REALLY need to start laying off of the glittery paints!

NEXT--the announcement:

I know some of you may still be keeping up with my Mermaids Tales and wondering when I will finish the story...sooo..

TUNE IN JUNE 1st when I finish with a HUGE EVENT that will include surprises and maybe a giveaway!

The Mermaid Tales will feature new and interesting characters and a few surprises!

More Bee Stuff...

2009-05-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, who knew a post that had to do with BUGS would get a huge response?? :)

So yesterday's bee post had a few people asking questions. Yikes, my apologies to those who tried to read the whole story on WildAtHeartFarm (my alternate farm blog). For some reason Google/and or Blogger conspired not to let me on (grrumbble), but you can read it now by
CLICKING HERE.

Hopefully it explains some things.

Some fill in the blank explanations--yes, we live in the city and yes, *ahem* bees are banned here but my landlady managed to pull some bureaucratic strings since she is an well-known environmental activist...

The bees are hived on our roof, which is a green roof with little shrubbery on it...and have already begun collecting pollen. I would suggest if people are interested in doing something similar, they check out their local city and town ordinances and seeing if beekeeping is legal. You might be amazed that certain cities (Chicago for example) DO allow bees to be kept. Once you have authorization, it's just a matter of getting equipment and bees.

Bees will be your hardest bet as they sell out quickly from most apiaries. I would suggest that most people order in January of the same year they want to hive. You will have to hive asap--before flowers and trees bloom, so they can collect pollen before winter, or they cannot convert it to nectar or honey.

If anyone is interested in learning how to hive and isn't too far from NYC--*ahem* I don't mind traveling next year (and no, I am not kidding, as I really do want to see more people beekeep, and I love meeting new people)!!

Definitely NOT art....

2009-05-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

Greetings Everyone!

I hope your weekend was wonderful and that those of you that live in the States managed to finish many things with your extra day off.

As usual, I am still running behind on several projects and it also didn't help--though it was definitely an experience--that I added one more thing to the list--putting up a beehive.

Yes, you read that correctly. And of course, if you've been here for any given amount of time, you know that my secret life involves farming--or any semblance therein. So, since my landlady wanted to get bees and I am the Jill of All Trades...up the hive went, onto our roof. I had my landlady's coworker and friend also helping....and it actually went well!

Here are some pics (click on any to enlarge):

Here is my landlady's coworker Dwaine. His expression might be because he is nervous, as he's never hived bees before. Or, he can just be looking at me funny because I'm basically like: "don't we look rad in our bee suits?"

Opening the smaller hive and getting ready to transfer to permanent hive, next to it on the left.

Closeup of the frame as I move it.

Dwaine finally got brave and did a great job transferring a couple of frames...

We are half-way through--three frames in the permanent hive, two to go...

Here I am with one of the frames (yes, it's really me!)....

Finally, when bees are hived, I install the outer cover. They are doing great!

And NOW you know what I do when I don't make dolls, dance, write or...umm...sleep! :)

I'll have another post on this on my farmy blog , so stop on by!

More Kindnesses...

2009-05-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday---I posted about the many little blessings that came my way through the post and internet.

Today I am continuing that gratefulness, because there is more to share!

Last week, I sent one of the Bunny Children off to live with a certain enchanted "faerie whisperer" (who also might be a "mermaid whisperer")--Kaerie Faerie! And here is the cute picture she sent me back!

If you know me, I get all warm and fuzzy inside when I see these sweet little pics of where my dolls go to, and Kaerie's little doll family looks like they are going to be good friends! I am sure they will all have fun!

THANK YOU KAERIE!!

Next, I decided to spread some kindness of my own....as an artist, you probably know we have the capacity to do things through our own creativity, so I took the plunge and made something to help fellow artist Katherine Dunn, another artist and friend. I've mentioned Katherine in the past, and actually linked to my other blog about her story---but the jist of it is this: Katherine writes spectacular stories of her art AND farm (and if you're a farmer at heart who also does art, this is a HUGE inspiration) over at her Apifera Farm blog. Truly, if you haven't read it, you are missing out! She is hosting a Pino Pie Party (named after her beloved and personable mini-donkey, Pino) and she needs you to send aprons and 8 x 8 squares of cloth with space to write on. Why? For people to write special messages to hospice workers, whom she is honoring at her pie day! AND you can embellish the outside of the cloth with your own little artwork, plus make homemade aprons to send. For more details (and probably a better explanation than I'm giving), please see the WHOLE storyat Katherine's other blog: HERE and HERE.

So Farmgirls, artists, and Farmgirl Artists--break out your stashes and swatches and get crackin'! This seems like a wonderful way to express your creativity and love!

Finally--in the states, it's Memorial Day weekend. For many, this is the "unofficial start of Summer," or an excuse for a long weekend. But the true meaning encompasses remembering all of our armed forces who make the ultimate sacrifice...both in battle and often far after the battles have ended. Please say a prayer for these brave and proud men and women who have given so much of themselves.

Have a blessed weekend, Friends!

Kindnesses....

2009-05-18T00:59:00.000-07:00

So...while this has sort of been a crazy couple of weeks, there have also been many kindnesses coming my way--so I wanted to share this sweet little blessings here because, hey, celebrate what you can, right?

Firstly...wow, I hadn't actually checked my blog for two days! I am shocked that I am almost at 100 followers! Gee, really? You like me? You really like me? :) Thanks for thinking that something about me, or the blog, is interesting!

Then, some time back, I was tagged for the Renee award by Sue, Jeanne, and Cathy.... and most recently, Caroline of Caroline's Crafts also tagged me for this award! I am so honored!

While the rules state I am to list some things I am grateful for, and pick several other bloggers--I thought I would skip the listing (I mean, do you really want to know six other things I like? I'm sure they are food oriented!), and since I'm not sure who HASN'T been picked for the award already (did I mention that there were so many wonderful people here?) I will just state that anyone that feels like it should go ahead and put this award on their blog if they like--I so love all of you who have read and commented on my blog :)

In the meantime, super-human and artist Michelle of *Studio At Crow Haven Farm* surprised me with a package!! I already loved this lady just for her super-infectious charm and humor, and now I love her even more--maybe it's obscene, even (?!)

Why? Because I was joking with her that, on her blog, it seemed every week she was getting some art sent to her, and how did she do it? And so she decided to send ME some art! Just like that, no questions asked! Isn't she just a gem?

And if that weren't enough, my Under the Sea swap partner, Kim, of Prims by Kim, sent me my swap suuuuper early!! Wow! I am sooooo grateful!

So here are the two packages side by side:

I feel like a kid at Christmas!

Here is what's inside of Michelle's package! First off--she has the BEST descriptive cards/business cards I have ever seen! They are like extra little pieces of art that you get, along with the actual art! Take a look (click to enlarge):

I also love that some of the backs of the card have the "back" of the art when you turn it over!

(the back of the left one is to the top left pic above, and the back of the right goes to the coffin dollies on the left bottom in the picture above this one!)

And FINALLY--here is the art, an April Fool's Head! It is too cute!

THANK YOU MICHELLE!

Here is her piece along with all of the artist pieces I've received since I started this wonderful journey amongst doll artists! In the middle is the star box I won in a giveaway by Carolee of King of Mice Studios, and my heart from a swap with Sarah, which was hosted by Prim and Whimsy Girls. (My little Valentine Marie, from Marie Patterson Studio decided to hide at the last minute!)

Next up--my package from Kim!! Here is what it all looked like when once I took EVERYTHING out of the box!! Wow, I could already tell that I was getting A LOT more than just a Sea Doll!

Then, once everything was unwrapped--WOW! I am amazed! Here are some of the items...
A sweet card:

And candy galore! Including some enchanted flower lollipops!

Haha, but I can't show you the Sea doll until my Mermaid Parade of dolls from all of the swappers...so, for now, I'll just give you a teeeeeeensy li'l peak:

THANK YOU KIM!!!!

And that, for now, are some of the kindnesses happening at the moment. Wow, I better get moving to reciprocate these! :)
Tomorrow! More kindnesses!

D'OH!!

2009-05-16T08:42:00.001-07:00

Well...it was bound to happen!

Every single time I REALLLY need to be on my computer, the darned thing expires on me.
Yes, in one way or another, my computer has managed to die--right before major performances, when I am printing programs. Actually, it happened that way TWO years in a row. Or, right before I need to get some pressing thing done that can only be done ONLINE.

Yes...computers don't like me.

This past week was no different. To my laptop's credit, it decided to hold on while I announced the Sea Swap partners. But then it's battery promptly went kaput--which left me with a screen that would suddenly go black--although, oddly, I could hear sounds/music. But, without seeing my cursor, it was useless to try to do anything....

Almost simultaneously, the server for my farmy magazine became REALLY troublesome. Of course, the "tech people" at said server were about as useful as the server itself...so, a month, and one server later, we can announce that the magazine is up....

And, while waiting for my backtop laptop, I must say I apologize if I haven't been posting on blogs (including mine! I am aware I owe everyone some Mermaid Tales!) or getting back to everyone on time! Yikes!

So here goes! BIGTOWN FARMER IS UP! And, you MIGHT RECOGNIZE a few doll artists that have been profiled! CLICK HERE TO SEE!

In the meantime, I am running around trying to catch up to MANY sewing PROJECTS!

But I will leave you with my beginning to end process of my Shakespeare piece--including the BACK of the doll, which I neglected to show you earlier!

Drawing out the image directly onto cloth...

Painting...notice the dark base color...

Finished!

More Finished-ness!

And now---the BACK of the piece! Did you get the "Star Crossed Lover" reference? Ahh, well, I think it is a decent design in any case...

Close Up....

Hope you enjoyed that little tour :) Now, off to finish the gazillion other wild and crazy things a'happ'nin'! Have a great weekend, Friends!

Sea Swap and Other Warm Fuzzy Stuff!

2009-05-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

Alrighty FOLKS!!

Yesterday, I got down to the nitty-gritty of choosing partners for everyone. I had a pile of lists that looked like this:

Ummm.....wow, that's lotsa folks!!

Yes, I take this seriously, and I DO want each of my swap participants to be pleased with their partners. What did you expect? I am a Virgo!

So...each name, "likes and dislikes" and potential partners were put on a huge master list. Which then became this:

And this:

Ok...those last two might have been a bit exaggerated, but it kinda-sorta seemed like it during the "match-up" phase!

Then, finally, I got it all together! You should already have email instructions in your mailbox--PLEASE EMAIL ME AT WILDATHEARTFARM@AOL.COM IF YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN INSTRUCTIONS as I might be a bit lightheaded from playing Matchmaker!!

Here are a few general rules:

1. Remember the spirit of this swap! Please put your "best foot forward" in your piece and have fun! If you find yourself "being annoyed" at who you have been paired up with, you have clearly missed the point!
I do not allow grumpy swappers--this is your chance to receive tokens of another's expression and to possibly meet someone new, and get free art :D

2. Your dolls should fit into the 4 x4" to 7x7" size range. If they are larger, I am sure your partner will not mind, but please do not go below 4 x 4 to keep things fair for all involved.

3. Because I am giving you your partners a bit later, I will extend the dates as such: Finish date for your art is June 18th and Send out date is June 28th. NOTE: If you know that you will have your doll to your partner in time, you may finish later, given the shipping date...however...

4. I will be posting a blog with pictures/interviews of how you made your doll here on JUNE 19th and I will also try to get this little swap into an art magazine!! So, if you are interested in this please let me know!

AGAIN! I EXTEND A DEEP THANK YOU TO EACH OF YOU WHO CHOSE TO PARTICIPATE! Or even considered it! You don't know how swell it makes me feel. I am in awe of all of the talent and support around me!

Whew....ok.....now onto something (else) near and dear to my heart!
I didn't forget, Mom!

Thank you for holding this little person's hand, teaching fairness in life, picking up pieces of a broken heart, bandaging cuts, being creative and supporting art!

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!

Sea Swap officially CLOSED--and Underway!!

2009-05-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

Wooohoo! Alrighty lovelies! For those of you following the Sea Swap madness--we are now officially closed to participants--and now I have the task of creating lists/diagrams to get each participant a partner!

And I am flat out amazed to type this: WE HAVE 54 PARTICIPANTS!
You have no idea how excited and humbled I am--thank you to all of you who thought this was worthwhile--especially the early few of you who are so talented--I have no doubt you helped draw people here because of the quality of the work, and as each of you signed on, it just built upon the excitement---SO THANK YOU!! I am so grateful!

First thing's first--DOUBLE CHECK list to the RIGHT to make sure you are in the swap. If you don't see your name, there has been some oversight or mistake so email me asap! OR IF YOU HAVE CHANGED YOUR MIND AND DON'T WANT TO BE IN THE SWAP ANY LONGER--email me ASAP!

Alright, next thing-- I SHALL BE EMAILING each of you your partner, and further instructions, TOMORROW (SUNDAY)--if you do not get an email from me, this may mean I don't have your email---or I have gone so cross eyed from getting everyone partners, that I can no longer type! In any case, please EMAIL ME AT WILDATHEARTFARM@AOL.COM if you don't get something by Sunday Night

Ok--that should be it for now! More tomorrow!! :)

Alrighty then!

2009-05-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

SEA SWAPPERS and POTENTIAL SEA SWAPPERS!
You have ALL DAY today and reeeeally early tomorrow morning if'n you STILL want to register for the UNDER THE SEA SWAP!
Again, I will announce your partner on Sunday May 10th!

**Also, fellow swappers, one final question---anyone not mind shipping to Canada? Feel free to leave me a comment or email! Thank you!

And, I wanted to thank everyone for all of the lovely comments, yesterday, regarding my little Shakespeare doll--you sure know how to make a girl blush!

Here are a few more pics. I was probably more analytic than I should have been about making the doll as an art piece--here Romeo is in red or "fiery" colors:

and Juliet is "Blue"

...and, yes, as someone noted yesterday, they are each holding the "weapons" of their destruction--the poison and the dagger. My boyfriend commented that they look "like they are killing each other with them" (poison and dagger)--and I suppose he is correct--in a way they killed each other, I think, much as each of their family's hate fueled their choice. In the end I think it was just unfortunate circumstance and bad luck....

The painting was a sort of long process of layering paint for a highlighted effect, and i tried to make them less "pretty" and maybe a little garish--mostly because of the situation they are in--so their features might be a bit exaggerated.

Thank you again for the comments--it is very encouraging!
Have a great weekend everyone!

PS--for more fun and crafty ways to do something nice, please see today's post on my farmy blog!

You know....

2009-05-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

When I'm not writing on this blog, and writing on my farm blog, and not writing for ADO and not writing for my farmy magazine, or dancing, or working with animals....

I MAKE DOLLS....

Here is the finished Shakespeare Challenge piece--Finally! It's Romeo and Juliet in a heart shape. The banner beneath them says "Love Never Dies"---and I will have waaay more pics and an explanation of the work tomorrow but, as usual, I am running around like a loopy person!

IN THE MEANTIME REMEMBER!! FRIDAY IS THE LAST DAY TO SIGN UP FOR THE SEA SWAP--Heck, I'll even let it go 'til SATURDAY Morning--we have some great artists and crafters, so jump on in...the water's fine :)

Announcements!

2009-05-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

I am sorry I haven't been posting quite on time (for such things as the Mermaid's Tales), but this week has suddenly snuck up and become BUSY for me! I promise I will continue as I can, but there are a couple of interesting developments going on (many of which I will catch you up on shortly).....

One of these is my latest post on the Art Dolls Only blog--you do know I'm the regular Monday blog writer there, right?--

And this week, I cover the LAST of the Shakespeare Challenge dolls! So hop on over and see some great art.... you might even see a familiar face or two!!

Speaking of which, I really need to finish up my Romeo and Juliet doll!

Still in progress......

ALSO--there are roughly FOUR DAYS left for you to sign up for the Under the Sea Swap. What are you waiting for? It'll be tons of fun, and no pressure!

DEADLINE TO SIGN UP May 8th!
PARTNERS ANNOUNCED MAY 10th
DEADLINE TO GET YOUR DOLL PUBLISHED ON THIS BLOG JUNE 17th
DEADLINE TO GET YOUR DOLL TO YOUR PARTNER JUNE 25th
CLICK HERE To find out more!

Ok Friends, More SOON!