Sunday, July 29, 2007

My Doll is Finished!


And she's ready for the August 1st release of The Humble Arts.
Please mark your calendars for this exciting event! We are having
a Falloween theme and most of us will have brand new offerings at this time!
My selling page is here, please give us a look.
Thank ya kindly :)

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Ava Grace Angels

I was recently chosen to create a logo for The Humble Arts group of women to use on an important upcoming auction. Well this is it! Let me tell you more about who Ava Grace is....
Baby Ava Grace was born with Pfeiffer Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. She will need many corrective surgeries. The artists involved in our website are pulling our talents together to help this family and precious child and are creating angel dolls and art in honor of Ava Grace. These special items will be auctioned on eBay sometime this Fall with ALL proceeds going towards Ava Grace's medical costs. The auction date will be announced very soon and we hope you'll visit and bid when it all begins! Please check back for this very special time. I also wanted to tell you why I've chosen the color red in this otherwise plain black and white banner.
In some cultures, red denotes purity, joy, and celebration. Red is the color of happiness and prosperity in China and may be used to attract good luck. Red is power. A stimulant, red is the hottest of the warm colors. Studies show that red can have a physical effect, increasing the rate of respiration and raising blood pressure. Red letter day means an important or significant occasion! Red carpet treatment means making someone feel special, treating them as if they are a celebrity. I believe that this is an important reason for doing what we are doing, so red seemed very appropriate. More information and photos of Ava Grace here.
Please stay tuned for more information regarding this special little girl.


Doll Eyes

Well I spent a good deal of time yesterday embroidering eyes on my doll in progress. She looks a bit like a classic alien at this point, but she'll improve today with any luck. The fabric has been chosen for her dress and her mouth has yet to be decided, but for some reason, that always comes easy for me, so no worries about that. Not much else to say about her because of a lack of time. I'm lucky to even write about it now. Wow, where does the time go?
Later...

Monday, July 23, 2007

Whitewashed to Antiqued




Today the "doll" has been antiqued....but no photos for you. I have to keep some of this a mystery I think. When she gets her face, perhaps I'll show her then. I did however, stitch on a beauty of a nose...or is it a beauty? What I do have to show are some unique photos of our day trip that we took yesterday up I35 towards Austin, our state capitol. We went as far as Georgetown and RoundRock, which are on the outskirts of Austin.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Not as nekkid?


Cool, now I've given Nekkid Doll a coat of whitewash after a good sanding and talking to. She is giving me fits, since she is kinda tall and doesn't want to stretch out when I need her to. But being stubborn is a good thing in certain situations, isn't it? Anyhow, she has a nice cafe aulait (or however you spell it, since the spell checker doesn't even know, imagine that!) striping effect, which will be toned down in the next process even more. As you can now tell, this won't be the traditional orangey pumpkin you usually think of. She'll be a white one. There are many names for the paler variety of this particular gourd. One I've chosen is called the Lil' Pump-ke-mom. You might have heard of the Lumina variety or perhaps the Casper one as well? No tellin' which variety she'll end up looking like in the end. That's the beauty of creating a OOAK doll after all! More to follow...

Friday, July 20, 2007

Doll Progress


Here she is, hanging from my crepe myrtle tree.
"Nekkid Doll" now has a first layer of "skin".
Skin only means the first coat of staining paint.
She has many more steps to go through before
she's ready for her clothing. So, until then!..........

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Baby Signing anyone?





Baby signing can be fun! For instance, did you know that your baby can talk to you before they can actually say the words? I've seen this work with 2 of my grandsons so far and now my granddaughter. It's just amazing to me how they can pick up so much in a short amount of time. I highly recommend the "Baby Einstein" videos that are available for infants and toddlers. They might seem silly or excessive for some parents, but now that I've seen them in action I'm sold! I worried that they might rely on signing and not ever talk, but that is the furthest thing from the truth. OK....my endorsement is done :)
Have a great day!

"Nekkid Doll"

Strange title, I know. But I wanted to show an "in progress" photo of my upcoming doll that will debut on The Humble Arts website for August 1st. Our theme will be Under the Falloween Moon. Most of us will have items with this Fall/Halloween theme in mind up for sale at this time.
I've made up this particular doll at least 3 other times. Each time she's been a little different and this time she'll be a OOAK too. Keep in mind that this is just a blank canvas of a doll that I've put together, with lotsa painting, aging and even more sewing ahead of me. Not to mention designing her clothing too. She's stuffed firmly and has a weighted tush. I've found that constructing a boxed bottom and adding steel shot before the final closing stitches makes for a really nice sitter of a doll and gives them a weightier feel so when you pick 'em up it's like holding a real person (almost?) Remember to click on the photo to see a nice larger view!

Friday, July 13, 2007

To sign or not to sign?


That is the question...
Here is a local gas rig, not too darn far from our home. We've learned that our whole neighborhood is a prime location for a gas pocket/well. This company is drilling oil and gas wells all over Texas apparently and so far they check out OK. (we hope) We have a chance to sign a 5 year lease for them to do drilling (offsite of course) and anything that they hit and produce we'll get a mere 20% paid to us. The thing is, this is split amongst some 1500+ other neighbors around us. Is it worth it? Do we give in so they can start? I feel pressured to tell the truth, but how else could we ever use our own mineral rights otherwise? Simple homeowners such as ourselves simply don't have the funds to do so or even remotely think about it. Worst case senario? We get blown off of the face of the planet. Simple, boom, gone!
I dunno, need more facts, figures and suggestions.
In the meantime, we wait for a response from
the company for more information. Oh yeah, we also are due a sizeable bonus check upon signing the lease too. It almost seems too good to be true, that's what I'm most afraid of...

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Sad Goodbye

Memories hard to forget: the color purple, especially flowers! Home-made ice cream. Fresh peaches pealed with cream and sugar in a bowl. Juicy tomatoes, creamy corn and purple onions. Picking dewberries by the creek. RANGER COOKIES! Loving cats and feeding any that would stay. Washing clothes with a ringer washer outside. Hanging them up to dry. The old telephone with a party line and hand cranked ringer, yes really! Gathering eggs in the henhouse despite the noise and the smell. Feeding the cows and calling them too. Learning how to embroider. Always hating to leave when we came to visit.... and that hard work and honesty really does pay off! God bless my Grandma.