~ She's a pig! ~ final art doll of 2010 ~

This is De Cerdo.  I made her for the Art Dolls Only challenge 'Animal Totem'.  Naturally, I just had to choose the pig!

(piglet image courtesy of Sharon Montrose)

~ One World One Heart ~

I'm participating in the event ~ One World One Heart ~  organized by Lisa of A Whimsical Bohemian.

                                                                       

It's the fifth and final event, and is defined as ~  giving all those who blog a chance to meet and mingle, and form connections with those they may not have otherwise met, from all over the world.  Each participant offers a 'door prize' and at the end of the event, a winner is randomly chosen from those who visited you.
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I am making an Art Doll for my prize, and also this little chap will be accompanying her.....

The bird, not the cat.  Texas thought I'd made him a new toy.  I've not made a stuffed bird before, and found this great little tutorial from Becca of Lavender's Blue.  I'm not totally overjoyed with the bird, so may try a second.

I hope everyone joins in ~ sounds like fun!

~ Merry Christmas ~

This is my mum and dad, a long time ago! Tee hee ~ what's with the Christmas Tree eh?

I love you mum and dad, even if I am giggling at your tree!

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Since I've just embarrassed my parents (and insulted their tree, no less) I may as well ambarrass me and my big sister...Love you too Kazzy.

Hope everyone has a lovely time.  See ya'll in the New Year X

~ My latest Doll Swap with Michelle ~

This is my second and last doll swap of 2010!  Here is the doll I made super talented Michelle from The Studio at Crow Haven Farm.
Michelle chose to have her doll made up in pink and brown.  The fabric and ribbon are all the way from England and she's ready for the Venetian Christmas Ball. I enjoyed making her for Michelle, who named her Peace...

And this is Bethany... the delightful doll Michelle made for me.  Nature was Michelle's inspiration.  Good choice don't you think?! She is adorable and her outfit is divine.

Michelle made some wonderful mixed media tags to go with her - she is a totally multi-talented artist!

~ Thank you so much Michelle ~

~ New doll ~ & the piggys made me cry :O(

Here is Conifer, my latest doll.  I have been quite productive since I also finished making a doll for a doll swap (I'll blog about that when Michelle has seen her!)

She's in my  ~ Etsy ~ shop

~ Piggy update! ~

Isabelle and Henrietta have finally settled in, and my knowledge of pet pigs has evolved. Alot.  The reason I cried? whilst searching the web to find a pig image for my calling cards I am having made, I came across an image of a horrific pig factory intensive farm.  I felt sick, I really did.

It broke my heart, especially since my pigs LOVE to have their belly scratched... they role over onto their side, they grunt happily and fall asleep, but if you dare stop, they nudge your hand until you succumb.  

Here is Hetti saying hi :O)

Please don't tell me any bad storys of factory farms, I can't cope with it... but if you do eat meat, consider the organic free range options.  I'm sure any animal liker/lover would wish the animals they eat to have had a non traumatic, fair existence, at the very least? 

Ps... I don't disagree with humans eating meat, I disagree with some of the ways it's produced. I hate the person that invented  factory/intensive/battery farming,  I really do.

~ New art doll bust ~ Decor

We had snow!  ok, it lasted one day, but still, snow is snow, and I like it :O)
I enjoyed making the little Christmas ornaments, so I made one more... she's called decor.  It sounded a bit French, since that's where my head is right now (so to speak)

Decor is in my Etsy shop...

And here is a picture of the snow, from where I sit and create...

New doll ~ Snowflake

It's taken me all week to finish this doll, because of our new additions!  Pig duo were so keen to get out of the barn to roll in mud, snout around and lay in the pool, we had to build a very secure fence around the paddock.  $1000 later, I think they appreciate it. These were very expensive 'drop off's'!!

She's in my Etsy shop now.

I'm hoping to be more productive from now on!

~ Proudly owned by two pigs ~

Here's the story....Jesse  found a pig in the workshop this morning...we were scared to get too near, thought it was wild and they can be scarey can't they? he was eating a bag of horse feed... caused  a bit of havock getting to it!!

I took the photo, then we ran back to the house to figure out what to do! A few minutes later, look who was at the front door...

It was very entertaining watching Jesse decide if the pig was safe to go near.. of course as soon as we saw the eartag, we were pretty sure he wasn't wild!

I gave him some water, which he enjoyed. Alot.  We discovered he was a she. 

We managed to usher her into the barn, and I raced to the farm shop to buy some pig food.  Whilst I was deciding what I should buy, Jesse called me to tell me he had found out  that the pig had been turned loose since the owner couldn't sell, or afford to keep.  I have many words to describe this person.. freakin idiot is a starter.  As I reached home... pig number two arrived up the drive....

They are ADORABLE.

They love the deep straw... that's an ear poking through!  She's called Isabelle.

And this is Henrietta....

In Texas we collected stray/dumped cats and dogs who wondered onto our land... here in Oklahoma it's pigs! we've only been here three months!  amazing eh.

I know absolutley nothing about pigs, so have been reading up on them.. I also emailed Judy of Pigs Peace Sanctuary who I blogged about last summer.  I hope she can fill in the gaps!

New Dolls, Naughty Cats & Dogs.....

I have a naughty cat, and two naughty dogs.....

Tiger thought I put the glass decoration on the tree for him to play with.... nope, not what I had intended.

So the dogs thought they would get a good 'lets guard the front door' spot on my vintage Rococo (style?) couch, no less, and hoped I wouldn't notice!

This reminds me ~ I still need to put some pictures up - the entrance hall looks naked!

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This is Gold....

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This is River....

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This is Blossoming Almond Tree (Dress by Vincent Van Gogh) she was created for the Etsy Art Dolls Only 'copy the Master's' challenge...I printed the famous painting onto fabric.

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This is Sky. she's another ornament....

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This is Monsoon.  Her dress is made from a beautiful dress I wore only once, from a beautiful shop in England called Monsoon!

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I will be listening them later on Etsy.  I'm still creating more, but will list them as I make them...

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Thank you Sonia from Creating Vintage Charm magazine, for asking me to be the featured artist in this winter's addition... it is lovely and definately worth owning!!

You can purcahse the magazine from here

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Also, thank you to Nichelle, who featured The Nutcarcker Ballerina, and me on her

 Dance Advantage website

Oh how I wish I was a Ballerina!

Tamara Rojo ~ A principal dancer with the London Royal Ballet.

Photography by Joseph Seif