Happy Holidays!

I feel like I'm finally getting a chance to breath and so I'm taking the time to update my various web presences. This time of year is always insanely busy...it actually starts in October and builds through the following months to a fever pitched crescendo in December...but I guess that comes with the territory if you want to actually ...gasp...SELL your art.
It has been decidedly unseasonal here this year. The temperature has actually been in the high 70's all week leaving me feeling very non festive...thank you global warming...but supposedly we'll be in the 40's tomorrow...this weather reminds me of a menopausal woman...so I'll be happy by the fireside or the oven...all those cookies to bake! Well not on a fire..IN the oven. Today I need to go start some blueberry jam from the berries I froze last summer (It's WAY too hot here in the summer to make jam!) because if my dad doesn't get jam in his stocking he will definitely pout!
And in NEWS, I am having my very first, limited time only, get them while they're hot SALE!! THIS WEEKEND ONLY SALE!! Dec 13, 14 & 15 get 20% off all orders over$100.00 and 10% off orders over $50.00 in my shop!! And here is a sneak preview of what is there:

I had to post this.....

We were having salmon for dinner and I guess the scent was so overwhelmingly delicious that our youngest kitty, Calliope decided that we must have just misplaced her invitation...and where was her place setting? Needless to say, we quickly disabused her of the notion...No cats allowed at table! Of course with 4 cats and our corgi, things can get pretty wild UNDER the table!

And here's what's new in the shop.....















Christmas is coming.......falalalala...
But first there's Thanksgiving with the Toy clan and Co. at my house to get through!

"Buying handmade is better for people, better for the environment, and better for giving truly special and well-crafted gifts. The ascendancy of chain store culture and global manufacturing has left us all dressing, furnishing, and decorating alike. The connection between producer and consumer has been lost. Buying handmade helps them reconnect." -Quote from the Buy Handmade site...because I couldn't say it half as well!
Help support independent artists, take the pledge!

Fall at Last?

Well it finally is staring to look and feel a little bit like fall here. For awhile I was afraid we were going to go straight from summer into winter completely skipping my favorite time of year but we actually got some rain last week and the temperatures recently have been only slightly above normal. Of course who knows what "normal" is any more. When I first moved to NC 30+ years ago the summers were so wet that everything that stood still for 5 minutes would start to mildew. Now we seem to have a constant state of drought and the heat is worse every year. Sigh...
But today is lovely and the trees are putting on their lovely fall attire.

I added some new dolls to the shop last week that run the gamut from tiny Waldorf pixies to larger more complex pieces so here's a peek!

More Mice...and some rabbits too...

Lots of bunnies and Mice in my Etsy store now, I'm starting to feel a little overrun!

Contest!

Kerri, of Little Moon Originals ,and I are sponsoring a contest for the group FAE (Fantasy Artists of Etsy) called Fantastic Fall Fantasies that is going on now. We decided to collaborate on a doll together for the prize and here she is!

The Autumn Fairy Princess

The contest ends Oct 8th and voting will begin then. To see more pictures and the contest entries so far visit our contest webpage.

Tagged!

http://peskypixies.blogspot.com/ tagged me so I'm supposed to tell seven random facts about myself....Ookaay...
1. I'm named after Cinderella, the Disney movie came out the year I was born and my parents were unprepared for a girl.
2. I was a theater major in college...how that translated to doll art I'm not exactly sure.
3. I hate pears...weird texture thing.
4. Sometimes my dreams come true like I always knew I would have a house full of boys even when I was little.
5. I love cold, rainy days 'cause they make me feel cut off in a cozy way.
6. I'll watch just about anything with good costumes.
7. I'm ALWAYS on time.

Okay enough of that!
I've been having a great time making witches and other fall fae lately. The weather finally turned and there has been a delicious coolness in the air and I swear the leaves are starting to turn on some of the trees. Fall cometh!

Too Darn Hot!!

I have been really slack about keeping this blog updated and that needs to change. I've been stuck in the summer doldrums for too long, although in my defense this summer has been hideously hot...NOT one of my favorite seasons! I've been trying to think of the positives of summer, lovely veggies from the garden, no school stuff to worry about, butterflies...and there I'm stuck! There are just so many more things I don't like about summer...sigh...hopefully the heat will break soon.

But I have been VERY busy making dolls. Our annual summer homeshow went pretty well. Of course all the money I made was swallowed up the NEXT day by an emergency car repair...another sigh...but at least I had it. I've added several new dolls to my Etsy site including these two cuties.
And a coffee fairy...







I'll be adding more over the next couple of weeks so go to the store and check them out!

Pele

I've been extra busy with commissions lately...never a bad thing!! ...so here's a couple of pictures of my favorite. This is Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess that I made for my fabulous web mistress and long time friend, Beth. Her "fire" dress is made from a piece of collage material that I created by layering fibers between a piece of red satin and some iridescent tulle and then going wild with free motion embroidery and metallic threads. It was a lot of fun to make and I love the way it turned out. The under "mountain" dress is black duponi silk and she's wearing a traditional open fern lei and head piece. This doll was so fun to make because she was so different from what I usually do and she was so complicated to make...I do love a challenge!

Alyssandra and the grads

Here's another dragon daughter fairy. This one is Alyssandra, but everyone calls her Allie. Unusually, her mother is a white dragon and when she grows up she has the potential to be a very powerful sorceress...but right now she is very young and mainly has a huge potential for mischief! She is very sweet at heart though and her mischief is never cruel.

We went to the mountains this weekend for my son's graduation from college. It's kind of a strange feeling to see your child graduate ...it doesn't seem like it was very long ago that I was wearing the cap and gown and yet it was really a lifetime ago. Yikes! I'm so proud of him , a lot of kids start college and don't make it through, and here he is heading off to grad school! Great job Nate!! And Lindzy too, with so many honors around her neck I'm surprised she could walk! Kudos to them both!

Dragon Fae

I've been working on these horned fairies lately that I call the "dragon daughters." They are the children born from the union of a fairy and a shape changer dragon and are always girls. They have the natural ability to become very powerful magicians and they also are immune to the touch of iron. This second ability allows them to dwell closer to humans than other fairies and they often make cities their homes. This is Mogwen and like most of her kind her father was a dragon. Only very rarely do female dragons produce a dragon daughter.





Okay...all kinds of strange stories find me when I'm doll making! I actually made a younger version of Mog too. Here she is hanging out with her friend Jorintha.

Mice in the House!!!

I've been making mice all this week and they really are turning out cute. I love making the little doll house size outfits but it is SO time consuming since everything has to be sewn on by hand. I want them to be durable enough to play with, so I turn all the hems and make sure every edge is finished, and that really ends up increasing the amount of time they take to make. Here are three of the current group in process.







My son was visiting over Easter and brought my very sweet and adorable grand-puppy, Jack, with him. Our corgi, Mattie, just tolerates him most of the time and the cats think he's pretty annoying, but we adore him and I think you can see why!

A Taste of Spring

Well our brief taste of Spring has come and gone leaving us with winter chill once again. I've been working hard to get dolls made for galleries recently, but while the weather was warm, I took some time to get some photos taken. Here is my new doll Artemisia, she looks very spring-like, doesn't she.