Catching up!

Wow I have so much to cover today! I have been incredibly busy with commissions...never a bad thing!...and I've let some stuff pile up here. So let's see if I can get a little caught up!

First I was given this lovely blog award:

It means “This blog invests and believes in ‘proximity’[meaning that blogging makes us 'close' - being close through proxy].”
I like that! Thanks so much Teaching Handwork!

Second I've been tagged twice! First by Alteredevents and then by Archetypal Theater with the "seven little known things about yourself" tag. Now I've done this one a couple of times already but since I have lots of new readers perhaps it's time again, So...

1. I'm named after Cinderella...yes really!
2. I don't eat mammals but it really doesn't bother me if other people do.
3. On the subject of food,since reading Barbara Kingsolver's marvelous book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle", I've really gotten into eating as locally as possible. We grow a garden, belong to 2 CSAs (community sponsored agriculture) with local farmers, and are weekly visitors to the nearby farmers market. I even trade dolls for food!
4. I'm a country girl at heart but I feel totally in love with Paris and felt more at home there then I have ever felt in a city...including the one I live in now.
5. I've recently become a huge fan of cello music...and if you want to hear something really cool listen to the bluegrass band Crooked Still . Cello and bluegrass , who would have thought it!


6. I'm terribly shy! I'm good at hiding it, but art shows where I have to stand there and sell my wares are torture for me.
7. I don't ever pass on tags...it goes along with my incredible shyness so I am always the weak link in these things!

Hide and Go Seek...and New Dolls

I've got a big show tomorrow and I've made several new pieces that I'm just dying to share! But first, I promised to tell you about the promo game that the NaturalKids team is starting on Monday...actually I think Rebecca does a better job of explaining than I could, so if you go here you can read all the details. So go...read...but come back!

Okay, so you're back now and ready to see my new pieces? Great! The first is Bethany Bunny. Ever since I started felting sweaters I've been thinking of turning some of that nummy felt ...yes I said Nummy...into an old fashioned stuffed animal. The kind that I always wished I had as a kid. So I messed around trying to find a pattern and as usual ended up making my own. I just love her!

The jointing buttons are wooden and made by Jenn over at The Button Shop. Her outfit has shell buttons up the back and is removable and she can stand on her own too!! I made her tail from angora yarn for a little touch of real bunny :)

And this is a doll that arrived full blown in my head about a week ago and just would not let me rest until I had made her! Sheesh, I love crows but this one was driving me crazy...meet Sylvia the crow girl. She is of course holding some shiny objects in her hand...er...wing. Once I got her started she flew... so to speak...together and I'm already planning on some cousins and siblings for her...crows do like to flock. Soon I'll have my own storytelling of crows!

Autumn Reverie

We went to the mountains last weekend to hang with dear friends, enjoy some rockin' music, and of course visit my favorite fabric shop. The drive up was breathtaking...

The leaves were past their "peak" but that's when I think they're the best, I love the darker hues. I took all these shots from the car, but it was all so lovely that I couldn't take a bad picture. The light was filtering through the trees casting a golden glow, the sky was cobalt blue, and the leaves were falling in a slow motion dance. It was simply magical.

It's a very busy time of year here at the Nest. The holidays seem to collide head on with all the biggest art shows and of course all the end of term school stuff...it's enough to make one's head spin! But lots of new designs are getting made so look for new dolls to be introduced next week! I'm also participating in a fun discount promo with the NaturalKids Team that starts Monday and I'll have more info posted on that this Friday. Lots to look forward to and in the meantime I'll leave you with another autumn snapshot...

This just keeps going through my head....

"Oh what a beautiful Morning
Oh what a beautiful day,
I've got a wonderful feeling ,
Everything's going my way..."


yep...yes we can and yes we did....

A Haunting We will Go...

So once again much fun was had on Halloween this year.
There was the carving of the pumpkin by our in house master pumpkin carver...teen boys are always SO thrilled to have their picture taken...



The Traditional dinner of brains and bloody worms...

accompanied of course with toasted pumpkin seeds...

We get an heirloom pumpkin from a local farmer every year so we can eat the yummy insides....
by the way, have you noticed that all canned pumpkin comes in 15oz. cans now a days?And all my old recipes that call for a can mean a 16oz can so I save the extra cooked pumpkin in frozen 1oz. packages...

This is a huge pot but of course it cooks down a lot!

Living on a dead end street means we don't get many trick-or-treaters but we decorate the place up and have a grand old time visiting with the neighbors. I hope your Halloween was loads of fun too!