WIP

Not one ...not two...but three art dolls! Two are a commission and one for the shop. Hopefully finished by the end of the week.... week two of resolution kept (and I'm up to eight books read so far, see list at the bottom of the side bar if you want to know what I'm reading.) Not too shabby....
I'll post again with the finished dolls as soon as they're done and we get some sun.

Old Crow, or Keeping a Resolution

So here is the finished work I began last week. I wish you could see the colors better as the purple and green silks are very iridescent. I've already hung it in the kitchen, finally filling the space that has been waiting for months. Yay for the keeping of my New Years resolution...now let's see if I can keep it up....

Someone's been eating my porridge!

And it just may have been this little scamp!

Actually Goldilocks is a reformed cat burglar and now she feeds little bear instead of stealing his breakfast.


It was fun perusing the web to find info about the history of this fairy tale. For some reason I thought it was one of Grimm's, but it's not at all. According to Sur La Lune, (a must read site for anyone interested in fairy tales) the earliest recorded version is from 1831, which in the realm of fairy tale literature is not that long ago, although it was probably told as an oral tale for many years previously. In that version, as well as later ones, the intruder is either a fox or an old woman and not the golden haired child so familiar to readers today. She didn't appear until much later.
And that is your little fairy tale factoid for today!

Happy New Year ...at Last!

Gracious! A new year and I'm already running behind...ah well it's pretty much situation normal for me. I hope you all had a lovely holiday and are finding yourselves more up to speed in the new year then yours truly.

As a rule I don't make resolutions... but this year I've made two! First , inspired by a friend who is going to try and read 50 books this year, I've decided to keep track of how many I read. I think it will probably be way more then 50, I've finished 3 this first week, but I really have no idea and I'd love to know. So I'm going to start a new record in my side bar there ---> and perhaps I'll even be inspired to do the occasional review. Secondly I've decided to take some time Every week and make or work on something just because I want to! I know, radical right? I figure it's one way to cope with the art versus commerce dilemma. So this week I began work on a small hanging for the kitchen that has been kicking around in my head for months now. Here's the first stages..

That wonderful moon is a vintage mother of pearl button that my wonderful sister gave me for my birthday...it is SO fabulous!

I also reopened the shop this week and added a bunch of new dolls...most of which sold out immediately...Yay !...but these two are still there and I'm back to work to make some more. See you soon!

Happy Solstice!

Happy Solstice everyone! After today we can look forward to the days getting longer and Spring's eventual return.



We experienced one of our rare winter snows this past weekend,



lovely coming down



and mostly gone by today, typical for NC. Some of the Nest residents were not at all happy with the snow, but they found the bird watching to be excellent.

Decking the Nest and A Recipe Too!

Well the tree is up, some of the presents are wrapped, carols are in heavy rotation ( my favorites being Jethro Tull's Christmas Album and The Sounding Joy by The Mair Davie Duo...good stuff!) and the cookie making is about to commence! I thought I'd share some pictures of my tree and a great easy cookie recipe. First the tree and it's trims...




As you can see, it's a mix of handmade, antique, and just plain silly...note the crab? Also it was recently pointed out to me that a lot of the ornaments are vertical...well I do love icicles and of course I have all those gorgeous okra!

This last ornament is very special to me because it once belonged to my great aunt Florence. She was my grandmother's older sister and one of my favorite people of all time. Her own grandchildren lived far away, so she lavished all of her huge store of affection on the four of us...in her eyes we could do no wrong. Aunt Florence was a fantastic cook and going to her house always meant some wonderful treat would be waiting for my siblings and me. This recipe was one of our favorites and in my mind Christmas just isn't the same without these yummy cookies.

Flossie's Party Cookies

1 cup Butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sifted white flour
10 oz. milk chocolate ( can sub bittersweet chocolate)
chopped nuts ( for Xmas can sub crushed peppermint
candy)

Cream butter and sugar until light. Add egg and beat until fluffy. Add vanilla then flour. Blend well. spread in an 11x17 jelly roll pan and bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with broken bits of chocolate. Let these sit for 1-2 minutes, so they melt, and then spread evenly over the cookies with a knife. sprinkle with the chopped nuts (or peppermint). When cool, cut into squares and store in a tightly covered container in a cool place.

To give credit where it is due, the dark chocolate and peppermint idea comes from my sister and it really does make for a lovely and yummy Xmas version.

Last Ones!

Well the last ones for this year anyway. I loaded these ladies into the shop this morning and now I'll be working on presents for the next few weeks. Every year I say I'll get them made in advance, and every year I end up with a bunch to make right before the holidays...I must be a pressure junkie. I'm planning on closing the shop on the 14th so I can concentrate on cookie making, present wrapping, egg nog drinking and all that other fun holiday stuff, but I promise to still keep updating my blog until I reopen in January. So wish me luck and no tangles as I delve into my tasks... and I will see you soon!

...and in the same Holiday spirit, I made a fun Ornament treasury today that you should definitely take a peek at here!