Primitive!

Tomorrow is the day! The Fall 2012 edition of Prims hits the stands! Even though I received an advanced copy of the magazine I'm pretty excited to go to the bookstore, grab the magazine and see my dolls inside!

There is something about seeing your creations in print that is so...well, magical! And Prims is one of my favorite magazines, so it is very special!

Next Friday is my birthday, so I couldn't think of a better gift. Well, except for maybe this...

Meet Peanut! He's the latest edition to my Little Old Dog Sanctuary and my birthday gift from my husband (I'll ALWAYS choose to rescue an old dog for my birthday!) Peanut's owner died and nobody in the family wanted him so he ended up at the county shelter. Not a great place for an old guy like this! But, he's here now - safe and cuddly! Happy Birthday to me!

Bewitched!

Halloween always sneaks up on me. Especially in the crafting world where you start making Holiday-themed crafts several months before the actual holiday!

So, here are some witches I've been making. The first one has a dress made from paper. That is a time-consuming project but I always love the way it turns out!

The second witch is my favorite. She's sort of a Victorian, goth, high-society type witch! Her dress is made from a vintage nightgown. She's holding her book of spells.

I'm trying to make a primitive style witch, but for some reason this week everything I make comes out looking, well, not primitive! But, don't worry...come the first of September I will have some prim witches and other spooky treats to list on the Simply Primitive and TDIPT Mercantile sites. The two witches above will hopefully be in my Etsy shop before the end of the day (along with some really cool day of the dead skeleton dolls!)

Gone to the Dogs...

Just got some great news! My doll "Lost Dog" will be in the 4th Annual "Gone to the Dogs" juried show at Niza Knoll Gallery!

Here's a sneak peek of my doll...

Lost Dog

There is a sad/happy story attached to this doll. A few years ago, I thought I lost one of my dogs, Flora. She was this really old and sick Chihuahua...and just thinking I lost her was the most horrible thing ever - GUILT. At the time, my son was pretty young and thought he may have opened the front door but wasn't sure. So, we spent 24 hours thinking she was lost. We live in the mountains, so when she was gone overnight we were completely freaked out about two things. That she would freeze to death (she had Cushing's disease so she had hardly any fur at all) or that she would be eaten by a fox or a coyote or something. WORST NIGHT EVER. Next morning we found her hidden in a box down in our mudroom. We had been taking her picture (the one on the flyer) before she disappeared. Turns out she was deathly afraid of the flash on the camera and went and hid in the mudroom FOR 24 HOURS - and never made a sound. The flier on the doll is a tiny version of the actual lost dog flier we made and posted all over the mountain. Flora was fine and it was a happy ending. This doll is a snapshot of me and my desperation during that dreadful 24 hours.

If you happen to be in Denver, please stop by the opening on August 17th from 5-8, I'd love to see you!

Sculpture dolls

In addition to the regular dolls I make, I also love making these "sculpture" type art dolls. I've had several of these types of dolls in gallery shows around Denver and in California. I love the idea of taking a concept or emotion and bringing it to life.

Every year the Denver Handmade Alliance sponsors an event called "Art by Craft." The concept is to take something that is normally considered a "craft" and somehow convert it into "art." Here are the dolls I'm submitting for this year's show.

Grief

My Synthetic Joy or PROZAC

Groupthink

I won't give my explanations or go into detail of what I was thinking when I made them...I like everyone to form their own opinions about them.

Let me know what YOU think...

It's August...

Meet August!

He is our new addition - an 8 week old Great Pyrenees. As you may know, our older Great Pyrenees, Truman, was recently diagnosed with osteosarcoma. We decided to get August as Truman's predecessor.

I wouldn't say Truman loves August...tolerates might by a better word?

Puppy love!
xxx

To Dwell In Primitive Times...

More exciting news! Beginning August 1st, I'm going to be selling my dolls at TDIPT (To Dwell In Primitive Times) Mercantile. This is an awesome group of very talented artisans who have a love for making primitive style crafts. I'm really happy to be in such great company!

For August I'm listing two nature-themed dolls you won't want to miss! There are lots of goodies on the site, so grab a cup of coffee and browse the whole shop! I'll have new dolls listed on the 1st of each month, so be sure to mark your calendar and stop by often!

Good things really do come in threes!

I've had some exciting news that I've been wanting to share for a few months now. BUT on top of my super-exciting news I got some MORE super-exciting news!

Okay, the first thing is that I'm going to have a beautiful article in the Fall 2012 issue of "Prims" magazine (Stampington & Co.). It features three of my "tea cup" dolls. When I got the news I just about fainted! It has been a dream of mine to have my dolls in a magazine...and "Prims" is one of my personal favorites!

Second fabulous news is that I was accepted as one of the vendors in the Sugar Plum Bazaar which is an AWESOME holiday show in Denver. I was a vendor last year and had so much fun, so I'm super-excited to have gotten into the show this year.

Third thing!!! Yesterday my husband came in from getting the mail and called me and my son into the living room for a "family meeting." I thought something bad had happened, I was pretty worried. Then he handed me a copy of "Art Doll Quarterly" that had a sheet on top that said, "Congratulations on being published in "Art Doll Quarterly!" I have to tell you I about fainted (again)! I had two dolls chosen from their shelf-sitter challenge (see above). SO EXCITED! The issue comes out August 1st, so be sure to check it out.

My cup runeth over!