~Hibernation~

~When wandering through the soft snowy stillness of the Wintry woods tread lightly, so as not to wake those slumbering quietly.~


I am SO pleased with this piece!

I try SO hard, as I'm sure you all do, to come up with something different, unique, special and all my own. It's hard..truly HARD! SO...when it happens....and we come up with something that's unique, special and all our own... ...it's exciting......VERY EXCITING..and....I think I just may have done it with this piece!!!

I have taken all the different mediums I've tried over the years and combined them. Finally my back and forth and dabbling in so many different mediums has formed a result! :) There is a little bit of everything in this piece....mohair, clay, fabric, paper, wood, moss......sewing, sculpting....painting...:) I had SO much fun creating her! Many...many (did I say MANY) hours went into this sweet gal. I was thinking today that I should of kept track..but, of course, I didn't! I will for the next time as I've already been jotting down ideas for my next one.


I have also been wanting to figure out a way to create a mixed media piece that would have enough detail to tell a story all on it's own..by just looking at it....with maybe just a title or a few words.

This gal is simply called "Hibernation"
I was hoping to make you see and feel the sense of Hibernation...by just looking at her.

To give the sense of bears & animals..deep in the woods, amongst the snow, mossy trees, rocks & caves...hidden deep in the warmth of the earth..slumbering until Spring.....

"Hibernation" is now available on My Website

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I'm off now to pack as Mark & I are going away for the weekend :). Sunday is my Birthday so we are taking a little break and getting away. I can NOT wait :)

Wishing you a most pleasant weekend and if I do not see you again ( We'll be home on Sunday..so I plan on posting then..but....just in case)...

....Wishing you a very WONDERFUL & SAFE...Fourth of July....

:)Doreen

~A Wintry Weekend in..... June~

Glad tidings. We've a beautiful morning here in Vermont; the air has just a touch of coolness but the sun is shining brightly and warming the earth quickly. I'm sitting here at my desk in front of the window overlooking the gorgeous fields of freshly mown hay across the road ...gosh how I love the site of a freshly mown field...it's truly one of my very favorite things.

On this lovely summer weekend (okay..it's not "officially" Summer until Tuesday) I've been working on my third offering in my "Winter/Christmas" Series...I've even been watching Scrooge (several versions actually) to keep myself in a snowy frame of mind. I had hoped to be a bit farther along than I am at this point but, family life intervened. My niece Cristen, who's baby shower we just had this past weekend went into pre-term labor on Tuesday! Last week was a stressful, crazy busy week of running back and forth to the hospital each day (which is 2 hrs from here) with my sister. Cristen is home now (she came home Friday evening) and on bed rest and we are hoping baby Zekus holds off just a bit longer before he decides to make his appearance.


After a good night's sleep and a much needed tidying of the house...I got back into the studio yesterday afternoon. This "Winter" offering is going to be something different for me...something I came up with back in February but of course, am just now getting a chance to try. I am praying it comes together as I have envisioned or at least something fairly close. As usual, while I am making something new I always think of so many different ways I could of or should of done something! I'm sticking with my original idea on this one......and we shall see what happens :)

These photo's show the supplies that I plan on using .......aren't they just beautiful!

I'm off now to continue my snowy creating. Wishing you a most wonderful day.
Doreen

~Baby Showers, Handmade Quilts & Olde Bears~

Good morning and oh, what a beautiful morning it is! Goodness how I love this time of year!

This week I am working on baby shower gifts! My lovely niece Cristen and her husband Steven..(the beautiful couple in the photo below) are expecting their first baby! OH SUCH AN EXCITING TIME!It's a boy and he's due August 3rd....

I call him Jeffery...that's not going to be his name...but it's what I've been calling him since we found out it's a boy and now we all call him that...:)

Anyway, My Sister and I are throwing Cristen a baby shower this Saturday..it's been a flurry of baby activity here the past few weeks getting everything ready...making little onesie banners and decorations, planning the menu, sending invitations and such and now this week, I need to finish the gifts that I am making for them.
These fabrics are for a quilt I'm making, it's a simple quilt; just two fabrics (one on each side) and then I'll hand tie it. The batting for it is mohair from a friends local goat farm. She and her husband do everything from start to finish.....raise the goats, sheer them and make the fleece into yarn, quilt batting etc. and make finished goods such as quilts, socks, mittens, scarfs and hats..everything is absolutely beautiful. I have a quilt that Lisa and her husband made and it's truly the most wonderful quilt I've every had! The fabrics I chose are a soft plaid flannel in colors of cream, browns, moss green and soft blue with a dark brown cotton back and moss green floss for tieing. Yesterday afternoon I did the sewing and it came out perfectly (thank goodness) and now I just have to slide the batting in and tie it.

I'm also repairing Cristen's childhood bear friend, Duffus, he's in pretty sad shape the poor fellow...leaking stuffing and such. Once I repair him I'm going to make him a shirt to match Jeffery's quilt. Won't that be cute!

Wish me luck!

Wishing you a beautiful day :)Doreen

~Summer Web Show~

Good day to you. It is a gorgeous Monday morning here in Vermont. I was hoping to post this last evening but blogger was having fits again...and actually still is this morning..I'm having a devil of a time posting the photos! My Summer Web Show started yesterday afternoon and is still running if you wish to pop on over and take a peek. I've two little one's still looking for new homes. They are actually mama and baby..so they can certainly be sold as a set :)

Summer, isn't that such a lovely word....long days full of warm breezes and sunshine, picnics by the lake, bbq's with family and friends, birds chirping, fireworks banging, windows open through the night, lemonade, ice tea, sneaking off in the middle of the day to visit your favorite ice cold swimming hole, children's laughing, smiling faces covered with ice cream, town carnivals and yard sales, trips to the Ocean, evening rides with the top down, gardens bursting forth with vegetables and flowers, bumblebees...OH, I love it all.


I've been thinking a lot lately about good old fashioned summers, the summers of our childhoods when times were simpler and the days passed by so slowly it was as if they were crawling. We live in such a fast paced world now that if we do not consciously slow down and take the time to enjoy the little things in life..we will surely forget they exist.

I've been consciously working on slowing down and enjoying this wonderful life of ours and balancing work, family and home. At first it may seem like slowly down means getting less done, but I'm finding that the more relaxed and balanced I am...the more I am actually able to accomplish. In keeping with this more relaxed and slower pace, I've changed something with the web shows... rather than offer my "Winter~Christmas" Offering during web shows, as I have been doing, I've decided to offer them on the alternate months, therefore giving me more time to really make them something special AND to allow me to offer something each month on my website. This will begin with my 3rd offering in The Winter Series on July 1st and will proceed every other month from then on. I've been sketching some new ideas and have some new and unusual thoughts swirling around in my head so...you just never know what may turn up in this series :) You will just have to check back to find out :)
Another small change I've made...In an effort to do my part during this tough economy (a trip to the grocery store for food will confirm; "things are indeed...tough") I've lowered my prices a bit! It is not a huge difference but I've done what I can and hope it makes a difference for you. I can not tell you how very much I appreciate your support of my work and want to let you know that your budgets matter to me. This is a tough business to be in and especially so during tough times, but I hope by sticking together we can all pull through. :)

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I'm off now to take my morning walk and start my day. Wishing you a very lovely day and thank you all for stopping by to say hello :) Doreen