Have a safe and sane 4th of July!

Whoo Hoo! It's that time of year again, when the quiet of the morning is uplifted with crackling firecrackers,

and the occasional familiar Piccolo Pete whistle!

There was always a sense of anticipation when you would see the Red Devil Fireworks stands

starting to pop up all over town.

Those stands were such a magical thing, and there was something about the glow of the exposed light bulbs, the red, white, and blue packages and the wafting smell of gun powder and starter punks in the air.

There was always that hope that your Dad might spring for the deluxe assortment box with the extra giant cones, and maybe a roman candle or two or three! "Roman Candle? No, they don't sell those here!" Can we get the big box then?!

Of course we had to have a few boxes of sparklers! They used to only come in a brilliant white, but in later years, we could buy sparklers that threw off red, or green sparks. What fun, spinning them round and round, or writing your name in the air with the brightly glowing and spitting sparkler stick.

I was always mesmerized by the snakes. They always seemed the most difficult to light and my Dad would say, "That's going to make a mark on the sidewalk", so we would "grow" our snakes on the edge of the driveway. How did they do that?! Those long winding black sooty snakes would curl and just keep on growing like a Phoenix, from that little round disk.

One of the last fireworks to be pulled from the box was the little, put together yourself, "Clipper Cabin". Oh! What does it do?!... well.... My Dad always carefully assembled the little country cabin and lit the cone... and we waited... and waited... and the chiminey started smoking. Ahhhh. Peace on the Frontier,,, until we'd ignite the whole thing and it would burn in a blaze of glory! lol

And then there was Joe.

He wasn't one of the flashy, sparkly, glowing, fizzing and whistling fireworks. You simply unfolded his little cardboard stand and lit his Hobo stogie and watched the glowing embers.

Unlike the cabin, we extinguished his cigar before it got too close to his face.

But... I guess Joe was at the heart of the "Safe and Sane" Red Devil campaign and from a simpler time.

I don't know why, but  "Smokey Joe" was one of my all time favorites. :-)

Wishing everyone a wonderful

4th of July!

Moon's Galore and then some!

Look who have come out to play!

As with so many artists of late, I've been busy with other

projects, but all the while many characters have been

on the workbench awaiting their finishing touches. :-)

This is "Lavendar Moon"

"Scars of Blue"

"Moonglow"

"The Imp"

"Rumple"

"Fell" off the Pumpkin Cart

All of these personalities will be looking for homes

and shall be posted in my Etsy shop soon.

Wishing you all a fantastical weekend! :-)

Chickie bird at the Ehag Emporium

Looks who's Trick or Treating over at the

Ehag Emporium tonight at 9pm (est)!

This little Chickie is so excited for Fall to

arrive and is parading around in her knew Halloween costume

with a homemade treat bucket in hand, a wee bit early.

She's 5" tall to the tip of her pointy hat and is hand sculpted of Papermache. 

Her burlap shawl is delicately fastened with a vintage brass bell and

her little hat has a vintage wool pipe cleaner and upswept orange trim.

This happy little Chickie is such a joy, and was designed and

handmade by me,

 and she's available tonight. :-)

Purchase Here

~

What's blooming in my garden?

Australian Sweet Broom 

Rue 

Delphinium 

:-)

My Praying Mantis hatched on Mother's Day!

Two weeks ago, at the Garden Show, I bought a container with two

Praying Mantis egg cases. Each case can contain anywhere

from 50 to 200 babies.

I've had them on my desk and keeping an eye on them hoping to be 

able to see the hatching. The tricky bit is that if I wasn't home

to see it and quickly release them, they would slowly begin

to prey upon one another as they have ravenous appetites upon hatching.

Well, tonight I was getting ready to shut down the computer and a subtle

movement caught my eye.

"Oh my gosh! They've hatched!"

Through the wire mesh I could see tiny 1/4 inch Mantis babies peeping 

through the wire, saying, "excuse us, but could you please let us out?"

WhooHoo!

Aren't they cute! :-)

With flashlight in hand, I took the container outside and dispersed the little guys 

throughout the garden, and nestled the container with the still hatching babies 

in the middle of the ribbon grass in the hopes it will offer the cases some

 protection from predators till they all make their way out into the garden.

God Speed little guys! 

Hope you survive the wilderness and Happy Mother's Day to me! 

What? Isn't everyone a Praying Mantis Mom? :-)

Well, Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there!

Grinning Moon for the Ehag Emporium!

Making his Ehag Emporium debut tonight is

"Harvest Moon".

With his impish grin and whimsical gaze, 

you have to wonder what Tricks or Treats this

smiling moon has been up to!

As usual, he's hand sculpted and is a one of a kind,

and he can't wait to go home with you! 

So, you might want to scoot over to the

Emporium and see what wonderful Halloweenish goodies 

the other Ehag artists have prepared for this month.

Opening tonight at 9:00pm (EST)
To purchase click here.

Happy Easter to All!

I thought I'd post a few shots of some of the flowers blooming in my 

garden this lovely Easter morning. :-)

I just love the tall spiky flowers and can't wait for the

Foxglove in a few more weeks.

Clematis

We have lots of bloomin Squirrels! lol

A delicate purple edged Ranunculus. 

Flowers have such interesting names, don't they?

Wishing everyone a beautiful Easter! :-)

Professor Bloodgood and his Ectoplasmic Delineator!

Once again it's time for the Ehag Emporium and this month 

we've something extra special. 

The two art groups Ehag (Eclectic Halloween Art Guild) and 

Pfatt (Primitive Folk Art Talk & Tea) have combined their talents for

what they've whimsically titled

a "Screampunk" challenge. 

This combines the Victorian style of Steampunk, with 

fun Halloween overtones and Viola! Screampunk! :-)

You're invited to come on over to the Ehag Emporium and see what other goodies 

the artists have come up with, and over on Ebay you can simply 

search Pfatt and Ehag, to see what's listed for the Screampunk Challenge and beyond as well as over on Etsy.

My offering is Professor Heironymos O. Bloodgood and his

magnificent Ectoplasmic Delineator machine!

The professor is known for his outlandish inventions and he's 

well respected amongst his colleagues, not only for his paranormal

ventures but also his research with Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. (that's Butterflies and Beetles)

Here is a detail shot of his fantastical machine!

The copper generator coils have been known to occasionally

ignite his collar feathers when operating and sparking at full power, but he's none the worse for wear.

The amber energy containment bottle is actually an old Homeopathic remedy bottle, which

contained Arsenicum. After all, one does need a touch of Arsenic for a Halloween theme!

  

 Professor Bloodgood and his Ectoplasmic Delineator have aparated spectrums at

nearly every corner of the globe, from Magnificent Mansions, Bohemoth Belfrys,

Abandoned Asylums, and Scholarly Science Fairs.

This fun fellow is
Sold ~ Thank You!

As usual, thank you SO very much for your interest!

I love comments so let me know what you think of
Professor O Bloodgood and his Ectoplasmic Delineator! :-)

New Ehag Emporium piece! "Halloween Wannabe Easter Bunny"

"Halloween Wannabe Easter Bunny"

SOLD ~ Thank You!

Lately I've been playing around with Mohair and for this new piece

I decided to give him a retro haircut so he has a Mohair flocking coat.

This little bunny saw the vintage style Halloween cat striking his classic arched back pose

and thought he'd give it a go himself. In true "Gattamelata" style 

"The Gattamelata" by Donatello in the Piazza del Santo in Padua, Italy

He strikes his best pose, and of course, instead of the classic cannon ball as depicted 

in classical equine sculptures, he's chosen the next best thing... 

a Halloween colored Easter Egg!  

This is an original sculpted papier mache crossover piece, an Easter Bunny who really wants

to be a Halloween Cat, and is practicing his pose!

Hand scissored and antiqued Mohair felting, with German glass eyes,

set on a 3" x 5" wooden base with a vintage style Halloween card design.

6" Long from the tips of his ears to the tip of his tail. 4 3/4" (H)

Halloween Wannabe Bunny is available for purchase tonight at 9pm (EST)

and is my offering for the February 2012  Ehag Emporium. There are going to be some

extra nice pieces this month so be sure and click over and check out the fabulous new 

Halloween folk art by the EHAG Artists.

To purchase Halloween Wannabe Bunny please visit my Etsy shop. 

Coming down the bunny trail!

Look what coming down the trail! Cuddly bunnies Galore!

I've been experimenting with some old world felting techniques

so stay tuned to see how they turn out!

The Flowering Pear trees have been blooming a treat, 

and a sure sign that Spring isn't far away!

Be my Valentine!

Happy Valentines Day! :-)

Giveaway's and then some!

Hey! The PFATT group is having a Valentine's Day giveaway! Whoo Hoo!

I'm contributing a miniature bunny, and I know there will be several other fun pieces from our members 

and we'd love to have you come and join in the fun! :-)

Oh my goodness! Where does the time go?

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything. Holidays and all that, plus I traveled up 

to Oregon to visit my Dad for his birthday and was gone a while for that.

You never know about the weather up there this time of year and look

what greeted me the first morning...

Lovely, silent snow!

I know many of you out there have had your fill of snow, but

for a Southern California gal it was a fun surprise!

Beautiful to see, but too chilly to really be outside

trying to take any photos.

It was much more comfy to sit and enjoy the little Hummers through the big picture window.

We had homemade lemon cake and Southern Chess Pie

for my Dad's birthday! Very yummy!

After the snow, came the rain, and lots of it. So much so, 

that it flooded the little nearby

town of Turner, Oregon. 

We were able to drive around a bit the next day and you could 

see where the rivers were still overflowing their banks.

I spotted this fellow on an embankment, enjoying the extra damp.

A Nutria!

Their name sounds more like a food bar than an animal

but it actually means, "mouse beaver".

They look like a cross between a beaver and a large rat. They're no

lightweights and can weigh up to 20lbs! They were

 imported from South America, and have now set up residence in many places

across North America. 

I had a lovely visit and look what I woke up to on my last day.

Before my trip I'd misplaced my camera's battery charger. Oh poo.

I ordered one sent up to my Dad's and I guess the camera goblins were not appeased ,

because the new one didn't work! Phooey!

I'm sure the misplaced charger will magically appear once I buy another one. lol

After I returned from my trip I unfortunately had a little call into the Paramedics.

It seems the bottom fell out of my Magnesium. Muscle spasm's galore, and no fun I can tell you!

But, that's another story and I'm on the mend, so.....

that's the scoop for now. :-)