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. :-)

New work available!

Introducing, "Kafluie!"

This spritely fellow is quite the handful, I must say!

He's been into everything here in the studio and has even been taking a nip 

or two of the high octane eggnog, in early celebration for New Years!

He's available tonight and is my offering for the final Ehag Emporium of 2011.

If you're interested in adopting Kafluie, then head on over to 

my Etsy shop.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!! 

See you in 2012! :-)

Sneak Peek for tomorrow night!

Where in the world has the year gone? Oh my goodness!

It was a lovely Christmas holiday and in one days time, here it is another New Year.

Tomorrow (Saturday) night (9:00pm EST) brings us the last 2011 Ehag Emporium, and I wanted to give  you

a hint of a sneak peek of the little fellow I'll have available.

It's a great feeling to be caught up with commissions, and I'm excited about all the 

pieces that are already in the works for 2012, albeit for a couple of Christmas stragglers 

that I still need to put in my Etsy shop.

I have some new Bunnies and birdies in the works, WhooHoo!, so stay tuned!

Merry Christmas to All!

It's a beautiful sunny Christmas morning here in Southern California.

The horses are trotting.

The tree is shiny and bright

The Nesting Dolls are nesting.

The antique Scottish hutch is aglow with country charm.

The trees branches are heavily laden with vivid and cherished memories 

of people and joyous times past and present.

I'd like to take this moment to thank all of you for stopping by my blog and leaving your kind 

comments and support this past year, and I'm looking forward to more! 

I'm so very grateful for all of my online and in person friends and I'm so

appreciative for your patronage. I very much

wish you all good fortune and health, as we begin another year.

May we all practice, share and experience kindness, love and peace to all.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a SPECTACULAR New Year! :-)

Thank you everyone! 

~ Deb 

The best Fruit Cake Cookies ever!

The Holly and the Ivy,

When they are both full grown,

Of all the trees that are in the wood,

The holly bears the crown.

 Today is perfect decorating and baking weather, with a gentle rain falling,

and a fire in the fireplace... ahhhh.

In addition to the tree in the living room, this year

I decided to put up a small tree in the front den and

built a little mountain village on top of the bookcase.

What do you think?

The tree is nestled in a turn of the century wooden bucket for a stand, 

and it has several vintage ornaments to add to that old world feel.

~

I wanted to share our family favorite  Fruit Cake Cookie recipe with all of you. 

These cookies are SO good, and even folks who don't care 

for fruit cake LOVE these!

Put on the kettle for a lovely cup of tea or a dark roast coffee with these delicious cookies,

and hey, they're one of Santa's favorites too! :-)

Fruit Cake Cookies

1/2lb candied cherries chopped

1/2 lb candied Pineapple chopped

1lb candied mixed fruit chopped

1lb white/golden raisins

1lb broken Pecans

~

Cream 1 stick butter and 1 cp brown sugar~

Add, 4eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Mix, 2cps flour with 

3 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1tsp cinnamon

1tsp cloves

1tsp Nutmeg

~

Add to cream mixture with 2 Tbsp, sweet milk (reg whole milk) and

1/2 cp sherry, brandy, wine or grape juice.

Mix 1 cp flour with the fruit and Nuts and add to the mixture.

~

Drop from Tbsp onto greased cookie sheet.

Bake 300 degrees (f), about 20mins.

These cookies ripen, just as fruit cake does and they're are so yummy

that even folks who don't like fruit cake, LOVE these!

Enjoy! 

Thanksgiving Wishes to Ye All!

Giving much thanks today for all of the blessings

we are all so fortunate to have received.

May I wish you all health, peace, prosperity and love

shared with family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving to ye all! :-)

Where have I been?

Some of you may not know that in addition to my art, I'm also

a certified Equinology Equine Body Worker, slowly working on a Master's in Equine Sports Therapy.

The last two weeks I've been up in Petaluma, California attending two classes.

Both classes were outstanding. The first was at the magnificent, Circle Oak Equine, with Dr. Kerry Ridgeway one of the top Accupressure/Alternative and IntegrativeVets, Narrelle Stubbs, Physiotherapist for the Australian Olympic Equestrian Team, and Nicole Rombach, Structural and Cervical Specialist from the UK. 

All of whom presented us with

amazing techniques, case studies and state of the art information, 

new to the equine world, and it was most enlightening. 

The second class was an extra thrill because I was the

videographer for the well known founder of TTouch,

Linda Tellington-Jones. Here she's demonstrating the proper techniques to me, 

and my classmates at Flying Cloud Farm.

 A Vibrant Petaluma Sunrise

I had a couple of free days to explore the countryside and came across this 

wonderful live steam attraction called Traintown, in Sonoma, CA.

If you ever have a chance to stop in, this is a wonderful relaxing place to take the

family. It's reminiscent of gentler times, with lovely ponds, waterfalls, a petting zoo, and of 

course the magnificent trains that take you on an ever changing ride over bridges, past waterfalls, with a stop at a little scale town to visit the animals... just wonderful! A must see for the little ones! 

Vineyards at 45 miles per hour!... Not too bad ay?

November blossoms in Sonoma.

Just had to stop in at Hales Apple farm for some fresh Apple Cider!

The California coast at the end of 116 from Sebastopol.

Trees a glow with Autumnal Glory!

A magnificent 19th century French puppet theatre!

only $18,000

More Sonoma, shops.

Yes, that was a real Cow, or Steer.

When I got home, I decided to tackle refinishing the front door. A word of advice...

I'd refinished this door about 7 years ago and was talked into using the then new, water based

Polyurethane.... Bad idea for an exterior door, as it just didn't hold up. So, I sanded it down and after staining with a nice Mahogany stain, I applied two coats of SparVarnish and Viola! :-) 

Ha Ha! It's not always that easy...

I'd applied the second coat of varnish late in the afternoon, and didn't

notice the heavy fog coming in. I went outside to find everything dripping with dampness and the

door was completely fogged over white. Ahhh! 

I quickly got the door in the house, and cranked up the heat hoping it wasn't too late to hopefully evaporate

 the moisture that had settled.

Success! 

After two hours the nice glossy shine had once again returned, apparently no worse for the wear. Whew!

So that's where I've been and what I've been up to. This has  been an eclectic trip tick, that's for certain.

I have a pile of tiny JOL pumpkins, snowmen ornaments, bird ornaments, 

grinning gourd goblins, some miniatures, and even a Christmas Chickie or two coming up shortly. Oh yes, did I mention, Jury duty? Dang.

I bid you.... a SpoOOoky Halloween!

Welcome to my Halloween table!

Please, sit down and enjoy...

Eye of toad, bone of dog,

rib of beef and hair of Hog.

Oink of pig, and Buzzards buzz,

Shall we dine?... just because.

Trick or Treat, well now, lets see,

"this is delicious", it's sting of bee!

Main course finished, and now something sweet,

shall it be bat squeak or a yummy nutmeat?

Pumpkin porridge, with Apple Pan Dowdy,

and a sprinkling of flies wings to make you sing, Howdy!

I'm delighted you could dine with me this evening.

Enjoy the festivities tonight...

and do be dandy, and eat too much candy! :-)

"Candy Corn Kitty" ~ available

"It's Only Halloween My Dear" ~ Available

Ooo! What was that?

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

Welcome the Autumn Mist

The Summer faded and we welcomed in the Autumn and it's

rich colors, morning fog, and wood smoke filled air.

This year the fall displays at Roger's Gardens was as glorious as ever

and I just had to capture some of the colors of the season.

I've always loved those little Goat carts, filled to overflow

with pumpkins and squash of every shape, size and color.

The Ehag Emporium is coming up as is of course, Halloween!

Ehag has another great giveaway going on if you want to pop over there

and enter your name.

Do you have your costume picked out yet?

Candy Corn at the ready? :-)