Shrooms & a Spider

The recent rains have brought on a flurry of growth from everything - the grass (yes, it needs mowing AGAIN!), the flowers and even the mushrooms have sprouted!

(in case you're wondering where the spider is...the flower is a Spider Lily. And I promise I'll have some pics of a few WIPS this weekend!)

A Special Visit......

Our #2 Son came for a quick visit last week. The weather was great while he was here. Cool daytime temps and comfortable evenings. We didn't do much besides sit on the patio and visit. Though Hubby and Son did take a trip to a friend's house to look at some old cars. And we took a day trip to a local spot ~ Little Missouri Falls. It's a wonderful place to go and cool off on a hot summer day!




So now it is back to the old grind stone. I already have several new projects in the works! Hope to take a few pics today and give everyone a sneak peak!

ADO Art Doll Challenge

I signed up for the ADO Art Doll Challenge. This was a challenge open to all artists to create an Art Doll after one of the four elements ~ Air, Earth, Fire, Water.


My choice was easy. The idea came to me right away. I wanted to do the Fire Element. After all my birth sign is also a Fire sign.




My Art Doll is a 'make-do' ~ using a cast-off candlestick for the base. Her face and upper body are sculpted from paperclay. She is holding a flame in her hand.


Her skirt is paper-mache covered with tissue paper to resemble a flame.


Take a moment to visit the ADO Blog. There you will find a list of all the participating Artists and links to their Blogs where pictures of their Art Dolls can be found. This is definitely a feast for the eyes!

Ebay Listings...

Here are my two latest eBay listings. Check them out by clicking here.

A Bonsai Tree with a small Fairy Door in it.



Close-up of bark and rock. The rock is hand sculpted and painted.


And a tombstone complete with a gargoyle head.

Uber Award

I recently received this award from HalloweenSpirit. Thank you so much! I'm speechless. You really must check out her poetry blog, I Dream of Halloween. AND she is having a giveaway on her Shabby Hag Decor blog!

Uber (synonym to Super) Amazing Blog Award is a blog award given to sites who:
~ inspires you
~ makes you smile and laugh
~ or maybe gives amazing information
~ a great read
~ has an amazing design
~ and any other reasons you can think of that makes them uber amazing!

The rules of this award are:
* Put the logo on your blog or post.
* Nominate at least 5 blogs (can be more) that for you are Uber Amazing!
* Let them know that they have received this Uber Amazing award by commenting on their blog.
* Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from.

I nominate the following bloggers:

AwtemNymf of The Faerie Wysperer ~ She always makes me smile!
Becca of MAGIKAL SEASONS ~ She has such an enchanting blog!
Grace of Going to Graceland ~ She always has something interesting to read!
Jenny of Seize the Moment ~ Cause I LOVE my Girls!!
Phil of Halloween Tinkering ~ Ya never know what he'll write about!

A Cryptid

Cryptid is a term used to refer to a creature whose existence has been suggested but not demonstrated scientifically.

There are many creatures that can be called Cryptids - Thunderbird, Unicorn, Dragon, Nessie, Bigfoot and Yeti to name just a few.

Hubby and I live in an area of the country where innumerable Bigfoot sightings have been reported. In fact, several TV shows have been filmed about the sightings in this area. We have always wanted to say we have seen Sasquatch, but no sightings have occurred - as yet!
Recently, Hubby and I met a man who has been greatly involved in the hunt for Bigfoot - not just in our area but other parts of the country as well. When he found out about our interest he brought us some casts of Bigfoot prints - two foot prints and one knuckle print.

The print on the left came from California and the one on the right came from Georgia. They are both well over 12 inches in length. Below is a knuckle print from Washington. It measures almost 10 inches across.

Do you believe??

Two MUST-DO Giveaways!

If you love Halloween, Witches, Dragons, and all those magickal, mystical things, there are two Giveaways currently taking place that you really should enter!

The first is Sarah of Cottage Garden Studio. She does the most wonderful pen and ink drawings. Sarah will be picking three winners. Her giveaway ends July 14th. So HURRY!!!

The second is Byrum Art. Ron and Sherry Byrum are wonderful people and fantastic Artists. They are giving away a print of their haunted Tree House. How cool is that! Theire giveaway ends July 18th. Don't be late!

Alien Invaders

I have a small garden. Enough for my Hubby and myself. I have a couple tomato plants and a few pepper plants (bell pepper and poblano pepper). The tomato plants are really covered with tomatoes in various stages of growth. And it won't be but about two weeks before the first ripe ones will be on the table! YUM!!

The pepper plants are doing equally well. The green peppers are everywhere. I picked the first one over the weekend.

But, I have been battling an alien looking invader the last week on my tomato and pepper plants. It is the Tomato Hornworm.



This nasty looking creature will strip a plant of its leaves in no time. So Hubby and I have been keeping a close eye on the plants and picking off any and all invaders. Sorry catepillars, the 'maters and peppers are ours!

A 'Sweet' Surprise!

Every month, Amelia of Sweet B Folk Art has a giveaway on her blog. She'll post something about CANDY and a winner will be drawn from one of those that leaves a comment on that CANDY post. Well... I was last month's winner! WOOHOO!!!! I won the cutest Lollipop Baby!

And to my surprise, she threw in a few extras.

THANK YOU BUNCHES, Sweet B!!! I Love my Lollipop! (And Licorice, and Shrooms, and Christmas Cone, and Owl ribbon)

You really must stop by her blog! She has a picture of her new BABY - Henry Royce Schaefer! Welcome to the World!