March anniversary!!!

Yay!!! Our March stuff is up, at The Humble Arts y'all come visit!
This newsletter is by our esteemed leader Blondie and I think she said everything much better than I could, I hope she doesn't mind that I took the liberty to do this!
Blessings,Flora

MARCH 2008

Happy Anniversary to The Humble Arts!!!!!!!

We are celebrating our first anniversary this month. It is difficult for us to contain our joy - it is overflowing so much that we are having door prizes being given out for the ENTIRE month. We so much want to share our JOY with YOU. Please make a note to visit us on March 1, 2008!!!

We will be doing the drawings each week ~ the first drawing will be held on March 9. To be entered into the drawings you must be registered through our new mailing list. If you are receiving this newsletter, you may not necessarily be in our new mailing list. We have chosen to use a Bravenet mailing list - it is not sold or shared any other person or group. It also has the option to remove yourself in the future. We promise not tofill your inbox with weekly trivia.

Each of the Harts members that has a blog will be announcing the winners - as well as it being announced on our website each week. If you haven't visited our individual blogs or if you weren't even aware that we were bloggers too ~ well, below is the list of our blogging sites. Each is as different in personality and style as each artist! Please come and visit! We love company!

Bonehead Studios ~~ "http:/www.boneheadstudio.blogspot.com/"~~

Countryfolk keepsakes ~~ "http://countryfolkkeepsakes.blogspot.com/" ~~

Crabby Gabby ~~ "http://crabbygabby.blogspot.com/" ~~

Curds-and-Whey ~~ "http://curds-and-whey.blogspot.com/" ~~

Greeneyez ~~ "http://greeneyez2.blogspot.com/" ~~

Magpie Feathers ~~ "http://magpiefeathers.blogspot.com/" ~~

Momma's Goodies~~ "http://www.mommasgoodies.blogspot.com/" ~~

Sympletymes ~~ "http://sympletymes.blogspot.com/" ~~

Tattered 'n Torn ~~ "http://tatteredntornprims.blogspot.com/" ~~

Vermont Harvest ~~"http://vermontharvest.blogspot.com/" ~~

Vintage Primitives ~~"http://vintageprims.blogspot.com/" ~~


As a group we like to share our ideas, our lives and swap recipes. One recipe we shared recently, we thought we would share with you. It is YUMMY!!

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HONEY MUSTARD CHICKEN PIE


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INGREDIENTS:

1 - 9 inch double crust

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast

1/4 cup soy sauce

oil for cooking

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup carrots, cut into matchsticks

4-6 tablespoons honey

1 heaping tablespoon prepared Dijon mustard

parsley

salt

ground black pepper

1 - 2 tablespoons cornstarch

water


DIRECTIONS:

Cut chicken into bite-size chunks, and marinate in soy sauce.

Pour enough oil in saucepan to coat the bottom of the pan.

Saute onion and garlic over medium-high heat until onion in

soft but not brown. Add chicken pieces, and saute until

chicken is cooked through. Stir in chicken broth, carrots,

honey, mustard, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix cornstarch with

a few tablespoons of water to make a paste. Bring chicken

mixture to a boil, and stir in cornstarch mixture. Cook,

stirring constantly, until thick. Mixture should get pretty

thick: add more cornstarch mixture if necessary. Pour chicken

mixture into pie shell. Top with crust, cutting small slits

in top to let steam escape. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

Reduce heat to 350 degrees Bake 30 minutes more, or until crust

is golden brown.


Yield: 1 9-inch pie

As always, we appreciate your support of Handmade in America honest to goodness Folk Art.

Thank you for sharing your time with us!

The Humble Arts Team

Doorprizes!!!!

As I have been mentioning in my previous posts, my selling site " The Humble Arts " is having an anniversary this March 1st and there will be doorprizes!!! Starting this week we will be giving away 2 prizes, the drawing for them will be done on Sunday March the 10th!!!!! So get on over to " The Humble Arts " and sign up, so you won't get left out of the chance to win some lovely treasures from wonderful Artisans!!! Just click on either of the links and check on any one of the " The Humble Arts " group members blogs...mine included... to see if you've won! We will all be posting the winners on our blogs, so keep an eye out.
Blessings,Flora

Introducing.......

Bailey! She didn't like being nekkid, so I made these bits of clothes for her.
She is my new offering at The Humble Arts for our Anniversary on March 1st. There will be door prizes, so go and sign up for the prizes you want, and you might be one of the lucky winners!





We got her done just in the nick of time, this is my very first bear, And I am extremely happy with her cute little face! I'm goung to try and make another one soon,but I'm going to try and add a gusset next time.
I think she needs just a bit more dimension on her side view, she'll look so much better with a nose job!
I do want to see what she'll look like in mohair, but I better not say that too loud I wouldn't want her to start putting on airs!
Blessings,Flora

Beary cute...

I've been working on a bear design and decided it was time to make it, of course I didn't have any mohair, but I did have vintage camel hair fabric and little " Bailey" was "born". I designed my own pattern so I guess she is an original girlie too!
Usually I try to make my creations as close to my drawings as possible, but as you can see "Bailey" decided otherwise. She can stand on her own with just a little positioning and I've made her jointed with cotter pins and discs at her neck ,shoulders and hips.I also needle felted the whites of her eyes with some cream wool roving, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but still I'm not sure I would want to make felted creations like my friend Teresa what a talented lady!
I'm also in the process of making a dress for her, her shoes are almost done as well, cause a little girlie needs something to protect her footsies...er... paws!
These are a few pic's of Bailey, from the start and in between.








All in all I'm pleased with her and I think she is a beary cute little bear.
Blessings,Flora

The Humble Arts ...

My selling site is having an anniversary this March and to celebrate this event, we are donating handmade items, these two are my offerings, in keeping with the Irish theme of the month.

This one is called "Kiss Me I'm Irish"


This one is called "Irish Lassie"


Both are made of small ornamental gourds, just like my " Valentine Cuties", but these don't have poems just the little ditty/saying on hangtags and my logo, all embellished and done up "prettily".
Come by and visit and sign up for the gifts you would like to recieve, when your name gets drawn, (I think it's only one item per person though!)
Just so there is no confusion ask Blondie, she'll set you straight! So don't forget!
Blessings,Flora

Every once in a while.....

I get so involved with the daily process that goes into creating my dolls that at times I forget what's really important. But every once in a while you're reminded of what life is truly all about. Such as when my daughter Mandy and sil Jason had my first precious grandsons..TWINS!...and now we are blessed again,my Daughter Chencha and sil Brian are going to become parents!!!!! I recieved a call this morning with the news that it would be a girl!!!!!..We've waited a long time for this to happen for them, as well as for us, and if anyone has gone through the heartache of infertility , well I don't have to tell you how much of a heartache it really is....
Every once in a while life becomes so much sweeter than you thought possible.
Blessings,Flora

Mr Umbagi's Gift

It's been a heck of a week! I've had my sweet friend Annette of Huckleberry Arts help me with a new template for my auction tonite.I don't know how she does it ! She helped me every step of the way, THANK YOU ANNETTE!, and I think she got it all set up just the way it should be! This is the link here
So please go take a look at it I'll be right there with this offering " Mr.Umbagi's Gift ":




She designed my wonderful template, and gave me some very valuable information.
I think she did a fabulous job! I would highly recommend her to anyone, not just because she is good at what she does but also because she is such a good soul.
And I don't know of anyone who couldn't benefit from that.
Blessings,Flora

Challenges, challenges and more challenges!

So I joined another doll group not too long ago ( like I really have time to make more dollies )and I had to come up with a dolly that a feebleminded prestidigitator ( Whew what a word...still not sure if I spelled it right ) ok, ok MAGICIAN, anyway what his feeble mind would come up with. I had this image in my mind of a witch doctor, and this is what I came up with. A bit demented huh? He's done in watercolor pencils on smooth bristol board, my very first, thank you very much! and I'm including a print of him with the doll auction.





I have been wanting to use this kind of gourd for a while ( I also used them for my Valentine Cuties ) so here was the opportunity, I decided to make a shrunken head dolly with it and started with a little glue over it then the clay, the magician above is the impetus for her and of course the doll group...hehehe! And this is what she looked like after.





I didn't like the way the legs looked so I changed them.


This is what they look like now, I added an internal wire for posing,( no she doesn't stand on her own!) She needed color so I painted her and she is now stationary.


Here she is before the paint,antique,hair and dressing.


A doll with a face that only her maker could love...sigh!
Blessings,Flora

Twice Tagged

Looks like the "taggers" have been busy this day! I just got tagged again by Sue of Rabbit Hollow Prims , well what can I say?...

1) I love rain! The sound it makes when it starts it's pings against my home, to the cracking thunder as it lights the sky!...just don't want to get wet!

2) I LOVE all Asian foods, ...I could eat it everyday! Trouble is every 30 min. I'm hungry again....hahaha!

3) My children are all around eight years apart....I knew I wanted more than one, but not too close together....

4) I'm older than my husband, ...but only by a few months.

5) I don't like to say too much about myself......Just enough to keep 'em guessing.

Ok so here are the next victims...er taggies

1) Whobyfire - http://www.tiipetti.blogspot.com/
2) Greenie - http://greeneyez2.blogspot.com/
3) Sharon - http://www.mustardseedoriginals.blogspot.com/
4) Steph - http://sunshinenravioli.blogspot.com/
5) Jodi - http://sugarplumstitcheshome.blogspot.com/

TAGGED ?

I was "tagged" by Lily of French and Country Chic Gallery, now I'm supposed to tell 5 little somethings about myself that no one knows? This could be fun, now let me see what can I tell.....

1)I love to see some scarey movies, but I always close my eyes when the scarey stuff starts. More like as soon as the scarey music starts!

2)I'm the oldest of 7 siblings, big families are very popular in my culture.

3)I don't know how to drive a stick shift, always wanted to and ruined my only vehicle at the time...ouch!

4)Love, Love, Love " Dune " series by Brian Herbert!!!..I could literally see the characters before me, as I read the book! They were my intro into sci-fi.

5)Always wanted to get my palm read but was too afraid to " find out what was in store for me"......lol

Okay now I have to tag some lucky friends,who will I tag? Oh, I know, I know!
I tag:

1) Ayala - http://ilove2paint.blogspot.com/

2) Annette - http://huckleberryarts.blogspot.com/

3) Blondie - http://www.vintageprims.blogspot.com/

4) Deb - http://debraklopp.blogspot.com/

5) Sherrie - http://sympletymes.blogspot.com/

Valentine Cuties

I just finished " little somethings " for the Harts site, they are little ornamental gourds
that I've embellished with all sorts of goodies, vintage and new. If you want to buy or just look, click on anyone of these two links, this one will take you to the home site : The Humble Arts, or the one below will take you directly into mine. They are called " Valentine Cuties ", here is my original ditty/poem that goes with them:
" Valentine Cutie "
Colors in red and pink,
Even black as ink !
Maybe a funny little frown,
Will be turned upside down !
By one tiny sweet beauty,
Called a " Valentine Cutie "
by F. Thompson
I'm not too sure if they are on the site just yet, but they will be sometime today. They are about 6-1/2" tall ,including the ribbons and tulle and hook, oh my!...with an 8" circumference, quite light and airy.
Clockwise from the top is "shush" as in be quiet!, then comes oh so "sleepy", next is "giggling" and last but not least is, such a " sad" little one.
They sparkle so very "prettily" when the light hits them, the camera didn't catch that, but you get more pic's of them and better shots when you go to the site.
My most favorite is the sleeping one, she photographed much better than the others ....those slackers... and she slept the whole time!
Blessings,Flora

The Devil is in the details.......

I never really understood that saying, that is until I undertook this project! I almost threw him away a few times , I was just sooooo ready to give up on him and his "shenanigans", but I'm glad I didn't, because I learned quite a bit from those "shenanigans "! He was an enourmous learning experience, one that I won't soon forget and I now have a great respect for those who do this miniature sculpting for a living. He is a challenge doll for one of my fabulous ebay groups, SEHA, the theme is " Dancing Devils " I added the Valentine Day theme to him .
I was working with a deadline and thought I hadn't made it, up until this afternoon , I thought I was late with my listing, but found out otherwise so here he is, I added more definition to his face on the one in auction here...http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=250205474534&Category=357&_trksid=p3907.m29

The tail in this pic was removed due to the possibility of breakage due to it's thinness, I oppted for a much thicker one.

The hands were a bit more work than I expected but I was able to use a smaller guage wire then wrapped it with florist tape and applied a polymer glue over it then the clay a little at a time in layers and was able to build it up to a proper size.

I had initially put in my own handpainted eyes, made from glass head pins but went ahead with some blue glass eyes handmade by miniature artist Jane Walker.

Almost done, WHEW! I was still having problems though but got past them..thank goodness! I think he will be my last devil art...... for a while anyway.

Blessings,Flora

You're a mean one Mr.Grinch!

This is a full frontal and back veiw pic of Krampus and he is listed for 2 more days on ebay here is the link : http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250195311814&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab%3DSelling

So much to do, so little time!

Wow, it's already crunch time and I'm so behind...as usual ! I managed to make a deadline for my HA 31 doll group, for this guy on the left.

Krampus, is a character originating from Teutonic countries and Germany. Apparently he is the bad side to Christmas ( I never new there was such a thing !)
The naughty list has to fall to someone to enforce, that's what the twig switch is for, and as if that wasn't enough to scar the little children for life, he is supposed to carry a basket on his shoulders to whisk away all those naughty kids !
Can you imagine, those poor kids must of been too afraid of Christmas to hope for anything other than not to be on the naughty list. All a bit too dark a theme for kids as far as I'm concerned.
But anywho this is my interpretation of old krampy, he's made of mostly vintage materials that I've had in my studio for a while. His body and wings are made of linen, the switch is from an old twig wreath that I took apart.

I've made his head out of paperclay over a vintage linen fabric and of course his fur was also from vintage left over halloween fabric. ( my son was a werewolf on year) I again used a dimensional medium over metallic and regular acrylics paints for his eyes.

He is string and button jointed at the shoulders and hips, for limited and gentle positioning, but cannot stand on his own.

Pompous Princess

I finished this doll last night and Blondie was kind enough to put it up on http://thehumblearts.com/. She is the "Snow Princess" So please stop by and have a look , as always, she comes with her own original ditty and my logo on hangtags and is signed and dated. She is an all cloth doll, the photos of her outfit don't show the beauty of the fabric that makes her dress, the skirt has sparkles on the fruit and candy printed on it ! Her jacket is a quilted velvet fabric that has a wonderful sheen and of course the thread used for the quilting is made of metallic gold thread! Really very pretty to see in person. I painted soles on the bottom of her shoes and placed ornamental tissue on top and when you read her poem you'll know why I called her a Pompous Princess in this post. Well I'm off to see what else is in my sketchbook , to get started on tonight. Oh yeah, the gourds!
Blessings,flora

My what a long nose you have!

It's been a while since I've posted anything, Grandbabies and life in general have a way of keeping you busy with more important " stuff " (and my house is still a mess!!!!), but I managed to finish my "Snow Princess" tonight, she was fun to make, although she also took longer than I expected her to.

These are photos I took as I was working on her, I think I got carried away with her nose length,..lol, but I kinda like the way it looks.... and she's not complaining, so it stays!

I wasn't too sure about making her a little dirty either, the white looked good too, I just wanted her to look a little different, so she's a "dirty/grubby" Snow Princess...and she's not complaining!

She does look a little sad eyed though, I'll have to do something about that on the next dolls I make.

Positioned, gessoed and hung to dry. Looks like she has a bit of some cellulite going on here!

I need to figure out how to stuff my dolls a little differently so as not to have that happen...it won't show anyway but it is a little bothersome.

She still needs a little more eye makeup, all in all I think

she looks pretty good and the antiquing came out better than I expected. I do like the long necks too, all my dolls seem to want to look upwards...some subconscious thing I suppose? and their heads tilt some, to the left, usually.

I'll have to put up more photos tomorrow.....or later.

Blessings,Flora

sold! more gourd ideas

SOLD!!!....I like the way that sounds......SOLD!!!!! My Sugar Plum Fairy sold this morning at http://www.thehumblearts.com/, Time for me to say goodbye, wrap her up and send her on her way to her new home tomorrow. I still think it's a little odd how I start to miss my dolls before they're gone, but once they're gone I'm ok. I wonder if I'm the only one who does that?

So I guess it's a good thing that I'm working on another doll , and some gourd ornies. I have some old drawings, that I think might work for these little gourds, that I've had for about 2 yrs. I'll try and post the photos tomorrow sometime, cause I'm feeling a bit tired today and I don't think I want to attempt to put anything up and have to do redos.

Blessings,Flora

Rich and Lucky

Every once in a while people come into our lives ........ ( or step out of it, but thats another story )......and we are made richer for it, YES it is VERY "cliche" but so very true. Although
I have never met this lady in person, I always sense a feeling of such goodness after we communicate, via the internet , and I'm always left feeling so enriched and so very lucky.
I have met other wonderfully sweet people, and I'm sure they know who they are, but the lady I speak of is "Blondie" aka B. Spencer. She is never without a kind word or some sort of encouragement and I'm sure she doesn't have to say anything kind but I suspect it's an intricate part of her, so she does. Everyone should have a " Blondie " in their life, and anyone who knows her will agree that I'm right about this..( that doesn't happen very often.) But I'm right on the money this time, just felt it needed to be said that's all... Thanks Blondie.
Blessings,Flora

Big Silly Scare!

I really scared myself silly today, the deadline for my theme doll is tomorrow..i think...lol....
anyway I was on the Delphi forum and everyone was talking about the nutcracker theme for
The Humble Arts, this coming November. It started to dawn on me that maybe I was supposed to do a nutcracker!...OH NO!!!! Did I misunderstand?.........NAH, Whew!!!!, next time I'll ask, before I have a heart attack! This is my new doll, The Sugar Plum Fairy. She comes with a little ditty/poem, a vision in pink and gold and all things shiny and sweet!...(well to me anyway!)
She was one of those dolls that just didn't want to get borned! But apparently I wasn't the only one with that problem, seems like quite a few people were in the same boat. Anywho..she's done and I'm very glad about that. Just too many things going on in this month, it flew by so fast I'm surprised that I haven't missed Halloween altogether this year!
Blessings,Flora

The Sugar Plum Fairy

Ghoulie Gourds and sketchbooks

These gourds are a handsome bunch aren't they? Well I think so, "Black Cat" has already found a new home, and I'm just waiting for the other "guys" to say their goodbyes.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250173729234&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab%3DSelling

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250175212490&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab%3DSelling

It's funny how attached you become to your own creations, at least I do! My "Studio" will feel a little empty, so I guess I should start on some new gourds, to fill their empty spaces. I have some sketches for new ones, different ones,... I have sketches for lots of things, and I don't really leave home without a sketchbook, that and at least 12 or so well sharpened pencils, all with new erasers. Actually it's not a real "sketchbook" ,just a composition book, one of many that I've coIlected from my children throughout the years, waste not want not! I try to sketch often, especially on long trips while my husband drives and there have been times when I could not get pencil to paper fast enough. But I do better at home, sitting on the sofa, trying to watch tv and missing most of whats going on, simply because drawing is sooo much better..sometimes! I misplaced one of my sketchbooks once and I was like a lunatic till I found it. I kept thinking all my art, all my ideas gone! I honestly don't think I'll ever have the time to create all those dolls, but just the thought of not having them was like I lost part of myself .... go figure. I'll

try to post a few of my sketches later, as soon as my son can help me

scan them, I'll do it.

Blessings,Flora