Little Beasties....

New things to gander at....Let me know what you all think.....

Have you seen the Muffin Man, the Muffin Man, the Muffin Man!

New things are on the horizon and here are some things that have been hiding about the house. The first picture is a Luna softie that I made and it's hanging from a hobo statue I scored for Jacob. You can also see in the background one of my Halloween decorations that stay out year round. I having quite a growing collection of Halloween beasties. The next photo is of a bag that I got for a dollar at the World's Longest Yard Sale. It carried all of my treasures for the day, including my half of the two matching Virgin Mary's that my friend and I got. Lastly, these are some things I've been working on...

But now, new things coming. A wonderful storm blew around today, bringing thunder and lightening and a promise of fall. Fall is my absolute-lest favorite time of the year. I feel a twitching and promises and wishes and dreams coming true. I also have delightful books awaiting me. Some of you may remember when I got Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree, well, I've been saving it for now!

Also, in book related news....Last year I attended one of our local library's author night's and met Peter S. Beagle. We had a showing of The Last Unicorn, well I'd been saving a seat for Jacob when it was taken instead by Mr. Beagle. I loved that movie as a child often singing along and reciting the lines, and here I was watching the movie sitting beside the man who created it....oh my, and I had to fight reciting the lines while sitting there. I told him my favorite part was the butterfly and he told me it was supposed to be him! One, Two, Three O'Lairy! Last year, I made the mistake of not getting a photograph with Mr. Beagle well, I intend to remedy that this year because he's coming back to the library on Sept. 3rd!!!! Yeah!

It's you and me moth, hand to hand to hand to hand.........

The Porch and Other Adventures

Well, some days are adventures. These adventures often served to remind us that life is a gift, a journey to be traveled and remembered....sometimes we come across adventures that served to....well, be thankful for who we are....

Right now my own adventure has led me to having blackened knees in an unfortunate spray painting endeavor....(must remember overspray on plastic sheeting) The reason for this mishap is we've recently cleaned our porch and I'm repainting some of the metal furniture. We also removed an old air conditioner that had been on our porch for mumble, mumble amount of years.

There are many reasons to buy a house and our porch with the thought of rocking chairs on summer evenings really appealed to Jacob and I.

So, what did not appeal? Or rather what did we not know about or understand...?

First off, we have a backyard neighbor we like to call Junkman. Now, unfortunately, the pictures do not do you justice as the wonders of Junkman's house. Junkman travels throughout the neighborhood picking up other people's trash and also, going THROUGH their trash cans....now, I'm all for recycling, upcycling and all the other cycling you can do....but this, this my friends borders on.....mania. He is also known for his ability to BE drunk at 8 am on a Sunday (Alabama has an ancient prohibition law forbidding the sale of alcohol on Sundays), dancing frantically, topless, but in cut-off daisy man-dukes...to the tunes of Lynard Skynard and singing along although he sounds like Merman....glllurrrraaaarrrllllll

I'll try to get pictures of the front of the house to further illustrate my point, but let me paint you a picture. Imagine, a pool, one of those inflatable pools that are about 3 feet deep and are very popular. Now, imagine a mosquito net tent pitched directly over said pool, while pool is filled with water...now maybe that's not strange, but imagine also in this yard....baby dolls that occasionally appear as lawn art. Or the various mirrors, counter drawers, paint cans, cars on cinder blocks, etc. that make rotation through this yard. And I might add dear readers, that Jacob and I have often placed trash near the road and taken wagers on how long it will take for someone to drive by and grab it and not always the Junkman....we once nearly watched a fight break out over Jacob's old high school chip board desk...but I think what really infuriated the lady is that we refused to help her wedge it onto the back of her tiny hatchback....and someone else had a truck and grabbed it...hahaha

But, it's not just the joys of watching the neighbors fight over the trash...it's also the random dog headstone that is in our backyard...any sadly, has been moved so we do not know where Poochie lies ASLEEP....


So, I must tell you that when I create door protectors, it's not just the keep away the evil eye, but also my neighbors....

P.S. I don't hate my neighbors, in fact they're all pretty cool, expecting maybe the old man who caused me to get a parking ticket in my own parking space because he couldn't ride his rascal around to terrorize others...and tried to shoot my dog....and who we think shot a family member....and maybe not the house of ill-repute at the end of the street....But, really most of my neighbors are great.....if only for entertainment purposes....I'm just kidding....I hope none of my neighbors see this....

New Beasties in the workings....

Here's a bit more random for you, dear friends, But, I have a querst-tion? Yes, yes, do say? Well, seeing as how I've posted bits of the old sketching books, my querst-tion is, which do you think would make a nice painting? I have tons of sketch books scattered in various parts of the house and sketching/doodling is something that I absolutely CANNOT stop doing...much to chagrin of dear Jacob. I often look through these treasure tomes to find something new to paint and I'm curious to know if anyone out there has anything particular to say about it. I might add that my sketching/doodling process is rather sporadic in it's inspiration. Since I do it constantly, riding in the car, waiting in restaurants, etc, etc, I'm constantly inspired by the changing world around me...and thus out come the doodles albeit twisted around a bit in my head. People always ask what this or that means and all I can say is.....(?) How do you explain the subconscious? (Hmm, what does that say about my art?)Anyways, some doodles become wee beasties, others screen prints, still others become paintings.

And that's my question, which of these, if any, do think would make a good painting? And well, I might as well ask....what do you think of my new wee beasties?

A Couple of New Beasties!

Here are some more wee beasties for you to gander at. I must tell you, the woods are getting quite full. But I must also say...that first bird is rather pitiful in his ugliness and this little devil right above is rather freakishly devilish!

And if you please, feel free to drop me a line or two in the comments.

Again, for any newbies out there. Jacob and his cigar box guitars are linked on the sidebar there.

Also, be sure to check out Sherry Matthews art as well....

http://www.sherrymatthews.net/

Thanks a bunch!

I made it into an Etsy Treasury!

Thanks to KarlaKraft for including me into their Etsy treasury. Check out their store full of great jewelry!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7395577


http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=77506 Find the Treasury here!

Random Bits

Here are some random sketches from an old sketchbook. Enjoy yo'selves!

Pumpkin Head and Billy Goat

So here are some new little guys I've found capering around. I'm telling you the woods are getting a bit full. But you know, Halloween is right around the corner, I've been told these things do happen. Oh, dear.

Pumpkin Head is made with paper clay and felt and painted to look all snazzy. Isn't he handsome?
And Billy Goat is a hand sewn felt doll with his legs attached with buttons. Boy, can he move!

Tell me what you think. And I'll tell them you said hello the next time they come running through.

Newest Creation

Here's my latest creation. This is created by screen printing an original design and sewing it into a small pillow. It's backed with red felt and is absolutely wonderful. I plan on making more of these in the future.

Thrifted Treasures!

Here are my latest thrifting finds. I passed up on the wonderful paint by number horse painting, but I did score two excellent Mexican marionettes ( on sale---$4.00!) And a treasure trove of vintage children's books, including one Doctor Who comic book. I got loads of fabric and a back edition of Craft for 79 cents. I'm loving some thrift store goodness.

Mo' Memphis

So, what did we do while we were there?

Stay: The Peabody and yes we saw the freaking ducks. Wonderful hotel and bit of a splurge.

Food:
King's Palace Cafe----good, I ate BBQ, Jacob ate a muffaletta
Silky O'Sullivan's-----boo, Six Pence in Savannah is SO much better.
Arcade-----wonderful!
And a restaurant in the Peabody where Jacob wore suspenders.

What we saw:
Sun Studio
Rock and Soul Museum

Beale St:
Tater Red's---loved this place!
A. Schwab's----bought a voodoo doll!
various other shops up and down Beale

Pembroke Square:
Center for Folk Art---wonderful
Tin Alley Arts
and other art gallerys and shops
and rode the trolley up Main St. and found a wonderful Folk music shop whose two employees were wonderfully helpful! And lead us to great non-touristy stuff.

Outside Downtown:
Xanadu Books-----home to Johnny Lowebow--creator of the Lowebow cigar box guitar
Burke's Bookstore----we holed up here during the tornado that passed through
Goner Records

It was a great trip! We also accidentally crossed the river and ended up in Arkansas. We stayed about two minutes! But hey, I can say I've been to Arkansas....hahaha!

Memphis

A few Memphis pics from our overnight there a few weeks back.