A Scottie Halloween

Every year our local newspaper, Columbus Dispatch, has a pet costume contest for Halloween. This year I sent in the picture of Frodo as Darth Frodo & this picture of Fiona and Frodo as Garden Bugs. I got a message from Joe Blundo asking if they indeed were my pets & that the results of the contest were to be in Monday October 27th issue of the Dispatch. Now, I'm not saying they will get their pictures published, but I'm pretty certain that they'll get in the paper. If so, that is the 2nd time for Mz. Fiona. Her & Skyeblue won 3rd place one year as The SUPER-SCOTTIE girls. They of course took their prize money & bought Pig Ears!

Breast Cancer Turtles

I'm sorry, but I keep forgetting to mention that I was one of the artist who worked on the Pink Ribbon Turtle project. All the money is to go to breast cancer research. Please check this website out to be able to see the Turtles & to purchase either tickets for the raffle or products with the Turtle's image.

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Oliver

Here is my Oliver. He is from a class I took with Cyndy Sieving. It was her class on face & body building. I had a blast turning my doll into a vampire. I've worked in a hospital lab for 25 years and have always wanted to make a vampire. I can't tell you how much money I'd have accumulated over the years if only I had collected a dollar for each time I was called a vampire, or had to endure the endless lab vs. vampire jokes. Yes, rich enough to own a private island perhaps.

I did enter Oliver in the competition for EDAC (Enchanted Doll Artist Conference) back in July. I entered the beginning professional category. Oliver got be a 3rd place ribbon. The story I had with Oliver was that he was a "model employee" working in the Blood Bank through his lunch break. The glass tube has paint in it...I actually had someone ask me if it was real blood! And the bag is just a bag with painted yarn to give it a more natural look. I actually had a couple people stand shocked when they saw that I really didn't bead the whole thing. But, if you look real close, Oliver does have some beads on his cape. I think he is perfect for this time of the year...oh & yes, he gets his pay in units! Of blood, that is!

Pet Halloween picture

It is time for the annual Columbus Dispatch pet Halloween costume contest. Yesterday, we decided it is time to get the costumes out, find the dog treats, and get the cameras going. My first pictures to share is of Frodo as Darth Vader. He was so funny when I put the costume on him. He saw me coming up to him as he was standing at the fence barking at the kids playing soccer, and knew something bad was going to happen. WRONG! It was fun. Well, to me it was fun... At least Frodo did let me put the costume on. He even didn't freak when I put the helmet on his head. His legs are too short to actually fit in the sleeves, but not too bad. We put him on the swing in the back yard and when we reviewed the shots it actually looked like he was sitting in front of one of those green screens for CG effects. I'm going to send this into Joe Blundo with the caption, "Come to the Dark Side". We are going to try to do some photoshop magic and see if we can get a more Star War background, but I think with his dark color you really couldn't see his adorable head. But anyway...enjoy Frodo Baggins as Darth Vader. LOL!

Global Warming Doll

Whew...I made the deadline to add my second submission in the BAD Global Warming Challenge. This is Terra. I have been experimenting with beaded faces for my September BJP, and this is one of the results. I used a globe as the background & did a traditional Native American bead embroidery for the face. Everything else is all my own design. I've also been experimenting with stump/or pillar doll forms. Not bad, but I need to make the base wider so the doll won't wobble so much.

On a side note, I've decided to stay at my old job. The financial situation is to shaky right now to think of leaving an employer of 25 years. I'd lose too much to leave just to collect a small pension. So I'm just going to bite the bullet and stay at my current position. It would be so hard to leave 22 weeks of disability. I 'm at the age, where it is scary to think if I got sick & had nothing to live on. I'm going to be praying that the financial situation levels out soon. I'll be okay, but I'm not so sure about some of my family members. Guess I'll be collecting that 5 set piece of Samsonite luggage in 15 years from the hospital!

Summer ends

Summer is over, and Fall is official at the start. Septembers are the time of the year when I sit back & reflect on life and the year past. I don't know why September always makes me feel this way. Probably because it always called to me when I was young that it was time to go back to school, change my life for at least that year, and to commit to challenges...oh & the new television series too! How I couldn't wait until the new shows would start again. Our family just cheered when it was time to sit down together in the front room around the small black and white screen, and together get involved in shows. It was the time when we all went to the stores together getting our school supplies, walked home with friends laughing & dreaming of our future, and getting the catalogs in the mail with promises of Christmas surprises. But now September is the time of the year when I get really really blue. There seems to be on control over my emotions which roller coast up & down. I just become. Last night I sat outside on the patio wrapped up in a blanket watching the trees sway in the wind. I heard the remnants of the Summer insects singing me into a swaying cocoon of self satisfaction. I would occasionally look out into the yard & watch as Fiona lay in the grass sleeping, Frodo under the bushes trying to find bunnies, and Arwen racing from gate to gate trying to see if any small creature were trying to invade her territory. It was quiet, and my mind was quiet. Gone were the regrets of the year. Gone were the disappointments of the year. Gone were the spats, fights, and quarrels of the year. I felt refreshed. I felt like a new born ready to reach out.

But it didn't last. I woke up feeling tired. This year has been good for me, but it also has been so trying with my job flipping & flopping around with this staff member quitting, this one starting, this one pressuring others. I use to work 4 ten hour shifts which were great, but at least I was able to have some stability in my week schedule. Now we are back on 5 8 hour shifts. Because of that, two people left and one is wanting to leave. Great. Now ever day when I go to work, I don't know if I'll be the only one left, or what. I want to leave, but I've worked there for 25 years. Do you know how hard it is to leave when you will lose so much? But if you stay you lose also. Which is worse? I have no idea. Then this has been a year full of financial ups and downs for our country. I hate to even turn on the television or open the paper. To see my retirement accounts dwindle away is frightening as it means I'll have to keep on working way past the time I'd set for myself. I don't want to be poor when I get old. Both Chris & I grew up poor & the thought of having to balance comfort of living with medication or food is not what I want. So I'll keep working, and working, and working. I had someone yesterday tell me that at least I had a decent job. Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but at least I have that. A decent job that a recession or a depression can touch. So I'll endure, and hope for something to turn my switch off so I don't keep thinking about the Future.

But I have had a good year. Don't get me wrong. I've had great things happen to me. I've taken two trips with friends. I've created some enduring pieces of Art which have thrilled me. I've gotten a cover of a magazine, and some recognition from working peers. I've spent time with my best friend, I've made new friends, and I've become debt free the first time in 20 years. I have a wonderful husband, three crazy fun dogs, and job that is stable, enough beads and fabric to keep me going for years! I think everyone has a blue phase of their life. I'm going to push back the azure curtain and step outside. I'm going to embrace the oranges and reds and yellows of Fall. I'm going to run in the leaves, stand out in the rain, and just smile more. Let the blues go...

Just to show how I'm ready to celebrate the New Year for me, I'm doing a set of calender dolls for the Bead Art Doll Yahoo Group. This first doll is my September doll. She's all pink & sparklie and holds her arms high above her head. This doll is ME. She's self aware, and ready to dance to the rhythm of life. Me.

Global Warming Doll

This is my submission for the Global Warming Doll Challenge for my Beaded Art Doll Group (BAD) . It is called "Mother Nature Gives Warning". My very first idea when Robin proposed this challenge was a book that I read many many years ago. Matter of Fact, this book was published 42 years ago when I was in grade school. It was Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. I was young and didn't understand much of what the teachers were telling us about ecology, or threats to our planet, but I do remember our planting a flower/vegetable garden out behind our school in La Puente California. Back in 1962, we rarely saw the stars in the night sky, and I think I was probably 10 years old before I remember seeing my first stars on a vacation in Arizona. I had to ask my Dad what they were. I remember reading Silent Spring in high school for a Freshman science project, but I really didn't understand too much of that. My life became busy with school, study, and trying to make a living. I did go to a nature preserve in Maine 8 years ago, and learned more about Rachel Carson. Rachel Carson was an advocate for the world we now live in. Silent Spring rang out to the world the horrors of pollution raining down on our Earth. She took information from scientist around the world about the damage of chemical herbicide and pesticide to animal, plant,fish,bird, soil, and to our own selves. In layman's terms, she explained what was being done to the Earth in the name of pest control, and what was happening to our world. In the first chapter of her book, she talks about a world where there was no "voices" from the insects, aquatic creatures,birds, or the animals. To her, if the world kept on with the progress it was satisfied with, the world would be Silent as there would be no birds, no animals, no fish, no insects, or possibly no mankind. She woke up the World and especially this nation. Because of her warning, we now have the Environmental Protection Agency formed in 1970. People conserve. Creatures and plants on the brink of extinction in 1962, now thrive. People are aware. I like to think that my doll Mother Nature could be Rachel Carson giving warning to our Generation just as Rachel herself did in 1962. On a sad note, Rachel Carson died 18 months after the publication of Silent Spring due to complications from breast cancer. I dedicate this doll to her memory. Rachel Carson-A True Earthen Mother.