Art Dolls - The Ladies of Summer

As you may (or may not) know, Arizona is a mecca for retirees.  There are tons of communities throughout the valley specifically for the active "adult" lifestyle.  

The Ladies of Summer love their active "adult" lifestyle at Leisure Land in Mesa, Arizona.  Barbara, Velma and Sophie are life-long friends.  Every morning they head over to the community pool for their water aerobics class.  It is a fun way to start their day.....lunch will follow.

I'll be setting the Ladies up in my Etsy shop soon.   www.etsy.com/shop/pumpkinheadstudio

Book Faerie

I received a wonderful work of art today!  I purchased "Funnel Man" from my friend Daryle Cook in South Jersey.  Daryle is a fellow member of Cloth and Clay Dolls (you can follow the link on the right side of my blog.)  I have always been fascinated by Daryle's work and am so honored and happy to have one of his pieces in our home.  His wife, Katie, even tucked a beautiful, handmade card in the package!  Daryle and Katie Cook can be found online at www.woodstownwhimsies.blogspot.com.  They have some wonderful photos of their work on their blog but honestly the photos don't even come close to the awesomeness!  Thank you Daryle!

Hand Delivered

The Queen

requests the pleasure of your company

at the 

Fairies' Ball

on the

First Full Moon

after the

Bluebells Bloom

at the

Queen's Palace on Water's Edge

Meet Gilroy, the Queen's Messenger.  His current assignment.....hand deliver the Queen's invitations to the Fairies Ball.

Gilroy is made with fabric and paperclay.  His wings are hand knitted with wire thread.  His eyes are glass and his hair is mohair.  He wears a blouse hand stitched from an antique hankie and he carries the Queen's invitations in a hand stitched leather pouch.  His mount (fish) is fabric, coated with transparent gesso and sanded to a smooth finish.  His "mask" is hand knitted wire.  He too has glass eyes.  Gilroy is approximately 9" tall.  Seated on his mount he is approximately 18".

I pondered on Gilroy for some time.  He just wasn't speaking to me.  When that happens, I find it best to sleep on it a bit, knowing that when he was ready he'd let me know his true identity.

Blisters and Paper Cuts

I've taken a bit of a break from my most recent doll, Gilroy, to create wedding invitations for our friend, Jessica.  It's been a couple years since I've created invitations on a large scale.  By the end I had blisters on my thumbs and paper cuts on many fingers!  It is hard to believe that just a couple years ago I was creating custom wedding invitations for multiple customers, all at the same time!  With all that said, however, I really LOVE these invitations!  The style is very fitting for her mid-summer, country style wedding and I think her color choices are wonderful! 

 I've blurred out their full names (to protect the innocent, perhaps?)   Congratulations Jessica and Blayne!

Dupont and Friend

A few weeks ago I started a new doll.  I wanted to try making an animal and for me, a dog is the most perfect animal.   As I was developing this doll, it was taking on a familiar face.  Unfortunately, that face was that of our beloved Molly.  Not wanting this doll to be a memorial of Molly, I set it aside for a bit.  Well, I finally finished him.

Meet Dupont.  Dupont has many dreams of being a heroic chap but Mum puts ribbons on him.  Quite upsetting.

Follow the progress of Dupont ...

And here is a sneak peek at Gilroy.....I'm not going to tell you what or who he is, this is just a clue.

My Sweet Molly

Sad news came early this morning.  Our sweet 11 year old Lab, Molly, has been ill with liver desease for some time now.  Well, actually, she has always been a bit ill, but despite that, she has always been a big lover!  Unfortunately, she started hemmoraging this morning.  With a heavy, heavy heart we said our good-byes (she looked up at me with her big expressive eyes and seemed to say thank you, Mom), before Mr. D loaded her up and drove away.   I truely appreciate the wonderful team at our vet's office.  They have always loved Molly as Molly has loved them, so I knew that I was leaving her in good hands and warm hearts.  Good-bye Sweet Molly.  We will miss you dearly.  R.I.P.

The Sounds of Kindness

In 2002 in Tucson AZ a mother lost her sweet little 2 year old son.  She recognized that the kindness of strangers was helping her family heal.  Out of that Ben's Bells began.  She set up her pottery studio and started creating beads and ornaments to string with a small bell attached at the bottom.  The idea was to leave these bells throughout her community to spread the word of Kindness.

On the first anniversary of Ben's death they placed 400 bells around Tucson and each year the number grows.  After the shooting tragedy in Tucson volunteers created and hung over 1400 bells around the community!

This year on March 29th, the anniversary of Ben's death, the local Phoenix newspaper made a donation  to have 250 bells brought to the Valley.  If you know the Valley you know that it is made up of not only Phoenix, but Scottsdale, Chandler, Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, Glendale, etc.....quite a bit larger than Tucson.  Given the size of the Valley, 250 bells seems to be a relatively small number.

So you can imagine how honored I was to have found one!  Just hanging on a bench, shining in the sun, no one around.  Attached to the bell was a card which read "You have found a Ben's Bell.  Take it home, hang it in your yard, and remember to spread kindness throughout the world".   To use my niece's quote, "My heart was truly full!"

The article in the newspaper that day said, "You can't buy a Ben's Bell.  Some would say that you can't really find one either, that the bell finds you."   I really feel that this bell found me and I am so honored to have it in my home where I can give it a ring each day as a reminder of the sounds of kindness.

Do something nice for a stranger today.....it will fill your heart.