BUNNIES FOR FLOURISHES

A few weeks ago, I was asked to create a couple of bunnies for a friend's new business venture, named Flourishes. Flourishes will be a fabulous place, hosting six special events each year, showcasing antiques, folkart and collectibles from some very talented people. I was honoured to be asked, and now that the bunnies are finally finished, I am delighted to showcase them here . I'm pleased to present Rosey and Lilac. They are made from German Shulte mohair, stuffed traditionally with excelsior and painted with layers of permanent heat-set paints, to bring them to life.

Flourishes is located in Washougal, Washington. To see other wonderful previews, check out the link The Silly Bear . I soooo wish I was close enough to attend the opening, March 15th. I'm sure it will be amazing!

NEW FAMILY MEMBER

Well, we added a new family member yesterday - a 7 year old male cat named Tiger. He belonged to our daughter and son-in-law, but he was miserable at their house. My grandson is loud and boisterous and Tiger was always hiding from him. Every time we went over for a visit, he came running to me as if to say "save me"! Tiger had stayed with us for a few weeks, three years ago, when our daughter and hubby were staying with friends and their new house wasn't finished. He seemed happy with us then, and since our old cat passed away last summer, we thought our remaining cat, Thumper, might like some company.

It seemed reasonable that Tiger might be quite upset with moving to a strange house but boy, were we wrong. He came out of the cage with a smile on his face and you could almost hear him saying "it took you long enough!" In less than a day, he is completely settled and our cat Thumper is all set to play. One would think he had been here forever - just look at that blissful face!

AN IRISH KING

It's been a while since I made a new bear and even longer since I updated my blog. I have to make an effort to update much more often.

I had a blast making my latest teddy, Padraig. I learned how to stamp polymer clay and how to emboss metal (both techniques I plan to incorporate into some altered art projects). Padraig is only 5 inches tall, but he looks a lot larger than he is. He definitely thinks his stature is that of a laaarge bear. Anyway, he's listed on ebay tonight, for those interested.

May you all have a wonderful holiday season and enjoy the time spent with your families. From our family to yours, we wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

THE CHRISTMAS WHEEL IS SPINNING!

Every year, Christmas seems to come faster and faster. There doesn't seem to be as much time to visit friends or even relatives. Stores are open longer hours and on most holidays. The electronic age has made our lives more complicated, not simpler. Weekends used to be for relaxing - now employers can reach you by cell phone or email! Oh, for the good old days, when stores were closed on Sundays and holidays!

Last week, we had a scare with our grandson, Corson, that left us all shaken. Due to a mixup in communication, Corson was missing for a full hour, before being located with a friend. The police were scouring the neighbourhood, and search and rescue helicopters were searching from the air. Luckily, it ended well, but it certainly puts things in perspective.

Our son is home from Korea for the month of December, and we like to have the house decorated when he arrives. Normally, I decorate the tree by myself, as everyone knows how fussy I am about it. I have hundreds of ornaments, all different, and I am a total control freak about them. But, after everything that happened, I changed my mind this year - our grandson looooves to decorate ANYTHING, so I decided to let him help me, and we had a blast! It took us the whole day and Corson was so excited - every box he opened was a delight. He oohed and aaaahed over every ornament. At first, I had taken some fragile ornaments and put them on the tree before he arrived, but he was very disappointed. So, I held my breath and let him handle the breakable ones and he was so proud of himself - he called them his "precious" ornaments. Not a single one was broken and I think we may have started a new tradition - Corson and Nanny, decorating the tree!

BEAR ARTISTS ONLINE WINTER WARMER SHOW

Where on earth does the time go - it's November already! I've been really busy, desperately trying to get some pieces done for the BAO Winter Warmer Online show this weekend and battling a very nasty bug at the same time. Thank goodness for the generosity and understanding of Penny Davis, the owner of the site and I'm very grateful for the extension she gave to so many of us struggling to meet the deadline. I have bigger and better antibiotics, so I hope to feel better by show time.

Normally, I only do bunnies at Easter time, but I decided to make a couple of winter bunnies, and I'm very pleased with them. The first one is a standing bunny pulling a wicker cart full of hand made Xmas goodies (a mini beeswax Santa ornament, a mini chalkware bunny, a mini wooden Xmas ornament with a repro vintage xmas card decorated with glitter, a mini bottle brush tree and a chenille candy cane). The bunny is made of mohair and is hand painted with layers of permanent-heatset paints and it really brings him to life.

The second bunny is a tiny Peter Rabbit (2 3/4") that I made to fit inside the cutest little Peter Rabbit collector tin. I stumbled across it at the market at St Jacobs and knew immediately that I had to make a Peter to go with it. He is also made of mohair, is fully jointed and wears his very own removable jacket.

The last piece is a 5 inch Christmas teddy, with his very own Jack Frost in the Box. The teddy is made of hand-dyed mohair and has been distressed, to make him look vintage. His Santa hat is held on with elastic and can be removed after Christmas. Jack Frost is hand sculpted from Fimo and is mounted in a wooden box.

I hope you have enjoyed a preview of my pieces (you can click on each picture for a larger view) and you can see all the other wonderful bears and animals at , http://www.bear-artists-online.com/wwintro.html tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. EST. The show runs a full 24 hours and there are 42 international artists participating. That means loads of teddies, so mark your calendar and come and join in the fun. I'll post a link here, once the show is open - hope to see you there!

CHRISTMAS PHOTO ORNAMENTS

I have had so much fun playing hooky from bearmaking and working with old photos and photshop. It makes me sad to see family photos relegated to a box or a drawer. I also love glitter and altered art, so I decided to see if I could come up with a way to get the photos out the boxes and onto a wall or a Christmas tree or anywhere that they would be enjoyed.

I'm really thrilled with the results and have decided to show them off here, on my blog. I'm making 4 different sizes because some photos need a larger format. Three sizes use beveled glass and the last one uses plain glass. The smaller size (2 inches x 1 1/2 inches) is really cute. The look nice on a tree or on a cord as a pendant or with several strung together on a garland. I'm working on two garlands - one of our grandson which includes a new picture of him each year on his birthday, and another with pictures of him with his Papa, because they really have a special bond. They will eventually belong to our grandson, when he is grown and I hope they will have special memories for him.

The mid sizes are 3" x 1 1/2" and 2" x 3" and the larges is an oval 4" x 2". Some are decorated with photo corners and glitter and some are plain. Some have fancy soldering and others are more simply soldered. The variations are endless. I'm hoping to start selling custom made ornaments from customers' own family photos. I have some samples and prices listed in my Etsy Shop: http://www.duffyantiques.etsy.com/, for anyone who is interested and I can be contacted through my shop. Have a wonderful weekend!