WINTER SLUMP!

Boy, January and February are definitely my lowest production times. It seems I need January, just to get over Christmas and get the house back in order. I was thinking how lucky I was to be "cold and virus free" so far this winter, but I should have known better. Hubby went to a conference and brought back a nasty bug, which he has passed on to me, so for the past week it seems my only goal has been to be able to breathe properly so I can get some sleep at night, and it's a goal I have been losing. Snatching sleep in three hour increments, (no matter how many you get) does not equal 8 hours of uninterupted sleep! I've been trying desperately to get new bears finished for a retail shop and my blog, but I'm working at a snail's pace. Hopefully things will get better, soon.

I did manage to get a brooche made for our daughter's birthday, last week. It was a new project, which gave me a bit of energy to play. It's made with my Stampress and black polymer clay, which I have decorated with silver and gold Mica powders and made a tiny indentation for a picture of our grandson, covered with a sheet of Mica and a sweet silver frame. I was really happy with it. I want to play with this medium more in the future, but for now it will be bears, bears and more bears. Hope to have some to share with you soon.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I'm a tad late for New Year's day, but better late than never LOL! This entire year seems to have sped by. It feels like yesterday that we moved to the Toronto area to be closer to our daughter and grandson but it's almost three years since we arrived!

I hope 2009 brings the promise of good tidings to everyone - I am glad 2008 has come to a close, with all it's doom and gloom. So, here's to 2009 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope everyone had a lovely day, celebrating with their families - I know we
did. There is nothing like a five year old boy to keep things hopping on Christmas morning LOL! For all our friends and family, who don't get to see this ball of boundless energy very often, here are this year's Christmas pics. Enjoy the rest of the season and I hope you all avoid the nasty bugs going around.

CHRISTMAS PARADE OF ARTIST'S FAVOURITES!!

Today is the day for the Christmas Parade of Artist's favourites! It's hosted by Ellen Borggreve Designs and Ellen has done a wonderful job. There is lots of eye candy so just click on the parade link on the right, and then just sit back and enjoy the show!

OH CHRISTMAS TREE!

I think one of the things that I find most frustrating about Christmas is putting lights on the tree. It has been my job for as long as we've been married. I managed quite well, until last year, when Neil brought home a 7 1/2 foot tree and it took me half the day AND a ladder to get the lights up. Well, when trees went on sale last year, he suprised me by bringing home a pre-lit, 7 1/2 foot tree- YIPPEE! Best of all, it comes with a remote control, which switches from white lights, to coloured lights, or both white and coloured lights - hallelujah!! One thousand lights and I didn't have to string one and no more arguing about which is best, white lights or coloured lights - I just have to hide the remote LOL! All I needed was my little helper, our grandson Corson, and all is well.

TWO NEW BEARS!

What a month! I have finally finished two more bears that I thought I would list here. Although these two bears don't look too different, I've changed the patterns, to emulate what I feel is a more antique style. I am forever trying to make that "perfect" bear that emulates what I love about the old teddies. I have also changed my stuffing methods and although I am still using excelsior, I am adding a granulate that gives it a more aged feel. They are much squishier - if that is a word - :o) I hope you enjoy them.

1. "MacNaughton" is a bit bigger than usual - he is a wopping 6 2/3 inches! I seem to be getting larger all the time. He is made from semi-distressed, hand-dyed German mohair that has been extensively aged (that means bald spots!). He has a longer body than usual, short legs (like the old Steiff) and he is stuffed with excelsior and granulate. "MacNaughton's" face, ears and paws have been shaded with permanent heat-set paints, for a vintage look. He has German amber glass eyes, distressed leather paw pads and is adorned by a simple vintage red silk bow around his neck. Shipping within North America is $12.00 Expedited mail or $15.00 UPS. Please contact me for international shipping.
SOLD



2. "Miss Tilly" is 6 inches and is made from semi-distressed, cream German mohair that has also been extensively aged, leaving a few bare spots. She has amber German glass eyes and a lightly waxed nose. "Miss Tilly" has been stuffed with excelsior and granulate, for a nice squishy feel. Her face, ears and paws have been shaded with permanent heat-set paints, for a vintage look. She has distressed wool felt paw pads with tiny holes for the excelsior to show through and is adorned by a simple vintage pink silk bow around her neck. Shipping within North America is $12.00 Expedited mail or $15.00 UPS. Please contact me for international shipping.
SOLD

3. I am also offering a hand made hallowe'en hat and ruffle, along with a reproduction pail (filled with mini pumpkins, mini leaves and hallowe-en confetti. The hat is made from heavy paper, trimmed with layers of black, orange and white crepe paper. The complimentary ruffle is made of the same colours of crepe paper. This is suitable for a 4-5 inch bear.
PRICE: SOLD

I will finally be updating my etsy shop tomorrow, with more soldered jewelry and mini shadow boxes. The following picture is a sample of what I will be listing. I have some new Alice in Wonderland and Flower Fairy pieces this time. I hpe you have time to check out my shop http://www.duffyantiques.etsy.com/

Places of the Heart

I've been meaning to write this post for a while. In August, my daughter and I took a trip back to Deep River, the town where our kids grew up. We lived there for 18 years and it was a wonderful childhood for them. Although it's in the middle of no-where, it is situated on the Ottawa River and close to Algonquin Park and it's absolutely beautiful. It's a strange little place and even though we've been gone for years, we keep running into people we knew from our time there.

Our kids were exposed to all kinds of sports and outdoor activities and they really learned to appreciate nature and the out of doors. Summers were filled with canoeing, boating, parties at Pine Point or weekend camping at Frazer's landing (across the river and out of parents prying eyes). The down side is that almost 100 percent of the kids leave Deep River after High School, to go to university and then to the cities to work.

Every two years, Deep River hosts a weekend "Summerfest" and it has become a reunion time for the town. The high school campus is turned into all kinds of activities and a massive beer tent is opened and it's a three day long party. Kids come home especially for Summerfest and bring friends and families that have moved away often come back for that particular weekend. For those 3 days, the tiny town of 4000 swells to over double it's size. Every house has a driveway full of cars and tents pop up in backyards, all over town. Hubby and I have been back for several Summerfest weekends, but our daughter had not returned since our move in 1994. This year, she discovered Facebook and has re-connected with many of her high school friends and decided to return for Summerfest and I jumped at the chance to go with her. Sarah took her dad's tent and a quick call to old neighbours had offers of backyards to pitch it in and a bed for me :)

There is nothing like having friends that are more like family! I walked through our old next door neighbour's front door and was greeted with a huge "hello" and a dish towel and "would you like to wash or dry" - 14 years were wiped away in a blink of an eye. It was a wonderful feeling. Their son was home and had brought six friends with him for the weekend and there were 21 people coming for a barbecue! It was amazing to see old friends and make new ones. Since they obviously had a full house, I stayed with another neighbour, and it was lovely to see their children, who were two and four when we left, all grown up and almost read for college - where has the time gone! The following day, a trip down town to see the campus and all the activities was fabulous as I re-connected with literally hundreds of people. Talk about a trip down memory lane!

Monday morning came all too soon, and on our way out of town we stopped for gas. I had to get my camera bag from the car as the day before I had put my bank card and cash in it, on my way down town. The counter was crowded, so I put my camera on the floor at my feet and promptly left without it, not realizing it until we were back home, 4 hours away. I didn't know the name of the gas station, so I quickly phoned our old neighbours to find the phone number for me. He volunteered to get it for me and UPS it back, which was wonderful, but I had to confirm they had it and someone hadn't walked out with it. When I phoned the gas station, the lady quickly confirmed that it had been turned in and when I told her my name, she hesitated. She said she had "Sarah Power's" name on it already. I was confused and she told me her son was working that day, and had recognized her from school - 14 YEARS AGO! I couldn't believe it. He had commented to his mum that Sarah looked exactly the same, which thrilled her to no end, especially since she didn't recognize her son LOL! Anyway, our neighbour picked it up for me and sent it back and wouldn't let me reimburse them for the cost. It's safe and sound, back with me. Only in Deep River LOL! I count our family extremely fortunate to have nurtured friends like these - what a gift!