Thursday, January 29, 2009

12 Bears...of the mohair persuasion!

Yessiree!! 12 bears are done. Yay!! Well, except for dressing and or accessorizing. Rather than listing them all at once, I will begin listing two, one large and one small, each week. This will allow me some time to catch up at Monticello, paint furniture, get the nursery ready, plan the baby shower for my daughter, and go back to designing more one-of-a-kind traditional bears while still exploring my paperclay dollies. Whew!! Sounds like a lot, huh?

Warmest bear hugs, Aleta

P.S. It should, should I say, allow me a little more time to reply to blog notes and maybe even do a little blog hopping every now and then too!! Yippee!!


Wednesday, January 28, 2009

A random act of kindness from a friend.

Happy Pink Wednesday!! I want to share with you something that was done for me completely out of the blue the other day. I'm telling you, when I received this banner I burst into tears. It may seem like a small thing to those of you techno savvy lovelies out there, but to me, this is a big thing. A very big thing.

There are times when you need to have things like banners and the like in order to link with other sites. I do not know, nor do I have the time to learn, yet another, computer skill. I'm pretty basic. I know how to right click and save, how to download and upload (or is it upload and download?) and simple things of that nature on the computer. However, even these simple tasks required writing down instructions, referring to them several times over before they stick in my head, and keeping them in a file so I can refer to them in case of a mini-meltdown of memory. I know you know what I'm talking about. ;o)

Anyway, my friend Brenda Power, sent me an e-note the other day and enclosed in it was this beautiful banner. As well as making the most exquisite pint size Steiff looking bears and bunnies, Brenda likes to fiddle with Photoshop. Lucky for me!!! Well, I must have made a comment about trying to make a banner out of one of my photos or something in order to sign onto the 100 Best Bear Artist Blog Sites. Maybe Brenda thought, "Oh dear no, that will never do!" or something to that effect, but bless her heart, she designed one for me and sent it out of the blue. Note the pink background?!! Only my favorite color!! And, she included some of my best dressed bears including my 2007 TOBY winning bear. Bless you a zillion times over, Brenda. You are a dear, dear heart, a kindred spirit and a most treasured friend. Thank you.

Warmest Pink Wednesday bear hugs, Aleta

Monday, January 26, 2009

Treasure hunting!

I found these fabulous chairs at an estate sale on Saturday. The details are simply marvelous! They're old and quite heavy for their petite size. Though the original fabric has obviously been replaced, they still have the original horsehair fabric bottom and nailhead age. Keep 'em or sell 'em? They're not exactly a chair that Bill would sit in (ha!)....even though he does like the way they look in the livingroom.
Gracie gave them her seal of approval right away. She has impeccable taste...in soft cushioned surfaces!

Other lovely French finds: a market basket with leather strap and a beautiful tapestry. I also bought some simply scrumptious white linens that will be made into pillows for my space in Monticello. I'm also waiting to hear if I got the fabulous mirrors we put a bid on. There are three of them. One frame in particular is spectacular!! I've got my fingers crossed!
Speaking of Monticello, I'm decorating the display window there in April!! How cool is that?!! So, while working to finish up bears, I've also been decorating a 5 1/2' x 9' space in my head. Easy to do when there's not much up there to begin with!! Ha!!
Okay, enough silliness. I have a physical therapy appointment and a meeting with a friend and her designer friend to talk about another bit of new business. I'll let you know more about that soon.
So, I'm outta here for the rest of the day. Oh, but before I go, Shantell, Apple Dumpling Diaries bestowed on me another lovely blog award. You sweet girlie you, Shantell!! Thank you!!
Now I've really got to get out of here. Make it a great week!! See you Wednesday!! Warmest bear hugs, Aleta


Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Trying to stay on task.

From the bottom of my heart I'd like to say a special thank you to these lovely women for thinking of me and my blog. Martha, Vintage Trifles; Laura, Dances with Teddy Bears; Melanie Jayne, Bear Treasures; Tami, Dolls n Dreams and Tina, Tiny Bear. They have been so kind as to send me special blog awards and wish for me to participate in a fun game of Random Facts Tag. You girlies are the BEST! Thank you ever so much. :o)

I will do my best in the next week to share the goodness and great spirit in which these awards and games were passed along. This week, however, I absolutely MUST stay on task and finish up these 10 bears!! It's the one thing I have the most trouble with, staying on task. (Adult ADD) There are so many delightful distractions in my life!!

Okay then.....staying on task. I'm off to the studio to do some airbrushing!

A happy Pink Wednesday to you! Warmest bear hugs, Aleta

Monday, January 19, 2009

That look.

Do you ever get that look from your cat? You know the one. It's the "What do you mean, you're too busy?" look. Isn't it amazing how closely it resembles the "Where's my dinner?" look. After spending the last few days visiting with my mom, this is the look I'm getting from the cats today. They just don't understand that I have a zillion and three things to do. Oh, wait. A zillion and four....a fax just came in with a bid to repair the pool. EGAD!!! Are you kidding me? $27,000?!!!! And that's with no upgrades!! Good grief!!

Perhaps I should send this picture of Max along to the pool company with a caption reading, "Seriously?!!" Ha!

Warmest bear hugs, Aleta

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Pink Wednesday Wishes!

Take a breath. Treat yourself to something sweet. Best Pink Wednesday wishes and warmest bear hugs, Aleta

Saturday, January 10, 2009

The crib is finally here!

It finally arrived! The crib for Nana's nursery! I thought it was hard to keep focused on work before. Sheesh. Now all I want to do is start getting the nursery put together!
The boys, my son Justin (Have I mentioned he's single?) and my son-in-law, Jeremy (daddy to sweet baby) helped put the crib together. Actually, they pretty much put it together while I tried to read the instructions and ultimately ended up just holding parts steady. Ha!

So, here are the colors I'm working with. Shades of pink (who would have guessed?), lime green and white. With this color palette I can keep the walls the pink color they are. One less thing to do! This palette also works with the pieces of vintage Beatrix Potter I have. I found, in my stack of old bed linens, a fabulous old sheet with just the right color bright pink roses with lime green stems. It will be perfect for a crib petticoat! I'm hoping to find a crib bumper in the pink and white check fabric because a. that material shown in the picture above is supposed to be for another project and b. it would be another project to add to the list. Although, I did find a pattern for a really darling bumper with a scalloped top. So, so cute!! We'll see.


This brings me to another project that will need to be finished before baby arrives. Painting the dressers. These dressers were Brittany's when she was a little girl. Yes, we have carted them from house to house because Brittany wanted to keep them for her babies someday. Now that she's having a baby, she's decided she doesn't want them. WHAT?! Are you kidding me? (sigh) Okay then. They're mine to do with what I want. So, I'm going to paint them a soft white and put glass knobs on them. Ha. Mine now.
Actually, my children seem to have an aversion to any decorating style they grew up with. I call it Shabby Chippy. Justin calls it Old and Busted. Brittany used to have a Shabby Bohemian style....until she met Jeremy. Now they've all turned into modern Pottery Barnites. A rebellious lot they are!! Ha!
Make it a fabulous day!! Warmest Saturday bear hugs, Aleta



Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Pink Wednesday? Already?

Seriously. A Pink Wednesday already? It seems I just posted one a couple days ago! Is this a glimpse of how the year will go? Oh boy. Hang on to your hats!! Here we go!!

Ha! And here I sit with nothing pink to share. How about white instead? I have lots of white! Wait a minute though......that's what I thought about pink. Oh well. White it is for today because I only have two more minutes to chat. I'm off to the Physical Therapist for evaluation. Evaluation!! Hee!That makes me giggle. Now if it were a Psychiatrist that would make me giggle even more!! They would say, "Chick, there is no hope for you." Ha!!

Annnyway.....after that, I'm off to Monticello to dismantle my Christmas space. I don't know about you but I'm ready for some SPRING!! It will take me a few days to make the complete change though. I have bears to finish!!

Okay then. My two minutes are up. Happy White instead of Pink Wednesday! Warmest bear hugs, Aleta

Monday, January 5, 2009

Winners, WIP's and Oiy!

Let's start with the winners of my New Year's giveaway! They are, in order of names drawn: Charmingdesigns, Ginie-Lee and The Vintage Sister Studio! Congratulations girlies!! You will each receive one of my sweet little Tuck-In bears. Now isn't that a great way to start off the new year?!! Presents!! Wahoo!!

For everyone who entered my little bit of New Year's folly.....Bless you and thank you for your post!! My wish for you is for all your wishes to come true!!

Also, on a side note, I was privately asked why I don't do one of those drawings where you get your name in twice if you post that I'm hosting a giveaway. Well, here's the thing....I'd rather give sweet little things to those who peek in frequently or find me by happenstance through someone else's blog favorites sidebar rather than because they're popping by to win something free. You know what I mean? :o) Call me quirky about things like that.

Now onto those WIP's!! Oh, just look at all those bears!! You see, I have been working! Because of my ADD tendencies, what starts out as a couple of bears soon ends up to be a bevy of bears. So, you won't be surprised to learn I started two more large bears last night....all drawn and cut out, ready for pinning and sewing. Ha!

I think the above picture explains a lot when it comes to my lack of focus! The impending birth of my granddaughter!! I found this darling bassinet at a local antique mall. Isn't it just the sweetest thing? Of course, the lime green and red will disappear very shortly. They're lovely colors....they just don't work for my home setting. This little jewel will be for naptime in the studio while baby is still too small for her ginormous crib.

Oh, and I'm having second thoughts as to what room I'll use for the nursery here. I'm thinking about repainting the pink guestroom and making that the nursery instead. That way there will still be two complete guestrooms with their own bathrooms. It makes so much more sense. This way the sweet little jelly bean will have her very own room and she doesn't have to share when guests come to town. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner!

And lastly, we come to the Oiy! Oh, what a headache. One would think that living in the high hills, a person wouldn't have to worry about flooding. Well, if the rain is heavy enough, I suppose just about anywhere can flood. Take our beautiful pool for example. Not so beautiful now. The pressure from saturated soil buckled the walls and floor. Isn't that crazy?!! And, to add insult to injury, it snowed again last night. Two more inches before it turned to rain again. Like I said....Oiy!! We're thinking that this is leftover wierdness from 2008 and that 2009 really WILL be a better year. Fingers crossed anyway!! ha!
Warmest Monday bear hugs, Aleta



Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year!!

Make a wish and make 2009 your best year ever!!!

Leave your wish on this post and you may just receive a little something sweet in the mail. You have until Monday, January 5th!! Wishes can come true. It can happen to you.....!!!!!

Warmest wishes for the happiest and best new year, Aleta

P.S. There will be three winners selected to receive a sweet little something in the mail.