The start of summer

Actually, it's been warm enough here since the beginning of April to consider it summer. This weekend, even though gas prices discouraged it, we took a ride. Bill and I went to Merritt Island, east of here. He wanted to show me some amazing homes he sees on his water delivery route. One neighborhood of incredible homes have a flock of peacocks wandering around. Peacocks make an awful screeching noise. There were mansions with water on both sides. I don't know who lives in huge homes like that. We can only dream of living in one. Dinner at Taco Bell on the way home(big spenders-we are). I took a photo of the cool Tiki mailbox holder on the way home.
Monday we had grilled burgers at my brothers. Goober, their Dachshund, hoped for leftovers.
Now, back to work. I have a Panda cut out and partially sewn. It's longer fur than I have used in awhile so I'm not sure how it will turn out.

Bernadette Buttons gets a face lift.

I finished Bernadette over a month ago but I was never happy with her face. I felt like her nose was too big and her eyes too far apart. So she got a face lift, which actually consisted of a whole new head! Don't you wish you could do that sometimes? Get a whole head transplant? Maybe you know somebody else that could really use one.
I'm glad I worked on her because I am much happier with her face now. I haven't decided if I am going to put her on Bid4bears, on my website, or in my etsy shop. Maybe all three! I did add a new page to my site with some new bears for sale. One of them is Sally by the Seashore pictured in my summer header. You can get there from here

Blooming in Florida

Yesterday evening we went out for a burger. When we returned there was a squirrel running across the yard with something bright orange in his mouth. I jumped out the car to see what it was. There was the little varmint, halfway up an oak tree, calmly eating a bloom from our hibiscus bush. Bill is already extremely upset with our squirrel population. They dug up and destroyed his amaryllis bulbs, took the blossoms off the gardenias, and tasted everyone of his peppers(then decided they didn't like them). The live oaks on either side of our property attract the squirrels. It is not unusual to look out the front window and see 8-10 of them playing in the yard. They better watch out. Bill couldn't hurt a fly but they are getting on his last nerve.
I took some photos of the hibiscus and one rose before the squirrels get to them.

Teekee is ready for a luau

Just finished this little cutie last night. I took her photos today and put her on Bid 4 Bears tonight. I'm really pleased with the way she turned out. You wouldn't believe my inspiration though - that glass. Well, it's really plastic but I saw it and thought wouldn't a little tropical theme bear look cute sitting in it. The hardest thing to find was the little paper umbrella. I found a pack of those at good ol Walmart. Now I have 9 leftover paper umbrellas. I like Teekee's size too - 6".
I'm working on another summer theme bear. She's all done but I can't decide on her accessories. I might put together a new header for my blog using her.
Would you believe it's time to start thinking about Christmas?? The magazines want submissions for their Christmas issues by July and early August. Falalala la la la!!!!

Interview at Dogs and Art Flickr Group

Flickr, the Yahoo photo sharing site, is a really fun place. You can upload photos, videos too, and join groups with like interests. I belong to 44 groups with varied interests from softies to Florida. One of the groups I belong to is called Dogs and Art. The members are artists that incorporate their love of dogs into their art. We post photos of our dogs and our work. The group admin Nancy(nanjodogz) decided to interview members so we could get to know each other better. She interviewed me this week and it is currently on her blog. I love looking at photos of artist's work, wildlife, babies, dogs, and even cats. I have searched photos on flickr when I am working on a project. Great for reference or inspiration!
I also wanted to note that Oscar the Dachshund, Pixie the Puglet, and Wally the Boston Terrier are now available in my etsy shop.

One of those days

It might even be one of those weeks. On Wednesday I was looking for something I needed for a project I wanted to work on. I ended up reorganizing all of my supplies and accessories. I labeled containers, put stuff in the giveaway pile, and some things in the trash pile. I found a couple of things that might inspire a new project and several items that made me think "Why did I save that?". Of course this took all morning and I never found what I started out looking for.
Even though my supplies were now in better shape I felt like I was running in place - not really accomplishing anything. The new business keeps pulling on my time-insurance for the van, title transfer, printing flyers, buying uniform shirts - it's seems never ending. I really wanted to finish some bears this week. Today, finally, some time to sit work on a Teddy. But the face is not turning out right. The mouth is wrong and the needle felted nose is not turning out right. I just broke a felting needle and decided it was time to quit for today. It will only get worse if I continue now.
Tomorrow some friends are coming over and we are going to sit by the pool. After cleaning up before they arrive I'm going to chill. I need to zone out in the pool on my floatie.

Pixie the Puglet & Oscar the Dachshund

I had meant to post several days ago but there have just been too many things going on. We closed on the new business on Wednesday April 30. We are now official. There are still things to do and I have a long list for tomorrow.
Maisy, the little bear in my header, is on her way to Australia. I sold her through my etsy shop. I finished 2 more little dogs and haven't decided if I'm going to put them in my etsy or try to auction them on Bid 4 Bears. The Artist Power campaign on Bid 4 Bears is winding down but I did very well. I'm hoping it continues to be a good auction venue.
I guess I'll decide this week where Pixie and Oscar will make an appearance.