Welcome Kaiah to our family

This last Saturday after Jared's wrestling tournament, Bo and I and Nick went back out to take a look at some puppies. We had the owners email us some pictures but we really wanted to see them in person to be able to see their personalities and their mannerisms around each other.

We went out there and took a look and let Bo and Nick decide. They happen to like the same one I did. So we left picked up puppy things and came back to pick her up.

Welcome Kaiah(rare beauty)to our family. :) She is a 7wk old Rednosed Pittbull mixed with American Staffordshire Terrier. Her mother was a beautiful brindle dog and was so sweet to us. We picked her because she seemed very calm compared to the other puppies. But of course a puppy is a puppy and from the start we already started training her and we are crate training her at night and bringing her to different functions so she can get used to people and different sounds and smells. Our downfall in the past was not socializing our dogs or already buying one with issues. She was too young to learn to much bad habits so we are trying to instill the good ones in her now. So no matter how cute she can look, we have to stand our ground. Like Ceasar Millan (the Dog Whisperer) says "You have to be the calm assertive pack leader."

So without further ado....her is Kaiah.......


The day we brought her home.



Look how little she is.











In her bed





After a couple days in our home. Playing outside.





Spotted a butterfly



Sneaking up on it.



Hope you enjoyed the pictures. It has been busy in this household and now with her the days are a blur. It is seriously like having a toddler in the house. I have to keep her in my art room in her bed if I want to get things done without worrying about her loose in my house. She is potty training well compared to other dogs we have had but we still have to be persistent and watch her mannerisms because she does try to tell us in doggy language she needs to go.

Enjoy and have a great day.....

Been busy with gardening :)

So sorry that I have been away. :) I have been busy. Bo actually got some days off this week and so we have been constantly back and forth to Lowe's and the local nurseries around here to pick up the flowers and all the things to landscape my front yard. Today,I finally potted the last flowers since it wasn't that hot and Bo was at work anyways, and will hopefully mulch tomorrow.

Couple other big things happening...Nick had a track meet Tuesday and did great on his 400m and 800m runs. Jared had a wrestling tournament this weekend and placed 3rd but wasn't so happy with it because he was robbed a pin from the ref. :( But he watched the video and saw his throws and was happy with that at least. :) I think he will do better as the time comes.

Also we came home with a new puppy. :) Her name is Kaia which means rare beauty. Bo named her. :) And she is a 7wk old Pittbull/Staffordshire terrier mix. She is the cutest thing but yes we are strict and training her to potty right and crate training her at night. The boys have been good about keeping her with them when I am busy.

So as you can see so much has happened since my last post. I promise to share pictures of the puppy but for now will leave you with some flower pictures from this week. :)


Phlox




Bleeding Hearts







More flowers to pot. :)



Japanese Maple



Asiatic Lily



Calla Lily



Hostas



Daisy



Mixture of flowers



As more flowers come to my garden I will be sure to share. :) I hope you all had a great weekend and now a great start to your week.

Now off to check on the boys and the puppy, get cleaned and make the boys Dirty Rice for dinner with some Garlic biscuits. :)

My first doll Maya and trip to Bowling Green, KY

Finally I finished my cloth and clay doll Maya. I am so proud of myself that I followed through and finished her despite my insecurities in this new medium. I think she is pretty cute myself. :)







Bo has been having crazy schedules switching from days to night shifts then days again. And figures it happens on the week the kids have Spring Break. Hopefully next week he will have some days. This is the reason why when he does have time with us we are either traveling or trying to spend as much quality time as a family together.

On those times though at night when I can't sleep I work on some of the projects floating in my head. :)


The other night this is what came out of one of those moments.





Last Saturday on a whim we ended up in Bowling Green, KY (about 90 miles away)where we used to live about 4 years ago. We went downtown and see the square we so miss, and eat at a Bosnian restaurant that we always frequented called the Brickyard Cafe. We were so delighted that our server Dino remembered who we were and that my favorite drink was a Midori Margarita that he makes. :) It was a nice afternoon then we went and watched "The Clash of the Titans" then headed home. I miss living there, at least now we are only a drive away. This is where my art took off and my jewelry was featured in Gallery 916.

The Square
















A little history of Brickyard Cafe from their web site.

In 1995, the owners of the Brickyard Cafe left war-torn Yugoslavia to start a new life in the United States. Zeljko "Jake" Simic was a restaurateur in Bosnia, and Robert Stupar was a baker in Croatia. After meeting in Bowling Green, they dreamed of owning a restaurant where they could share part of their culture with their new friends and neighbors.

The charming historic house at 1026 Chestnut Street, in the heart of historic downtown, provided the perfect place to realize that dream. Built by Harrison Barner around 1857, the solid brick house has been a brickyard and a private residence.

After purchasing the house in 1997, Jake and Robert spent a year renovating the building themselves. Their desire to add European charm to one of Bowling Green's oldest structures is evident in the decorative arches and cedar canopies. The tile tables are reminiscent of Jake's restaurant in Bosnia.

Brickyard Cafe






My delicious Midori Margarita. :)




Nick's Calzone




Well today is sunny but windy. Allergies has hit this household and we are all on Zyrtec and Patinol eye drops. I hope it doesn't last but I do love how my yard went from clay to beautiful green grass that now needs to be mowed. LOL! I am planting my seeds today and hopefully will be just the right size before I transplant them in the ground. Hopefully I will also be working on other projects. That's if I don't end up with a house full of teenage boys.

My goal is to create everyday....it may not be finished in one day but just to create always gives me a reason to enjoy a day no matter how it started or what happens throughout it.:P

A new challenge for me and an update

Wow, I don't even know where to start......okay well I will just plunge in. :)

So much has happened in a short period of time. The week has been filled with the everyday going on in our normally hectic lives but as the weekend comes along we try o enjoy what is around us. As the weather became nicer, we realized our trips into Louisville became more persistent. We would always end up in the Highlands area full of eclectic shops, galleries and restaurants. So I will hopefully get caught up with those pictures and share them. :) In going into Louisville I always came back with such an inspiration for my art, mostly after visiting the Mellwood Arts Center and just seeing how an ex-meat packing plant turned into a space for galleries and studios to rent.

Despite that inspiration I felt like something was lacking. I am not sure if I hit a road block and my mind went blank instead of always full of ideas or if I needed a challenge. I learned more skills in my jewelry making but sometimes it is nice to put that to the side and create something completely in a different realm. Being a mixed media artist I usually headed to the paints and my canvases but somehow this time I would just stare at my supplies and still be blank. :(

One of those days was a lunch date with my husband. We usually find a neat place to eat lunch then head on to either Barnes and Noble and browse around or run errands. We ended up at Barnes and Noble and I came home with a magazine I couldn't stop looking through called the Art Doll Quarterly.




The beautiful images of the dolls from different artists sparked an interest and one article in particular caught my eye. It was "Cirque des Phenomenes"or "Circus of Freaks" by Rachel Whetzel. I was drawn to the fact that her dolls were made with cloth and paperclay and they were so interesting. In reading her article I found out she was part of Gritty Jane's Cloth and Clay group online. Interested I jotted down the link and headed that way online. You have to be a part of the group to access the pages and so I joined. Not even a day after I joined I was drawn to the inspiration I found on that site with so many very talented doll artists. Jane had tutorials on how to make cloth and clay dolls and once I bought my first tutorial and received my supplies list I was already hooked.

The first tutorial is to get you acquainted with Creative Paperclay and you would make a doll body out of cloth then use paperclay to create your doll. This meant finally getting that sewing machine I have waited so long for and actually learn how to sew at least to be able to make small projects. As the process went on I realized not only was I enjoying it but I wasn't stressed creating. It was nice to be challenged into something outside of my realm of creativity and just be content with that the end product may be for myself not anyone else.

This is the first tutorial: To make a simple Cloth and Clay Doll




As I went through each stage of the doll I would get so excited and take pictures of the process. I am at the last stage of painting her and I cannot wait to finally finish her. I am hoping to do that this week.

Here are some of my pictures of the process. Bear with me, this is my first doll and like everything the more you practice the better you will become.

The cloth body, arms and legs, stuffed and ready for the next step.


Skirts before they were coffee stained and baked.


Sketching out a face before the application of paperclay after the doll is layered with gesso.


The beginnings of the sculpting process.




Stained with coffee.





Getting close to the sculpting being done.



First layer of paint after the arms and legs were attached.





I know my doll will not look as well put together as the talented artists in my group but I am proud that I have gotten this far and have enjoyed every step of the process and look forward to making more dolls. It also helps the group is a very friendly and enthusiastic group that are there to support and also help you through and our moderator and instructor Jane is awesome.



So at the moment I am working towards finishing my first doll and practicing more before I join the challenge in making a bird doll. :)

Updates:

In the jewelry area I have some great news. I was asked to put my jewelry in a local gallery here in Elizabethtown, KY and actually dropped it off last Friday and so I am not sure when it will be set up and ready to be seen. This will boost Bo to also start getting into his creative zone once his crazy schedule at work slows down. We also have a couple of other doors open to us but I will elaborate more on that as the time comes. Once my jewelry is set up at the Woodland Gallery I will be sure to post some pictures. Lynn the owner is a wonderful person to work with and I sure hope my jewelry does well in her shop. :)

Well today is the first day of Spring Break for the boys. And I still had to be up at 7am to get Nick to track practice, he has a meet tomorrow and hopefully will be able to run. We have a busy week, plus I am hoping to get more of my to do list done. We are having great weather and I finally put some flowers out. But I am waiting to actually start on my bird and butterfly garden of perennials and a raised garden out back for our herbs and vegetables. Yesterday we potted some of the flowers we bought and put our bird bath out. We are just happy right now that our grass is growing-FAST! It is so different for us to already be in warm weather at this time of the year when in Alaska the snow is just finally melting. Spring is truly here.

Our bird bath and the pots that Bo picked out for our front porch.


Columbine and Pansies






I hope this will be a great week for all of you. Off to work on some of my projects and enjoy some of this gorgeous sun. :)