TINSEL AND TREASURES

I am so excited! I have the honor of participating in the Tinsel and Treasures second annual show. It will be in Alamo on September 12th. This year is going to be fabulous, there are going to be new artists and venue will be much larger. We will be sending out flyers and more information will be available on the Tinsel and Treasure blog, coming soon! I am going to show my beaded, embroidered pictures, plus some Victorian Patchwork Christmas trees and some sparkley jeweled trees. Mark your calendars for September 12th!

Marilyn Butler: One World~One Heart Giveaway

Looking for Halloween

The time to start the hunt for Halloween goodies has begun. Going to flea markets, antique shows and yard sales, looking for the perfect rusty piece or the old piece of wood with worm holes and interesting knots, anything odd that strikes my fancy. These are the things we look for to build our Haunted Houses and the hunt begins early in the year. We had no production at all last year, my Mom became ill and needed all off our attention. She passed away in August, I miss her terribly. She was one of my biggest supporters, and she left a big hole in my heart when she died. But we are picking up the pieces of our lives and going on as we must.
So Dan is reorganizing his wood shop, taking inventory and drawing up ideas and I am going through my studio and trying to clean up enough to get around the work table. And I know Mom is smiling down on us as we work. Love you and miss you MOM.

OUT OF TOUCH

I have not made any entries for a long time, I still am so computer dumb it's not funny. Well, maybe it is. So now I am determined to start writing on a regular basis. If I could just figure out how to show pictures!! My Mother is going to be 86 years old this month, a long time to live. She is a hard person to live up to, she has done so many wonderful things in her life!! She has raised 6 children and help raise grandchildren. She has taught school, cubs, girl scouts, campfire girls. She has held monthly workshops to help leaders with crafts, songs and folk dancing. She has compiled a huge collection of camp songs and now is in the midst of writing a how to craft book. Mom has made enough cookies to go around the world and baked cakes galore!! But mostly, my Mom has loved all of us, all 6 of us, through good times, bad times and terrible times. And we in turn have loved and cherished her!! There is no one in the whole world like my wonderful Mother!! Happy birthday Mom, I love you.

beadwork

This is what I do all year. Beading and hand embroidering. I made this piece for my wonderful friend Colleen Moody. I usually work with bright colors, this was the first piece that was mostly pastels and it turned out to be one of my favorites. Her house was recently remodeled and this goes beautiflly with her color scheme. Of all the fun things I do, these beaded pieces are my are my favorites!! I have done alot of them, some underwater, some of the night sky, mountains and even black bears. I love to collect the goodies I use in them, buttons(my fav), beads, sequins, trims, threads, you name it I think I have used it. Digging through piles of stuff, getting filthy hands and coming up with something wonderful to use!!!

OUR HAUNTED FUN

This is what Dan and I make for the fall and Halloween season. Dan does all the hard work, creating, making, nailing, gluing and making more sawdust than you can believe. Then it is my turn to paint, decorate and glue on all the goodies to scare you. I take over the dining room with all the bits and pieces we have collected throughout the year (half the fun!!) For the past three years we have sold these at the Lazy K gift house at Orchard Nursery in Lafayette. My dear friend Anne Mercer, the most talented buyer in the universe, has let Dan and I sell these Haunted Houses at the Fall Fest they hold at the nursery every year. So, this is what we do for the fall.

HALLOWEEN SHOW

Well, Dan and I are going to sell our Haunted Houses at the Lazy K this weekend in Lafayette. We will set up at about 10:00 and sell 'till 4:00 or so. We had good luck last year, I hope we do again. This year we are offering some smaller graveyards at a lower price, plus we have a few larger houses and maybe (if we can finish) a Vampyre theatre. The setting at the Lazy K is beautiful, we will be on the lawn right in front of the house, we get lots of lookers. Happy Haunting!