Fun gift and someone is in trouble.

Okay....

Don't believe anything you hear toward the end of this post...

I didn't mean to do it. 

Besides...I am too cute to be in trouble. 

We had a nice little snow this past week.  Only a couple of inches, but still pretty.

If you notice things are a bit off in my photos...it is because my little Canon G10 is on it's last leg.

I am very sad about this because I really love this little camera.  

It has begun to have a mind of it's own.  For instance...the above photo was taken using the flash...

but I did not have the flash turned on.  It is like spinning the wheel on Wheel of Fortune (is that still on).

When you turn it on...you just never know what settings you will get.  

Makes life interesting though. 

I got the most wonderful Christmas gift this year!

A book all about Smudge!!!

We draw names in my family and my sister, Karen had my name.

She had this wonderful book made with pictures of Smudge from my Facebook page.

Smudge thought it was pretty neat.  

She read it all day and when I tried to take it from her...

She got mad.

Then.....she did this!

And this!!!

A little blurry, but...you get the picture.

Zippy was appalled and had to take a walk just to get over it. 

Stay tuned for a concrete intensive post.  

Happy New Year!!!

Fun with lights and an award.

Smudge has decided that she loves the Christmas tree.  

Constantly spinning the nice, plastic ornament that I left in her reach.  

Such a curious little thing.

Ha ha ha....

I think that Smudge has decided just to go along with my antics.  

Notice I have the antlers standing straight up.

They should be more like.....

This.  

Much better.

Ho hum.....I may as well just give in.....

Look!!!!

A deer.  

Actually just Zippy going to work in the shop with me.  

Just for fun....I made this head.

I have a painting that is based on the same theme.  

I thought that they would look neat hung side by side.  

I really had a fun time making this.  

I want to get a collar for it with a tag that says..

"Misunderstood".  

I wanted the texture to be pretty rough. 

I had to keep the ears pretty thick, for fear of the them breaking off.

The wet spots are from Smudge meeting and greeting her new friend.

"Mum" tattoo.  

Skull and crossbones on the "wood" part.

Smudge...maybe you can actually play with the concrete Zippy.  

My new thing.

Motivational messages in concrete.

Smudge decorated her crate for Christmas.  

I think she wants to make sure her packages arrive  safely.

Snoozing away making her little bulldog noises (and smells). 

Oh no!!!  She sees me.

Don't worry Smudge...I will not mess up your decor. 

Seriously...don't be angry...I just wanted to share your beautiful decorations with everyone.

Help!!!!!

My friend LeeAnn awarded me the Liebster Blog award.  LeeAnn has a beautiful blog about her life in Savannah, GA and posts about her own personal growth experiences.  I really enjoy reading her blog and always get a very peaceful feeling reading her posts.  She also has a most wonderful Bulldog named Gracie.  I was trying to decide who to pass on the award to and came across a post by the Heartbeats.  One of their followers (Kissa-Bull)  just lost 5 of her dogs to a house fire.  A very sad situation and I hope that by passing this on to the Heartbeats that folks can help to ease the pain at the Kissa-Bull blog by possibly sending them a message of condolence.  I know that when we lost Bumble all of the folks that wrote me really helped me get through the pain.  A little kindness goes a long way.   A wink to LeeAnn as that is exactly what her last post was about.  

The responsibilities of the Liebster Blog award are (1) To thank the person that gave you the award and link back to their blog.  (2) reveal your top five picks, with less than 200 readers, and let them know (3) copy and paste the award on your blog.  (4) Hope that the person giving it to you will keep it moving forward.  

My Project.

It has been a while since my last post.

I mentioned a special project that I have been working on in a previous post and it has been keeping

me very busy.  

Zippy on our commute to work.

Where we are making our things for the "project".  

He has really been enjoying going to work and keeps the path clear of 

all wild animals. 

It has been warm here.

Only small dustings of snow so far and the only problem with that is

the fact that we have lots of mud.  

Eco showing off his muddy velvet coat.

Smudge has been chipping away at the chair again.

I must make her pose for another Christmas picture.   Maybe with antlers. 

Speaking of antlers....

A wonderful person shot a deer the other day ( on land that was posted )

and the poor deer died in the woods about 20 feet from my back yard.  

Gus had his fill of venison and then walked onto the deck and threw up all over the place.

Thank you poacher.   You make all real hunters angry. 

On to better things.

My project!

I am getting things ready to jury for a spot in a local gallery. 

I hope that I get in....

I am making smaller things that are marketable and affordable.  

Also shippable.

This is a little candle holder.

(of course you can see that)

Smudge....

are you on that chair again! 

Smudge likes to sit under the dining room table.

The other day I did not see her there.

and went out for a moment.

When I got home....she was still under the table.

I had scooted the chairs together before I left and she was stuck.

I was lucky that she did not chew her way out!!!

Check out all of the spots on her back!!!

More project.

A little tea light holder.

Top view of the tea light holder.

A hanging leaf.

I have been making these for a long time. 

This one was actually made this past fall.

I do not use a mold for my leaves.

Or anything else.

All hand carved.  

A votive candle holder.

These can be used inside or outside.

Everything has concrete acid stain and a solvent based 

 sealer.

A medium sized planter.

A larger planter.

A very small planter.

This planter is very different from any of the others that I made.

It has a little keyhole and also can be hung.  

I thought it would look good as a wall pocket. 

I am in the process of making some hanging candle holders as well.

A very small votive candle holder.

A Knothole tea light holder.

A birdbath.

All of these are concrete faux bois.

I used a sunflower leaf for the bowl.

Top view.

When carving the texture, I like to add a few touches of whimsey.

So....you will find a face or animal or word....

in the texture.  

I think it is fun to pick things out.  

Smudge pretending to be Rudolf. 

Wish me luck getting into the gallery.

Having a pre-jury today and 

regular jury in Jan.  

Off to make more things to take!!!

Have a great week!