~*~ Cybil And Sabine ~*~

Surprise!  My pumpkin men turned out to be girls!  Meet Cybil and Sabine.  These lovely ladies have been added to my website at http://www.blondheart.com/

Sneak Peek And A Reprieve

I have been so stressed this week you have no idea.  I have been trying to get everything done before I left on Monday to go visit my Mom.  While I was looking forward to seeing my parents, I was not looking forward to the two day drive.  Especially when I had to finish mice and pumpkins and decorate for Halloween and pack all my things from my china cabinet and curio cabinet and pack my clothes for the trip and clean...and do a mountain of laundry...and...sigh~

When I got up this morning I knew I wasn't going to get it all done.  Ok well I could have if I didn't want to sleep from now until then, but I am sort of fond of having a little sleep because it makes me more alert and functional and just generally more pleasant.  So I finally broke down and called my Mom and told her I wasn't going to leave until Tuesday. 

Why all the packing you ask?  Well because R was going to take the week off and paint while I was gone.  Why was I driving you wonder?  I have things I wanted to take to my Mom and flying wasn't an option to get them there.

But my Mom said they were going to come around the beginning of December so she could pick stuff up then.  And she suggested perhaps I shouldn't come at all.  But I felt bad.  I had promised to come and I don't like to break a promise.

So since I don't have to take all sorts of things now, I am flying!  But not for three weeks.  Which lifted a weight right off my shoulders.  Now I have time to get everything done properly and then go!  YAY!  Plus it also means I can actually stay longer at their house.  YAY!

Now about this sneak peek and pumpkin by candlelight you see above...well when I posted the last group of pieces I had done, my little pumpkin man was adopted within five minutes.  I know a lot of you e-mailed about him and were disappointed you missed him.  So I have two more.  They aren't dressed yet, but they will be later today and posted then.  I just thought I would give you a heads up that they are coming!  Until then...I am going to go off to bed.

Hugs, K <3

A Blog Give Away!

I promised you a surprise a while back...well here it is!  Now I have to tell you I am a bit late on getting it done, because as usual I am behind. 

I know I haven't done a blog give away for a while but I have mixed emotions about them to be honest.  The last one I had, the person who ended up winning had just raved about how much she loved it in her comment to the post, and then when she won she never claimed it.  I waited several weeks and tried to contact her numerous ways.  So I felt rather embarrassed and foolish, I had worked really hard on it.  And after all that time had passed, I didn't know what to do with the piece.  So as you can imagine I wasn't in a big hurry to try it again.

On the other side of the fence, I know what it's like to enter a blog give away and want the piece sooooooo bad.  Then to not win and have no other way to get one like it.  There was a Christmas bear a few years ago I wanted more than anything and that was what happened.  I would have happily bought one like it but there wasn't one for sale.  So in case I am not alone in feeling that way, I have made a second mouse...Boo is available on my website at http://www.blondheart.com/.

On to the details!

Caution is 4 1/2 inches tall, he is hand stitched of African mohair, hand dyed, and has glass eyes.  He will arrive in a ceramic pumpkin with his spooky little sign that says "Caution."  (He is really friendly and not at all scary though.)

To enter you must post about it on your blog, leave me a comment with a link to your post, (just one comment please) and be a follower of my blog.  International readers are welcome to enter too.  A couple give away pieces have gone overseas before!  That's it, and you will have a chance to win my little Halloween mousey!  Easy huh!

The winner will be chosen by randomizer on October 25th at 11:59 PM MST. 

Good luck!   Hugs, K. <3

PS...

 

Not to take you away from all the fun of the previous post I made this morning, but I also wanted to tell you that the five new pieces-three halloween and two regular bears are finally on my website at Blondheart.com 

Hugs, K. <3

Edit:  Seedric the pumpkin has been adopted so he is no longer on the site.  More will be coming!

The Church And The Barn

Yesterday I got to have one of those girl days that I love so much!  My friend Carol and I do this a few times a year.  We usually meet in Castle Rock which is about halfway for both of us. I have told you about the places we go before, but this time I had the for thought to bring my camera...so you can actually see what we did!

First we went to eat at The Old Stone Church.  It's one of the oldest churches in Colorado, but it's been a restaurant for many years.  The food is just amazing!  I had a hazelnut crusted chicken over pasta with a cilantro pineapple butter, and a little bit of cranberry walnut salad on the side.  Yum!  Carol had shrimp and goat cheese enchiladas with a chipotle cream sauce...I almost had that.  She let me taste it...it was insanely good!  

They also gave us a basket of flat bread with chimichurri sauce to dip it in. The sauce was SO good that I was dipping my chicken in it. The server asked if I would like some more, and I jokingly said I would like a whole jar to take home. She said they did sell it by the jar, and when you bought it..you got the recipe for it too! Naturally a jar came home with me.

Next we headed down the block to The Barn.  It really is an old barn.

It sits right next to the Purina Chows company.

But inside it's unassuming exterior lies delights that can barely be described!

Every vendor gets a little room for their wares.

This is just a small sampling of the many rooms!  They have a real eye for vendors that fit a certain style and it would be easy to spend thousands in there!

While I didn't spend thousands, I did get some lovely little treasures, including the grey scarf in the back, some small reproduction french letters, a key chain and two necklaces.

I also got a carved crow, and a couple of handmade flowers.  I didn't show you everything I bought.  I got a lovely feather flower but Penelope was trying very hard to help me with it so I decided to put it back on my jewelry amoire safely out of little kitty paws reach!  I got some really pretty leg warmers and a truly beautiful headband with a flower on it too.  I am wearing the headband though, so it didn't make it into the picture either.

This is just a close up of the swan lake and the Paris necklaces I just had to have!  

They have added a small building to the left of the Barn called The Barn Too, which was filled with more delights including the shabby pink table with it's scalloped edge.  I thought it would make the perfect stand for my TV, so after some careful maneuvering we managed to get it into the back seat of my car!

It was a really fun day, and also so great to see my friend.  I know if you knew her you would love her as much as I do.  She is just this fun, cool, sophisticated lady with a little bit of an edge...there is NO ONE else like her!

Show-In-The-Dark

I got home from the Kansas City Teddy Bear Jubilee yesterday and I wanted to make a post, but I was SOOO tired!  I find that driving that hard on so little sleep really took it out of me.  I guess I am not as young as I used to be despite the fact that everyone I hadn't seen in years said I look exactly the same except that my hair is even longer. 

Now on to the show...the banquet the night before was lots of fun, but I was exhausted and didn't stay for the auction.  The next morning I got up and started getting ready.  I was dressed and thought I would run my suitcase and laptop out to the car before finishing up with my makeup.  That way I could check out and only have to fuss with my duffel bag.  At the last second I decided to run the curling iron through my bangs. 

When I got back to the room the power was out.  As it turned out, it was out for the entire area, not just our hotel.  Thank goodness I decided to do my bangs before I went out!

The show had a nice crowd when it opened, better than the previous year from what people said.  Sadly we were in the dark for the first three hours.  I had a flashlight in my purse, but it's hard to buy bears when you can't really see them. 

The power finally returned and we still had a pretty good show.  I took some pics, and I have to apologize in advance.  I had bought a little camera for traveling and this was the first time I had used it, so some of the pics aren't that good.  But it was nice to see some old friends and make some new friends!

Ken Yenke and his lovely wife did a program on Saturday.  Unfortunately I didn't arrive in time to attend, but from what everyone said it was quite good.  He is holding a 1920's Petz bear that managed to make his way home with me!

I was right next to Martha Burch who is always so much fun.  And no she wasn't sleeping...I just managed to snap the pic when she blinked!

On the other side of me was Bettina Groh from Glass Dragon Bears.  Her bears are every bit as sweet as she is!

It was also nice to see Virginia Jasmer.  She is just lovely and I have missed seeing her.

Terri Larson was really adverse to having her pic taken.  I tried three times and this was the best I could get!  She is so silly...and was always one of my very favorite people.  So it was fun to see her again.

I met Tyler Crain-Davis from Teds 'n Such for the first time.  He is just a doll and I liked him immediately!

Isabella Hoffman of Bearly Collectibles was also new to me, but I found myself drooling over several pieces she had.  If only I could have brought home everything I wanted!

Somehow I never managed to take a pic of my own table, but you can see it from the side behind Bettina's table. 

Quite a few pieces did get adopted, but I do have some new pieces that are still waiting for that special person.  (Yes Gideon the Gargoyle is still waiting too...which surprises me considering how many ardent admirers he had.)  So I will have those photographed and posted to the  blog and site hopefully in the next day or two.

Also I came home with a trunk FULL of mohair, so I should have a surprise coming for the rest of you very soon...as soon as I can get it done.  I will be working on that along with pics today since R is out of town.

Until then have a lovely day!  Hugs, K.  <3

~*~Gideon The Beargoyle~*~

I know it's been nearly three weeks since my last post, but I have been working like a mad woman.  I am leaving in just about 24 hours for the Teddy Bear Jubilee in Kansas City.

I have made quite a few new pieces but I am only showing you Gideon.  He is one of the Halloween pieces, and I just thought he was fun because I have never made a gargoyle before.

I will be back to posting more when I return.  It's amazing how hard it is to get ready for a show when you're out of practice.  I used to be able to pack and everything in my sleep...but it's been a while.  I can't wait to see everyone...hopefully I will be seeing you there!

Hugs, K. <3