Round Top

Today was a beautiful day for a road trip.

I went to visit Copper Shade Tree Gallery in Round Top.

 

 

I had a nice chat with owners Debbie and Gerald, admired the beautiful and varied work in the gallery, and delivered “Vespers”.

 

I stopped in at The Apothecary and picked up a couple of patriotic decorations for the house. I need to get on that asap – the Fourth of July is just around the corner!



Family Reunion

Earlier this month we had a family reunion in the Texas Panhandle. My great grandparents raised their four sons here. Their descendants (my cousins) came from Texas, Utah, New York, and Montana for this first-ever cousins reunion.

Some of my relatives still live in the Panhandle and they hosted our get-together at their beautiful home in the country. On Saturday, we went to the National Cow Calling Contest in Miami, TX.

cow calling contestants

My ever intrepid husband Bob entered the contest and actually got a ‘call back’!  But alas, he did not win. ;)

 

My cousins took us to the cemetery to see where our great grandparents and other relatives are buried.

 

The girls got to go four wheeling with their dad…..

 

saw some antelope.......

♫ oh give me a home where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope play♫

Then we visited the farm where the wheat was being harvested.

combine cutting the wheat

We got to ride in the combine!  This was a big deal to us city slickers!

combine blades cutting the wheat

wheat filling up in the back of the combine

When the combine is full, another kind of machine is driven up along side the combine and the wheat is transferred into it, all without stopping.

  When that machine gets full it drives over to a waiting semi truck and the grain is transferred to the truck.

darling daughters in the wheat field

We had a fabulous time!

May Flowers

April showers bring May flowers.  The flowers in my yard looked better than ever this past May.

Flower Bed in Front Yard

The magnolia tree is blooming.

The Fairy Garden:



The Patio

By the back door

A back yard visitor.



Full Circle

The very first doll I ever submitted to a magazine for publication was "Torn Apart"

submitted to Somerset Studio magazine back in 2002.  They did a special issue featuring Art Dolls, and I was thrilled that mine was one of those published. 

The issue turned out to be so popular that the publisher decided to create a quarterly magazine devoted to Art Dolls, which was Art Doll Quarterly. 

So ten years later I've come full circle with a feature article about my dolls in the Summer 2012 issue of ADQ.  It's such an honor!

Another recent "full circle" moment was last fall at Lucia's Garden in Houston. Lucia gave me my start selling dolls many years ago.  Last fall I was honored to be invited back to bring my art dolls to Lucia's Garden Fall Open House.   

http://janetbodin.blogspot.com/2011/10/yesterdays-open-house.html

Studio Makeover Complete!

The studio is complete!  All my supplies are back in!  Hooray Hooray! 

Here is the main wall with shelving and drawers.

I have my books and supplies grouped in categories.  Face painting supplies are by the face painting books, wool felting supplies by the felting books, beads by the beading books, etc.

Here is my sewing table.....

I have room for my sewing machine, embellisher & serger, plus my regular sewing threads, machine embroidery threads & serger threads.  And lots of drawers.

Here is my cutting table/work island. I have wide shallow drawers on one end of both sides of the table, front and back. On the other end I have vertical storage space for my ott light, paper cutter, light table and large mats.

This is my media wall with cds and dvds.  I'm old school - still using a cd player. :)

Here is my window wall with shelves for magazines and some of my doll collection, plus drawers for miscellaneous things like charms, stencils, foils and such.

Over the closet doors are some favorite quotes.



Inside the closet are drawers with fabrics and trims.

Yours truly with my Art Doll Quarterly profile article! :)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new studio!  I can't wait to get back to work!



Art Doll Quarterly

I just received the new summer issue of Art Doll Quarterly. I am so honored to be the profiled artist!  Ricë Freeman-Zachery wrote a wonderful article.  The interview took place several months ago, when I was just beginning my studio renovations.  I am putting on the finishing touches this week.  So I have lots to celebrate!

Thank you Ricë!  And thank you Jana Holstein and Art Doll Quarterly for including me in your wonderful magazine!

Doll News

Someone brought a copy of Doll News magazine to our TAODA meeting today, and I was so surprised to see my doll featured in an ad for ODACA Day 2012!

That's my "Henry" in front.  What a nice surprise and honor!  Also featued in the ad are dolls by Donna Sims and Ute Vasina.

This year, ODACA Day will be held on Monday, July 23 at the Sheraton in New Orleans.  There will be a sales room open from 9:00 AM - 9:30 PM, a raffle, and a luncheon with a souvenir doll by Adele Sciortino.  It should be a fabulous time - who doesn't like New Orleans?!  More info here:  http://odaca.org/events.php.

And yes, I'm still working on my studio, but I see light at the end of the tunnel!  Pictures coming soon!!