BIG, HUGE SnipPet SALE in my Etsy shop!

I am having a sale this week, so head on over to my shop for some real SnipPet steals :)! Quite a few cuties are marked down 50%!!!! It's time to clear out and make some room for new creations.

Presenting the last SnipPets for 2010!

A pair of Tweedle elves! Tweedledee and Tweedledum decided to come up out of the rabbit hole and head to the North Pole to help Santa this year. They are grumbling a little about all the work but they are thoroughly enjoying the adundance of cookies and milk.

So, this wraps up SnipPet art for 2010! I am off to wrap gifts to get shipped out tomorrow and then the REALLY fun part of Christmas can begin...holiday baking!! Stay tuned for festive photos of the holiday decor around my house and lots furry felines among the decorations.

Happy Holidays to you!

Little Red Bird for the STJ update tonight!

Here is my one offering for the Spookytime Jingles update tonight! One lone little red bird. She is ushering in Christmas in her own quiet way. I sculpted her with paperclay, wood and wire and attached to 4 vintage wooden blocks. She is about 6" tall.

Pfatt Marketplace update tonight!

Two more sugarplum ornaments will be dancing onto the Pfatt website for the December 10th update! I can't wait to see everyone's holiday treasures this month. I may be doing some shopping myself! I am in the midst of decorating the house and am having a little itch to buy some new Christmas art.

Paulina and Poppy Penguin

This a super quickie post! I gotta go decorate our tree...finally!!!!

Paulina and Poppy just landed in my Etsy shop. Happy Wednesday to all! Hope you are warm and cozy like this little penguin pair.

Etsy shop update with visions of sugarplums!

Happy Holidays everyone! I just finished 5 sugarplum ornaments (3 are now in my Etsy shop and 2 others will be available for the Pfatt update) and 3 wee little critters on vintage wooden blocks. I was so excited to finally come up with a use for the big box of vintage tin jello molds that I have had for years. They make perfect skirts for these animal confections! I also have a box of crepe paper that is on its way to being vintage so I sewed strips of it by hand into little fluffy ruffles for their skirts. These sugarplums are definitely ready to dance and delight on a lovely Christmas tree!



I wanted these wee ones to look like tiny antique stuffed animals propped up on wooden blocks.

Celebrating Cyber Monday! 30% off SnipPets!

Stay home and shop handmade...that's definitely more my speed than Black Friday :)! For those of you who braved the shopping madness this weekend, I hope you survived and found some great deals!! For those who are doing a little cyber shopping today, head over to my Etsy shop and enter coupon code SNIPSALE30 when you checkout. 30% OFF any item!

Hodges the Holiday Hedgehog

Hodges has been dreaming of sugarplums and lots of holiday treats. It looks like he has already filled his tummy with plenty of yummy!

This cutie pie guy just headed into my Etsy shop.

Last minute addition...Snowmice SnipPets!

Shoowee...I just finished up a few more goodies for the STJ update in the nick of time....a little crew of snowmice!

Meet Basil, Holly, Ruby and Clover....
I scored a box of vintage wooden blocks this summer and have been waiting for the perfect use for them. They make perfect little pedestals for these Christmas critters.

STJ Update at midnight tonight!

I hope all of you have a beautiful weekend! We have had a wonderful stretch of 70 degree weather, so I plan on taking care of any outdoor house/yard chores tomorrow before the normal November temps kick back in on Sunday. I'll be inside that day working on painting little snow mice and a holiday hedeghog.

Here are my offerings for the Spookytime Jingles update tonight! Make sure to visit the site and check out all of the fun and fabulous artists' treasures.

The Cat's Pajamas ornament....a grinning kitty who is clearly up to no good this Christmas!



Up, Up and Away....a frog witch headed on a moonlit adventure sure to be full of tricks and treats!

Pfatt update sneak peek!

I feel like I have been totally out of the blog loop over the past few weeks. I have had some challenges lately, but hopefully things will be back to normal soon. I have LOTS of ideas for fun Christmas SnipPets and am anxious to get rolling on them!!!

I just finished up a holiday owl for the Pfatt update tomorrow. This one is a bit larger and more detailed/realistic than my Halloween owls. I think he has sort of a Scandinavian look. He is quite dapper with his golden acorn cap, diamond dust encrusted star wand and red and green collar.

Fall SnipPet SALE!!

It hit me that I haven't had a sale in quite awhile, so I just marked everything in my shop at least 20% OFF (except custom cake toppers)!!! It's never too early to do a little Christmas shopping, so please stop by if you get a chance! A gazillion thanks to all of my wonderful customers for your amazing support over the past few years. You have allowed me to live my dream of creating whimsy and fun every day :).

Click HERE to visit The SnipPets....

Storybooks and Sweets Baby Shower

I hosted a very special baby shower for a dear friend of mine. She is having a little girl who will be named Olivia Anna-Lucille. I decided upon a "Storybooks and Sweets" theme since I collect children's books....built in decorations :)! And I wanted to fill the house with all sorts of colorful candy in glass jars and fun homemade cupcakes. Needless to say, I had a blast preparing for the party. I love creating a wonderland feeling in my house. The day turned out perfectly delightful...a big turnout and perfectly gorgeous weather too!

The invitation and miniature vintage children's books wrapped and inserted in the envelopes....


Bunnies, cupcakes and candy galore....



Olivia the pig with red velvet cupcakes and her favorite candy...



Splat the Cat and The Wizard of Oz...



Puss in Boots and his Swedish Fish...



Alice in Wonderland...



ABCs and 123s...

Another Halloween Trio and an Angel Cat!

Here is a little trio of rascally raccoons in their snazzy Halloween costumes! They are dressed and ready for the Spookytime Jingles update tomorrow night at midnight.



This happy holiday angel kitty will also be up for grabs.


This happy holiday angel kitty will also be up for grabs.

Hoot! Hoot! October Pfatt Update!

My little owls are dressed in their spooky best for their favorite holiday! This Halloween Trio is my offering for the Pfatt Marketplace update on Sunday at 9am.

Happy Friday, everyone!!

Reclaimed Wood Wall Project

Have you ever watched "The Antonio Treatment" design show?? Well, I LOVE it and was inspired by a recent episode. Antonio revamped a cute cupcake shop into an amazingly stylish and whimsical explosion of eye candy!! He incorporated a patchworked, reclaimed wood wall into the shop and I went crazy over it. I decided that I had to recreate that look somewhere in my house. I thought that the big blank wall beside our master bath's tub would be the perfect place. So, I enlisted my talented and handy artist friend, Jennifer, to help me make this project happen!

We found old window casings and some odd accent pieces at a salvage store as well as some antique door casings at our local Habitat ReStore. We yanked out the old, rusty nails and scrubbed years of dirt away. Then the puzzle began. We laid out the pieces to create the pattern we wanted and then Jennifer sawed everything to size. We adhered a piece of moisture resistant paper to the wall and Jennifer nailed everything in. The last step was painting some of the pieces in soft sea shades to match my rustic, beachy bedroom decor. I am now waiting for a pendant chandelier that I ordered to arrive so that we can install it over the tub. I love mixing weathered, rough items with elegant elements. I still can't believe that I actually have a wall like this in my house!

Snow Bunny SnipPet for AHA update!

Here is a little sneak peek of my offering for the AHA Marketplace update on Saturday! While I am never ready for cold weather, I am always ready for the holiday season to begin. So, I decided to create a little Snow Bunny doll complete with a sculpted scarf, mittens and of course, a carrot to snack on :)!
If you haven't seen the AHA website yet, please check it out. It is a lovely site!
www.ahaartistsstudio.com

Cat on a Hat Cake Topper

I was thrilled to create this custom Mad Hatter's Hat topped with the Cheshire Cat for a special cake! Don't you wish you could attend this wedding??!! People are getting so creative with their wedding decor and themes. I love it...so fun! I am truly grateful to the bride for choosing my artwork to be a part of her big day!

Meet Chanel and Versace!

As soon as I got Nadia on her way, I had to tackle trapping two new stray kitties in the back of our neighborhood. They showed up together at least a month ago and were living in the storm drains. Poor things were so scared that they would only appear at night when everything got quiet. I would see them on my evening runs but couldn't approach them without them darting into the drains or the tall weeds. A kind neighbor who lives closer to where they were hanging out than I do was willing to start feeding them. I wanted them to get used to eating in a certain spot so that I could trap them more easily. Last week, we got Chanel without much trouble, but her buddy, Versace, just wouldn't go in. But thankfully, a week later, he decided that our chicken nuggets were just too hard to resist! I was SO relived to get him inside and safe with Chanel.

I am convinced that they are brother and sister. They look alike except that Versace has longer hair. They both had already been spayed/neutered, so we just took care of their vaccinations and flea meds. They are incredibly loving and affectionate. My theory is that someone moved out of the apartments that back up to our neighborhood and abandoned them out in the greenspace near between the houses and the apartments. I cannot imagine how anyone could part with these gorgeous sweeties!

With fall and winter on the way, their lives would have been so miserable living in the drains and dealing with the harsh cold weather here. They are definitely happy to be inside and well fed! I am planning on taking them to Good Mews in a few weeks if I don't find them a good home around here.

Chanel and Versace reunited....purr, purr, purr....

And the AHA giveaway winner is....

....fellow AHA artist, Shirley Kelly of Skellyton Art!!! Congratulations, Shirley! My holiday kitty SnipPet will be packing her bags and heading your way shortly! Be sure to check out Shirley's fabulous art blog blog and AHA studio page. Many thanks to all of you who read my blog and entered this giveaway!

Hoot! Hoot! STJ Update tonight!

The Spookytime Jingles monthly update is at midnight tonight! Halloween is quickly approaching, so I made a very festive little owl for my STJ offering.

Meet Tricky!



If you haven't entered my AHA giveaway, please leave a comment on the AHA post from a few weeks ago. I will be drawing a name at 5pm today!

Horse Mania 2010

The weather in Lexington was absolutely spectacular last weekend, so we took a walking tour of the painted horses displayed around town for Horse Mania 2010. I see many of them every day while driving, but seeing them up close is a whole different experience. There are over 80 horses done by local artists and 50 foals painted by Lexington children. My in laws were in town for Labor Day weekend so this was such a perfectly fun way to entertain them too! I LOVE the wonderful, whimsical feeling they give to our city. We saw 40+ horses up close and took tons of photos, but I will share a few of my favorites with you.

Inspired by The Strand movie theater....love the pop art/retro look of this.


This is my second favorite...adore the bright colors and mixed patterns.


...and how could I resist an Alice themed horse!


This graphic design on this one is awesome...


The most clever and creative one of all....a godiva chocolate horse!

Nadia

Oh me, I just wrote a whole post about this sweet girl and it got deleted for some reason!! Oh well, I am just going to copy and paste what I wrote about Nadia for the Good Mews website...so excuse the strange point of view. Nadia and I are road trippin' it to Atlanta tomorrow. I wanted to introduce her to you before she heads on to her next adnveture.

"Nadia is ready for a quiet, loving home after a few rough months!
First, she was abandoned outside in May in a neighborhood in Lexington
KY. She managed to find a feral colony and the kind colony caretaker
was concerned about this scared new visitor. Eventually the caretaker
was able to get close enough to realize that poor Nadia was declawed
and completely defenseless. To top it off, some of the more dominant
feral kitties were beating her up and wouldn't allow her to eat. The
caretaker tried to find an indoor home for Nadia and a family took her
in but she was terrified of their boisterious child so back outside
she went. Fortunately, Miss Nadia's luck turned around when another KY
cat lady contacted Good Mews and they agreed to take her in! Nadia was
extremely thin and not feeling very well at first, but her appetite
has improved and she is doing so much better. Sweet Nadia is a
beautiful girl with a tiny bobtail that wiggles when she is happy. And
what makes her happiest is to be sitting in a warm lap! As soon as you
lie down in the bed, she will crawl right onto your legs and purr.
Nadia is gentle and low key and just wants to be with someone who will
give her the wonderful life she deserves."

AHA Studios Marketplace Grand Opening and Giveaway!

Here is my offering for the grand opening of the American Holiday Artists' (AHA) Marketplace as well as my blog giveaway to celebrate the opening! See below for how you can win this original piece of artwork from me, and find out how to win from our other artists as well!

Trio of Jack o' Lanterns for AHA Marketplace...



Holiday Kitty for AHA Giveaway....




More about the AHA group...

We're three years old, and today we launch our marketplace to expand the horizons for you, our collectors!! Our artist members offer fresh one-of-a-kind, heirloom-quality seasonal and holiday theme art---from hooked rugs, to whimsical papier-mâché characters, cloth dolls, folk art, fantasy art, paintings, one-of-a-kind ornaments, artist patterns and more! This is brought to you, directly from the artist's studio to your home year round, made with you in mind, by award-winning and respected artists.

Visit American Holiday Artists Studio Marketplace at http://www.ahaartistsstudio.com/,. Opt in and subscribe to our mailing list and receive our free monthly newsletter-you'll keep up with new monthly-artist members, new work, artist challenges and future events. New arrivals featured the 25th of each month.

And for weekly updates, drop in at our blog: AmericanHolidayArtists.com

To launch us on our artistic journey with you, we are taking the theme of The Christkindlemarket in Europe where all things are possible for the holidays.............

You stroll among the tents where artists have displayed their work, so stroll through our artists' blogs, leave a comment on each one, and perhaps you will be a winner of original artwork! All you have to do is leave a comment, and each artist will announce the winner on September 12th. The artists have all silently picked a random number of a comment, so if your number comes up, you will be the happy recipient of their creation. It's that simple, and that much fun! So settle back, relax and begin your stroll. The list below shows you the participating artists in our market blog giveaway. You can do your hopping thing, leave comments, and have a chance to win fabulous original work from some terrific artists! So, leave me a comment, continue your journey, and enjoy our launch! Thanks for looking!

Suzanne Urban Designs
Mothers Dream Artworks
Seasonal Whimsies by Susan V.
folk 'n' fiber blog
Alycia's Art
Back in the day Originals
Cathy Santarsiero The Christmas Corgi
Elysian Field Originals
Fantasy Whispers
Folk Art By Penny
Folk Art from the Heart
Ginny Diezel Studios
Golder's Creaky Gate
Granny Wolf Original Art Dolls
Howling Moons Blog
Lowell Country Designs
Lynn Bernier Portfolio
Skellyton Art
SnippetGirl
The Goode Wife of Washington County
Whimsical Endeavors
Wings and Paws whimsies

Update on Punkamunk

Some of you will remember Punkamunk (aka Punks, the Munks, Punky Monkey). We trapped her in June after two years of trying. She is now safe and sound and very happy in my art room. Unfortunately, we recently got confirmation that her mammary tumors are cancerous. This makes me very sad, but I am trying to focus on the fact that she won't suffer alone outside and she won't be having any more litters of kittens to take care of. On top of the cancer, she also has an enlarged heart which is causing fluid on her lungs. I noticed that her breathing was heavy and took her back to the vet this week. An x-ray revealed her heart issues. So, she is now meds to get rid of the fluid. She is still in good spirits and continues to be incredibly loving and affectionate. I spend all day with her and enjoy every minute of her company. I can't imagine how anyone could have abandoned such a sweetheart, but it seems to happen all too often.

I also have a new foster kitty named Nadia. I will share her "tail" in a few days...another upsetting story but her luck is turning around.

Punky helping me reorganize my shipping materials. She made it much more fun :)!



In one of her favorite spots....


Enjoying chin scracthes....

Friday the 13th Spookytime Jingles Update!

Hope everyone has a very lucky Friday the 13th! It's the perfect day for the STJ update. Head on over there for the spooky cute and hip holiday array of art. I just perused everyone's offerings and as always, there are some fantastic treasures!

Here are my STJ Snippets....

Bat Cat in the Moon Ornament/Wall Hanging



Santa Frog Grinch Ornament



Santa Frog Grinch Ornament