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