Nixie and Rosey

I've been watching the baby hummers frantically finding their food, they look a little like moths with brown stripes, the birds are dancing and courting together and the darn landscapers trimmed a tree back so far outside our balcony, I was mad. Springtime leads this story to meet our newest dolls, Rosey with her Posey and Nixie the 3rd elemental - water- in the series of Mythicals and Elementals.

NOTE: The next workshop for Sculpted Art dolls is due May 23rd 10.30am-2.30pm in Playa del Rey, Ca. Online class instruction will be available after the workshop. Register HERE!
Now I have to try and create the next one out of, yep, you guessed it, thin air..tee hee :-)

Rosey out and about

Yawn

After a lovely lie in today, (thanks to the Hairy One whisking the kids out the door quietly), I may be recovered from last weeks' mad dash to the finish of getting ready for a festival! I forget how much work goes into these things but it was a lovely day at one of the most exquistite sites for a school I know! I met some lovely people, showed off my wares, said farewell to a few mermaid kits and a sad goodbye to the creatures and playscape! I'm still not good at actually letting the pieces go, but I have to keep myself in wool don't I?

Sunday saw the family trotting off to San Diego to play in the park - Balboa that is- and look at a quirky home in Jamul.....that we really liked, but that would be a big jump south..mmmmm...finally an exhausted family and a very grumpy Little Gandalf, later we were all back in exhaust filled L.A. with that familiar hacking cough that nobody's really sure of.

spectacular koi pond in Balboa Park - could I felt this?

what's this you may well ask? - it was my half birthday cake, which is actually half a christmas cake from Marks and Spencers' in england that my father very kindly buys at the only time they sell it ( about a week before Xmas) and then freezes it for me = and yep I ate it all up! ( the other half was eaten at Thanksgiving)

For those of you who are making Code Pink squares, it's nearly time to pop them in the mail, deadline to receive them is May 4th I think....just safety pin your name and city to each square and mail to: CODEPINK House, 712 5th Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002 and watch what happens on Mothers Day outside the white house!

All in all, I wanted to say hello to any readers here, be blessed and don't be scared of swine flu, wash your hands, eat well and get enough rest, you deserve it.

can you spot the secret back exit in the cave?

Up to?

Well apart from trying to avoid my birthday tomorrow, which honestly used to be such a joy and is now a dark mark on the horizon to be endured, acknowledged and brushed off with not much to do this year except remember Mum. I've been busy forcing myself to make things to show and sell at this years PWS fewtival of art ( see previous post). here are some quickies that are in the works...

Playscapes - with branch bridge

cave with secret back exit, running water and grassy knoll

Tall tale Tree complete with story...

Want not

Have you ever wondered why we always have grandiose plans and big ideas about things we desire when there's either no or slim chance of ever experiencing or having them? I played a game earlier this year thanks to a beautiful yogi who shared the "gifts of abundance" emails with me and gave me a great lesson.

She sent a email each day with a particular sum of money to be 'deposited' into my spiritual account. I could spend it any which way I wanted with the only rule being, that the spend had to make me truly happy and be spent in joy!

I kept a journal of how I spent the loot, and certainly on some days it was hard to spend the amounts she sent!! It really makes you think long and hard about what you would really buy, donate, or do with some extra cash. Not unlimited mind you, but certainly free, no strings, no tax, just for you! The strangest ideas came to mind during those days and some of the pretend desires really came to pass in reality, weird? Maybe not so.

I'm so full of stuff in my head I can't think straight, so I'm shopping again (online) with abundance in my heart and a deposit in my spiritual account and here's what I found in the first 10 mins...

Yep, I just noticed that too....need more restful sleep right?

Festival of Art

You are cordially invited to attend the second annual Festival of Art sponsored by The Pasadena Waldorf School ( PWS)

Saturday April 25th, 2009 - 10am -5pm FREE admission
209 E Mariposa Street, Altadena, CA 91001
Casual attire!

I will have a booth there with all sorts of feltable fancies for sale, from wooly wall art, sculpted forests, gnome heads, mermaids and fanstay art dolls to needle-felting kits and patterns, free demo spot to try it out and workshop money off coupons! Come and say hi!
You know who to look for!

Eggstravaganza!

A few favs this year...........

Catcher and Phoenix egg by guess who

Evening Star by Donovan Boy age 9

Rocket ship by Little Gandalf age 6
( it was pretty cool before he dropped it..)

Revelation and Epiphany by the Hairy One

Avril

Mostly borrowed from Farmers Almanac:

First Day of Passover
Passover or Peasach is a week long festival commemorating the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt and slavery. The experience of the exodus is told in story, song, prayer, and the tasting of symbolic foods. Matzo is eaten in place of bread for the whole week, we like to spread honey or avocado on ours!! It's a great opportunity to dig deeper in any religious education be it yours or another faith!

Various spring maidens sprouting their symbolic beauty

The Full Pink Moon
This full Moon heralded the appearance of the grass pink, or wild ground phlox—one of the first spring flowers. It is also known as the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and the Fish Moon. Time to explore the heavens once again and plant away in your prepped garden! The moon planting rule says to plant crops that produce above the ground during the increasing light of the moon (from new moon to full moon) and to plant crops that produce below the ground during the decreasing light of the moon (from full moon to new moon).

some whimsical pics from local gardens

April 12 – Easter
Easter is the Christian holy day that celebrates the resurrection of Christ after his crucifixion. Easter may have derived its name from the Saxon goddess Eostre, whose feast was celebrated each spring at about this time. Or, it may have derived from the word, oster, meaning "rising."

Student working from last week's Faberge Felted Egg class

So which are you? We celebrate all of the above just to be sure we don't miss anything and rise to the occasion of Spring in it's fullest! Huzzah!

Chocolate Cake

Are you ready to plant, is your soil ready? How do you know? Easy, just grab a handful of soil and scrunch it together in a ball, if it stays in a ball, it's too wet, if it crumbles like and looks like chocolate cake, it's perfect for seeds or tansplants!!
Or a simpler...see those weeds growing in the garden - it's time to plant, everything's fertile!!

Monarch butterfly from the school garden

April comes from the Latin word aperio, meaning “to open or bud,” Spring festivals around the world, from Easter and Passover to Arbor Day, celebrate the season’s renewal of life. We like to celebrate everything around here, and April is one of my favourite months...not just because it's teeming with life in nature from wildflowers to birds and butterflies but it's also my own birth month - 420!! Calls for more chocolate cake of a different kind methinks!

last years' dyed eggs, this year we'll make our own dye

basking slider in wilderness park

We like to fly kites, hike, create nature art, make eggs, plant trees, peas and potatoes, what about you?

my favourite spring tree blooming in UK hometown on Sea

This is not my Garden part 2...

Certainly a coveted and lovely one owned by the talented Soap Maven. She and her family so graciously allowed us to come and visit true urban greenbelt. Pigalili is so divine with her whumps and snorts, chatting all day long to the wrestling kids and hoping for yet another apple core ( how many did Donovan Boy consume that day?) She guards the chickens from being prey to the many hungry wandering wild beasties that have loomed in the past. I may actually have to re-think the hammy Easter. The cats seem to multiply with every minute, two sets of twins later and I confirm there are actually 5 of the friendly, furry and fabulous ones! So we chat and knit and I pore over the goodies in the whimsy jars of fun stored neatly inside the studio that leads off the abundant garden of veggies, herbs and fragrant flowers. Mmmmm..

Oh this just snuck in here to show you the finished farmyard/garden that sold for $730!!!
Way to go 3rd grade, I am so proud of how this came out.

Quietly I wonder how much of my garden has fallen foul of the gophers, I'm actually scared to go and take peek at my beds right now but I'll post here for better or worse...I'm great at theory!