Surgery for the pup.

Well, he's not a puppy--he's nine years old--but he's still my baby.

Home from yesterday's surgery, and resting well.  The surgery was not badly invasive; he's had three fatty tumors removed from heel, chest, and rib.  I almost sent Phil an email update on the Schultz this morning, but didn't...figuring he would assume no news was good news. Then I get an email asking for an update. He's such a good doggy dad.

As to the update, so far so good. Still a little slow and cautious, but eating and sleeping fine.  Doc says to help him down from the furniture, but sometimes he doesn't wait for me.  Doesn't seem inclined to mess with his stitches, which was a big worry. Maybe he's avoiding that awful Elizabethan collar after having to sleep with it on last night. 

So, as much as it stinks for him at the moment, he WILL get better, and without those lipomas to bother him.  Within a week he'll be running around happy and healthy, barking from his well-guarded yard at marauding stroller-mommies and dastardly joggers. 

An old photo...he's "helping" Phil read a novel on the Nook.

In the meantime, he gets tuna fish for a treat, and I help him down off the couch pillows. 

May You Live In Interesting Times

Ever heard that?  It's supposed to be a Chinese curse.  Cracks me up whenever I hear it, because I know exactly what it means.  Although, I'd have to say it's more of a mixed blessing when I experience it.  Who wants a boring life, right?  Be careful what you wish for, chere.

The UFDC Convention was exciting, exhausting, exhilarating, and sometimes exasperating.  The facility--a resort hotel that looks like a castle when you drive up--is a monster of epic proportions, with the convention center part sprawling up the hill in three levels.  Fascinating to see, and of course I goggled like a country cousin upon first seeing the inside.  BUT that arrangement leaves attendees with no choice but to walk literally hundreds of feet from one level to another, and even the elevators don't help.  There were some elderly attendees who genuinely suffered from the quarter mile between elevators.

Oh well.  I got off track.

So...the event itself: lots of programs, seminars, and workshops to take.  My cloth and clay doll seminar was a blast--despite leaving my outline at home!  The sales room was a miracle of doll antiquity.  It was like visiting a museum, one where you can get up really close to the exhibits.  

Included in this miracle of antiquity was my fourth Close Encounter with Izzy Kind. She broke my heart.  She really did.  I didn't take my camera--I stink at remembering to take pictures!  But I did use my phone to take this one of "Agatha".  (That's my name for her, ugly as it is...for some reason I can't unthink it.  It's a mystery.)

By Saturday morning I was convinced I should have her, despite the $8500 price.  I mean, we bought Phil a Harley for more than that, right?  Well, when I talked myself down from the tree I'd climbed up in (the tale of which follows below), I was glad I resisted, though a kernel of regret will always remain.  She isn't the most beautiful of these dolls, condition-wise, but she has my favorite Izzy face. And those little hands...oh my.  I hope Edyth is right that "my" Izzy will come along when it works out best for me.

In an environment of emotional turmoil, Phil and I talked about JDConwell Art Dolls as a business.  His rationale about that much in doll money was this: he'd rather see me attend several expensive conferences, take classes and get known.  He asked me to think about it, but said if I really had to have the doll, then go for it.  Pretty brave, if you'd have seen me blubbering like I was!  But he was right.  Up til now, I'd never considered that kind of travel and exposure.  I'm pretty sure he'd never thought of it either, but by the time the Artist Showcase was over, we were both evaluating things in a new light.  So, thank you Agatha!  I hope your new home is wonderful.

I am convinced that faith is a key that opens doors.  The hard part is that the door doesn't open until you have the key...and generally there's no evidence it exists until you just close your eyes and believe it's there.  This kind of convention costs several thousand--who am I with my little dolly hobby to spend that kind of money on plane fare and hotels?

I'm a doll artist.  That's who. The response to my dolls at the Artists Showcase surpassed my wildest expectations.  I won't bore you with details, but I now have orders stretching into January of next year. And more than a few students for my upcoming online classes.

To further this business of art dolls, I will begin the stringently juried process of joining NIADA (National Institute of American Doll Artists).  This can take several years.  Those years will pass anyway, right?  I will attend two conventions in 2015: the Susan Quinlan Artist Doll & Teddy Bear Convention in May, and the NIADA conference in August--(the first round of judging for membership application).  One of these is paid for, thanks to last week.  Now to earn the other. 

Interesting times, indeed. 

Dear Diary

I registered for convention yesterday, and spent a while getting the lay of the land.  And goggling like a country cousin at that monster resort.  I mean, La Quinta is more our style, given the pets and the degree of income we're willing to allocate to a roof and clean sheets.

Still, there I was, huffing from my smart choice of taking the stairs.  The wisdom of this choice is debatable, but maybe by the end of convention, I won't huff so much.  Today will be moving in the Helper Doll, whose name is Ivy Jane Adams.  She's around 15" tall or so, her gown is old cotton and her cap is antique linen.  Old crochet lace on both.
 

I posted photos on FB of these last two...from now on, my online time might be less regular.

These are Pierrot and Billy the Kid. 

I am going to have so much fun this week...learning, teaching, and goggling at dolls.  Thank you, hubby, for talking me into the full monty on this deal.  Love you.

More finished dolls...

I've just about finished all the things I "had" to do regarding UFDC.  Of course, I'd love to have finished the OTHER half of the dolls, but as they work very well in their "in process" stages for the seminar, they're coming along anyway.

But here are two more.  I posted Tuxedo Kitty yesterday on FB, and Hugo today. 

Somebody once told me that I seldom make a doll with a smile.  I realized she was right.  I've always been a little leery of smiling dolls (call it the Chucky Factor?), so I set out to challenge myself.  These guys are okay...

Free the House Elves!

I didn't set out to make a house elf.  I'd started this fellow with his ears down and big eyes, and he took it the rest of the way.  So, like a darker cousin of Harry Potter's Dobby, I give you...
Wimbly.

You remember Gunsmoke?

Well here's my take on Miss Kitty.  Ya'll have a great weekend.

Works In Progress--Finished! Part I.

Last January (February?) I began work on an art doll using a cornucopia basket that I'd found at a thrift shop.  I've made a doll this way before, and it was just such a hoot, I had to do it again.

The first doll was called "Good Bones" because she made me think of those butt-ugly supermodels in Elle or Vogue...all angles and legs and big noses.  They're striking in a way, but they still make me sure that it's the 6 ft frame they're after, not necessarily the pretty face.

The second one began with the head...I'd sculpted it, and for some reason, she just seemed a little other-wordly, so I decided to just go all the way with it.  I call her Dragonfly Lady. 

Over the next few days, I'll post other finished dolls, things I've finally gotten done since I began the big push to get ready for the UFDC convention.  (See Martha?  I told you I'd post pictures.  :~)

Sunday was a "Down Day"

I don't mean down as in depressed, I mean it the way Air Force personnel mean it...as in "Standing Down" or, a day off.  The hubs watches me spin in circles, wound up tight with To-Do List Panic and steps in.  He claimed this last Sunday, asking me to do anything but work on dolls or the upcoming UFDC stuff.  It was exactly what I needed!

We did work--boy did we!  But it was good work, a project I've wanted to do for a long time.  And I love to watch him build things, even if he's building them 'on the fly' as he did this table.  I used to want a green house, but had since decided it would take up too much of the yard, blocking views of the flowers.  So the compromise will be a future green house "lean to" on the end of our shed--just enough to winter over the humongous house plants and some of the more tender perennials I keep on the porch.

My lovely Phillip, with his carpenter uniform on...BDU pants and a bandana. 

Pretty cool when there's room on the outer section of the deck for building projects!

Drill, baby, drill!

We decided to dedicate part of the porch area for "green house" storage--given that we only use about half of it anyway.  Now a couple of resin cabinets (50% post consumer recycled plastic!) will house the pots and fertilizers and tools.  Then he built me a WONDERFUL table--part potting bench and part dog grooming station.

The cabinets are there on the right side...

Ta-daaaaa!  Freshly painted, the same color exterior paint as the shed.

It's kitchen counter high, which will save a lot of back strain when potting up seedlings or giving The Schultz his haircuts.  Woohooo!  The hole is for a large round basin that will act as a dry sink for potting soil...easy to take out and dump, for less mess.

Schultz, in a supervisory capacity.

The baby sparrows are being raised about two feet from the patio door.  Almost ready to fledge!

I ran around taking photos of the yard...we've finally gotten some rains, and things are greening up well.  Hard to believe it's July--ordinarily the grass would be dying out, and the hand watering would be eating up six or eight hours a week! 

Please note that most of the grass on the side and front yard is dead--I killed it!  There will be a rocked desert garden across the front corner, and mulched paths on the rest of it.  No more lawn in the front yard by this time next year.  None.  Nadda.  Zip.

My privacy fence is now more perennials than annuals...yay!

The Stop Sign corner

The grass is dead on purpose!  That section is destined for a rocked desert garden...I promise.

Yes, that sunflower really is over nine feet tall!

I planted these rudbeckias from seed...love the dark centers.

So it was a very productive day for a Down Day, on several levels.  I'm back to working on dolls and presentations, but with batteries recharged.  Hope your weekend was productive as well.