Stormy Weather....but not enough to get wet....

Morning....

The early morning desert is dark and gray, with heavy clouds hanging low , little wind and a coolest we are not familiar with during this time of the year....all of this drama...yet not a single drop of rain...UGH!  I will not despair as the day is young and we still may get a few 'spits' by days end....keeping fingers crossed...

Today is a good day to clean and reorganize the studio....started yesterday late, and by moving a few boxes I have already 'found' a few things that have been lost over the last year (tells you how often I organize) ....I do like a small sense of kayos around me, a feeling that something is about to happen, rather than the doctors waiting room tidy clean feel...that freaks me out just a tad...  but I have gone from organized kayos to Mayhem overload... I mean, it is insane.  And why you may well ask...well...I will tell you...(and I do have a pretty good excuse)...my 'our' life has been in a bit of an upheaval lately ...Our beloved dog passed recently, my mother before that, my only sister is moving to Texas and it seems whatever creative energies I have left have been sucked up by the Facebook Monster....Time melts away and with it...creative juices .....therefore, my desire to be at one with artistic creation  is well...basically...*POOF* .... So I got myself away from FACEBOOK...didn't even say goodbye, leave a light on ..but I did close the door....DAMN, should have locked it....!! oh well....  Now I am back over to my very neglected blog ...from where I started and things are once again beginning to feel right....so back to the studio.....clean, clean, clean ...organize ,organize, organize, ..and then...back to work for me....Hello Old friend....!!!

Later,
Jodi

Newest Piece

See....I can't stay away too long...two posts in one day...ZOWIE!!  Lovely hearing from you CaseyMini ....

Anyway...mostly these past few months we have been working on commissions ...I so enjoy those...We have not sold things on EBAY but only 2-3 times this whole year.... but starting up again soon...I feel the need to make more 1:12th scale miniature Witches.....

Anyway...this was a commission to do Harry Potter playing Quidditch , flying near the Griffindor Tower trying to catch the 'snitch'.

The Tower is hall scaled wood with bolts....then covered with hand sewn and painted fabric... All his Quidditch padding is leather hand sewn and glued....glasses brass, painted....his broom is hand carved from wood and brass foot holds added.... A fun fun piece to do for a wonderful collector.  Next Up...Ron on the Wizard Chess Board riding the giant Knight (horse) .....

Thanks for taking a peek....

 

Hello Out There ...

Hi De HOOOOOO Everyone...

Just a short note to you all....first off...I have missed you.....second...I am off of FACEBOOK, having said that ...I feel surprisingly well,  no shaking, no jitters no twitches of any kind just a small since of freedom, rather nice actually.  F.B. had become such a big part of my life for sooooooo long....spending countless hours making up artwork to post, days searching for just the right thing to post (pictures and words), just under a gabillion emails in my box each day , and then there was that virus/malware thing that I KNOW I got from F.B.  ..only have heard about them in the past ...but they came alive in my life and computer....so very long sordid story shortened ....I decided to step away.  I KNOW I KNOW I have done this before.... and gone back...but...this time feels different...Possibly in 6 months when the weather is cold outside and I am sniffing and boo-hoo'ing over my hot coffee I might drag myself back...but I think not at this point...been there done that kinda thing.  I have always prided myself on being 'different' from everyone else (at least a little) ...never dancing to the same tune as everyone else ...(I like a more upbeat jazzy little number anyway)  ...and I was beginning to feel like I was sent on a mission and not being myself any longer....don't get me wrong...I ADORE the people I met there... and will miss them terribly...so those of you still on facebook and also here in Bloglandia...if you see me now..."HI"  ....good to see you...and if you know of others that might be saying "What the Hell happened to Jodi"??? on F.B.  please let them know I will be posting words and pictures of new art and things I find and make over here now ..... I seem to be a lot more free with thoughts and words here...so hold onto your hats....this could get interesting.

So that's it from my corner of Bloglandia  ....alive and kicking in another part of cyber space....

Oh just in case you forgot who I was...... here I am.....

Hugs to all  Jodi

Ho Ho Ho and all that Holiday Cheer

Greetings.... YES, contrary to what rumor may be spreading...my feet are still planted firmly on Earth, have not fallen off, or left to visit other planets.... I have just been absent due to the fact I am one to have about 20 balls in the air at any one time and I find the older I grow (can't believe I wrote that out loud)  the harder it is to organize the balls so that they have a nice uniform look.... so again, my apologies for being absent....I am here alive and well and kicking the butt out of life ...

So , the tree is up, the lights are on the house , some eggnog has been consumed , a few carols sung , holiday movies viewed, tears shed...but alas I still am missing something.... and I think I know what it is.....my youth! (OK second reference to older age...one more mention and I either turn into my grandmother or get a free set of Ginzu Knifes....or both)  ...seriously though...each year at this very exact time I feel I have misplaced something , something very familiar but removed for whatever reason...I look High and Low....go through empty decoration boxes thinking it is a lost ornament, I check my gift list (very slim this year) but I still look, and then it hits me...as it always does....I am missed my Youth!!  That giddy filled, wide eyed wonder stare , excitement packed joy known only to little ones...Oh we adults get that way too, but it is different somehow... with the Kid innocence there are no questions asked,  no doubts ,few frills ...just a basic....'There is this great guy who lives in a really cold place up North and somehow someway he has been watching me the whole year, took some notes on how good  (or bad) I have been ... and is heading this way Christmas Eve to show me which I have been with the gifts he brings (or doesn't bring) ...the anticipation is like Kid Drugs...all amped, nervous , giddy jumpiness, actual squeals of  unintelligible gibberish that only another kid on the same amped high could understand...and possibly a few dogs in the distance .  I saw some of these kids at a recent Santa Lap sitting session  ....some seemed calm (kid drugs must be wearing off) while most talked a million miles a minute and stared closely into the face of Santa as if to mentally connect with the Big Guy  each smiling so big and wide I feared their little faces would hurt later....once they connect with Mr. C ...they are sooooo confident , borderline cockiness takes over and many feel they just need to coast into the finish line that is Christmas Day....  THAT is the feeling I am missing, that certain deep inside 'Kid High'  that can only be achieved at certain times in our life.... that truly magical moment.....

.OK, Yes Yes...we all have glorious memories of other Moments in our adulthood that we remember warmly and with joy...but the closest one can get to that special perfect moment in kid life again is to watch your own kids or grandkids enjoying 'their' moments.... and  if you sit really really close ,preferably giving a hug at the exact moment a child 'Sparks Joy' ...you can get almost a contact high and flash of that special moment from your youth.... bottom line, Christmas is in truth a Child's Holiday, we as adults lay claim because we don't want to let go of that kid feeling...remember, kids keep us young and the magic alive in our hearts.

Happy Holidays To all My Bloglandia Friends...may the Magic of Childhood dwell within you always

Hugs,
Jodi

Hello Bloglandia Bloggers and Blogettes...

Again been away way way way to long...won't make excuses other than to say..."Where the HECK does the time go"....that's the million dollar question!!!

We have been busy here at  Creager Studios.... creating a little of this and a lot of that... trying to stay cool in our sweltering heat of the Arizona Desert.... but there is a change in the air...our mornings are actually bearable and down right coolish...YIPPPPEEE!  It always gives hope that Fall is indeed just around the corner...waiting to slip in and make it's self at home....ahhhhh, I LOVE fall time....the only downside to fall in the lower desert region is the color changes..I REALLY miss that....must resort to taking slow strolls through Michaels Craft Outlet Store Fall Foliage isle  with eyes partly closed  and pretend I am in the north country walking down a tree lined country road....and with the smell of cinnamon candles on isle 6 hanging in the air.... makes me wanna spread a blanket, open a thermos of hot cider and read a book in my colorful surroundings...but I found out the hard way that Michael's frowns upon customers doing this....so I just have to hold the image all in my mind....

Instead we start to make 'Fall Art' ....  all things Halloween and fun.  Started the year with a new Miniature (1:12th scale)  'Zombie Dude' ....but this is no ordinary Zombie.... this dude prefers carrots to brains ....a Veggie Dude if you will.  But he is Zombie non the less.....

 

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And the first of Our Original haunted Ghost Shadow Boxes ...that we started creating years and years ago...and in doing this one it made me realize it has been about 5 years since we made the last one....YIKES!  So needless to say he was fun to work on and makes me wanna do another....

This guy is 'Count Leopold Mordecay Von Ravensthorne....and his Pet Bat 'Guzzler'  ' a Long Gone Vampire who's portrait (and possibly him) still hangs in Ravensthorne Manor.

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Both are newly listed on EBAY....

Lets see...I also 'redid' our Miniature Gallery on our web site this summer, worked on lots of 'house' projects.... and made a few interesting purchases that were to good to pass up....more to follow on that...

Great to be back....

Hugs to All

Jodi

Hollybirdmas ...EEEEEK!

I woke up this morning all cheery and somewhat zingy in step and somewhere between my second cup of coffee and walking towards my sculpting table it hit me like a sack of yams laced with holly leaves.....THANKSGIVING IS IN A FEW DAYS AND CHRISTMAS IS RIGHT ON IT'S TAIL!!!!
EEEEEK...
I should have seen the warning signs ...  a few deranged neighbors have their Christmas lights and   Holiday Sentinels already  standing in place in their front yards.... tunes of cheer are blasting over the market intercoms ...mentioning those buzz words of turkey, cranberry, stuffing, holly, snow, presents, chestnuts and so on....all with cheery tones...up to this point I have been able to view them as 'white noise' ...but I fear no longer.!!   Not to take this is a negative direction but this will be my first Thanksgiving and Christmas without my Mom in over 60 years...and as these were the holidays where she really would shine...i.e. decorations, baking, ho ho ho'ing ...it will be a very different holiday season for me this year.  I plan to make a few of her favorite recipes (from her hand written recipe cards) , belt out a Christmas tune or two while sipping egg nog laced with brandy in her honor... make Rum Balls for friends and family (she made a mean Rum Ball)  and just reflect on wonderful childhood memories with Mom....  I think I may be channeling her actually as I remember she too had that 'panic mode' she displayed each year when she realized  that the holiday season was all of a sudden 'HERE'....

We will enjoy this Thanksgiving with good friends and family this year.....and Christmas is still up in the air as to what is going on....  I always refuse to think about Christmas until the last Kid Made paper turkey is removed from the fridge  and the last bit of left overs are digested....then and only then do I 'bring on the Nog'...

Have A Super Thanksgiving All

Hugs

Sunday Morning in the Tipi

Happy Sunday Morning from the Tipi Inhabitants of Havasu....  Today is Richard's 68th Birthday and what better way to celebrate than with a beautiful desert sunrise  (I fibbed a little and told him that I ordered this one up special for his day) ... I kid you not these are the true colors of a desert sunrise ...breathtaking is an understatement . The only thing more exciting than sitting in a tipi with this sky is to be sitting out on the glass calm lake in a kayak...which we need to get on pretty soon!  Anyway the following are some pics that I popped yesterday evening and this morning of the finished tipi inside (more to come)  ...The wood in the fire pit is for Richard's early morning Birthday Fire (which was warm and lovely by the by)  ... the other two are just random shots....as my Indian spirit guide is a Raven...Richard carved this raven Chair for me a few years ago (it is a N.W. Design which I adore) .  I need to get onto making a new bag or two for this years tipi...a tradition I started about 4 years ago.... so peaceful to sit in the tipi on a cold fall afternoon with the warmth of the sun hitting the canvas and feeling the warmth inside the tipi....beading!  I am NOT a beader...but I do enjoy the relaxing task and try my best....

It was a great morning....we are so content that the tipi is up and there and ready for us to escape to whenever we feel the need..... Richard has already taken a nap out there in that sun warmth....ahhhhhh!

Now back to work on dolls....

Have a wonderful Sunday

Hugs