What a Wonderful Saturday this is Turning Out to Be!!

I woke up bright and early ...slammed down a few cups of Joe and proceeded to Peruse Blog Land... when there...to my absolute surprise was an 'Award' with my name on it... given to me by the lovely Joanna of http://joannathomasdolls.blogspot.com/ ... what a treat! I will proudly place it on my mantel ...

Here is the description of this Award...

"This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!”

ZOWIE is that Cool or what........!! I must now pass this Award onto 8 blogs that I feel are deserving of it.....GULP!!!! The other criteria is that when accepting the award, you must post the meaning of the award on your blog (see above).
As Joanna said... "A very tough choice as there are so many wonderful blogs to choose from"

Here Goes...

1.) Jayne at http://tallulahbelleoriginals.blogspot.com/

For always offering so much and with a big smile on her face....

2.) Casey at http://caseymini.blogspot.com/

For Great Stories... and her continuing Saga of little Tessie...

3.) Nikki at http://nikkinikkinikki72.blogspot.com/

For sharing wonderful Miniature information with a charming British Wit....

4.) Oopsie at http://oopsdesperateblogger.blogspot.com/

For being a sweet friend ...talented artist and one of the nicest people I have ever met...and being a Grandma suits her to a tee....hugs!

5.) Patty at http://woopitydooart.blogspot.com/

For Sharing and Caring...and scaring with her delightful Halloween Minis

6.) Chris at http://designsbyck.blogspot.com/

For his Visually Stimulating Blog, his unsurpassed art and friendship....

7.) Lyndy at http://todaysgold.blogspot.com/

For her Magical Charm, sincere good will and devotion to her fur babies.

8.) Mags at http://mags-nificentminiatures.blogspot.com/

For just joining Blog Land , for her talent ...and because I think she needs her first award.

Thank You Joanna......

Hugs,

Jodi

Steampunk!!! ...don't ya just love that word!!!

Lately there has been lots of talk about Steampunk Art... I was made aware of it last year by a good friend who keeps me up on all the latest 'fun stuff' out there...Thank You Scott! ... Anywho... I looked for all types of this art form on the Internet... just basically drooling over the imagination and skill of artists out there in the world. And I think there is something almost primal and so basic about this art form...yet complicated and thought provoking that we are each drawn into this wonderful Art Form...It is Old..it is New...it is the Modern 'Now' yet it is the beginning when it all started... It is complicated yet extremely basic... so hard to pin point other than it pleases our eyes, makes us smile and fascinates us all at the same time...ahhhh Steampunk, you intriguing Art Form You!!!

I have so been enjoying several 'bloggers' Artistic approaches to SP..."WOW"!!! she says as she wipes that tiny bit of spittle from her chin!!....FANTASTIC!!!
A few have mentioned to us in private emails that Richard and I should try our hand at Steampunk Art (frankly I think everyone should) ...to see what we would come up with...

I mentioned it to Richard....and he seemed very interested...but then he reminded me that we actually did create a piece that could be considered Steampunk ...back in 2004. "OH" I said... trying to act as though I realized this fact but had just placed the memory gently away in my brain for the time being until needed again... not letting on that it had completely fallen Out of my gray matter ages ago and I was oblivious to what he was talking about!!! HUH!!! should have been in the place of "OH"!!

We did a piece for EBAY in mid 2004 called 'Henri and the Perfumerator' ...a little elf who's task it is to make fine French Perfumes ..using his little 'device' called the Perfumerator . Henri's invention captures not only the flower nectar, but also the very essence....through a series of copper pipes, tubes and thing-a-ma-bobs!!
Because of his Perfumerator he is the only little Elf that can get the Perfume to the Oo-La La stage...

So this was our 'Steampunk' Art from 2004.... seeing it again makes me want to try something in miniature or at least 'elf' size again....

By the by this was all carved in wood with some metal fittings and tubes...also a brass and glass gauge .

Happy Weekend Everyone...

Jodi

OK...there was ONE picture...

I cannot even believe I am showing this.... but our friends just sent this...obviously we did not realize they were taking this shot..LOL....just wanted to bring home the point that we were TOTALLY relaxed on our small trip....OUT LIKE A LIGHT!!! Richard, Tess and me... LOL...Kind of says it all....

Jodi

I'm Back in the Saddle Again...

Well...Richard and I are Back from our 'Big' Adventure.... and what a fun time we had!! Short but very sweet...

The trip over was sooo relaxing and visually stimulating to the point that my head was literally spinning with images.... As I said...not a long distance at all for us and what we normally travel in a day... but every moment was jam packed with stuff that travel dreams are made of.

We headed through wonderful Gigantic Granite boulder formations .. Richard and I found ourselves dreaming up ways of dragging certain ones home...YEAH RIGHT!! Hey, we can dream!!! There were delightful little cafes along the way and small communities , Indian Reservations and out of the way campgrounds filled with happy campers..

Unfortunately I did not pop but a couple pictures (mostly of my Mom and Richard) ...it was one of those trips...where you take all the pictures 'mentally' ... I do that sometimes. Lots of videos were taken of my Pup Tess LaRue by our hosts ...swimming, playing, begging for goodies.... I was soooo relaxed and in a state of "I really don't give a crap what I look like" that I am deeply grateful that few if any photos were snapped of me...THANK GOD!!!

The friends that we visited are so inspiring and charming...they make you melt with comfort...and melt I did. My Mom had a super time...we all ate like there was no tomorrow and she even drank some champagne .

I did manage to come up with some interesting ideas for future dolls...as well as a few story ideas....sketches were added to my book ...and ideas were discussed.

All in all it was a wonderful trip. But as always...it is so good returning home and to the familiar ...

Our desert hamlet was warm and the sky was as blue as our lake...

We unloaded and sat at sunset out by the tipi with a glass of wine watching till the last ray was gone....ahhhh the ending to a perfect few days.

I am now back with a vengeance ...working on Dumbledore and a few others 'goodies' ...good to be back in the saddle again...

Missed each and every one here ... GREAT to be back... now I must go and read to catch up all all the great stuff I missed while gone.

Jodi aka 'The Happy Wanderer'

True Life Adventure ...is calling!!!

Happy Sunday Morning...ahhhh it is truly a lovely day in the desert....birdies singing, sun shining, coffee perking (boy did that ever date me) ....and the smell of orange and lemon blossoms filling the air...tis the season for our citrus.

But this post is not about what a lovely Sunday morning it is...it is about a little thing I like to Call 'True Life Adventure'...and I am going on one tomorrow Morning. Basically it is just a little trip over to California to visit good friends that we have not seen in a very long time... but to me...it is a dramatic 'True Life Adventure' .

You see, every trip we take... Richard and I like to think of it as a great adventure...seeing new things, traveling a new route, eating at new little out of the way places, experience different weather...and oOoOh the things we see. It can be the most simple of trips...but I can promise it will turn into something fun and adventurous. I do love to travel...it is in my blood since childhood ...with all those road trips taken with the band my father was in...(I still have fond memories of my sister and I CRAMMED into the back seat of a ford whispering under our breaths..."are we there yet")... it is something that never goes away....and I just happened to marry a man who traveled a lot as a child as well....a Travel Log made in heaven!!!

Tomorrow we head towards So. Calif...a beautiful area on the way to San Diego but up in the foothills...called Valley Center. Our Dear Friends of many years live in a beautiful home there...and it has been waaaay too long since we last saw them..no excuse really why we have not... other than work for us keeps getting in the way. Well I say Poppycock ...time to hit the road for a New Adventure...no time like the here and now to do it!!

We rented a very nice big mini van as we are taking my Mom and our Miss Tess LaRue .... my Mom loves to travel as well...she is looking forward to those Fruit and nut stands along the back highways....

Richard loves to 'zone' when he travels...just basically think of nothing but driving...it is his relaxation ...his mental 'vacation' ... he has earned this one. I on the other hand use travel time as...'Time away from the actual studio'...yet my mind goes a thousand miles a minute designing things...(Traveling and the Shower are the best places I come up with ideas..LOADS of them...now if I could figure out a way to Shower and travel at the same time...I would have enough ideas for the next 10 years...hmmmm!!) I bring my sketch book...and jot things down non stop...names, characters, short stories, poems etc... it's like the landscape that passes by the car becomes a blank canvas with designs popping up every few miles...pretty cool actually. I could never 'store' what I see in my head until returning home...first off these days I have the mental storage capability of a gnat... and I could never organize thoughts well enough to make sense of things ... so out comes the sketch book and several sharp pencils. Sometimes upon retuning home the ideas and words that I have jotted down while traveling resemble the scribblings of people in one of those hypnotic trances ....and when even I have to turn the book upside down and sideways to try and better understand my meanings...well, lets just say those are those weird moments in print! But 95% of the time...things are jotted well enough to decipher.

So I let my 'Traveling True Life Adventures' take my mind where it wants to send it.... and along the way I gather tid bits of interest. .. That is a very nice vacation time to me.

So we head em up and move em out first thing Monday Morning....so I won't be posting anything until my return later in the week...sniff sniff....I will miss you all...

Hopefully will have glorious tales to tell...

Have a Great Week All....

Jodi