Meet Bonnie Blue, my first rag doll!

Oh so inspired by Emily over at The Black Apple I have been working on a pattern for my very own rag doll! My daughter and I will be working on these for Valentines day to give to our favorite sweeties! (yes, it has crossed my mind that the boys will view them as their own personal voo doo dolls of sorts, but they have to love the LOVE that goes into it anyway, right?) Bonnie Blue was our first attempt. Yes, there will be a few modifications before we move on to creating the actual Valentine's dolls. Also, I am working on the pattern for the boy doll. The boys have emphatically declared that if they have to be a doll, the doll will need big strong muscles.


(By the by, if you were wondering about the name Bonnie Blue - it did not come from the obvious my name is Bonnie and she is wearing blue. I am still in love with all things Rhett Butler from the wonderful novel Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.)

Organization, again!

Arghh! I swear I think someone broke into my house last night and wore all of our clothes so I would have to do laundry today or else. Ok, so maybe not. Maybe I just let the laundry go for more than a couple of days and now I can't seem to find any decent pants to wear. Needless to say, laundry is on the top of the "to do list" today while the kids are at school.

On an up note - when I was procrastinating and not doing the laundry, I went to Target. I solved my downstairs paint storage delimna! (I Heart Target.) I bought this nifty little storage cart on wheels for a mere $29.95 + tax. I can push it out of the way (or into the garage, if need be)It holds my supplies and small canvases and it has 2 drawers!

Funny how a little organization can make me feel empowered! Now off to do the laundry or I wll have to wear this jog suit again tomorrow. . .

I am not a good organizer.

Ok, so I spend most of my life trying to figure out how in the world the house got into a mess again or dragging my art stuff from upstairs to downstairs or vice versa. So, after some thought, I have decided to try and make my house more art creation friendly by rearranging a bit. The main living area of my house has never been very condusive to supporting spontaneous art creation - too many children and the rooms are small! AND, my studio is upstairs away from everything - which is great sometimes. But, I am a MOM! I enjoy being in the thick of things with my family.

So, the first thing I have done is repurpose an old roll top desk - whose only function was storage. I moved it from the children's den to the family den and filled it with all of my drawing supplies. It has worked wonderfully well! I can work on concepts and still feel a part of the family! (and, yes, my daughter has moved her drawing supplies to the desk as well. I find it one of the sincerest forms of flattery!)

Next step - find a place to hide my painting supplies so I can paint and put away faster than a speedy four year old. . . . .