Macey, Bears, Halloween and things that go bump!

Our sweetest princess on the planet, Macey, is 6 months old already!! Can you believe it?!! She certainly keeps this Nana busy as she crawls, pulls herself up to furniture and is already sidestepping to get to what she wants. At the rate she's going, it's entirely possible that she'll be walking before Christmas. We all know how quickly a walk turns into a full on run. Yikes!!
Okay, so it's been a month since my last post. Besides the sweetest princess on the planet keeping me busy I have actually been working on bears. Don't fall out of your chair now! I know it's been forever and a few days since I've produced anything new. A little whimsy and a bit of traditional. There will be more coming as soon as I can sit longer than 20 minutes at at time. More on that in a minute.
Another fun thing that's kept me busy was planning a Halloween Party. We've never hosted/had one before. Oh, my, goodness.....what FUN!!! It was so much fun we're going to do it again next year!!!

That kind of catches you up to today....and the "more on that in a minute, and the things that go bump part of this post. I fell down stairs on Tuesday. Yup. Boom, bump, crash. Cracked my tail bone and bruised a few ribs but I'm on the mend. The lesson I learned: Always have a free hand to use the hand rail. Dummy me had her hands full, slipped and wheeeeeeee, down I went. There was also a SPLAT. Almost an entire cup of coffee all over the carpet, walls, hardwood. Ouch and oh, the mess!

Many people have told me it takes weeks if not a couple of months to recover from a tailbone injury. BAH! I don't have time for that. I'm already going stir crazy. There are only so many magazines to go through and television is BORING. I need to get back to work!!! Like my granddaughter, I'm a girl on the go!!

Warmest bear hugs, Aleta

The smallest of details....odd and quirky.

An Ouija board as a table top.
A 1920's party shaker tucked into a vase of roses.

Pillows with tongue in cheek quips.

A single printed luggage tag hung on a door knob.

Artwork (Danita) playfully displayed just around the corner from a glittery spooky house. It's the smallest of details in decorating that I enjoy. Odd and quirky to be sure but nothing to scare you out of your bloomers!!!

Oh, and the fabulously spooktacular critter in the chair? That was made by Art Rogers, Chatham Valley Bears.

Warmest bear hugs, Aleta

It's getting there!

Halloween decorating is coming along.....slowly. Another couple of days inside and then we move outside. I don't usually do a lot outside. Pretty much just pumpkins in pots. This year will be different however. I have some beautiful Smith and Hawken glass pumpkin lights I'm thinking of stringing....somewhere. Ha!

Anyway, this is a picture of the formal livingroom. Warm pumpkin, whites and bits of black. I decorate around much of what I already have. A bouquet of cream colored fabric roses comes to life with the addition of those orange lantern looking flower picks and some antique noise makers/shakers. And, of course, no Halloween party would be without festive hats!!

The entry hall....black and white with bits of orange. Miss Manny loves greeting guests. Hand that girl a Boo-tini!

The familyroom mantle. UGH! You can't see it, because I cropped it out of the photo, but this mantle is ginormous. It's 5 ft. 8 inches up in the air, 6 ft. wide and 24 inches deep. A decorating nightmare because the ceilings in that room soar. I'm always in search for really big pieces. The problem with that is getting them up there. Get me the ladder and heave ho!! ;o)

Decorating at my house is not complete without the bears. Here, a trio of natty tatty old bears await their Halloween garb. Yup. ......costumes strongly suggested.....

Warmest autumn bear hugs, Aleta

A costume for Miss Manny.

The picture on the costume bag looked fabulous. Got it home...tried it on...not so fabulous....gave it to Miss Manny. She loves it!! Good for her. One less naked manny in the house for Halloween. *wink*

Decorating for Halloween has begun in earnest at our home. I'm really into Halloween decor. Not the gorey stuff....eeewwww. I like artsy things, funky things and gothic things. I look year round for interesting things to add to my collection. Aren't these old Rx canisters kinda cool? Old books are fun to look for too. A month or so ago I found Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde as well as The Postman always Rings Twice...in an orange and black book binding no less.

Skulls, ginormous spiders and black glittered pumpkins are new additions this year. Oooooh....It's going to be a spooky good time!! Now, where am I going to put that 8 ft. bat this year? Hmmmmmm.

Warmest bear hugs, Aleta

Bunnies, Bears and a Monkey...Oh my!

I'm a couple hours early for a Pink Wednesday post....whoodiewhoo....it's still Tuesday!! I haven't done that in awhile. ;o)

Annnnyway....I'm back to designing. Well, sort of. I work while Miss Macey sleeps. She usually has a good two hour nap in the morning so I work like the dickens while she's in dream land.

I know she's being well tended while she sleeps. George watches over her and she has her absolute favorite, if we lose 'em we're all in BIG TROUBLE, bunnies. They're Bunnies by the Bay blanket bunnies. My sister got her the set....A Hare and a Spare. They come packaged in two sizes. I have the big one at my house and Brittany has the little one. The little one goes everywhere Macey goes. The big one stays at Nana's. It's the "safety net" bunny. The "at least we know Nana has the other one" bunny. Ya gotta cover all your bases!!

I took a little meandering path there for a minute didn't I? Ha! See, same me. Haven't changed a bit while I've been away. Oh wait. Yes, I have. That's for another post though. Onwards and upwards!!

Look at what I've been doing this past week and a half!! I'm designing bears again!! I drew up lots of new patterns this summer and now's the time to sew them up and see how they turn out. This first little batch is already undergoing a few changes. Here a tweek. There a tweek. Little notes and arrows scribbled all around.

I'm loving the smaller traditional style bear to the left. Oh, and the stick style bears are turning out better than I'd anticipated. At least, so far. I made two sizes out of this particular design and added paw pads to the larger size. Stitching the face will tell me if this design is a keeper or not. We'll see! I hope to have at least one bear finished by the end of the week. You'd better cross your fingers though. You know how topsy turvy things can get around here! Best laid plans and all that.....

Warmest Pink Wednesday bear hugs, Aleta

Blog Neglect

That's right. Blog neglect. I've been a bad, bad blogger. It's a time issue. I seem to have less and less time for the computer these days. It's also been one of the busiest summers we've had. Lots of family, friends and outside projects! Not as much time for sleuthing out great treasures and posting pictures.

And then there's little Miss Macey, our granddaughter! I've taken on full time daycare. :o) :o) :o) When she's awake I play with her! When she's asleep I work furiously in the studio!! I'm the luckiest Nana on the planet to be able to see Macey every day and watch her grow. It's truly a blessing.

I hope to be a better blogger now as I establish a routine. With little one's though, there are days when a routine is dashed out the window! Know this....I will try my best. There are soooo many wonderful things happening right around the corner.....

Warmest bear hugs, Aleta

Pink Wednesday and Weekend Finds!

Skipping in at the last minute to wish you a Happy Pink Wednesday! This photo was taken at Queen of Tarte's sale this past weekend. Perfect for a Pink Wednesday post!

Most of the pictures I took either had too much flash or not enough. Dang. I really need to read the instruction manual on my camera. Ho hum. Add it to the list. ;o) Anyway, the displays and merchandise were outstanding!! Cindy does it up with such panache!! Loved, loved, loved my visit! I missed all the actual goodies on sale. Dang again. However, Cindy has more events upcoming so make sure you check out her blog for a list of dates.

Here is the little stash of goodies I found over the weekend. There are two cotton velvet pincushions and an odd little doll leg pincushion. It was so odd, it called to me. I am a collector of the odd and unusual, shabby chippy and well loved. I also found a fabulous old sawdust stuffed French cow. One of my bears has already made dibbies on that little dear. Another bear has dibbies on the wonderful old toy spinning top. My bears get all the fun goodies!

Then there are the sweet little dresses and hats that smaller bears will wear soon. Oh, and I just couldn't pass up the Wonder Bubbles 29...Hey, where is the cents sign on this keyboard?!! Well, that would explain what's gone wrong with the world. We've all lost our good sense! *giggle*

And with that, pahdumdum..ching, I happily smile and wish you the happiest of Pink Wednesday's! Warmest bear hugs, Aleta