Playful Panda~Bears Repeating

Here is an alpaca panda I have finished for an order. This cuddly little fellow is an older design, and he is the final bear of this design. I made a limited edition of seven in mohair and three in alpaca and I've finally completed them all. He is Mei Sheng. I was inspired to design him when my son brought home a Scholastic News magazine from school with a darling baby panda on the cover.



I love the playful posing this body style allows.



Don't cry Mei Sheng! There will be more pandas, but no more just like you!

A Little Behind...

*Sigh* I'm feeling a little behind. Actually, I'm feeling a LOT behind, but the "little behind" was definitely a cuter picture!

I have not posted here since Christmas, but it is not just my blogging that I have fallen behind with, it's everything! I have never been a good juggler of tasks, and I often find it challenging to balance my life, choosing instead to channel my energies in only one or two directions at a time. And yet there are always so many things I want to, and need to do at any given time. When I keep up with the housekeeping, I fall behind with my bears, and when I am focused on my creative endeavors, household responsibilities get ignored. When I get my excercise in, I sacrifice getting the sleep I need. When I focus on my teaching career, I find I spend less time enjoying my sons and husband, and when I focus on family, I can't do as much planning at home for my classes. Things always seem to swing one way then the other. But right now, somehow, I have managed to fall behind with everything. I mean absolutely everything! I don't know how I got to this, and I'm not sure how to get back on track. I'm feeling frustrated with myself, depressed,and overwhelmed. *Sigh* I'm feeling a little behind.

Merry Christmas!

Food Exchange

I hate cooking. There. I've said it, and I feel better for it! I know so many creative people who relish the opportunity to provide a tasty and nourishing meal for their families, and see cooking as yet another creative outlet. I don't. I should, but I don't. To me, cooking is a chore. It is something which must be done, and which takes time away from things I would rather be doing, like sculpting, sewing, drawing, reading, playing with the kids, or cleaning. Yes, I would rather clean than cook. Not that I am particularly fond of cleaning either, but you have to clean up after you cook, so I'd rather get straight to the cleaning and be done with it.

So, since I don't like to cook, I've joined a food exchange group. How much sense does that make?! At first glance that doesn't make much sense at all. The way the food exchange works is once a month each member (there are five families) makes five of the same dish. It needs to be something that will freeze well. Then we get together and everyone takes home five different meals to put in their freezer. So on the big cooking day, (which was today) I stress out. First, I stress out about what recipe to choose, wondering what everyone will like. Then, I stress about the grocery bill, when I shop for ingredients for a meal for four families of four, and one family of six. Then I stress out as I trash my tiny kitchen and dirty all biggest cooking pots I own.

But then the reward comes! My son Brendan arrives home from school and says, "What's that good, good, good, good smell?" (That's a direct quote!) Ha ha, it's called cooking, Brendan. Good moms do it all the time! And the rewards will continue through the rest of the month as we pull ready made meals out of the freezer so even on our busiest days we can have a nice home-cooked meal. Another reward is that we get to try new foods! Even though I was feeling the stress earlier today, now I feel like I have accomplished something. Now I'd better go clean my kitchen, so I can go downstairs to my studio and sew the night away. I don't have to stop to make dinner--I only need to stop to eat it!

Meet Avi

Avi is a special order panda. I was very pleased with him and my collector is thrilled to pieces with him, which means the world to me.

Chloe's New Dress

Chloe is modeling a new dress I purchased for her from Den of Angels member Spampy. She makes adorable and very reasonably priced clothes for tiny BJDs.
I was going to make all of her clothes myself, but who could say no to this adorable dress and tights. I did make her a tiny bear this past weekend though! It is the smallest bear I have made in a LONG time. I also made another tiny bear this weekend for Chloe's Secret Santa partner...Shhh! Don't tell!

Dream Studio

This is the studio I have always wanted!!!



No, I don't mean one that is a great big mess. But one where my loved ones can join me working on their own creative persuits!

Alex is sewing the body for a Leonardo Da Vinci pop-up puppet...



And Brendan is drawing a family crest.



And no doubt Missy's creative endeavor involves dreaming up new ways to annoy Cinder (our other kitty)



I guess in my true dream studio, we would all have table space to work and big windows would drench us in natural light...Oh, and it would be clean... But any studio is a very nice place to work with such wonderful company!