Pattern Coming Soon

I finished up my latest design today and have a good start on the bumble bee that will go with her. This pattern will be available soon! Here is my little lady bug with lots of attitude and charm if I do say so myself! I do hope you like her.

This doll is a mix of paint and fabric.

 

 

Her wings are wired so they can be positioned.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

A few new supplies

Well I got a few new supplies in and posted to my website tonight. The first two are putka pods which look just like mini pumpkins, they are really cute, then I have some dried orange slices. When I order something for the first time I am always a bit cautious with the amounts but after seeing them I do believe I will order more next time around. I put them in wide mouth canning jars and with the addition of a rusty lid, homespun bow and a rusty heart it turned these jars into a sweet kitchen accent! Take a peek.

 

Now isn't that lovely looking?

 

 

These are fascinating little things aren't they? They are a naturally grown pod and literally they look like little pumpkins!

 

I have everything on my website except the glass canning jars for anyone to make one of these jars up.

 

Here are some sweet punched tin ornaments I now have for sale, yes I know it isn't Christmas but that's okay. They are a nice size! I can picture having them hang off of a snowman or gingers arm or whatever comes to mind. These rusty tin things really take acrylic paint well, without any prep even. I may experiment with some frosting and glass glitter on the ginger and some glitter on the mitten.

 

 

 

 

Finally have these rusty pots in for those wanting to make up my coffee pot cuties pattern. I again want to say that any container with a similar size would work however. I have then both on my website or etsy shop.

 

 

He is a cutie huh? I am not sure what project he will be incorporated in but I will be using it. If you water down some orange acrylic paint then brush it onto this pumpkin it would be a neat way to add that pumpkin hue if you want. I would probably then spray him with a folk art matte spray.

 

'

 

Lastly I have made more progress on my lady bug pattern! She now has wings and legs, still needs arms but it won't be long now. She is really looking cute! I need to stay home long enough to get these things done. It is amazing how fast a week can go isn't it? I is also amazing how little one can actually get done even with good intentions!

 

I would love suggestions on what type of tutorial you may want me to do next, it really has been a long time since I have done one. I am open to any suggestions!

 

Well I am off to get some shut eye, I just wanted to share these latest tidbits.

 

Have a great Sunday!

 

New Pattern in the works and other tidbits....

Happy Sunday!

I sit here looking out my window and see a frosty world, the trees are covered with a lovely layer of ice crystals. This time of year can be so pretty. All in all though the winter has been milder than normal here which I am fine with. It has been a very lazy day here for me, one of those days I am happy to just cozy up to the fire, hug my dogs and sip some coffee! My house smells lovely... I put some chicken in my new crock pot. I have a Ninja 3 in 1 cooker, it will slow cook, act as an oven or stove top. So far I love this thing, cooks everything to perfection and meat falls apart. Made stuffed peppers the other night and they were oh so good!

I wanted to share a sneak peek of my next pattern in the works. I am doing a pattern titled (Cute As A Bug). This pattern will have a bumble bee and lady bug doll. The picture you see here is only a teaser because I have not even designed her wings, arms or legs yet. I love when I can laugh at my work and she does make me want to break out and chuckle! Haven't even started the bee yet but have in my mind's eye what he will look like. See whose black polka dots? I made them using Martha Stewarts foam pouncers, they work great!

 

I have also been busy working on one of the most chaotic walls in my craft room. I had gone into Costco lately and saw these lovely wall units! I had to have some. Now my wall is way more organized to say the least with all those bins to store things. Productivity can go way down when there is not organization in a room.

 

 

Last year I saved my pennies and bought this section of cabinets and counter top from Home Depot. They are on sale this time of year! This was pretty inexpensive.

 

 

I also have my newest pattern ready for purchase now. Coffee Pot Cuties. The pots are on order and will be on my website to purchase in about a week.

 

 

I do want to say that for those that do not paint and would like to try these patterns, they will all work by doing them more simply. Make them out of warm and natural or fuzzy felt, add button eyes and embroidered noses. There are many ways to finish these patterns!

 

Thank you so much for stopping by! I know many of you have enjoyed my tutorials and I know it has been quite awhile since I posted one. Just know that there will be more in the future!

 

Have a great Sunday!

Happy New Year!

First I want to apologize for neglecting this blog, I have no excuse except I let all the busy things in life get in the way. I really am still around.

I want to wish all of you a Happy New Year! I had a great time celebrating Christmas and the new year with family and friends. My kids came to stay and is always a treat for me. I made a scrumptious prime rib dinner that I was scared to death would not turn out but it did. :-) I am grateful for the time I had enjoying it all!

I have been cleaning up my house of decorations, a Christmas tree and simply getting life back to normal. We are blessed with a blanket of snow on the ground and today a stunning blue sky to admire. I even cleaned up my craft room so it is now ready for inspiration to start flowing.

I want to share a picture with you of a project I did before Christmas but never did get done as a pattern. I am currently working to get the pattern for this done even though it is late! They are peeking out of coffee pots. The pattern will include instructions on making them both. These particular ones are sold and adopted into new homes.

 

I dusted off the old camera yesterday and took this picture of the brilliant sky. I thought it had a mood to it.

 

 

One fun thing I got for Christmas was a couple tri-pods for my smartphone. These phones have great video capabilities. I am thinking about playing around with some tutorials in video form. I have no idea what I am doing but will give it a try.

 

I am still on a diet but as of today have lost 31 lbs! I have 20 more to go. I know this time I WILL do this thing. I am on Nutrisystem and this is the easiest diet I have been on. For all those out there who are starting a diet or simply trying to eat better for their health, you really can do this! Feeling better and actually liking how clothes look when you try them on is addicting!

 

Well that's it for now, I do plan on not hiding out so much! Thanks for stopping by.

 

Primitive Canned Snowmen and snowtini's

Greetings.... winter is settling in with great vigor where I live, cold and the random snow showers are here to stay for awhile. Take a deep breath everyone, Christmas is coming with the speed of a freight train and doesn't care if we feel ready to tackle it or not! My goal is to keep it simple this year.

I wanted to announce a couple of things. First I want to give a heads up on what will be for sale on my pfatt marketplace selling page this month on the 10th. I will be selling my jar of canned snowmen I made up for my latest pattern, (see picture below). I also made 5 Snowtini's to sell as well, here they are.

 

I usually do not do more than one of anything but these were so darned fun to do!

 

These Canned Snowmen are my latest pattern offering and this actual item is for sale of the marketplace this month. www.pfattmarketplace.com

We love our canned fruits and veggies, so why not canned snowmen? I for one hate to see them go after a frosty winter, this way I can save them all year! LOL I do think during the hot days of summer you may want to stick the jar in the freezer! :-)

 

 

There are 5 heads to this pattern so the next picture shows the back and side of the jar for a better look at all the little snow characters.

 

I also just added some Red and Burgundy Pip Berry Picks and some Primitive Crow tissue paper to my website. www.sweetbearcreekwhims.com I have also added a new supply of grungy LED Taper candles.

 

These picks are 12 in total length including the stem.

 

 

 The crow tissue paper comes in packs of 10 sheets.

Well that is the latest crafty news for now. Thanks for stopping by!

 

Newest Snowman Pattern!

My newest pattern is ready to go.... I know I told you all they would be canned snowmen, BUT I got side tracked and did these instead! They are a cute twist on a martini, these are my Snowtini's. Although I came up with the actual pattern, the idea came from a dear friend. She drew her idea out on paper and prompted me to come up with these unique snowmen. I loved the idea and had to go with it! I do love these Snowtini's and hope you do too. I do promise one day you will see canned snowmen, these things just have to happen when the time is right. For now this newest pattern can be purchased on all my selling sites.

I am enjoying Fall so much! I love the colors and crisp air. Yesterday we did a neat tour in spokane where you hop from farm to farm and enjoy the Fall festivities they offer. Some had corn mazes, others had pressed cider, others had adorable gift shops and pumpkin patches! I will post soon what I did with all the Indian Corn I bought. :-) I hope you all are enjoying this time of year as much as I do.

As always I appreciate you stopping by!

a great scone recipe!

Like I told you....I recently celebrated my 30th wedding anniversary in Missoula Montana at a fabulous bed and breakfast called (Gibson Mansion) If you are in that area you really should stay there is is the best! The website address is: www.gibsonmansion.com

See that scone on the tray??? Well let me tell you those were the best darned scones I have ever tasted! I asked the owner for their recipe and he gave it to me. I do want to share it here for all of you in blogland that love a good scone. Here it is: 

Gibson Mansion 

Bed and Breakfast 

Scones

2 Cups white flour

3-4 Tablespoons white sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 stick real butter

1/3 cups frozen fruit of choice (raspberries, blueberries etc....) 

The version I love is raspberry white chocolate!

White choc. chips (optional)

3/4 cups milk

Sugar in the raw

Preheat convection oven to 375 degrees

In kitchen aid mixer, combine butter softened to room temperature, flour, sugar, and baking powder, until mixture resembles coarse oatmeal. Add milk and and mix until blended. Take dough out of the mixer and roll it out to a big circle, now take FROZEN fruit and sprinkle it all over the dough. Add some white chocolate pieces if you are so inclined. Now fold over the dough several times to incorporate the fruit and chips into it evenly. I use frozen fruit so it won't bleed all over the place. Shape this dough into a circle that is about 1" thick. Generously sprinkle the dough circle with sugar in the raw. Cut the circle so you end up with 8 wedges and place them on a baking sheet. convection bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. My elevation and oven end up cooking this a bit slower, mine take more like 23 minutes or more. Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

New Pattern Coming & Some News!

I wanted to pop on here and let you in on the latest..... I am done with my two latest snowmen! I will have another week before the actual pattern for them is finished however. This pattern will feature both these snowmen! The name of this pattern....All My Friends Are Flakes!

I will be doing some fun things for my 30th. Anniversary so part of next week will be toast, I tried to get this pattern done before but it just isn't going to happen. Be looking for it by the end of next week! Here are the sneak peek pictures. This duo will be for sale soon as well, not sure if I will keep them as a set or not yet.

This pattern will have detailed instructions on how to make all you see here including the tag template to print out the tag.

Here is a close up of the sign and one of those cute clay buttons!

And last but not least is a close up of the hat brim décor.

 

In other news... I just received my copy of the Autumn Prims! I am excited because another one of my pieces have been published in this issue! This will hit stores the first of September, or you can go online and get it at http://stampington.com/prims/ at that time as well. Right now it shows the current issue.

Here is the cover....

 

There are so many great things in this issue!! eye candy really.

Here is a picture of my page layout and snowgirl!

 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Jody

 

 

 

 

A Charmed Confections Giveaway!!!

I have a sweet giveaway to announce that you won't want to miss out on! My friend LeeAnn of Charmed Confections is giving away a chance at winning one of her Ghastly Ghouls, she will make whoever wins one of their own! The collage is an example of how darling they are. These are true pieces of art.  2nd and 3rd places will get a set of her sweet cupcakes! Go to her blog for the rules. www.charmedconfections.blogspot.com This opportunity will end on August 28th.

 

 

 

 

New Pattern and other happenings....

Happy August! I am popping in here to share the latest goings on. First off I am happy to report that as of today my craft room has air-conditioning....YEAH I am excited because I can now be out there comfortably and may even get something done now. We have been in the upper 90's forever now and it has been tough.

Here is a quote I read recently that I just love by Vincent Van Gogh - "If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint', then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced"

Next up is my latest pattern....Pumpkin Pete & His Creepy Candy Corn! He loves his candy and he has a few missing teeth to prove it! He is a fun one to put together. This little make-do is made on an antique spool and rusty candle pan. He has a polymer clay sucker and buttons, paper clay candy corn too. Here are some pictures....

 

This is a hoot! I love goofy stuff like this!

buttons are made from polymer clay using LeeAnn Kress technique. See my tutorial links and you will find it.

Polymer sucker is made using the same technique and LeeAnn shows you how to do this as well.

 

Next up is a new product I found lately that I am in love with!

 

 

This DecoArt glamour dust Ice Crystal glitter paint is wonderful! It brushes on about anything including paper tags just fine. It adds a very fine shimmer/sparkle and you can add more layers for even more sparkle if you wish. It is not over-bearing and adds the perfect touch to areas you may not want anything heavy on like those sweet little faces. I brushed on a coat over my new tags, brushed the outfit and face of my ginger and snowman, I absolutely love it!!

 

I just love this time of year when the sunflowers are in bloom, this reminds me of Fall coming. I think this must be one of my most favorite flowers. I took this in a neighbors garden.

 

 

I am blessed to be surrounded by bountiful wildlife at my house, I have lots of deer I see everyday. Here are two bucks off my front yard yesterday, aren't they handsome?

He is sporting some fabulous horns there!

 

How sweet is this, this baby spotted me in my front yard and his tail went up and he pranced around like he was hoping to scare me off, LOL. I have seen so many babies this year, lots of mamas have had twins as well. They get used to us and hardly give us a glance anymore really.

 

My nutrisystem diet is going well, since June 30th I have lost 10 lbs so far!! I have a long way to go but I feel positive I can manage this. I am so looking forward to finding the thin me hiding in there somewhere.

 

I hope your summer is going well! We have a few more trips to take before the snow flies this year. I look forward to sharing the new things to come in the crafting world with all of you!

 

printable tags

Greetings....

Well I don't know about you but this summer is shaping up to be a hot one! We have been pushing 100 for awhile now and will be continuing for a good time more. I am grateful for air-conditioning that's for sure. I have been enjoying seeing all the little newborn deer babies lately, I have lots in my area so there are plenty of new babies running around. Been watering what flowers I have everyday with this heat and competing with the deer that do think flowers are yummy to eat!

Because of the heat and my craft room not sharing in the air-conditioning, I have not spent too much time in there. I managed to finish Little Boo's pattern and tried my hand at creating a couple of tags which I will show here. I think summer is the hardest time to settle down and get serious about creating, at least for me it is. I know you are all probably tired of hearing that from me!

I am on week 3 of Nutrisystem and I have to say it isn't half bad to do, not too painful. So far I am able to handle it and haven't been too hungry thankfully! I haven't paid too much attention to the scales over the last couple years and when I finally did I was shocked!! Before you know it the pounds can just pack on, they are sneaky buggers! I wish I had got on this bandwagon about 20 lbs ago but as they say better late than never. I do think the most valuable thing I will take away from this is learning portion control, we eat way more than we should. I will use this newly learned info. to my benefit when I need to maintain the weight loss. Okay enough of this depressing subject...:-)

This is my latest project, a set of tags that gives you three each of two designs. I drew the designs out and colored them. These tags are 2.5 inches by 5 inches, so pretty large. These are fun to embellish with glitter or distressing inks! They can be found on all my selling venues. Here is the samples

 

I have been selling the stuffing forks I love so much, but want to let you all know that I will no longer be able to carry them myself due to shipping cost constraints. I still recommend them however since they will make your stuffing projects way easier!

 

Did you know that E6000 glue is now in spray form? I have not used it yet but for those of you that use E6000 glue may just find this news to be welcome! I will let you all know how I like it when I am able to apply it to a project.

 

I hope you are all filling your summers with family, barbeques, camping and other fun events. Thanks for stopping by!

My latest project, a special gift and fun news!

Hello Ladies!

Where have I been hiding? No where really, just enjoying the great weather and summer outings! Fourth of July was wonderful, we had a bon fire on the beach and watched fireworks over the water for about an hour, it was great!! As the summer winds down I will be designing more patterns I promise! We all have times that we need to step away from what we're doing and enjoy something different.

I am not sure how the blogging will work out now that we no longer have google reader.... but I will post here anyway and hope it reaches some at least. I was gone and did not get around to transferring all my blogs from google reader to my Blog Lovin so I guess I will have to do them by hand!

Okay first up is my latest project.... Her name is Little Boo....Here she is....

She will be my next pattern and the actual doll will be for sale this month on PFATT Marketplace on July 10th.

She is 18" tall, made of muslin and then painted. Her body is made to look like a candy corn. She has a paper cone hat and wired arms.

Here is a close up of her ghost candle. This is a battery operated taper candle that I painted a ghost face on!

Here is a better view of her funny feet and clay candy buttons. She will be available soon in pattern, I am about 3/4 done and should be finished the first of next week sometime.

In other news!!! I got the greatest surprise I just have to share with you all.... LeeAnn Kress of Charmed Confections made me some fun things and sent them to me as a surprise and boy was I!! Okay, let me back up and tell you the stories behind the goodies I am about to show you. LeeAnn is one of those friends we can all only hope to have, she is talented, funny and the best cheer leader when I am feeling down or not so sure of myself. A true friend is always encouraging and loves to help celebrate and share in her friends accomplishments, this describes LeeAnn!! I actually have several online friends like that (you know who you are) .....we all love to share our latest projects, critique if needed and just be there for each other's creative process.

Well.....LeeAnn has been so supportive of me, my work and has shared in my excitement over being in Prim's Publication. As if this was not enough, she made two special gifts for me to celebrate this event as well as a funny I will tell you about in a minute but first let me share my cupcake!

 

One of LeeAnn's specialties making these fabulous cupcakes, she does them in all sizes and decorates them with so much detail! Some of her cupcakes have spooky characters sitting in them. My cupcake although is hard to see here, is huge! She added some wires to hold tags with mini pictures of the three pages that my bunny had in Prim's magazine. These are exactly the pages, she shrunk them down to fit the tags, now isn't that clever! I was thrilled to receive this to say the least. I display this proudly. The little tags are works of art all on their own! LeeAnn amazes me with her eye for detail. Her blog is www.charmedconfections.blogspot.com if you want to go learn more about her and her work.

 

Here is the store behind my (Friends-N-Beans) clothespin dolls in a bowl of beans! I am assuming most of you are creative so you will relate to this.... there are times when even the most creative minds will just simply go blank, no inspiration or ideas filling that noggin! Well LeeAnn and I joke during those times that we may as well just make clothes pin dolls in a bowl of beans! LOL Or we have said this when we may have something that is just not selling.... we say well gee.... we may as well have made some clothes pin dolls in beans, they may have been the hot seller! My brilliant friend took our joke and actually made them! The thing is.... they are no joke, I have never seen CUTER clothespin dolls and have never seen a cuter bowl of beans ever! Isn't this the cutest? Okay, the friends-n-beans is similar to Frank-N-Beans if you haven't figured that out already (now that is funny)! As you can see she decorated this bowl of beans so colorfully in a green bowl of beans. The doll wearing orange would be LeeAnn, she has been a great cheerleader to me and her sweater has initials of SBCW which stands for my business name! She wears orange because she loves anything Fall or Halloween, I am sure you know this if you have seen her work! These tiny dolls have hair, little pipe cleaner arms and so much detail. Okay now the purple doll represents me, I am holding a miniature version of the publication my artwork was featured in, now isn't that darling? I just wish I was as thin as my clothespin look alike! Well I am working on it, just started on some Nutrisystem, we'll see how that one goes! On the bottom of the bowl there is a nice to and from tag. This is one of my favorite things!!! Thank you for this thoughtful and fun gift, it never fails to make me smile. 

 

Okay, now for some fun news! LeeAnn's talent is unmistakable and I always knew her things were suited to be published, they are in that leaque. I also knew that her things were perfect for Art Doll Quarterly, this is a wonderful publication with the best of the best artists. She doubted she would ever make it into this thing but just like I told her ...SHE DID!!! If we get brave enough to reach for our dreams then we may find them within our grasps. This is the one time I can happily say I TOLD YOU SO LeeAnn's artwork will be featured in the August Art Doll Quarterly, she will have not one but several pieces featured. This is so exciting, the sky's the limit for her and her talent speaks for itself. Here is a picture of the front cover and a sneak peek at the inside. We will have to wait for the magazine to actually come out to see the actual article and all her works. Congratulations my friend!!!!

 

Here is a look at the cover, you really must buy this if you haven't before, it is so inspiring to see all the artwork that this publication features.

 

Look there is one of her pieces right here on the lower right!

 

Well that's it for now, thanks for stopping by!