Short can still be sweet

Today I did a little "victory rolls" in my hair. I was really happy with the way it turned out. It's a little difficult to deal with as my hair is really short for these styles, but I still think it turned out sweet! This is after a long day at work in one of the hottest days ever... we are having a heat-wave and our air conditioner broke at home. We lived through two days of that over the long weekend (of course) and today we got it fixed! Yay! Thank Goodness I had all that homemade ice cream in the freezer.... hahahaha!

A wonderful Ice Cream Dream!

We had a wonderful party on Victoria day and everyone thoroughly enjoyed their ice cream. It was so hot here that we got out the pool for the puppies and us!

I had my hair done 1940's style and music was playin'

Our guests enjoyed the new Tiki lounge

The food was fabulous and we all ate way too much!

Then it was homemade ice cream time ~ with French vanilla and butterscotch chocolate chip  pecan... and boy was that good!

We were sad to see the ice cream end but there was no more room left in the bellies... so my guests took a tub home to enjoy at a later date!

Then it was time to rest in the sun with my boys and enjoy a nice mojito wine cocktail and wade in the pool with the pups!

It was a lovely day and I hope you all enjoyed yours also!

Bolg Post enhancements and Dreaming of fun changes

I am trying to learn new blogging posting things so I can add video to my blog entries.

Seeing as how I am, for the first time, going to follow my dream of living 40's style and changing my image to match; I have always loved pinup style and always wished I could dress and wear my hair like that. Reminded of my mortality by songs like "Live like you are dying" I asked myself recently... if I found out that I was ill and had little time left what are the things I would do. Once you get the answer to that question, the next question is of course, what are you waiting for? Why aren't you doing them now. So this is a small thing, to change my style, but it is a fun thing and as I said recently in my blog I am adding a lot more fun into my life.

I thought I would add this video of Beyonce' as it has a retro feel and she does such a fabulous job! Look at that Betty Page lingerie and that bathing suit! LOVE IT... gotta find one for myself!What about all that forties hair! How FUN! Hahahaha

Have a great Victoria day everyone. It's ICE CREAM day here!

Big Hugs

"Why Don't You Love Me" - Beyoncé from Beyoncé on Vimeo.

Ice Cream and Nostalgia

Hoping you are all having a wonderful weekend so far. The family BBQ and ICE CREAM TASTING is tomorrow and I am so looking forward to it. I hope it doesn't rain but it's looking good so far.

Yesterday my husband built us a little focal point in our backyard which is not completed but you'll get the idea. It is a little Tiki area that we can lounge under one of our trees. It is hard to describe to you but this little river house has come a long way since we first moved in five years ago! We are finally getting to the outside with our style and design. I am so looking forward to our family visiting to see our new spaces outside!

I have decided to enter into my first a blog swap I am so excited! I have a lot on my plate right now but could not pass up this opportunity. I have been wanting to do a swap for some time and one should never pass up an opportunity when it presents itself! The wheels are already spinning in my head for what to make, create, put in the box/ bag etc. I love the topic of this swap as I have been feeling very nostalgic lately.

CLICK HERE to join this VINTAGE VACATION

I just got word that my aunt is starting the proceedings to sell my grandmothers house, a house that has always been my FOREVER home. We moved a lot and this was the stable place that never changed. My father and mother met in this neighbourhood and courted and then were married. I lived there with my grandmother for many years also and I have watched the house go through changes but it's always been there and it's always been HOME. It will be a long process before it is sold but the thought of it is still alarming to me. I know it is a needed move and so I am focusing on the fact that at least I had my wedding on her front lawn and I am planning a trip to the old neighbourhood with my Mum in July to take photos and say my goodbyes!

I have always wanted my grandmothers kitchen window. It might sound strange but my grandmother spent entire lifetimes feeding the birds from that window and one day I hope to have it placed into a house that my husband and I live in so I can do the same... through the same window. However if this does not take place... I will get photos of the window this trip and make some wonderful art piece to hang in my kitchen!

I have also finally found a supplier for one of my all time favourite magazines that I just simply cannot get here in Canada. It is now out of print also and has been since 2003. So I ordered all of them that I could and hopefully this will all be a fabulous transaction! The magazine is called ATOMIC and it is all about retro style and vintage life! It's simply wonderful!

LINK to ATOMIC

All is well again

Hello everyone

Looks like all is well again with the computer issues. It seems it was not a direct virus but some kind of email spam and since we all stopped responding there are no more emails bombarding the system. Yay!!!! That could have been a lot worse. It seems a bunch of artists were all placed on a mailing list without our consent or knowledge and the rest is history. I received no unwanted emails today so I am a happy lady!

Placed my ice cream maker for my kitchen aide in the freezer tonight. We have decided that for the Victoria day Monday we will make our first batch of homemade ice cream! We have invited family over to try it too and will most likely have a BBQ first ... but one can never tell... maybe ice cream can count as a meal! It seems like it will be a ton of work but somehow I feel it will be worth it in the end! Shall I take photos? I think I shall, and will post them for you all to drool over.

I am still working to complete my set of bear and bear friends that I plan to enter into the URSA awards but the deadline is closing in so I better get it together. I hope to have some more bears to show you soon.

Have a super wonderful weekend filled with childish adventure and make sure there is some art in there too! It's almost Alice's Tea Party time too so I better get that together so you can join me for a wonderful day of tea and knowledge... that's a bit of a hint!

Thanks for all the great comments lately and welcome to all my new followers... lots of fun is on the way.... and I am hoping another giveaway for this summer!

BIG COMPUTER VIRUS TARGETING ARTISTS

Look out! BIG VIRUS has hit my email on my computer... "Buzz my art online gallery" is sending out thousands of emails! I am getting hundreds in my inbox and have no idea why. I am not a member of buzz my art. DO NOT RESPOND to these emails as the responses are being copied and sent out to thousands of people. I am getting email from people in as far as Spain... DO NOT respond and maybe we can stop this virus!

Ending the discussion ~ Artist vs. Crafter ~ with a New Bear!

Hello everyone:

Thank you to all of you who read my blog entries on the topic of Artist vs. Crafter. Now for my explanation on how this subject came about. My young cousin who is just graduating from high school was given an year long assignment to study an artist of her choosing. She would then have to create a project consisting of several pieces that were inspired by this artist. I received a phone call one evening to let me know that she had chosen me. WOW what a thrill, I was humbled by just the gesture alone. She was intending to make a quilt and have it draped over a pedestal and a bunch of other things that had not yet come to fruition.

Half a year later she called to let me know that the teacher had decided that she could no longer do the project on me as I was not an artist, I was a crafter. The teacher felt that because I made teddy bears I could not possibly be an artist... and she looked no further into my art background. I had many questions about this, and many we addressed her together on this blog. I have been hung in galleries, won international awards, make my art from scratch creating all patterns myself and the list goes on and on.  Actually she went so far as to change the entire assignment for everyone even though the year was half way through.

I wrote my blog entries on this subject for my cousin more than anything however it was insightful for me also to travel down my journey through art. I have written, drawn, was a makeup artist for large films, I am a hair artist/ stylist, I have been a sculptor making everything from large statues as you saw with Betty Boop to small things like vampire teeth, I have been in musicals as the lead role, had my quilts hung in galleries and Graceland and now I CHOOSE to make the sweetest type of art I know... teddy bears! Each one so individual, each one coming to life in his own special way.

It's me and my bears here at Seraphim Studios and I AM AN ARTIST... simply because I love what I do and I create every day. Being an artist is a frame of mind and a mind that never settles and is ever exploring what life has to offer! I can draw, paint, sing and dance I just choose to do that in my daily life and leave my art in the hands of my beautiful bears! I don't think an artist should be exempt from claiming that title solely on his/her choice of medium or because of their gender or ... the list goes on.

So that's it in a nut shell. My wish today is that teachers, especially teachers, having been one myself, would let children believe without borders!

Heres hoping you never loose touch with your childhood... may you always be brave enough to try to fly to the moon no matter who tells you that you can't.

 To finish it off ... Here is my latest boy ~ Reese~ like the peanut butter cup. I hope you like him!

Bear Hugs

Big Plans... Big changes

Hello everyone! First please let me welcome all my new followers! It is wonderful to see you all here.

So I had big plans to finish my new set of bears and buds and get my quilt blocks completed this weekend... first my iron broke this morning and I was horrified to see the cost of a new one! We drove everywhere to see what I could find and I came home with a borrowed one from my Mother-in-law. Thank goodness she had one to lend me as I need some time to settle with the idea of putting out that kind of cash for an iron. I was lucky and purchased my last one at a garage sale for $2.00. It had sticky stuff on it but I thought for two bucks I would give it a shot at removing it. It took me a little bit of my time but I got it all off and the iron was like new. It has lasted me 5 years since but today... it just wouldn't get hot.Needless to say it threw my day off as I was driving around instead of sewing.

The rest of tonight was spent unexpectedly fixing up my laundry room. We moved the furniture around and laid carpet squares so I no longer have to stand on a cold concrete floor. We covered the windows with decorative vinyl, added two lamps and some much needed decorations to my shelves. This of course took up the rest of my energy and the rest of the daylight to work in. I did however get my laundry completed as we worked. Hahahaha

So, yesterday, I did get some work done on the new series of bears and bear friends that I am working on. I was really in the mood and was fortunate enough to work outside for a few hours in the sunshine with my doggies. We also planted flowers and a new herb garden and hung my new Cheshire cat bird house. Everything seems to be coming together this year.

So although I am not ready with new pictures and I am not ready to make the final post on the Art vs. Crafter issue I did get a lot done... just not the things I planned to do. I am trying to just go with the flow more this year and not get worried about little things like that. As it turns out I spent a lovely day with my husband and we worked together to create a nice comfortable, functional space for me to do laundry in. I love doing laundry but not on a concrete cold floor. So now its time to rest and get ready to continue on tomorrow. I will have some photos soon so stay tuned and I hope YOU all had a wonderful weekend filled with adventure also!

Mum's Day Treats

Well Hello and Happy Mum's day to all your Mothers out there!

It seems like FOREVER since I posted a recipe so seeing as how I love to bake and always try to make homemade for special occasions I thought I would share with you a couple of my favourite recipes.

My Mum is a big fruit fan and is having a get together at her place this weekend... so I am travelling to her to join in the fun! I decided to make one of our favourite recipes as it is not so much hard but it takes some time to do with layering. IT'S WORTH IT though ladies and gentlemen ... IT'S WORTH IT!!! It's extra special too as we don't make these squares often due to the time involved.

If you have a mixer like I do it makes things much faster but you do need to let the layers cool between each layer:

MUM'S PINEAPPLE SQUARES

For the base

1/2 Cup margarine or butter

2 Tbs brown sugar

1 Cup sifted all purpose flour

Blend ingredients together until creamy. Spread in greased 8 X 8" square pan. Bake in oven 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes until lightly golden brown.

Cool in pan on wire rack before adding the next layer of filling.

Begin to prepare filling now.

For First Layer of the Filling

1/3 cup margarine or butter

1 1/2 cups sifted icing sugar

1 egg well beaten

Cream butter and egg and add sugar. Combine well. Spread evenly over cooled base. Cool in refrigerator or freezer to set this layer.

Second Layer of Filling

One 15 - 20 oz tin of crushed pineapple 

(press down with spoon in sieve to get most of the moisture out ~ THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT or your last layer will be watery!)

1/2 pint 8oz of cool Whip or 1 Box of Dream Whip (I use cool whip ~ so does my Mum) 

Once most of the moisture has been removed from your crushed pineapple fold it into your cool whip. Spread over your first layer once it has cooled and set a bit. 

Cool over night in the pan. Can be made ahead of time and frozen! Thaw before serving!

ENJOY!! IT'S WORTH IT!!!!

Now, my husbands grandma likes nothing more than cookies and seeing as how she rarely needs anything I like to try to make her some cookies whenever those special days come along.

I found out today after years of not knowing that she doesn't really care for chocolate so I decided to make her a nice fruity oatmeal cookie.

Nice and simple and just perfectly sweet.

OATMEAL CURRANT, CRANBERRY, WALNUT COOKIES

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I use a silpat liner on my cookie sheets but you can use parchment or grease your pan.

Whisk together 

1/3/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Beat in large bowl until blended:

1 Cup unsalted butter or baking margarine

1/4 cup white sugar

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Stir in the flour mixture. Stir in:

1/2 cup currents

1/2 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Shape dough into generous 1 1/2 inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Bake until cookies are lightly brown all over approximately 15 minutes per tray. Bake one tray at a time.

Have a WONDERFUL Mother's Day and please let me know if you try these... They are really yummy.

And Mum if you see this before I get there... That's okay... I bet you'll be up all night waiting for the Pineapple squares to arrive! Hahahahaa! Love You!

Hears Lookin At You Betty

I was looking for a bit more of my art to share with you and found this picture of a sculpture I created with my husband some years back. She was really fun to sculpt and was created to hold business cards on her silver tray. She sits in the lobby of an International film school in Toronto where I was the head of the hair department. I really love her!

I hope to have a few more photos before wrapping this whole art thing up but hopefully you will enjoy what I can come up with in the mean time!

I'm All dressed up and ready for the party!

Hello Everyone:

I wanted you all to see my new blog design! I am SO happy with it. It really feels like I am wearing my best party dress now! It's really me! Thanks you to my blog designer and my original website header designer for doing an impeccable job! I highly recommend Karen Valentine to anyone! She was FABULOUS to work with and a real dream... even on MY bad days! Thank you sweety for making my blog a dream come true!

Now for those of you who don't know I am a huge collector and fan of Alice In Wonderland and I think this blog shows just that side of me with my bears. Looks like we're all ready for a good party... don't ya think! Its fun and sweet and now that I have my party dress on there are going to be some changes around here. By the way... I found a new book to read... check it out on my side bar under "READ ME".

I am going to wrap things up in the next couple of days concerning the Artist vs. Crafter and I will let you all know how that all got started... and then it is on to lighter fun for all.

I want my blog direction to change... I need some real adventure in my life, some imaginary worlds, some colour and I think this is just the place to make it all happen! So grab your skirts ladies and hold onto your hats gentleman cause the party's gettin started!

Spring Cleaning Mohair and imported synthetic Sale

Hello everyone:

I just wanted to let you all know that currently on Ebay I have started to sell some of my over stock of both super soft synthetic imported plush and mohair. I will be listing many more items so keep checking back to the blog.

Some pieces are cut and some are uncut and all measurements given are to the shortest area of the piece (so you will really get a little extra on the cut pieces than the measurements I give).

Currently available are the following:

CLICK HERE for this sale on Ebay

CLICK HERE for this sale on Ebay

CLICK HERE for this sale on Ebay

CLICK HERE for this sale on Ebay

CLICK HERE for this sale on Ebay