Momma Squirrel

WhooHoop!! It's Show and Tell Monday!!

Make Mine Pink ~ Monday Show and Tell

My favorite day of the week is here again! The lovely ladies at Make Mine Pink have a wonderful Show and Tell blog hop on Mondays, and I am ready to HOP!

I have had a bit of a rough week this week and I just wanted to share some of the things that helped to make me smile in the midst of a troubling week.

First I went shopping for a bit of fabric for the new line of kitchen patterns that I have bumping around in my head, and I found just the most perfect and precious fabric. I love vintage 30’s, 40's and 50's decorating and the thought, work, and care a woman of that era put into making their homes a place of function and beauty. I want my patterns to evoke the innocence and grace of that era without being too fussy or hard to complete. I realize that the women of today do not have a lot of extra time to devote to handiwork so I want to keep the designs uncomplicated and fun! And what is more fun and innocent that pretty cherries and blue gingham?

I found these lovely fabrics at Joann Fabrics and just fell in love with them.

The second thing that brought me great pleasure this week was the completion of my little Lola Ladybird, she was a custom order that was unfortunately backed out of by the customer but still brought a smile to my face. She really turned out cute, and her pretty face is now up on eBay charming the spots off of all who see her. I have enjoyed her company this week.

And third I got out and did a little tending to my garden. It is a work in progress and while my poor beds are at the moment covered in layers of wet newspaper in preparation for some much needed mulch and a new birdbath, it still managed to produce some beautiful pink roses. They even stopped swaying in the breeze long enough for me to get a couple of pretty pictures of their pink perfection.

And last but not least my two new friends, Glenna and Gallagher the Garden Gnomes! They thought my front garden looked so inviting that they decided to take up residence beneath the Jasmine.

Here’s to happy thoughts and wonderful friends to share them with!

Hugs to all, xoxoxo

Make Mine Pink ~ Show and Tell Monday!

In honor of the lovely Harvey Korman. 

I wish you all love and laughter throughout your day.

Pink Hugs, xoxoxo

Colby :)

Carol Burnett Show- Funt & Mundane
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egD-5vxBNpQ

Make Mine Pink ~ Monday Show and Tell!!

Francine Frog, originally uploaded by mommasquirrel.

It's Show and Tell Time! I am showing my little Francine Frog off today. She is one of my New Year,s designs and I am so pleased with how she has come out. I use vintage fabric for her body and it is almost gone now so I am not sure what will happen to my frogs personalities when It does run out, but I am sure I will find just the right cloth to use when the time comes. I even found some cute bug fabric to go with her and as luck would have it I found some stickers with the exact same bug design. This is one of those dolls that begs to be made. I think if I were a Prince I would want this little sweetie to stay just as she is when I kissed her!

Make Mine Pink ~ Monday Show and Tell!!

mosaic6419514, originally uploaded by mommasquirrel.

Ok lovely ladies, I have had a bit of a slow week this week but I did manage to get 2 dolls finished and I did manage also to get some notes and sketches done towards the patterns that I want to make.
I must confess that I love Show and Tell. I thoroughly enjoy blog hopping to see what everyone has been up too and I think that it is a very inspirational way to start out the week.
Thank you lovely pink ladies, from the bottom of my heart.
Now a little about these two lovely ladies you see here. The dark haired little lady is called Julia, and she is just a sweet little spring angel, she measures about 10 inches tall and she is just as cute as can be. She is holding a sweet little ladybug that I hand painted. I sealed it with beeswax which I have never done before but had read about it in a magazine. I really love how soft and shiny it turned out. Julia is going to be added to my ezshoppe. (As soon as I figure out how to add items. LOL)
The lovely blue eyed lady is called Daisy and she is a 21 inch doll. I have been inspired by my garden this week so as you can see I have a flower theme going on. Daisy is on eBay this week.
I hope everyone has a great week.
Thank you so much for stopping by!

Strawberry Shea

Shea1, originally uploaded by mommasquirrel.

The lovely ladies of Make Mine Pink have are having a weekly show and tell, I just love blog hopping on Mondays, and I think it is a lovely way to get inspired for the week. So here is my show and tell for this week.

BiG PiNK HuGS xoxoxo ~ can't wait to get blog hoppin!

Strawberry Shea is my newest addidtion to the Forest Brownie series. I have had a new character bumping around in my head to the series for a couple of months now and here she is :) Shea is for sale in my Etsy Shop,

Here is the background story behind my little Forest Brownies,
Once upon a time while our country was first being settled, a group of immigrants from Scotland settled in the beautiful mountains of what is now north eastern Georgia in an area near Tallulah Gorge. Little did they know that their little House Brownies, afraid of being left behind and wanting to continue serving the families that they had served for centuries packed up all their belongings and followed their families to the new land.
Well let me tell you, while the little House Brownies were busy helping their families build new homes and taking care of the livestock and doing various chores, another group of little people that the Cherokee who lived in the area called Yûñwï Tsunsdi', (or “little people”) were watching the new settlers and immediately fell in love with the little Brownies and visa versa.
Any ways to make a long story short, the little Brownies and the Cherokee “little people” began to intermarry and soon a whole new clan of little people were born, I call them “Forest Brownies” as they are a perfect mixture of the two cultures, both keeping watch and caring for the forest creatures as well as helping out lost travelers and working with livestock and doing other outdoor chores for the people who live in more rural areas. You don’t often see them anymore as they live deep in the mountains and the Yûñwï Tsunsdi' are very private by nature also very few of the House Brownie families are still in the area. But, the little people of the Forest Brownies are much easier to spot as they like to help people who get lost find their way, and they are much brighter colored in both complexion and dress, taking on the beautiful colors of the mountain foliage.

Featured Artist, Penny of Miss Pootsie's Primitives!

matilda lamb, originally uploaded by mommasquirrel.

My second featured artist for the month of April is the lovely Penny of Miss Pootsie’s Primitives.
I absolutely love Penny’s art! Penny is a Kansas based whimsical primitive folk artist; whose lovely dolls, paintings and other handmade pretties are invocative of years gone by. All her lovelies, though new, are made to look like timeworn treasures!
Her dolls fascinate me the most, with their spirit of gentle innocence, and their sweet personalities shining through like a pleasant daydream of yesteryear. A simpler time where people were kinder and more thoughtful, where children ran wild and barefoot, and mommas could let them be free without worry, where little boys caught frogs and little girls picked wildflowers.
You can find Penny’s dolls and other artwork on eBay, and you can learn so much more about her from her lovely blog and her eBay about me page.
BiG HuGs My PriMSy SiSTeR.

Show and Tell Mondays :) Lila The LadyBug!

lila1, originally uploaded by mommasquirrel.

"Lila the LadyBug", I made her for my little ezshoppes grand opening on May 5th. I love how she turned out; I have made several new designs for my shoppe and am having a ball with them. So far they have all turned out just as I had envisioned them which usually does not happen as I usually have to tweak my designs a couple of times to get them just the way I want them.
I have 10 more dolls on my worktable in various stages of being done and my hope is to have them all finished by the end of the week, then I will start on the patterns for them, and then move on to the kitchen goodies that I have in my head!
I am going to do patterns for aprons, chair covers, chair cushions, pretty hand towels, pretty bag holders and appliance covers, curtains and valances. All using a combination of found fabrics such as old embroidered linens, tablecloths, and trimmings, mixed with new fabrics and pretty buttons and such.
Then I will move on to my favorite place the work/sewing room and make some pretty accessories such as pin keeps, vision boards, organizers, chair covers and chair cushions, sewing wallets, and so on.
My vision is to make a line of already made goods and a pattern line for the DIYer. I know I love to make my own things and with the economy the way that it is I think more women are going to return to the home arts as a way to be thrifty with their money and to beautify their homes without spending a fortune.
I want my home goods designs to be elegant, simple and timeless. I will continue with the dolls also as they are my first love but I feel the need to express and expand my love of all things hand made.

Featured Artist April 13 2008

*LiTTLe sTaR*, originally uploaded by sPaRK*YouR*iMaGiNaTioN.

I have decided to add a new feature to my blog. A weekly featured artist. I see so many beautiful and inspiring artists in my wonderful travels thru the world of Blogland, and feel like sharing my love for my sister artists.
And what a lovely first featured artist. It is my extreme pleasure to announce the first artist in my Featured Artist series ~ please meet the lovely Debrina Pratt.
All I can say is WOW ~ I saw this and it took my breath away!
What an amazing artist! You can find Debrina Pratt of sPaRK*YouR*iMaGiNaTioN's fantastical fairy art on Earth Angel Toys,  at her etsy store, on her eBay auctions, and her blog Whimsical World of Fairies. ~ (truly a must read)
This lovely lady must have been touched with a magical fairy wand and then sprinkled with fairy dust for good measure! Her art transports you to another world, where you may dream awake! I must see more!
Her magical creations are definitely one of a kind and such a unique blend of vintage images with a bright shining aura of color seemingly radiating from within. I am absolutely charmed by her beautiful creations. She has a lovely set of photos for your viewing pleasure located on flickr and I strongly advise you to brew up a cup of tea and take a moment to relax and be transported if only for a brief time to the wonderful world that exists and is brought to you from the mind of Debrina Pratt.
Kudos Debrina and thank you for bringing us such lovely delights.
xoxoxo

Sarah Smile

I just wanted to share my newest creation with everyone. I have never tried to use the photobucket sharing before and am giving it a try out.
I loved making this lovely little lady, she totally made me smile when I was done with her, hence the name Sarah Smile. I am so in love with the little strawberries and am going to make my first tutorial on them.
I have several new designs coming out in the next couple of weeks and I think everyone will be as pleased as I am at the direction my art is taking me. I am so stoked and my muse must be working overtime as the ideas are flowing in a steady stream from my mind.
Hope everyone has a lovely weekend and I will see you all next week. ((Big Hugs))

Mermaids and Mojo!

Mermaids, originally uploaded by mommasquirrel.

Hello, Lovely Ladies! I know it has been a bit since I posted something new. But I’ve got my mojo back now. I guess I just need a bit of a breather.
I also have my mojo back in the designing area. I am working on a new design for a set of mermaid dolls and of course for some inspiration I only have to drive a couple of miles down the road to Weeki Wachee Springs.
I love Weeki Wachee Springs, its old time charm combined with the natural beauty of the head spring and river are absolutely stunning, and a delight to the senses. We have spent many a pleasant day strolling the pathways lined with fabulous gardens and taking a little ride on the River Boat cruise. We also go to the Weeki Wachee Halloween special every year ~ the children have so much fun and we love the night-time mermaid shows, and the haunted forests. They really do put on a lovely show. Also they have a Christmas program that they put on, we went there for the first time in 2007 and it was fantastic. They had a beautiful light display winding its way through the gardens and a live nativity play, plus another wonderful underwater show, with singing and dancing. I really have to give those mermaids credit for getting in that water at night. I would freak out if an alligator came cruising by in the dark! Yipes!
But my all time favorite thing to do at the park is to canoe from the headspring all the way down to Rogers Park. It is a 4 to 5 hour trip through some of the most beautiful natural scenery I have ever seen. It is so wild and beautiful that it takes your breath away. There are manatees, aligators, turtles, and fish called sheephead (?) don’t know why they call them that. The trees and banks are filled with wildlife. The water is so clear that you can see straight down to the bottom even when the bottom is down 20 feet or more. It is an amazing trip and I would definitely recommend that anyone visiting the area who wants to see Florida at its most beautiful to take this canoe trip. Whenever I go I feel a renewal of spirit and I wonder at the beauty that the Lord has created.
If you ever get down this way stop on by and see me and we will go see the mermaids!