I'm getting ready for a big doll show!

February 13th is New Braunfels, Texas big doll show and this year I decided to take a leap of faith and buy a space. So that means I'm madly working to get bears (mostly) and a few dolls ready. At first I thought I might not have enough stuff for 2 tables BUT now I'm afraid I have too much! Here's a picture of my latest listing - an all red panda that turned out pretty cute. Check out my online shop at http://www.joyceweaver.etsy.com/ and www.artfire.com/users/joyceweaver.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everybody has a wonderful holiday filled with the spirit of the Christ child now and all through the new year!

My latest Far From Perfect Bear

I just listed this little blue bear online at http://www.joyceweaver.etsy.com/ and www.artfire.com/users/joyceweaver. I've been working my way through a box of mohair fabric that I've collected in the last year or so. I'm now down to enough fabric for 2 more bears, then I'll see what kind of mini-bears I can get out of the scraps. Chores, making a living, customer requests and taking care of pets have slowed me up a bit on bear making but I seem to find time somewhere! enjoy!

Flowers in my back yard

After a few inches of rain the zinnias in my back yard came back in full force. When I planted this spring the sun burned everything to a crisp in no time. Now we are actually experiencing some cooler weather for a change and the flowers came up with different colors this time around. I hope the frost holds off but in Central Texas ya never know.

Art Fair Report

The below promoted art fair went off without a hitch! About half the artists showed up so that meant everybody got twice as much space for the money. I brought donuts for the morning & sandwich fixin's for lunch because we were a good ways out in the country. Sales were good, attendance was ok - any show can always use more buyers! Some of our church members had a table for the first time at any show ever & did real well. And, people became aware of our little Lutheran Church in Buchanan Dam, Texas. However, I think next year somebody else can head this up & I'll just help.

Shameless Promotion - Genesis Lutheran Church Fall Harvest Art Fair

Once again I'm in charge of our annual fall art fair and I've scheduled Saturday, October 24th for an art show & sale, bake sale - everything is homemade, live auction and a kids' make-it-and-take-it area. I've got plenty of artist space still available. Genesis Lutheran Church is located at 15946 E. State Highway 29 in Buchanan Dam, Texas. That's about 90 miles northeast of San Antonio, about 60 miles northwest of Austin and about 50 miles or so north of Fredericksburg. We ARE south of Dallas however. Any artist wanting space should email me at joyceweaver@verizon.net.

New Bear Series - Far From Perfect Bears

I was rummaging through a box of mohair fabrics that I've collected over a short time and decided to make bears out of the fabrics until they are all gone. They're now listed on Artfire.com (artfire.com/users/joyceweaver). It's a fun challenge because I look at the box & pick a fabric & go from there, no plan or pattern, just what happens after I choose the fabric. I've got 6 more pieces to go & then if I can use the scraps I will so keep looking at my shop on Artfire.com and joyceweaver.etsy.com too! The holidays are coming up and if you are going to gift a gift to anyone special, make sure you give a gift to yourself too - you deserve it!

Get ready for Christmas!

It's time to start thinking about Christmas and avoid the rush & stress of the season (unless you like that particular way of celebrating Christmas). I would recommend buying handmade this season - you can find wonderful, one of a kind gifts at good prices online - try etsy.com and artfire.com. Both of these sites cater to handmade items & the listings are by the artists themselves. My store is joyceweaver.etsy.com and artfire.com/users/joyceweaver. We are actually experiencing some weather changes here in South Central Texas - it's down to around 90 degrees and we've had a nice amount of rain (we could use more though). That will be the extent of our fall season - here we only have 2 seasons, the beginning of summer & the end of it. That just means we can swim longer and start sooner each year & I like that!

It's been a long, hot & sad summer

My 85 year old dad passed away July 21st and as much as we miss him, I know he's in a better place, he's not suffering from bone cancer any more and my mother can get on with her life now. My dad was a member of the 300th combat engineers in WWII and celebrated his 20th birthday right after the Allied troops landed in Normandy France. He built every house we lived in, retired from Brown & Root at the age of 55 & was a rancher in Giddings, Texas until he died. All 3 of us kids went to college, married and are now professionals, my mother stayed on the farm and will continue to run it as long as she can. I'm proud of my family, they instilled in us old fashioned values, the importance of attending church and being a Christian, a work ethic and responsibility, for example, our animals got fed & cared for before we did and family is always more important than money. He had a wonderful send off, the entire town and most of the preachers attended, food was everywhere and so many flowers & plants we couldn't find Mom in her house after we had all the flowers brought home.

American Girl Doll Store in Dallas

I was able to visit the American Girl doll store in Dallas, Texas recently & met a friend & her daughter for lunch at the bistro. That place is amazing, dolls & accessories everywhere and lunch was more than substantial - maybe because it was Dallas! I would recommend a trip for a girl of any age whether you're into American Girl dolls or not.

I have a New Store on Artfire

I have a few listings on www.artfire.com/users/joyceweaver. Check it out! Also my Etsy store - www.joyceweaver.etsy.com. I'll be adding stuff all the time and if you are looking for a special artist bear, art doll, tote bag, watercolor cards or the newest fine art trend - Artist Trading Cards (ATC), also called Artist Card Edition Original (ACEO). These tiny paintings are 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" and are great for trading, inexpensive to purchase and easy to frame. Plug in ATC or ACEO on any ebay, etsy, or artfire search & see what comes up.

Here I am blogging!

This is such a new deal for me but it looks like this is something I can easily accomplish. I think the commercials showing the 4 year old taking pictures & sending them to her grandmother should be done the other way around and the grandmother should be the one showing how easy that camera & computer is to operate. I'm not as impressed with a 4 year old as I am with someone my age or older performing the same operation right?