Texas Wildflowers!

I painted the cover of this blank sketchbook using watercolors one day sitting in my church's back yard (it's listed in my online stores: www.joyceweaver.etsy.com and www.artfire.com/users/joyceweaver. The wildflowers in our area are the best they have been in a long, long time. I feel so blessed to be living in such a beautiful place. The beautiful flowers have been a real comfort to me during this time as I fight breast cancer. I'll have surgery next week and that should take care of it. God is taking care of me and is keeping me from totally losing my mind and I know I'll get through this, many women have gone through much worse.

Trip to New Orleans

My mother and I drove from Giddings, Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana last week for a funeral. We took a detour to Crockett, Texas to visit my aunt overnight & then headed up Highway 287 through the Big Thicket to Beaumont & on to our destination. Mother's cousin, Millie Stehle Harris, passed away at the age of 98 so it was a chance for family to gather & celebrate her wonderful, long life. I hadn't seen some of my cousins for 30 years but it didn't seem like it and now it's going to be easier to keep in touch with email and cell phones! After the funeral Mom and I toured the French Quarter and surprisingly got caught up in the St. Joseph's Day parade. She ended up with a neck full of beads and a bunch of paper roses all hand delivered to her by some nicely dressed men who had been drinking heavily for most of the day. In exchange she had to give each one of them a kiss on the cheek. All I got was the broken beads I could fish out of the gutter and didn't kiss nobody. It was a rejuvenation for both of us, some people head for a spa, some go on a cruise, we head for the nasty, filthy French Quarter for our soul cleansing. Don't ask, it's a Who Dat thang!

SNOW in South Central TEXAS!

It snowed ALL DAY yesterday, the wind was blowing, I thought I had been transported to Minnesota or something! The neighborhood kids had fun playing in it - about 3 inches stuck to the ground. I had to cancel a doctor's appointment and spent the day inside. So did the animals! Here's a picture of my golden retriever Boozoo down by the creek that runs next to our house. After he figured out this wasn't going away, he had fun getting snow all over himself.

Doll Show was lots of fun!

This past weekend I was an exhibitor at a big doll show and I sold enough to make our expenses UNTIL I bought an American Model doll - for a good price but still... My husband went along, had a good time, and told me on the way home that he learned a lot about what I do and was real impressed (ha). People wanted to buy but we could all tell that the economy was putting a halt to a lot of spending. The same show is being held in San Antonio in August and we might try that one... Here I am!

New Cloth Dolls and GEAUX SAINTS!

I'm posting a picture of my latest dolls. These were both made from Judi Ward's Whatever, Whatever pattern, a fun class I took years ago. I had fun making jewelry for both dolls, too! Oh yeh, Geaux Saints in the Super Bowl!

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!