Okay - I guess this is my night for posting.

During the spring of this year I entered the Hoffman Challenge with my doll "Underwater Friends" at the urging of my friend Stephanie Van Diest. She actually challenged me to do a doll while she made a quilt.

My doll won "Best First Time Entry" and will be traveling all year to different quilt festivals in the Hoffman Doll exhibit.

I will be entering again this year and trying to get some of the other members of Material Girls to enter with me.

Hangers for MG Christmas Swap

I haven't been on my blog for quite a while now. Been working and doing some dolls, but not nearly enough!

I have been asked to make a sample of some doll dress hangers for our Christmas party swap. I have posted them to here so that everyone could see them, as not all are on Face Book.

Very easy to do with just colored jewelry wire a pair or linesman pliers and some forceps.

We will make these during our October meeting next month.

Welcome to 2010

I'm a little bit late in this posting for the new year, but for everyone that knows me that is not unusal.

I'm still working at Tramontina, but have lost my co worker to California. Nadia moved back home to to be with her family but I already miss her. They are interviewing for two more people in our department to help, but have not found anyone yet. That means that I am by myself cept for my supervisor and the manager of the department. They can't hire too fast for me! Way too much work for one person...I am SWAMPED!

I will be going on two retreats this year. The first is for two days at the end of Feb - back to Rivendale Ranch. It is great there and we had a lot of fun last year. Should be the same this year. The second will be with NWPG for a weekend in April up to Laura's cabin in Somerville. I have not been there yet but have been on retreat with these girls before...relaxing and fun.
(both of which I can really use right now!)

Well, I am going to end this. Got Sticky Buns in the oven and have to finish making my son's jacket so will be busy today. Also have to decide what I am going to do for Valentines Day with the NWPG. That is our regular meeting day so will there will be a small Valentine exchange.
May have to run down to Joannes at some point. (Now that's a real burden - NOT! :0) )

Say HI! to Summer

Well, a couple of more changes for me this year!

I have changed jobs again and am now working at Tramontina USA, Inc. With the way the economy has been going I have gone back to my original carreer choice...customer service representative. This type of job will never go away and I can work at any company anywhere! Tramontina makes cookware here in the USA! Yep, right here in Houston and in Wisconsin. I don't think I ever paid much attention to instructions on how to use frying pans and such before when I bought them. Boy, have I learned a bunch....and you can actually cook DRY on a nonstick surface and it works! But on to bigger and better changes!

The best and I think the most exciting change is that I will as of May 16th, be the new "Nanny" of the Material Girls Doll Club. The Nanny is what would be referred to as the president of the club in most other circles. I really look forward to this position and hope I can do a great job.

The next change (I guess "event" would be a better word for it) will be my doll class being held the last weekend in August this summer. I am teaching my doll "Summer" that was just recently dedicated to Elaina, my friend from Romania. She gave me a Romanian painted duck egg that is painted the exact colors that Summer is dressed in - so, now Summer is holding the egg in her lap.

I am currently working on a secret sister doll for the Material Girls anniversary meeting next weekend. These are two tiny dolls about 6" in length that needed to go inside a cigar box measuring 5" x 9". I couldn't just stick them in there, so they have to have a theme too...Relaxing on an Autunm Day. I still have to finish the box and the tree so I'll post a picture after the meeting.

Thinking of starting back into my cat jackets at the local cat shows here in Houston but other than getting ready for the Houston Quilt Festival that just about wraps it up for me.

It's a new year! 2009

It seems like forever since I've entered anything on here.

Lots of changes in my life this past year. I can now said that I've actually been thru a huricane (Ike), I've been laid off at my job and have changed my carreer after 24 years. Well, sort of changed my carreer. I am now working at a staffing agency for manufacturers (ResourceMFG). I really like it and have some new skills now, including payroll. But I am still working as a insurance agent. When my former job ended I contacted my old boss, Stephanie Branham. She suggested that we work together on the individual health products side of the business.

I have also attended my first show with TAODA (Texas Asso of Orginal Doll Artists) just before Christmas. It was a very good experience and one that I will follow up with in the future. This reminds me that I need to contact another chairperson that is in charge of Celebrations @ 2nd Baptist Church here in Katy. This is a juried show and very hard to get in to, so I'd better do that tomorrow!

I am now working 6 days a week and have no empty time to do anything. Hopefully that will change here within the next month or so and I can start making dolls again.

Well, I guess I had better start making dolls again, since I have one due in April for one of the Houston Quilt Festival sponsors for our doll club, The Material Girls. Just have to get the ol' brain working again in the imagination department. Forget those numbers for awhile and come up with a design for a new doll.

I also met a good friend of mine at Old Town Spring several weeks ago. Her mother from Romainia was out for Christmas and she wanted me to meet her. We had a really good time., but then I always have a good time when I met up with Cristiana. Her mother, Neita, is in her own right an Artist, though her skills are a bit different than mine. She is in the top 100 artists in Romania and has had a hand in lots of different types of art from theater to puppets to sculpture. She was so excited to actually see one of my dolls up close and absolutly speachless whe I gave her one of my mermaids for a Christmas present. It was a very emotional moment and I was glad I chose to present the gift before we went into lunch. Between the tears and the squeals we would have difinitely made a scene at the resturant. She has now left to go back home to Romania and will be missed but not forgotten.

Now I have a new doll to make using the two sand casted autumn leaves that Neita and Cristiana gave me while in Old Town Spring. I already have an idea in mind so I just have to get busy. One of them will be given back to Cristiana and the other I will keep as a rememberance of that special day. I will difenitely like to meet her mother again when she comes back out to Texas next year at Christmas time.

Well, that about wraps up my year and has me looking forward to spring and my friend, Robin's vacation out here in May. Don't know what we are going to do, but I'm sure it will be fun and full of running around Houston!

I got TAGGED by Angela!

So, I need to post 4 things about me on my blog. Okay, I guess I will put down things that most people would NOT know about me.

1. I love to go camping. Can be in a trailer (my husband likes this way best LOL) or can be in a tent or roughing it all the way with just a backpack and sleeping bag! It's got to be in the woods though with water of some kind (creek, river or lake) near by.
2. I am a city girl by birth but would love to move to the country. Used to go on vacations to upper Idaho on my Grandma's Dairy Ranch. Loved it (not so much the Cow Pies, LOL) but everything else was great. Come to think about it, I really didn't go for the mountain lion screaming while I was hiking on their path either...have you EVER heard one of those??? Me? only once and that was enough! I don't think I would go so far as to have a farm, just a little cabin or A frame in the woods. But, it would definitely have to have DSL hook up. And cable or have a really good shopping area near by...nah - I can get everything that I need from the internet!!! Well, maybe when we retire or win the Lottery!
3. I hate to cook but love to make desserts! Anything with chocolate or that is really good and sweet. Can you tell I am a chocoholic? Oh yeah! Hey, have you tried the new Mint 3 Musketeer's they have out now? I have got to figure a way to put that in some type of dessert!
4. I guess the only other thing that I do all the time is my work. I am an insurance agent. I know, I know. If you would have told me 30 years ago that I would be in any type of insurance let alone Health, I would have said you were NUTS. But then again, if Ms. Marks knew I typed on a computer all day long she would have fainted away (I REALLY hated her Typing class in high school-frozen fingers during first class was a great excuse!). But back to the insurance thing...well, I have been in Life or Health insurance for over 20 years now and I really like it. I am mostly in the admin side of it, but it is really interesting. There is somthing new everyday - not the same old boring stuff!

Okay - this was a lot harder than I thought it would be! I almost ran out of things that most would not know about me from my blogg. Hummm. Now who can I tagg in return???

Well, bye till next time!