Tater Stuffies!

One of the new fun things I've been working on lately is the Tater Stuffie. A tater stuffie is about 7 inches tall, has no arms or legs, but occasionally has a tail. They also sometimes eat popcorn...

Bunny Tater

This one is a Siamese Tater

This is the Devil Mouse Tater

This is FrankenTater

You can see them (or make them yours!) HERE at my etsy store!

More from the last few months

I haven't done too much in the way of travel in over a year. Just a drive to the lake or to visit a local microbrewery here or there. So when I got a chance I jumped at it. Last month my sister Kacy got married in Carson City, Nevada. Carson is a looooong way from Missoula, Montana, let me tell you! My two young co-pilots and I drove the 15 or so hours down over 2 days and back over 2 days with 3 days of visiting sandwiched between. By the time we got back I was grumpy, tired, and cramped up from driving.


And, although I was super excited to see my family and be in the wedding of my little sister, we'd just started moving into our new house and had a ton of work to do. We were only half moved out of the old house by the time we left. Michael stayed back for both work reasons and to take care of the zoo while the kids and I were gone.




I really like my sister's new husband Cory. He is a stand-up kind of guy. He's taking on my sister (not easy, I know from experience) and her 3 lovely sons. It takes a special kind of man to love another's kids as his own. Kacy and I have been blessed with the men we found.


The wedding was beautiful, and so was Kacy. Mia and I even got nice looking bride's maid dresses (thanks Kacy!) which is important for not looking like an overstuffed sateen armchair. I didn't get any pictures of Jiah at the wedding. He hid around back with the other restless boys until the ceremony started. Not much for primping with the girls, I guess.

Jiah and Mia loved hanging out with their cousins. It had been years since they all got to be together. Grandpa was lots of fun for them too. He brought 3 of his bizzillion guitars so the kids and he could play together. My oldest nephew Andy is quite the brilliant plucker! I hear he's a trumpet player too. I can't wait to hear his first album in a few years.

Just before the trip to Carson City and just before we moved into the new house, I started an internship at the Zootown Arts Community Center. I am the Pottery and Glass Fusing DIY Center manager. The internship involves working 4 or so hours per week inventorying, clear coating pottery, ordering supplies and bisque, and hosting a Saturday Ladies Night pottery class. So much nicer than cleaning houses! But I actually come home messier when I'm clear coating. That's drippy very stuff.

The last 2 weeks my job has been trying to get the kiln to work too. It's been having some technical difficulties and the pottery has been building up because we can't fire it. I replaced some parts and wires the other day (Melanie, electrician extraordinaire!) but it didn't fix the issue. Hanna, the director at the ZACC, is on the case and I'm sure it will be fixed soon. She's like Wonder Woman and my kindergarten teacher wrapped up in one person. I'm pretty sure she can fix anything.

Time flies when you're so busy you forget you're having fun

Wow!

According to my last post it has been 6 months since I sat down and wrote. A big whole lot has happened since last November. I guess I'll start at the beginning and maybe I'll get to the end in this one little post. Maybe I'll just stop when my fingers start to bleed and come back to it.

On the house front, we now have our first home! It is the one we had our eye on back in October. Good things come to those who wait. That's what "they" say and sometimes "they" are right. It took until April to close, but it has been worth the heartache, struggle and wait.

Michael and I (and sometimes the kids when we can pull them off the Netflix!) have been busy upgrading and improving our 60 year old cottage by the river. Everyday seems to bring new things to ponder... what color should we paint the kitchen? should we keep this hideous carpet? how much will fencing the yard cost? what are we going to do with all this yard trash? where should we put the garden? will Spirit be happy in only a large pen rather than her 8 acre pasture? why is there so much grass to mow and would the neighbors mind if we didn't? and where do we put all of our stuff???

We had to paint the exterior in order to get our loan approved. But only the areas with peeling or chipped paint. Which means that we only did the least possible at the time to get the loan approved. Which also means that at the moment our house is half painted. When the weather warms up we will finish. I won't have a red/tan house forever. I swear!

Here's what it looked like during the painting process. Note the lovely carpet of pine needles and AstroTurf steps. The sun has been out a lot since then and the pine needles have been replaced by lots of lush greenness.

I've also moved my art/sewing studio from the Ceretana to the new house. I now have a studio/mud room. So awesome! It's small, but actually bigger than my studio at the Ceretana. AND it's rent is free, heat is available at a flick of a switch, the bathroom is cleaned regularly (sort of), and best of all, my family is here. Yay!

The day my studio got set up I had to start working. I was so psyched to have my room to myself to create in that I finished an art quilt in 2 days. In fact it's probably the technically best one I've done so far. It's colored with oil paint sticks and the flower is acrylic fabric paint, then embellished with embroidery. I'm happy with it...

I've also gotten a new etsy site set up. New house, new studio, new start. The Artsiehorse Studio I feel completely fresh and inspired right now. I can tell that this is about to be a very productive time of my life.

Yeah, that's enough for today. I can't decide what else to write about. 6 months really is a long time.

To be continued...