Three Years Ago This Week

Some of you may know that Dylan (the manly part of The Cart) writes a little e-newsletter every week to send out to whoever's on our cyber mailing list. He's been doing this for some time now and sometimes I amuse myself by perusing past entries. This one is from 3 years ago this week:

Alot of the ideas we have for things to make come from clowning around with half finished pieces. One of our favorite games to play is called Frankendoll. OK, I just made that up. We don't have a name for it, but it usually sounds like this... "What if this one had this one's legs, this one's arms, and these wings..." We've assembled some really hideous creatures, that usually walk a few labored steps with pitiful sound effects added to enhance the illusion. But this week the star of the show was a true hero called Carrot Man. Carrot Man had many adventures this week, flying around our home's airspace and spouting bad puns in a heroic cartoon voice. (The actor who does the voice for Carrot Man was nearly killed recently by a clearly irritated artist that we'll just call "Jo" for now.)

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I love my silly silly man.

Diplomacy Amongst the Dollies

My diplomatic nature wouldn't allow me to pick a favorite this week, so I'm allowing them all their shining moment in the sun.

What's that you say? The sun is not shining?

Shhhh. . . we don't need to tell them that.

Originally, these birds had mouths. But they were driving me crazy, chirping and cawing and conversing all through the wee hours. However, their cacophony was quickly silenced by a quick swipe of my eraser. Ha! She giveth, and she taketh away. .

Bunny. On a box no less. Pure girlyfied delight. This one was especially grateful for the silencing of the bird folk (sensitive ears).

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I don't know what to call this one, but she's sweet enough. A bit of a climber perhaps. Unfortunately, her climbing up skills far outweigh her climbing down skills.

. Funny little Beatrice. Everybody likes her, despite her rather klutzy tendencies. Don't get me wrong, she's fine as long as she doesn't try to fly.

.This silly, giggling, hide-and-seek-cheating goat has won my heart. It's a good thing he's so easily forgiven or I'd still be miffed about the whole birthday cake incident.

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Secretly, the bunnies in the boat are my faves. They don't know if they're coming or going, but they're happy to be along for the ride.

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And lastly (but not leastly), there's sweet Muschka. Isn't she a charmer? Her bird is a bit of a troublemaker though. I think he's just smug cuz I let him keep his mouth.

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Hope your day is sunny, or it just feels that way.

Mermaids on the Brain

I told you I was on some kind of mermaid kick.

Here are the two latest-

They're a funny pair.

He's quite the cad, but she's a flirt

so it evens out I suppose.

He's rather muscle bound.

I suspect he's over-compensating (small fins).

She tries not to let her eyes wander,

but a mermaid's heart is a fickle beast.

Let's Make a Little House

I love those old fashioned Putz houses that pop up around Christmastime, like this one:And I've been wanting to do my own twist on a little house for some time, SO. . . Tah dah!I called it Dream House, on account of its dreamy (sleepy?) expression and the fact that I've been dreaming of a house of my own for many many years. I had so much fun making this dolly! I knew I had to start with some sort of sturdy cardboard house for it's base, something simple enough to be able to add whatever features I wanted. I went searching the internet for gingerbread house templates, but none of them seemed just right. So after a couple of failed attempts (I'm not big on measuring), I came up with a successful template of my own. Woohoo!

I liked it so much in fact, that I just had to share.

. It's really easy to assemble. Just cut the pieces out of good strong cardboard and hot glue them together. Now you have a base ready for whatever you want to throw at it! I covered my cardboard base with several layers of rice paper strips dipped in white glue (my stronger version of traditional papier mache) then sculpted features using paperclay.

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I'd love to see what all you arty types come up with.

Zorro Masks and Mermaid Shenanigans

I know that some dollies march to the beat of a different drum, but I'm pretty sure this one doesn't march at all. Who knows where she came up with this get-up. She insisted upon that silly Zorro-esque mask, and polka dots. Sometimes I'm just not in charge. This simple angel was much more accommodating (as angels tend to be), but she changed her belt seven times. *sigh* I think I'm on a bit of a mermaid kick. There are two more in the works this week, one of which is a bit of a handful (you'll see). I'm pretty sure he has some sort of Napoleon complex. Not so for this sweet babe though. She's super snugly (for a fish).

There Had to be Bunnies

You just knew there had to be rabbit making going on around here after last week's excursion and bunny fun.

Easter's coming up soon enough anyways, right?

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Here's an ornament bunny.

I've used this shape many times over the years, with very many variations

.Who was that masked rabbit?

This funny little sprout just sort of happened this week. Her bunny head was originally supposed to be a hat, but everything fell into place for it to be a mask instead.

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I just love it when a plan falls apart,

and something better takes it's place.

Peckin' at Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is right around the corner. So all you men out there, prepare to be romantic! I'm saying that for Dylan's benefit most of all. One would think that he's in touch with his feminine side, being that he plays with dolls, but he's really quite manly. (By which I mean that he's hairy and rather uncommunicative and not prone to love notes and flowery gestures.) So he needs advance notice to gear up for these things.

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In honor of this total chick holiday (Dylan's words), I've made a sweet Valentine angel.I used to make Valentine's cards with the kids every year, but I'm afraid they've outgrown that this year. Maybe I'll make one for Dylan. Although the effort would be lost on him I'm afraid, unless the card comes with a sub sandwich and the keys to a motorcycle. In which case, the card would go rather overlooked anyways. *sigh* Maybe I'll just make him heart shaped biscuits with gravy. Now that he'd like!

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I also made other stuff this week. Here are some of my faves:

Twinsies! I'm smitten with those polka-dotted toadstools. They're just so yummy looking! I'm sure they're quite poisonous though, so visual representation will have to suffice. And here's a rather droll looking bird, dreaming of trees. It reminds me of that Shel Silverstein poem:

. The saddest thing I ever did see

Was a woodpecker peckin' at a plastic tree.

He looks at me, and "Friend," says he

"Things ain't as sweet as they used to be."

Runaway Monday

Monday morning reared it's Monday-shaped head, and we just HAD to run away from home. (Working from home can be a wonderful thing, but it's hard to take real time off.) .

The sun was shining (as good an excuse as any) so we loaded up the car and headed up the coast. Firewood, marshmallows, and hot dogs were bought. Sleeping bags were rolled. Children were gathered. We pointed the car towards Cape Lookout State Park, about an hour north of us, hoping that we might be able to rent a yurt when we arrived. We were not disappointed. Yay! We had never stayed in a yurt before. It was really fun.

We arrived in time to see the sunset over the ocean. Then we built a fire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. We played "Make me laugh" as long as we could stand it. Perhaps the best part is that I got more than monosyllabic grunts out of my 13-year-old son.

The beach was right there, and the sound of the waves was lovely and sleep-inducing. The next day, we took the long way home.

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We went though dairy country (pretty, but smells like cow poop), then back along the beautiful coastal scenic route.There's a little town on the way back (Pacific City) that has a population of feral rabbits that live behind one of the hotels. They were so cute, and came to take grapes and peanut butter cereal right out of our hands.

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All getaways should include bunnies, don't you think?