Scenes from Today's Table. . .

Everything was all sunshine and roses 'til the alligator got his accordion back.

Today's Table (In the Works)

It's looking mighty buggy on the table today.

There's a bat, an alligator, and donkey in there too.

Zoee Bug is sold out now. . .

. . .and so is her friend Zora.

I'm still happy to make them similar-but-different for you, with changes in coloring. (I think they'd look especially merry with peppermint-striped horns.) I always like it when people request color changes to existing designs, then I get to see what they'd look like too. And sometimes I get to do 

something I'd not normally do (like use purple).

We've had company for the past week, and amidst existing orders and general merriment have been too busy to finish any new designs. We do have some in the works though. Speaking of which, I'd better get back to it. I tried leaving everything out on the table last night, all Elves and the Shoemaker like, but they were still all here in varying states of undoneness when I got up this morning.
I guess elves don't like mince meat pie any more than I do.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're cooking up a storm! Pies have been cooking all day. Two pumpkins and a mince meat (whatever that is). The rutabagas are done. I'll be chopping up a bunch of mushrooms in a minute and sauteing them ahead of time for tomorrow's gravy and green bean casserole. Our refrigerator has never been so full! It's confused. Oh yes, there are lists. All the grandparents, half the aunts and uncles, and College Girl's beau will be here for dinner. I love a full table!

I hope you're all finding plenty to be thankful for this weekend. 

One of the things I'm thankful for is you. Thanks!

Scenes from Today's Table

So we got a new computer, hooray! So far we've been available to retrieve absolutely nothing from the old one, boo! So we're daily discovering what we no longer have, which isn't as fun as it sounds. We're slowly getting there though with a lot of help from College Girl, yay! 

Meanwhile, we're in full swing here on the ole Cart. Feels like Santa's workshop. With pumpkins.

Of course we'll be taking a couple of days off to enjoy Thanksgiving with the family. 

We have lots to be grateful for.

Bummer

We're having some technical difficulties here on the ol' Cart. Apparently, our computer dropped dead -- completely and undeniably dead --  a couple of days ago. Dead dead. Like they can't retrieve anything off of it dead. No art, no pictures, no itunes, no Dylan's videos, no the-thing-that-makes-me-be-able-to-get pictures-off-my-camera, no pdf quilt patterns that I just bought, no anything.

Døde, мертвый, νεκρός, muerto, dead.

sigh.

Just Plain Ol' Sunday

Been too busy this week to finish anything new for Something-New Sunday, but we finished lots of other stuff. Dylan has been especially busy! He's in charge of making all our little printed-and-stuffed-stuff. They've been flying out the door! This is just (a photoshopped version of) the past couple of days' bounty. (Minus the little fish on top, they belong to unseen foxes.) 

Dylan could use an elf or two.

We've got a couple of new pieces in the works though.

Maybe next Sunday. . .

Today's Table (In the Works)

A fleet of foxes, among other things, in the works-

Making a wooden mess too.

Hoping to get some new designs underway tomorrow. 

Maybe even something merry and bright. 

Any suggestions??

Driven to Distraction

Num nums?

Got a bunch of orders for tiny skellies this past week. The last of the limited editions, and some custom ones too. I'm always happy to customize our existing designs. I think these skelly couples would make the cutest wedding cake toppers, don't you? Well, if they had toothpicks tied to their feet or something. 

While making all their little skirts, I couldn't help but play with them.

Sometimes I get distracted by my own silliness.

Just Playing

Finding my way around Photoshop.

Tuzy and Lulu

This is what my dogs would look like if they had people bodies. 

And they lived a long time ago. And they liked to wear clothes.

Something-New Sunday

 Remember this post? 

Well, these papery thingys. . .

. . .got printed up on cloth, sewn, stuffed, and became these ornaments!

We made bunches of little stuffed ornaments from cloth we had printed up.

We made oval portrait-style ones too. 

Also finished all those owls I've been working on. 

Here are the wintery white ones-

Aiden, Albany, and Avery

And here are the moonlit night ones-

Harlequin, Hadley, and Hamlet

And here they're all looking over the living room intently, having taken over my little shelves.

You can find all the ornaments and all the owls

(as well as lots and lots of other stuff) in our Etsy shop here.

Now I'm off to finish editing all the listings that Dylan spent all day making. It seems like no matter how done something seems, there's always more to do.

Owls, Silly Words, and Persistence

Today I'm working on finishing up this group of owls in time for Something-New Sunday.  Did you know that a group of owls is called a parliament? I have a deeply nerd-like love of old fashioned collective nouns. Most animals are represented, and lots of birds. There are the commonly known ones, like a group of crows is a murder or geese hang out in a gaggle, but there are all sorts of silly words for animalistic gatherings. Like a pandemonium of parrots, and array of hedgehogs, or (one of my favorites) a smack of jellyfish. Who says this isn't an educational blog?

The newest owly additions to The Cart were inspired by the little owl painting I made for 

My Owl Barn's calendar project. 

Some days the designs fly fast and furious, right on the mark. But other days, erasers are my best friends. And yesterday was one of those eraser-friendly days. I must've drawn and erased those owls' details 50 times before finally painting them in. There was a fair amount of repainting going on as well. I'm finally happy with the results though. I'm nothing if not persistent.

Today's Table (Everybody's Waiting)

 Deers are waiting for their photo shoot.

 A bunch of printed-and-stuffed stuff is waiting for me to figure out how I want to hang them.

The last moose is waiting for paint. . .

. . . and so are a bunch of owls, while a star and a strange creature wait for details.

Everybody is waiting on me.

(But not the good kind of "waiting on me" that's usually followed by "hand and foot.")