Ehhhhh....

OK, so it's been too long to catch up on everything. My bad.

Let's get a few fundamentals out of the way:

1. I'm still recovering from the car accident which did leave my Camry a total loss, but scored us a check for more than what we paid for it almost 3 years ago. Ham and I are fine, but it was scary and I have a new, not-so-unjustified paranoia that I will get rear-ended again when I'm at a complete standstill.
2. Thus, we are now on the long, but somewhat fun, adventure of buying another car...or minivan. Hmmmmm....
3. I have finally found the antique armoire I've been looking for, for three years. BirminghamFreecycle is the bomb. A lady was giving away a white wood bedroom set complete with double dresser, vanity (mirrors included), night table and afghan rack. I jumped on it. I didn't know that when I went to go pick the stuff up off the side of the road (by her house), I would also be receiving a white, antique armoire. I doused it all with soap and water and it's just fantastic! I was literally jumping up and down in the middle of the road.
4. Ham can now recognize the written words, "hi," "arms up," "mouth," and "cats" 3 out of 5 times from the flash card set Grandma Annette gave us a month ago. She also put together her first shape and color puzzle two days ago all by herself. *big grin*
5. On a less exciting note, I have tonsil stones again (well, HAD...one big one) and if they keep coming back, the only option is to get my tonsils taken out. I had a sore throat, earache (I have a new-found sympathy for children with earaches), swollen lymph nodes, and trouble swallowing. So, what? I thought I was just sick or something. Then, I looked at my throat--it only took two weeks of misery for me to be smart enough to actually look back there--and I saw this big...well, you can just look it up if you want. I had my tonsils lasered down in 2003 b/c of this phenomenon and really, tonsil stones are just disgusting, so I won't go into it. It really is as gross as it sounds. Pray that they never, EVER come back.

So, that's just a little update. I'll post some pictures or something soon. I've got three new commissioned pieces of artwork to begin working on, but I still have to finish my mom's 20x24" Lillies before I'm allowed to start on anything else.

Jim Shore and Disney

I have a new favorite artist. I can't believe I've never heard of him before, let alone seen his work. His name is Jim Shore and it's really his Disney stuff that I'm so in love with, to tell the truth.

I am not a big American Folk Art fan, but this guy's style on classics like

BAMBIALICE IN WONDERLAND'S

CHESHIRE CAT

and my favorite villians,

LADY AND THE TRAMP'S

SI AND AMand SLEEPING BEAUTY'S

MALEFICENT

are beyond inspiring for me.

I have always loved drawing paisleys and designing funky, psychedelic patterns that have hidden pictures within them, but this is some of the most charming work I've seen in a long time.

One of the best parts about his Disney creations (other than the fact that they are the coolest hand-carved, wooden, 3-Dimensional sculptures) is that they are relatively inexpensive. Si and Am can be found on eBay for around $17.00 + shipping or $25.00 retail. I found Bambi for $7.00 (even if I didn't buy it). I've never been able to afford Lenox or Armani or WDCC sculptures of my favorite characters, so this opens up a whole new world of Christmas lists for me.

I love it when I discover new artists and realize I can like genre's of art that I never gave much attention to before.

Move over Gentle Giant.