Hands Off Ladies, They're My Guys!

Soooo.....this is what I came home to find on Saturday, after working at the store.....my dining room table (and yes, I refer to it as MINE, not OURS) covered in various art supplies, tools, glue, markers....oh and lookie, there are some pruning shears.....

We had a Halloween party to go to that night, so the men of the house took matters into their own hands, and constructed their costumes....at the eleventh hour, I might add. We were only a little late.

They were Lego people! Well, Little Man refused to wear the bucket on his head, so he wore a helmet instead. He was a Power Miner Lego guy, complete with his own crystal, which he constructed out of foam board.

And Lovin' Man was a groom Lego guy. Note the yellow dish washing gloves!



They thought of everything! While I started out more than a little annoyed at the beginning of this process.....in the end, it was definitely worth it, and they were the hit of the party.

Gotta love 'em!

In One Week......

.......I will become MRS. Lovin' Man!!!!!


.......we will be celebrating our 2nd anniversary in our home together.


.......it will be Halloween weekend.......AND.....my new fabric line will debut at Quilt Market in Houston!!! Yahoo!!! Check it out!!! It's called "Bubble Trouble" and it is available through the super cool folks at Fine Lines Fabric Company!!!

If you are a store/wholesale fabric buyer, you can find them at the International Quilt Market in Houston in booth #565 and 567. The pictures you see here are quick snapshots I took while we reviewed the samples and edited the line. I pouted a little bit when I could not take any samples for myself yet....but then I got over it quickly. :-)



They are even more vibrant in person! Love, love, love.




Lots of colorful bubbles bopping everywhere.....







....complimented by some jazzy stripes.......





.....playful checkerboards......

....and some crazy little dashy lines......

You likey? Which are your favorites? Perhaps we should stitch up a little number like this.....

All of the possibilities!!! Thanks for sharing with me!!! More to come very soon!!!

Pensive

(a most recent journal page from my altered book)

pen-sive (pen'siv)
adjective
1. Thinking deeply or seriously, sometimes of sad or melancholy things.
2. To ponder, weigh, and consider.

My Hands are Full!

Hi friends!!! Whew! My hands are full, full, full these days! How about you? What's keeping you crazy busy lately? And how are you coping? We've had a couple of sick kids the past few days....with Little Man taking on the worst of it. I think he's finally turned a corner today. I will be so happy to get that "sickie" feeling out of the house. Know what I mean?

In less than two weeks I will be officially married to Lovin' Man! Oh my!!! A dear, dear friend is marrying us, and she has written such a beautiful ceremony. And another dear friend is going to read a blessing for us that she wrote. How cool is that? We feel very honored, and excited for our big day. We are just trying to stay healthy!!!

Speaking of feeling honored.....this guy showed up in my mailbox!!! He was sent to me by my new bloggy friend, Susie LaFond. Wasn't that sweet? He is a joyful little spirit, and he has a pin back....I'm still trying to find just the right place to perch him. Thank you Susie, for this thoughtful gift. I love him!! Be sure to check out her blog and Etsy site for lots of inspiring gift ideas. I love the journal she currently has in her Etsy shop!!! Check it out!!! Hope you are all having a great day so far!!!

New Goodies in the Etsy shop!

More goodies have arrived in the Etsy shop!!!! Woo hoo!!! Playful candlesticks, moustache pillows, and "stashes on a stick". Everything you'll ever need, really. (wink, wink)

Coming soon, some super affordable canvases, as I am cleaning house. Check back soon! Have a peachy day!

Just some friendly tug of war......

....with his favorite toy of all time, The Suspicious Chicken. One can easily dislocate a shoulder by playing this game, but we indulge him anyway. (of course)

Note to Self.

This is a journal page done earlier this year.....feeling like I need to send this message to myself today. So much to get done lately and wondering if I've got it in me. I think I just might! This image might make a cool postcard, eh? Hmmmm.....or maybe a necklace??

It Started With a Shower Curtain - Our Bathroom Re-Do!

Howdy! I've been meaning to show you guys our bathroom makeover! I did this a few weeks ago, and it was such a fun project for me, I can't even tell you. This is our upstairs family bathroom. It's a room that we eventually plan to gut, and put in new fixtures, floor tile, tub, etc. But that's a little way off, and I just couldn't stand to wait until a complete demolition to make it fun, so here you go!!! It all started with this monster shower curtain.......





and this monster throw rug....



Both of them were purchased on clearance at Target last year, the day after Halloween! Yahoo! (You might recognize some of these monsters in previous posts from pics around the house...I bought several pieces from this collection!) Do you ever do that? I mean, shop the day after a holiday to get half price goodies? I try not to, unless I've scoped it out before hand. I had my eye on these little guys for quite some time before the sale. Sometimes it's worth it when you find things you love. I've even had my Little Man help me with these shenanigans....he's small and wiry, so he can bravely squeeze through crowds of crazed ladies, and help me grab the goodies I'm after. He's good.



After removing some horrible wallpaper, I painted the walls a cheery, smurfy blue, and removed some really ugly old curtains from the windows, which flooded the room with lovely sunshine. The mirror is very old, and has some discoloration around some of the edges, so I painted a wavy border with an opaque, orange glass paint to cover the imperfections. I kept the old lantern style light fixtures, just added a coat of monster green paint to them as well. The cafe curtains were sewn by my mom. (a print from my very first fabric line) We loved the light in the room so much, that we decided to just cover the bottom half of the windows, which is the half that counts!! No one on the street needs to see what we're doing up there!

Then, I needed some fast & easy wall art, so I sketched out three little monsters of my own on some 11x14 canvases, and colored them in with acrylic paints. I coated them with a glossy polycrylic to help them hold up well to the humidity in the room. I love the cranky green guy with horns. He makes me laugh.

And this guy is just a gentle soul.....

When I excitedly told my mom what I was doing with the bathroom, she sarcastically said to me, "It's too bad you never have any fun." Hee. Yeah....too bad.

What to love about Lovin' Man, Reason #1,562

He chose this to be his wedding ring. It arrived in the mail this week, and we are totally, completely LOVING this ring. It looks so good on his hand....and....wait for it......you can attach real Legos to it when you're feeling creative! It's so flippin' awesome!!! A very cool gal named Shannon from Rubygirl made it for us. Visit her Etsy shop HERE to see all of her wonderful work!!! Other favorites of mine are the interlocking heart necklace, the flower stud earrings, and the cuff links!!! So cool!

Halloween is OUR kind of holiday.

Howdy! How've you been? A few of us at the Dreaming Bear house are sniffling our way through the week, with lovely autumn colds. Ugh. I think most of us are on the mend now, but it's funny how draining a silly little cold can be. And I get even more annoyed (baby-ish?) when I get sick, because it forces me to screech to a halt, which is never acceptable. (ha.)

Last week I did enjoy fluffing the house a little bit, in anticipation of our favorite holiday EVAH. We got some pumpkins out on the stoop, some mums in the pots, and I have ridiculous little monsters, ghosts and black cats everywhere.

Ummm....yeah...everywhere.

I haven't really shared much up until now about our upcoming wedding....did I tell you that Lovin' Man and I are getting married on Halloween weekend!??! Woo hoo! It's special to us, not only because it's a super fun, kick ass holiday...but two years ago on Halloween weekend, we moved into our current home together. Our first real home that is OURS. Up until then, we had two houses to sell....first we sold his, and he moved into mine.....and then we finally sold mine, and now we are in OUR home, together. It's funny what a relief it becomes to finally arrive where you are meant to be all along. At the beginning of this journey, our home, our wedding, everything seemed so far away....but here we are! And ever so grateful to be here.

Anyway, behind the scenes, I've been running around finalizing details for our wedding and party. It's going to be very simple...the ceremony will be here at our home with just our family and the following night will be the bigger party, with friends, co-workers, extended family, etc. We are super excited....and it's only 3 weeks away! Eeek!

I'll do my best to share little details of our plans....our party decor will be a little whimsical/Mad Hatter-ish/with touches of Halloween and black & white stripes. Folks are welcome to come in costume if they wish, or dress in festive masquerade ball attire. My mumsy is making me a fun party dress for the occasion, and my flowers will be colorful Gerber daisies. Love 'em! Above is a pic of our invitation....I sketched the daisy and stripes a while back, and had a local printer duplicate them onto a lovely textured, canvas like paper, which I attached to the fronts of the cards. They turned out kinda fun. Kinda kicky. Mama likey. Cheers to you, more news coming soon!!!!!

Thanks for a Great Chocolate Walk!

Hi everyone! A great big THANK YOU to all who came out to see us on Friday night for the Chocolate Walk!!! Holy Moly! It was like a great big reunion for us! We saw so many friends, customers and fellow merchants. It was WONDERFUL! It was an absolutely gorgeous evening. Like storybook gorgeous....a light breeze....leaves falling from the trees, luminaries lighting the sidewalks. Simply magical and fun!!! We were so busy, I only snagged a handful of photos. Ugh. Sorry about that! But I guess that's a good sign...our event was a success! Hooray!

Here is my darling Miss Angie. She rocks a Dreaming Bear apron like no other!!!



And I might be in trouble for sharing this pic of two of our biggest supporters (one of them kept avoiding my camera, that little bugger)....but they are so adorable, with our very popular moustache pillows!!! Tee hee.

We had lots of fun people come through the studio.....that's where the chocolate treats were!

The store was a buzzin' too.....what a great night! Thanks to everyone for your wonderful support!!!!

Harvest Moon Chocolate Walk Tonight!

Tonight is the night, people!!! If you are anywhere near, around, over or under the downtown Marion area, you need to stop by and enjoy the Chocolate Walk!!! Lovin' Man is working hard on the treat selection today.....one of the new items is a cookie...I sampled it last night...holy cow, they are sooo good. I'll see if he will let me share the recipe here when we're all done.

But for now, we will be primping and prepping for what looks to be a gorgeous night on the town!!! Hope to see you there! And for those of you too far away to join us, we'll be posting pics over the weekend....I know you'll be with us in spirit!!! We'll be closing the store at 1pm this afternoon so we can get ready to re-open this evening.

HARVEST MOON CHOCOLATE WALK!!!

Friday, October 1st, 8-11pm

Downtown Marion

Please remember we are happily taking donations of non-perishable food items that for the Churches of Marion food pantry. You can drop them off at any participating merchant!

Cheers!!!