Postcards from iHanna's Swap!

Howdy!  Would you like to see the postcards I received in iHanna's DIY Postcard Swap?  Eh?  Eh?  Of course you do!  It was so much fun to "meet" people from all over the world!  They are all little treasures to me...I love them all!  I've included links to their blogs when available.  Check 'em out!  The one shown above is from Charlotte in Sweden.

These great stars are from Kelly Warren, in Florida.

This lovely is from Regina Lord in Arizona.  Her blog is found HERE.

This one is really cool....it's from S. Arden Hill in Manitoba, Canada.

Danielle Nelson made this one, and she has a blog HERE.

This is the one I received first, from Bridget in New York.

This was hand painted by Mary at Joyful Ploys.  So pretty!

Last, but certainly not least...this came from iHanna!  Love all that stitching!

That's all for now folks!  Be back again soon!  I'm on a creative rampage!

You're Invited to the Bunny Hop!

Join us at the hop!

It's our 7th Anniversary at The Dreaming Bear! 
Can you believe it?

You are invited to celebrate with us this

 Saturday, April 23rd, 10-4

Wear your bunny ears and you'll receive a free goody bag!  (while supplies last)

Wear a bunny suit, and we'll give you an even bigger goody bag!

We'll be serving up yummy treats, and there will be free Easter crafts in the studio all day long!

It's our way of saying THANKS for a great 7 years!!!

We wouldn't be here without you!!!

Kids:  Enter our coloring contest by printing off THIS COLORING PAGE from our website, and bring it in that day to enter!  Winners will be announced the next day, and your art will be put on display in The Dreaming Bear Studio!!!

P.S.  There will be no regular open studio this day, due to all the hooplah.  Sorry for any inconvenience.

A Few More Journal Pages

Hello friends!  It's been a while since I've doodled in my journal...but these are pages that have been done for a little bit.  I'm very happy with my system of "jazzing up" several pages in one sitting...then I have pages ready for me to write on during those times that are too crazy for much play time.  Because, heaven forbid that I have to write on a BLANK WHITE PAGE!  Perish the thought!  Ha!  Well, here's another peek into my journal....

I love saving little notes and adding them in as extra pages....little surprises here and there.  On the left, is a magazine clipping reminding me about the book, "Embellish Your Home."  Have you checked this book out?  I thought it sounded interesting, and the cover is so lovely!!
 

And I don't remember what prompted me to write "It Will Be Good."  Perhaps feeling anxious? Dunno.

More doodles....and the woman holding birds is a tag off of a ceramic piece I bought.  I just love her.



I found this quote in a magazine too....just had to add it!!!

And there are some pages that are awaiting some color......

Okay, so this next page was literally scribbled down, so I would not forget my favorite part of a recent neighborhood get together we had.  If I haven't already told you, we are BLESSED with a fabulous, fun group of neighbors!!!  I mean, we are talking vibrant, happy, active people.  Some of them young, some of them old....and we all get along and really enjoy each other.  And we have some kick a$$ parties together.  The last party we had, someone lugged over their electronic keyboard, which Karl started playing, and we all began belting out various songs...and this was the one I wanted to remember, because we were add libbing and it was hysterical.  Not sure exactly what I'll do with this one yet...we'll see.

And this is part of a card that Auntie Susie sent me.....a great quote from Ben Franklin.  Can you read it?  It says, "The U.S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it.  You have to catch up with it yourself." 

Have a lovely tax day!!!

iHanna's Postcard Swap!

Hi there!  How could I forget to share the postcards I made for iHanna's DIY Postcard Swap???
What fun!!!  Everyone involved in the swap makes 10 postcards, and then sends them to 10 other participants around the world that iHanna has matched us up with!!

For these, I used the paper mache postcards in our studio, gave them a base coat of black acrylic paint, and then just painted squares of various colors.  I cut out random circles from scraps I had lying around, then finished the look with water soluble crayons and black marker.  I sealed the front with a gloss finish to hopefully hold everything in place to survive the trip!  Some of my cards are going to Spain, Canada, Germany and the US! 

I've started receiving cards from my new friends and it's such a delightful surprise to find a colorful piece of art in the mailbox!!!  Soon, I'll share those with you...but they are still coming!
Have a great day, and be sure to check out iHanna's blog for lots of inspiration!!  Thank you, iHanna for such a fun project!!!  Cheers!

Bubble Trouble Fabric Line is Here!

Hello!!!!  Guess what!  The Bubble Trouble fabric line has arrived at The Dreaming Bear!!!  Woo hoo! 
Sixteen fat and juicy bolts of crazy, colorful, cotton goodness!!!  We are selling it by the yard here at The Bear, and I hope to have it soon in the Etsy shop for those of you who can't visit us in person.  In the meantime, if you're interested, drop me a line, and I'll be happy to answer any questions you have!  Soon, I hope to have a list of retailers to post here.  Hope you all are having a great weekend so far!  Cheers!

This and That and some New Goodies on Etsy!

Howdy!  We've been busy, busy little bees here in Dreaming Bear land!!!  Lots of fun events on the horizon for us, so we need to get lots of goodies made!!!  Above is a painting I've completed recently, called April Flower.  I just PLAYED....and loved every minute of it!!! 

Must.  Do.  More.  Of.  This.

Also, we've added some goodies to the Dreaming Bear Etsy shop!!!  More necklaces and some giclee prints on canvas!  Woo hoo!!

Giclee prints are $30 each and the necklaces are $16.  Enjoy!!!

Mrs. F's Classroom

Hello there!  My friend Jenny sent me some photos of her classroom yesterday, and I thought it would be fun to share them with you!  Jenny teaches at the Marion middle school, and is a good friend of mine. (and customer!)  We jokingly call her classroom the Dreaming Bear Outlet!  Ha!  This is why.....she has a Dreaming Bear chair at her desk...and those magic wands are in a vase in the window.  So sweet!

Why weren't my classrooms growing up THIS MUCH FUN??  Look at this sitting area!

She has inspiring messages all over the room.....

Many of her students come into my store and say, "You must know Mrs. F!  We love her, and we love her room!!!"  Thanks to Jenny for sharing these pics!  Her room will soon be packed up and moved to the new part of the school....I'll be curious if we can continue with the "Dreaming Bear outlet" in the new space too.  Ha!  Have a great day!

Devotchka in Iowa City!

Yesterday was such an awesome day!!!  The weather was so beautiful that we kept the front door of the store open all day!  We hosted two birthday parties in the studio...one for Ashley and one for Delaney....sweet girls with very sweet friends!  It was a busy, busy day.  Then, Lovin' Man took me on a date to see Devotchka, down in Iowa City, at the First United Methodist Church.  GOOD STUFF. The church was a wonderful venue for this band....just gorgeous! If you are not yet familiar with their music, I highly recommend it.  The lead singer, Nick Urata, has a haunting, dreamy voice that is unlike anyone else out there.  They put on an amazing show....it was a great night.

THIS is their latest album.  But THIS is also a great one.  Heck they are all great...get 'em all!
It's been a busy week...I'm looking forward to doing some boring old housework, and getting caught up on my to do list today.  Happy Sunday everyone!

A Couple of Great Causes Within 24 Hours

Natalie, Katie and I at the "Y"ze Guys table 

Hi gang!  Lovin' Man and I have been busy little bees, having fun for the sake of causes we believe in.  Oh my, it's a tough job, but someone has to do it!!  Ha!  Thursday night was the Whine and Wags event, raising much needed funds for the Cedar Valley Humane Society.  Wow!  There were LOTS of folks there!  It was wall to wall people, and the auction items, including my donated piece of art were going up and up!  I had to resist the urge to take home one of the dogs they had out front.  There was one named Happy who was too cute!!!  I think we need to let our Elsie get a little older before we contemplate a second one though.  Thanks to Daniel Arthur's for putting on such a wonderful event!

Last night, we joined some friends for the YMCA's Trivia Night.  Fun, fun, fun!  Each table had a theme...ours was "Wise Guys", or "Y"ze guys.  Ha!  (Hence the cigars, which help to make up an extremely inappropriate photograph, but it's the only one we've got.  Sorry!)  Thank you to everyone there for organizing a HOOT of an event!  We definitely want to come back next year!

Here it is, Saturday morning already!  Where does the time go?  We've got a couple of parties happening, and the sun is shining, so it's time to start this day!  Woo hoo!  Have a good weekend, everyone!



A Peek Into My World Today

Hello!  Just snapping some random shots from the day so far....enjoy!!  Above are some recycled metal letters from Urban Outfitters....they greet us in the front entryway of our house. 

Doing some doodling with my markers.....

My journal and the cute little clutch was made by my girlie.  I store my most important journaling supplies in it so I can take it with me on the run if I need to......

Her clutches are for sale in the store now......lots of great patterns!!!

Back to the journal.....this is a scrap of kraft paper that I worked out a new design on.....just couldn't bear to part with it when the paper needed to be changed out....so I stuck it in the journal as an extra page.....

More doodling in the journal....preparing pages for writing.....

And here I drew some funky patterned leaves and colored them in.... I did this last night when I couldn't get to sleep.....

I've been working on a big batch of new tokens of affection....thinking of doing some sort of finding/tracking experiment with these.....hmmmm......

My friend Gae gave me some goodies with my power numbers on them.  Long story....it's a numerology thing....but I love having my power numbers around me in my space....as well as powerful words....these are resting on an old window with a heart that says FLY.

This hand sits on our computer desk in the family room....

A candy jar in our dining room...filled with Smarties and Dum Dums.  (heh, get the irony?)
Anyway......

A clay fish sculpture made by one of the kids when they were little....in the background is a baby picture of my girlie.....

This is a coffee table I've recently completed...now available in the store.  I seem to be putting these flowers on everything lately.....they make me happy.....

An old drawer became a shadow box for a collage.....

Handbags made from my new fabric line......still waiting for my shipment to arrive!!!

An extra large lazy susan now available in the store.....





Took the puppy for a walk in the park this morning.....she loves all the "action."  The birds, other dogs, people walking...although, today it was pretty quiet out there....

Someone left a teeny tiny bat behind...must have been used in a teeny tiny baseball game.

Can't wait for everything to turn green and lush again!
Wishing you all a lovely, creative day!!!!  Ta ta for now!