whew, doggy!

I love going on vacation but I'm tired of the long drives to Florida so this was my last trip down there. In October I will be heading off to Myrtle Beach, SC for an "artcation" with my friend Tamiko, really looking forward to it!

 One of the things I was afraid I would miss is the Ditch Lilies blooming in my garden, but I got back in time to see this!

While I was down there I picked up some Gator jerky for the maintenance guys who watered one plant while I was gone. I was afraid to ask them to do any more, after all it's not in their job description.

Just finished a video for #CACFlowerArt so hop on over and watch it. I had to whip up a card to say thank you for my dinner last night with the Hendersonville Sister Cities who sponsored my bear this year. This is the card I made,

Since I don't have any pictures from the dinner last night, I'll post a picture of my bear "Orsso Gellmello" where it is stationed out in front of Renzo's Ristorante in Hendersonville,NC.

Now to work on my paperwork for the CardMaker Magazine, they just accepted 3 cards for Spring 2017. I love making the cards, but I hate the paperwork, lol The price you have to pay for fame and fortune...

just wondering when the fame and fortune part kicks in!

A moment of a life time - Bear Footin' Bears

I have truly enjoyed every moment of Elderbeary.

It all began with drafting the design in the offices with the most awesome people in the world - Meals on Wheels! I enjoyed the process of finding out what they envisioned for their bear and coming up with a design that they liked.

The the work began.

It was back straining work drawing the design onto the bear. I shared a lot of big sighs over the process with Elizabeth who worked in the studio next to me in Art MoB. We had lots of giggles over the amount of sighing that was going on between the 2 of us!!

Elizabeth in the studio beside me sketching out her awesome design!

Drawing on curves is not as easy as you might think.

To having tons of visitors who not only watched my progress but contributed stories of their own like this young visitor who had a long story about why the baby bear should have a name too. The baby bear was dubbed Daisy from here on out.

To the very awesome paints that DecoArts Inc. donated to me! They went onto the fiberglass as smooth as silk!

Painting on curves was another challenge. I wish you could have heard the conversations about this part of the process going on between the 2 studios! We sure did complain a lot!

To the finished bear.

Knowing I would be giving her up soon was a bittersweet moment for me!

To the awesome gentleman at Hills Body Shop who let me come in and fret and fuss over my bear. He treated me with such kindness, letting me inspect Elderbeary before under going his poly-coat. They did a superb job!

To the big reveal and to all the people who liked my bear almost as much as I did! If you can't tell by now, I loved my Elderbeary!

I love my picture that my sponsors made for me and have it proudly displayed in my hallway for everyone to see!

To the best sponsors ever! 

I was very blessed to have this group to work with.

They were supportive, kind and generous and made it all a lot of fun!! 

To seeing her displayed on the streets of our downtown. After many years of seeing all the bears, it made my heart swell to know that Elderbeary would have her picture taken with the thousands of tourists that annually trek to Hendersonville, NC for the Bearfootin' Bears event!

And to my little friend who I happen to catch hugging the bear during the Chalk It Up! on main street ( which is run by the awesome Barbara Ferngren Hughes from Narnia Studios ). It was awesome to have a picture of her twice! Once in the beginning stages and once when Elderbeary and Daisy were finished!!

Down to the crowning moment when my bear auctioned off for $4,000.00!!

I was amazed, surprised and grateful that I was able to raise that kind of money! Here is a slide show of the auction:

And this is the article that the Blue Ridge Times of Hendersonville wrote about the event. I am amazed what they wrote about me. Excuse me if I sound proud, but this is the second time in a year that my bear has been written about and my heart beats with excitement that something I made touches everyone this way.