Dollye Update tonight, 7pm CMT

Mifs Emma Porter would love to meet your acquaintance this evening at the TDIPT Mercantile~ hope to see you there!

2011 Early American Life Directory of Traditional American Craftsmen



I am SO Honored to be chosen for the EAL Directory of Top 200 Traditional American Craftsmen again this year, and even more so, because my dollys were chosen to be photographed for the Magazine this year. The August Directory issue is out now, and here is my Antoinette gracing page 66 (((Enter HUGE Smiley face here))). And yes, I am a bit jealous Antoinette got to visit the Kentucky Shaker Village before I did~ she is pictured above in the Centre Family Meeting Room....does she look a bit dreamy~eyed to you? She has told me that her mind was wandering the whole time she was there, and that it was very hard to concentrate and be still for the cameras.

It really is a magical place, and they do so much to get the community involved~ you can go and stay at the Inn, they are having an antique show and sale on the 19th of June I think, and there are garden side suppers and all sorts of wonderful things going on now~ I hope you will click on the link on my sidebar to go and check them out. If I was within a days drive, I'd sure be there!

Nina was requested to go first for the photo shoot, but being such a big girl at 27" tall, Antoinette offered to go in her stead, and was delightfully welcomed by the EAL staff. Besides the honor of having my dolls chosen for the Directory again this year, I simply must thank the staff at EAL for keeping watch over my sweeties and handling them with such love and care. What a perfect start to the summer!

I have been working on dollys and knitting knitting knitting~ Ohhh I am hopelessly absolutely addicted~ my peonies are blooming....the baby kids are not so much babies any more~ a wonderful loud musical choir greets me whenever I step outside and they hear me talking....and speaking of talking~ here is a picture of one of my kittys~ Mr PappaGeorgio (Georgie to me)...he is the loviest cat we have ever had~ and he is constantly talking :)

Freezin my Brain on Memorial Day Weekend!

I hope you all had, or I guess I should say, are having, a great holiday weekend! I don't prefer all the holiday rush rush and crowds, so we did our camping trip during the week last week at Lathrop State Park here in southern Colorado. Above you can see one of our Spanish Peaks to the south...I am normally looking a the other side of them from the porch here at the house. It was a really fun trip~ the children are already out of school for the summer, and the weather was fairly warm, in the 80s I guess, but a bit windy

Josh and I walked the Hogaback trail several times, and each time we saw different things. I thought this tree particularly stately looking...like a picture postcard

Up at the top of the rock dike, they have done core samples on the cedars, and some are over 400 years old! Here is my Josh in front of one of them, all twisted and gnarly....fitting for being that old Id say. He is really loving his 'cut' Dad gave him.....before we left, they locked themselves in our bathroom, and WHAT a ruccus! I knew they were up to something with all the giggling....and out Josh popped with all his hair gone for the summer. He really likes not having to comb it :)

We saw some huge white pelicans, a couple of bunnies, 2 white tail deer does....a bull snake, lots of birds~ here are some of the new fuzzy little geese babies~ so much fun to watch. I took this picture on a walk with Pip to go to the Ranger station for an ice cream... which brings me to the whole 'Brain Freeze' comment before.............nope~ I didn't have any ice cream!

There is a wonderful yarn store in Walsenburg, on the way to the park, and my oldest crochets, so we stopped in and both decided we wanted to knit stockings.....(yes~ can you believe it Ma?) I have never E*V*E*R done a thing with yarn, and let me tell you, I would have to seriously second guess anyone who ever says knitting is 'ohhh so relaxing'!!!! This weekend I have taught myself to knit, and above is my very first ever knitting, and seriously people, I have to concentrate so hard it really makes my brain hurt! Heck I probably have my tongue out and everything~ purling is so difficult for me....but I am getting it. I bought two skeins of this fabulously soft striped wool~ I think I will try and make a dolly blanket out of this...no stockings yet!

Welcome Summer!

And the Winner of the little Marie Pincushion IS.............

dadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadada........(can you hear the drums?).............

Congratulations Janice! post me a comment with your mailing address, and Marie will be on her way! (Your comment will be emailed to me and I wont publish it online) T*H*A*N*K*Y*O*U* to all who commented and sent me emails to share your own stories~ we are all inspiration for each other! Many of you asked me how I lost my weight~ alot of WORK! That's how! Truthfully, YOU are the ONLY person who can motivate YOURSELF to loose weight. There is no trick. There is no pill that you can take and the next day you wake up fit and trim....that's all a bunch of malarkey~ POOEY! I have had two back surgeries, and have degenerative disk disease....and the blasted doctors would always say, YOU WOULD FEEL ALOT BETTER if you will loose weight......and I would always say, How exactly am I sposed to loose weight if I cant move to begin with? Well they never would answer me....and I found the answer for myself. """I"""" decided I was going to loose weight, and everyone knows there is only one way to loose weight naturally~ which is to burn more calories than we take in. So simply put, I got my big tuccas moving. very slow at first. We bought me a treadmill, and my goal at first was do walk a single lap (1/4 mile) a day. I was very slow, 1 mph I think...and you know, sometimes I couldn't even walk a single lap. But I kept at it, and did as much as my body would let me. As time went on, and I have got more fit, I am now walking my 2 miles a day, which is 8 laps on the treadmill...takes around 30 minutes, and I walk first thing in the morning~ and YES, I have sweat dripping off my nose by the time I get done, and am too winded to talk....but that lasts just a little, in a few minutes Ive caught my breath back, and guess what, I am energized and really feeling good the rest of the day! So my simple advise to anyone wanting to loose weight is this: GET MOVING!! Its O.k. to be a little selfish, and take 30 minutes for yourself each morning....and don't say you don't have time.........make it!

OMG OMG OMG !!! & A Give-away to Celebrate!

I am so absolutely thrilled, over something so silly, BUT.... its my silliness, and I am just exploding at the seams about it! Most of my readers know that last year was a turning point for me in my life.... I was told that I could have ovarian cancer, and that all needed to be removed el mui pronto.....I was on my way down to Houston to see my quilt at the big International Quilt Festival, so as soon as I got back, I had my surgery. I was in so much pain, I had really large 'cysts' that had been bothering me, and it wasn't until after the surgery that I learned that the largest, an actual tumor, had attached itself to my bowel and was blocking it (now you know Mom why I never wanted to eat on our trip!)...I was extremely worried, scared to my wits end actually, that I would go to sleep for the surgery and just never wake up. But as you can tell, I DID, and all is well. There have always been things in my life I have wanted to accomplish, and last year, I said pooey to waiting for them to just happen, and started working towards making them happen myself.....and one of the silliest I guess, is being able to do a pull up. I was in weights in high school, and could never ever do one, I couldn't even ever do the 'hang' that us girls were taxed with doing, instead of the actual pull ups the boys had to do....then I went into the Navy, was one of the first female aircrewman....was the fittest of my life, but nope, I still could never do a pull up. I told myself last Nov, that I WILL do one this year, and guess what???? Not only did I do one yesterday, or two...but HELLO! I DID THREE PULL-UPS at the gym! And if that wasn't sweet enough, while talking to my Mom on the tele this morning, I realized, that I have lost an even 60 pounds. WOO HOO! I am so happy I just cant even describe it, and so I'm giving away a little pincushion dollye to celebrate my Triumph! Just leave me a comment here this week, I will hold a drawing on the 17th and Mifs Marie could come to your house for a bit of good energy for YOU to fulfill one of your own goals this year :)

Museum 2011 Fundraiser & Drawing~

Not only is it that time of year, its past that time of year, I'm just slow at getting the new thermometer up! You will see it in the sidebar on the right, and has been tallied retro-actively. When we reach the top, I will hold the drawing, and this year, the premium will be a 12" Queen Anne type dollye of the winners choice~ as in, YES, a custom sculpted dollye just for them :)

Keeping my things here in tip top shape and stored properly is a difficult, and expensive task. Proper storage is just as important, if not more so, than display, in order to keep our precious bits of history around for future generations to study and learn from. Isn't the photo above captivating? This is the eye of one of my most coveted early wooden dolls here at the Museum~ she is a very early 18th century, possibly late 17th century, wooden fashion mannequin, sometimes referred to as the all elusive "Pandora Doll". Wooden dolls are extremely environmentally sensitive, as the wood, tho very old, still will expand and contract with changes in temperature & humidity. This year I am aiming high for a new climate control unit from Micro Climate Technologies in Toronto, the MCG4. I will be able to install this unit in my large glass display case, which will be the new permanent home for the early wooden above, as well as several others.

You can help bring a new MCG4 unit to the gallery by making any Diamond K Folk Art purchase, or by clicking the donate button in the sidebar~ please, please, do consider it. Every 25.00 in donation or purchase will earn one entry into the giveaway drawing. Words cannot express my gratitude to my readers, patrons and visitors. I am blessed, humbled and honored to care and share whatever I can, of our heritage with anyone who wishes to learn & be inspired.

5 New Dollies Tonight on the TDIPT Mercantile

If you have a moment, I hope you will stop by and say hello, 7 pm CST :)