Honey Oats and Pumpkin

I really love Etsy treasuries. I love the mood they create, the creative titles, how the items curated relate to one another, the discovery of new artists/craftsmen and interesting items. And I really love seeing my little ones in a treasury…getting to hang out with other cool Etsy items for a little while. This treasury is called Honey Oats and Pumpkin and my little pumpkin head doll, Pea, is in this one! How fitting for fall. Click the image below to be taken to the Etsy treasury where you can click on each image to view the item or discover a neat shop!
Honey Oats and Pumpkin -- an Etsy Treasury

Folk Art, Fellowship & Sweet, Sweet Sorghum

It’s that time of year again…festival season.

This past weekend, I participated in the 42nd annual Sorghum Festival in my hometown of West Liberty, Kentucky. This was an emotional & celebratory festival for us & we definitely felt the love from many of you who came to support our small town. This was a different festival for us. Where folks once darted in and out of open shops along Main Street, stood 7 ft tall security fences to prevent festival attenders from injuring themselves or falling into the space where brick & mortar storefronts once occupied. I admit there were tears & many emotional moments as I told & retold my version of the events of March 2nd. But there was happiness too. Students painted murals to decorate the security fencing. Their murals told a story of rebuilding, of piecing the town back together, of giving thanks & remaining hopeful. This festival also saw the addition of a Community Art Tent & many of our local artists were represented. Well-known artists from surrounding areas allowed us to display & sell their coveted works. Many of us were thankful to be able to buy folk art directly from the artists, watch them demonstrate their craft & fellowship under the community art tent. There were poetry readings & demonstrations, live music to entertain the crowd, a book signing and sweet, sweet sorghum, delicious & sticky & in abundance.

Photos from the Community Art Tent:

Papier Mache Sculpture by Bonita Skaggs-Parsons which she generously donated to the newly formed West Liberty Area Arts Council (of which I am a member).

Tim Lewis, carving under our tent.

Morgan County Middle School student painting of the West Liberty Methodist Church.

Folk Art & Fellowship: Work by Dolly & Guy Skaggs, Tim Lewis, Martin Cox & Sandra Gunder

Prints of an original painting by Jenny Bell.

Photograph by HB Elam

Mask by Jack Hill

Metal Sculpture by Debby Perry

Photographs by Ann Olson

Minnie Adkins’ roosters & carved creatures.

Sculpture by Ron Gevedon

Johnny Cash by Bonita Skaggs-Parsons

Carved & Painted Owl by Tim Lewis

Art by Jenny Bell & Chris Ferguson. Totem poles by Kim Gladden.

Paintings by Marita Cain (left) & large painting by Catherine Wells (right)

Living With Words – An Etsy Treasury

I love punches of text inside a home. I’m quite smitten with various fonts & love accessories made from paper or neat, letter-pressed cards. Here’s a sampling of some great Etsy finds! (Click the image below to visit the treasury as seen on Etsy. All links are clickable from there.)

Happy Winter, Little Squirrel

I absolutely love creating treasuries on Etsy. It’s almost like a treasure hunt / puzzle balled into one activity. I love searching through listings of sweet handmade items to find the perfect item. What is the perfect item for a treasury? It has to suit my theme. The photo of the item should be great & most of all, it should suit the color/colors or tone of my treasury. I also try to pick items that I would love to have. I guess building treasuries is window shopping too!

The treasury collection above is my latest. It’s titled Happy Winter, Little Squirrel. I began this treasury thinking about woodland themed Christmas items, which also happens to be theme of my own Christmas decor this season. Ultimately, the image of the soft winter squirrel won out & I chose to focus on this beautiful creature. All of the items above are exceptional! If you see something you just have to have, click the image above to be taken to the treasury on Etsy. From there, click till your heart’s content.

Happy Winter!