Celebrate Tasha Tudor Day With Us!

Saturday will will be celebrating Tasha Tudor Day along with Clarice, Suzanne, and all of our kindred spirit friends. Do pop back here for a special post featuring Marjorie Tudor, Tasha's Daughter-in-Law. In the meanwhile, hop over to visit Natalie at The Rookery. There is a very special giveaway over at Tasha's to celebrate the day. The Corgis here are getting ready to party in Tasha's honor. xo xo ♥ CS

American Holiday Artists Welcomes You To Christkindlemart!

***Christkindlemart in August?***

5pm EST with the GREAT AMERICAN HOLIDAY ARTISTS BLOG GIVEAWAY! American Holiday Artists Studios Marketplace debuts August 25th (today!)


We’re three years old and counting! The American Holiday Artists group expands beyond ETSY and eBay to better serve our collector base with a new Marketplace! Our artist members offer fresh-one-of-a-kind- heirloom-quality seasonal and holiday theme art-from hooked rugs, to whimsical papier-mâché characters, cloth dolls, folk art, fantasy- art, paintings, one-of-a-kind ornaments, artist patterns and more!
All this, straight from the artist’s studio to your home year round, made with you in mind, by award-winning and respected artists. Visit American Holiday Artists Studio Marketplace at http://www.ahaartistsstudio.com/,. Opt in and subscribe to our mailing list and receive our free monthly newsletter-you’ll keep up with new monthly-artist members, new work, artist challenges and future events. New arrivals featured the 25th of each month. And for weekly updates, drop in at our blog: AmericanHolidayArtists.com

To celebrate the debut of our new online Marketplace our artists invite you to indulge in a time out, grab a steaming mug of hot cocoa-okay it’s August- how about an iced caramel latte? Virtually stroll among our members blogs i.e.- “holiday markets” to enter a chance at winning a handcrafted or limited edition work. In the spirit of Europe’s old world marketplace tradition known as Christkindlemart, our artists beckon your arrival to their (blog)“tent”.

So shut your eyes for one brief moment and-

B E L I E V E.

Step into the crisp winter air, the evening stars light your way around our festive town square. Take in the scent of freshly baked gingerbread wafting from the local bakery. Caroler’s gather under the warm glow of a gas-lit lamp. Can you hear the Corgis singing? Ornaments and candy canes, dot the center’s tree, glistening snow flakes sparkle as they spiral down to brush your cheek. Then here you are at our first artist’s tent, share your own experience of this magical night with our artists; leave your comment at each (blog) tent:

Alycia's Art


Back In The Day Originals


Elysian Field Originals


Fantasy Whispers


Folk `n Fiber


Folk Art By Penny


Folk Art From The Heart


Ginny Diezel Studios


Granny Wolf Originals


Grunge Goddess Primitives


Howling Mood Designs


Lowell Country Designs


Mother's Dream Artworks


Seasonal Whimsies


Skellyton Art


Smirking Goddes Studios


The Christmas Corgi


The Goode Wife Of Washington County


The Snippets


Whimsical Endeavors


Wings And Paws Whimsies

At each of these AHArtists sites, you will find a post today about a little GiveAway to celebrate the launch of our new marketplace. All you need to do to win is to leave a comment at the GiveAway post on each blog. That's it! You can win more than once if you are lucky! Each artist winner will be randomly chosen from all of the comments on each blog. Do hop over to visit my new page in our brand new AHA Marketplace Studio. Have fun browsing all of the artist's offerings. We will each post a new original piece on the 25th of each month. Can you guess what mine is for the launch? You'll have to hop over and see!

For my GiveAway, I have decided to offer not one but three prints to a lucky winner. I have chosen 3 of my favorites, but if you already have any of these or would prefer a different print(s) from my Etsy shop, just let me know when the time comes and your wish will be granted.

My three prints are:

"Flying Lessons"

Signed. 10"x8" on a lovely 11" x 8 1/2" Epson matte art paper.

"Jack O'Lantern"

Signed. 3" x 3" miniature print on 8 1/2 " x 11 " lovely Epson matte art paper.

And,

"Mini Corgoyle"

Another miniature print from my Original painting. Signed. 3" x 3" and printed on a lovely 8 1/2" x 11" Epson Matte art paper.

Good luck, my little Corgettes! Winners will be chosen on September 12th. Thanks for your support and for visiting all of the American Holiday Artists! We are so thankful to be able to continue to bring you art from our heart and soul. xo xo CS ♥

Exciting News and American Holiday Artists Giveaway

I belong to a wonderful juried group of talented artists who create the most amazing things. Our love of creating art, especially for Holidays, binds us together. We have been keeping a secret under our collective hats, and well, today is the day to let the cat out of the bag! Announcing the Grand Opening of American Holiday Artists Studio Marketplace! Come back right here at 5:00 PM EST for the link to the Marketplace. But what would a Grand Opening be without a giveaway? How about LOTS of giveaways? Oh yes, my little Corgettes. To celebrate this momentous occasion all Artisans are participating in an online "Christkindlemart" Blog Give-away!

This Give-away will run from August 25th through September 12th. The rules are very simple, and you have a chance to win more than one prize. Here's how it works. First, each Artisan has posted a picture of our give-away prize clearly marked on our blogs. Next we have all chosen a random number. All you have to do is post a comment under each prize picture. Now, if your comment corresponds with the Artisan's chosen number, then hooray, you win the prize for that blog. So, the more comments you post, the more chances you have to win! Easy peasy lemon squeezy! Each of us will have listed our fellow Artisans on our blogs, so all you have to do is follow the list from blog to blog, find the prize and comment. What could be easier?All contest prizes will be posted today, August 25th at 5:00 PM EST. Good luck and Thank You for participating in the American Holiday Artist's Studio Marketplace Great Give-away! -CS ^..^

Goodbye, My Sweet Indy

My dear Indy lost his heroic battle with lymphoma yesterday. He died peacefully in my arms at home. He let me know it was time. I made the difficult decision to put him down that evening, and then went outside and prayed. Sobbing, I asked God to please take him now because after losing Bridget too, I just didn't think I had the strength to do it, even though I knew it was the right thing to do. I came back inside and laid down with him, held him close and kissed him as my tears fell into his soft warm fur. Just like so many times before when he's been there for me through different events in my life. Except this time, my tears were for him. God answered my prayer. Indy looked at me and I told him that it was OK to fly to heaven with his angels, not to be afraid (he could be a chicken at times) and that I would be OK ~ he was my protector. John couldn't even kiss me without a big woof from Indy. Within fifteen minutes or so, I felt his breathing change and felt the strong, beautiful heart of a champion slow down. His ears that had twitched with every teardrop that fell on them, suddenly stopped and I knew he was gone. I held him for what felt like forever. I put him on a soft cotton baby blue blanket and covered him with a little blanket with hearts. He still had his little plush Christmas toy in his paws that he would not share with the other Corgis. I lit a candle next to him and waited for Mary Elizabeth to come over so she could say goodbye to him too. Indy always answered to 'Sweetie.' And a sweetie he was. My heart is broken and I can hardly breathe. Dear God, please take care of my boy until we meet again. Find Bridget, Indy, she won't be too far ahead. Run free little man. Run free. ♥ CS

CH. Windcrest Zip'N Indiana Jones

"Indy"

12/30/97 - 8/18/2010

Indy, you taught me so much. So much.

You were the BEST dog a girl could ever have.

I will love you forever.

Morning Rain

Need a little rain? Here...I'm sending you some of mine. Serious frizzy hair weather here in the woods. xo xo CS

Chinese Brush Painting With Susan

A couple of days after the tragic loss of Bridget and her puppies during her c-section, my friend and artist/film maker extraordinaire Susan Jacob called to say that she was going to come over to have a 'studio play date' to help pull me out of sobbing in my dark room and pajamas. I resisted her efforts for a few days, but a real friend knows when to keep nudging. Sue finally said, 'that's it, I'm coming over, and I'm bringing stuff to play with.' She and her mom, Linda (a talented artist as well) came over on Friday. Linda brought her laptop and worked on some of her graphics for her original jewelry designs. And what a bag of tricks Sue brought! She has been studying traditional Chinese brush painting for quite some time. I have never tried it and Sue is a fantastic teacher. I love learning something from someone who loves what they are doing.

As soon as she set up everything I realized why she wanted to come and share this with me. The tools of this craft are gorgeous. I loved looking at them all. The first thing we did was to make ink. Even my daughter sat with us to do this. This intricately painted black stone is what makes the ink. You use a tiny bit of water and in smooth circular specific motions ("wax on, wax off, Daniel San...") you 'grind' the ink bar on to an ink stone for a very long time and it makes the ink. I can't tell you how much I loved this part. It was very soothing, relaxing, and really loosens up your arm for this kind of painting. Art therapy is good. Really good. The scent of the ink was heavenly. Sue said that ink recipes are closely guarded secrets that have come down through generations and each one incorporates certain herbs and 'medicines' into each unique formula. I did recognize patchouli in this one because my son always buys some for me at the Renaissance fair. You need to be aware of your posture, your hand, your arm and wrist and your breathing when you make ink. It is awesome.

Chinese brush painting takes years and years to master. There is no 'print making' in this artform. If they want more than one of the same painting, by the time they may want to duplicate it, they have mastered it and can reproduce it. You can't go back to correct anything, everything is done with one stroke. How it is when you lay the ink on to the paper with your brush is how it will stay. You have to leave it alone. It is what it is. I had to retrain my brain to think about what I was doing. As it dries, it slightly changes, getting lighter, revealing more characteristics of your stroke. You have to leave it alone and let it be. It is very freeing. I'm sure there are many life lessons to be learned from this.

Learning my strokes

Gloves must be worn to handle this red cinnabar seal oil, as it is poisonous.

Nosey Stella and Sue with one of my favorite paintings. Sue had made this one a few years ago and its been hanging on my wall. We realized that she hadn't signed it, so she signed it and sealed it with her name in Chinese, which she had translated from the master artist who has taught her this ancient art.

John brought us pizza and salad and beer and wine when he came home from work, which we were SO ready for by the time he got there. (Thanks, honey xo xo)

You can find Sue's contact info at http://www.ambershift.com/ . She will be creating more awesome Corgi and other Chinese brush paintings. Be sure to check out the amazing jewelry she and her mom create which can be found in their Etsy shop which can also be found at that link. One of my favorite pieces from them is their 'dogs rule' cartouche, an enameled piece written in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. I know that Linda is working on more fantastic pieces for this collection which is already on its second casting. I'm saving up for one of their Celtic Corgi necklaces too. (hint hint, John....)

Have a happy day, my lovelies! (I apologize in advance that you will not be able to get the Kung Fu Fighting song out of your head today :) !!) xo xo -Cat ♥

New Original Art

A wee miniature Original painting on canvas.
Comes with its own tiny easel.

"He never really had a desire to go on a safari. Sure, he enjoyed watching the NatGeo channel and such when there was nothing else on TV. But it was when he was in Bloomingdale's trying on a pith helmet from their safari collection and the hot salesgirl told him how spiffy he looked in it that he decided to work the helmet for real. He booked the trip to the Serengeti faster than you can say Welsh Corgi Cookies. He was pretty confident (which was evident in his studly swagger )until a group of pretty young girls walked by when he was standing near a tall giraffe. The contrast did nothing for him except draw attention to his short little legs. Since he looks hot in his speedo, he decided that his next vacation will be a cruise."

2" x 4" Christmas Corgi signed original.
Will be listed for sale in the shop tonight at 9:30-ish EST.

Sold! More in the works...stay tuned

Thank you all for the love during these past difficult days with losing Bridget, and for all of your support and patience during my hand surgery. Corgi people are THE BEST. I remain forever grateful my friends. So grateful. Love & Corgi kisses, Cat ♥

Goodbye, My Beautiful, Beloved Girl

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean.

She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says, " There she goes! "

Gone where?

Gone from my sight . . . that is all.

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says, " There she goes! " there are other eyes watching her coming . . . and other voices ready to take up the glad shout . . . "Here she comes!"

Farewell, my beloved Bridget

BISS CH. Heronsway Two For The Show

7/25/03-7/18/10

My heart and soul.

John and I & the kids & Mary Elizabeth are overcome by waves of crushing sadness and tears. We are so deeply grateful for all of the calls, notes, emails, posts and flowers. I can feel your hugs. I can't imagine going through this without the most wonderful friends in the Corgi community. My heart is broken and I am paralyzed with grief and guilt right now. But I promise to get back to each of you when I can breathe again. With all of my love, Cathy

Fourth of July Party

This was Sunday's annual 4th of July party at our friends April and Rich's house.

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but one minute we were all eating and the next there was a fierce competition in the deep end of the pool. It started with graceful diving and then moved into belly flops and wild antics. The girls at poolside were the 'judges.' Too much fun.

A very popular man that day. A wizard with the blender.

Or should I say 'whizzard.'

That's not fog. Richie installed these awesome 'water misters' off the back patio to keep you cool.

Completely awesome.

Sam & Lisa. Sam was born on the 4th of July :) Perfect name, right?

Say 'cheese' Wendy :)

Daniela recording the 'diving competition'

I would have taken more photos but I was too busy having fun.

It is wicked hot here in NY today. Remember to check on your little old neighbors and to give your Corgis lots of water. Stay cool, my lovelies! xo xo CS ^..^

Happy 4th!

I recently read that our founding fathers wanted us all to whoop it up every year on this very special holiday. Join me in celebrating everyone and and everything that makes the United States of America all that she is. I feel truly blessed to live here. Here are a few photos I had taken in Philadelphia at Independence Hall and some from a local Revolutionary War battle re-enactment. Notice Stella headed toward the 'reflector oven' or 'tin kitchen' with the chicken roasting on the campground. Typical Corgi! Happy 4th of July, my lovelies!

God bless America! Huzzah! ♥ CS

Wicked. Sinful. Decadent. Delicious. Proceed with caution...

Take a beautiful bunch of wonderful strawberries. Rinse them and let them dry thoroughly.

Get a bottle of Grand Marnier. It is a lovely orange cognac. We will be injecting the strawberries with a syringe and then dipping them in chocolate. Oh yes. (insert big sigh here.)

I use a sterile syringe with the sharp needle attached. I keep a box of sharps to vaccinate the puppies, but if you don't have one, you can ask your doctor or vet for one rather than buy a whole box. (Unless you plan on making these on a regular basis. In which case I may just show up at your door.) If you do an internet search for Grand Marnier chocolate covered strawberries, you will not find them made using the sharp needle. They tell you to use a pastry injector or a syringe without the needle, which I'm sure work fine too. I've never tried them that way. Doing it my way you can inject the liquor into the stem-top rather than through the red berry part and it helps keep it from oozing out.

The size of your berry will determine how much Grand Marnier you will draw up into your syringe. There are 5 cc's in a teaspoon. Start by drawing up 5 cc's and inject the needle into the top of the berry, right next to the stem at the top. Go slowly. The slower you go, the more you can get the berry to accept. When it starts bubbling at the top, you are probably done. Put the berry down and finish the rest. You are just going to have to taste one to know if you have enough Grand Marnier. It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it.

Now for the chocolate part. I am partial to dark chocolate, but you can surely use your favorite. Basically, you want to get the very best chocolate you can like a Valrhona or Callebaut but you can use chocolate chips too. Melt the chopped up chocolate slowly in a double boiler with a scant teaspoon of vegetable shortening added in. You can add a tiny drop of heavy cream if you like, if you are using good chocolate but it is not necessary. Don't use the microwave. The chocolate can seize up. You want your strawberries to be dry as well. Any moisture will cause the chocolate to seize up and get dry and grainy. When the chocolate is nice and smooth, grab the berries by the leaves and dip into the warm chocolate. Let them dry on a wax paper covered tray. You can put them into the refrigerator to set. I leave them in the fridge because I like them cold, but you can leave them out for your guests unless it is too hot or humid in the room.

You can also buy packaged 'dipping chocolate' in the produce section. Bakers' chocolate even came out with one which you can find in the baking supplies section of the grocery store near the chocolate chips. These can be microwaved in the containers they come in and are pretty good too. Follow the instructions and resist the urge to heat them faster than 30 seconds at a time or it will seize up. Chocolate is timing, my friend.

While we are talking about sweets, a little known fact about The Mister: he loves marshmallows. I found a bag of gigantic marshmallows in the store the other day. They are the size of tennis balls. After working almost 12 hours in the heat and humidity outside, John thought he would finally get to take a little rest on the sofa and watch a little TV with his marshmallows. Little did he know that two impish Corgis were nearby, watching, waiting, ready to pounce....

Photos are blurry, I know. But too good not to share....

Bridget trying to French kiss John.. Again. ♥

Stella knows she has John wrapped around her little paw.


For who can resist a Corgi's charms? Not I.

♥ CS