Premature Baby photo~so sweet!

Here's a photo of my bestest bud Susan's first grandbaby! She wasn't due until August, but God wanted to introduce her just a bit sooner. :) She's got shades on for jaundice, but otherwise she is a healthy little blessing! Her name is Lauren and the family would appreciate your prayers for her continued good health.
She weighed only 2 pounds at birth.
This picture shows her holding on to her daddy's finger. So sweet!

4th of July Sale & Celebration in Burnsville

My friend PJ has a fantastic antique store, Kit-N-Kaboodle Antiques that is LOADED with antiques & PRIMITIVES! She's having a customer appreciation SALE on July 4th. She's located just east of the town of Burnsville, right on the main highway. Well, it's our highway, but it's only a 2 lane road. Small town America & we like it that way. ;) DOT has decided we need a 4 lane, so they're doing some construction west of town, but that's another story.

Also on Saturday, July 4th, there's a Craft Show & Festival on the Burnsville Town Square. Live entertainment all day, local crafts, good food & lots of fun. Here's some info. I copied from the Yancey County Chamber of Commerce website. (I hope it's ok that I copied this?!?) http://www.yanceychamber.com/calendar.php
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July 03 - Pre -Fireworks Indoor Concert
Pete & Kim McWhirter will be joined by Kenny Jobe and Keith Cole. This Yancey County group will be performing traditional bluegrass and original tunes. Pete's strong vocals and Kim's Appalachian voice blend nicely for an authentic mountain sound. Come out to hear some great music inside your Burnsville Town Center before the outdoor fireworks start. Tickets are $10 - adults, $5 - kids under 12. Lapsitters free. Show starts at 7 p.m., doors open at 6:30. Call 682-7209 for info.Contact: Burnsville Town Center682-7209burnsvilletowncenter.com

July 03 - Fireworks!
Burnsville - at dusk around 9:15 pm

July 04 - Patriotic Celebration - RED, WHITE AND BOOM!
Hours 10-5 - Local crafters and vendors. Entertainment will start at noon. Lions Club will be serving hot dogs and hamburgers. Contact: Lions Club
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We'll actually get to watch fireworks twice over the weekend! On Saturday, July 4th Yancey County will sponsor more fireworks at Toe River Campground at Patience Park. We always go to those fireworks and it's a great community gathering with activities throughout the day, leading up to the fireworks at dusk.

So, if you're within driving distance, make plans to spend the holiday weekend in the beautiful mountains of Burnsville, North Carolina. Home to Mt. Mitchell. Don't forget a blanket or lawn chair to claim your spot under the shade trees!

I will not have a booth at the craft fair, because I have a downtown store now, so be sure and stop by. I'm in the pink buiding across from the Yancey Theatre. We'll have the air conditioner going and lots of locally made prim goodies for ya to purchase!

Two New primitive Americana Dolls

Here's two new dolls I got finished. Miss Betsy and another Freedom shelf sitter with a primitive flag.

Miss Betsy has stars and stripes cotton fabric and a stitchery star. She's $35.

This shelf sitter is a little different than the other one I posted a few days ago. The hairdo is different, the body fabric is different, she doesn't have a crow, and the mouth is different. She is $28.

2009 Yancey County ACS Relay for Life

Tonight was our local Relay for Life to raise money for the American Cancer Society. My youngest son is a cancer survivor, my mom and I have had several spots of skin cancer removed, and my brother died from cancer, so this charity is an important one for us. This year it was held at Burnsville Elementary School.

My favorite part was my chair massage! Evelyn Elam is one of the waitresses at the Hilltop Restaurant, and she is also a licensed massage therapist. This was my first massage with her and I must tell you that she gets right to the problem spots! Because I do mostly handwork, I always have pain in my neck and shoulders and within seconds, she found the knots and got right to work. I highly recommend her if you're in the area. I will surely be going back for more work on my back. Not only is she good at massage, but she's got a great, fun personality!
One of the photos is of me in her massage chair and she's pretending to be pounding her elbow in my back. :)

Another of the photos is of luminaries. One in memory of Billy Bell, my oldest brother. He died of throat cancer almost 2 years ago. The other is in honor of my son Darren. He had Ewing's Sarcoma cancer on his ribs, 9 years ago. He is doing great and I give God the praise for his healing.

To see what a beautiful place we live in, look at the photo of the blow up kids thing. Notice the gorgeous mountains in the background!

Support your local Relay for Life. We all know someone that has been touched by cancer. Together, we can help fight it.

Cora Lee adopted, new dolls waiting!

Miss Cora Lee (the tall skinny doll) got adopted
today after being in the store for only 3 days!
She now has a permanent home at the historic Buck House near Wolf Laurel Preserve. She'll get to meet and greet many visitors to the Burnsville area and will surely be a conversation piece! Laurie is the proud adopter and she left my store carrying Cora Lee in her arms and used her like a puppet to wave to people driving by! I'm sure that got some interesting comments! So if you go to the Buck House Bed & Breakfast, you'll get to visit the doll momma and her baby. :) Be sure and tell them that Doreen sent you. Here's a link to check out her new home. http://www.wolflaurelpreserve.com/bucktown_photo_gallery.php





I've been VERY busy lately finishing up some dolls that I started a long time ago.
This one ain't winning no beauty pageant! Get her now for your July 4th party, then sit back and wait for the comments. :)
She's available on etsy. Just click on the photo to go there.





My mom thinks this one is ugly, but I kind of like her and I don't expect her to be in the store too long. She's got sunflowers on her dress fabric, one in her hair, and one tucked under her arm. (no slugs, I promise!) (read below for explanation on that) Her baby is just adorable! I haven't listed this one on etsy yet, but she is $65.00 for the momma and baby together. Click on the photo for a larger view. This doll and the shelf sitter doll are both made by me, using patterns from You Are Special.



I've got another shelf sitter like the one above, but I don't have a crow made for her yet. Her hair and fabric are different also. Watch for her soon and I also have another Americana black doll that will be finished tomorrow. And, I'm starting more white dolls too. I'm on a roll!


Well, I'm plum tuckered out and it's only 9pm. Time for a shower and some reading time before bed. Have a prim perfect evening and thanks for stopping by~~~

VERY tall black folk art doll with baby!

Well, I told ya another cool doll was coming soon that was worth the wait. "Cora Lee" has been sitting patiently on top of my computer cabinet for a very long time waiting to be finished. It was rather unnerving to come into the room and have this life size thing looking at ya! I'm sure she is happy to be finished and united with her little baby "Lizzy". Cora Lee is aprox. 58" tall!!!!!!!!!!

She's made by me and I used a pattern from Prim~N~Folk Stitchin's. As usual with most of my dolls, she looks different from the pattern cause I always put my own twist on them.

She's on etsy if you want to see more photos and maybe just possibly buy her??? ;)

Yuck, Yuck, Yuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I keep a pot of coffee mix to stain my primitive dolls, stitcheries, etc. Yesterday I was going to do something with some silk sunflowers, but they were just too bright for my prim taste.

So, I turned them upside down in the coffee to soak for the day and then went to an antique auction last night. (I didn't buy a thing there cause the prices were too high.) When I got home, it was starting to rain, so I grabbed the pot of coffee with the sunflowers, brought it inside and set it on the stove. I obviously didn't look at it very close. Later on, I walked over to the stove and there was a huge slug on the pot!!!!!!!!!!!! I went to grab something to get him and put him back outside and then I saw another!!!!!!!!!!!!! At that point, I figured there may be more down in the coffee or hiding in the flowers, so I grabbed the pot and put it back outside! This morning they were gone. I took the flowers out to dry this morning, but haven't been brave enough to check the coffee and see if any drowned slugs are in there! The pot is still sitting outside.

We have a huge slug problem here. Every night they are all over our yard. My little Dachshund "Annie" used to eat them last summer and we nicknamed her "slugger". ;) Thankfully, I haven't caught her doing it this year. I need to get something to get rid of them, but nothing is pet safe. Maybe if they're drowned in the coffee, I'll just leave a pot of coffee out there! I have heard that you can drown them in beer, but I don't particularly want 3 drunk dogs on my hands! The pot of coffee was sitting on a small table a couple feet off the ground. Maybe the beer would be ok if the dogs couldn't get to it. It would take a lot of beer though to kill all the slugs we have in our yard. Any other suggestions???

Fancy breakfast & New black babydoll

We'll start with breakfast. I eat the standard scrambled eggs with ham, homefries, and sometimes a pancake if I'm real hungry. It's the special at one of our local restaurants. Only $5.25 and includes toast and coffee! Me and the girls have a "breakfast club" and meet each Friday morning. I eat so much at breakfast, that I usually skip lunch cause I'm still full!

Then there's Nancy. Her name has NOT been changed to protect the innocent. :) She orders pancakes and a mug of hot water. She brings her own teabag and the tea smells wonderful like cloves. I think it's spice tea. PLUS, she brings a mason jar with fresh strawberries! She dumps them on the pancakes, then adds maple syrup! Today I had my camera with me and the girls thought I should share a photo of Nancy's breakfast. Are ya hungry now??? Stop by on Friday morning at Wishbone's Restaurant in Burnsville, NC. We meet at 9:00 and there's always room to squeeze in another chair. (no men allowed, this is gals time out)

Now, onto the next topic. I have a helper at my store for the summer, so today I left early and came home to work on dolls.... After I made a stop at Needle-Me-This Quilt Shop. Never enough fabric! I bought a yard of some great fabric on sale that reminds me of penny rugs. It's from Moda Fabrics. Not sure what I'm going to make with it, but it was on sale so I HAD to buy a yard!

After I went to the quilt shop and the grocery store, I came home and got to work. I have several dolls that have been waiting to be finished for probably over a month. Today, I finished one and almost finished another. She'll be finished tomorrow. And, she is worth the wait. You must check back and see her!

Here's a photo of the cutie I finished up today. I haven't named her yet. I think I will leave it up to the buyer and I'll make the tag to their order. She is dressed in a vintage doll dress and her slip is made from the lace off a woman's vintage pure silk slip. She is unique, signed, dated and for sale in my etsy shop. I made her using a Sweet Meadow Farms pattern "Mammy's Breakfast" that is supposed to have pancakes & bacon with it, but I always try to make my dolls a bit different so they have their own character.

That's it for tonight. I'll be back soon. With more finished dolls!

Selling my Photography on Etsy

I've decided to seperate my photography from my prim crafts and have opened another shop on etsy! What else does a girl do on a rainy day? I've got the photographs, I studied photography in college, I've got a good camera, and an endless supply of old buildings and outhouses to photograph. Opening a second etsy shop seems like the thing to do. :)

I'll have some new dolls posted in my PriviesAndPrims shop real soon, but for now, please take a gander at my pictures! Down here in the south, you don't get your picture "taken", you get your picture "made". These are the pictures I "made".

Enjoy!

Views from the Porch

Last Sunday we were all sitting out on mom and dad's front porch passing the camera around to take some blog photos. This slide show is the result of our creative minds. :) We call it, "Views from the Porch". Enjoy the views!

Angel Annie posted on etsy

Just finished up this "Angel Annie" and got her listed on etsy. She's a whopping 38" tall!

I've got so many more projects in the works. Some need clothes, some need painted, some just need their clothes put on. Eventually, I'll get them done. Life sure gets in the way of having fun making primtive dolls. ;)

family photos

Tammie with my parents. (her grandparents)




Dad will be 78 on June 21st. LOVE this photo of him!



Mom, Dad, and my oldest son Geoff.




Deanna, Kyle (the graduate), & Tammie.





Kyle with his sisters again.






Tammie's husband Dan with Deanna on his back, Tammie, Kyle and my two boys Geoff & Darren.

My son came to visit!

Every Friday morning, I get together with some
friends and we have a girl's breakfast. This past Thursday, my neice from PA came with her husband to go to my nephews graduation. They arrived just after midnight Thursday night at my parents house. So, mom said she was going to bring Tammie to the girl's breakfast. Tammie and her husband came in to the restaurant, we hugged, went to our table, then I turned around and my oldest son was standing there!!! I moved here to NC from DE almost 10 years ago and this was his first time here! What an awesome surprise! Of course, like a girl, my eyes teared up and I said to my friends, "This is my son!!!".
Geoff is the one with the tan hat on backwards, me next to him and the "mophead" hair is my younger son Darren. Lots of friends and Tammie and Dan are at the far end. Their first wedding anniversary is June 15th! You can see some of their wedding photos that I took. www.affordablememoriesnc.com

More posts with photos coming soon!