From Newport Bridge to.....Oscar?!

    "Newport Bridge, RI". What a beautiful night vision, right?! I'll tell you about it in a minute. First, I want to say that waking up to night visions of the Chilean miners coming up from the ground in that little tube (cage) made me very thankful for my breath of fresh air when I woke up this morning. Over two months underground without light, loved ones, and the best health-care, doesn't seem to have broken their spirits or their ability to smile under adversity. It's a lesson for all of us who are dealing with problems and adversity, don't you think?!
     Wouldn't you love to be able to talk to them?! I have friends who I KNOW will be trying to get to talk to them in upcoming days. I'm sending my warm thoughts and good words out to them and to the miners!!
    The night can be tough, but it can also produce some wonderful visions, including the one in my header picture today. This is one of the night photography prints that Cathy of Artsy Butterfly is giving away in her very first GIVEAWAY! This is the other one...

     "The Lights of Downtown Newport, RI". Each print will be a 5x7 image centered on 8x10 glossy photo paper providing a nice white border for framing. The prints will be titled and signed by Cathy, on the front.You can enter the giveaway 3 times. Just click here for the details. Not hard at all!...She will be picking the winner next Wednesday, October 19th....I would love to see these photos up on my walls! So, if you don't enter...more chance for me!!! LOL
    It's a shame to go from that kind of beauty to OSCAR, but that's what I'm about to do!...I know you're probably thinking: "Who is Oscar?!" Well, I almost forgot who Oscar was myself! But hubby came into the house the other day, after cleaning his car, and said that now he had to put Oscar back in his car. I said: "Who is Oscar?!" He said: "You know who Oscar is!" Then he went and got Oscar...

   Say hello to Oscar! :-) Oscar was the fore-runner to my Wuglyee bear...sorta. I had a friend make a request for me to make her a baby blanket. She didn't want any 'SAME OLD, SAME OLD' blanket. She wanted one with colorful birds or ducks or something. Something her son could have as a keepsake to put over him or to put on the wall, or feel, as he played with it. {He had a condition where tactile and colorful things were comforting. (He's older now, so I'm not sure if this still is the case.)}

     So, I pulled out a lot of my old baby blanket patterns for inspiration. I showed her a lot of them, but nothing seemed to be right, until she saw a blanket with a lot of little animals all over it that looked sort of like this one. She fell in love with it,.....and I was mortified at the idea of spending about 2 weeks, to a month, having to make it!! LOL You know how much I like making animal pieces and then having to sew everything together in the right place.....NOT!!!! Remember this 'Ugly Wuglyee'?!!

      UGH!!...But I did it!
  Hubby, while watching me make these little animals, said: "I want one!" What?!!! So, I made a bigger one...that he named Oscar...for him to hang from the mirror in his work car. He said it made him smile every time he saw him. Okayyyyyyyy! Whatever!! LOL

      Smile away!!!
    Needless to say it didn't have the same affect on me!! I was sick, sick, sick of all of them by the time I was through. My friend was ecstatic with the blanket, hubby was very happy with "Oscar", and I was exhilarated that I wouldn't have to make another one!!! But he probably was the reason I even attempted my Wuglyee bear years later...I don't know what to say about that!!! LOL......Well, I guess I should say 'Thank You' to Oscar. Without him there may never have been a Wuglyees!! And I'm now very glad that I have my Wuglyees shop!
    Have you ever had a prototype to what you make now, something that you weren't all that happy about initially, but that turned out good in the end?! I'd love to hear about it. And your comment will be an entry in my Giveaway too! {Look at the bottom of the post}
     Two more quick things. First, an introduction to another AWM {Artisans of Western Mass} team member, BMW Ironworks.

     His Etsy shop is hammeronsteel. There he has the best one of a kind steel pieces you ever want to see. And he says don't hesitate to contact him if you can't find something you like in his shop! So talented, my team members!!...If you want to see some of their work for yourself, check out the Gill Fall Arts and Crafts Festival & Farmers’ Market

October 16 & 17, 2010

10am – 4pm

Riverside Municipal Building (current home of the Four Winds School, and formerly known as the Old Riverside School)

Scenic Route 2, Gill MA  (2.8 miles west of the French King Bridge)

Come admire (and purchase) the works of very skilled and talented artists and crafters, and support local agriculture by buying products from farms in Gill and surrounding towns.

For more information, visit:  http://www.gillmass.org/fog.php

    Okay, the only thing that's left is the poem. I wrote this one this morning after seeing the news.

Good To Be Alive

 Trouble breathing, bills galore,
family problems and all that jive.
I don't care how bad it gets.
It's good to be alive!

Jobs and money, your fair share,
of which you are deprived.
But even so, no matter how it goes,
It's good to be alive!

Migraine headaches, family loss,
careers you can't revive.
Oh yes, debilitating,
and yet, still you are alive!

Injustice, fearing the worst
because of planes that don't arrive.
And while some didn't make it,
for most it's good to be alive.

While trouble in this world
will long continue, grow, and thrive,
For those who see it's end
It will be good to be alive!!