Cinnamon

A nice closeup shot of Cinnamon. He's on the doll quilt and if you look carefully you can see the pearl work on the fabric next to his tail. To the right, you can see miniature appliqued silver flowers near his leg. The antique lace in the upper right hand corner is part of the quilt.

Cinnamon is named "cinnamon" because his tail distinctly resembles a cinnamon roll. Hearts, one of my signatures, are around his neck and dangling from his tail.

As I have pointed Cinnamon is a C.F. Dragon. There is a huge difference between C.F. Dragons and C.F. Originals. To see, adore, love, and purchase a C.F. Original, visit www.cforiginals.net.

Cinnamon and his brother Lincoln, who is also a C.F. Dragon, will be on display in the February exhibit. At the end of February, Lincoln is off to California. Cinnamon, of course, stays with Orchid.

Cinnamon and Vamp

Vamp is in Orchid's room, still playing with Cinnamon. Cinnamon is sitting on one of my completely hand stitched, excessively overdone, doll quilts. My lifesize queensize quilt, which is not yet complete, will be on display 'as is' in the February exhibit.

The beautiful wallpaper for Orchid's room, as well as the materials for Orchid's harlequin floor, came from purtypaperpurveyor Diana Gaizo who can be reached by phone at 631.580.1118. Diana's cottage is full of exotic wares and she has extended an open invitation to the girls to visit and shop in person anytime they are out and about.

Vamp and Cinnamon

When Vamp came home from the show in January where she, too, won a ribbon, she promptly went off to Richard Gardner's studio to have her 'show pictures' done. Upon coming home, Vamp changed out of her black and silver sequin show gown and gave up her adorable tiny green frog with bat wings. Here she is wearing a peach dress that I bought for her at the show. Peeking out from underneath her dress is a soolditisshattering peach silk petticoat which was made for Window.

Vamp is holding Cinnamon. Cinnamon is a jointed C.F. Little Cow Harbor Dragon who was created as a pet for Orchid. Orchid was enjoying him just fine until Vamp came home from the photographer's. Vamp appropriated Cinnamon and hasn't let him go since.

Window Gets Ready

February 1st is rapidly approaching. Window is now ready for the exhibit. She is wearing Vamp's spiderweb tiara from the UFDC show in January and she has on Orchid's 'everyday dress'. Orchid's 'everyday dress' is made from well worn pale pink floral silk. It is trimmed with antique lace. The petticoats also belong to Orchid; one is vintage lace and the other is a taupe silk. Orchid's 'everyday dress' is one of the things that Orchid wears when she goes into town.

This is where I probably should tell you: some of you are already confused. These are not 'Orchid Stories'. I am not telling you 'tales of Orchid' or reciting 'what Orchid would do if she could do things'. Orchid ACTUALLY does these things. Orchid travelled across the country. Orchid goes into town with me shopping. Orchid sits with painters. Orchid goes to the photographer's studio where she poses for him.

I don't "imagine" that Orchid does these things; Orchid DOES them. When I tell you that Vamp is going to the Castle, there really is a Castle and Vamp will actually be there. To many of these things, you can go, too.

Yes, Orchid changes her clothes and shares her clothes with her sisters. Her excess clothing is what will be available once photographers and whomever else have finished working with a particular outfit.

As American as Apple Pie

This picture is for those of you who have been following my apple pie saga. I don't cook; I don't even pretend to cook. Be that as it may, my love affair with apple pie goes back to high school and Home Ec. And haha, no, I did not 'fail home ec'.

I stopped making apple pie probably ten or fifteen years ago when someone told me, "This is the worst apple pie I've ever tasted." It happened to have been a peach pie that I'd made. Still, I was turned off.

Recently, I turned back on when I was introduced to the gadget in the picture. No one could believe that I wanted one. I despise kitchen gadgets and I don't cook. Why would I need a corer peeler? Even when it is not doing anything, I love it. Made from silver metal, on a simple wooden stand, it looks like a cross between Leonardo DaVinci's drawings and a Spanish Inquisition device. If you use very hard apples and position the apple perfectly correctly, the gadget works fine. If you don't, it doesn't.

The first time we tried it, its wooden stand was still on backorder. We used it without the stand and the peels went all over the floor and made the wood kitchen floor all sticky with apple juice. I waited for the handy dandy stand and we tried it again. This time we positioned the entire gadget and its stand on the large pink and white fish dish. The apple peels were still everywhere; you can see them trying to escape off the table. The marble table still got all sticky. All of the peels and cores were fed to the raccoons.

The readytobake apple pie can be seen on the right side of the photo.

Welcome to the Monkey House

Does anyone read Kurt, other than me? Well, this has nothing to do with him. The movie "Buddy" is a Jim Henson production which is now about ten years old. However, since it is set in the time of the Chicago World's Fair, it's ten years old but never looks dated.

People very often wonder, and very often ask, what sort of a house Orchid lives in. This movie goes a long way in explaining that. Someone recently said, when speaking of my husband and myself, "Well, you're animal lovers." They said it like it was a bad thing!

This movie is based on a true story depicting very wealthy animal lovers. There are lots of animals in the movie, but primarily monkeys. The house is good, the scenery is good, the furniture is good, the costuming is good. The ending is happy. It is a marvelous family movie and if you have never seen it, then you simply must. The flick is hilarious; bearing a striking resemblance to our household in attitude and laughter. There's a part where company comes to visit. The expression on their faces and what goes on with the animals is exactly like what goes on over here when people visit. Yes, we ordered bamboo and the bamboo came with chickens. Yes, we did allow our chickens to walk around in the house. Yes, I would brush the chickens with a hair brush. Yes, they would walk on a leash.

The little gold pieces in the picture are fragments that I was creating for future incorporation into jewelry and books. I also made some extras to share.

Orchid in Winter

A picture of Orchid taken at the show. Yes, it took three of us (or five, six, or more...depending upon how you count) to produce this year's show entry. A.D., of course, did the sculpt, producing Orchid's one of a kind self. MiniRoses did Orchid's hat, designed Orchid's coat which was made from vintage fur felt, came up with Orchid's dark brown velvet studded rhinestone scarf, and provided the silk chiffon for Orchid's dress. I did whatever else might have been left. What? the shoes, her black lace stockings, the jeweled handle for the peacock's leash. The feather people provided the peacock's feathers, the bead people provided the significant amount of Austrian crystal that Orchid wore.

Orchid's diamond earrings were custom designed and created by jeweler Ben Kahn. Her diamond earrings were her gift from last year's win.

Ben does amazing custom jewelry. Anyone wanting their diamonds reset should skedaddle on over to him. He's a great neighborhood secret. Ooops, can't find him? use info@cathycara.com He even has a new piece, ready now, which corresponds to our (A.D. and mine) collaborative theme for 2008. Ben has made a diamond studded frog. Emerald eyes and diamond froggy bumps. REALLY nice.