Designing Again!!

Holy COW!! I have news!! I've been itching to share it for what feels like FOREVER...
Remember THIS POST?
Well, I MADE THE TEAM!!
I am now a member of the Amazing Mold Putty design team!!
Check it out!!
Be sure to subscribe to the Amazing Mold Putty blog, because the team of ladies I'm on the team with is outstanding!!
I'll be sharing on my blog, and the Amazing Mold Putty blog once a month, and so will the rest of the team. I'm so exited to get the chance to play with this stuff!! It's going to be so much fun! I'm waiting for my first shipment to get here. Fingers crossed that by the time you read this (I'm prepping this post a day early) I'll have my package in my hands!!
Meet the rest of the team!!

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Sure, Bert!!

Ernie's been busy settling into the family this week...
Getting a ride on Macs' shoulder...

Trying to decide just how terrifying the special "traveling" perch is... and deciding being close to the laundry folding was worth the terror...

REALLY enjoying his food. :)

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Ernie I'm Awfully Fond of You

Ever since I was a little girl, exotic birds have been a part of my life. My neighbor had an Umbrella Cockatoo, an African Grey (which was actually the smaller version LIKE a grey, and I can't remember the name) and a Conure. I worked with a Macaw when I worked at Wildlife Safari, and the pet store I worked at also had a Macaw, an Umbrella Cockatoo, and other smaller exotics. Growing up, we had Parakeets, Lovebirds and Cockatiels, but never anything larger.
Until today.
I have a friend that owns an Umbrella Cockatoo, and she was helping her breeder re home a bird. His name was Dexter. I got to meet Dexter, and he was a sweetie. A Goffin Cockatoo. Smaller than Umbrella's, but with a good nature, and pinkish feathering instead of all white. Dexter was the bird that got me even considering a large bird, even though I've always loved them. I just never really thought about owning one. I talked to my friend about taking in Dexter, but in the process of that, she found him a home, and so I didn't take him. Then her breeder talked about a second Goffin that she needed to find a home for. He wasn't being re homed, but he was nearly 7 months, and quickly getting to the age that breaking the bond with him would be hard not only on the breeder, but on the bird. His name was Ernie.
I went to meet Ernie today, and he and I hit it right off.
Our first self portrait

Chillin' on the cage...

Travis says he's going to teach him to say "I pooped my pants"
lol
I say we'll just stick to "uh oh" instead.

Personally, I want to teach him some part of THIS song...


On our way home, I stopped by the thrift store, and picked up some baby toys for him. Now, when Raegan gets too old for her baby toys, we'll be seeing if Ernie can take them!! lol
Here he is, checking out Josh, how is checking out him, checking out his cage.
Check it out.

Ernie, we're awfully fond of you!!
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Around the Farm Mar.2012

I got outside and did some much needed work in the goat/chicken area...
The boys are finally in their yard. I still have some work to do on the structure I plan to use for the girl's barn until I can buy their larger barn. In the mean time, the boys sleep in a dog crate together, and the girls get the other 1/2 of the barn. I need to put up some fencing to keep the boys in their side of the barn. (Milton discovered he can jump out.)
Calvin up front, Milton in the back:

Calvin is probably THE sweetest goat I've ever owned.
I got a few full body shots of Ginger

Fingers crossed that this is pregnancy width.

She should have come into heat last Saturday, and I didn't notice any signs.
She's been letting me get close to her when we're out in the yard... she used to be wary of me when we were in the open. Didn't mind milking, and being close inside, but didn't like to get too close out in the goat yard. Lately, she's been coming up to see if I have goodies though. Before you know it, I'll be talking about how hard it is to get a full body picture of her! lol

Lucy is getting to be a big girl. :) I should be able to breed her in the near future. Just need to weigh her and see if she's big enough for that yet. When she is, Milton will be her man.

The thing about friendly goats, is that they don't usually stay far enough away for you to get good pictures of their full body.

Unless you're trying to show off the "new" roof you put on your chicken tractor... then they need to be in the shot.

Silly Harriet! lol I put one of the broody hens in the tractor so she can hatch out some chicks, but she isn't too sure about the move... we'll see if we've wasted a clutch of eggs or not. I'm sure hoping not.
It's also nearly time to plant fruit trees!! I can't wait to get to the local garden shoppe and pick out a few fruit trees. I've already bought two female kiwi, and one male... I love the curls in the vines.

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Amazing Mold Putty

Recently, I found out about a new product called Amazing Mold Putty. For a while now, I've wanted to try resins and molds, because of my friend Kerin, and her fondness for them. She's even written a book about using resin clay in art, and she's always telling me I need to try them. She thinks that resin would be a natural extension of the art I already do. I've wanted to for a while now, because I agree with her! Then, the other day, my friend Terri Sproul mentioned that there was a call for new design team members for Amazing Mold Putty on the product blog.
HOLY.
MOLY.
It's the coolest stuff ever!! When I watch the videos, I keep thinking to myself, I could USE that!!
I have so many things that I've found in my thrifting that I would LOVE to use to create something new.
I bought two of these frames,

and I've used one. I keep waiting for the perfect THING to use the second one in...
BUT!
If I used the Amazing mold putty, I could use it in an assemblage piece! I could use it all, or I have an idea to use just a piece of it in a piece with bits of tattered laces...
I've seen scrapbook pages with keys in them, and what if I used the putty to create replicas of THESE keys!?

I love the detail on them... they would look so neat on a page.
I've wanted to use this doorknob frame for ages... but it's the ONLY one I have. If I could make a mold... I'd have as many as I could make!! All it's crumbly details, and chipping paint.

I could see it on the cover of an art journal, or mixed into the base of one of my dolls...
I have vintage trinkets that I could never get another of, that I could use to create more...

Can you just see that on a new baby card!? The molds are food safe too! I could use them to make edible cupcake toppers when my sis has her first baby and I get to throw her a baby shower!
I have a bunch of doilies that I bought to use in art pieces.

I think it would be so neat to be able to make myself sturdy "stencil" templates for spray painting on art journal pages, or for using the same pretty piece over and over in collage work.
As you can see, my mind is spinning with ideas for how to use the Amazing Mold Putty.
I could use it to make crunky doll parts for art work using the vintage doll bits I've collected.
I could use the clear resin to make "glass bits" from the tons of cool jars I've got all over the house!! Think of how neat an etched piece of glass would look in an assemblage piece.

I could use it to make molds for my Creative Paperclay too!! I have used Creative Paperclay before in molds, and it works so well!
I used Creative Paperclay in a sugar skull mold to create this auction piece I made.

With the flexibility of the Amazing Putty, removing the mold from the dry clay would be a breeze!
I could create my own molds using my stamps like I did in this Creative Paperclay on my art journal page, and make stamps... textures for art journals...

Really, you're only limited by your imagination!!
I'm writing this post in hopes of being part of the design team for Amazing Mold Putty, but even if I don't make the team, I am going to have to find some near me, or order some on line, because I think the time has come. I'm hoping that this logo right here,

will end up in my sidebar saying I'm part of their team! I love working with the deadlines of a design team, and I haven't had that for a while now. I think it's the kick in the pants my creativity needs, because as you can see, I have no shortage of ideas. If not, I'mma have to get me some of this stuff and start getting crafty, because one way or another, this resin is HAPPENING man. Wish me luck!!
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Introducing:The Bucks

When I started this goat adventure a year and a 1/2 ago, I never planned on having bucks. I planned to take my girls on goat dates, and have them bred off farm. Since then, I've bred my Ginger a few times, and Harriet too. Neither girls has settled, and it's been about a year since I've had milk. Turns out timing a goat date is a tricky thing, and I am not good at it. After a lot of thought about how to solve my problems with getting my does settled, I decided to bite the bullet, and purchase a buck. Since goats are herd animals, and I don't want to keep my buck with the does, I'd have to have a companion animal for him. I didn't see the point in keeping a wether. That's just a mouth to feed and nothing to get back from it, so I decided to get two bucks.
It opens up my breeding options quite a bit, as I explained HERE...
Today, I got to bring home my boys!!
Meet Milton:

Meet Calvin:

Before they came home, they got the dis-budding iron one last time, and got treated for pests, PLUS they got their ears tattooed. Calvin is a sweet heart. Snugly and loving. I'm so sad he'll be a stinky boy I don't want to pet in such a short time. Milton isn't so trusting of me. It will take some time to get him less skittish with me, but he'll come around. :) Besides, I don't really NEED him to be super friendly. Just not hard to catch.
I'm really blessed to have been able to get Calvin. His father was sired on Pholia Farm here in Oregon. Lucky me, gets to have some of the best milking bloodlines there are to be had!!
Now, if Ginger can just be pregnant from this last breeding. I'll be a happy girl.
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Postcard Perfect

I'm always telling people that I feel like I live in a postcard...
When the boys and I are out and about, I'll spot a postcard scene, and shout it out.
"Postcard!"
I took a walk today with some friends, and decided to bring my camera to show you.
Old barns are everywhere...

Streams are full this time of year...

Today, it felt like summer was nearly here...

When I was out in the yard today, I heard a noise that makes my heart sing.
The wild plum tree in front of the kitchen window was alive.
You could HEAR the life in it...

The bees are out!!
I checked my wild hive... and they were buzzing about the scrag they live in! That's two winters now they've survived in that scrag.
Then I checked on my Top Bar hive...
All winter, I have checked to see if they are still inside. It's always been cold enough that when I checked on them, they were inside, moving around in a big ball of bees. It wasn't warm enough for them to be out, but they were alive, and I didn't do anything to help them. I wanted to see if they would be strong enough to survive the winter.
THEY DID!!

Look at that delicious yellow pollen on their legs!! I'm so excited to see they made it! I can't wait to break open the hive and taste their honey...
Tomorrow, I am going to pick up the bucklings! I can't wait to get them home... Harriet didn't kid on her due date, which means I missed her window of standing heat again. Having the bucks on my own property will make it so much easier to breed.
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