Where's the summer gone!

Where did our summer go? My normal routine has been turned up-side-down; my house is in a mess; it's miserably hot and humid in the desert; I've had blogger's block; and, my desire to keep up has been greater than my will to do so.

Last weekend Ashley and I went to our first ever bear show in San Diego. I loved it...so many wonderful bears of all sizes, shapes, styles and colors. I did take my camera, but became so wrapped up in trying to see everything, I forgot about taking pictures. I did manage to buy a few things, however. This little guy is Tweedle-Dee, an adorable little brindle Scottie from the studio of Sunnie Bears by Sonya Shaw. These are Sonya's pictures, but I'll eventually get a few others up. I also purchased a vintage black Scottie not quite as big as Tweedle-Dee, but they've become great friends. I also managed to pick up a couple of yards of mohair. You can never have too much mohair.

Another very exciting thing for me this summer was the opportunity to enter a swap with Julie Bolton of BEARS...Strike a Paw. Julie kept Petey after photographing him, and I received some cards from photos she'd taken. I was thrilled with that, but then she contacted me and asked if I'd mind if she used Petey in her very first bear calendar! Mind! Holy Cow, how could I mind? I can hardly wait to get my copies of the calendar. Check out Julie's website. She has photographed bears by artists from around the world, and, in some cases, used the artist's photo to create a variety of all occasion cards and, of course, the inaugural 2008 16-month calendars.