Generous Donors

I just thought you all would like to see the generous donors of the horse hair that I use to make my little stuffed horses with! I don't even trim the hair off, I just collect it out of the brushes, and straighten it out. Peaches, the halflinger, "donates" the most. So, if anyone was wondering why I mostly just have white hair...this is why. Apparently, Spanky (white), Peaches (tan/white), and Breeze (red), are taking it easy while Grendel (grey/spots) is acting as the look-out.

Here is peaches, modeling her masses and MASSES of lovely blonde hair. She is such a malibu!

Badgers? Badgers? We don't need no stinking Badgers!

Alright! Finally, the badger patterns are done and available in my etsy shop! At some point, I will begin making families of the different critters and making the animals, themselves, available. I would also make someone a family or a single animal right now for $10 per animal or 4 for $35. Once I made them, I would then place them on etsy, and you could buy it! If anyone is interested, please convo me (username: beaverrebellion) or e-mail me

(beaverrebellion@yahoo.com) and just ask!

Any animal with babies, has them crawling all over itself at all times!

This family of badgers got given to my niece Ivy for her 3rd birthday. I tied little silver ribbons around the babies' waists and one around the (mother's? father's?) neck. Ivy seemed to like them, and the badgers soon found themselves driving around in a little purple mini-van.

The badger pattern is now in my shop and ready to be purchased for Christmas Badgers!

New Items in shop!

Alright...I now have the long-awaited weasel in my shop! And I am also selling little stuffed ponies. I could possibly sell the pattern, once again, I made it all up myself...but it is pretty tricky and the hardest part there is no real way to explain in instructions except "now you just put it together, okay?" Honestly, it's a tricky one! So, I am making ponies to sell that have real horse hair for their mane and tail (donated by my own real horses) and I am also doing horses, I just haven't gotten the pictures yet, and if those work out pretty well, I will also make up a draft horse pattern! Whew!

The Badger pattern is also already done and on my computer ready to ship, I just have to make one more badger and take pictures and they will also be in my shop!

I think I have a really good pattern for a CUTE hedgehog, but I have to make it and make sure it works first.

And I am working on an owl pattern...but it is proving to be difficult to get just the right look AND be a simple pattern that other people can do!

Here are the weasels holding a family home evening with their new-found cannon!

Barrett found me this AWESOME wooden cannon at a flea market and paid top-dollar so that he could support the Beaver Rebellion! Now, that is a real fan! My husband is a true supporter and isn't even horrified by....well...everything! It is the COOLEST cannon and even has a floral pattern carved into it...I'm not sure why, it's a cannon--but it is GREAT! The weasels love it most of all, of course, but I need to make those draft horses to pull it because it is pretty big!

I also purchased a little covered wagon at that same flea market that it is right size for my critter! You'll just have to wait for pictures of it--I just couldn't hold back the cannon pictures, though!

Go to my shop and check it out! And, if you have purchased anything already, don't forget to leave feedback on the site and don't forget to contact me directly and leave me feedback about how I can make my products better! Thank-you!

New Patterns in the Lemon Line!

Here am I...modeling my favorite winter hat and looking pleased with the fact that I have added the following creatures to my shop...go check them out!

Foxes and Wolves...a whole family, happy to be here...even if the yellow kit looks like he's ill... I'm afraid that I was a little stumped for good baby colors and now I wish I just would have used the textured orage fabric for ALL the foxes. Oh well...I guess I'll just make more...

Ah-ha! This is a shot of the ducks taking over the world! You can see how much they mean it in their striking poses!

Here...are some playful Opossums...They are much cuter than real opossums and hang exactly where you want them to. You can see them all hanging on my hand-crank singer (their mother) in the Lemon Line!

I had an awesome time making them...but sometime I'll need a little more return...tee-hee! I promise if I get more response, I'll make more patterns! On the list right now is Weasle, skunk/squirrel, Lizard/dinosaur, Crow/cardinal, as well as aprons, helmets, bonnets, knickers and other accessory stuff!

Go buy some now...

A very short synopsis of Alaska

Our Alaska trip was AWESOME! I will have to talk more about it later, but I thought that I'd throw a few pictures on!


Here are Barrett and I on the Ferry boat. We had just arrived in Wrangel and were just about to get off. Wrangel had a city park where we could camp for free (our favorite price) but there wasn't much else to do there...so we left the next day.
This house on an island was located in Sitka, I think anyway; it is SOOO cool! We saw many houses similar to this one while we were on the ferry going up through the channels. Barrett and I would live there, but there is no where to put the horses.

Here am I with an authentic petroglyph made by some indians thousands of years ago or something like that. If you think my face looks goofey...it's because it is; if you look closely at the engraving in the rock, it is a beaver face, and even though my buck teeth are gone, I am still doing the best "beaver-teeth-grin" I can muster. I'd say I haven't lost my touch...
Here is Barrett with another one of those petroglyphs. That one is really just a crazy-looking face with googly eyes, and an open mouth. I think there is another beside it that is similar. Anyway, Barrett wouldn't try and make a googly face like I made a beaver face, but he was still a good sport about having his picture taken. (Josh might call it a "David Gardener" face...)

Here am I, wearing the orange skirt that I made so that Barrett wouldn't lose me in the crazy forests. This is a HUGE tree that has fallen over and these other trees are growing on top of it. This is a very common site in SE Alaska. After the large fallen tree desintigrates, the trees that have grown on top are suspended in the air by their roots and look really wild!
Here are some more "parasite" like trees...They are really crazy and we just has a great time!
We are in Wrangel, and I am in a tree...but in the bottom, not the top...

And here is an example of some animals that we DIDN'T see, but rather, I have made the pattern for and as soon as I get two minutes to "rub-together" I'll put this pattern on my Etsy site. This is a pattern for foxes and wolves...though, as you can tell, I had a devil of a time finding just the right fabric! But they are very cute and look great chasing the rabbits! Bleh!

Anyway, I will hopefully post again with some more pictures and what-not! Till then...

Christmas Dolls

These are pictures of the dolls that I made for my little sister, and 3 nieces and 1 nephew for Christmas last year. I would love to make them to sell too but between the amount of work it takes and how much I have to neglect my poor husband, I would be looking to charge between $150 -$200 per doll. So, with the idea that you would buy these for you kids, I'm not sure I'd sell any...though, you could buy them to set on your mantel or something. Anyway, I might put these pictures in my etsy shop (GO SEE MY ETSY SHOP! IT IS "THE LEMON LINE") and just say, hey, this is what I do, if you want a custom doll...you can see that this is what I do. Anyway, I'm not sure what to do yet. Though, I am drafting up some patterns to sell on etsy of the cutest...and I mean the CUTEST little stuffed critters EVER! Crows, rabbits, weasles, etc...they are the cutest.

Here is the dragon doll and the owl doll. As you can see the dragon has a tail and wings. What you can't see is that it has a ridge of spikes down its back, spiky fringe on its legs and arms and clawed hands and feet. The dragon's clothes include a firey halter-dress, a checkerd drop-skirt, and an orange cape with a bell on the end of a pointed hood (not pictured)

The owl has a cute little beak for a mouth and very large green eyes, and also a tail, and wings on its arms and backwards kneed legs (I'm not sure if you can tell with this picture or not). Her clothing includes a blue striped halter dress, a Damsel In This Dress shaped reverible wench corsette with light colored tree-bark fabric on one side and dark colored tree-bark fabric on the other. She also has a cape that is the night sky full of stars with a bell on the end of the pointed hood.
Here is a mermaid, a train conductor, and a horse woman. The mermaid also has fringe on her arms and legs and webbed fingers and toes. Her legs and arms a green and her body is kind of a crazy blue. She has a blue silk halter dress, a seaweed shrouded drop skirt and a matching bra-like top and also a cape that has sea animals printed on it with a seashell at the end of the pointed hood.

The train conductor has EVERYTHING (I didn't want my newphew to feel like since his doll wasn't a dragon or horse or something crazy that he was being cheated...he loves trains so much) His hair is embroidery floss and he has a red goatee (just like my nephew's dad) and his hands are sewn so he can hold stuff. He has a paisly button-down shirt with matching boxers, striped overalls with a pocket on the chest and two hammer loops on his hips, he has a fancy brown vest with a pocket holding a pocket watch that is attatched to the vest with a small chain. AND he came with a bucket full of tools that fit into his hands. He also came with a cloak with a bell sewn on to a pointed hood.

The horse woman has really thick and wild red hair. She has a horse body in kind of a fuzzy brown with a white tummy and socks on all for legs/arms. she has backwards knees like the owl and cute little wooden hooves. Her clothing includes a brown-striped halter dress, a grass skirt (which I STILL think is funny, he, he, he, he...) and a green, grassy looking cape with, yes, a bell on the end of a pointed hood.

Here is the group all together, you can see their hand-painted faces.

Here is a good close-up of their feet. (from left to right) the owl, the dragon, the conductor, the mermaid, and the horse.

I wish I had had the time to take pictures of them in their cloaks and also, as weird as it sounds, without their clothes on. There is plenty of fine detail on the clothes, but equally as much on the bodies. The women are all very shapely without being graphic and the man has nice broad shoulders and narrow hips too! All the dolls have fully movable joints; the shoulders and hips are sewn on with buttons and the elbows and knees are wooden beads.

The main idea came from a doll-making book that I love, but by the time I shrunk the patterns down, made a man version, added all the crazy extra stuff like fringes, backwards knees, and different feet, the design is MOSTLY my own. None of these dolls is even close enough to the original pattern for me to point out the differences.

Anyway, I had a great time making them, but I am afraid that they took FOREVER! (more than a full day each) so...I would have to charge a LOT!

Okay everybody, I want to know what the deal is. I realized the other day that if the men/women signs on the public restrooms were accurate, they would look like the picture above. I see it more and more all the time: women cutting their hair off and wearing pants ALL THE TIME! Now, don't get me wrong, I myself prefer pants some of the time. Quite frankly, there ARE some things that are a little more practical in pants like climbing ladders, riding horses and bikes (sometimes, but look at some earlier blogs and you'll realize that it isn't a big deal)... What really has me confused is that when women are DRESSING UP as in...going on A DATE, TO A FUNERAL, TO CHURCH, or even just out and about....they wear pants...sure they might be slacks or dress pants...but I've gotta tell ya, you just look like a man. And hair...I understand if your genes simply won't allow you to grow long hair, that is fine, everyone else who is reasonable and sane understands that as well....but for the rest of you women...why your hair gets shorter and shorter all the time baffles me! Especially when someone has WONDERFUL hair genes and for whatever reason they chop it all off....WHY? For convienience?

.....look here....for CENTURIES women have had long hair and their lives were so much tougher than your cushy, bloated, apathetic lives will EVER BE! Whether they were working in the fields, their homes, scrubbing floors, shoveling manure, gardening, dealing with animals, starving to death, etc....they still had long hair. It was important to them, they thought it was beautiful. It still is. In fact, I would say that it is even MORE beautiful today than ever partially because so few women are interested in it anymore.

So, I guess if you just REALLY don't care whether you look like a man or a woman, you will think I am full of bologna. But for any woman who DOES care and who CAN....it is probably the best way to look like a WOMAN without being tacky (too much or the wrong make-up) or sleezy (clothes that stoop to SHOW you are female). I don't know of anyone who thinks that long hair is ugly, tacky, lame, or in bad taste...you just can't go wrong with lovley, long hair.

So...that is my correct opinion...you are all entitled to agree with me, or be wrong. It's your choice.

FInally! Here is some random stuff...From me!

Here is one of the aprons that is in my shop right now. The one I am actually wearing I made for a friend of ours, but I purchased enough fabric to make one on any size for anyone else interested. To see more, you just have to go to my shop on Etsy.com. And yes, that is the rabbit--and it isn't even just a yard ornament any more! Whoo-hoo!
This is me modeling my outdoors skirt and proving that you can ride horses in these crazy things! This particular skirt is made out of extra heavy material that is kind of like canvas and also some heavy floral stuff that I picked up from the thrift store. My sweater (100% wool and hand-knit in Italy) I also picked up at the thrift store...for a dollar. Oh, the hat? Yes, that too; 100% wool felt from the thrift store....
Grendle of course, was a real good sport about all of this picture stuff. She is an awfully beautiful horse, and I am as proud as can be to be pictured with her. If Grendle can't sell my skirts, I don't know WHO can!
Isn't that floral just beautiful? I have just enough to make one other lucky gal an outdoors skirt that is just like mine! We could be twinkies!


Here, of course is Ursa/Ursula. This is when the river was completely frozen over and she and Barrett had to motor across it. You can't see it too well, but the entire surface is ice, it's snowing, and really cold. Ursa is getting used to all of the boat stuff, and has been a really good dog for us. She isn't terribly large, but she is very stocky and I think she could do some damage if someone had some bad intentions. You should see what she does to rope and squeaky toys...they ain't gonna squeak ever again...that's for sure.



Here is Barrett displaying Breeze in her new calling in life: driving. We finally got out and worked with her, and she seems pretty promising. ...is she licking his arm? What a goofy horse! Anyway, we are excited about that and she seems to enjoy it. Barrett, of course, is still the coolest. (nice pants, who patched 'em?)

Anyway, we are doing superb out here. I hope to make some sales soon. I am slowly but surely making different things to stock my store, but if any of you family of mine wants something, feel free to ask! I've got all kinds of things up my sleeves! More aprons, more skirts, some draw-string bags, and who knows what else is on the way!

Go see the Lemon Line

OKAY! Finally I have my etsy shop up! I was going to post it to the family blog, but alas, I can NEVER get on! Of course, I can never get on my own either, I have to set a new password everytime...I guess that makes my blog extra secure, but it is a pain in the butt!

Please don't make TOO much fun of me; almost all of my pictures are sideways. The thing is, I can't figure out how to put the pictures onto my little lappy, so I have to put them on my father-in-law's computer and I don't know how to run it, I don't want to save anything on there and clutter it up, and it is smarter than I am (mostly because it is a mac and not a pc). So, give me time and I will surely get it all figured out! I am having a difficult time doing the banner, using my brain, and making anything make sense! BTW, the banner is currently a picture of me pulling one of the NUMEROUS boats onto shore--it won't be that forever, I'll change it somehow to something. Also, I don't have mouse paint on my computer....at ALL and I CANNOT survive without it!!! I tried to find a differnent program--they were all crummy. I tried to download the "new mouse paint" from microsoft and it is the worst one of ALL! So! If anyone has a good suggestion and to save my cartoonery and what-not, please give it to me, I am going crazy.

Anyway, I have to go make some cookies--chat with you all later!