My New "Baby!"

Just brought her home yesterday late afternoon... 7 wk old German Shepherd. Still deciding on a name - Cleo, Gracie, Lacey? Ideas? (We're calling her Gracie it seems. :>))

AIM: Artisans in Miniature Miniatures Advent Calendar

How fun! Enjoy a miniature Christmas project a day by AIM artisans.

Click door one and two at this link to access the AIM Advent calendar. Use this link to go to a door each day in December.

Wisconsin Regional Writer's Contest

WISCONSIN REGIONAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION SPRING WRITING CONTESTS OPEN JANUARY 1

WRWA Spring contests open January 1, 2011. Entries must be received by March 15.

WRWA Spring contests include the Florence Lindemann Humor Contest, for nonfiction essays or articles with a humorous theme, and the Al P. Nelson Feature Article Contest, for nonfiction articles with a link to Wisconsin. Reminiscences have dominated previous contests, but profiles, essays, how-tos, travel, humor, and round-up articles have made their mark, too.

The contest rules PDF can be found on the WRWA website.

Miniatures Monday: Beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

For a change, I decided to put a Christmas scene in the Victorian parlor box I found at the flea market this summer.

The old Christmas card I found (the tree is embroidered) made a great backdrop. Funny, I couldn't find any of my smaller Christmas trees anywhere...

* Are you ready for Christmas? Working on any Christmas minis or crafts?

Happy Happy Award!

My pal Courtney at Haunt Jaunts gave me this Happy Award (who doesn't need some of that right?) so I thought I'd post it and share it with others.

HAPPY 101 AWARD RULES
1. Copy the award image into a post
2. List 10 things that make you happy
3. Tag 10 bloggers who brighten your day
4. Put in a link to their blogs
5. Notify the award receivers
6. Award recipients link back to sender’s blog

10 Things That Make Me Happy (in no particular order!)

1 Miniatures
2 Family, friends
3 Puppies and dogs!
4 God, faith
5 Writing (when it goes right!)
6 Blog pals
7 Fellow writers who inspire me
8 Computers (love 'em, hate 'em)
9 Seeing something new
10 Music

I tag - Some great writers and blogs I enjoy:

1 Morgan Mandel's Double M blog
2 Marian Allen
3 Camille Minichino and the ladies at Killer Hobbies
4 Kat the Hat Lady
5 Lea at Muse It Up Publishing
6 Patty Benedict, Woopitydooart
7 Katie at Katie's Clay Corner
8 Joann Swanson for sharing her how-to's with us!
9 Kitty at Minis by Kitty
10 You the reader! Feel free to grab the award and share it with others!

Gobble Gobble! Happy Turkey Day in miniature!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! Here's more turkey in case you didn't get enough. haa! Scene is my mini Thanksgiving table, with items I got in a past swap.

Miniatures: Queen Mary's Dollhouse Video

There is a fantastic video online, showing some great close-ups of Queen Mary's Dollhouse, built in 1924 and housed at Windsor Castle. (Image: Queen's bedchamber)

The house is the creme de la creme of miniature creations - the real world truly in miniature, with running water, real books and products across British society and from America.

View the video here. (Note that the dollhouse part will start partway in, after the portrait and then the photographer sections.)

(See more dollhouse photos and descriptions.)

Killer Valentine Ball: Top 10 Writing Tips

As part if the mini blog tour for The Killer Valentine Ball, read my top 10 writing tips today over at Morgan's blog










BUY:

Killer Valentine Ball Blog Stop at Morgan Mandel's blog

Today I'm on another stop for the Killer Valentine Ball blog tour. Today stop by Morgan Mandel's blog. One commenter will win a free copy!

Blurb: A party at a day camp; a blind date on Valentine's Day.(Can you say loser?) But this is no ordinary party. The Killer Valentine Ball has more thrills than Jess ever expected--or will ever forget.

Excerpt:

As they walked into the shadows, Jess noticed that things weren't quite as they appeared. Sections of the room lightened for a moment before being cast again in deep shadow. What Jess thought she saw in that split second made her heart race. On the dance floor, the same three couples stood, clasped to each other. Jess stared. She swore they never moved.

The music played quietly in the background. When the shadows brightened, Jess caught a quick glimpse of one of the couples. The young man's mouth gaped open. His partner's gown glistened with streams of dark ribbons. The light flashed again and Jess gasped. Those weren't ribbons! The girl's dress shone with dark glimmers. Like-like blood, she thought. No, it can't be! She looked back at Dylan, who shook his head and urged her on.

"Light tricks," he whispered. "It's not real. It's Halloween stuff, like the movie. Don't worry..."

More blog stops:

* Interesting q&a at Ron's blog

* See an excerpt and more q&a at Nancy's blog.

BUY:

* book page

* B&N's Nook

* See my website for other links.

* Amazon:

The Killer Valentine Ball Blog Tour

I'm on a blog tour for my "creepy" short story, THE KILLER VALENTINE BALL.

Today stop by Ron's blog and see how I answered his interesting questions. (He has a thing about space travel! ha!)

* See an excerpt and more q&a at Nancy's blog.

One person commenting during the tour will win a free copy.

BUY:

* B&N's Nook - MuseItUp bookstore

* See my website for other links.

* Amazon: