Mischief . . . . . . . . .

You are a digging a hole ! ? !?

Well, he has some explaining to do !

Uncle Ukki, I asked Pinky to dig.

We are here in the Netherlands and my father is on the other side of the world, so I thought if Pinky digs through the earth , straight down, I can crawl through that hole and see my father in Borneo. . . . . . 
No No little one ,you let Pinky make a mess of Helen's garden and if you dig a hole straight down, you will not pop up in Borneo but in the middle of the ocean near New Zealand ! 
Next time you better ask me !

I apologize Uncle Ukki

Little prince

I rescued this little tiny prince this morning from washing away into the street- sewage.

He looks a bit mad :-(

Ukki's niece and nephew !

Ukki, what are we looking for ?

Little ones, my niece and nephew are coming to visit us !

Ah ! There they are !

Come in dear children !

How are you and your brother?  I didn't meet your brother yet !

Uncle Ukki , this is my brother, he is always a bit shy at first but once you know him ,well,  you find out yourself Uncle Ukki !

Our parents should be here by the end of this week, hopefully, they are very busy taking care of animals.

Mother is the caretaker of  special Fruit-bats and Father is in Borneo, keeping an eye on Sunbears,

They will tell you all about it when they are here Uncle Ukki.

Okay children, let's enjoy ourselves in the meantime !

BOOK BOOK BOOK ! ! !

Barby and I are over the moon with joy !

Many of you know Barby Anderson and her adorable critters, I found her through Flickr ( or did she find me?)

It is such a delight to see her new critters and I often browse through her Flickr pages to see them .

She also has quite a few of my creations and from the moment her critters and  my first Barn Owl  met, there was chemistry.

We inspire each other, I see her mice and bunnies with a certain animal and Barby, almost on that moment, writes me about that certain animal .

What follows are the stories only Barby can write in her own nature-loving way !

She told me of her plan to publish a book about her beautiful little babies with my animals months ago and now it's here !

It's a wonderful book, it is a book you pick up over and over again, each photo is beautiful, crisp, clean, full of details.

The little rhymes are sweet, endearing and so perfect with the critters.

 This is a collectors-item, you can see Barby's Art all together ( with my creatures YAY ! ) in one book.

There are 93 colored photos !

You can buy this beautiful book of my friend here:

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/woolie-critters-needle-felted-creations/16226787?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1

This morning I received my copy and I'm so proud and honoured, I can't tell, it took my breath away.

Barby, my dear friend, thank you for this overwhelming gift!

P.s. Barby had to make an entirely new book, the template of the publisher Lulu she used seems to have flaws .

I will post new pics of the book, it has 93 photos now in stead of 75 and the colour of the book will be a beautiful blue !

And the winner is . . . . . . . .

Thank you all for participating !

These are the pics of the drawing :

Congratulations Robin !

I know you will be happy with my cow-painting !

You all have a great 4th of July and Elli : schönes Tag !

Giveaway to give away

This morning I read the beautiful Blog of Joanne :  Desertmountainbear

She is giving a stunning little Picasso marble bear away ! Made by a Navajo artist !

I love Native American Art, and to think of seeing  such a piece in real is unreal for me.

 It made me think, if I should be the lucky one, I would give it away to a person I know who deserves such a little treasure at this point in his life.

More thoughts. . . . . 

I want to do a Giveaway for the same reasons Joanne is doing: 
I quote Joanne :

I am thankful that I can sell the things I use my heart and hands to create.

I am thankful for the people who follow my work.

but I want the winner to give it away to someone he/she thinks need a little nice gesture. 

Wouldn't that be awesome, to participate for someone else ?

I want to give away this painting I've made in 2007, the last painting I did of a cow.

For me the cow symbolizes warmth and kindness and I think it is the perfect gift for a person who needs a bit of extra warmth and kindness.

All you have to do is leave a comment, I will be drawing one of your names on 4th of July ;-)

It would be nice if the winner told me about the person who will receive the painting.

Trust men and they will be true to you¸ treat them greatly and they will show themselves great

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Pastel on wood, 11 inches x 15 inches, framed under glass

It's signed

Niklas the Swiss mountain Gnome

Little ones !

Have I ever told you about Niklas?

Well, he is a friend from Switzerland.

He lives way up in the mountains with his little Squirrel friend Loki.

He has a very important job, he makes sure the Swiss cows are all back in their stable before the Winter comes.

You know the Swiss farmers let their cows roam the mountain greens during Summer ?

Sometimes a cow gets lost but Swiss cows wear bells and usually the farmer finds it quickly.

But as soon as the snow falls it is more difficult to find them, because of the snow the sound of the bells is muffled .

And there is where Niklas and Loki comes in.

He jumps on his sleigh, pulled by the magnificent strong white Squirrel Loki and because of a Gnome's outstanding hearing he soon will find the lost soul.

Sometimes a beautiful Jay comes to warn him about avalanches !

There is this rumour little ones, when there is snow and mist and sun, sometimes it causes strange huge shadow projections on the mountains and it happened quite often that people saw a shadow from Niklas and Loki high on a mountain and I think it inspired a certain "someone " as a way to bring gifts around the world. 

Oh look here is a photo of him and Loki !