Cowgirl Retreat

In just 2 short weeks, my cowgirl pal Marj, of Cowgirl Goods, is coming all the way from Maine to visit. She has never been to our little ranch before and, in fact, we have never met in person! We met through this very blog and discovered we have tons in common. Together we founded Good Hearted Cowgirls, our joint venture in which we create "wearable art" aprons and purses (see some of our creations on the right sidebar).

We will be hitting the road with our wares and heading over to Artesia New Mexico for Art in the Park on October 17th. She is also bringing tons of her very cool aprons and purses and other assorted goodies for our booth. Here's a little sneak peek:

Marjie will be bunking in the Cowgirl Casita while she is here:
In addition to traveling over to N.M. for the show, we have a full schedule: riding the horses every day, going out for Mexican food and maybe an afternoon trip to Tombstone and Bisbee. It's going to be a fun 5 days!

Lucky Me

My dad is here visiting for a month. He drove out from Michigan and brought me a surprise -- this awesome apothecary cabinet.

Dad is a very skilled woodworker. He has a little "barn" behind his house where he creates his masterpieces. I'm lucky to have many of them in my house.I ordered square concho drawer pulls for the drawers. They are a mixture of finishes - antique copper, silver, old west silver, silver and gold, etc. I wanted a little variety. And there are 3 different styles: a longhorn, star and cross (which isn't shown in this picture).
These are a few of the jewelry/trinket boxes that dad has made over the years for me. Each one is a little work of art. He uses different woods for the inlay pieces. The one on the left end has pine from a tree I planted when I was about 6 years old. It finally had to be cut down and dad had it milled and then used it to make different things. I remember bringing that little pine sapling home in a styrofoam cup from school!

Eventually, when I get a real studio built, I'd like to put this in there to store my beads and other supplies. For now, I am admiring it in our living room. Great job Dad. :)

Bunny Sunday

Tips from Turbo, the Bunny Supermodel:

1) Always make sure you put your best side to the camera. 2) Even when you are using the litter box, you still need to look adorable.

3) Make sure you are always well manicured and put your best foot (in this case, both feet) forward.4) Eat at least one salad every day.5) Keep yourself clean and neat.6) Take time to relax with your friends.

Speaking of friends, please don't forget my friends at Heartland Rabbit Rescue. Raffle tickets are available through this Wednesday, September 30th. Just click the link up on the left. For just $2 you could win this very cool bunny necklace created by my mom! (in case you haven't noticed, she really has a thing for bunnies). ;0Lots of bunny love to you,

Turbo

Up and At 'Em

That was one of my dad's favorite sayings growing up. As in, get-your-lazy-butt-out-of-bed!

Well, I am definitely up and at 'em this morning. It's still dark out and I am finishing up a few last minute things before I head over to Equine Voices this morning to set up my booth for an Open House event today. If you are in the area, please stop by and say hi! There will be vendors, food, music and of course, you can visit all of the horses, including Gulliver, Equine Voices' mascot and symbol of rescue.

Here is a sneak peek at a few pieces I made using the very cool copper pieces I picked up a couple of weeks ago:

I will be putting my Etsy shop in "vacation mode" today so I can load it all up to take to the Open House. I'll open it back up tonight when I return.

Have a great Saturday everyone. I'll be sure to take pics today to share with you on Monday.

Good Hearted Cowgirls Aprons

Here are just a few of the Good Hearted Cowgirls Aprons. Not just aprons, but wearable art! While not in use, they make a cute conversation piece hung in your kitchen. Our aprons are hand washable and have removable leather belts/buckles.

These are one-of-a-kind creations, however, we do custom orders and can create something similar just for you. Simply contact us through the e-mail link on the left sidebar for availability and pricing or to purchase one of the available aprons.

MORE DESIGNS COMING SOON!!!!


Pink Bandana Cowgirl Apron **IN STOCK** $75.00


**SOLD**

**SOLD**

**SOLD** **SOLD **

**SOLD**

**SOLD**

**SOLD**

One of Life's Simple Pleasures

Taking a walk on an early fall morning...

Just the 6 of us...

(Left to right - Lee, Valentine, me, Angel, Gerty and Cuji leading the way). This picture cracks me up - I love how you can see Valentine's goatee and Angel's tongue hanging out.

When we take off for our walk in the morning, if we don't take the goats with us, Gerty cries and cries. "DON'T LEAVE ME!!!" So, she comes running, ears flopping and bell jangling.

Valentine, the Alpine, likes to do a little off-roading on our walks.

And Lee gets to practice his roping.
Always a great way to start the day!

Bunny Sunday

Happy Bunny Sunday everyone!

Here's an action clip of the bunnies enjoying some cilantro.... they make it look SOOOO good! And they are darn cute doing it.

The bunnies also want to remind you that raffle tickets are still available for purchase (through September 30th) to benefit Heartland Rabbit Rescue. Thanks to everyone who has already purchased tickets. If you haven't already done so and would like to purchase one (or more), they are only $2! Just follow the link on the left sidebar. You can also see a picture there of the bunny necklace I made especially for this raffle. Good luck and thanks a bunch...

Copper Crazy

The gem show was back in town last week, so I headed on over and found my favorite copper artist, Patricia Healey. She designs and handcrafts the coolest pendants, charms and other findings from genuine copper and adds her own "secret" finish to the pieces.

This is just a small sample of the things I couldn't live without!

Each piece has it's own unique character and patina. I love the rosy undertones...She had some new heart and star pendants that I just had to have. Can't wait to create some necklaces with these.And this whimsical dog bone pendant...I have ideas for it. Along with the matching bracelet links.
I'm really inspired by Patricia's designs. I love the rustic-ness (is that a word?) of them all. I'll be madly creating with these for an upcoming show in New Mexico IN ONE MONTH! Yikes, better get busy. Oh, and I'll be posting about a special guest who will be joining me at the show. She's coming all the way from Maine to join forces with me~ Stay tuned...

Benefit for the Bunnies!

I found Heartland Rabbit Rescue's website while surfing the web for bunny related sites and blogs. I was really impressed with their website, their mission and their obvious passion for taking in unwanted bunnies, giving them the care and rehab they need and finding loving homes for them. My kind of people!

Heartland also has a great blog where they post cute pics and stories about the current residents of the Heartland Warrens.

Here are just a few of the many rescued (and adoptable) bunnies waiting for their forever homes:

Elizabeth ~ Rachel ~ Tavey ~ Are these some beautiful bunnies, or what??? (And yes, I've often thought -- do we have room for a few more? Hmmmm.) As you can imagine, operating a rescue requires lots of resources -- donations of volunteer time, veterinary care, feed, and funds to keep the rescue running. And so...

I have created this sweet leaping bunny necklace to raffle off with all proceeds to go directly to Heartland Rabbit Rescue:

The necklace features a pewter leaping bunny pendant, pink rhodonite, black onyx and Bali silver beads and hand braided black cord. It retails for $61 and you could win it for a mere $2!

Raffle tickets will be available for purchase through September 30th, with the drawing to be held on October 1st. Tickets are $2 each (or 3 for $5, 7 for $10 or 15 for $20) - use the drop down menu to choose the number of tickets you'd like to purchase. You can purchase the tickets through the PayPal link on the left sidebar, right below my e-mail link. Or you can also pay by check if you like, just send me an e-mail and I'll give you my address.

Let's show the bunnies some love!

Piper Picks a Winner!

First of all, I want to give a BIG thanks to each and every person who purchased raffle tickets. I am so excited to announce that your generosity and caring helped raise $579 for the horses at Equine Voices!

And now, let's pick the winner of the Cowgirl Cuff!

Mixing up the names in the hat...

Piper gets the honor of picking the winner.Of course, she thinks it is something to eat. She really almost did eat the name she drew! I had to put my entire hand in her mouth to get it out! (I should have seen that one coming). But hey, a little horse slobber never hurt anyone. The winner of the pink crystal horseshoe Cowgirl Cuff is --- Christina W. Congrats!I am so happy that this raffle was such a success in raising money for a great cause, and because of that I decided to draw a second name for another Cowgirl Cuff. This one is similar to the first cuff, but with a pink crystal heart.

The winner is: PIX!

Pix and Christina, I'll be contacting you by e-mail and will mail your prizes out promptly!

Thanks again everyone for your support. Piper and I appreciate it very much and I know the other horses at Equine Voices do, too.

Stay tuned for future raffles to benefit other very deserving animal rescue groups. :)

Bunny Sunday with Patches

What is this, a carrot? You know I prefer dried papaya, raisins or banana chips... Are you trying to tell me something???

Like I should be on a diet?

You know I'm just big-boned!

Cowgirl Relections on a Saturday Afternoon...

How true! Growing up in Michigan, I did not have horses, goats, chickens or bunnies. In fact, the only pet I had as a kid was a dog. As I got older, it became my dream to one day have a little ranch with LOTS of animals. I always wanted "one of everything". I'm not quite there, but we've got our hands full with the animals we do have and love every minute of it.

From Michigan small town girl to Arizona cowgirl. The Wild West, who'da thought it???

Piper's first experience under saddle...

Alternate title: GET THIS THING OFF ME! These pictures were taken back in March, the very first time Piper had a saddle on her. She just didn't know WHAT to do and instead of throwing a fit like some young horses would do, she simply laid down. Pitiful!

We've come a long way since then. And I'm happy to report that last Saturday I threw a leg over her for the first time and sat in the saddle! She didn't throw a fit, try to lay down or buck me off. I was very proud of her. We're taking baby steps and things are progressing very well.
A quick reminder - Piper will be drawing the winning raffle ticket for the Cowgirl Cuff in 5 day days, on September 14th. All proceeds will go directly to Equine Voices to help the horses. If you have already purchased tickets, thank you so much! If you haven't and would like to do so, please click on the link on the left sidebar. Good luck to everyone!