Where's Candace?

Has anyone seen Candace the traveling doll lately?

I had heard that she might have gotten misrouted and returned to a previous host but I haven't heard any word on her in quite some time.

It's Valentine's day and I would so love to know where she is.

Here's a link to the original post about her when she was leaving me last year for her adventures around the world.

You can also do a search on my blog by using the keyword Candace to catch up on some of her worldly adventures.

Happy Valentine's day Candace, wherever you are!

Candace in Sao Paulo

Our traveling doll Candace has been getting some culture in Brazil before heading to her next destination.
Li has been drawing and painting her likeness and taking her to museums. Be sure to visit her blog for some visual treats here.


To see the original post about the traveling doll follow this link.

Candace in California

Before I tell you about Candace's next adventure I want to announce a giveaway

on the blog Bell'antico (see sidebar for picture) You may also want to visit the sister site La Dolce Vita to see more of this Caterina's artwork.

  Candace the traveling doll has been gallivanting about in California with Kim from

               Gerushia's New World                  

   

  Kim is "a mixed media artist with a taste for surreal, anthropomorphic art and a passion for vintage photos" whose work I have admired and purchased myself. She'll be posting more about Candace's visit on her own blog soon. Here are some photos from her trip.

Candace arrives in California

A piece of Mixed Media art by Kevin Llewellyn that opened

Kat Von D's Wonderland Gallery

Kim recently got a tattoo of one of her signature creations  "Dancing Fiona"

Could this possibly be another of Candace's suitors?

Is Hollywood ready for Candace?

Another famous redhead!

I would love to see her featured in this mural

She's no airhead though ~ I love this shot!

Candace in Wonderland

A girl gets hungry with all that touring

Looks more comfortable than airplane travel~ Off to Lorna in England!

Bye-bye Candace!

If you'd like to be added to Candace's itinerary contact me and I'll see what I can do to get you added to the list. Email me your address at numinositybeads (at) gmail (dot) com

Head Gasket

Here's one of my first altered art collages that I made last year when I first moved to my home in Delta Junction, Alaska. I was so delighted to find a "rust farm" nearby and thought that this gasket made nice frames for some imagery. I mounted it on an old cutting board that we weren't using anymore.  Someone else actually came up with the name "Head Gasket" when they saw it. I thought it was perfect.  Now my husband has insisted that we keep it for ourselves.

I plan to resume the courtship letters this Wednesday in case anyone is still interested in reading them. Clarence and Alice's love is beginning to bloom.

Meanwhile I'm awash in fresh caught salmon and blueberries, trying to package and freeze it all  up.

You can catch up with Candace's  new adventures in Utah on Kass's blog .

Has Anybody Seen Candace?

Or should the question be has Candace seen anybody?

You can read the whole story about the continuing adventures and misadventures of Candace on Cat Kerr's blog "In the Light of the Moon". I seem to be having troubles reposting the text here on my blog and she's done a wonderful job of telling the story anyhow.

Candace and A Trip to Alaska with Mountain Heather

Mountain Heather's hats along with some others for sale at Spirit Mountain Artworks in 

Chitina, Alaska

"Are there any in my size?" Candace wonders.

Where's Kim?

Candace is looking for me at the Tanana Valley Farmers Market which I had ditched out on that day because of cool temps and wind.

Candace went on a fishing trip to Chitina where Heather went dip-netting for Copper River red salmon. I heard she didn't want to get her hands slimy so she stayed tucked away.

She doesn't mind posing with the filets though as they match her lovely hair.

A view of Mount Hayes from south of my home  in Delta on the Richardson Highway.

A view of the Alaska Range can be seen from

Mountain Heather's "off the grid" home that she shares with her husband, stepson and several dogs near Murphy Dome outside of Fairbanks. They're growing a fabulous garden up there in the hills that fills the freezer for a good part of the winter.  

Wild Irises in the evening glow of solstice.

Heather is  multi-talented. These are cabinets she designed on AutoCad for her family's cabinet shop Dreamworks Cabinetry where she also lends her skills.

I was in Arizona when my friend Heather heard about Candace's travel plans. She asked me if I thought it would be too boring for her to visit her. It worked out that she arrived here in time for some good fishing and Solstice.

 Heather's business is Mountain Heather Creations and she has made quite a business of it selling hats for every season that bear the outline appliqued mountains and sun or moon on  fleece or cotton. You can see her popular warm fleece hats sported on folks in Alaska almost anywhere you go.

Heather is one of my dearest friends that I met while doing some of my first shows when I started out on my lampworking and jewelry making forays. She was a bit of a veteran  by then and had a lot of tips for a new seller like me. I think our first show together was mid-winter (and -30 degrees F outside. That's -34 Celsius!) at bazaar at a school in North Pole. We didn't get much business and I've since learned that school bazaars are not the way to go for me. We did get a lot of time to visit and make a trade.  I traded a necklace for one of her hats. Both styles have been long discontinued by each of us.

She doesn't do as many shows anymore but prefers to wholesale to shops or sell through her website. You can view her Flickr photostream here. or become a fan of Mountain Heather on Facebook.

She has a special line of hats at the UAF (University of Alaska Fairbanks) Museum that feature the exact outline of the Alaska Range.  

Found Object Doll and the Midnight Sun

 I've had the elements of this doll on my work table for over a year now. It seems like with found object assemblages there is always the dilemma of how to connect the pieces. The materials aren't consistent enough from piece to piece and may not behave properly when you're trying to nail, staple or screw pieces together. A piece of very dried out wood that may have loads of character might just simply splinter as you're nailing or screwing into it. Or it turns out that your substrate really is a fiberboard that turns to dust and "wallers" out rendering your efforts useless. The familiarity of tried and true materials definitely make for less frustrating work. Such is the challenge of  art using thrift shop and found pieces.

She's no Candace-

 but the creation is all mine except for the polymer clay cabochon face.

I'm open to suggestions for a name  for this one.

 Her head is a polymer clay face glued to amber glued to a large vintage button and wired and fastened to the round piece of wood that I found at a dump site. I picked up the broken mirror and latch nearby. I had been trying to sell these rather dull vintage buttons as a set and they presented themselves to me on my worktable as viable arms. One leg is a metal bit that I picked up on the street and the  measuring tape is a garage sale find from a broken windup tape.

I took a picture of our favorite gal lounging in the wild irises  this weekend at 9:30 PM close to Solstice.

The ribbon that Corrine from Dosfishes adorned her cape matches perfectly!

Here she is at almost midnight among the black spruce trees at my friend Heather's place.

We'll be hearing about her adventures with Heather soon.

Hi Ho Silver, Candace Rides Off Into the Sunset

Candace arrived in New England to visit Corrine from Dosfishes and got to enjoy their horses. I have a few more pics of her relaxing after her harrowing 2 week journey from Toronto to New England but they're on my laptop presently, I'll post them later.

An 1800 pound horse named Henry and a

1,500 hundred pound horse named Tyco were

no match for Candace.

Here she is getting up close and personal for

a pat. and a little smooch...

Henry is a 30 year old percheron/clydesdale mix and Tyco

is a 4 year old percheron paint.  They are best buddies and

groom each other every day while out grazing. Candace loved

it.

She soon swung up to ride bareback on Henry off into the sun...
one little tiny hand holding his mane.

David was there to provide a boost up!  Bandit would have been

a better choice but he was having none of it.  Candace was sad

and throwing a little bit of a tantrum as she looked at the ground.

Wild mini ponies have a mind of their own...

Candace will be traveling with us to Boston

over the weekend  for some more arty adventures...

Check out more about Candace

here.

Candace goes to Toronto

This time we sent Candace out of the country to visit a man! Not just any man but a man that self describes as "Over seven feet tall, an award-winning competitior in the nude biathalon, pursued by thousands of rich women, John has an active imagination."  on his Facebook page. Actually he's a prize winning poet and collegiate professor  and photographer just so nobody gets the wrong idea about Candace again.

Candace celebrates the launch of the KLOC DOC at the East Scarborough Boys & Girls House.

KLOC ( Kids Looking Over Cameras) is a video made by local youth in the East of Toronto on a summer arts and activism program by the grassroots NGO Por Amor.

Further east in bucolic Bloomfield, Ontario, Candace lends her lap to a new friend, a wooden bird found on the beach at Sandbanks Provincial Park.

Candace considers becoming a biker chick..... but it's hard to hold on when your arms only do THIS!

Candace goes to the beach.

Yay! Candace. Or should we call her Canadace now?

See the side bar for the original post  "Candace Wants to Travel"

Candace Goes to Boston

Candace is excited to go on a train but gets a bit TOO enthusiastic.

Don't walk on the rails, Candace!

Candace at the historical North Church in Boston by the infamous "Two if by land, One if by sea" window.

Candace, once again showing her trashy side.

In the company of some really fast runner women getting ready for the Boston Marathon.

With her Auntie Betsy at the finish line. Betsy finished the marathon!

Getting her beauty sleep with Auntie Betsy.

Hanging out in a REALLY OLD graveyard.

Candace took a plane trip to Boston with her Auntie Betsy and Uncle Matt to watch Betsy run the Boston Marathon. My excuse that my sister runs marathons and I don't is that SHE IS SEVEN YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME!. (so there!) I'm pretty proud of her actually.

I agreed that she could go on another adventure with them as long as they kept her out of harms way. She does seem to have some narrow brushes with danger with them.

Candace Goes To A Virtual Birthday Party!

Some surprising things are happening. I'm finding that Candace is able to do more than physically travel around the world. As far as I know she was coming back from Boston and heading to Toronto and I find that she attended a virtual birthday party for Kass from "The K is No Longer Silent" and "Redoing the Undone" hosted by her friend LimesNow from "Ramblings from Yet Another Stranger On the Bus."

Both of these gals will be receiving Candace later on, we can't yet predict when. They're mighty anxious to host her arrival so in the virtual world it is possible to take matters into you own hands!

Candace goes to Seattle

Candace with the Fremont Troll

All I've been told is that this is the ne'er do well that tried to kidnap her.

My sister tells me that she's trying to pick up tricks on the Aurora bridge but that's just false rumor and conjecture. Can't a gal just sit and enjoy the sun in a well trafficked area without people speculating what her purposes may be? I know Candace and she's not like that!

Candace with Lenin

It seems that Candace's adventures have started. I thought that a nice visit to my sister in Seattle would be a mellow affair but it appears that there may have been shenanigans. I didn't get the details but she mentioned some escapades in passing so I can only tell you what she told me. All she said was that some ne'er do well tried to abscond with her and I don't know the full story of how she was saved from the miscreant.

My brother-in-law, Matt Hagen happens to be a quite decent photographer as witnessed here at our Alaskan wedding so certain parts of her visit were documented. As I said I only got snippets of what actually happened. (and it appears some may be just rumors)

Let's hope that her visit to Boston with my sister will be a tad more wholesome and safe.

To see the original post on Candace and her journey stop by here.

Update on Candace

Please, can Candace stay with us?

This was sent to me from Lorna at Artymess

Here's a little update on Candace's itinerary- I've sent her off with a schedule of the next 6 people. Some requests have been coming in since then and since I had left it up to the last person on the list to send to whomever they choose, it will be out of my hands after that last person receives her. If you'd like to be involved at that point perhaps the best thing to do is to follow her trip here on my blog and get in contact with another recipient through their site. I'll be posting links along the way. If my last recipient on my list wants to make up another list that will be up to her. I'm thrilled that so many of you have wanted to participate!

Thanks so much, Kim

Candace Wants to Travel!

Candace, just a few miles from the Mexican Border

Bisbee, Arizona

Not a good idea to lean up against cholla cactus!

Candace came from a collection of rag dolls that my mother started collecting back in the early eighties from a local woman in Waterville, Maine. The woman was selling them for next to nothing and they had that folk/outsider art charm which led my mother to amass quite a collection. A collection that has become my legacy, my inheritance! Mom collected dozens of them and shared her source with other friends that lovingly grouped them on their sofas and nooks of their houses. She named them "Messalonskee Moppets" for the river that runs through that part of Maine.

I've been sharing them on Etsy but have come to realize that Candace is in need of some adventure in her life.

Candace does what she can to overcome her plain looks. Her eye replacement operation is still evidenced however you can see a hint of sadness in her very square face.

Perhaps a trip around the world will give her the joy that she very much deserves. I think even hemming her dress could brighten her spirits or any other sort of embellishing.

What I'm proposing is that we could send her from artist to artist, blogger to blogger. We'll need to document her trip. I'll post the photos here on my blog when she arrives at each destination.

I'd be happy to see her posing with your art or a spectacular place famous or private, garden spots, whatever ..... it's up to you! Some embellishing would be acceptable too although we don't want her to get too heavy for mailing. After I post her newest destination, you can put on your own blog as well with a link to mine. When you receive her take her photo, give her some attention, add a story if you like and send her on her way. I'd like her to return home after a year. I'll include a journal to document her world tour. You can decorate that too if you're feeling ambitious.

I'm thinking to begin her journey we can start with the first commenters here that would like to participate. I'll pick the first one randomly and we'll go through the list here. After that it will be up to the last recipient whom they would like to send it too.

I've made up a little journal for her too for people to record her story, and leave names and blog sites or even decorate.

Alright, we have some takers! I'm going to send her off tomorrow and we'll leave it to Kim from Gerushia's New World to send her off to the person of her choice. I've got the rest of you that responded on my list in this order - Betsy, John, Corrine, Heather, Cat, Kass and then Kim. we'll see how it goes after that! She's packed up an on her way now. Come on back and track her journey!