Flower fairy pins, unpainted and needing some hair.

Ball jointed dolls wearing silk dresses my mom made. I'm totally obsessed!

Baby Belle enjoying a cream soda at Izzy's during the Lexington Festival.

Mom pleased as can be with our blueberry yield at Graveyard Fields.

I've had a great week - my folks came up for a visit, then Andrew and I went down to Atlanta to see our good friends Anne Choi and Lynn. I really enjoy that city, so much to do and see, although our favorite thing to do by far, was going through Anne's amazing studio and witnessing where all the magic happens. She has neat stuff everywhere and my favorite things (besides the beads) were her vast array of ball jointed dolls. They are like tiny mannequins, posable in a very naturalistic and somewhat creepy way. I love them and have spent hours researching them, their clothes, shoes and also on how to make all that stuff (because I ordered more dolls and they need sassy outfits). It brought back my deep desire to make dolls and produce my own line. Maybe someday I'll get lucky and find a manufacturer.

Saturday we hosted a party for our artist buddies, then went out for drinks afterward a the Flying Frog and new wine bar Vault ( I don't recommend it, terrible service). The next day we went to a picnic and I learned why it is never a good idea to poke a stick into what I thought was a groundhog hole, but turned out to be a bee hive. After getting stung on the hand and taking a fair amount antihistamines, we went to the festival downtown. Folks in Asheville tend to get funky and weird when they get together, sporting unusal ensembles, many including wings, tails and the occasional space helmet. The people watching during an Asheville festival is unrivaled, I think it beats Venice Beach.

We've been crafting like crazy, making art cards, beaded jewelry, flower pins and t-shirts decorated from instructions in Alabama Stitch. We have been having fun and it doesn't look like that trend will be slowing down soon, there's still a lot left on our things to do list.