It's Rhyme Time ~ Make Your Offer!

UPDATE:  Wow, the winning offer has come in, and I am blown away by the wonderful admiration and response I received for Moonsong Moe! Many thanks to ALL the generous collectors who placed bids. I am so very grateful to you! In the end, this very special piece will soon be living with Patricia in Oregon! THANK YOU so very much for your support and love for one of a kind folk art!

I do believe it has been a couple of years since I created & offered one of my collectible Rhyme Time Originals! Unique to my line of one of a kinds, these full-figured fellows each balance atop a decorated ball and include a special rhyme that I have written to accompany the piece. "Moonsong Moe" is my first sitting bulldog, and he was certainly a labor of love with delicate details from the folds in his face to his ruffled collar and his tiny tail. Painted in a Carnival Halloween motif of cream, orange, black and vintage turquoise, he is a collector's delight throughout the year! "Moonsong Moe" is a hand-sculpted and painted folk art curio, standing at 8.5" tall, and certainly unique to the world! I welcome you to study the various images of Moe, here below, read his Rhyme Time poem, and consider placing your Best Offer!

Continue reading this post for more details... 

"Moonsong Moe is one vocal guy,
For at night he sings up to the moonlit sky.
A harmonious howl can be heard high and low,
As the man in the moon reveals his glow.
Mesmerized by the face that lights the night,
Moe perches on his ball and sings with might.
Crescent or full matters not to Moe,
As he is under the spell of the lunar show!"
~ Johanna Parker



About this Blog Auction: This is a unique & fun opportunity for my collecting fans to acquire this special, one of a kind bulldog! If you would like a chance at adopting this Rhyme Time Original, I am asking that you EMAIL ME your Best Offer. What would you be willing to spend in order to possibly accept this collectible piece into your home? I am starting the bids at $350. Bidders will remain private, and I will update my blog daily with the highest Best Offer thus far. Those numbers will be rounded down in increments of 50. So, keep an eye on the wheel image above and do reload this page to see current info. Submit your Best Offer/s once OR as many times as you wish within this 7-day period. On Tuesday July 31st at 9:30 pm EST, I will email all the participating bidders with a Last Call, announcing the current highest offer. Afterwards, you will have until mid-day on August 1st to submit any additional offers. I hope to announce the Winning Offer amount here on my blog by Noon EST on the 1st. You have about a week's time to submit your best offer/s. Anyone has a chance to participate if he or she chooses, and bidders can keep track of the approximated offers here on my blog. 

How to Bid :

Please study the various photos below to see if you would like to adopt "Moonsong Moe."

If he howls to you, then . . . . . . . 

* EMAIL ME with the amount of your Best Offer (johanna@johannaparkerdesign.com)

* Title your email: "Best Offer - $ - - - - - "

* Look for a reply / confirmation email that your offer has been received

As you submit your offer/s, you are welcome to identify yourself or remain unknown. Therefore, you may email me from whatever email account you choose as long as I can reach you in the event you are the winner!  I will be accepting offers until Noon EST, August 1st. At that time, I will review all the offers and post the pending best offer amount. The winner will be notified and will have 24 hours to respond, identify him or herself and start the process of finalizing the sale. The piece will be offered to the bidder of the next best offer, in the event the top bidder fails to respond.

As for emailing me with your offers, please know that I am grateful for your support and any bids of affection. Best of luck!...... Now, let's get started :)

Up for Bids is "Moonsong Moe," an original sculpture by me, folk artist Johanna Parker...

 

Crawling out of the Pages...

Even though it's still just July, I recently received a copy of Country Sampler Magazine's September issue! It's a reminder to all that fall and Halloween are just around the corner. I started flipping through the pages and came across a trio of familiar faces. The Country Treasures section on Page 12 begins with a splash of my Candlestick Spiders! What fun it is to see these whimsical characters featured, and I am grateful that Country Sampler acknowledged me as well. These eight-legged collectibles are practically crawling off the page, and if you would like to adopt a few for your home this Halloween, I would suggest visiting the various vendor sites on my Source Links Page! There are a handful of online stores carrying these curios, and I will also have them available at this year's Halloween Trunk Show. So, go find yourself a copy of this zine in preparation for the harvest season, and many thanks to the folks at Country Sampler for including me once again!

~ Johanna



"Double, double, toil and trouble - these adorable accents by artist Johanna Parker can serve either as spider-topped finials or quirky candlesticks. Depending on your decorating mood, outfit the candleholders with grubby black tapers and spread the spiders around your tablescape, or present a united front by keeping the pieces intact."

Magazine photography & excerpt, © 2012 Emmis Publishing LP




BOO!

Poppies & Clover...

Welcome to the garden! I am truly amazed at what the magic of nature can accomplish in just two and a half months... If you recall, JP and I spent a full day in early May, sowing both clover and poppy seeds across our newly designed, rolling landscape. Little did we know how lush the results would be! For reference, I suggest you take a peek back to my Playing in the Dirt  post to see the astonishing before and after images. Now, it's mid July, and a large portion of our front yard is blanketed in a luscious layer of Dutch White Clover. The knoll in the midst is all-a-buzz with the happiest of bees, frolicking in a colorful mound of poppies! So, it seems my vision for a whimsical garden scape is certainly taking its magical shape. Neighbors and passers-by, pause to ponder the amazing transformation on a daily basis and inquire about the process and the plants. We remind them that it's still a work in progress and a learning experience, but we are overjoyed at the results so far!  So, I invite you to take a walk with me in the garden...



* I can just imagine that a tiny elf & fairy live here...



* Like morning glories, this sweet poppy mix radiates its best mix of hues in the early morning hours...



* The bees were absolutely drunk-in-love with this gleaming red poppy...



* Take a stroll on a winding path that promises to delight your imagination...



* Captured in time, a bee darts from one poppy to the next...



* Just a peek above, peering down at the colorful knoll...



* Soft, painterly poppies sway in the breeze...



* I noticed this little gem ~ a sweet red poppy, trimmed in white...



* Poppies reach for the rays before a field of lush green clover...



* A sweet bee savors the delicacies of this pink poppy...



* Brilliant red poppies add a festive punch to the mix...



* A pair of bees with that glassy-eyed look of love...



* A sweet knoll of poppies adds a touch of whimsy to our landscape while clumps of clover create a whimsical backdrop. Once upon a time, this was a crusty old driveway infested with cracks and weeds...



* The clover fields are polka-dotted in red as we have noticed how much the ladybugs like this new habitat...



* Clover now sprawls and spills over the rocky borders that we painstakingly placed early this year...



* A pebble path snakes around and accentuates all the green...



* And the clover is now starting to flower ~ as a result, the bees are jubilent!



* A dreamy zoom on a clover bloom...



* I recall being quite concerned that my efforts to sow the clover seed had fallen short as there were so many barren patches of earth with no seedlings emerging. Again, this is another reminder that with patience comes reward, and worrying will get you nowhere!  :)



* Another ladybug dangles from a clover leaf...



* Slowly but surely, this garden is taking shape...



* Once barren berms of clay soil are now completely covered in mounding masses of clover! Off in the distance, JP has rigged a 3-story scaffolding configuration which allows him more play on the house, attic and siding...