Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Ornaments by Loveland Sculptors

One of the wonderful traditions Loveland, Colorado has is offering special Christmas ornaments every year. This tradition started 20 years ago with the first ornament created by Cammie Lundeen.

Lundeen loves sculpting horses and was invited to create this year's ornament in honor of the 20th anniversary. Of course she chose to create some loving and lovely horses for this tree trimmer.

Ornaments are available at many stores for $25, or by mail for $30 (which includes the shipping and handling.) But don't expect to get the original for any where close to that--only 600 were made and they are a hot collectible now, with one selling recently for $1000!

To order by mail, send your $30 check to Winter Holiday Council, PO Box 2274, Loveland, CO 80539. Proceeds from the sale of the ornaments pay for holiday displays all around Loveland.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Carving Out Santa

A Loveland couple has amassed an extensive collection of hand carved wooden Santas.

What makes this collection even more amazing is that they created them, all 130 of them, themselves! Jim Siegl is the carver and Helen paints the figures.

They are beautiful and filled with all sorts of details...what a great hobby they have created for themselves.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Gratitude Book


I am super excited to finally be able to let the cat out of the bag...this project has been so much fun and so fulfilling...and for this next part I need YOUR help TODAY, Wednesday, Dec. 15

I have been honored to be asked to be a co-author of an incredible new book: "The Gratitude Book Project: Celebrating 365 Days of Gratitude" and we are going for an ambitious goal--to become an Amazon best-seller!

So if you are looking for an inspiring book, either for yourself or as a gift for a loved one, please consider this book that will provide that inspiration day after day--all year long!

And, feel good about your purchase for another reason: 100% of the proceeds from the Amazon sales go to 4 worthwhile charities! That's right, 100%--we don't get a dime!

The goal is to get as many sales as possible on Wednesday, Dec. 15 in order to hit that best-seller mark. Why is that so important? Well, best-seller status will get us a lot of traction and help us earn more money for these worthy charities.

So who gets the money?
We have selected four non-profits to receive the proceeds from our sales on Amazon:

* ASPCA for the prevention of animal abuse
* FeedingAmerica
* Make-a-Wish
* Women for Women International

How do I order?
Ordering the book is easy,just go to Amazon and search for "The Gratitude Book Project" or you can click on this link that will take you directly there: http://amzn.to/fbXLpN

This book is special to me because it really helps remind us of all the things that we do have to be grateful for...things we often over look. Some simple things and some really big ones, too--like YOU!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Mysterious Sculpture

Imagine waking up and looking out your window and seeing a sculpture. Cool, right? Well, what if it appeared overnight without your knowledge?

Turns out that's what happened to a woman in Boulder...for the 2nd time!

Read this article for more details...I was amazed.

Don't want to spoil the end, but it's too bad it won't stay there long.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Ice Sculpture and Bowling

Ice sculptors in Loveland got into the act, too, during the festivities this week...











Even creating a little bowling alley where you could knock down pins with a frozen chicken which turned out to be a hit with the kids!


Sunday, December 12, 2010

Snow Sculpture Competition in Loveland

Loveland had a snow sculpture competition this year for the first time in...well, I don't know how long. So of course, we probably had the warmest December to date on record! Snow had to be made from local ponds (one of the sculptors told me the snow smelled fishy) and trucked in.




Concrete forms were set up to hold the snow, which was loaded in and then packed down by volunteers. After a day to set, the forms were removed and the blocks of dirty snow were revealed. I noticed large air pockets, which the sculptors called "cancer"...fortunately for this competition they were allowed to help the blocks a little and use "slurry" to fill in voids if necessary.



The snow was rapidly melting in our 50+ degree weather...but the sculptors, using a variety of tools came out with their maquettes and drawings and started to carve.




The works gradually began to take shape over a couple of days as the sculptors worked...








Things were looking pretty grim on Friday...the wind was strong which can erode the sculpture and the temperatures were so warm it was not possible to get to work on the detail.


But, sculptors are intrepid and many stayed up all night or came early on the (thankfully for them) cold Saturday morning...



...and by Saturday evening masterpieces were revealed!



all in all, the event was a big success!