SNOW!

Woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow! It was very cold last night and although we do usually get at least one snow storm up here on the mountain...this was kind of late in the year. Boys still had to go to school...they always hope for a "snow day" but the bus still came and I got cozy with some hot chocolate and went back to bed!
This little Gnome is hoping for some warmer weather...

A Lovely Heart

The most wonderful birthday surprise came in the mail yesterday! I love this felted pink wool heart with it's tiny beads and vintage ribbon and button embellishment from fiber artist and fellow ArtFiberFest attendee, Debbie Lewis. Thank you, Debbie....what a sweet surprise!

Squirrel is hooked...

Here is the completed squirrel...Next step will be to sew the backing, then stuff and sew up the opening....hope to do this on Wed.

Starting to hook a Squirrel...

Here is what it looks like at the beginning of one of my "squirrel" hooking projects. I sketch on the linen burlap with a Sharpie and then outline with wool and then "fill in" with various shades of wool. My bent tip hook is my current favorite. Hope to finish this little guy while watching the Academy Awards tonight....
MY "Puritan" rug hooking frame that I've used for years and my favorite hook with the bent tip...

Love and Happiness....

Love and happiness is what I am feeling after the most wonderful birthday party on Wed.

Here is the funky hooked bird with party crown that I made for Syd. It also has a party hat. This was inspired by a painting that I bought of hers at the Queen of Arts Show in November. We both celebrated our birthdays yesterday at her new workspace and classroom, the Art Clinic in Solvang, CA. Syd made the cool invitation using a photo from ArtFiberFEst that Pam Garrison took just before leaving. Our great group of art ladies (Penny, Maren, Patti,Colleen, Susan,Cindy, Barbara, Syd, Me, MIA- Pepa and Susan B.) gathered for a delicious lunch of curried chicken salad, pasta salad, mixed green salad, sundried tomato and goat cheese quiche, and fresh bread. Desserts included lemon tart, chocolate mousse cups, dark chocolate fortune cookies, and madelaines.
We had Goodie bags, small gold crowns, leis, and buttons for everyone.....Syd and I received the most wonderful gifts from our very generous friends. It is so fun to have such a great group of artists to play and celebrate with. We all have traveled together to artfest, art & soul and other fun adventures and ended up meeting to make art and teach each other our specialties. Syd and Carol Kemp's Art Clinic is now a great place to gather and "make stuff"....Thursday is the "open" day to work on whatever you want to bring in.... go take a peek if you can...they also offer some really fun classes for all levels...from ATC's to basic drawing... 1576 Copenhagen Dr, Solvang...

Photos to follow of the incredible presents from our art pals.....

Birthday fun...

Syd's fun invitation to our party!


Penny and Maren at the Art Clinic..

Birthday fun....

I LOVE this wooly kitty that Penny found at Imagine......
Day of the Dead mermaid from the Folk Tree and Penny
Colleen Darling made the most incredible embroidered pillows for Syd and I. I love the blue bird, don't you? The photo doesn't do justice to her beautiful work...but I had to take photos inside on a rainy day...

Presents.....

What a great way to package fabric! From Patti, plus Gift Certificate for art materials! And Colleen's heart card...
From Pepa...the wonderful Mexican folk art mermaid candle holder...Syd made the wonderful mermaid doll with attitude and green velveteen tail & sequins...plus more gifts...paper doll book, cool material, tin crow, and little Japanese dollies....
More fun gifts from Barbara, Colleen, & Syd


Hand dyed wool and a packet of hand dyed cottons that Maren got at the Houston Quilt Show...delicious!

Cool Presents....

Can you believe that Susan Halme gave me one of her paintings!?! I love her work..and she does them so quickly, too...love the layers and cool colors...she also gave us a box of delicious treats from her bakery in Solvang...a must visit if you are ever in the area...has a great gift shop, too! The Solvang Bakery **460 Alisal Rd.**Solvang. CA 93463+++ in case you find yourself in the Santa Ynez Valley....Fresh breads and treats galore...you will not be disappointed!

a fun wall hanging from Cindy O.... I added the wooden tulips...
Stuffed crow from Maren...


gnome from Syd..

In Honor of my Mother...

Today is my mother's birthday. She was born in 1917 and would be 90 if she hadn't passed on way too young at age 48. I started this metal pin with the photo of her and her father in Thomas Mann's class at Art & Soul in Asilomar 2006. It fit perfectly in the fiber shrine I made in Keely Barham's class...my first attempt at needle felting.... (and one of my all time favorite classes)...
My mom was a very cool mom. She had an art room filled with prints, art supplies, and a paper cutter. She didn't sweat the small stuff...like broken lamps from my brothers rough housing and hide and seek games throughout the house. She painted water color landscapes on our camping trips and taught bookbinding, fashion design, and art education at Cal State LA and UCLA. She took me to art musuems all over the United States and always encouraged us to be creative and use whatever art supplies we wanted. She filled our house with art of all kinds and had a wonderful smile.
She also had a great sense of humor, started UCLA at age 16, had a radio show in high school, and went to school with Mickey Rooney and Lloyd Bridges. I still miss her and when I get confused or stressed out I say to myself..."I want my mommy!" Well, somehow it seems to work...and I just wanted to honor her and hope she is having a good time up in Art Heaven! Later this week I am going to So. Pasadena to visit one of her old friends who has a box of her old collage materials...can't wait to see what is in there...

Fibre Arts Design Studio Class...

Here is Wo holding a beautiful sleeping Sam who is holding one of my mini-quilt samples....


We had a fun class in Ojai on Monday teaching the Mini Art Quilts....3 students plus one 4 week old adorable baby boy named Sam. The class is from 1-3pm and everyone was still stitching away at 5pm! Some photos of students at work..

Valentine's Day ATC's

Here are the wonderful ATC trades I received on FEb 14. Mostly heart themed but a few
"pigs" in honor of the Chinese New Year.

Mini Art Quilt squares

On Monday, I will be teaching a class in "mini Art quilts" or as Wo likes to call them "Pocket Patches"....at the Fibre Arts Design Studio....in Ojai...these are fun to make...all hand sewn and fun to embellish... Can be connected to make a book or sewn onto a garment for a real pocket!

ATC's...(done quickly)

Some fabric ATC's that I made for yesterday's group meeting. We had a great turnout and the cards were flying around so fast and furious that I forgot to take photos! Will post my new cards tomorrow...today I've got to take the boys to school, take my beach walk and go to Syd's ART CLINIC and prepare for our upcoming Birthday Bash on Feb 21.

Antique Valentines....

from my mother's collection...

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!!!

And below is
Penny's wonderful Valentine ATC from 2006. She made a special one for each of us with our name on it.
Today we have our local ATC meeting at the Good Cup Cafe at 4:30pm...should be some fun new ATC's to share. Most of mine are fabric in one way or another....

Hearts in my House....

Bottle cap heart mirror...

This is a hand painted
wooden house blessing
that I made for our
family years ago. I hang it over the fireplace.

Thomas Mann makes wonderful jewelry and sculptures and does very cool things with hearts.
Mostly fabric hearts...
In honor of Valentine's Day I thought I would photograph some of the hearts that find themselves around my house. Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE hearts. Maybe because my birthday is in February or maybe because I loved making valentines when I was growing up or maybe because my mother collected antique valentines...who knows? But they seem to find themselves in my art quite often....could be because I LOVE to make stuff....and I try to put THAT into what ever I am working on...

Fiber ATC Banner from Tracie!!!

A wonderful surprise came in the mail today! Tracie Huskamp sent me the sweetest ATC banner from our Fiber ATC Valentine Exchange....Everyone came up with different words and designs...all so creative and wonderful....Thank you, Tracie...(she made this one).....
you can visit her at her blog..
http://www.thereddoor-studio.blogspot.com/ to see her other fun creations...houses are a specialty...and she has a shop, too. She made us a special package for the banner too! I love it!
Sorry about the photo...not the world's best, but I just wanted to get it up here...because I'll be working tomorrow at our store and then Sunday I'll be teaching a rug hooking workshop with my friend, Carol at the Treasure Hunt in Carpinteria.

Fuzzy hearts...

And here we have some hooked and stuffed hearts...freshly made...and ready to be delivered.
Note: center heart has a small "door" that opens for a tiny picture.

New House!

Here is my latest Hooked House....It is stuffed like a pillow and will be shipped off shortly...
Got an order for more stuffed hearts from "Imagine" for Valentine's Day if I can get them made quickly. Also need to re-send my Artella interview....will post it when it is part of the Daily Muse e-letter....so stay tuned.
Need to get my life back together (and my poor house)...friends came from far away for a Memorial service this weekend and I just let everything go...my poor family...and I missed blogging too....SO hopefully I will have more new things to show soon...and THANKS for visiting!
All of us bloggers enjoy your comments and if you have questions about rug hooking just e-mail me and I will try and be of help.