A Look Back...

Some photos from past projects...dug into the Archives ....these are things I've made a while back....

Owls and plates....

Here are my latest owls all finished up. I made the barn owl for my Aunt Dodo who lives in San Mateo. She is just one of the sweetest, kindest most supportive people in my world and her daughter thought she needed one of my owls...so here is who showed up...(no pun intended).

And we had a nice, quiet family Thanksgiving. I decided to make it fun by using my thrift store finds for the table. I let each boy pick out a plate and used place mats from Japan and napkins from Guatemala. My husband, Dennis, choose white...he likes to "see" his food. Somehow I started collecting plates when I decided to do some stepping stones with mosaics for a school project. Then I couldn't seem to stop...so I check out the plate section at our local thrift store for anything fun or interesting and use them for the boys' snacks. Sometimes I will buy a NEW plate if it is on sale or a really cool one at Anthropologie. I loved eating off the Bunnykins plate when I was growing up...my mom bought me a set when we visited Canada one summer on a family camping trip to B.C. I lost the original one in one of our earthquakes and found this one at a discount store and had to have it! I love to have my morning toast on a fun plate... found 2 of those gnomes plates on sale...and had to have them! What's in your cupboard????

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

A spiral on the trail..

local color for the table...

these apples make the best apple crisp!

My weird hooked shoes!

Hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving! We took our annual Thanksgiving hike this morning. We live in the midst of the Los Padres National Forest so there are lots of wonderful hiking trails nearby. One of the boys' favorite places is a hike to a spot they call "Swiss Cheese Rocks." There are pine trees and these huge sandstone boulders with amazing holes that you can climb in. Jason is still healing so he stayed home, but Justin, Dennis and I hiked for about an hour or more. On the trail was this spiral above......I love little surprises like that.

Yesterday I picked apples and made apple crisp and found some berries and flowers for the table. I have the turkey in the oven, the table is set, pies are made and things are smelling good.

I did manage to get those funny shoes finished. I think they would have made better slippers, but ..oh well. At least I can wear them to the next rug hooking meeting and get a little feedback!

And I want to start some new projects besides owls and squirrels....

Oh...and I am thankful for so many things...my family and friends...my home, having art in my life, and YOU...for coming to visit and share your thoughts and ideas and creative adventures.

And a wish that PEACE may prevail on earth.

Owl no. 2....

Owl no. 2 got finished last night. I hope he doesn't look too cranky...I think I will wait a day or two before stuffing in case I decide to change the face a bit. ALso hooked up another doll body. Now to decide whether to embroider or use a rubber stamped face.

And I came up with another weird hooking idea! The doll body shape reminded me of my clogs. I have a pair of Merrell clogs that I have tried to alter with paint and embroidery...not working! So now I have rug hooked two new tops to sew on and hopefully cover my mistakes. Stay tuned to see how they turn out. For the hooking I used a recycled sweater that I felted. It had an interesting pattern and was made in Japan. I liked the label inside...it said "Spring Bamboo"...

And..just got back from having Jason's wisdom teeth removed. So far, so good. He woke up laughing...and is now resting and watching cartoons with Justin. He ate a little Jello with whipped cream....haven't made that in years, but that's what he wanted. Now back to getting ready for a nice small family Thanksgiving.....hope to make some pies today, take a walk and pick some flowers for the table.

New Owl and other things....

Trying out a new Owl shape...sort of short and stocky for a change. Finished one and am working on no.2 in the evenings. Also hooked a new doll body. For the heart shape I used some of the wool from Edge to Edge that Pam G. gave to me. It is so fun to have a new bit of wool to use and a new color to play with.

And somehow I actually got the big table cleared off for Thanksgiving! It is my sewing table and collage table and usually full of various art works half way finished. Now I am collecting fun little things to put on the table...like my mushroom salt and pepper shakers, kachina dolls, a gnome or two, maybe a tiny owl and some wooden acorns. Only down side is that my 17 year old son is having his wisdom teeth out on Wed. and will only want mashed potatoes on Thurs. He has all vacation to heal and rest and I'll be making him soup and soft foods for a few days.

And if I can get it together I may put some kitties in my ETSY shop...I've been meaning to do this for a long time and now that the main shows are over I think I can take a little break from non-stop production and make some one of a kind things.

ATC Meeting for November

We had a great ATC meeting with lots of new faces this month. Our show at Art From Scrap introduced many local artists to ATC's and they came to trade and see what we were all about.
Here we have Judy, Mary and Penny busy trading and Mary's daughter, Madeline who also make cards, in the left corner. I got in a kitty cat mood again and made some black kitties for my ATC's.

Queen of Arts show...

Janet, who makes wonderful jewelry bought my Gnome #2! Part of my display...Penny's cool glass assemblage candlesticks are on the left.

Susan and Colleen's table of bright colors...

Barbara Carr's wonderful felted creations!

Cindy Knight's glittery world of wonder!

Syd, recently returned from Oaxaca made this wonderful show possible for us all! Some of her fun art behind her.....

The Elverhoj Museum, a great spot for the ARt ShowSusan Halme's Solvang Bakery Sign..

Downtown Solvang

Just a few quick photos of the Queen of Arts Show this weekend. Had a great time and a successful show for all. Lots of wonderful handmade art and many friends and locals came and shopped for gifts. We all appreciate your support and good wishes. If you've never been to Solvang, it is a little village in the Santa Ynez valley founded by Danish immigrants in the 1800's. The architecture is like a quaint Danish village complete with windmills and thatched roofs with storks and handmade signs and delicious bakeries. A fun place to hold an art show!

Mr. Gnome and 2 little paintings...

I got Mr. Gnome finished up and 2 more crows hooked last night. Had fun painting these little (4" x 4") canvases.

Crow's feet and bird legs...

Yesterday I made a bunch of feet for my hooked crow's. Today I painted them black and put them out in the sun to dry. They are sitting on the back side of a game board that I use for painting ATC's and other things.....it makes a nice sturdy surface to work on...and could be used someday for book or journal covers. Once I got the legs outside I noticed a few spots that I missed with the paint brush. They are kind of funky looking, but..hey...this is folk art! Now I need to get more birds hooked to go with the legs!

And here is the Gnome that I'm working on for Syd's show..he is holding his pet rabbit....hope to get at least one more of these guys made before Friday!

Kitties in a basket...

Here are the newest black kitties for the upcoming sale. Tried using buttons for eyes on some of these guys. And here is Tiger, our cat being very naughty again....I was trying to take some pictures of the completed flower pins when he attacked!

Hooked pumpkins and a crow...

The pumpkins are all stuffed and ready to go and Mr. Crow just needs his feet. Hope to get them made tomorrow and sewn in the next day. Got the flower pins all completed. Made some more little linen dolls that might become angels, and sewed up aboout 6 more black wooly cats. The Queen of Arts show is 3 days long so I want to have lots of stuff to sell. Now, I may have too much stuff!

Managed to get in a few beach walks this week. These young grey sea gulls were having their own convention. Out in the water were about 100 Pelicans splashing around...so fun to watch!

Now, back to work! I've got stuff to make!

hooked flower pins...

I've been working on those hooked flower pins all day. First I cut them out, leaving a bout 1/2" burlap to turn under. Had to try 3 different glues to get it right. Finally the old glue gun did the trick for getting the edge to stay put. Cut out some leaves from wool felt. Glue gunned the felt back piece on. Now just need to sew the pin back on. Made 17 of these babies...and that is enough!