Spotted owls

Two spotted owls that I just finished up.

Off to work at our hardware store tomorrow and then Sunday the rug hookers are having a summer lunch party. Will be good to see everyone again, it's been a few months since we met last.

Owls and Henry...

Two little owls that I made last week. Having fun with some new design ideas...

 

A spotted owl for a change...I am working on one that has colored spots for a friend....

 I have 5 new owls in the works right now in addition to several other art projects that are half finished.

 

And here is the handsome Henry posing for the camera.....he really is a character..

Renegade Craft Fair and more....

Four art friends took off  for Los Angeles early Saturday morning to attend the 2nd Annual Renegade Craft Fair. We all had fun looking at the handmade crafts from over 250 artists. Loving textiles like I do, I couldn't resist buying this new bag from "rebe" or Debra Weiss. I love how she combines and reuses colorful embroidered cloth from all over the world. My older and larger bag was looking a bit shabby from about 5 years of constant use so I went for a  slightly smaller version and I am loving it!  Following are photos from our day at the Renegade and our lunch at Philippe's, a traditional lunch spot in LA and worth the wait in long lines for their great sandwiches.

We stopped to visit a few fun stores on Third St., New Stone Age, free hand Gallery, and Plastico, grabbed a ice blended drink and headed home in time to attend the reception and silent auction at Art From Scrap where we all had art on display at the assemblage show and fund raiser. A fun busy day with good friends!

Beach days

I have been feeling like a mermaid lately with all my ocean visits and swimming as the water gets warmer and warmer. We had a summer beach reunion at Tajiguas Beach as dolphins swam by and music and singing kept us company. More beach days followed as some of the art girls met at Refugio for a nice day of sun and water.

 

 Just had to show you the beautiful bloom on my second artichoke flower!

It changes everyday and I can't wait to go out and see what is happening each morning as I water our little vegetable garden.

 

 This is Refugio Beach, up the coast a bit from Santa Barbara. Great place to spend the day, take a walk out to the  point where the surfers enjoy the waves, and cool off in the healing salt water of the Pacific. I rode my boogie board out past the breakers and got yards away  from a pod of dolphins swimming by. Overhead I counted 35 pelicans flying by in formation...happiness!

 

A few of my finds from the last beach walks at Goleta.

I always pick up the colored tile pieces for future mosaic projects that I hope to do....and of course can't resist a few more heart rocks!

 

I took this photo of my friend Lise, one of the most creative and funny people I know. I did not know that she had all this amazing work done on her back until we were at the beach reunion. I asked to see it and she pulled off her top! I said...let me get a photo! We both have boys in college and she is a grandmother.

I got my ears pierced when I was 16 and that is about as daring as I am .....

 

 Our friend, Judy came from Florida to visit after 35 years and invited us to a rooftop wine and cheese event at the Canary Hotel in downtown SB. I had never been there and heard it was decorated with wonderful textiles. I took a few photos of the embroidered cloth on the 5th floor and had a hard time getting to the wine and cheese...too many beautiful fabrics to examine...lots of ikats from Indonesia and masks from New Guinea. 

Tomorrow a group of us are off to Los Angeles to check out the Renegade Craft Fair...Art Girls Field Trip!

 

Bangie from Borneo

This is Bangie from Borneo who came to visit Santa Barbara after attending the Folk Art International event in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She gave a weaving demonstration at the SBMA gift store. In her village everyone knows how to weave and do beadwork. All of her silk is hand dyed using natural dyes. The dark color is indigo and the yellow is from porcupine quills. It takes her 3 months to weave up the warp which is two pieces of completed fabric. There were many beautiful pieces of fabric for sale as well as woven hats, scarves and bags. Many thanks to my friend Kate who called me on her cell phone and told to come down and see this wonderful weaver and her beautiful work. A local member of the Fiber Arts Guild , Norma translated all of my questions to Bangie and that was much appreciated as well.

I'm off to the beach today for a reunion of  friends from the 70's!

 

New things....

I finally finished up this blue bird with legs.

And these are all the hooked pumpkins that I have been working on. They make a fun little family.

 

The hills are getting dry these days....some of the plants I walk by on my 2 mile mountain walk each day.

Makeover...

A big "thank you" to my friend Tara Ross for my blog makeover! I got myself in trouble trying out the new templates and couldn't go back to the original design. So Tara rescued me and I love how she rearranged things and gave me a new banner. Thank you, Tara!

I started fooling around with some water colors in my new visual art journals...these are just a few pages I've started with...

And a new felted wool sweater owl...still needs some wings...I'll get to that later tonight.

 

Owl family gathering

The owls gathered for a family portrait before being sent off to my friend Terrell Powell in Texas who is taking them to Folk Fest. Hope to get a few on my etsy site before I send off the rest.

 

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In the Garden...

This morning I went out to plant more lettuce seeds and had to stop and take a photo of our blooming artichoke. The color is close to the Jacaranda's flowers that are still blooming everywhere in Santa Barbara.

HAND/EYE

My new issue of Hand/Eye just showed up. The color photographpy is really beautiful! Can't wait to get cozy tonight and read it cover to cover. I think I will have to re-subscribe...
Here is Jason's kitty on top of a little bird I appliqued and embroidered. They always seem to find the piece I am working to to take a nap.
And Henry is taking his morning nap...
I'm off to take Justin for an overnight and do a few errands....just heard about a new ice cream place...tell you later!

Berry Crumble

Here's what I made this morning for my boys. I didn't use a recipe, just kind of threw everything together that sounded good! I used raspberries, blackberries and blueberries with a little lemon juice and sugar. Then made a crumble for the top with brown sugar, butter, oats and flour. I had to bake this in our toaster oven and I think it came out pretty well. My son is eating a bowl right now with vanilla ice cream and a little whipped cream on top. During our remodel we haven't had a "real" oven now for months! I found this small size baking dish at a thrift store and it is coming in handy and I feel like I can bake again. It 's been foggy and cool here in the mornings with the sun coming out in the afternoon- so a little baking felt like a good thing to do. That and a little rug hooking or stitching and sorting two or three boxes in my art studio!