Happy Halloween!

We live at the top of the coastal mountain range and a trip to town is down a winding one lane road through oak forests, huge boulders, beside a mountain creek and past a sacred Chumash cave with paintings hundreds of years old. One of our neighbors always makes this time of year fun for all the neighbors by setting up this scene for Halloween near their driveway on a sharp bend in the road.

A witch riding her broom hangs in the treetops....

Large spider about to surprise unsuspecting lady....
Tombstones with hands coming out of the grave....

Another giant spider (on the left) with victims wrapped in spider webs...skeletons are inside the webs....
Looking forward to seeing some trick or treaters this year. Our boys are too old now for costumes and most of the kids in our neighborhood are older or too young, so we will see how it goes. We still have time to carve our pumpkin just in case we have some visitors!

One more little wool owl I made last night. Hope everyone has a great Halloween!

Softie bugs!

I've been busy this week trying to finish up those UFO's for the Queen of Arts show in two weeks. These little "bugs" may need feet...yes or no? They can be pin cushions or just little softies to play with.

Got in a quick visit to the Art Clinic in Solvang. Always fun to visit with the art girls (Sukey and Syd) and see what everyone is up to. We walked over to the new store in town with some great art supplies. A new yarn and fabric store is coming too. More temptation!
Had a good sandwich from the new Fresco shop then back over the mountain for Justin's guitar lesson. Lots of driving this week...

Kitty photos...Henry napping....and

She-ra staying cozy on my hooked rug.

Lots more to show you but most things are not quite done yet....
tomorrow is the Farmers Market and maybe Art From Scrap- as if I need any more stuff!

Owlets..

Sewed up a couple more little owlets last night....

and made some iphone or eyeglass holders... used some left over Peruvian handwoven fabric I had in my sewing basket...
Trying to finish up some of my unfinished projects before starting anything new...we'll see how that goes!

Little bue owl...

Trying out some new things....hooked up this little blue owl just for fun.

Sort of a funny folk art cat...

and two more cats that I am working on...

Owls, cats and bugs...

A couple of linen owls I just finished up. My friend Pepa gave me the cool buttons I used for the eyes on the one on the left.

Two felted wool cats for the Queen of Arts show coming up in Nov.

And some little bugs that I think might make good pin cushions. I sewed up about 6 more this morning in different colors. These are fun and quick to make....you don't even need a pattern.

Mr. Pumpkin

Last week I put a bunch of my hooked pumpkins in my Etsy shop and they all sold! So I got busy last night and hooked up another one. This guy is a little larger and measures 7" by 8". I ran out of stuffing and need to get down to the store and replenish my supply. Hope to make an even bigger pumpkin tonight if I don't get distracted by all the other projects awaiting me.

I was doing some errands on Saturday and just stopped into the Pottery Barn to see if they had anything fun for our Thanksgiving table. I like to put candles and fun pieces of folk art for the boys to look at...anyway I spotted this little set of forest creatures and had to bring them home.
I have rug hooked each one of these before....a few hedgehogs, several squirrels, and lots of owls.
Right now I have a blue jay and several squirrels outside my window playing in the oak trees!

Inside Somewhere...

Inside Somewhere...... a wonderful gallery opening I attended last night at "Just folk" in Summerland. The upstairs gallery featured the work of Jim Bloom who came from Philadelphia for the opening and gave a talk and answered questions about his work. I got to speak with him a little bit and told him how much I enjoyed his work. Jim is pictured below in the middle talking with admirers of his art. I didn't get many pictures of his work....too many people standing in the way...but I did take photos of the wonderful folk art and quilts that fill this incredible space filled with American folk art from all over the United States.

There was live music and good eats all evening....fun people to talk to...






Hope you enjoyed your visit!

Owls and ATC's

A little group shot of the latest hooked owls....

I received this sweet hooked ATC from the talented rug hooker and designer Kim Dubay. She wrote an article in "Rug Hooking Magazine" and instigated a hooked ATC exchange. I hooked up this fuzzy little owl to send to her for our exchange. It was fun to do such a tiny project. The eyes have tiny black beads for pupils.

More owls and a beach day..

Finished up this new little owl with wings. Trying to stock up for the upcoming "Queen of Arts"
show in mid November in Solvang.

Decided to try making some smaller owls and came up with these two....



Spent a wonderful day at the beach with friends, Kate and Anna. Kate got us into Hollister Ranch, a hot surfing spot. I hadn't been to the "Ranch" since I was 18 years old and a surfer
boy friend took us up there so I could watch him surf. The water is clean and the warmest it's been this summer so I had to go in for a dip. Someone built this funny driftwood hut by the beach and I had to take a photo!


Anna and Kate got in some good knitting time while I did a little water color with salt water in my larger visual journal. We saw dolphins, seals, pelicans, red tailed hawks and collected shells and rocks on a long beach walk. A nice relaxing day with girl friends!

Art From Scrap Workshop

I just had to show you the wonderful creations from our workshop today!
A young preschooler named David made this owl and it just makes me smile....

Is this the perfect tee shirt to wear to a "Skeleton" workshop? I love the mask he made....

Here's David with his mask and skeleton hands....

A sweet little girl named Ruby made this wild skeleton lady...

We had adults in our class too! One of my friends who is a preschool teacher made this owl mask for one of her "kids".
All of the materials in the workshop are donated and are recycled goods. Lots of odd things to work with.

Another fun skeleton mask....which later got wire earrings shaped like pumpkins.


A wonderful little owl collage...made from a calendar.

Same artist made this pumpkin face...

I'm always amazed at the fun things that come out of a workshop. I just put up some sample ideas and then all these cool things showed up. We had young children and adults as well and everyone went home with some fun things to decorate for Halloween.
Of course after I got home I needed a nap!

Getting ready...

for the workshop tomorrow....I made some samples to give the kids some ideas of things to make at the Art From Scrap "skeleton" workshop that I will be teaching this Saturday. You never know how many kids will show up-could be 6 or 20! And all ages...so it's good to have a number of things to inspire the creativity in all ages. I will try and take some photos if I'm not too busy.

This is a "Day of the Dead" inspired mask. I made a blank one for the kids to decorate and color in.

I think the fun part for this project will be making hats and clothing for the skeleton to wear.
The arms and legs are connected by brads and are all movable.

Here is my completed Peace Cat that is on its way to Israel right now.

And a couple of wool owls got their spots and wings....!