Home again!

 Back home again after my Berkeley adventure. Took my son shopping and out to eat and drove up to the Botanic Gardens just as they were closing. Now I am finishing up things I started before I left and need to take to Artfest later this week. Lots of bunnies it seems.....

 These turned out pretty goofy looking with their felt noses....

 Back in Berkeley...first stop Castle in the Air...this is the front window display.

 I found the Lace museum and store full of things stitchers love...look at all these perle cotton threads!
They had lots of antique lace on display as well as beadwork, petticoats, hats and books.

 Pre-columbian lacework from Peru....

 One of my favorite shops was open and I just had to take a look inside. Tail of the Yak has the most beautiful and interesting things for sale. I bought one of those flower wreaths to bring home...now in my kitchen on the wall.

 Love these crepe paper mushroom with surprises inside.

 More fun stuff....

 Outside windows....

 This mosaic egg is HUGE...
  hmmm..maybe something to add to my garden list....

And Yarnbombing is alive and well in Berkeley! I saw at least 8 poles decorated...I think they were all by
"streetcolor"...a little soggy from all the rain but so fun to see. Four were down by 4th street and the others were up by College Ave. 
Now I am packing and getting things together for our road trip to Washington for Artfest.

Five foxes

These five foxes hope you have a great weekend! Made them yesterday...still getting ready for Artfest!

I am off on a road trip to the San Francisco Bay area. Taking my son, Jason and two friends back to school after Spring break. Hope to get in some fun visits including a new place I heard about...a lace museum and textile shop in Berkeley called Lacis.Driving home on Sunday...

I love the idea of sending off quilts to Japan for the tsunami survivors. In addition to sending money (which I've done) at least it is something we can do as women to help. Check into your local fabric store or quilt guild for more info. I received some info. in an email this week....but I have to take off now..bye!

Two hares....

I had to make a friend for my rabbit. We are between rain storms so I hopped outside to get a quick photo in our front yard.

 Miss Kitty finally got finished up today. She was willing to pose outside in the rain for her photo.

And Mr. Rabbit got sewn up and stuffed and posed in the clover patch. I still need to finish his brother, maybe tonight. So much to do before Artfest. I had a whole day to myself at home today and got a lot done, but there is still much to do to prepare for my workshop and things I still want to make for vendor night. So not getting much blog visiting done...
And son no.1 is coming home from college for a week for Spring break and that will be good. I plan to spoil him by cooking all his favorite dishes. Haven't seen him since January but we stay in touch with texting and email. He says he will take me to the Apple store and help me pick out a new computer...I am excited about that. We have a rainy week ahead. After temps in the 70's and 80's last week...good for sewing and hooking,
but not for my 2 mile daily walks! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Rabbits, birds and hearts....

 Making some fun linen rabbits for Artfest...hope to get some more cats and owls done too.

 The birdie pin cushions got into the bird feeder for their picture. I still need to add tail feathers....

 Little hooked brooches for my rug hooking students at Artfest.

 

I hooked up this rabbit last night and then had to re-work it this morning. I wanted to make 2 rabbits, one in each direction for a local shop to display for springtime. Below is the drawing for tonight's work.

Mother hen...

..

Just finished hooking this Buff Opington chicken for Marci. Will let her sit for a bit to see if I need to make any changes.

Stitching again...

 

I've been busy making circle and flowers to stitch onto the wool scarves that I've collected. I've made about 5 so far, with just a few more to do.

 

I was invited to a doll tea party at my neighbor's house. Just a few of the dolls she has collected. She also has the largest collection of vintage lace I've ever seen and lots of other fun things like buttons and doll clothes.

Our community garden is coming along. Last week we started setting up the place where our beds will be and continued with stump removal.  I think  I did more chatting with the other gardeners than actual work but that's OK. Got tips on where to find a new lighting fixture and a good local place for chocolate covered almonds! Yum!

Out and about ...

 It was a beautiful Saturday morning and I headed off to the Farmers Market early to pick up some things for my boys. So many colorful displays and different musicians playing each week-it is always a great place to meet up with old friends and sample the fresh fruits and vegetables that grow in our area.

 I stopped at the Whole Foods Market for a few more things and had to check out the local Craft Market.
Several of my Santa Barbara Etsy group girls were selling so I  stopped to chat for a bit.

 This is "mint lane"-handmade goodness to make you smile. Loved her fabric choices...great totes and zippered purses and other fun stuff. To see more of her creations: mintlane.etsy.com

 And my friend, Cimmi with her great dolls, owls, bunnies, cats, mermaids and more was enjoying her customers and the live music being played nearby.

 Loved these tiny baby socks by Royanna Robertson of "Way Too Cute Baby Stuff"..only $12 a pair.

 She also made these knitted animals....

One of my friends was selling at the Antique Doll Show today and wanted me to come by so I stopped in and had fun looking at all the beautiful antique dolls that were for sale. There was a woman selling some Steiff animals and I could not resist picking up this cute owl for my collection.
Sunday we have another work day on our community garden. We got our fence up and now we are going to work on the raised beds if it doesn't rain. 

Hello Kitty!

 Just started work on this funny cat doll. Lots of other projects going on as well including the "circle " scarves, bird pins, rabbits, owls and hopefully some fiber jewelry for Artfest.

 We had our meeting of the Creative Females at Pepa's art filled home on Monday night. Katie finished up her Octopus rug which will be a wall hanging in her home up in Cambria.

 

 A close up of the wonderful details....

 We had a guest rug hooker, Carolyn from Nipomo who is starting work on an owl. She brought her beautiful frame from www.goinggray.com that we all admired. Carolyn and Penny are checking out the seaweed on Katie's rug.

 Penny was at the "Circle" workshop a few weeks ago and has been having fun embellishing her scarf with stitches and buttons and beads. We all agreed that the circles can be addicting...it's hard to stop making them and trying out new color combinations and designs.

 Fran put her circles to good use on this wonderful wool pillow. It has a matching partner at home.
Pepa treated us to a surprise birthday cake for the February girls (me and Syd) and coffee, tea and vegies to nibble on. So great to get together with all of these creative women!

 I went out for an early morning walk to check out the trees and boulders and of course the cats had to come too! It's cold and rainy today and time for some hot tea or cocoa and then hopefully I can get some work done.

My boys named this big boulder "Birthday Cake Rock" and used to climb up on top when they were little. Now it's just the cats and me in the forest....