Queen of Arts Revisited

Had a wonderful day over in Ballard, CA at Syd McCutcheon's country cottage Art Show and Sale.

I managed to make some more owls and a few new hooked items and had a really good show.

My outdoor display at the beginning of the show. We had incredible weather, 79F and bright blue skies.

One of my best customers, Kelley took home Mr. Cat.

I sold  few of the wool applique scarves that I had hanging behind my display.

Things seem to be calming down a bit today. Jason is back on his way to Berkeley and Dennis is working on our breakfast nook. I have another show to do on Friday, Sat. and Sun. in Santa Barbara so can't relax quite yet.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! I am grateful for family and friends, having my boys here together, good health, a home, art to do, nature all around, and sharing my art and adventures with YOU. I always appreciate your comments and visits and hope you all have a great weekend.

I am still setting the table for our family meal later today. I got out my favorite plates from Nathalie Lete that I bought one at a time from Anthropologie for special occasions. I had to get 2 See's turkeys for the boys and invite all the woodland animals too. I made two pies yesterday and got most of the green bean casserole done so we will have time for our annual Thanksgiving hike with the boys.

And that's after driving 6 hours up to Berkeley on Monday to pick up Jason and back on Tuesday.

The fun part was finding the Ethnic Arts store after 19 years and a quick visit to Fourth St.

Will post some more photos soon because I'd better get cooking soon!

Much love to you and yours!

I did get the owls finished for the Queen of Arts REvisited show this Saturday at Syd McCutcheon's home in Ballard.

1860 Cottonwood, Ballard...10 to 4  Hope you can come...40 artists and lots of fun new things!

Rabbit got completed as well and I left in the greenish gray wool.

Still working on mr. cat, almost done!

And the dogs and cats are piling up, getting ready for the next shows.

A little sneak preview of the Ethnic Arts store with their great collection of David Marsh furniture. I have my eye on a dining room table. They are having a sale on Dec. 10...can I make it? We shall see....

Stuffed Mushrooms

I finally got 30 fabric mushrooms finished and sent off today for the Christmas tree at "Muse" in St. Helena, Ca. Near the end of my sewing marathon I had fun mismatching tops and bottoms.

The funny thing is that I didn't have to buy any new fabric for this project. My bin of polka dots was more than enough to provide lots of tops and solids and stripes are also plentiful around here.

Henry helped with the photos outside as usual.

Fun with "Hit or Miss"...

Started work on this funny cat last night. I had so much fun hooking in the "hit or miss" style that I thought I'd try it on something else besides the owls. And below is Owl no. 2. He looks a lot like the last one, but he is a bit different.

owl and rabbit

A colorful new owl I hooked up this week for the next Queen of Arts Show Revisited at Syd's house in Ballard on Nov. 26.  This was fun to do- hooking up a "hit or miss" from all the stray wool strips in my ever growing basket of "worms".

And a new rabbit that I finished up. I really need some better lighting! Notice the greenish strips!

I usually do my rug hooking at night and I thought these were grey. I kind of like it like this but will probably take them out and re-hook in grey. I didn't even notice this until I took it outside for a photo!

And these are some little felt heart necklaces that I made and didn't have time to price for the last show.

The necklace is a 2-3 strand cotton yarn crocheted  piece.

The kitties are sleeping while I sew and get ready for the next two to three shows I have lined up.

Queen of Arts show 2011

Spent two great days at the Queen of Arts show in Solvang, CA. Here is my space at the beginning of the show on Friday. Tried to get some photos of some of the other crafts at the show. Lots of fun art, jewelry  and crafts.

 Colleen with some of her wonderful embroidered creations. I just had to have one of her little cottage pin cushions and the doggie tee shirt for my grand nephew.

Angela makes colorful felted scarves and ornaments and teaches art to kids full time. She went home with one of my mushrooms and 2 foxes.

Syd's fun filled booth and great paintings. Loved all her new dollies!

My neighbor, Ina and her daughter knit these beautiful baby hats and tea cozies.

Marcelino Jimenez creates these incredible mixed media pieces.

Felted wool viking hats for winter days.

Cindy Knight's sparkly world is always a big hit.

Sukey Hughes does amazing dolls, jewelry and paintings.

Georgeanne Alex's kimono silk purses and scarves are exquisitely beautiful. We got to do a little trading.

Sue's fun wall pieces and fiber art.

Here I am holding one of those black wool cats. So grateful to be a part of this great group of artists and thankful for all the support of the local families who always come to see all the new things and purchase our goodies.

New cats, dogs, and more...

I had fun with these black cats. I used a thick zippered sweater jacket from the thrift store for the bodies.

This wool also makes a great backing for some of the hooked items I make.

It's "crunch" time around here. The Queen of Arts Show starts this Friday at 4pm and I am busily finishing up all the projects that I've been working on for the last few months.

This is a funny little linen birdie with "real" pockets...one holds an acorn from our yard.

Thought I'd better make some dogs too! This nice chenille worked out well.

When I found this lovely brown cashmere sweater it said "dogs" to me, so I came up with a couple of weiner dogs just for fun.

The foxes now have all their heads sewn on, but here is how the floor looked the other day as I had to match heads and bodies. All different sizes because I don't use a pattern...just wing it on the sewing machine....well, I did draw the heads before sewing.  Last night I gave them all a polar fleece scarf to wear. I think I made at least 20! Hopefully enough for the 3 or 4 upcoming shows I've signed up for!

Had to work at our store on Halloween on Monday so I brought some masks just for fun.

Dennis, me and Larry in the showroom.  Back to work...have to price everything and still have some little heart and acorn necklaces I want to get together.