Happy Winter Solstice!

It's been busy around here lately! I managed to hook up a new owl for Christie who owns PORCH in Carpinteria. The little squirrel goes to her granddaughter too.

Five new foxes posed in our front yard for their photo before heading off to Solvang for the Holidays.

Miss kitty has on her new Christmas sweater.

We put up our tree and got it decorated with mostly handmade ornaments.

My shelf is stocked for the Holidays at the Art Hus in Solvang.

Mr. Gnome posed for a quick photo with big rabbit and some paper mache mushrooms I made and put on some birch wood rounds so they would stand up properly.

And the loveliest gift showed up in the mail from Constanza Berger! I just love this little dollie with her pet scottie and real leather handbag. We've yet to meet in person but she is joining us for our Fiber workshop in Oaxaca in February 2014. Can't wait!

I filled up a shelf that has been sitting on the floor for months with fun little mushrooms, gnomes, birds, and hedgehogs.

And out of the archives...a hooked pillow called "Forest Girl"...

and Mushroom House....

Hope your Holidays are Happy and full of Joy!

What I am working on...

I hadn't made a gnome for quite a while so I got this one hooked up finally. Still need to sew him up and finish the back. 

This is my initial drawing on the linen burlap. They always turn out a bit different than the drawing and have their own personality.

A kitty that I made for a friend for her granddaughter.

A drawing on burlap for a hooked squirrel. I started on this last night...

And another little bunch of owl ornaments for the Art Hus in Solvang.

We are in the middle of an Arctic cold snap...brrrr....building fires in the fireplace to keep warm and extra quilts at night! Hope you are staying warm and cozy wherever you are!

A few new things...

I've been busy working on a few new things ....a new rabbit, 2 hooked hearts and

a bunch of little owl ornaments- all made from one cotton knit sweater!

Some more vintage quilt ornaments for our shop...

a funny little doll,

a couple of wooly cats,

and several mushroom ornaments made from some French General fabrics.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! I am grateful for so many things.

Thank you for your visits and your company as we journey on our art filled lives!

PS...I used the Paper Source catalog as a background on the photo...

Indigo Shibori workshop at French General with Kaari Meng

There is just something wonderful about indigo blue! So how could we resist a whole day dyeing cloth indigo blue at French General with Kaari Meng? Colleen and I headed down to L.A. and had a great day with about 15 other enthusiastic fiber lovers dyeing different types of cloth and learning about the different shibori techniques. The photo above is one of my pieces and the following photos are from our classmates showing the different methods we used.

We had different dye pots with varying shades of indigo. To get the rich deep blue color several dips were necessary.

Cloth needs to hang and oxidize between dips to get the nice blue color.

Some finished cloth drying. Some folks did samplers of the different techniques we were taught...folding, stitching and tying.

Books for more information....

And one more piece. We all had such a fun day...if I lived closer I would be taking a workshop every weekend! 

And if you are in the area I am thrilled to be able to teach a rug hooking workshop there this coming Spring! We will be making a small hooked rabbit in time for Easter.

 Class is scheduled for April 12, 2014. Join us if you can.

Some new things...

I finally finished this mobile for a friend's new grandchild. Made from linen with a little embroidery, it has a sort of subdued softness to it.

I've been finishing up other projects that have been waiting in my sewing basket, like this striped wool cat.

....and this rabbit made from some vintage quilt fabric and real leather glove ears.

A new black wool kitty and an owl hiding behind the pumpkin will make their way over to the store in Solvang soon.

In the meantime we are making plans for our next art adventure to Oaxaca in February 2014!

Dia de los Dulces show at Art From Scrap

Here we are..yo, Syd and Colleen in front of our altar..

Such a fun evening at our show opening last Friday! We set up the show and the staff at AFS did some colorful decorating. We made a Day of the Dead altar to share with visitors and had live ukelele music for the entire evening.

These are some of the pieces that I made for the show. We were all busy for the month after our return from France getting ready and creating new work.

We all decorated sugar skulls that were sold to benefit AFS.

Friends and family came to join in the fun...

Art director, Mary Price, center, dressed in her finest Frida attire and organized the best show ever.

Thank you everyone for joining us for the opening on Friday!