Hook-in at Carol's

Carol's primitive cat...almost done...love it!
Maren's beautiful flowers...made into a pillow with great trim.
Barbara's fun flowers...love the earthy part on the bottom!
Penny's "Flora"...great mix of colors and textures of wool...like a walk in the woods...
Sue's vibrant "Flora" creation...WOW!
Katie's soft "Flora"..with felted centerpiece...(made in a day!)
Jean's...Home piece in progress...
Anne's very fun piece..inspired by a New Yorker cartoon from 1971!

These are a quick sampling of the Flora pieces from our Hook-in challenge for May. All so different and fun. We had a great time hooking and visiting and sharing wool and stories at Carol's art filled home in Carpinteria. We had yummy brownies, a berry crumble and lemonade for refreshments and set up our next challenge for August..."Fauna"... Several of the ladies are going to the Cambria Rug Camp in June and invited us to come up for the show and tell part.
I'll post more photos and close ups of rugs later....

another quick post....

This pillow was an experiment using lots of different yarns and textures to see how they would hook up. I first sewed the bird print into the center of some monk's cloth and then hooked around it...fun to try different fibers and techniques.


This is a little piece that I found in an Antique mall in Nova Scotia...such intricate work! I think it is a napkin ring....
View this morning out my art studio window....I usually can see the Pacific Ocean and the Channel Islands...but today it is raining and overcast...unusual for this time of year. Our vegies on the deck seem to like it though! (But not the feather bed that was airing out...eeek!)
And here is a view looking up at our loft...once my art room, now Justin's bedroom....the hand carved wooden crow came from Nova Scotia...I wish I had gotten 2 more of them!I'll try and get a close-up of him later....off to the store again....I'm late!

Quick post...

Here's the little embroidered village so far....and some fun bird fabric that reminds me of Tara for some reason! Now I'm off to take Justin to school and drive to Ventura for work...

Busy week...

Some brightly colored wool for hooking...sent to me by a dear and generous friend...(T.M.)
Hooked bird, now stuffed and ready for some legs...
Bird and friends.....all awaiting bird legs....

This week I will be working at the Plumbing & Hardware store replacing our regular register person who is on a week vacation...so I may not get to Blog as much as I would like to. Of course I still have lots of fiber projects going on...can't wait to start on a new bright hooked bird for Elizabeth in Australia...finish up a fiber assemblage piece for a show in June at Art From Scrap, fiber jewelry to sell at Artfiberfest...more samples for my classes....fiber ATC's for our group...need to make 11 cards with birds....finish my piece for our hook-in this Sunday...and keep sorting all that wool and fabric I've managed to collect.....and I'm sure there is more.

After working I rushed home, changed clothes and went with my son, Jason to honor the seniors at his school for their Outstanding Academic GPA's and community service. I can't believe that my cuddly little boy is now about to go to college! He has a bit of "senior-itis" right now...but I'm proud of all the work he has put in this year and I love him to pieces, even though he won't let me hug him anymore....

Birds

Almost finished hooking this Bird last night, just a few more rows to go...
And I made this little piece on the new Embellisher to try it out. Things change shape and disappear into the felt at times, so I need to keep playing with it to really know what I'm doing.
But I think it will be a fun tool and I can't wait to do more experimenting with it.
Off to the Plumbing-hardware store today......Oldest son, Jason has his Prom tonight but is being very mum on the details.....guess that is normal for 18 year old boys....

Hooking dolls....

These are stamped faces that I may use on the rug hooked dolls. I also like to embroider the faces and sometimes hook them, too.
These are two doll bodies that I've hooked. I used wool that was already in my rug hooking basket and didn't think too much about what colors I was going to use...they just sort of "happened".
A Green flower? Another unplanned piece of hooking just using what was in the basket.
These are the drawings on burlap that I use to make the doll body. I later add felted wool arms and legs when I'm sewing them up.

and here is the bird that I started to work on last night...purples, blues and rose colors. I think I am going to try and mix it up a bit on this guy!
And I picked up my Embellisher yesterday! I'm still staring at it and wondering what to do! Too many choices....but I am excited at all the options and the opportunity to have more ways to play with fiber.

Fiber collage.....

A small fabric collage that I've been working on.....I actually made the little silk bird for another piece that I'm working on, but it seems to fit in here...so I may let it stay.
And this little guy is going off to a new home tomorrow as a teacher gift, for a pre-school teacher who likes squirrels.

finishing up and starting ....

Just started this little embroidery piece...inspired by the stamped patch on the back of my flannel jacket....below...I can work on this while doing register at the store when it slows down in the afternoon.

These 2 crows finally got their legs!
and here is my latest Fiber ATC for our group for May...all kimono silks...

Happy Mother's Day to Women Everywhere!

Here's an odd assortment of pictures to honor Mother's Day!

To all the women (and men) out there who nurture, teach, love, hug, play, feed, clean, drive, encourage, comfort, and all the other stuff mother's do...have a wondeful day!

We are off to visit Dennis' mother in Los Angeles and all his brothers and sisters and their children and grandchildren and great grandchildren.....
I got some nice hand made cards from my boys and Dennis said to get that "Baby lock" embellisher that I've been wanting...(I did have to hint, hint on that one!)

The Mexican tin shrine usually hangs in my kitchen...I love the colors and brightness.

Peruvian mummy dolls...I love the old textiles used and the sweet faces of the babies...I found these about 20 years ago on a Textile trip to Peru and Bolivia. (Before kids.)

A rose in my neighbor's yard.

I just think this label is fun and the tea was pretty good.

Sweet sleeping Maddy in Pepa's arms....(Syd's grandbaby)

Susan Halme's mama kitty with her babies....my son has picked one out already, so we will have a new kitty soon!

Two birds

Just finished these two birds. Spring cleaning is calling to me.....working on one room at a time. Made new little curtains for the kitchen window and door...still need to tackle the wool that has taken over our living room/art studio annex.... maybe tomorrow...?

Door mat, plate and PMC

See why I couldn't resist this door mat??? love all those birds!
And this plate .....and there are others just as wonderful! (found at Anthropologie..)
these are some of the Precious Metal Clay charms I've made...now to DO something with them!
I want to make a necklace with the little birdhouse one...the tiny heart and "M" charms were gifts from my pals....
Close up of the little Bird house...inspired by the article by Catherine Wetherall in Belle Armoire Jewelry issue a while back. She also taught at ARtfest and I loved her jewelry at Vendor night...!
There are really good directions on how she makes her PMC jewelry in the magazine...a really cool bird charm too!

New bird, Tea pot, and mushrooms

Here's my latest hooked bird..made last night...I think I may give her striped legs like the one I made for Syd...with high heels...
And I think the "tea party" piece is finished. I hooked a couple of rows around the edge for fun..

And I was downtown Santa Barbara on Friday and saw these Giant mushrooms in the window of Pierre La Fond's and had to take a photo! I still love these red and white mushrooms....they remind me of Scandinavian fairy tales and gnomes and magical places.... And they look great as store window displays, too!
I took a quick look inside Anthropologie and came home with a couple of things! A new doormat with birds...couldn't resist...and we needed a new one anyway...and a plate by Nathalie Lete with mushrooms that I loved! The bird doormat would make a great design for rug hooking too....will try and get a photo tomorrow...

Kaffe Fassett comes to town...

A new line of knitted scarves will be coming out soon...based on Scandinavian folk designs...love the colors!
A quilt made using Kaffe fabrics that will be raffled.
Little rolls of Kaffee fabric for sale...
I'm all smiles as I get to meet Kaffee himself after the lecture.

My art friend Carol Ledig and I went to Kaffee Fassett's Kaledioscope of Color Lecture last night
in Ventura. It was a power point presentation of highlights of his work including patchwork designs, needlepoint, mosaic, painting, and knitting designs. so inspired by his wonderful color combinations and all the areas that he explores. He said he usually has about 6 projects going on at once.....sound familiar?
Have to get to work at the store...so just a quick post...more later...

Here come the Bugs!

Made these fun little bug or beetle pin cushions last night....it was late at night and somehow I pulled out dark navy blue for the Lady bug instead of black...oh well! I guess we need better lighting.
I'm not sure what these are...tiny pillows? or maybe pincushions... but they were fun to embroider while I was working at our Plumbing-hardware store...this is one of Syd's quotes.

Primitive Kitty

Here's a funny little Primitive cat that I hooked the other night. I drew the design a while back and thought I'd just use neutral colors that I already had in my wool basket. I was inspired by the wonderful work of Maria Barton. I'd seen her ads and articles in Rug Hooking Magazine and thought you should know about her if you don't already. She has been hooking since 1992 and has a pattern company with the most delightful designs. I love that they all seem to have a touch of humor to them. So if you like to use patterns, I'd check out her website....see below!