Hearts...

Heart Week!

I am officially declaring this "Heart Week"! With Valentine's Day coming up and February being my favorite month, I will try and post heart photos from things in my home every day this weeek. Anyone who knows me knows that I love hearts and by now I have quite a few, so get ready ....sending out lots of LOVE to everyone this week....(and beyond!)
First photo: hearts from friends.
One of Syd McCutcheon's heart paintings. I bought 3 of her heart paintings at the first Queen of Arts Show at her home that I went to. Syd and her daughters are all amazing artists that continue to amaze and delight me with their wonderful creations.
A wooden bird with heart that sits on my kitchen window sill ...
Two quilty hearts that are now in my Etsy shop....
Tokens of affection...wonderful heart charms by Thomas Mann, one of my favorite artists and designers!
and here's the progress on my little fabric piece....I've managed to stitch somethings on most every night before bed.

Mushrooms are ready!

I think the little mushrooms are ready to fly off to San Francisco to Sonya, who organized this fun swap. We have forty mushroom lovers signed up for the swap which is now closed, but I am loving seeing what the others are making. There is even a special "flickr" group set up to see what is being created!
Group photo. I did a little more stitching, put a felt border on the bottom so that they will stand up better, and a little "necklace", just for fun. Had to take a quick photo before the rains start again!
Wouldn't this be a great Art Studio? Found this greeting card the other day, called "New Home" by Persimmon Press.

Mushrooms

Worked on these little mushrooms for a "mushroom swap" I decided to enter. I did some more work on them and will wait until tomorrow to take a new photo. Can't wait to see what everyone made.
More kitty photos....sorry about that...but it was a rainy day and the cats were napping together and looked so cute.
Have a great weekend!

Octopi and Valentines....

I carved an Octopus stamp and did some stamping today for an Artfest ATC idea...
a little bit of work on them...more to come...
And these will be for some Valentine ATC's I hope to send out to art pals....more work to do on these too.

Henry likes flowers....

Playing around....

Just having fun playing around with some fabric....I started this "sampler" last night and hope to do some stitching every day on it...inspired by one of Pam Garrison's posts, who was inspired by Rebecca Sower....(why we love the Internet!)....
I borrowed a "Nancy Crow" book from Barbara and got inspired to do a little piecing with black and white...where did that little fish come from? This may turn into a little art quilt....

And more strips...all kimono fabric from the recycle bin at ARt From SCrap!
Couldn't resist this cup for my morning cup of tea from R.Wood Studio. On sale at Imagine...the colors of their glazes are really wonderful and everything is handmade...I bought one dinner plate too.
And this little heart goes off to Jennifer in Colorado today...I couldn't resist adding a little color to the back side....
Had a great birthday dinner last night with my boys. I meant to take a photo but totally forgot...food delicious at Pascucci's on State St., the dessert trio ..gone in seconds! Cheesecake with raspberry sauce, creme brulee with fresh raspberries, and flourless chocolate cake with homemade butterscotch sauce! I'd better get in a serious walk today!

Queenie and funny bird...

I did a little more work on miss Queenie.....I may send her in for the next "Stuffed" magazine and have ideas for something new to send in....now I just need to get started.


And this is a painted and stuffed linen bird I made a while back. I'm still working on his partner.

I'm having a nice quiet day at home...cleaning up some of my art messes, organizing wool and fabric and trying to decide where to go for my birthday dinner tonight with the boys!

Looking back.....

Well, since today is my birthday, I got in the mood to look back a bit at my life.....when I was in 9th grade the English class I was in had to write an autobiography, complete with photos and family history. Somehow it has survived all my moves and travels and I had fun looking at it today. We had to type each chapter and bind it into a "real" book. My mother taught bookbinding and helped me sew it together and make the covers with some nice Japanese paper she had in her art room. I did little water color decorations for each chapter and the title page. For Christmas that year my father bought me one of those red Royal portable typewriters so I could type my book. I remember it was difficult at the time....being a procrastinator....but somehow I managed to finish it by the end of the year. Now it's fun to have because I'm sure that I would have forgotten a bunch of stuff that I wrote about. The school pictures make me laugh, and some of the family photos make me sad...only my older brother and I are left....and I still miss my mother with her great smile, who died while I was in high school.
The title page...
Kindergarten through 4th grade school photos....I'm pretty sure I cut my own bangs for that first photo!
Larry (professor at Portland State), me, my mother, and brother John...
My mother signed me up for ballet and tap dancing when I was 5! This was taken when we lived in Hermosa Beach.
This chapter was full of weird random things that I remembered from my childhood....

Little heart and a Beach walk....

Made this little hooked heart last night. Just need to finish up the back and it will go into my etsy shop... and since it was such a beautiful day and we are expecting rain later this week I made sure to get in another beach walk.
I headed out this way going under the pier................
there were four or five pigeons underneath as I walked by....

and of course I'm looking at the beach rocks for hearts and faces and anything interesting...
one lone kayaker paddling along......the Channel Islands in the distance.......
a sandpiper strolling along looking for sand crabs............
the sea gulls enjoying the sunshine.............
patterns in the sand...........

a little more hooking...

Katie's sunflower pillow...close-up..and below her pumpkin! Just thought you'd like to see these beautiful pieces!

Faces..

I had fun sewing up a few more faces. I may put these all together and make a little "art quilt"..
And this is an almost finished fused plastic purse with a little pocket, inspired by Traci Lampe at Artfiberfest. I loved all the bags she made and decided to try making some. I fused the plastic bags months ago and then after visiting Syd on Wed. and seeing one that she bought from Traci, I got to work. It still needs a zipper or a strap, but it was fun to do. And the fiber journal I made at Syd's a bit ago fits right into it, so that's another use for it. I'm heading over to Kate's today for a little art sharing....

Thursday...

This is the road I drive down on the way to Santa Barbara. There are usually a bunch of rock climbers on the overhanging rock which makes it even more interesting.
Sleeping kitties, all curled up at nap time.
Finished up my little "House Blessing Charm". It has a little secret pocket on the back for messages. Hope to get it into my etsy store today.


This is a ATC sized stitched piece I am working on for a textile challenge....the subject was
"rhythm". Done on kimono silk.