Colors of Oaxaca

We all had such a good time in Oaxaca! I know that I am still digesting all the sights and sounds and friendships that we experienced. We had a wonderful group ready for all the adventures we had in store for our week. Textile designers, teachers, art directors. mothers, daughters, sisters, card designers, stitchers, store owners, ribbon designers, artists- all were a part of our fun group. 

This post is just a taste of the wonderful, colorful world of Oaxaca. 

colorful beads...

delicious ice cream flavors...

crazy quilt stitched heart..

woven and embroidered huipils from Guatemala...

toys at the mercado..

beautiful roses...

market baskets...

little tienda at our Casa Colonial...

Chilis at the open market...

Ooo, la la...dessert at Biznaga...our farewell dinner place.

More to come....

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hearts from Oaxaca!

More to come....Hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day filled with love and friendship.

Off to Oaxaca, Mexico again!

I found out that I could do some rug hooking even with the cast on my wrist and  hand. Here is my first attempt....

and I can still do some sewing so I made some more little doll necklaces...

love working with Japanese fabric and made a little purse with a dragonfly pin...

and one more little pouch...

two hearts with vintage lace for birthday gifts for sweet friends...

Had a fun birthday today including a walk with my husband on my favorite beach..

and here is our home in Oaxaca-Casa Colonial  ...we will be here for about a week...

We will met up with Colleen Darling our trip coordinator and Syd  and I will get the workshop going with some fun fiber jewelry projects and hearts for Valentine's day.

We will be visiting the weaving village of Teotitlan de Valle and do an Indigo dyeing workshop at the Museo do Textil in Oaxaca as well as making fun things with our dyed fabric. This is our second workshop...so come join us next year  if you can...

See you in about a week or so.. Adios, muchachas!

Need to go finish packing....

New hearts and lots of stitching....

It's almost the end of January and I finally am getting back to my blog! I have been busy here preparing for Valentine's Day and making samples for our Textile trip to Oaxaca in February.

I have enjoyed working with some of the linen I've collected to make hearts with vintage lace and buttons.

Also using some old quilt scraps....

Got inspired to do some embroidery on the cool winter nights...

A funny little cat pouch necklace....

Fiber jewelry is always fun to experiment with. Used some hand dyed velvet to make the beads. I put a felt bead inside for stuffing...and a few embroidery stitches for decoration.

Recycled some denim with embroidery to make a cuff...closed with a nice big snap.

A fiber necklace with photo made using vintage quilt, lace, buttons and indigo cloth..

A chubby butterfly made from indigo fabric from Japan...

Scrappy fabric bracelet with some added embellishments...

Made a bunch of these little dolls from indigo. 

Added trim from our trip to France to make into a necklace.

And more hearts from old quilt pieces and lace..

We leave in about one week for our second workshop in Oaxaca! Busy getting everything ready. We have a wonderful bunch of women signed up and ready for our indigo adventure!

And look what happened to my poor right wrist! On Jan. 14 I managed to fall into our kitchen remodeling floor opening and break my wrist. It is healing well but I had to have pins put in last week and get a new cast this week-just in time for our trip. I can still do some sewing but no dish washing!

The boys are stepping up...(slowly) and taking good care of me, so I am in good hands....

Time for some tea and toast.....and some slow stitching!

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!