I Live On the Edge...

...   of a Miwok Indian reservation,  the American River, "Gold Country",  the Sierras, hilly country sides dotted here & there with rambling vineyards, tall pines, redwoods, scrub oaks and apple orchards.  Lately,  I have been so drawn to native American Indian designs, especially if it's campy ala vintage summer camp.  (BTW I am a proud daughter of a  Potawatomi Indian. ) I started a board on Pinterest called Pow Wow and started some little paintings  (below) reflecting my home now and my family.   I am working on a piece for this year's Twitter Art Exhibit in Norway. I may send one of these.  It sure feels good to paint again, to lose all my worries in paint. Hours melt into hours. 

Some of these little ones remind me of deer hunters who sit in the trees for hours.  A few have river water with river rock. One not shown has a sweet bird on a branch I can't wait to paint.  I'm not sure how many I have drawn but it's a lot as well as a large canvas so I have lots of painting to do.  I am still working on some little pieces from the Love is a Blanket series too with vintage fabrics. 

 Pieces In Progress

Yarn is like comfort food to me. Whenever I am going through a stressful time I always end up with a bag of yarn & needles in my hand.  I learned to crochet when I was 7 yrs old and I still love it. (I used to fashion my own Troll Doll clothes.)  So I have been crocheting away, making some of these "pow wow" slippers using up my shameful stash of new & vintage yarn.  You can find a pair at "Camp Shenanagans"!  haha  I have an expert cross stitcher/needleworker ready to work with me so order away!   They are so happy on your feet and warm too!  

 

 

I don't know what happened to January. Happy belated New Year. :)

I promise to post more this year.

Create a great day!

"Drowning In Yarn"...

... That's the name of my new piece.  This is a painting of one of the pieces I drew in the Little Pages video a few posts back. Click HERE to watch the video. This is the 2nd one I've done and may be the last that I paint on canvas. I may start painting them on paper instead.  I love painting on paper now and I used to be so afraid of it because it isn't very forgiving.  These portraits are quirky,  not as quirky as my clowns but a little quirky. I may not paint all of the pieces I drew in the video but definitely a few more. 

 "Drowning In Yarn"

I painted this one because it was one of my favorite drawings in the group. I sketched it because I recently had to remove all the huge Space Bags full of yarn out of my studio and into my guest bedroom to make room for new sewing machines & room to sew.  I have the big Spaces Bags full, one for reds & pinks, one for greens, one for blues, ... then there are the bags of "UFO's" (un-finished objects) or here's a good one "PIGS" (projects in grocery sacks) hahaha . I have bags of things that are finished, ready for packaging, or some just done to work out patterns, or just for fun, nowhere to go.  Oops I shouldn't fail to mention the human body sized basket trunk full next to my recliner.  I thought I'm drowning in yarn... hey but what a way to go! Could I go buy more yarn? Why yes, yes I could! * In my head as I just typed Why yes,  Anthony Bourdain's voice was resounding in my head as though he was questioned if he could eat more pork. haha My Mom keeps telling, just this morning in fact, of all the things she is knitting and new knitting patterns she is trying with a beautiful soft & delicate yarn.  It's so tempting to stop what I'm doing to pick up some needles, but I am resisting, I'm painting about it instead! 

In addition to painting on canvas I am experimented with paint on fabric. 

Can't wait to show you what I am doing! So stay tuned...

~God Bless & Create a great day~

*Note to self - must have de-stash sale!

I Couldn't Cut It...

...the designer jackets that is.  I purchased 2 beautiful designer blazer/jackets; a Ralph Lauren & a Calvin Klein with full intentions of cutting into them to reconstruct them into awesome steampunk creations with bussles and all but I couldn't do it. I'd pick up the scissors and then chicken out.  One was brand new never worn and the other was in pristine condition. They are a little too tight for me. boo So I listed them for the outrageously low price I bought them for.  If you'd like check them out click HERE. 
I have been unable to sit for long but when I am I have been embroidering, sewing, crocheting & knitting. I love these cuffs. I made one for me then thought I would share them. I plan to take a few to the wineries I am surrounded by & maybe a few to the shops that I have things in.

I made these with the delicious yarn I bought in a beautiful yarn shop in San Francisco.

I love the colors, all of my favorites, and they remind me of the wine country.  The yarn is 70% Merino wool & 30% silk so it feels really good to work with and feels really good on. I have some pretty lavender yarn & I may do some in lavender too, what do ya think?

I have been having fun making quilted embroidered coasters which started as a birthday present for a friend & Christmas presents. Yep I have started on Christmas! Have you? I made a few for my place and I love how they look so I listed some in my Etsy Shenanagans shop. The Sashiko Embroidered black coasters are the ones I made for my hubby and I have sold a few sets already! I have also sold a set of musical notes which I made for my guys.

I have to say that I really love the gypsy rose cowgirl boots & of course you know me & hot peppers! I plan on making a set of 8 of those for my hot & spicy dinner parties!

They make great gifts so I plan on doing a Giveaway and will post it in the next week or so. I'll figure it out. Let me know if you think that's a good idea and any pointers on doing a Giveaway would be a great help.

 

Create a great day! 

 

 

 

Yarn...

... it makes me so happy!

I love this piece by Yuko Shimizu. A tsunami of yarn, bring it on!

A Love/Hate Relationship...

... that's what I have with granny squares. I love them, I don't mind making them, it's just the blocking and sewing together I hate. Just like with sewing, if you want something to look nice and go together well, your fabric has to be ironed, so does crochet & knit. I cut out a thin piece of card board or paper the size that your granny square is suppose to be to use as a template. I set my iron to the Acrylic setting with steam. I just secure the pin at each corner first just pushing it into my ironing board cover. I lightly press and steam careful not to scorch or flatten the stitches too much. My iron is great on this setting but if you have any doubts about your iron you should definitely cover with a thin cloth before pressing. If your square is springing back and not remaining blocked, steam again and leave it pinned on the template until it's completely cool and then remove.

See what a difference blocking makes! You can't tell in the pictures but the black yarn used in this project is Vanna White's Glamour yarn "for special occasions" and it has itty bitty sparkles in it. It's really much prettier in person.

I am going to crochet these together instead of sew. I will share the picture of my project when it's all completed! You can see all the squares I have to block! Maybe I'll put some cream on my face and put all this steam on double duty! LOL