Our early Thanksgiving

We spent the day on the Rincon at a beach house with most of my family. It was an amazing day with huge glassy waves and porpoise to watch. Maddie and Gregory got to bond again....sooo cute. Are those the cutest cheeks you have ever seen?

This is the first time my small family have been all together...that was so exciting for me. The only bummer was my brother Steve was not here. He is now in nursing home. So glad Jon and LE flew down to visit with us!

Had a great weekend...

I only had one obligation.....that was a class I taught to first thru 5th graders about abstract collage...I have done this with adults but not kids. They did great and understood the concepts really well.

It was Earl's 3 days off week and so he and Maddie had time to play on the grass and we saw 2 movies: 007 and The Secret Lives of Bees...Enjoyed them both. We took Maddie and Jill to breakfast this morning and then I went to visit my brother Steve in the hospital in Oxnard. I thought he looked good for someone who had the vein in his neck reamed out Thurs. Love you Steve....

Here is Madison going over the menu with her sidekick, Gerry....She is getting to be one busy girl!

This is sooo cute!

Wish I could work something like this

I was awarded this honor by my blog buddy Shelly http://shellypaints.blogspot.com/

Answer the following questions with single word responses, and pass the award on to 7 other bloggers:

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Where is your significant other? LA
3. Your hair color? gray
4. Your mother? fun
5. Your father? character
6. Your favorite thing? grand daughter
7. Your dream last night? chasing
8. Your dream/goal? live-it-up
9. The room you're in? living room
10. Your hobby? travel
11. Your fear? loss
12. Where do you want to be in six years? here
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? serious
15. One of your wish list items? camera
16. Where you grew up? Santa Paula
17. The last thing you did? shop
18. What are you wearing? warm clothes
19. Your T.V.? off
20. Your pets? messy
21. Your computer? Mac
22. Your mood? tired
23. Missing someone? family
24. Your car? Element
25. Something you're not wearing? shoes
26. Favorite store? art supply
27. Your Summer? fast
28. Love someone? YES
29. Your favorite color? all
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? yesterday

Passing some love to:
Carol http://www.faceaday.blogspot.com
Mary http://marystanley.blogspot.com/
Sukey http://www.sukey2studio.typepad.com
Tara http://tararossstudios.blogspot.com/
Shari http://www.sharibeaubien.typepad.com/
Catherine http://www.happydayart.typepad.com
Gail http://runmoremiles.blogspot.com

Queen of Arts was a success!

...and with the economy where it is right now we should all be proud .... all our hard work paid off. Some of you know I had a little extra on my plate and I was especially thankful for all the help and support. Esther and Kimberly are at the very top of my list....could not have done it without you guys. Kristen, Jill and Colleen were also right up there. Thanks for stepping in when needed. I did not get many picture at the event. I know Jan did and I think she is sending them my way at some time. But everything did look so wonderful.
Here is a pic I got of the crew in my spot...I think they all found new homes but Nelson, looking clueless in the middle, who I think I am keeping.

One of the high points for my family was the meeting of Gregory and Madison...They were born on the same day and are cousins...a couple times removed.... but they were so tickled to see each other it was really something. They will be reunited again in a couple weeks...can hardly wait.

And of course I want to show you another pic of Madison. On Halloween she was a bat like her mom and she is holding the mother and baby bat LE made for Jill last year when baby was on the way.
...and here is Earl starting the pumpkin carving ritual with Maddie.

WE made it...

Got back Monday from our Art FiberFest trip. Here is how it went: First there was panic that it wouldn't all fit ....I had to leave out my extra sewing machine, one of the back seats and a fold up dolly....Then we are off. First stop is Pleasanton for a wonderful lunch and quick look at a couple shops. We had mochas in Dunsmuir at the Brown Trout and dinner in Red Bluff and then we were too tired to go any further than Redding...the next town. We got to Ashland about noon and did our usual damage at Prize, Websters, the fabric store and the bakery. Love that town. The trees were all bright oranges and yellows. Then we got to Joley's in Portland about 10. She had our cozy beds all ready. Her new home is so perfect for her and she was the best hostess. We had a hard time dragging ourselves away ....so we stayed another night. She knows the place pretty good for someone who just moved there. We explored Mississippi St area. My faves were Cool Cotton, Flutter and Porch Light. We spent a fair amount of time at Cargo. Had some mochas and tea at Plates across the street. Then for dinner we went to the Kennedy School. What a cool place with rooms to rent, art in the halls, a theater and a couple cool bars. This was a real treat. So from there we zoomed up to WA with a quick stop at Teesha and Tracy's cool home/studio. Teesha gave us a tour and I could have stayed there for days just taking it all in. So from there we headed to LE's. We checked out Maxine's and then met Tara Ross at Snappy Dragon. After our great dinner we went to see Tara's cool home/studio. Really fun to see her work and her collection of great art in her fun house. Again hard to drag ourselves away.....But we have not even started our trek to our main reason for coming yet. So the next AM we load enough stuff in LE's car so we can get Barbara at the airport into the car rather than lashing her to the roof. We all fit and off we go to catch the ferry. It was a beautiful day and we did a little shopping and collected some sea glass on the beach ln Port Townsend before we headed to the fort. OH yes the food at the fort has improved...We were excited to meet up with old friends and do our fun swaps after dinner.
I had fantastic students Thurs. (Thank you Wanda, Dawn, Barbara, Sarah, Gail and Debbie) and Sat. ( Thank you Janice, Karen and Teesha) LE and I had fun taking a great class with Janice Speck making felt jewelry on Fri. Then Mary and I said our good byes and flew down the road. No dilly dalling...We did really good and made it to Weed, CA the first night. Found a great diner with blackberry pie and blackberry cake. Mon. we stopped in Woodman at Paco's Tacos for great Mexican food. and we were home about 8:30. Check out Mary's blog and my Flickr site for more photos etc.

...more Birdman...

This is some of the new ones and an abstract house with bird.

And of course Madison. The shirt says" My grandparents don't spoil me they are just very accommodating"

new Jesse Reno video...

I am so crazy for his art! I love the way he works and thinks about his work. Jesse

Breaking news!

Have you heard about the new candidate? Check it out here

I made a new batch

Here are my latest scissor maidens.

Here are my current sock dolls....

Here a small painting I just finished

...and of course a current Madison photo...She is so grown up now that she eat cereal in a hi chair....

....spoiler alert

If you are in the Art FiberFest softie swap and want to be surprised....don't look....These are my entries. They have a pocket for a Moo card in the back.
I am looking forward to this swap and to FiberFest! It is fast approaching and I still have lots to do. Both my classes, scissor maidens and art folio bag and journal, still have room. Teesha has made a special deal for locals. They can just come and take the classes with out staying at the fort etc. Sounds like a good deal to me. I think the classes are $125. each if anyone is interested....

I was off on the date...

TODAY is Madison's half year birthday! Here is the sweetie with her mom today at the studio.

Look who is 6 months old....

It's MADISON!!!!

Happy customer

Say hello to Harper. She is sharing a secret story with Pesky...

Don't forget.....

It's talk like a pirate day.....Arr! Ya know, darlin’, I’m 97 percent chum free...

Ramping up for Art FiberFest and Queen of Arts

Forgive my lack of posting. It is my crunch time. 2 big events coming up fast!

ArtFiberFest is one of my bi-annual migrations North to Port Townsend, WA.... and to see LE. I am teaching 2 classes: Scissor Maidens and Art Folio and Journal...( still room at AFF if you are a fiber freak like me) Then there is vendor night which I am working hard on...I have some cool new ideas that I hope make it off the drawing board in time.

Then there is the 10th annual Queen of Arts. There will be 26 artists. 7 that are new. It is at the Elverhoj Museum in Solvang, CA over Veteran's Day weekend. The post card for the event is in the works. I had it in my home for many years. This is the 3rd years at the museum. It is alot easier for me...I don't have to take my furniture out of the house etc....

Anyway I just wanted to let you know what is going on. I still watch Madison weekdays. She just gets more and more fun. She is in love with her toes right now.

These are her current toys of choice right now.

...oh and I finished my " Ode to Jesse Reno". I loved that workshop...and I think about what I learned when I am painting now.....I am braver.

A Great Get Away....

The 4 amigas took off for San Francisco last weekend with the driving force being to see the Frida show at SFMOMA. It is not to be missed if you are anywhere near the bay area before the 28th. The exhibit of Chinese artists was really great too. I could only use my camera in the one area but it gives you an idea of what it was like in there. Mary has some great photos and details that I will try not to repeat here. Go see her blog for more info.

I thought it was interesting that we had all lived here within a few years of each other...in the 60's...doing completely different things. I came ...don't laugh... to go to modeling school...reality set in after the course ended and I got a job at the phone company. I moved three times and on this trip I saw the first 2 places I lived and I think I picked out the Grimme' Modeling building....but not positive I had it right.



Thanks to Sukie we found an amazing bakery/tacoria in Greenfield, La Plaza, on the way up.....We never had a bad meal the whole trip. I thought the Nanking place in Chinatown was excellent with some fun energy. The line went pretty fast. We told the waitress to bring us a shrimp dish and she she said she would make us something we would like ...and boy did she. If you go just say you want a chicken dish or whatever and leave it up to them.

The mission district in SF was pretty amazing. I like several shops there. I was glad to see so much indie art for sale and being bought. I saw things I had seen on blogs and on Etsy. Staying down town we were able to walk to many places. The fabric store, Britex, could have been a whole day experience as could have the farmer's market and the Ferry building. So as you can see the only bad thing was not enough time to do all we wanted to do. We didn't make it to Flax Art Store in time....or hit the right day for Tail of the Yak...guess we need to go back.

Wow this is cooool!

I wish I was part of it....

LE was here for such a short time...

I miss her so much. She came Monday got her Madison fix, had some sister time with Jill, had our usual amount of laughs and eating with the family and left....

I am lucky I will see her in Oct. at Art FiberFest..can't wait!