Seasons Greetings

Yesterday was haircut day for us at Salon Bella in Mission Hills. Kathy has been cutting our hair for years. She is the best! The crew there really know how to dress the salon up for the holidays. Monty loves to come along and get in the spirit of the season.

Salon Bella is on Lewis Street which is a charming spot any time of

year, but it is especially festive now.

Jimmy and Valerie Ferrari are the artistic force on Lewis Street. And their stores are wonderful expressions of their creativity.

Their shops include Salon Bella,

Le Bel-Age, Valerie's exciting Boutique,

and With Love, Jimmy's paperie, gift treasure trove,

and the best card shop in town.

I had a wonderful time with my new camera taking it all in.

Christmas in Fallbrook

We really appreciate being a part of the Art Of The Holiday show at the Fallbrook Art Center

for this our 4th year. Being able to show and sell our work for a whole month gives lots of people the opportunity to see it and learn a bit about us and all the other talented artists in the show. Every artist presents, along with the work, information about themselves and their process.

With lots of space in the gallery my scarf display is visible from all sides

Gauze Nuno Felt shawl

Burt's beaded and hand stitched leather bags and pillows

Studio Storage

The mess under my work tables reached crisis proportions last week. I had fabric and wool stashed under there in a totally disorganized assortment of plastic tubs and bags, all stacked atop each other. The confusion was unsettling, made things hard to get to, and didn't exactly inspire creativity. I bought 6 of these lovely 3 drawer plastic units on wheels. I need to be able to move them around, so when I teach a workshop, or want a particular sized surface for a project, both of which require a different configuration of the tables, I can neatly and easily rearrange them. Two of these nifty units fit perfectly under each of my three work tables, with room to spare. Every drawer is labeled with it's contents. Imagine that! I had a great time going through all my fabrics and fibers. I became reacquainted with what I have, and discovered to my delight that I have a lot of wonderful stuff which I can now lay my hands on in a flash!

Talented Friends

These past few days were filled with creativity and inspiration, when our friends Mimi and Allen came to visit. A few years ago I taught Mimi Nuno Felt, and she has been hooked ever since. You can see Mimi's Scarves, Vessels, and Wall Panels on the web site she shares with her husband Allen. Allen creates clever and intriguing Photomontage Prints. This one hangs in our bedroom. Being a master at PhotoShop, Allen does amazing Restoration Of Old Photos. He claims to be "changing the world one photo at a time". See for your self!

Mimi laying out a scarf in shades of soft lavender

It was a dark rainy day so I felt the urge to use lots of color

I also worked on this little cashmere sweater.

Originally a woman's garment

which my washing machine felted down to little girl size.

To give it an heirloom look,

I stitched a flowered ribbon along the neck, hem and sleeve edges

Mimi has two darling granddaughters who

will take turns growing into it.

Can't wait to see pictures of them enveloped in it's cashmere softness.

New Camera

I am in love. The object of my delight is

my new camera, the Canon Rebel.

Our first outing together was, where else?... out to lunch.

My favorite place to eat lunch these days is Saffron Thai Restaurant .

In the Mission Hills area of San Diego.

The food is clean and fresh and delicious.

Su Mei Yu is the owner of Saffron and writes a great blog

where she posts videos of her making some of her most famous dishes.

I especially enjoy her food for health wisdom.

A warm and soothing bowl of Healthful Soup is one of my favorites,

And the fresh rolls can't be beat.

Everything was perfect today, as always, right down to the flowers on the table.

Thanksgiving Weekend Nuno Felt Workshop

What a terrific time my students and I had at the Nuno Felt Workshop in my studio last weekend. I'm always so proud of the wonderful work my students produce, and as you can see they are rightly proud of their efforts too. I have both the basic Nuno Felt Workshop, and the Nuno Felt Scarf workshop for those who have taken the basic class, scheduled for January, February and March. I look forward to each one!

Carole's Spectacular Felt Rope

Eating and Knitting

I had the yummiest lunch today at Ranchos in North Park I love authentic Mexican food, and this place is good! It also has a very charming ambiance. Usually when I eat alone I bring a book, but since its close to the holidays I'm grabbing all the gift knitting time I can. So, as I waited for my chicken sope and blue corn avocado enchilada, I knitted away.

I carry my knitting in a little bag I made from an up-cycled felted wool argyle sweater. I always get comments on this little bag, and today was no exception. A well felted wool sweater can be cut and sewn in so many ways. When I go to Anchorage, Alaska to visit my kids I love to prowl through the thrift stores in search of old wool sweaters. Southern California is not the place to find such things, but the wool ground is fertile in Anchorage.

The Art of the Holiday

For the 4th year, Burt and I are participating in The Art of the Holiday, at the Fallbrook Art Center gallery.

Fallbrook is a charming village about 60 miles north of San Diego, and a delightful place to explore at any time of year. Main Street gets all dressed up for the holidays, reminiscent of Currier and Ives, with planned festivities, tailor made for kids of all ages.

Who wouldn't love to take a horse drawn carriage or wagon ride down Main Street, and of course see Santa! This is a quality art show, not to be missed if you are in the area from now until Christmas. There is also a great cafe behind the gallery that serves yummy food, coffee and delicious desserts!

Great Show!

The Talmadge Art Show was a huge success! Lots of friends and past customers came out and I was so busy I totally forgot, and didn't have time, would you believe, to take any pictures. The room was packed with people almost the whole day. So no pictures of the show.....sorry, but here are a couple of my Mini Nuno Felt Pillows that made their debut yesterday. They are small, all under 10" square. Each one has a unique detail on the back to make that interesting too. I had a great time making these little treasures.

Marsh Grass at Sunset, front and back

X's and O's, Front and back

Talmadge Art Show this Sunday

The Talmadge Art Show is almost here! I really enjoy the show. So much excitement and so many wonderful artists. Space design is always a challenge. This was my space last year. I used to put everything on a table with risers and racks, and I would stand or sit behind the table. But with so many more scarves I had to rethink my set-up. It's so much more inviting like this, and I am able to really interact with my customers. If you are in San Diego this Sunday November 22, please stop by the Talmadge Art Show, at the San Diego Women's Club and say hello. The event runs from 10:00 to 4:00.

Talmadge Art Show

Next weekend I will be showing and selling my work at the fall Talmadge Art Show . It's a wonderful show, I think it's the best in San Diego. I have been doing this show for the past five years, in the spring and in the fall. This show will be the biggest yet with 56 artists from many mediums. In addition to my scarves, and pillows, I will be showing these gauzy shawls. They are large and dramatic, making them suitable for draping over baby grand pianos or the foot of your bed, when not being worn. The fabric I used for the first two below is hand dyed from Australia. They are soft and light weight. Perfect for Southern California.

Purse Hangers

My friend Maria has cautioned me against putting my purse on the floor, either at home or when I go out. She says it's bad luck. Besides, the floor , especially in a restaurant is rife with germs, and you don't want to carry a bunch of those away with you. So my daughter and I went in search of nifty purse hangers, and found them with dichroic glass cabochons. Very slick, but I'm a felter and I got to thinking I should really have one with a felt cabochon. Voila! My latest felt accessory, a purse hanger with a needle felted center, and a little felt pouch to keep it in.

Along The Way

The road out of Taos that leads to the Millicent Rogers Museum

makes one understand how a big city girl choose this

rustic corner of the country to find peace and tranquility.

The museum is small, but packed with wonderful

Southwest art and artifacts. Millicent Rogers impressive turquoise

jewelry collection alone, as well as her own elegant jewelry designs

was well worth the drive.

The last leg of our road trip took us through the

soft and sensual desert dunes along Interstate 8,

where Arizona meets the border of California.

We really enjoyed our road trip.

The question now is where to drive next?

We're thinking , up the West Coast to Eugene, Oregon for

the Black Sheep Gathering next June.

If we can wait that long!

Sedona

The art and galleries in Sedona don't begin to compare with the caliber of art we feasted our eyes on in Santa Fe, but the scenery, oh the scenery is another story. The beauty of nature is alive and vibrant in Sedona. That rich orangey red is everywhere from the breathtaking natural monuments, to the earth along the edge of the road. We had a wonderful view of it all from our room. Passing through the door gave way to a dazzling vista of the red rock that Sedona is famous for.