Eva

We have three chickens, but Eva is my favorite. She's extremely curious, and always has her face in everything I'm doing when I'm out there. I call her "fuzzy face" because she has these tufts of feathers on her cheeks, like a goofy little mustache. She's an Ameraucauna, and lays beautiful, large green eggs.

Here's one of her masterpieces:



That's Eva in the background


Ginger and Penny don't do too bad, either.

For Australia

I belong to a wonderful online forum on Felting. There are members from all around the world who participate in discussion and sharing of the art of felting. A number of people on the forum are from Australia, where devastating wildfires have been burning for the last two weeks. Last I heard, 1800 people have lost their homes, and entire towns have been wiped out. One of the Australian members of the forum decided to organize an art sale to raise money for the people there. I made this piece last weekend, and will be sending it off to Australia this week. It is a Strauss Dairy milk bottle which I wet-felted to encase it with white. I then needle-felted a "cork" which is removeable. To me, it represents new life emerging, as is my hope for the area of Australia which has been destroyed. It can be used as a tip jar, a "mad money" jar, or a candy jar or whatever. I'll send it off with a few coins inside to get started.

For more info: http://feltingforumnews.blogspot.com/

Felt Farm!

www.feltfarm.etsy.com

Finally... I have launched my own Etsy shop! I have been working for quite some time at amassing a bit of inventory for it, and I now have 15 items for sale.

All of the work on my shop - which I have named "Felt Farm" is handcrafted out of wool fiber. I absolutely love sculpting objects out of wool, and never seem to run out of ideas.

These Redwing Blackbird earrings are the original catalyst for the idea of starting up a shop - everywhere Amelia wears hers, she gets comments.



Check it out if you have time, and keep checking back as I add new items and enhance the shop!

Random things about me

My sister-in law (Hi Suzi!) tagged me on facebook and asked me to write 25 random things about myself. Once you have been tagged, you are supposed to send it to 25 people. Since blogging is more my thing than facebook, I thought I'd just share my things here. I guess I got carried away, because by the time I stopped I had 63 "things."

I really enjoyed reading Suzi's 25 Random things about herself. If you are reading this blog, I would LOVE to hear 25 random things about you! Or 61! or 100! or 5!

Here are some random things about me:

I am creative and constantly see inspiration everywhere.
I'm always making something.
I can't keep up with my ideas, and sometimes feel overwhelmed by them.
I don't care for fiction reading.
I buy too many books on technology and art.
I never feel educated enough or smart enough, and therefore am a perpetual student.
I've been laid off 4 times, have never been fired, and have only quit one job.
My favorite food is milk. Whole milk, cream, and half & half. But I only drink non-fat milk. I do feel deprived.
I can no longer cut apart a whole chicken, but I can eat it.
I rarely eat packaged, processed foods with long lists of ingredients.
I secretly wish to be a baker in an artisan bakery. Or a cheese maker.
I love animals.
I love to shop at Thrift Stores.
I never get bored, and never have enough time in the day.
I prefer to buy local.
I love the town that I live in. I love my street. I have great neighbors.
I have a motorcycle license, but am too afraid to ride where there is traffic.
I'm certified for scuba, and have dove to 110'.
I wish I could sketch better. I wish I would sketch more so I could get better.
I am happily married, and lucky to be in this partnership.
I am not very verbally articulate, but I can write, and can spell.
I am very proud that we were able to allow Amelia to go to school in the same school district her whole life.
I attended 7 different elementary and High Schools.
My parents divorced and re-married and divorced again.
I worry about the health and well-being of my sister.
My brother and my Dad share the same Birthday.
I genuinely appreciate having a hot shower every day, clean drinking water, warm shelter and food.
I have danced hula regularly for 15 1/2 years.
I have recently begun doing Zumba and Hoopdance.
Even though I'm messy and disorganized, I luxuriate in a clean, tidy house. It makes me feel relaxed and calm.
I love everything about my chickens and hanging out with them makes me happy.
I love mid-century design.
I am about to launch my own Etsy shop with my felted things.
The thing I am most proud of is my daughter.
The thing I worry about most is auto accidents, ever since having that job at the newspaper where I had to map fatals.
I assume I will live only as long as my mom, which gives me 18 more years.
I am worried about finding full-time employment.
I started feeling old at 49.
I honor the Aloha Spirit, and admire the way the Hawaiian community respects and cares for their elders.
I appreciate time alone, and am grateful to have a lot of it.
My favorite films are documentaries.
On TV I like "Survivor," and "The View"
I was a producer and engineer for a live radio show for 3 1/2 years.
I love animals.
I play with wool. A lot.
I want to go whale-watching some day.
If money were no object, I would travel. I want to go everywhere.
My two favorite spots on Earth are Gualala and Upcountry Maui.
I wish I could sing; especially harmony.
I regret not listening to my parents and grandparents more when they told stories of family history.
I have taken flute, piano, organ, violin, `ukulele and saxophone lessons. `Ukulele is the only one that has stuck.
I have never played a guitar.
I am overly cautious of potentially dangerous situations.
I could never be a teacher or a manager.
I am not a leader.
I love teamwork.
I drive too slow.
I have been to the top of the South tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.
I want to learn to speak French.
Seeing hot lava flow from the earth was one of the most mesmerizing and awe-inspiring things I have ever witnessed.
I want to learn other forms of dance; particularly Latin.
I love Cuban Jazz and Hawaiian Falsetto.
I am a wanna-be surfer.

A piece I did a while back..

Here's a little piece I did of a friend's impossibly-cute baby. I say impossibly cute, because I found it impossible to replicate her adorableness.

Beware the Blue Owl

If you see this peering into your house ... Do not open the door !

Aloha, Mr. President

Happy 90th Birthday Velva!!!

Velva turns 90 on Monday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best Mother-In-Law a girl could ask for!

Doesn't she look great? That hair is all natural!!!!

Welcome 2009

As winter break comes to a close, time to say goodbye to Amelia again. It's been a fun, relaxing time with her. We've had a lot of time to do things like lay around by the fire, watch movies, cook, eat, shop, visit our favorite cafes, go scootering, biking, sketching, and visit with relatives and friends. We even took a couple of day trips - to the city and to Gualala. I think she's enjoyed this relaxing time at home, and we sure have enjoyed having her around. It's pretty safe to say she's caught up on her sleep. :)

Here's a photo from our trip to Gualala.



These are some things I am thinking about focusing on for 2009:

Find a new job! Numero uno on my priority list.
Start up an Etsy shop, and be more productive with my felting.
Organize. Donate things no longer used and organize my things.
Learn. Continue to develop and improve skills. Strain the brain. Remember, use it or lose it. Specifically: Illustrator, Photoshop, 'ukulele, sketching, hula.
Excercise. For losing weight, endurance, strength, balance, mental clarity, all that. Keep up the biking and get better so that I can do more; maybe try Zumba! Hike more.
Eat right. I don't have to learn this; I already know how; just do it.
Stay connected with family and friends.

Rayne's Embroidered Mexican Blouses

Rayne Wolfe is another buddy from the Press Democrat - a really talented reporter, and super fun gal. She's the one with the laugh you can hear across the office. She's an incredible jewelry designer, and has recently found a niche doing embroidery on a basic Mexican blouse pattern. She & I share a passion for poultry. And vintage stuff.

http://collectingjourneys.wordpress.com/

Dave

Here's Dave, playing his bass in the garden:


And onstage: "Bass Solo!"

A Nice Review of The Venice Chronicles

I like this review of "The Venice Chronicles" because she did a great job of capturing the feel of the book. And she included some of my favorite watercolors out of the book.

http://www.comicrelated.com/display.php?item=318

Wet-felted Mittens

I've been wanting to try wet-felting mittens for awhile now. Here's my first try. I over-did it and made these too thick. (Dave says they look like oven mitts, and he's right) Plus, it took me 5 hours!

Somebody likes Christmas

Mushrooms

Today Sib & I rode our bikes up to Luther Burbank's Experiment Farm. Sib & Ross had discovered an incredible outcropping of amanita muscaria mushrooms - the big, orange/red ones with white spores on top. It was so beautiful - for whatever reason, they loved growing under this one particular tree - a Chestnut. We walked all over the property looking for more, and found several other varieties, but no more of the amanita muscarias. I can see how people can get into mushroom huntin'. It's kind of addicting - like looking for pretty pebbles on the beach. I had to be very careful not to step on any of them.

Amanita Muscaria






I've never seen so many mushrooms.







Sibi




Breaking Ground, literally.

Dust Bathing in the Sun

Looks like a Chicken.

....Penny?





Dust bath!




Oh, yeah ...



Don't Disturb Me.



All Done!



And looking fine.

My Bass Girl

I seriously doubt she misses her bass as much as I miss hearing it around the house!

Laid off again...

I've been laid off before, but it's never come as a shock to me.

"Nancy, the company is announcing layoffs today, and your job is one of them." The words of my boss last Friday. Completely out of the blue - I had no idea they were even talking of layoffs. This company just does not communicate with its employees. In the 6 months I was there, I never received ONE company-wide office e-mail. Which was a blessing in a way, but kind of weird. I would overhear things that indicated they were ok, like, the machine shop's running 20 hours a day, they've added x number of machines, the fin shop is working Saturdays to keep up with orders, etc. And they had hired a bunch of people earlier this year... Now, I'm told, due to order slowdown at the boat builders, they decide to lay off 14 of us - that's about 10% of the company. And besides coming as a shock, I had to pack up my stuff and leave immediately, which was really bizarre. I drove home at 11am and just drifted around the house, mindlessly doing stuff like cleaning out the fridge, not really knowing what to think. I'm still waking up in the middle of the night, going "what the ... did that really happen?" "Aren't I supposed to be getting ready for work?"

Such a bummer; I was really hoping that I could hang with this job for the next few years - So now it's apply for unemployment, update my portfolio, hope that something opens up...

November 4, 2008

Main St. Sebastopol by Kathy Goetzel

Another talented Graphic Designer I worked with at HP was Kathy Goetzel. Kathy is an amazing painter, and has returned to her art in the last few years. She has painted many of the animals at Safari West, as well as botanically-correct local flora - you can see notecards of her work all over Sonoma County. She also illustrated the amazing book, "Miss Hallberg's Butterfly Garden." I love Kathy's work, because it always represents the things I love about living here in Sonoma County. This one is my absolute favorite! It depicts Main St. Sebastopol - the same intersection I photographed with the Buggs Bunny! I love it because of it's whimsical style, and cool perspective. I imagine myself in an old-fashioned hot-air balloon floating above Main St. I also love that she snuck a dachshund dog in, and because it shows "Earthchild" toy store, where Amelia worked for several years.

Click on the image for a larger view.