Happy New Year!

It has been so nice to take a mini-vacation at home with the last week off to relax and be mellow! I am seeing movies, having lunches, catching up with friends, and finishing a plethora of knitting projects that were supposed to be gifts, but . . . . It is lovely!

I wanted to share this lovely email card I got from the very talented Leigh Wells. Her work is one of my biggest inspirations, not to mention that she is one of the nicest women on the planet! Her style and sense of humor rock! Thank you Leigh!

I also want to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has been so super supportive and read this blog these last 9 months! This online comunity we crafters and artists have established is just the best! I am inspired by your comments and photos. I really feel like participating has helped me to keep pushing myself, my work, and my awareness. The emails and contacts I receive have been amazing. My dream to be a working artist, is coming true due in large part to this
community. Thank you for all that you do!

So, have a very safe and Happy New Year!!! I promise to be back next week!! For now, back to my cup of tea and knitting!

We wish you a very Merry!

A quick post to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! We are having a lovely dinner tonight that I have been slowly cooking today in between cleaning the house. This is my first big hoiday meal, and although tonight will just be me and Tom I am a little nervous that it will all be timed correctly. i am the kind of cook who likes to make things up, so I hope that my guesstimates on oven time pan out!


Of course the cats want to lie in the last place you want them too! Best wishes to all!! Be back next week!

Time flies!

I can't believe that it is already December 19th! WOW! This month has flown by! I have been busy getting through all of my holiday commission orders. I have been given some AMAZING photos to work with! I am really proud of all of the new works and cant wait to hear about the recipients reactions! These two pieces above are a very old family friends mother and father. Such gorgeous pictures! So elegant and debonair! They were commissioned as a Hanukkah gift.

I hope that everyone is having tons of fun during this festive time of year. Enjoy your shopping, even though the stores are INSANE! In and out by 11am, that is my motto! What I can't do today, I will do tomorrow! The crowds are just too huge for me! Better yet, get over to Etsy, and buy indie! I am so excited to say that 75% of my gifts this year are from indie artists. It is so nice to be able to support people, just like me, who are trying to live off of their crafts! And while shipping time is getting very slim, you can still get that perfect something overnighted!

**Reminder: Tomorrow, the 20th, is the last day to take advantage of my Holiday Sale. I want to make sure that all items will have time to ship!**

(Images courtesy of the Glicksman Family)

Illustration Friday-Help!

I was pretty stumped by this weeks IF theme help. I started thinking about what will be going on in our home in the coming months and in February we will be starting to rip down walls and redesigning our kitchen. In my head I am sure I will be screaming HEEEEELLPPPP!!!!! While I know my husband and brother-in-law are very proficient in demolition (Heck, I can rip down a wall!) and in framing, etc, I do worry about the electrical and plumbing work! I am of the opinion that if the result of not knowing what you are doing can either burn down or flood the house, hire a professional!

So there you go! This is John2. He is an proficient in the electrical arts . . . and kind of hunky too! I wouldn't mind having him over to rewire some outlets! Ha!

Have a happy weekend!!

Holiday Discount!

I have worked closely with a couple of my closest blogging buddies to offer a discount code opportunity on all items in my Etsy shop for their readers! I think it is only right to extend these wonderful savings onto all of my loyal readers!! This is a great opportunity to snag some cool original art for yourself, or to give as a gift to your best bud!

All you have to do is to enter the code MCAP in the "message to seller" box when you make your purchase on Etsy. Then wait for me to send you a revised invoice! This offer is good through December 20th, so don't just sit there! Get shopping!!! There are only a few holiday shopping days left!

(**Please note that this discount code only applies to my Etsy shop, and not to the Holiday Shop**)

(Special thanks to Holly of decor8 and Jessica of Funky Finds for posting the holiday specials!)

Whirlwind Weekend!

Oh my crafty goodness! What a crazy weekend! The XL Holiday Felt Club was a smashing success! There was a line arond the corner and up the street when doors opened at noon! The 250 swag bags were gone in 7 minutes! That has got to be some kind of record! Thousands came through the door and shopped like crazy! I have never seen anything like that!


It is worth mentioning the Felt Club is organized by Jenny of Sew Darn Cute fame. She is a wonderful lady and really works hard to make sure these events are a hit! At 11am the table rental that was supposed to have been there at 9am, still had not arrived! Jenny managed to pull a craftyass miracle and find a rental company around the corner from the event location saving the day! She was cool as a cucumber till the end! Thank you Jenny for all that you put into the show! I think all who were there would agree that it was a tremendous success!

All but a few of my photos were way too dark to even make out. I had very little time to roam around and take pics, but if you would like to check out other peoples photos of the event, you can click here. Also, check out Caroline Donahues blog Remabulous for a very cool account of her experience at the show!

So now I cant wait until this Saturday to check out Bazaar Bizarre as a shopper! It is fun to do these shows, but you cant really enjoy the shopping while you are working!

Commission Deadline for the Holidays

Time is ticking by and Christmas is just a few weeks away. I am still getting commission requests, which delights my to no end! I love working on personal pieces for people and hearing the story of the unveiling afterward. Inevitably, there is always a wonderful reaction to such a personal gift!

I think that it would be best for me to set a deadline for commissions to ensure an ontime Christmas delivery. I am requesting that all requests be in by December 15th. So if this is something you have been thinking of doing, please contact me using the "email me" link to your right, and lets get the party started!

Store closed for the weekend!

Due to the craziness that will be Felt Club and the Rose Bowl, I have decided to partially close my Etsy shop for the weekend. All original works will be unavailable Saturday morning through Sunday evening. I wouldn't want to double sell the same piece of original art! So if you have had your eye on something, I encourage you to click on over and secure that purchase!

If you missed my previous post about the shows I am participating in this weekend, please scroll down!! I wouldn't want anyone missing out of the festivities!!! Hope to see you out there!

Illustration Friday: Mask

I think that this weeks Illustration Friday theme of mask is really interesting. it can be interpreted in so many ways. The masks we wear everyday to publicly, or privatly, present ourselves to those around us can vary tremndously! I think that, in a way, some of the pieces I do of women are my mask. The brave face. The big smile. Who knows whats going on behind those eyes. . . .

MIA

I am sorry to be so quiet this week! I am busy preparing for my mega blowout weekend with Felt Club on Saturday and the Rose Bowl on Sunday! Back to back shows! I am so excited! I have many new 6" x 8" pieces I have been working on, and will be debuting 2 new Lip Balm flavors!
As I have mentioned before, this Felt Club is going to be HUGE!! With 70+ vendors, it is almost 4x as large as the regular Felt Clubs!! There will be swag bags for the first 250 visitors filled with magazines, coupons, buttons, samples from the sponsors and other fun treats. PLUS, the Editors of CRAFT magazine will be running a Craft: Room, helping visitors decorate holiday stockings, make ornaments, and such!! It is going to be an AMAZING day!

FELT CLUB: XL Holiday Edition
Saturday, DECEMBER 9, 12pm-7pm
@ THE UKRAINIAN CULTURAL CENTER
4315 Melrose Ave. @ Heliotrope
Sunday at the Rose Bowl will be awesome too! Another day under the canopy with HannahMade and her gorgeous jewelry! We are in spot 843A around the back of the bowl in the Arts & Crafts section! We always have such a good time together knitting at our booth! And we get to meet interesting people which I love!! I just have to try not to buy all of Hannahs earrings! They are all so beautiful. I think I want to give them to all my friends this year for Christmas!

These are my last 2 shows before the holidays. If you are in the So. Cal. area, try to come out and check out these events! There will be lots of great holiday shopping to be done! There is nothing more unique than a handmade original piece, whether it be art, jewelry, a pouch, bath products, clothing . . . I could go on and on! All of the amazing crafters and artists need your support! I encourage everyone to buy Indie this holidays season!!!

Illustration Friday: Might
This weeks Illustration Friday theme is might. It has been so windy and cold here in So. Cal. that I think we might have a chance for a Snowday!! Maybe not, but that would be so awesome! In all of my years living in NYC all I wanted was a snowy winter. (It finally happened the last winter I was there! Full blizzard! Fun for me!) Growing up in LA, I always craved the seasons. Sure the leaves fall off of the trees, and the temp dips below 60 here (ha!), but I want snow! There is nothing wrong with a white Christmas! A girl can dream cant she??

Felt Club Fundraising!!

I think I may have had my head up in the clouds for the past few weeks! I didn't realize that the Felt Club was holding a fundraising raffle for a LIFETIME SUBSCRITION to The Sampler until this very moment. Of course the time to purchase a raffle ticket or two ends tonight, so you had better get your buy on! If you aren't sure what The Sampler is, I am happy to share! It is an uber-cool monthly mailing of fun and cool crafty items, from 1 inch buttons to candles, etc made by some oth the coolest crafters out there! The subscriptions sell out super fast, so this is a great prize!! It will be like getting a little present every month, for the rest of your life! So dont be a dope! Enter the raffle! NOW!!!!

Holiday Boutique-Woodland Hills

This coming Sunday I am participating in a home Holiday Boutique in Woodland Hills. I am taking this very cool opportunity to put a few pieces up for sale that I have never made available before, including Eduardo, John Q., Albert, Mr. Costello, and Sleigh Ride among others!!

This one is sure to ROCK! This fun holiday boutique is in a private home so there wont be any crazy crowds to contend with! There will be lots of great deals to be had! Please remember that most of the vendors will only be taking cash and checks.

The details: December 3rd, 12-6,

Who will be there?? So glad you asked!
HannahMade
Bath Chick
In Craft We Trust
Henry Road
Funky Frocks
Pookieville

Mention this blog and receive 10% off of all purchases over $50.00 (at my table only!!)

I feel a WHOLE LOT BETTER NOW!

OMG! Have you seen this mini-film??? Been a long time since 1:15 seconds has made such a fabulous example of just how nutso our impressions are! Congrats to whomever is responsible for this genius!

And thank you to BZ for bringing this to my attention!

Glamor-wk 4


As it turns out, November has been hectic! I have let my participation in the Self Portrait Challenge suffer, something that makes me a bit crazy as I sort of promised myself that I would be consistent! Turns out that my version of consistent is maintaining something for a few months, and then lapsing for a short while before kicking myself in the behind! Ha!

I guess part of my ease at falling behind in the SPC is that Glamor, this months theme, is not really something I identify with. I spend a lot of time in my sweats trying not to drop gobs of glue on them! (It is a futile effort!) I think that glamor is sonething on the inside, and I find it HYSTERICAL the things we will subject ourselves to in an effort to be pretty! Take this crazy face mask thing that my friend gave me to do the night before my Real Simple photo shoot. I look like some kind of Hannibal Lecter prodigy! The whole thing was simply too funny not to photograph, and then apparently share with the world! So enjoy my attempt at pursuing glamorous skin! The process was certainly anything but!!!

Thank you Craft Synergy!!!

Everything has been so hectic for the past few weeks that I forgot to mention that on November 13th I did an interview with the lovely Patricia over at Craft Synergy!! Every few days a new interview is posted. Patricia has made some excellent selection. All of the articles are amazingly interesting! You wont want to miss a single one!!

So glad to be home!

I hope that everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! We certainly managed to over cook, and over eat! While I really enjoy traveling and gettng to hang out with friends in NY, I am SO glad to be home!!! It was just a week, but I feel like I was gone for a month! For a person who works at home and spends a lot of time in the quiet of my studio, being out of the house and running around NY really knocked me on my ass! I know it sounds coo coo, but it is totally true! I am happy to be home!

The Saturday before I left I participated in the Sous Le Soleil home boutique in Pasadena. I took lots of photos that you can check out on my Flickr. There were lots of really cool vendors tere! I had a blast and met some awesome people! Thank you Tyn!!

I also have finally uploaded the photos from the Apartment Therapy Fall Colors Contest party at Turquiose! They can be seen here.

I am working hard to get caught up! Amazing how much stuff can pile up in a week! TTFN!

Up Up and Away!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I will be away for a week hanging out with family and friends in NY for Thanksgiving! Although I wont have time to hit the city, I will be all over Long Island and upstate. I hope you all have a fantabulous turkey day!


Here is a fun movie all about Etsy put together by a couple of guys in Brooklyn to keep you entertained during my radio silence!

NOTE: I will be back the weekend following Thanksgiving. Any orders placed while I am away will ship 11/27. Gobble gobble!

Sous Le Soleil

I am SO excited for this Saturdays craft boutique in Pasadena! I, along with 15 other artists and crafters, will be participating in Tyn Atols second annual Sous Le Soleil!! I went and checked out the space a couple of months ago and WOW! What a beautiful loctation, on top of a hill overlooking all of the city! I am looking forward to meeting the other artists who will be there, and to be outside for a day!!!Fresh air! Yay! (kinda sad huh?) If you are in LA and looking to get an early jump on your holiday shopping, you must come join us!!

Here are some of the awesome folks who will be there:
Tyn Atol
Denise Young
Renée Dominique
CJ Metzger
Kari Atol

Here is the info: 330 Redwood Dr. Pasadena 12-5 Say "Hi!" if you come by!!!

Fall Colors Party!!

This Thursday night there will be a party to celebrate the winners in Apartment Therapys Fall Colors Contest. The event will be held at Turquoise’s new showroom in Venice. I will be there with many of my works, as will Henry Road! It is sure to be an outrageous event! If you are in the area, please come and join us!