So about a week ago Three New Exciting Things came my way.  First, was my box of shiny new, updated and slightly redesigned business cards.  They came out really well, and I am pleased with them.  Second, One of the teachers where my daughter goes to school gave me an old sewing machine. Oooh, I do love to play with forgotten sewing machines!  And this one certainly had been...the oil had all gunked up, and it needed some serious TLC.  My son, (also a tinkerer) also helped clean and oil this machine, until we made it run smoothly and well., though I'm having some trouble with the needle...Havent had time to tinker again with it yet It is a Montgomery Ward model URR 285 E (don't know the company who made it, or the year; very difficult to find information online about it) , it came with the manual, but no cams or goodies.  It weighs a ton. Sewing machine count now is six (though two of them don't count, being that one is my son's outgrown mending machine, and one I havent put another back together...oh wait, and one is missing a pedal, and lives in a table).  Really only two of them count, my Awesome Elna 9000, and my Brother, which belongs to the kids now.  Onward, the third, and last fun thing to come into my possession was a 1957 Brother-Knit KH 32 home knitting machine!  Craigslist find (by my better half) in town for $60!  It makes the stockinette stitch, and anything else must be hooked over by hand while in operation.  Which means that whatever I make on it isn't entirely machine made, just faster and finer.  Just too much fun; it's really the only way I'm going to knit anything aside from scarves, and it is my vehicle to using (and buying....) some of the beautiful sock-weight yarns I find in the yarn candy shops.

I just wanted to write this entry to give a BIG THANK YOU to all of you WONDERFUL people who were at the Spring Daze festival this past Saturday and who found pieces to love and take home (or gift!) with them!!  Thank all of you so very much, and also a big thanks to everyone who showed so much love and interest for my art:)  You are all fantastic individuals, and I appreciate your interest and support from the bottom of my heart:)  THANK YOU!!!

Another big thank-you to the wonderful hostess who housed my family and I while we were in Cary.  She is so sweet and generous, and we are so very thankful for her

Well, as I am busily packing for Spring Daze in Cary, I stopped a moment to upload some Sneak-Peek images I just shot of just a few of the brand new feltings I will have to offer this Saturday!  Take a look, fall in love with them, and remember there are a lot more!  I look forward to seeing you this weekend! 

Browse the Needle-Felting link for new images.  :)

Happy Spring everyone!  With the seducing spring weather out there, I'm finding it really hard to stay working in my studio! 
It's too early still to directly plant in the ground, but I still go out to the garden and putter around; pull some weeds, nibble some mint, admire the flowers I planted, and wonder what on earth is this strange herb I planted last year...I thought it was supposed to be oregano, but it sure doesn't taste like it!  It's certainly growing very well, whatever it is!  I have planted some peas in succession, and realize that I should have also planted some lettuce already.

The times I do tie myself to my work table, (staring wistfully outside my window..) I have been hard at work playing with new ideas and making new pieces for upcoming shows and the galleries which have been patiently waiting for new works.  There is now a small batch of finished felted wall-hangings, and several more waiting for finishing touches. New sheep, horses, and even some dogs!  One of the pieces I have recently finished is a commissioned piece with a border collie beginning to herd three sheep.  Soon it will be time to take pictures of many of the new pieces to post on my site. 

I have also been able to continue volunteer work on the large clay fundraiser piece for the school.  It is really looking beautiful and has proven to be a lot of fun to participate in!  I will upload pictures in the future.

Lastly, it was recently my birthday, and my dear sweet family bought for me the most wonderful toy: a new sewing machine!!  Being new to me, this machine was made between 1989-1991, and is far more exciting and advanced than any I have ever owned before!  She's an Elna 9000 computerized embroidery machine, designed and made in Switzerland (the land of chocolate, cheese, knives, Ricola and apparently sewing machines!).  I thought of giving her a name, but Elna seems like a good one already... anyway, it does a few hundred stitches, and as much as I have already played with it since owning it, I have not been able to try them all yet!!  The face of this machine made me immediately think of the spaceship controls in sci-fi movies!  This is true excitement:)  I have also finally learned how to make yogurt, and can now make unsweetened non-dairy yogurt at home.  If I had known it was this easy, I would have been doing it forever before now.  I mention the yogurt because it is also exciting- though not as exciting as the sewing machine.

So, as I am in my studio working feverishly before spring, enjoying the warm afternoon sunshine, I am also befriending one of the backyard squirrels. They are so funny, racing around in the yard in the morning, digging tiny holes for acorns, and chittering.  I have been leaving little pieces of left-over gingerbread house on the end of the banister, which just happens to be right in front of the window where I sit to work.  Usually the little critter just takes the piece and runs with it, but sometimes it just sits there and nibbles.  Today it sat there in front of me (on the other side of glass) and nibbled for several minutes! It will hold it's little paw up to its chest as it surveys the surroundings for possible danger.  It's so cute:D   (well, except when they dig up my flower bulbs! grr).

Sunday I brought all of my new felted hats to the yarn sho
Below is a picture of the community clay wall piece: It was been cut into pieces and is drying to go into the kiln.  (Journey of Dreams, Diane Doyle, fundraiser piece)

So, I just finished felting and sculpting 5 new felted hats tonight! They are sitting in my studio drying right now.  They will be dry in a couple of days, and I will then be able to defuzz them, line and trim them. Then deliver them to the lovely Asheville NC Homecrafts store in the Grove Arcade!  This batch is all light shades: beige, cream, gray, and linen colors.  Three new fedoras and two new cloche-type hats.

A few days ago I finished the colorful cat painting I started in the last post.  I am anxiously awaiting to have it scanned, so I can start offering prints of my three new paintings!  After I frame them, they will be available for purchase in Flat Rock, at the scrumptious Flat Rock Bakery (give it a google, then give it a taste!). 

I also recently finished a gaggle of new feltings, and since I am finished with the hats and paintings, I am going to start some more wall-hangings....I hope to be well-stocked for my spring shows this year! As soon as I know dates on shows, I will post all of the necessary information on my homepage....hope to see you there!

Yes, winter...the time for making more art! In trying to be a good, disciplined artist-person- I am not great, but I have finished a new batch of feltings, and will soon photograph them to show you.  I have also finilly finished a double painting of two colorful horses! As soon as I get them scanned, they will be ready for prints and sale!   I have also started a new painting, one of a colorful cat....oh no, one cannot have too many colorful cats!   This is very exciting, as I have been lost in wool fluff for so long that I had to reach for my trusty watercolors to express/explore some of the other ways I have felt.

In other news: the Rv is still not up for travel, my house is still a mess, and I still need another me to accomplish everything I've set out for myself. 

I am also reading two books right now in my 'spare' time; 7 Years in Tibet, and The Lost Hero.

Keep checking back for new images, and some re

This year is coming to a close, and I am still chasing my tail...../
What an eventful year!  There were many great things that happened this past year, such as being with my kids (ever-growing, funny, amazing, beautiful and intelligent young people!) and their (equally wonderful!) dad.
We went hiking and camping, did some road trips(mostly because I dragged them with me to some shows!), and more recently made an awesome gingerbread castle and also played in all of the snow we got for christmas. There were also challenging times that we really could have gone without, like our daughter's 7-day hospital stay, and months recovery.
Below is a picture of our gingerbread castle from the front. This is our second attempt at cookie construction, the first was a fun creation with a lovely friend of ours in KY.  It was a yurt, with no food coloring, and glued together with melted dark chocolate.   

Thanks all of you for your support in my artistic endeavor, and I hope your new year brings much peace, love, and happiness:)

Wow, I thought I had posted something more recently... I guess not!

Since so much has happened, and we all have such short attention spans, here's the quick:

=Went through all of my recent shows, met some really interesting people, and made some good trades (yay!  I love trading for awesome art!)
=Fiber Fair: Amazing as usual!  I bought so much wool, and found every color I was looking for!  Was also able to shop at some of the same vendors as previous years, which is really nice.:)   Over-exposure to colors and textures, though.  Much more wool to make feltings for the 2011 year.  Can you wait to see next year's pieces?  I can't!
=Halloween party: my family really did Halloween well this year! We had an unbeatable party (we have been planning since the end of last winter!!!), and so many of my eldest offspring's school friends came, and our friends came, and our neighbors came....and we actually had trick-or-treaters on Halloween!  It was one like no other...Find some pictures here: (because I'm too lazy to post my own...and she takes better pics than I do anyway!) http://ilikelichen.com/ be sure you are on the Oct 27th Posting. That was before we were finished.

=Also, an apology for not responding to everyone's emails as quickly as I'd like.  Life has been like a whirlwind! 

Finally, I want to thank everyone for their purchases and support, and I am so happy to bring you art you love:)  And thank you so much to all of my friends, past and present--you are all so great:)

Hope to see all of you at my next shows (psst, bring your friends, too!).