New Cards

I have some new blank greeting cards in my Etsy shop tonight! There are more to choose from than these, so please check them out. They are handy to have around for just about any occassion! (Please note: the Halloween cards are in the "Halloween" section of my shop).

Halloween Dishes!

I have some new Halloween dishes in my Etsy store! They are brilliant orange and black and have great retro designs hand painted on them.

New Directions

Despite the pounding rain of recent days,my pink jasmine is in full bloom! I anxiously await its brief, but spectacular awakening each spring. Too bad it's so wet outside to enjoy the fragrance.

These hearty blossoms are bursting out all over the side of my shed and have sneaked inside the walls....

wrapped around the cord to my flex shaft tool. I had to laugh when I saw this yesterday.Never underestimate the tenacity of Mother Nature!

The shed where this jasmine lives also houses my two kilns. One, now cooling off from a complete glaze firing. Here are some of the new pieces I have completely recently. I have been making plate forms and adding some dimension to them with cut outs. I like them and they are a ton of work. Here are some of the newbies.

Heart Felt

Bead embroidered earrings in my Etsy shop.

Felt brooches in progress.

I'm having one of those slow moving kind of days. Not an unproductive one, just slowly, gradually moving through my creative goals of the day. I typically try and crowd my time with way too many tasks, finding myself frustrated at my lack of accomplishments by nightfall. But today is different. I have the day off from work, I'm still in my pj's and I don't mind much if I even step outside into the gray skied world. Inside, I have been patiently working on these colorful bits of felt and beads transforming them into textural and wearable small artworks. Just another tangent in my ever evolving world of art explorations and distractions. The earrings are now in my Etsy shop, and the brooches will hopefully be following in the near future. Now onward to clay!

Trash or Treasure?

When I go to a yard sale or a flea market that old saying comes into mind, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Truer words were never spoken as I walk the rows of a large flea market. Sometimes there are piles of things I would not ever want or be attracted to, and once in a while I find myself drawn to tidbits of the past lives of previous owners’ well loved items. The fun is all in the hunt of course, but then it can be overwhelming at the same time. Hundreds of vendors, some taking great care in display, while others pile stuff about in a hap hazard fashion not seeming to care if this pile of dusty stuff finds a new habitat. I look around my place and wonder if sometime in the future someone would find rummaging through my debris a delightful curiosity or just shovel it into the nearest landfill. As a maker of things, I respect the stuff of life that

stuffs my life, but I’m not sure if I want to have too much more of it popping out of every nook and cranny of my space. But then again………I might miss out on that perfect treasure.



Happy New Year

As you step into the new year, take a moment to pause and take the road of your choice. Best wishes for a beautiful and wonderous 2012!

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

More Beads Please

Yesterday I went to the Bay Area Bead Extravaganza (also known as B.A.B.E.). There were over 200 vendors selling their handmade beads, supplies and tools. My heart was full and soon my wallet empty, but it was a grand day. I came home inspired and recharged and ready to create new work. Working out new designs and with new found loves of vintage buttons has been challenging and rewarding. I love the way the buttons feel with the beads creating textures and color spots. These are some of my newest pieces now available in my Etsy shop! So the hunt continues as I wander down the pebbled road of glass beads in all of their brilliance.

Sacramento Arts Festival

I'm at the Sacramento Arts Festival this weekend, booth #704!! Stop by and say "hello" to me. The show is located at the Sacramento Convention Center, 1400 J Street, Sacramento, CA. There are 225 fine artists and craftspeople with many beautiful wares for sale. See you soon!

Happy Hallowe'en

Happy trick-or-treating and to all a Good Fright!

Favorite Haunts

I thought since it was October, my favorite month of the year, I would share with you a couple of my “favorite haunts.” These places transcend time and the common world of the retail shopping experience, and are more like a magical trip to a forgotten world somewhere between European arts and a Steampunk village shop.  Both venues are in Berkeley, CA.

Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles is our first stop. Every time I walk up the doorway of this place my heart begins to race. I am flooded with visuals: brilliant colors, textures, and objects I have never seen before except here. I love massive selection of uncommon threads, needlework tools and equipment, books, and a plethora of foundation materials to create just about anything from a spectacular Chapeau to a tatted lace doily. And most importantly an extremely knowledgeable staff, that seems to know what you want or need before you do. There is even a lace museum in the same building! With its high ceilings and vast array of goodies and books, you will not ever leave Lacis empty handed.

My next stop is the fascinating Castle in the Air located on Berkeley’s famous Fourth Street sharing other specialty shops as neighbors. Shopping on Fourth Street is never disappointing, and Castle in the Air is on the top of my list as a destination. Amazing seasonal window displays are worthy of more than a casual pause. Once inside the doorway you are greeted by German puppets, miniatures in antique glass cases and an excellent selection of items like heavy crepe papers, real glass glitter, blank books, drawing and calligraphy inks, scrap and just about anything sparkly to create your own wonders. They have classes and a gallery upstairs run by artists that create their own work and are masters at their craft. Many people frequent this place to purchase a gift that one could not find anywhere else including fountain pens in all colors and styles, reproduction classic fairy tales, European greeting cards, hand carved collectibles, paper mache figures, and French ribbon.



Happy haunting and may you discover these places and your own secret nooks on your travels.



The Great Pumpkin Halloween Blog Giveaway WINNER is...........

The Vintage Witch, a.k.a. Julie, is the winner of The Great Pumpkin Halloween Giveaway!!! Thank you to all who participated and shared great memories of your fabulous costumes. Happy Halloween!!

The Great Pumpkin Halloween Giveaway!!

It's time to have another giveaway! Make sure to read the flyer below and follow the Rules for the giveaway. Good luck to everyone!

Be Still My Halloween Heart

The weekend was a blur of orange and black, uplifted spirits, friendly faces and whole barrel of fun. I so look forward to this weekend each year, but find myself a bit let down afterwards. I wish all of my shows were of this caliber and amusement. I was able to go around quickly to some of the other artists' tables and take some photos of their talented offerings. Most gone like a witch flying past the harvest moon on Halloween eve by the end of the first hour of the show. So feast my friends, and savor the delicious works of some of the best folk artists in the country gathered once a year at Halloween and Vine, Petaluma, CA. Be inspired, be joyful, and see you next time. 

Nicol Sayre



Nancy Aldabe

Arbutus Hunter

David Everett

Charles Batte

Christy Silacci

Edgar & Edgar

Maria Grimes

Iva Wilcox

Ho Ho Halloween

Jack Roads

Len Bentham

Katherine Webber

Vergie Lightfoot

Lori Ann Corelis

Amelia Schaefer

Brandi McKenna

Sharon Bloom

Lori Rudolph

Kerry Howard-Schmidt

Fox and the Hare

Sandi Pfeffer & Sue Losey