In my shop today

I've been working on a few new art pieces like the one above called 'drizzly'. It's an ink drawing from my sketchbook that I've colored digitally. I love how these are coming out and will hopefully have more soon. In the meantime, check out the 3 new pieces including 'drizzly'...

This piece is pretty darn sweet...called 'spring humming'. I love girls and birds and flowers and polka dots - it's true.

To show you another view of things - this is how I package my prints; signed print on stiff backing board, within a clear sleeve (both board and sleeve are reusable). This print is wonderful in an 'alice in wonderland' kind of way - it's called 'le petit jardin'.

Also new in my shop are little owl plushies that have gorgeously scented lavender inside. I took a teeny owl sketch of mine and gocco printed my image onto different lovely fabrics like wools and velvets. I have 18 little owls for sale and that's it - the screen is no good for fabrics anymore. There are two in the shop right now but I will be listing the rest of them over the next few days. They are all different from each other and oh so cute & delicious smelling :o)

A pink velvet owl plushie, with lavender inside. Pick them up in my shop!

And thanks to all who came out to the 'Street Mrkt' hosted by Anno Domini Gallery!! It was really fun with amazing live music - who was that first band?? First Friday's of the month are really starting to be a happening time in San Jose, now with all the galleries lined up on S. 1st Street. Believe me, I get so excited when I see these kinds of things here...it makes me have hope for San Jose!

my little heartmelter

phylo is just so darned cute!!
he doesn't want to eat the tomato, just wonders why i'm not letting him have it :o)
check out more phylo & garden pics...

mmmm....4 early girl tomatoes all bunched together, each at different ripening stages...such a perfect palette of colors.

back from the homeland

A two year old macaw baby with a scarlet/green mommy and blue/gold daddy - he's a total rainbow.

okay...so i really got back over a week ago! :o) it's been a busy time - my parents have been here visiting and i've been catching up on all the loose ends...mural jobs & follow ups, new products for sales and for my etsy shop. and i caught a really dreadful cold...i still feel like i'm swimming under water - know that feeling? bahhh, can't wait till it's passed.

anyway, panama was so wonderful and i can't wait to go again. this trip was just me and my parents and brother. we went all over - el valle (a cool, mountainous area), the beaches (playa blanca), all over panama city, all over the canal zone (where i grew up), out to gamboa (where you can really feel at peace, and get great views of the ships in transit through the canal), and over to majagual (vera cruz) where my best friend lucy lives with her husband and 2 girls, plus 3 dogs and 2 cats! we saw lots of friends, lots of wildlife, took so many photos, swam in the ocean...ahhh. more pics at my flickr page.

mossy steps at the golden frog inn, el valle, panama

gorgeous canna bloom at the golden frog inn - just amazing gardens...

sleeping princess mountain

ship in transit through the canal - headed toward the miraflores locks, gamboa

birds flying over the beach...about to steal fish from the pelicans!

a beautiful day at the beach in panama

lookee what i found...i paddled the 'ocean to ocean cayuco race' in this boat - the 'high anxiety'. we won first place our second year - such good memories. what's the cayuco race? an arm marathon essentially - 51 miles of paddling with a 4 person crew over 3 days, from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, just like a ship would do it.

Jessica the Hippo

2 tons of love

home sweet home

I'll be in Panama for the next few days!! Mostly in the Panama City area with a night in El Valle and a night at the beach (of course!). I can't say how ecstatic I am to go to the beach again. Living in Cali is really fun and we love it but I feel almost landlocked sometimes because the water is so chilly - I never have the desire to play and swim in the ocean like I do in Panama. I'll also get to see my best friend Lucy again :o) We've known each other since the age of 9 and now she has two little girls and lives in an amazing house on the coast. I'm taking the girls some special little things from my shop.

Have a great weekend!! I'll be back and will post pictures from the trip - should be lovely and colorful...

Etsy Showcase Today!

Happy Monday :o) It's my birthday! This morning (probably only cause it's my b-day...) my husband went running with me and our dog Phylo. It was great...and we'll have earned our yummy dinner at 71 St. Peter tonight! Mmmm...'summer tasting menu' with wine pairing - can't wait!

And I have a spot in the showcase on Etsy today...Rosie the lapdog is featured. Too cool...hopefully I'll have more people visit my shop. I'll be posting more plushes later today in the shop and I have more paintings in the works that I'll get on there soon too.

I found out last week that Cookie Magazine blog featured one of my plushes! I'm not sure which one as the link was past (the post was in June) but it linked to my Etsy shop which is great. Cookie is such a rad magazine & I feel totally honored!

These are some plushes that have found homes lately...

7 new lapdogs!

Yea! 7 new lapdogs all lovingly sewn & stuffed and carefully named :o) 4 of them are currently in my shop - the other three I'll list later today and tomorrow.

Hershey the Lapdog (caramel wool fabric, apricot wool fabric, vintage alpaca felt details)

Morgan the Lapdog (striped cotton fabric, purple quilted fabric, fleece eye and tail details)

Bettie the Lapdog (purple wool fabric, irridescent printed fabric, hand felted wool details)

Rosie the Lapdog (soft pink velvet fabric, striped cotton fabric, fleece eye and tail details)

Pippi the Lapdog (fuzzy red fleece fabric, floral print fabric from Japan, hand felted wool details)

Lisbon the Lapdog (blue wool fabric, wool happi coat fabric from Japan, & fleece/cotton details)

Lille the Lapdog (super soft baby blanket fabric, floral print fabric from Japan, & wool details)

& july begins

july is my favorite month...part of it may have to do with my birthday being in july :o) but i think it's more than that. it's so warm and sunny and beautiful in san jose in july...the garden is popping!...there are so many things to do and see...the days are long...the clothes are easy. i actually feel much more motivated in warm weather so i'm getting lots done!


this is a cute wooden alphabet i've been painting for a little boy's room. the other work i did in his room is pretty simple - just stacked stripes in fun blues, yellows & oranges.



& we have a new bird friend! i'm not sure the species...but this guy is a real cutie, and SO teeny! we noticed that some little seed eaters had built a nest in our orange tree (fairly low) - unfortunately it's been slowly falling apart and last night one little guy kept slipping through. phylo was so good to listen to us and leave the little fella alone so we could scoop it back in the nest. well...this morning all three babies were gone!! i thought maybe a cat or squirrel had...you know...so we were sad. but later on, phylo and his excellent hunting dog nose found a sole survivor ALL the way across the yard. i made sure the mama and papa birds saw me and then tucked a bag under the nest and put the baby back in place - bit more secure this time. so far all is well!