The Littlest Shopper Was the Biggest Hit


Little Miss Meila came to my booth and was instantly captivated with Coin Purse Monsters. Well, those and the nearby Childrens Museum's cash register station. That girl is going to be quite the shopper one day! While she was madly punching away on the buttons, her dad was shopping my lovely selection of needle felted recycled wool children's sweaters. After a perusal, and trying on a couple of sweaters, Meila was happily ensconced in the "Fly Me South For The Winter" sweater, with "Zoom!" needle felted on the backside. Of course, that's after she delighted everyone within eyesight with her cutiepie modeling ability!

Thank you, Meila (and her parents), for coming out to visit the Make Good group at the Handmade Trunkshow at the Children's Museum. What a great group of artisans, and I'm thrilled to report that Make Good will soon be carrying more of my needle felted goodness in their South Park shop. Yea!

Well, no rest for the weary over here. I have just signed on to do a 4th holiday show, called the Handmade Holiday Pop-Up Shop, on the evening of Artisans' Alley, no less! That would be NEXT Saturday, Dec. 4th... Artisans' Alley is from 9-3, and HH Pop-Up Shop from 6-10. (I will be drinking some serious caffeine that day!) I am sooo excited about this new show. I was invited to attend by Susie Ghahremani of Boy Girl Party If you aren't familiar with Susie, or her fantastic illustrations, well, you should be! I know I will be totally shopping in her booth at next weekend's show, um-hummm! So, plan to come out next Saturday for a rockin' holiday the Val's Art Studio way. :o)

Next Up: Holiday Trunk Show at The New Children's Museum!


Yep, the next show for Val's Art Studio is the Holiday Trunk Show with the Make Good group. That's THIS SATURDAY November 27th from 10-4, at the New San Diego Children's Museum.

I'm so excited to be a part of all this kiddie related fun! Plus, there will be LIVE music, and Hands-On crafts. You do not need to pay for Museum entrance in order to come to this event, but heading into to the Museum will create an extra special fun addition to your day!

So, plan to come on out and see what all the Make Good hoopla is about... did you hear that Make Good was recently voted one of the top three places in San Diego for gift shopping this holiday season?! Wow, Make Good rocks!

Big Huge Talmadge Hooray


Yes, and THANK YOU for such a successful day! Once again, I did not take any pictures... just too dang busy, but I have some great mental imagery to share with you. Now, use your imagination here!...

  1. Greg sitting in my booth at the start of the day while I ran a quick errand, stating to the first customers, "Noooo, I didn't make all of this..." (picture: eyes rolling!)
  2. My two booth neighbors staring in awe at the flocks of people coming and laughing at the rows of cutie Friendly stuffs. Neighbor comments, "Thanks for bringing so many people to this corner of the show, I love all the action!"
  3. Actual customer states, "How can this be recycled wool? It looks too Fresh!" (Uh-huh, I work my wool into submission, girl!!!)
  4. Number of people who wanted the Transportation Backpack on hold for Marcia: 6! I sold all the other backpacks. Note to self: Quit making the backpacks. They take me a full THREE days... (eyes rolling: mine)
  5. Appreciation purchases (by me) for some of the lovely work at the Talmadge show: 3. I would have shopped more if I had the time to get around and look. Will post pics of these very soon :o)
So nice to meet many new friends, and greet returnees, and see quite a few wonderful friends. What a joy, and for this I thank you!

A Jolly Holiday Sort of Day



... To get you in the holiday spirit, I thought I'd share a Wee Snowman with you!

Don't forget about the Talmadge Art Show, it's Today! If you live in the San Diego area, you might have seen the Talmadge feature on KUSI yesterday, along with a nice mention of me! Come out and see me today, and check out my best offerings for this upcoming holiday :o)

Theme #1 Revealed for Talmadge Art Show This Sunday!


Only managing to fulfill a portion of my handmade desires, I am still working diligently towards my goal list for these 3 upcoming shows over the next 2 weeks. Moving households really put a wrench into my works (have I mentioned this before...?) Then, Michelle had to have her wisdom teeth removed... (heck, Michelle, now?? Really? -just kidding, hope you're feeling better very soon :o)

Each show seems to have a specific theme, or at least it does in my minds eye. I was invited to the Talmadge Art Show as a Fiber artist, so I am trying to show my best Fiber work for Talmadge (heck, everything I do is fiber art!)

Well, for Talmadge, I am planning to show a new line of more affordable Audubon inspired scarves. My original intent was to feature not only birds, but butterflies and dragon flies too. Those are currently sitting in the backseat of my creative endeavors... not too sure
they will be able to be created by Sunday... but I will do my best to include a couple.

I am in love with each and every bird I create, but I'm especially fond of this beautiful owl. It was a challenge to figure out what bird might be able to go on this festive red silk scarf, but a perusal through my Audubon book brought forth the wonderful Snowy Owl, and it was a done deal!













These scarves are incredible to wear, but they are equally lovely dressing an entry table, or draped over a chair, even hug as a wall hanging. They are created with wool and mohair locks infused with glittering accents sparkling in the light. They are glorious. Given as a gift, they look like they cost a million bucks, but I will be selling them at the Talmadge show for a mere $68.00! I don't have too many, so show up early for the best selection.

See you on Sunday!!

Holiday Happenings!

Happy Holidays... (does that sound right?) Wasn't it just summer? Was Halloween yesterday? Where has the time gone, and just HOW does it fly by so dang fast???

Ok, I know things are busy, ('tis the season-?) and hey-- I'll be the first to admit that life has driven me a l i t t l e bit crazy of late. One can only cram just so much into the course of a day/week/month, and I think I've been in overdrive. I'm not making excuses. I just know it's been so.

Well, enough of that, because we have THE HOLIDAYS to celebrate, and WE are going to do it in STYLE! WE (that would be me) WE are celebrating until the CoWs come HoMe, and there are LoTs of opportunities for you to come and CeLeBrAtE with ME!!! Check it out....

  • Sunday, November 21st at the Talmadge Art Show in Hillcrest. This one day craft and art fair is filled with exceptional art and wearable pieces, it takes place at the San Diego Women's Club. This will be my first year as an exhibitor, and I am very much looking forward to showing my handmade loveables at this impressive show. You won't be disappointed if you plan a visit to the Talmadge Art Show!
  • Saturday, November 27th at The New San Diego Children's Museum I'm so excited about being able to attend this one day show and sales event with Make Good of South Park, in San Diego! The New Children's Museum is a large, amazing facility, located in the heart of downtown. Only two years old, it's the only combination children + contemporary art museum in existence. This unique arts/crafts/handmade event takes place on this ONE day only, inside the museum. No admission to the museum is necessary to attend this special arts event!
  • Saturday, December 4th at Artisans' Alley in Coronado. Come help me celebrate my 4th year Anniversary of beginning my business, where it started right here in this very venue! **Please note: this will be my 3rd event in a 2 week period, and I will not be creating any new inventory for Artisans' Alley. I will probably plan to have a champagne party to celebrate the growth of Val's Art Studio in these past 4 years! (just kidding, I don't think they will allow me to do that!) But, I might have cookies and punch to distribute along with hopefully very little inventory... providing my sales are good at events # 1+2. At least that's the plan...
Enjoy the merry making, the turkey preparations, the readying to tinsel, and mark your calendars for a Val's Art Studio visit... I can't wait to see you, and toast (wink) to the Holidays. Let it be merry and bright!

x, Val

Work It



Work it good!


Here's where I work it by day.... Mmm, humm, I work it good! (Do you remember that Devo song? Whip It Good. It's always been one of my favorites!) Ok, so I thought I'd show you the new work space at Lizzy Lou's (my mom's house) where I work by day. It's a great room, with lots of windows and light, and an outdoor porch where Lola can hang and look down on the neighborhood happenings. We have room for Michelle to come and help me when she can. We are a happy group here, we get lots accomplished, and our new routine seems to be humming right along. (btw, that lion mosaic collage hanging on the wall is something I created in high school. Amazing how parents never throw anything away...)


Michelle works at the desk in front (the cleared off one). It normally doesn't look so neat and tidy :o) -NOT to say Michelle's messy. She's just between projects!

All the furniture is from my husband's office. He's been downsizing too, so I received a lot of his cast offs. For this, I'm really grateful. I love all this old medical furniture that's been reconditioned and restored. He has loads of these pieces.


Working on Friendly Stuffs sure brings out the wooly scraps. Here is how they begin. A big happy pile of felted wool sweater scraps. Usually, Lola lays on one pile or the other. Have no fear, she doesn't shed, and she's hypo-allergenic. (I know, I am highly allergic to cats and most dogs). Soon, the scraps take one form or another, looking something like this...


After a few more zigs and zags, and a stuff with fluff, they take their proper Friendly form. Just sitting and waiting to be taken to a new home, and properly loved. Not to say we don't love them! Each one gets the royal lovey-dovey treatment during construction. How can you not love them?!

Many Friendlys are being made for our big one day show and sale at the New San Diego Children's Museum, on Saturday, November 27th. I will be there with the Make Good Group. The Friendly Stuffs and I will be there with bells on, with lots of other friendly items from Val's Art Studio! Mark your calendar and come down to see us and say HI!

Sew Thankful



Wee Christmas Village is part of Needle Felted Charm
I'm preparing for the Talmadge Art Show. Isn't it cute?!

My crafts are keeping me sane... keeping me from unraveling at the seems... keeping me grounded during this period of flux and change. So (oops) sew thankful sewing's my "drug" of choice, and needle felting calms my nerves. Helps so I can vacillate between Drew's braking his arm on our moving day, to Kyle's needing me to "cut his hair RIGHT NOW, please", to Greg's throwing out his BACK, to Bryan's need for me to go pick up Schleg door locks at 8pm, to the painters not showing up! Arrrgh!!! Now there are 2 trenches in our back patio, so we can't access the back door (just a main thoroughfare!), and they need to be filled (did I mention Greg threw out his back???) Who will be filling in and packing trenches? Who? ME? Who will be touching up paint in the kitchen before the flooring guy comes on Monday to lay the floor? ME! WHO has 3 shows coming up in 2 weeks? ME, that's who..... ARRGGGGH!


Deep ... calming ... breath.... yes...
The sewing is so fine, so perfect, sooo what I need right now. I am finally finished with a sweater I began for a customer last Spring (before my life became this complicated!) I just needed to finish it. It's lovely. It will be needle felted with a mermaid and beach motif. I will show it to you as soon as it's done.

So, so, SEW happy to finish up this irresistible vest. I made a similar one to wear at ArtWalk, and sold it off my back the very first day. It's so special...


I will post about my 3 upcoming shows very soon, so stay tuned. I work best under pressure, so I have no doubt my upcoming work will be my best yet. Man, just wait to see what I'll dream up while shoveling those trenches!!