Caddie

Every time I do a pet portrait, I have to brace myself, for I know I will fall in love. By the time the portrait is finished, my heart strings will have been tugged on, and hard. Even though we have never met, and, in most cases, I have never laid eyes on the pet, my connection runs deep. Such was the case with this sweet pet... Miss Caddie.

This pillow was ordered by a close friend of Caddie's owner. Meant as a gift, I didn't know much about Caddie, just that she is especially cute, AND photogenic. I fell in love with this adorable photo...

The woman who ordered the pillow said there was "no rush", and waited patiently as I attended to many other things life is currently throwing at me. Finally, as I knew she was coming back to Coronado for July 4th, I made an effort to finish Caddie's pillow. 

I told Gail (modeling fashionably with the Caddie pillow. Thanks Gail!) this is (again) my favorite dog pillow. sigh... Each one is my favorite once I finish...

When she picked up the pillow late yesterday afternoon, Caddie's "aunt" told us that Caddie had passed away that morning. Awwww, heck. No one is prepared for that news.... Sweet Caddie off to heaven on the day her pillow is delivered. Well, all I can say is that I am so glad she will have a beautiful and warm remembrance of her sweetest lovie, Caddie. And, to be a part of that makes me feel extremely blessed and grateful. 

Rest in peace, beautiful Caddie.

Caddie's mom, I feel your loss, and hope this gift from your sweet friend brings you a measure of relief from your grief.

x, Val

Needle Felting: Almost, but not Quite As Detailed as a Painting

It's all in the Details, or lack thereof...

I tried to (calmly) explain this to my husband when he said the dog had rectangular patches on either side of his mouth. I replied that if they wanted to see every detail, they might have commissioned me to paint a painting instead of whipping up the dog in needle felt on boiled wool.

(Okay, that probably wasn't very nice... I am really sorry Greg. The truth is that your opinions are the ones I appreciate above all others.... Sheesh, he NEVER reads my blog, so this apology is just vanishing into thin air.) Poof!

Luckily, one can only get so detailed before one

might actually drive themself crazy.... Well, the truth of the matter is that the client loved, loved, loved the finished wall hanging, and so did I. Pity I finished it up a bit last minute, for I had so little time to live with it and really enjoy it. Pity too, that I only took a few photos, and discovered after the pick up, that my photos pretty much suck...blurry and bad :o( Well, the close ups are okay, but the one that counts is generally pretty dang bad. Teach me to wait until the proverbial last minute...

So, this is where I want to talk a little bit about

the detailed needle felting process. So many people ask me how I accomplish this. Two things seem to take place in my brain when I needle felt. First, there's the fact that I have always been a pretty decent painter. This isn't something I planned, it's just something I was born with. I have the ability to look at something, really study it, and break up the details into plains of value and color. Along with being a painter, I'm also pretty good at making the color I want to achieve. Lots and lots of mixing color in oil painting class honed this skill. Then, there's the added pleasure and pure joy of working with wool. I love the process of felting the wool, and deciding what the wool is to "do", how to repurpose it into a new item of clothing, a purse, or a pillow, wall hanging, etc. The colors of the wool guide me too. I really am just the vehicle in this process. It somehow all comes together without too much effort on my part. 

The important part of the needle felting is the details of laying the roving (wool fiber before it's spun into yarn) onto the boiled wool and needling it where you want it to go. The needles really do most of the work for you. Felting needles are barbed, very sharp... beware of stabbing yourself, it really hurts! I use three types of needle felting needles. A single needle for detail work, a 4 needle holder for larger area work, and a big needle holder (6-8 needles) for large areas I want to set up quickly, or to finish up the design and set up any stray fibers.

"Painting with wool" is how I refer to my needle feltings, and I feel that this is really what I do. Sometimes I take the roving and pull several colors together to get the desired shade, pulling over and over (like carding) until all the colors are nicely mixed into a new hue. Sometimes I lay down a base color, and layer thin fluffs of a lighter or darker color over to change the value of the color, similar to what you'd do in oil or acrylic painting. Then, when I feel like I'm pretty done with it, I either ask my family how it looks, or sometimes, I receive those 'get-without-asking' comments (like Greg's). I try not to be defensive, after all, I did ask. I think it's always important to have the feedback, that is, if I can take it.

So there you have it. All about flat needle felting. Probably more than you really wanted to know. Now go try for yourself. It's actually quite fun, plus, you can really work out your tensions with all that stabbing.  :o)

Lola's Favorite Walk in Coronado

Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets

Lola likes this walk. She really likes this walk, and Greg and I like it too. I call it the Beach and Bay Walk, because you walk by both within minutes of each other. It's always the nicest part of the day to take this wonderful walk through some of the more scenic sections of Coronado. These are "off the beaten path" areas, so I've tried to document it properly. I want YOU to be able to take this wonderful walk too. If you see Lola and me, stop us and say Hi!

If you are familiar with Coronado, start by the Post Office. If you aren't familiar with

Coronado, drive over the bridge, turn left on Orange Ave, and left on B Street. Go one block, turn right and park in the vicinity of the Post Office, on Ynez and A Ave. Grab your hat, put on some sunscreen, grab a pup on a leash if you have one, and away we go!

Begin walking down B Street towards Orange Ave (where you just turned if you came by car). Cross Orange and now you are walking down Loma Ave. You will walk by Fabrications (a shop I love) and Chez Loma Restaurant. Take a peek at the menu.

Maybe you'll come back for a French lunch ;o). Pass the beautiful historic Victorian houses on your way to Star Park Circle. Continue on Loma towards 

the beach. Look at the amazing brick walls, and take a moment to appreciate the history on this block.  When you get to Ocean Blvd, stop and have a long look. It's so pretty here looking across the beach towards Pt Loma.

Now you are going to turn left and walk along Ocean Blvd towards the Hotel Del Coronado. As you get close to the Hotel, you will notice a walkway that takes you on the beach side of the hotel. Follow this path, and marvel at the beach homes along here. They rent for $2200.00 PER NIGHT. Okay, yes; people actually stay there... regularly.

Now you are walking behind the hotel, and if you are walking without a pet in tow (dogs aren't allowed on Del property), you might

choose to venture off the walking path, and explore the Hotel Del. It's lovely, but I will warn you: drinks now start at about $12.50. There are shops to explore, a fabulous spa, old world history, and even a resident ghost. An amazing place, the Hotel del Coronado! 

As you continue on down the path behind the hotel, you may find sand art along the way. The Sandman has been here and left his charming art brushed out of sand from the beach. If you don't see sand art, you most likely will then next time you walk by here!

Now you will cross over a cul de sac street end, and are looking for the walkway path along the beach which leads you behind

the Shores. The Shores are the tall buildings you see when you are crossing the bridge. Now you will see them from a different vantage point, and will think it actually might be nice to... hmmm, visit... go to a party there... or maybe, just walk by quickly and focus your attention on the beach. You might see dolphins in the waves, surfers, paddle board surfers (don't ask, I really don't know... I think it's a Pilates type thing). You might see the Seal teams practicing on or in the water, you might see Military maneuvers in action. If you are really lucky, you might see the brown pelicans flying in formation, so low over the water that it looks like their belly's will touch the tops of the waves. I love that :o)

Focus on looking for the parking lot now. There's a ramp leading down to the street level, and will often be covered with wet footprints since that's where the surfers park. Walk through the parking lot and straight ahead towards the bay. You will pass these street signs by the guard hut for the Shores, and will continue across the highway at the Strand. Walk across this street and you will see Lola's reason for loving this walk. Here is her favorite fountain (designed by James Hubble) for a little splash and a shake, and *ahhh* a cool down! She's happy now... (We generally have to run for a bit now with all the water excitement, and most likely stop for a potty break)

I should point out that you have just passed Coronado's new 

Community Center which is a fabulous place for a work out, a swim, a rock climbing session, a play, and more. You can walk through the center and check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Now you are on the Bay side of the walk. You are probably pretty warmed up now that you are over half way finished 

with the walk, and off the windy beach. Take a moment to look out over the boats, golf course, bridge and mountains. So peaceful and serene. I love this scene. It's one of my favorites.

Okay, back to it! Now you are going to turn left, walking back towards the Hotel Del, with the boats to your right. At the time of this writing, the pedestrian walkway is not yet completed, but will be very soon. Final touches are being put on a facilities building, an outdoor play structure, and the finishing up of the walkway. Soon one will be able to walk entirely by the water, not having to detour through the parking lot. Can't wait!

(Time for me to take a break now. Lola and I are tired since this post is taking me so long to finish. Lola is looking at me as if to say *Isn't it time for bed now?* I'll finish up 'Part 2; the Bay Walk' on my next post, so tune back in soon!)