Posted on Leave a comment

Vintage Photos from My Vending Days

Thought I’d share these “vintage” photos from vending days gone by: The first photo is from the Chumash Pow Wow in Ojai, CA, circa 1994. We’d just finished breaking down our vendor booth. By that stage in my life, I’d already been vending at art shows and festivals for about 7 years!

The woman on the left was a sweet friend from England, who used to import my work so that she could sell it in her stall at the Glastonbury Festival! (Does that event still exist?). The babe in my arms is now 26 years old, and in grad school.

The second photo shows some beaded leather bags that I made around that same era. As you can see, my style has changed a bit in the 25 yrs since these pictures were taken. Some things remain constant: my material choices (beads, leather, natural gemstones), a love of color and natural themes, skilled craftsmanship, and passion for my work and the people who inspire me to create.

handcrafted beaded buckskin bags circa 1994

This path has not always been easy, but I love it all the same. I’m grateful for all the lessons behind me, and hopeful for many years ahead. Some of you have been with me through this whole journey (thank you, I love you!) and some are just joining now (thanks, you rock!).

Please know that I genuinely appreciate every bit of support and encouragement along the way. May it come back to you tenfold  ❤

Posted on Leave a comment

December 13th shop update + year end SALE!

leather raven necklace with iridescent gemstones

New work just added ~

I’ve just posted a small shop update, which includes a small collection of necklaces, leather pendants, and hair accessories!

While I’d hoped to have more to share tonight, it just wasn’t in the cards. As is typical for the Pacific Northwest this time of year, it has been dark and gloomy and dumping rain all week. Not ideal weather for photography (in fact, I’ll likely go back and re-photograph many of these pieces the next time that the weather is favorable). Perhaps I’ll trickle in a few more pieces over the weekend if time and light allows.

In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy the pieces that I’ve shared tonight! Also, just a friendly reminder that my holiday ordering dates are coming up quickly. If you’re in the US, there’s still time to order for the holidays, though I’d urge you not to procrastinate too much!

Year end Sale  (*added 12/15) ~

Enjoy tiered discounts through the end of 2018:

* Orders of $50+ enjoy 10% off

* Orders of $100+ enjoy 15% off

* Orders of $200+ enjoy 25% off

Hopefully, this helps you with your holiday shopping, and it certainly helps me to clear the way for new work in the year ahead! Thank you for empowering me to do what I love for a living!

Sale runs from 12/15/18 – 12/31/18

Cali Love Fire Benefit Tattoo & Holiday Gift Bazaar on Sunday 12/16 ~

Last but not least, I mentioned in my last post that my November giveaway winner is choosing to donate her prize to the Cali Love Fire Benefit Tattoo & Holiday Gift Bazaar this Sunday 12/16 at Eye of the Tiger Tattoo in San Francisco. The proceeds from this event will go to benefit the families who are working to rebuild their lives after the #Campfire in Paradise, CA last month. Two of my friends’ families lost their home in that fire, so this event is near and dear to my heart. With that said, I am choosing to match Angel’s donation of my Sacred Heart sugar skull mask, by adding a second “Abuelita” sugar skull mask. If you’re in the Bay Area this weekend, please consider attending and supporting this special cause!

leather sugar skull masks

Posted on Leave a comment

Disaster Relief Offerings

 

leather rose hair stick barrettes

These leather rose barrettes , shawl pins, and monarch wing earrings were inspired by my desire to help those impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Before they were completed, disaster touched down in Florida and Puerto Rico as well. Thus, 50% of the proceeds from these pieces will be donated to the American Red Cross.

leather monarch butterfly wing earrings with glass flowers
Posted on Leave a comment

When life hands you lemons…

“When life hands you lemons, say — I like lemons, what else you got?”
~ Henry Rollins

I’m back from my trip to sunny southern California. It was beautiful, and I had a wonderful time with my friends. The show that I was planning to do did not pan out as expected …. apparently, there were permit issues and the event was cancelled moments after we arrived to set up. I was beyond let down, as I’m not really in the position to take extended vacations like that unless they’re working vacations. In addition, this event took place on Mother’s Day weekend, which is typically a big day for craft shows and festivals. With that said, this last minute cancellation translated to a pretty big loss for me.

Village Grind, Wrightwood CA

Fortunately, my hosts have connections! Allison creates wonderful handcrafted soap and polymer clay jewelry, which she sells at a local coffee house called The Village Grind. She gave them a call to see if they’d let a few of the displaced vendors set up our wares on their deck, and they graciously agreed. It just so happened that they had an event planned for that day — their “Hedonist Days” event, which was a full on toga party.

They had singers and bands, and even a bellydancer. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and the friendly, tight knit community showed up in full force. I had a few good sales (which at least helped me to recoup a portion of my travel expenses) and I met so many great people! Seriously, I cannot say enough about our kind hosts Greg and Linda, or about the people of Wrightwood. It is a beautiful town with a friendly, vibrant community. If you’re ever in the area, I strongly encourage you to stop by and check it out for yourself ; and if you do, be sure to pop in to the Village Grind — they have fun events and music all the time.


As you can tell, I quickly fell in love with this beautiful mountain town and the awesome people who live there. I’m considering heading back down in July for their Mountaineer Days Festival. I’m undecided at the moment, but the event that I’d originally gone down for has been relocated and rescheduled around the same time, so it could work out. I would certainly welcome the chance to visit this town again.

Posted on Leave a comment

California I’m Coming Home…

“Day of the Deadheads” Calavera Mask

Hopping on a plane tomorrow to go visit one of my oldest friends down in southern California. Kim and her daughter are crafty too — Kim makes beaded jewelry and really cool wine bottle decor, and Alli does a little bit of everything (poly clay, gourds, henna, soap making) — so we’re going to share a booth at one of the local festivalson Mother’s Day weekend. The show is called “Dead on the Mountain” and it’s a great big hippie fest with tons of Grateful Dead cover/inspired bands.

I’ve been beading a lot the past week or two, which is a nice change of pace since I’ve been so focused on leatherwork for the last several months. So I’ll have plenty of beaded jewelry for this event, as well as a good selection of leather barrettes, fascinators and hair slides. Not sure how well the masks will do, but I’m bringing a bunch for good measure. Hopefully, we’ll do well there as I’d love to have a reason to visit more often. I miss the sunshine, the redwoods, the ocean and mostly, my peeps. I’m very excited for a chance to see them!

Posted on Leave a comment

Happy Halloween!

I am deeply grateful for the support of my customers, family and friends, who have helped to make this another wonderful mask making season! It makes me realize how very blessed I am, so I’d like to pay a little bit of that positive energy forward…

The last mask that I created this Halloween was this “Day of the Deadheads” calavera skull mask, which I’m going to donate (along with a couple of others) to be auctioned off at EPIC’s Annual Dinner and Celebration. The proceeds will go to their campaign to help save the old growth redwoods in Richardson Grove. Fellow treehuggers can check it out on Friday, November 5th 2010 at the Mateel Community Center in Redway, California.