Imagine going to summer camp as an adult, on a forested island in a pristine freshwater lake. Imagine creating in this special place alongside a small nurturing community of seasoned instructors and other enthusiasts like yourself.

Summer Art Camp- now that sounds like fantastic fun! Susan from Artstream Gallery has put together an amazing 5 day event. There will be Art classes- including my Tiny World Class- swimming, beautiful views, evening events, hiking, relaxing, whatever sounds good! I am so excited to be part of this event. I hope some of you out there will join us! Check out all the details here.

He has curly hair and beard made from black wool chenille fabric. His tattoos are George Washington in toile.

Belt and buckle above, boots below.

I am working on getting all my current finished pieces into my etsy shop.

Well, you know I do love making felt musical instruments.

So he is a hipster musician and who knows what else. I made him a banjo and a ukulele.

And a messenger bag with 2 books and 2 pencils. So we can add artist, writer, and/or composer.

He has a red cashmere scarf. Here he is with all his stuff.

What a guy! I love when a doll I am working on rebels and I have to go in an entirely new direction!

The thing is, I had a pile of dyed toile scraps that were not enough for a tattooed man or woman but just right for the smaller amount this design needs. And I’d saved them because I liked them enough that I couldn’t just throw them away. Perfect!

I had fun with this beard too. It is made of an alpaca sweater bit- they get shaggy-edged when I wash them.

Cashmere hat, felt axe, Pendleton wool shirt, high lace-up boots, suspenders.

The toile I used had scenes from Robinson Crusoe on it- he has a very odd furry man on his chest. The rest of that fabric got used on this guy.

I made his beard out of 2 layers of sweater ribbing and I’m pretty excited about that.

Here he is without his (faux fur) hat. And you can see his 2-man saw which is made of 2mm felt. It has a wire in the crosspiece so it will hold its shape.

And on the wall-

He has a cashmere hat and a felt axe across his back.

The shoe laces in case you are interested.

He was all done except for the hat and the axe. Of course I needed to decide if he was carrying an axe or maybe something else. And the hat- so many kinds of hats. This is what keeps me from finishing things.

There is cactus there. And people zipping around the water using kites.

Lots of pretty beaches for walks.

And lighthouses.

Big dunes and bird watching.

Did I mention that my daughter was part of the group?

And then a very long drive in the pouring rain.

The last leg was a train trip from Connecticut back to Boston. One of the things I love about the train is all the views of the undersides of the world.

And I’m home! Hopefully I will be back to work soon and get some things finished up and posted. So much to do including the garden which came to life when I was gone. See you soon!

But the news for today is the latest Issue of Sweet Paul Magazine! Remember back in February when I posted about their visit? Now the magazine is out and there I am, starting on page 28- I am so totally thrilled to be featured in this gorgeous publication! You can check out the whole magazine online and/or you can get yourself a paper copy. It is a special Kids issue and there is loads of goodies in it- products, recipes, home decor. What an exciting day.

We are having Spring and here is the proof- my always blooming on Patriots’ Day daffodils.

Once the news of the bombing in Boston was everywhere, I found it almost impossible to pry myself away from the computer. Finally by Tuesday evening I was able to settle down enough to spend some time in the studio. But all week has been about obsessively checking Twitter and all the news streams. Today has been very strange. The town where I live is not “locked down”, but most of the surrounding towns are. The streets, the sidewalks and the sky are all eerily quiet unless a really loud helicopter flies overhead. Public transportation is cancelled so no bus noise on Mass Ave. And so so much crazy news and no real news at all. I tore myself away from the computer at midday and went out to the garden and turned the compost pile- phew! It was a relief to be out in the sun and doing something physical.

So, here is the studio today.

You know I got about 90% done on 3 lumberjacks (last post) and then I got distracted by the idea of making more of this model of lumberjack. I’d cut out and dyed fabric for 3 more “Big Men” tattooed lumberjacks last fall, but never cut out the rest of their necessary pieces. I did that. And sewed them up and stuffed them. And then thought I’d like to make the thinner guy as a tattooed lumberjack. I’ve got 5 mostly cut out now, 2 sewed, 1 stuffed. And one more thing- I want to cut out some big men lumberjacks, no tattoos. Yes, I have been distracted.

Piles and piles of wool, stuffing, pattern pieces, misc. other fabric piled up over every surface. The studio is not exactly in the state that would lead my brain to calm relaxation. Oh well, that really isn’t my way.

In other news, I am going to be off for a little vacation, leaving mid next week and gone for a week. I’ll be deactivating most of my Etsy shop on Tuesday but thankfully I can still sell my patterns because Etsy has just rolled out instant downloads for pdf patterns- Hurray! If I get any of the fellows finished, I’ll post them before I leave. Otherwise it might be quiet around here for a while.

Fingers crossed that everything will be feeling back to normal soon.