I’ve got some news!

My friend, Robert Mahar, has invited me to teach at his creative retreat in Sonoma, California, next October. I’ve known Robert since the early days of blogging and he was tremendously encouraging when I was at a stage of my dollmaking, wondering if anyone would really be interested in my creations. He has been doing cool things for the last 20 years and I have no doubt that I will have a blast at his retreat! Check out Well Crafted Sonoma 2026 and maybe add it to your Christmas list :-)

In the meantime, Thanksgiving is over, dishes are washed, Christmas carols are playing and I am back in my studio. I am currently working on a pile of kitties and foxes. There is snow in the forecast so I will snuggle in and get some work done!

I thought I was done with the fish

I thought I was done for the year but then a friend made a request and I made some more!

I made 2 sets of fraternal twins, same body colors but switched around heads and bodies. That way they could pick their favorite.

and

And one more-

And here they are in my studio-

I will post the extra fish in my Etsy shop.

And you can see what I am working on next: Cats and Foxes!

Two more fish

One high-fashion fish and one orange houndstooth. High-fashion, you are wondering? Yes!

This fish fabric was given to me in a bin filled with someone’s cleared out fabric stash. This was the label pinned to it-

Pretty fancy, eh?! Hermes! I love how it started at $150, but eventually got to $32 a yard. That must have still been very expensive in the time when they were still using these kind of labels.

And the Orange Fish-

There are some little fin stitches to keep the fin in place.

fish pillow