Category Archives: Handmade Gift Items

Another Exhibit for the Books, Seasons of the Panhandle Trail 2018

This year’s Rock the Quarry event was so busy I barely got out of my tent! That makes it very exciting—on Friday night, usually slower, I posted that I was hoarse from talking and didn’t have the chance to post anything until nearly 10:00 p.m. They are long days and run late, but it’s my […]

Hot Off the Worktable: Trees of the Trail Coasters

“Trees of the Trail” coasters, terra cotta polymer clay with the imprint of a real leaf that’s from one of the trees growing on the trail—in fact, the sycamore leaf is from the sycamore tree I sketched in “Sycamore Moon” and the maple leaf is from the tree that holds “The Rope Swing“. I roll […]

Wildflowers and Butterflies of the Trail Cabochon Pendants

Cabochon Pendants made with photos of wildflowers and butterflies from the trail.

A few cabochon pendants featuring wildflowers and a butterfly from the Panhandle Trail—daisy, chicory, woodland sunflower, aster and a great spangled fritillary butterfly on milkweed. I made these pendants with the last batch just before my open house in July, knowing I also had my Panhandle Trail exhibit coming up, so they’re not really “hot […]

Hot Off the Worktable: Decorative Wooden Trays With Trail Art & Photos

Just a few decorative trays with art and photos from the Panhandle Trail for my exhibit this weekend, another idea I’ve had in mind for the past few shows. The larger trays are 10 x 14 and the smaller tray is 8 x 12, and made of lightweight unfinished wood. I used a wash of […]

Hot Off the Worktable: Set of Seven Keepsakes Inspired By Nature

Wildflowers, butterflies, seasonal art, muddy spring days, hot summer afternoons, crisp autumn mornings and quiet winter dusks, a set of seven cube-shaped keepsake boxes. Nature is so full of color and beauty I hardly know where to start or finish. Each box has five images, one on the top and each side, and is trimmed […]

Favorite Photos for Seasons Along the Panhandle Trail

It was really the art that inspired me to have an exhibit of Panhandle Trail images during Rock the Quarry, but I have far more photos than paintings. I’ve used them as the basis for paintings, I’ve used them for graphic designs and websites totally unrelated to Panhandle, and I sell prints of them too. […]

People Will Know a Cat Lives here

I don’t like to run the same post on two different blogs on the same day but I want to let my readers here know about my first set of painted signs for cats. Rather than reprinting the same information in this post, I’m just going to give you the link to my post on […]

Getting Ready for Seasons Along the Panhandle Trail

I’ve been enjoying my trip around the seasons while getting ready for my fifth annual Seasons Along the Panhandle Trail exhibit. I can hardly believe it’s next weekend already! I’m framing new artwork and making sure the older pieces are clean and neat, making prints of art and photos and packaging or framing them, plus […]

Back to the Drawing Board, or is that Archaic?

My cats were expecting a good DIY craft show but were disappointed, and you can see that Giuseppe is not happy. Neither am I. “Back to the drawing board” was a phrase we used to use when things were largely designed on paper on a literal drawing board, though now it’s largely computerized. Making things […]

Birds and Butterflies and Wildflowers and all Cabochon Pendants 2 for $25

After I created all my fine feline pendant designs, I chose a dozen designs for new cabochons inspired by nature, from my gardens to the woods and trails. All are made from my photographs of butterflies, garden flowers, wildflowers and a hummingbird too. And a special discount on ALL my cabochons, nature and cats: buy […]