I won the prize for best newlestter design on 1000 Markets!

1000 Markets ran a contest recently and I won! My newsletter design was chosen as the best, and I am so proud. It was fun to make using their new template for email newsletters, but WINNING the prize is as good as it gets! I got a $100 gift certificate for anything my heart desired at 1000 Markets. What a joy! This is prize that I have chosen from "OnSlenderThreads" http://www.1000markets.com/users/onslenderthreads, a hand knit mantle that I have been wistfully watching for months...knit with handspun merino, bamboo, and silk noils. It's soft and warm with beadrops of carnelian and carved jade that give purity, protection, vitality, and energy stabilization. Isn't she luminous and sentient?

So....then.....while I await her arrival I found these perfect leggings from DyeDianaDye's shop, and I decided to jump on them and put them in my cart, because I knew they wouldn't last long in the "Succulent Wive's Holiday Gift Guide" http://www.1000markets.com/groups/thesucculentwife/collections/16643/products/105444


Perfect right?

Then add my ruby and freshwater pearl earrings from "Izis" http://www.1000markets.com/users/izis


I am glowing just thinking about wearing these hand made, heart infused beauties. Next on my list of gifts to myself is a ruby and citrine necklace from Mannybeads, http://www.1000markets.com/users/mannybeads

Going Within for the Holidays

With my Day of the Dead Hospice show completed, I'm looking forward to a slower pace for the upcoming holiday season. For the first time in over twenty years, I'm not doing a holiday showcase or sale, and I am jumping for JOY. It feels like a gift to myself, to focus on going within, taking time to soak in the silence. Here is my holiday wish for myself and you, dear Reader:

May this season of Silence bring us closer to the heart of Nature, closer to our Heart's Desire, closer to the spring of inspiration that nourishes our Soul. May we find solace in Simplicity, comfort in one another. May we find time to enjoy the gifts already in our lives.

Equinox Blessings and Happy Autumn

There's a crisp chill in the air and September is gone so swiftly. My garden is still pumping out tomatoes and basil and leeks and eggplant, and I'm roasting vegies for maranara ssuce for the winter.

Hello and bright fall blessings to you! I've got some news to share and an upcoming show at Hospice of San Luis Obispo

After eight years of participating in the Open Studio Tour, I have decided to take a wee break. I have been stocking my online shop at 1000 Markets with over one hundred works of art, including my pottery, painted silks, Day of the Dead festival ware, jewelry and collage. This year, since I'm not doing Open Studio, I will be setting up a gallery show of my art at Hospice for two weeks, from October 19 - November 3. I invite you all to see my work there. Follow this link for date, times and a map to Hospice of San Luis Obispo I will donate a portion of my sales to Hospice in deep gratitude for the healing work they do every day.

I have created custom art for many of you, and am available to creating your heart's desire for holiday gifts or something special for your home or office.

Drop me a note; I love hearing from you!

All the best, PattyMara

Day of the Dead Art with FREE Shipping!
Day of the Dead and Halloween Skull Mug: "Spiral Eyes" $22.00	Ceramic "Sugar Skull" Wall Mask for Day of the Dead, Custom Order $75.00	Dear Friend Ofrenda Tile and Family Tiles Too $15.00	Heavenly Fishing Day of the Dead Ceramic Tile $20.00
Ofrenda Tiles for Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Brother and Dear Friends $15.00	Eat, Drink & Be Merry Set of Two Black and White Bowls $35.00	"Sugar Skull" Mask for the Wall, Day of the Dead, Handpainted Ceramic $75.00	Sugar Skull Mirror for Day of the Dead and All Year Round $25.00
Day of the Dead Tall Mug Handpainted Original $22.00	Peace Please ~ Day of the Dead Clay Skull Free Shipping $75.00	"Poker Face Ace" Day of the Dead Square Plate Free Shipping $75.00	We'll Dance When We're Dead Skeleton Earrings or Pendants $18.00

About PattyMara's Sacred Heart Cafe & DolphinSmile Studio I paint silk, throw pots, fuse glass and collage poems in my enchanted DolphinSmile Studio on the central California coast. The spirits of the land and the devas in my garden keep me company. When it's real, art can heal! I've named my shop the Sacred Heart Cafe, because I want my art to nourish you and warm your heart, and be delicious, tasty medicine for all who see it, carry it, hang it, wear it, love it and give it away. Please visit my shop blog I enjoy custom orders, and have been very successful creating "heart's desire" art for my customers. Also, many of art products in my shop are made to order just for you. With this option you are invited to suggest a special color, image or message on the art I make for you. I offer gift wrapping for all of my products, and all mailings are packaged securely. BonBons of Gratitude for finding my shop at 1000 Markets!

PattyMara's Sacred Heart Cafe & DolphinSmile Studio Policies I am committed to creating an online gallery and shop that will delight you and give you the opportunity to purchase my art securely, with Amazon's A - Z Guarantee. I will ship your order within three days via USPS First Class or Priority Mail with delivery confirmation. Shipping charge includes packaging and handling. Gift wrapping is available at no extra charge. Custom orders will take longer since I am making it specifically for you, and I will keep in close contact to let you know of my progress and anticipated completion date. I do want you to be completely happy with your purchase. If you have any questions, or concerns about your purchase, please contact me. Your complete satisfaction as a customer is very important to me.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling DreamCoats

The talented artisans of Bohemia Esprit are collaborating on creating four Art To Wear coats. You can read about the travels of the four dreamcoats here: http://www.1000markets.com/blog_posts/8969

I have the great honor of working on the purple/bronze coat, and have begun by using a piece of silk that I had stuffed into my fabric closet after a I tried to speed up the heatset process and ended up burning the silk. It turns out that the burns added a bronze pattern to the dyed purple background which matches Diana's coat dye colors perfectly. I'm using the silk as a lining to the coat to make it reversible. The cut of the ingenious pattern created by Diana of DyeDianaDye allows for a simple lapel that folds back gracefully to reveal the inside lining.

I added a subtle new color to the silk, by wrapping and tying, then soaking in Dye-Na-Flow claret dye. I then hand painted accents of metallic bronze Lumiere fabric dye with a brush. After I heatset the additional dyes (this time I did it the safe and slow way!) I draped it onto the cotton coat and am pinning the edges and will hand sew the two layers with metallic thread.

Then I'll send the coat on to the next artisan, Kay of OnSlenderThreads. Magic is afoot!

Update #1 Two artists from Bohemia Esprit have now dreamed about the traveling coats and so I have taken to calling them "dreamcoats".

I've finished lining the coat with the silk and need to add embroider around the burn holes to stabilize the frayed silk edges. I've finished with all the sewing except for this final handwork, and decided to take her with me on a long train journey to Albuquerque, then sending her on to Kay (OnSlenderThreads), during my travels in New Mexico. When I mentioned that to Diana, she wrote: "I smile to think of the coat on the train with you, traveling to New Mexico. And what a joy it is to relax, and listen to the dreamcoats, as they give us their names and their needs, and fulfill ours."

Bohemia Esprit Market at 1000 Markets: You will love this beautiful collection of art!

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Bohemia Esprit

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Day of the Dead Market at 1000markets: Amazing Artists Here!

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Day of the Dead Market

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PattyMara's Sacred Heart Cafe & DolphinSmile Studio

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