Sparkle is the New Neutral

Introducing the all new sparkle colorway in the laser cut acrylic earring collection! This rainbow of shimmer is cast in clear acrylic and laser cut into modern geometric shapes. All earrings are bold but light weight, my favorite combo!

One of the best things about glitter and rainbows is they put a little smile on your face, even as an adult. The other nice thing is they go with everything in your wardrobe! Who knew sparkle was the new neutral? I couldn’t resist adding this blast of shine & color to my offerings and I hope you enjoy the fun new pieces. Try out a pair of statement earrings or keep things dainty with a pair of tiny studs.

Check out the full series on the website and be sure you’re signed up for my newsletter - a 20% off coupon is coming your way June 1st and it can be used on any jewelry, not just the new sparkle collection!

Artisphere 2021

This is Artisphere weekend and if you’re anywhere in the Greenville, SC area, you know this is one of the best weekends of the year. Over 100 artists from all over the country will be set up on South Main Street surrounded by food, performances, and family activities. The festival is intentionally much smaller this year. Artisphere typically draws 100,000 people downtown, but this year they’re limiting attendance for safety reasons. I recommend grabbing a timed entry ticket from Artisphere.org to ensure you can get in when you arrive. The tickets are $5 but it’s basically a store credit to the festival. As soon as you purchase something from one of the artist booths, you can apply your ticket/coupon to the purchase, making the admission free in the end.

My fiber art will be exhibited at booth #19, and my location is right near Husk Restaurant on South Main. I’ll be demoing needle felting throughout the weekend so I hope you can stop by and see the magic for yourself. Artisphere will be open Friday May 7th from 12-8PM, Saturday 9AM-8:30PM, and Sunday 10AM-6:30PM.

And here’s a special bonus for fans of my handmade jewelry! Just a few yards away I’ll be having a trunk show at Custard Boutique at 718 South Main Street, Greenville SC.

Commission Spotlight: Chimney Rock

I always enjoy taking commissions. Making felted landscapes for customers based on their treasured photos or favorite places is the most rewarding thing I do, and I typically take 2-10 commissions per month. However, during the month of March, I only took a single commission and here’s why.

Previously my largest commissions have been 24x36, which is huge for needle felting, but this recently completed felted landscape featuring Chimney Rock at Sunset is a whopping 36x48. It comes up to my hip! Never before had I attempted anything at this scale.

The frame didn’t fit in my car, I used several pounds of dyed wood roving and a total of 45 different colors, I had to put together 2 tables to make a work surface large enough, and I had no other choice but to stand and felt the whole time because I couldn’t reach most of the piece unless I walked around the table. Thank goodness for my standing mat! Needless to say this project was a challenge but I’m so happy with the results and can’t wait to work large again in the future. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

This piece was commissioned through LS3P for an upscale multi-family housing project near Charlotte, NC and the client wanted to feature a semi-local landmark in their leasing office. What an honor to create this piece for them! The scene was inspired by two separate reference images - one of the general landscape showing Chimney Rock and the second one was a vibrant sunset sky.

Since this was a milestone commission for me, I filmed my work each day to track progress. I don’t usually draw guidelines for my landscapes but on something this large, I worried I’d lose track of the overall composition, especially since I knew I’d be working upside down and at odd angles out of necessity due to the size. You can tell how long this piece took to make because my nail polish color changes 3 times during the time-lapse video. Enjoy the process!

Ready to commission a piece of your own? Pricing, frame options, and general info can be found here. Feel free to reach out with any questions!

Shade of the Season: Lemonade

When the Pantone color of the year “Illuminating” was announced for 2021, I wasn’t wild about it. I’m not a big yellow person (with the exception of mustard tones), but the more I thought about this “Illuminating” color, the more it grew on me. I’m not about to paint my walls this color, or wear it head to toe, but I’m definitely planning on pops of this bright saturated yellow this season.

Introducing “Lemonade” my newest addition to the Studio Graffiti collection. A lemon yellow background with pops of coral, white, cobalt, and spring greens can’t help but put a smile on your face as you accessorize your warmer weather outfits. I really enjoyed playing around with brighter colors for a change!

Enjoy this new colorway at www.onceagainsam.com in the “Painted Acrylic Earrings” and “Painted Acrylic Pendants” sections. Here’s a peek at my process in the studio.

Hand painted acrylic, laser cut into jewelry. Watch the process from start to finish and see how the magic happens! This combination of handmade and high tec...

Dapper Den Collection

Here we go - the first series of needle felted portraits of 2021! I don’t make these very often but when I do I sure enjoy giving these creatures personalities (and some fantastic accessories too). The new limited-edition collection features nothing but bears, and they’re now available on the website. Hope you enjoy the collection!

I’ve been wanting to focus on bears for awhile, but this kind of series takes way more time than you might guess, and between the holiday rush and moving, there was no room for a passion project in the last few hectic months. Thankfully I’m coming up for air now and back to having creative time in the studio.

Fortunately I had a nice stash of accessories already built up from last year, so I rummaged through my tiny doll glasses, handmade pipes, and faux foliage, and came up with some fun backstories for these bears. Check out the promo video!

Introducing the all new "Dapper Den" collection featuring 10 handmade needle felted bear portraits. These are sculpted with dyed wool fiber and are one-of-a-...