The Emerald Isle Collection

Last year, on a whim, I created a small series of needle felted landscapes inspired by Ireland. Pleasantly surprised when they all sold within 48 hours, I decided to revisit this idea the following year. I’ve been looking forward to it for months, researching landmarks and scenes that would inspired the Emerald Isle Collection’s second iteration.

This year, 7 wool landscapes, all fairly small scale and under $200, will be available starting March 1, 2022. Some rolling green hills, cottages and livestock make an appearance, plus some favorite landmarks such as the Cliffs of Moher, Bunratty Castle, and Dunguaire Castle are featured as well.

It’s been almost 30 years since I’ve set foot in Ireland, but I still remember being inspired by the beautiful scenery, especially the green countryside and majestic ruins. I hope to get back there someday and find new inspiration!

Enjoy this special preview of my newest series and shop the collection at www.onceagainsam.com

Studio Graffiti - Colorway Additions

The hand painted Studio Graffiti collection launched last year and was an instant hit. It’s the perfect combination of one-of-a-kind abstract brushstrokes and easy-to-wear styles. Plus, all items are $32 and under, so it’s easy to treat yourself or give as gifts.

This is the first time since the initial launch where I’ve added so many new colorways. What can I say? I was truly inspired! Introducing something bold & bright, something crisp & neutral, and something toned-down and easy to incorporate into your wardrobe.

All pendants and earrings are original paintings on acrylic, laser cut into bold shapes. No two are ever identical, even if they were cutout right next to each other. The material is lightweight, so the larger-scale earrings are still very comfortable to wear (and the wear wire is hypoallergenic). Choose from 3 different pendant styles and 7 earring options.

FRUIT PUNCH: a vibrant combo featuring coral, hot pink, orange, black, and yellow

Shop the new colorway

PEN PAL: inspired by ink on paper, this classic black & white color combo has blue and gold accents

Shop the new colorway

GARDEN SAGE: my personal favorite, all the warm neutrals from your herb garden including that blueish green sage, mustard seed, and olive greens

Shop the new colorway

Enjoy the new collection!

Artist-in-Residence: Cheraw State Park

Time in the woods, by a lake, or anywhere out in nature is what restores me the most. Making things with my hands is what gives me energy and joy. Put the two together and I’m one happy adventuring artist! My week as Artist-in-Residence at Cheraw State Park in South Carolina was such a wonderful experience. This was my fourth consecutive residency through the Parks program and as before, each experience is totally unique and always exceeds my hopes and aspirations. I feel so lucky to be invited to these parks each time, and it’s definitely one of the highlights of my year.

Cheraw is a small town near the Great Pee Dee river in northeastern South Carolina. I’ve lived in SC since 2010 had never been to this part of the state, so I was eager to get out and explore. The park sits on 7,000 acres of lake and woodlands, and is home to a huge variety of birds and other creatures.

Each day during my stay, I watched the sun rise at the lake, then went off for several hours of hiking either around the park or within a 30-40 drive. The afternoons were spent back at the cabin, creating needle felted landscapes, jewelry designs, and paintings inspired by what I’d seen earlier that day. Then I’d head back over to the lake for the sunset and a quiet stroll before a little more creative time back at the cabin in the evening. I love this schedule - explore, create, explore some more!

Favorite Things: about Cheraw:

Hiking Trail: The Cheraw State Park Trail

Sunrise Viewing & Birdwatching Spot: The Eureka Lake Boardwalk

Park Wildlife: Fox squirrels, woodpeckers, and deer!

Plant Life: Cypress trees growing in the water and the carnivorous flowers by the beach

Daytrip Destination: Carolina Sandhills Wildlife Refuge (Tate’s Trail)

The new collection created while at the park is now available on my website. I hope you’ll enjoy this short recap video of my art-cation experience!

A huge thank you to the South Carolina Parks program for hosting these residency’s and a special thanks to the Park Rangers at Cheraw for making me feel so welcome.

If you’re interested in hearing about my past residency’s with the South Carolina Parks Department, you can find them here:

2020 Devil’s Fork

2019 Edisto Beach

2018 Poinsett

Diamondscapes

Mini needle felted landscapes framed in a brand new shape. These 3” x 3” rounded-edge diamond frames are custom made with a CNC router, and the new shape add so much interest to the tiny textile pieces when they’re hung. They’re great hung on their own, displayed in clusters, or I like to use them to fill in those weird gaps in my gallery wall (don’t worry, we all have em’).

Although I’ve certainly tried felting smaller than this, just to see if I could do it, I keep coming back to this 3” size. I’m able to get enough detail at this scale to create actual scenes, not just abstract landscapes, plus they ship extremely well, I can work on these while I’m traveling since they don’t require a lot of supplies, and the price point works with most budgets.

As much as I love working large, those pieces are always a risk and take longer to sell. With these mini’s, they’re often sold out in a few hours or days after the launch, so mark your calendars for September 1st when they go live. Or, if you want to get first dibs with my newsletter subscribers, signup here.

Enjoy the collection! I hope to do one or two more mini landscape collections before the end of the year. Stay tuned!

Mixed Media Collection: July 2021

I can never get enough texture, and ever since I learned rug hooking and punch needle, and how it could compliment my decade of needle felting experience, I’ve been falling in love with the layers, colors, and depth made possible by working with yarn, wool fiber, and fabric, all at once.

These mixed media pieces have been such a joy to make, but dang, they’re slow. I thought needle felting was slow, but it feels like a breeze compared to this! I have only ever had 2 or 3 pieces available at a time in the past, so this summer my goal was to have a substantial collection to offer. 7 pieces may not sound like a lot but it’s weeks and weeks worth of work, plus one of those pieces is 24x36 which is by far my largest mixed media piece to date. I’m so happy to work large!

One other idea I have had floating around in my head was adding embroidery or stitching to these mixed media pieces. That’s the beauty of mixed media - no rules and anything goes! I’m thrilled with how the wild flowers turned out, my very first attempts at hand stitching tiny details with yarn.

Enjoy the new series (now available on the website) and be sure to check out the process video so you can see one of these made from start to finish.