unpacking. or not.

i believe it is going to take the next 20 years to unpack everything. so after watching the change of two seasons, i have decided to take things a box at a time, and just spend the next several months rooting and trying to remember where things are. i am not quite embracing this new philosophy. that is to say that while my A.D.D. is loving this new idea- the obsessive compulsive side of my nature is throwing quite a tantrum. full on stomping tantrum to be precise. The shear volume of the studio itself has led to this madness (we are going to ignore the house and the attic and the garage for the moment). It is a good thing the need to create (and, let us be honest, to add coin to the coffers) outweighs the OCD and sends it sniveling to it's room. in the basement. to hide behind the furnace.

Besides... look around.

Its snowing!!

there are places to explore, things to discover and everything is so beautiful when it is topped with a bit of white. everything is more defined. clearer. quieter. 

it is a time when you whisper to the birds for fear of disturbing the silence.

live well.

love each other.

on summer travels and things that caught my eye



I always rather enjoy the travels of summer, or should i say the drives of summer as I rarely fly to my destinations domestically- i guess you can say i am a child of the *road trip*- a few snacks, a rucksack, a camera and a map and i am good to go. travel by plane and you miss the richness of the american road and all it has to offer. you just need to get off the highway now and again to make sure you catch it.

this summer the direction was south. the starting point; where new york meets canada. the finish line was the treasure coast. 1,380 miles, 8 states, 4 weeks and a whole lot of coffee. (thank god for starbucks venti quad mochas. how would i function?)

the coastal route has the best architecture. and once you get into the deep south- it's as if

you stepped back in time.

can you just imagine what the inside of this old theatre looks like? i silently hope they

have restored it to its original grandeur as i pass by. that would be lovely.

Bob's your uncle. Fannie's your aunt. Life is good. enough said.

while i always enjoy the journey- the finish line is well met and there

is still work to be done. and so we move on to Halloween!

Welcome to the Spirits in Sanford!

Did i mention that the women at the Jeanine Taylor Folk Art Gallery have a way

with entertaining? would you have ever thought of a prosciutto brain skull. very cool.

(me being goofy, again, in front of my doll display. )

after years of seeing their work via everywhere, this was my first show with the ever-so-charming Jorge de Rojas and the quite adorable (i can call him adorable 'cause he's the one in the stripey tights and buckle shoes!) Allen Cunningham.  Both have hearts of gold and a talent unique as they are. it certainly was a pleasure to hob with them for a while.

the new steampunk zombie ornaments were unleased at Spirits, and i am thrilled to say they were very well received. while they have just about sold out, there are a few that you can purchase here .

And after all of that excitement, the miles on the road, the intense southern heat (yes, 82 degrees is INTENSE in October for a northern girl!), concerts on the warf and barefoot midnight strolls in the surf- i reach the mountains again...

Looking forward to the slight chill in the autumn air, candle-lit pumpkins, crunching leaves beneath my feet; the wonder that is the season between summer and winter.

let's just say mother nature had other plans.

♥*¨)¸.·´¸.·*´¨live well.

¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*love each other.





tis the season; for tradition, a story, a new shop, a few updates and a sale to be

okay, so maybe i am getting a bit ahead of myself, or even the season but when you spend as much time as is needed creating for the next season- i have been waiting with anticipation for thanksgiving to pass and for the holiday season 'to begin'.

as a child, it was the day that the boxes were hauled from the attic and the tree was placed, that the holidays began to come alive. box after box of lights and tinsel and every ornament lovingly placed upon the tree, after a close inspection and the recant of a story as to its origin. every year since i can remember there was a gift of a new ornament to place on the tree. when we were just little tots, they were ornaments we made ourselves from clothes pins and paint or macaroni and glitter; as we got older they were symbols of events, of adventures and travels and each one a memory- if only a memory of a smile of a moment in time.

my great aunt is responsible for my love of creating ornaments. she would spend months sewing and gluing; beading and tacking; sequins, lace and shiny gold hangers- she made ornaments. dozens of ornaments. little dolls with locks of yellow yarn and gingerbread men with white rickrack icing; soldiers with big red top hats and green felted christmas trees with tiny little bells- she was a master. one year she created an entire felted manger scene. dozens of little ornaments all strung on lines of gold; wisemen  dressed in long colorful robes bearing gifts and  large white camels with bright turquoise saddles; donkeys and sheep and a barn with a manger and a bright shiny star. every one a gift, every one more detailed than the next and every one destined for that tree; and then the box, and then the tree. year after year. the ornament box comes out and the memories flood back like hidden treasures tucked safely away awaiting to be discovered again.

so it is no wonder that i tend to go a wild when it comes to creating ornaments and fun little celebrations of the season.

between local shows and deadlines, i have managed to stay pretty on top of things so far this season- which i have to say i am pretty proud of *pat on back*- i spent this morning adding new listings to the etsy shop- so stop on by to check out the new ornaments- new this year; i have added gift boxes! so many people asked for gift boxes so they could spread the love- i thought it would be much simpler this year if i just added them to the listing- so if you purchase an ornament you have the option of purchasing a gift box. gift andddd DOne!

due to a great new promotion that artfire was having- i closed my shop over there and opened a brand new one- also "Whisperings 13"- ends a lot of confusion and is allowing me to tidy up the branding of the studio. I hope to have enough inventory to add some things to the new artfire shop the first week of December- but i have to wait until after the old fashioned christmas celebration on the 4th. the etsy shop will be closed the 3rd through the 5th as i re-sort and restock.

e-commerce will never cease to amaze me. it is unpredictable and predictable at the same time. when something doesn't work- it really doesn't work. when something works, it takes off and leaves your head swimming as to why, why, why as you dogie paddle through the bliss of a successful campaign. i find myself in this conundrum with my holiday SNoWiEs. two days after i listed them, my email was flooded with requests and my custom order drying table looked like this:

these sweet little snowmen (or whats left of them)  have been a wonderful hit and i am very excited as to how they have been received! as i finish up on the last of the latest orders, i am coming to the realization that i am going to have to put a deadline on orders for multiple SNoWiEs- but that is to be determined. in the meantime there are still a few available in the etsy shop.

a *super SNoWiE* three times as large as the other SNoWiEs-

only one being created! will be listing later this week.

keep your eyes out for a sale coupon coming this week, just for blog readers, hive members and facebook fans of the studio. *how cool is it that etsy finally caught up and allows us to run specials now*

i go back to greedily awaiting the first snow of the season, the warmth towards others that people seem to find and the magic that envelopes the world.

live well.

love each other.



We interrupt this weekend...

I know I will come to my senses soon enough- realize what a hassle all the snow is- the roads and the scatterheads that are driving on them; the delays and closings and cancellations. Shoveling, salting, hauling wood and chipping ice. I know it will edge on my nerves before the season is over. But until then,

I am going to revel in the magic,

 be absorbed into the silence

and stand in awe of the beauty.

enjoy each other.

live well.

On Cue...

Just as the weather turned to 56 degrees yesterday and I started dreaming about the holidays as a child in the Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania, wondering what happened to the snowy winters of my youth- a new wind blew and this evening the view outside my window looks like this. The first "real" snow of the season. Sure, the ski local resort has been blowing snow for almost a month now~ but this fell from the sky, right on cue.

Luckily, last weekend, I decided that the tree must go up and the lights must go on; inside and out. We spend a lot of time traveling during the holidays- here again gone, I suppose you would say. When it comes to decorating for the holidays, I am usually first one up last one down, but this year I felt like a member of the Krank family. I was gonna skip it. (yeah right) How does one actually do that? I failed the Krank test - miserably. Skip the holidays? No matter what holiday you celebrate- it is infectious. Like the whole world warms up a bit; is a bit shinier; a bit more tolerable. Now, it's not that I don't like people. I just don't like the way they treat each other on a daily basis. But during the holidays, people feel compelled to be nice, to be friendly, to be human. To look out for fellow man. To take care of one another. And even if it may be contrived and may only be for this short period of time - I'll take it. That is one of my favorite things about the holidays~ People actually being nice to people. And to have SNOW. Well, that is the icing on the cake, now isn't it. No matter what, I am the first one out in the snow. Trogging around in the freshness of it all, with my head up and my tongue out- catching snow flakes acting like a great big GOOBER. The best is during a big flake snow, and everything is quiet. The only sounds you hear are the sounds of your own breath and the flakes as they fall. Your whole world is muffled. The noise and shuffle of the town, cars going by. Everything is quiet, everything is peaceful. And if you are very lucky, at that precise moment, a train will pass through the valley below and blow its whistle. And life is good. (of course you have to like trains!)



UP the hill, above the house, is the studio, all decked out with lights. This is the first winter with the studio completed. And as I uploaded these pictures this evening... Could someone tell me who or what is in the window??? Seriously. There is nothing but pink and tangerine goodness going on up there in the windows - nothing else- just empty window space - and yet - I know I have been accused of being odd- alright, crazy.... but - OK - why does it look like something with ears is giggling in that window on the right??!! You see it, right... don't you?


Stanly gets his own tree. Stanly is my house "pet". He was here when I bought the house- He was the first thing that I noticed in the first photo I ever saw of my future home- and after the closing, I came HOME to find him sitting on a stump outside the back door. I am not sure whether the prior owner left him behind or if he just jumped out of the truck because he wanted to stay- either way - I love him. He is my attack rooster with personality. (think I'm kidding - get to close to him, I dare you. hee hee) He used to sit next to the Gargoyles, but sometime last summer, he mysteriously relocated himself to the other side of the house - and here he stays, next to his tree.

SO the craziness of the holiday season is officially upon us - and after the new year - there will be new, interesting things coming from the studio. After several requests, I have started painting again, that in itself is a big step for me. The "naked" creatures running around my house and studio should all have their clothes on .

These are part of a new series I am putting together for a local shop in town. I love experimenting with new styles and to see where they take me. While this is not my usual style, it definitely is fun!
I have decided to close the Studio and The Giggling Goblin shop on Etsy for the holidays so that I can spend some time with the family and re-group for the new year. 2009 will bring many changes to the studio, all of which I am very EXCITED about. A series of new art dolls, new paintings, new shops and galleries that will be selling my work, and new publications! Exciting things and HUGE life changes going on here at the Noll, with a few surprises along the way. Change is a good thing. Scary sometimes. But definitely never dull. Life is a possibility. And this New Year holds many breath taking possibilities.

My wish is for all of you to have a happy, healthy & FUN filled holiday. Whether you celebrate the coming of the New Year with family, friends or if you will be toasting yourself this New Year - may you celebrate life, love and creativity.



From the Studio at Wadsworth-Noll to you and yours;
Merry Christmas, Blessed Yule, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Holidays & Happy New Year!