Flim Flam Man

I was walking through the grocery store on Thursday just looking for stuff to eat, when a song I'd long loved, and had long forgotten about popped into my head. I began singing it to myself...because no one else would want to hear it, (and though I've never tried it, I think spontaneous singing in public is probably frowned on in Plainwell.) It stayed in my head for days, but I've enjoyed every minute of it. The song? "Flim Flam Man" by the very talented, singer- poet, song-writer, Laura Nyro. For those first brief moments of that song being played in my head, I was delightfully 20 years old again. It is wonderful that music is able to transform us, transport us, to bring joy, hope, tears, laughter, and memories. It is a true sweetness in living.

Then I began thinking about Laura Nyro and her wonderful lyrics. Her songs, sung by so many others, had literally cocooned a great span of my time on earth. Just some of her songs include: Wedding Bell Blue's, Blowin Away, Stoned Soul Picnic, Sweet Blindness by the 5th Dimension, Spanish Harlem by Ben E. King, Stoney End and Time and Love by Barbara Streisand , And When I Die by Blood Sweat and Tears, Eli's Comin' by Three Dog Night, La La Means I love You by the Delfonics, Up On The Roof, by the Drifters, and that's just some of her incredible song writing. Laura died in the late 90's from ovarian cancer I think. Of all the songs she wrote, Flim Flam Man remains a high favorite of mine and I am so glad that it spontaneously popped into my head.

I have been making felt. I've been working on some nuno / laminate felts. I am still amazed by the amount of shrinkage that occurs with these felts. The texture is simply yummy. The turquoise hat is made of a merino and angora 50/50 blend. It has a very soft halo of bunny on the surface. The scarf is felted with 100% merino.

It has been a day of resting, sleeping a lot, down time, and I've enjoyed it very much. Tomorrow will bring new joys, new energies, and it's own song. I'm so glad that Laura Nyro will be there, refreshed in my musical memories.

More Felts from Symposium

The cream colored shawl was done by one of the Scottish felters that contributed to our gallery at the Midwest Felting Symposium. It was so simply stunning, I had to share it with you. It was felted with antique cotton lace. It is elegance to me.

The scarf is again by Judy McDowell. I love her uses of silk fabric. They are simple in design, extremely feminine, beautifully executed. Judy has become one of my new favorites. She also did the purse in the blog entry from yesterday.

There was a jacket by Mary Wallace I wish I could share with you too. Sadly the battery in my camera was nearly dead, so the photo turned out "not so good". I love Mary's work both in design and quality. I'm feeling bad that I cannot share that photo with you. If anyone does have a photo of the jacket, could you share it with me?

Lanadeflor and Hookedonfelt

Lanadeflor is an etsy/business name of a fantastic felter in Ohio. I've not asked her if I could use her full name, so I will not as of this writing, so we'll just go by Debora. I first saw her work on Etsy several years ago and loved the delicate-ness of her work. The jewelry she makes is sooo very beautiful, very classy/artful stuff.

The scarf shown on the blog is made from wool and my hand-dyed merino silk. I love what she did with it and had to show it off for those of you who do not know of her work. Rare is it that one gets to see the final results of a hand dyed fiber. This one is just stunning, IMO. For more of Debora's works, please visit her etsy shop. Write in Lanadeflor in the search. You'll be so glad that you did!