Finishing Touches + Touching the Future

Ms. Allison came over the play Thursday and we had great fun making felt together. She took one of the batts shown below in a previous post, and created a wonderful, light and airy felt. It turned out so nice. The white on it is from silk roving that was carded into the top layer of the batt. She is uncertain of what she'll make of the felt, but I for one, am sure that it will be wonderful.

After the felt making, we both work on some of the beading that we wanted to complete on several bags. I didn't get a photo of the one Allison was working on, but I did of mine. Allison's was all neatly planned out, well executed, mine a bit more random, of course. All in all, a great day in the adventures of felt making!

(Allison's beaded bag-late photo entry)





My sweet friend Suzanne Morgan, http://www.learnedlately.blogspot.com/ sent me an email about a blog post concerning blog posts. The writer spoke much about sharing 100%, not to hold back, to give details, hints, helps, etc. This is just such wonderful advise, and speaks so much to what my heart feels more and more these days. I recall early in my felting that I didn't want people to "copy" my work, but with some maturity, I soon realized that no one can copy someone else. If I teach a class of 10 people how to make a hat, and all of them will turn out different from each other. It is the technique that we teach, not how to create their own piece. That will come from within each individual person. As a teacher, to me, it is important to guide a person to successful understanding of what they are learning, to encourage them, assist them and encourage play, experimentation within the project. I so hope that I do that when I am teaching.

As a blogger, I think I fall sorely short in the giving it all away. I'm asking you to help me in that effort. Ask questions, leave comments, and I will do my very best to answer thoroughly, honestly, and to give my best advise. It is one of the best ways to touch the future of felt making. We all build on the expertise of someone else, the lessons we've learned through our own failures and success's. There is nothing new under the sun, it is only new to us when we first learn it. We set it free when we share it, teach it, explore it, love it, and watch it grow.

Off to explore!
Shalom,
Suzanne

Happy St. Pat's! and a bit of Irish Cheer!

Over the past few days I've continued to cleaning, but have also managed to sneak off to get some felting done. One of the batts that I created had some magnificent greens and green blues in it. It was made with hand dyed and commercially dyed merino, tencel, angora, and metallic fibers. I loved the color ways and decided to spread the batt very thin, and make it into a prefelt. It turned out soooo nice. Last night, I cut out the leaf pattern, then needle felted them into another large white merino prefelt. I did a variation on the layout, some of the leaves were left with the back up and others were left face up, hoping to achieve some interest in the piece. With a bit o'Luck, I'll make the time to wet felt this wrap today. I've also took one of the leaves, wet felted it down completely, and am going to bead it so that it can be used as a pin to hold the wrap in place. I so hope this turns out as I've planned. While cleaning, I found this spectacular hand spun yarn with beads and sequence in it. I've added it to the scarf for further texture and a happy garden effect.

Now, while I am not 100% Irish, the percent that is, loves this day. The music, the jokes, the blessings, the memories of my grandmothers and the lilt in the collective voices.
May you always have
Walls for the winds,
A roof for the rain,
Tea beside the fire,
Laughter to cheer you,
Those you love near you,
And all your heart might desire!

Wonderful batts

As promised, I cleaned a LOT this past week and am so proud that I got so much done. Still feel like there are miles to go before I sleep, but have made progress. Yeah me!

Felt making? Did get one bag done this week. It has glass stones in the felt. I love the texture and the added weight to it. I'm awfully fond of the nutmeg color that I achieved in the dye pot. Very nice, warm color

I did up some wonderful batts this morning. They are made of mostly merino, some angora, a bit of mohair, lots of merino silk and some sparkles and twinkles too, just for fun. Got to get them all labeled and priced for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.
Gotta go back to work for now.
Shalom and hugs and thanks for popping onto the blog,
Suzanne

A very good week

It's been a great few days here. Had lunch with Dawn, of Feltsoright.com on Thursday, got to spend some play time with Ms. Allison on Friday, and 14 dear friends here for Sabbath dinner. It's been wonderful to relax and enjoy friends.
On Friday, Allison brought a needle felting machine with her, one she borrowed from a friend. Neither of us had used one before so we decided to try it out on one of the merino prefelts I have here. She took some of the colorfully dyed Northern Lights from Louet and did random placement of the roving onto the prefelt. What fun, and how fast! She had an art date with her boyfriend that evening and wanted to wear it. I think it looks wonderful on her. She is going to wet felt it later. We were both amazed at how fast the machine works. I am unsure, but I think I may try a few things on it as well.



I made two more bags, this blue one has a cell phone pocket on the front. I am finding that more and more, I look for cell phone pockets on bags, and thought I'd better start adding them to this series of bags. My camera also fits into the pocket nicely. There is another one drying right now, it is made of hot fuchsia and hot orange. It is nearly the same as this bag with the exception that it has a pocket on the inside as well. I used corriedale in the blend, and the texture is not as smooth as I had hoped. Looks like I'll go back to the merino/teeswater blend. I just like the surface far better.

I've carried this hat to a good many shows, with little attention paid to it. It was a muted rose color, simple elegance in style, but the color just did not lead itself to looking really great on any skin tone. So per my usual, it got the great dip into the dye pot. I over dyed it in chestnut first, then added burgundy and red. I love it so much, I may keep it. the colors are like a water color in the rain. This photo does not do it justice.

A few days ago I was trimming up my geranium plant, getting new starts for the upcoming spring season. When I cut off some of the main stack, one of the leaves fell off and landed near one of my scarves on the table below. I placed the leaf on the scarf and was shocked at how close the colors where. Can you see it? The leaf is in the upper right hand corner of the scarf. It was so cool to see these same colors in nature that I had put into my scarf. Just kind of cool. I love the dye pots! Wonderful things happen there!

I've got a lot of Spring Cleaning to get done. I need to get rid of clothes in the closet, things I'll never wear again and simply de-clutter my life. This will be the focus of the week.
I need to get back to hat making. 10 have sold this past week, so my hat stash is getting low, but for the next few days, got to get some stuff out of the house.

I hope you have a wonderful week exploring felt and the wonderful world all around us.
Shalom,
Suzanne

Bag the Week

This week I've decided to simply focus on bags, with the intent of having some of them create "a look," coordinating with other felted items, like hats and scarves. Now whether that will happen as planned, is quite another thing.

I dyed all of the fiber, the hat is made of merino and angora, the scarf is merino and silk laminate felt and the bags are of a Lincoln - Teeswater cross blended with merino wool. The red bag on the right is my favorite. It is just really simple...and maybe that explains more than I should reveal here! I do like nice lines, simple lines fascinate me, straight skirt, simple sweater or top, simple jeans, nothing too flashy, but elegant. My all time favorite designer is Coco Channel...and that should explain the "simple" factor much better than I could ever put into words.

Now, about a couple of really cool events for feltmakers:

Summer International Felting Conference in Hungary

When: June 26- July 3.

Where: Magyarlukafa, this small Transdanubian village, near Pécs (about 50 km) with its capacities, and picturesque beauty provides an optimal venue for the workshop. István Vidák and Mari Nagy were the first felt-makers of the village, decades ago. Since that time felt-makers from all over Hungary have regularly gathered here in summer camps and workshops. This year is the first when we organize an international workshop, but we intend to found a tradition and hold annual workshops of high quality named: "The Present of Lambs" International Felt-art Symposium and Workshop.

Who is teaching: Seven felt artists have been invited to lecture and teach in the workshop:
Inge Evers felt artist (from the Netherlands) as a teacher ( spiritual felt, meditation, introspection, personal felt cards)
Dagmar Binder felt artist (from Germany) as a teacher (a combination of chiffon silk and fine merino, a kind of "painting" detailed ornaments with wool fibres on top of silk)
Judit Pócs felt artist (from Hungary) as a teacher (miniature sculptures)
Vanda Róbert felt artist (from Hungary) as a teacher (stitched, woven felts)
Marti Csille felt artist (from Hungary) as a teacher (felt jewellery combined with metal and embroidery)
Mari Nagy and István Vidák felt artists (from Hungary) as lecturers (They are going to lecture on their felt collecting field trips at Friday evening.)

The daily schedule:

8-9 Breakfast
9-12 Workshop
12-14 Lunch-break, siesta
14-18 Workshop
18-20 Dinner, relaxing
20- Lectures, discussions

Cost:
Applications are handled in the order of arrival. It is worth applying soon, as the camp can accommodate max. 50 people. As accommodations differ in quality, the prices also differ.

Detailed information on accommodation is available at Márti Csille's website, application are welcome at the website of Kaptár Association and in e-mail.

Accomodation: 52 Euro / 7 nights in Tourist Lodging: 20 person: 7.50 Euro/night,
or 91 Euro / 7 nights in High quality private apartments: for 30 person: 13 Euro/night
Full board: breakfast, hot lunch and dinner / 8 days: 60 Euro
Tuition fee: 315 Euro
In the village you can purchase basic everyday products in a so-called move-around store, or in Szigetvár 20 kms away.
If you would like to take part in the event and finalize your application, you may do so by paying half of the fee earmarked for tuition and participation. Please transfer the amount by the 1st of May, 2010. After receiving your application, we will give you the bank account number.

Márti Csille (Felt artist, the art director of the Felt Art Workshop) :
http://www.csillemarti.blogspot.com
e-mail: csillemarti@gmail.com
Kata Lovas (President of Kaptár Association, the director of the Felt Art Workshop) :
H.- 7925. Magyarlukafa, F u. 44.
http://www.magyarlukafa.org
e-mail: lovaskata@freemail.hu
and Zsuzsa Laskai
e-mail: laskaizsu@freemail.hu
************************************************************************************
Would that be great to attend, or what? I would so love to go!

Next:
The Midwest Felting Symposium in Madison, Wisconsin July 21-25.
http://midwestfeltingsymposium.com/

This event is one of my personal favorite events of the entire year. I am so excited by the teaching line up this year, including Vilte! I love her work, her sense of style and whimsy along with great elegance in all of her felt works. See some of her work here: http://www.vilte.net/
If you get a chance to go take a peek at the website for MFS, be sure to sign up for classes. I think this year will fill pretty fast. Now, I've got to decide what classes to take! Too many great choices!

That's it for now, back to the dye pots and the felting table!
Shalom,
Suzanne

March! YEAH!

I love winter, get to wear wool, hats, sweaters, things I love to wear. I enjoy the white of snow, the quiet, the coolness of weather, the starkness of the trees, but not so much the shoveling of the quiet, white stuff. March is here, the sun is coming up earlier, the moon is setting full. March is so unpredictable here, and I love that.

My friend Christee grows wool, lincoln-teeswater cross long wool. I have about 3 pounds of it and have been busying dyeing some of it. This was dyed in deep, blood, red. After it was dry, I began to blend it with some merino. I did it at about a 70/30 ratio, with the merino the 30%. I blended two ounces of the blood red with red merino, then another two with brown merino, then another two ounces with pinks. All of these are used in this bag, and the color play has been great fun. The camera doesn't capture the colors. I've enjoyed making this bag.

This is just a sack bag, no pockets, just simple resist. It measures about 12x12 inches. I am hoping to get more wool from Christee, it felts heavenly fast, dyes beautifully. It is a long wool, so it is course, idea for outer wear, wonderful for heavy use, perfect for making more bags. I think I will focus on bags this week.

Happy March!

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.

Subtle Changes

While I was doing the lay out for this laminate / nuno felt scarf, I decided to play with the lay out a bit to see if it would bring about the subtlest of changes on the surface of the silk. It is very subtle, but it did make some very nice different patterns in the silk. Now I am wondering if by leaving strategic places on the layout if I could create a design that would actually look like something, flowers perhaps. I am random in texture and color play, so that will be an idea for someone else to try, but if you do, I'd like to know if it works. Maybe I will try it with geometric designs. That might be fun.

Looking over my show schedule for this year, I've come to realize that my stock is rather low and I need to kick start the felting again. I see 12-16 hours a day ahead of me, but I count it all joy when I am making felt. I never get tired of making felt.

Oh, the hat, well, it was blue and I just never really loved it, just thought it was ok. Well, as you know, I am prone to throwing things in the dye pot, and this hat fell victim to the GREAT DUNK. I love it now, and it sold immediately. It has a deep chestnut color to it, even though I over dyed it with black. The color is warm, rich, soothing now. I love what happens in the dye pot. Now, I'll miss this hat!

I hope you get to spend your weekend with people you love to be with, that your ideas are overflowing, that your efforts are appreciated and that your felts give you joy.

Shalom,
Suzanne

Happy, Flashy,Toasy Feet

"How Beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News!"
- Isaiah 52:7

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."
- Psalm 119:105

It is a good day, it is a very good day. Had some morning errands to run, but when I got back the mail had arrived and there was a package for me, from the beloved Brigitte! In the package were these beautiful , hand knit socks. A while back, the marvelous Martha, had sent me a pair of SVEN's in this bright gold color, that I'm still unsure if I'll have the moxie to wear them, but I did have to show them off. I cherish hand knit socks. They are so special to me. I love these shoes, but what to wear with them? Got any ideas?

Off to dye more stuff.

Shalom,

Suzanne

(This is what I wore to dinner with friends tonight. They loved the shoes!)

One Hat that I'll Miss

This hat sold today and is on it's way to France, however, I will miss it a great deal. The colors were so much fun, so ethereal, and the felt was really strong. I hope the woman who purchased it will love it as much as I did.

Several weeks ago I had made another felt vessel, but when it was all said and done, it did not rock my world. So into the dye pot for good dip it went and I love the results. I first over dyed with hot fuchsia, then lilac. The colors underneath were all over the place, from greens to blues to reds and oranges. The dye pot allowed for a wonderful variation on those colors. The neon purple thingies are flattened silk pods. I love how they took the dye, wonderful color! there are also glass beads in the felt on the far left side. I think they are probably visible in an enlarged photo. I love the way they play with the light.

I am dyeing merino silks today and planning a bag for a bit later this afternoon. Again, I am struck by too many ideas, and not enough of me.

Shalom,
Suzanne

Island City Art Hop HUGE Success!

Ms. Allison finished up her boots in time for the wonderful Island City Art Hop last night. She decided to bead the rams on the outer side of the boots. They got many comments of high praise and unfortunately, they did not sell. They are so lovely, I'm sure that they will.

The Plainwell Art Hop was a a huge success, even for me in a rather out of the way location. I can only imagine that many of the folks that were in the "walking" part of show had a wonderful response to their exhibits. The main part of the hop was in the downtown Plainwell shops, all walking distance from each other. The weather was wonderful, cool, crisp, clear, no wind, not snow. It really was just wonderful for those that attended. I sold a ton of stuff and came home with far more money than I ever thought I would. Sold a bunch of hats, wraps, felted soaps, and have made wonderful contacts, including several galleries that I want to carry my items. I did not expect much, but much was delivered from this first time Art Hop. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did and brought home as much money as I did. Suffice it to say, I was shocked at my earnings. Thank you Plainwell and surrounding areas! I am honored that you spent the time and the money with me.

Since I closed my shop several years ago, there are so many people, customers, that I don't get to see anymore. It was such delight to be able to see them again. We kinda got the chance to catch up, share, talk about classes, and just be together.

Today, I will unpack the van, put stuff away, answer some emails, pack up the orders, talk with my mom, take a nap, have salmon for dinner, a glass of wine before bed, a count the many blessings of this day. Today, I will rejoice, give thanks, and be glad in this day.

Shalom and joy to you,
Suzanne

The Scent of a Woman on Felt

This past Sunday, my dear friend Alice, along with 16 others, was here for Sabbath dinner. After we ate a wonderful feast, had good fellowship, and a good bit of laughter, Alice wondered out to the front porch (my mini shop on the front of our house--that has no insulation, is all glass and where I freeze all winter, and get slow roasted all summer) to find my felted bracelets. She immediately took two of them. Alice has purchased several of my felt hats, scarves, vessels in the past, but the jewelry was quite a different thing. In the past, Alice and I have long talked about the joys of wearing felt, how the scent of the woman becomes a part of the fabric in a unique way, we think, maybe unlike other fabrics. We find this to be especially true in felt jewelry and felt hats. Alice, like me, does not like to coolness of metal jewelry. These felt bangles solve the problem of coolness next to the skin, provide some warmth, and hopefully, some pleasure to the wearer and the observer.

There are two 100% felt cuffs that were then beaded, then there are several that are felted beads strung together, and then there are the wooden bangles that are encased in felt. All have been great fun to make, the beading is getting more enjoyable ( now that I keep my cheaters close by) and so far, I think folks think they are kind of pretty.

Now to get ready for the Plainwell Art Hop.

http://renatos-veltinis.blogspot.com/

is a blog for bag gals to check out. really lovely stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shalom to you,
Suzanne

Plainwell's Art Hop

For many years there have been local art hops, but this will be the first in Plainwell. It is this Friday night from 5-9pm with local business's opening their doors to artists to share their space. How gracious of them! If you live near the area, and the weather is permitting, it would be great to see you there. There will be three felt artist showing their goods. One is my friend, Dawn Edwards and myself. I will be presenting Ms. Allison's works as well. I am so proud of her artful eye.

This is the vessel that I made several days ago, now with the arrangement in it for the Art Hop Sale.

The green eye glass case has many eyes on it, one of the beaded. It it has a cord to hang around the neck, for those of us, (like me) who have a tendency to lose our cheaters or spare glasses. This was made of all merino and merino silk, with the merino silk on the inside so not to damage the glasses. I've wanted to get to some bags, but time is slipping away too fast, each day, faster and faster. Though this is relatively small, it took a good many hours to get it done. This is one of those things one makes for pure fiber play, not to sell. It might be a very nice gift too.

Shalom,
Suzanne

Bright Lights and Cheaters

Over the past few days I've been working on some felt vessels. I'll have more to show in the days to come. This one was created over a flat resist, using Lincoln-Teeswater cross, with some angora and merino added to the mix, along with hand dyed silk roving and silk fabric pieces (5mm) on the surface. It is so thick, so strong, it stands beautifully. I think I used 8 layers of roving to build up the strength and sturdiness and felted it really hard. In its final state, it measures 13x13.5 inches. After it was dry, out came the BRIGHT LIGHTS and CHEATERS! (Oh my, these eyes are getting old.) Doing the bead work was a challenge unto itself. It's something I usually do at night, and the lighting in our home is not great. The beading was fun, but challenging. I may still add some more things to this vessel, but for now, I'm giving my tired eyes a rest.

Everyone who has seen this piece thinks that it is a stone...exactly what I was hoping to achieve.

Ms. Allison

I've been working with a young lady, Ms. Allison, who has long enjoyed my hats and is now learning to make felt herself. She was in a class a few entries back and made a black and pink bag, that was wonderfully made. We've struck a deal. I'll teach her something felt related for a day then she'll work in studio for me for a day. She is young, she is eager to learn, she is talented and I so enjoy her company. She is a dear.

Here Allison is working on a pair of boots with flat resist. She also used prefelt inlay for the ram design. She is going to embroider around the ram in black yarn to make him pop. The boots were made from a lincoln-teeswater cross wool. The results were spectacular.

















The fingerless mittens I made. I started them out as a lime green but the color was too intense for me and lacked a great deal of personality, in my opinion. I over dyed them and now think they has a decent personality. (Sometimes I wish a plop in the dye pot would change my personality, especially on those snarly days.)

I've also picked up a couple of new books over the past few weeks. One looked great for interior design and felt, but to my dismay, it was all commercially produced felt, not that that's bad, it was just not my focus. Some of the ideas are pretty cool, and I may try some of the ideas in the future. I'll try to get them listed in the next few days.

Lots going on in life right now so it may be a bit before I get back to the blog.
Make happy felt!
Shalom,
Suzanne