Finding Peace in the Midst of Choas

There are times that can trouble a soul; death, defeat, illness, separation, grief that overwhelms, depression, sadness, the great unknown. But of late, I've come to make peace with all of these thieves of joy. They are simply part of the human experience, part of makes us who we are, how we deal with it all says even more about us, I think. Embrace, embrace...and then let go.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/88346276/hand-dyed-habotai-5mm-silk-fabric

I've been dyeing a good bit, but only for myself. This is a newly listed piece of 5 mm Habotai silk that I dyed and named BREATHLESS because the colors simply left me that way. I adore this piece of silk. I've too many projects in front of my right now, so this one has to go up for sale. I do wish my old camera could capture the nuisances of the colorways. Totally YUMMY colors.

I've been making and selling a lot of hats and tams and so have not made much felt lately, but decided that I would make a few small pieces of felt jewelery pieces. This is one of them and yes I did do some hand sewing on it...but it was just a few stitches, so I don't think it really counts as sewing, does it?

About 4 years ago, I was given a huge book on needlework, embroidery, needlepoint, knitting, applique, crochet, macrame, pacthwork, rug-making, quilting and lacework. I am most interested in the embroidery stitches. Pam MacGregor, http://www.tarveycottagestudio.com/will be here this next week and I hope to have her show me a few of the stitches. She does amazing, yet very simple, stitch work. She does "elegant simple" the best of anyone I've seen. I am very much looking forward to the time with her. We will also be doing some experimentation with the Feltscraft.com Rolling Machine during her three day stay. Should be more fun with felters!

We had our first real snow this week. Already I am looking forward to the long hours of white, gray, cold, but not the shoveling, of the lovely white stuff, so much. There is an amazing stillness in winter that is astoundingly beautiful. A full moon on newly fallen snow...what a memory, what a sight!

Off to go enjoy the rest of this day.
Happy Felting, Shalom,
Suzanne

Oh, One more thing:
http://www.lindasfund.com/
Sometimes we want to do good... but we don't know where to help.
Dear Linda is a fellow-feltmaker who could use the goodness of our hearts, our prayers, thoughts, encouragement and obviously any financial support we can give her as she struggles with the payment of specialized cancer treatment. Please think about it and help if you can.

I hate it when I am the only model I can find!

I wanted to show you the final results of the nuno/laminate felt wrap. It was dyed in shades of blue, gray, green and soft plumb. the wool that was added was olive, navy and plumb-purples. I adore this wrap, and really wish I had done it in colors that were more suited to me. (I rarely wear blue.) I imagine it will look quite lovely on a blond. This wrap rates pretty high on the "flutter factor" and I love that about it.
I have to admit that the photos are not very good, lighting is bad, my husband is not thrilled at doing this for me (but he won't model it either!) and I am the model....need I say more!
Woke up this morning to 60 degrees and raining. Not bad for November 22, in Michigan. Love rainy days, the coffee tastes better, the day moves slower, wool felts faster and I have time to breathe!
Shalom and happy felting all day long!
Suzanne

November Already?

I can hardly believe how fast time is moving....must be a true sign of aging, and not one that I appreciate much. However, it does bring to mind that time is limited and therefore, one must work hard to even try to get some of the ideas brought to fruition!

This past week has been spent trying to get some felts made, dyeing silks for nuno felt that will be up soon, (I hope), planning some workshops, writing proposals for next seasons teaching schedule and just in general trying to pull it all together, however in very short, attention deficit disorder spurts. (It's not easy being me!) It will all come together, but not necessarily as I had hoped. I could just eat and felt and think my days were completely happy. There is just this other stuff that has to be taken care of too that I find disruptive to my day. I find myself multitasking on a level far bigger than I am. (Washing silk, cutting silk, dyeing silk, writing proposals, opps forgot about the dye pot, phone calls....layout on a nuno, another phone call, roll the felt, check the dye pot, shipping orders, did the dog get her medication? and what's for dinner? roll the felt some more, HUH, are you talking to me?) Anyway, it's been that kind of week. I'm glad I have anything to show for!

First photo is of a hat that I made this week, the background is of a silk that I dyed in olive and a hunter green color. The olive split in the dye bath...I love when that happens because all of these wonderful under and over tones emerge to create something incredible and unpredictable. I love that!

The other pics are of silk that I dyed and the champagne and brown nuno is from a silk that I got from Elis Vermullen. It was too pale of a color in champagne for me to feel comfortable with so I over dyed it and then applied the wool to it. It is a small triangular shawl. The texture is just wonderful and I love the color play on it. I added some orange, purple and black wool. It has a very autumn feel to it. Thank you Elis!

It's the end of the sales season for me and I have only 4 hats left, no nunos except the ones I've started to make. I think with all of the ideas running through my head, it's going to be a nice winter to stay inside and create.

Also wanted to let you all know that the Felt United site is up and wonderful! Do take a peek! There are more than 1000 pictures of felts from all over the world, incredible felts! Amazing felts. I love this medium!
http://www.feltunited.com/

Shalom,
Suzanne

Fiber Expo

I'm off to the Fiber Expo here in Michigan in a few short hours. Since getting back from Rhinebeck, NY it's been busy here, dyeing and felting, mostly scarves. These are just some photos of the pieces that I did. I didn't get a chance to photograph them in their wearable state. Hopefully I'll get to do that this weekend.

Have a blessed weekend and happy felting!
Oh, did you see the moon the past few days/nights? Outstanding!
Suzanne

So Good to be Home

While away at the Midwest Folk and Fiber Show, my friend Joyce died, unexpectedly. Joyce is home, but her family is grieving terribly, especially her husband Dennis.

With the coming changes in my life, time has become incredible precious to me. Time, always a high commodity, even more so with interviews, resumes, orders, hats to make, sleep to catch up on, show schedule getting hectic...inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, relax and let it go, one thing at a time.

This is my recovery day and it has been fairly non-stop. The show was nice, sold a good number of hats and many "Bling Batts" to spinners and felters. Met some really nice folks, had wonderful food --Sushi Thai two days in a row. My mouth is still happy just thinking about it. The weather was really hot, but the venue had AC! How wonderful that was! Picked up another teaching opportunity and perhaps a truck show for the fall. All in all, it was good, but as always, it is better to be home. The photo of the lovely woman in the hat is Joann. She bought the hat just as I was saying that I was thinking of keeping it for myself. It looks so good on her and I know it will keep her warm, it is a double hood. She looked so cute in that hat, I had to take a photo of her.

Since my time was limited today for doing anything creative, I decided to dye this silk Ruana. As usual, the camera simply does not capture the colors. Love this rauna!

Gotta go work on the resume, get some sleep and then get ready for the next show this weekend!

OXOX and Shalom,
Suzanne

Two Silk Laminate Scarves

Some time ago I dyed these scarves, and do to the winter weather that will soon be upon us here in the Northern Hemisphere, I decided to nuno or laminate felt them. If you click on the photo, you'll notice a difference in the pucker of the scarves. They are the same kind of silk and super fine merino wool was used on both of them. The difference between them if the amount of wool that I used. On the pumpkin colored scarf, I used two ultra thin layers of wool, on the floral colored scarf, I used a single layer of wool. Isn't it amazing what wool can do. No wonder we love the stuff!
Make good felt and have joy in your day!
Shalom,
Suzanne

It's all about the Mannequins!

Just when you think that you might be making an interesting hat, or making good felt, you soon learn that it is about the mannequins! I get so many folks emailing or writing about how good the mannequins look. So without further adieu, let's give it up for the mannequins and share the details on them.
#1 I purchased them on Ebay
#2 The heads are movable so they can be positioned and pack up easily. Great for photos and booth display.
#3 I use the cheap wigs that can be found easily these day, post Halloween. I cut the hair and style it for my uses if necessary.
#4 I am looking for used natural hair wigs, so if you know of any, I'd be happy to learn about them.
Ok, let's hear it for the mannequins!
Off to make hats so I can show off my mannequins . (who knew it was about the mannequins?????)