I was very fortunate to have met Heloisa from Brazil this year on Stitchin Fingers. We fast became Good Friends. Heloisa stitches some beautiful creations and she sent me the above lovely card called "Christmas Lady". The card is truly beautiful. I also received some very pretty buttons too. Thank you very much Heloisa!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Merry Christmas To All Our Family and Friends
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Christmas Fairy Post Card
Heather my Dear Friend from Canada and I decided to exchange Christmas Post Cards this year! We coordinated opening them together Tuesday evening. Heather especially loves fairy but I had NO idea my pressies this year would have a Fairy theme. This beautiful Christmas Fairy Post Card is pictured above. The thread painting is incredibly exquisite and the silk ribbon embroidery Poinsettia, lovely fairy gown and Dove are truly stunning. Look at her dainty 3 D fairy wings. Heather is truly an artist and you can see more of her lovely art work on her blog at "A Cherish Life"!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Art Council of White Lake, Stories Behind The Quilts Show, Giveaway
Alison Lang Art Doll called Robirda Penguin is pictured above. It was created from felted wools and antique fabric. There was a glass blue egg inside of the necklace pouch around Robirda Penguin's neck.
My Dear Friend Heather is having a Lovely giveaway at her blog called, "A Cherished Life". Heather has made many creative and beautiful Ornaments. A few of her beautiful Ornaments are pictured above.Sunday, November 8, 2009
Dorset Buttons: Splendiferous
For the last couple of weeks my fingers have been very busy stitching and creating Dorset Buttons for projects and friends. I bought "The Dorset Feather Stitchery" book a couple of years ago from the UK Stitch Magazine. Inside this book it explains how to make these lovely buttons along with heaps of lovely Dorset Feather Stitches. The above photo is the "First 5 Dorset Buttons" I have ever made.
In the recent issue Vol 8 Issue # 04 of Crazy Quilt Magazine Online, Diane Mugsford from British Columbia presented a written Workshop to the Fraser Valley Needlearts Guild newsletter on how to create these fantastic Dorset Pin Buttons. Through Kerry Leslie ( click on Kerry name to get to her lovely blog), Diane graciously allowed her pattern to be published in our CQMagOnline Mag. Diane's Dorset button resembles a flower bouquet which looks very similar to my "Roses and More Roses" top left. Thanks Kerry, I loved this pattern.
Also Marion Howitt of the UK has a website called "Dorset Buttons" and has a 16 page booklet called "Fact File" giving detailed instructions on how to create many Dorset Buttons. I bought the Lovely "Fact File" Booklet from Marion. It is very very nice with very detailed instructions for some unique Dorset Buttons. I highly recommend it.
The British Button Society has a website that show some very lovely Dorset Buttons too. I especially loved the "The Christmas Tree Dorset Button" by Marlene Bramman. I gave the Christmas Tree Dorset Button a go and a photo of it is on the top right. I added lots of beads and a wee star at the top.
The last row shows Three Dorset Buttons in the traditional designs. The shade of Purple Dorset Button was the very first one I ever made then the Green one and lastly the Peppermint color one.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Autumn Wool Felted Purse and Glorious Autumn Colors
Hello Everyone, HAPPY HALLOWEEN from Michigan where at the moment we are soaking in Autumn's most brilliant hues. We've had heaps of rain so the air has been cleansed by the cold and rain. This year it seems like with us getting so much rain and wind the lovely Autumn leaves have been stripped earlier and they now lay like hand prints on the ground.
My sweetie has worked in between rain and wind storms picking them all up with the lawn mower. Even today he has worked for endless hours at this task. But before the wind and rain brought down all our Lovely Autumn Colors I took some pics posted at the end of this post.
The above beautiful hand dyed wool from natural garden dyes I brought home with me from Germany 5 years ago this week. In the last few weeks I have started using it. The above photo you will see three wet felted ball I made from these lovely wools. I have been very busy stitching trying to get some of my Christmas projects done. It seems like this year I am behind in everything.
I took some precious time recently to create a wet wool felted purse. I have been wanting to create one for several years but never seem to know exactly on how to go about it. In September I took a wet felted class and learn so very much. Kelly Brandt taught me how to make wet felted wool slippers which I will post about later when I finish them. I learned the techniques in this class that I needed to create this purse. I used the lovely nature dyed wools I had brought home with me from Germany that the "Wool Lady" dyed. The Autumn leaf I needle felted.
The above photo shows the inside of my Autumn Purse.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Earth Loom And A Beautiful Deck, Gazebo
My Sweetie and I both loves nature and wildlife and we feed our birds year around. This past summer I discovered a book called, "Zati, The Art of Weaving A Life" by Susan Barrett Merrill. In this book Susan helps her readers understand the centuries-old metaphor, entertains us with beautifully written archetypal stories, and guides us to a more fully understood life of love, awareness, and healing. This book has stunning photos coupled with eloquently written text help open doors to our inner thoughts and coax our inner and outer lives into synch, and show us that peace is possible. I showed "My Sweetie" a photo of the "Earth Loom" and he told me he could create one for me. It is 10 foot high and 5 foot wide and he made this in two hours. Isn't it wonderful?
In this book there was many different kinds of "Looms" shown. I fell in love with the "Earth Loom". It is a living symbol, planted into the ground and the weaving are a gift of friendship. Earth Looms may be made with indigenous materials and my husband and I chose Sunflowers, Cornstalks, Cattails, Autumn Leaves in which the birds and squirrels can feel off of during the winter months. This afternoon my sweetie and I both weaved in our findings from nature and truly enjoyed this art of weaving.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Natural Dying and Having Great Fun at International Day of Felt
The past couple of weeks I have been very busy doing some experimenting with Natural dying with Black Berries on several different kinds of material. I used some lovely Icelandic wool and curls which turned out a pinkish lavender color. The curls did not seem to take the Black Berry very well. I also used plain muslin and cheese cloth and some laces which turned out to be a very pretty muted lavender color which I really liked allot. The process I used to dye my fibers is called "Making Natural Dyes from Plants-Pioneer Thinking" and is explained below. My friend Jasmine in the UK at "Nature Whispers" shared this site with me.
"Water Color Felt Workbook by Pat Sparks". The other two books I bought at the Northern Michigan Lamb and Wool Festival a couple of weeks ago.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Northern Michigan Wool Festival: Sites and Sounds
My Sweetie and I went our annual Up North Get Away weekend, and we had such a great time. This year we decided to take in the "Northern Michigan Lamb and Wool Festival" in West Branch Michigan. Unfortunately, I did not have any time to take classes but I hope to next year. This was the 10th year for the wool festival and the location at the Ogemaw Fair Grounds was wonderful. Above is a photo of some of the lovely wool roving's and threads I bought. I have plans to wet felt some Christmas pressie from it. The white glittery ball of wool is not really wool at all but it is called "Firestar" which is similar to angelina fibers. The bag of light beige and white wool is 50% Baby Camel and 50% Bleached Tussah Silk Top and Oh, it is so very soft to touch. I bought it from "River Edge Weaving Studio". The purple, blue and mixed pink wool rovings all have "Firestar Glitter" in it. I bought the white wool roving at "Woolderness Fiber Arts Studio!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Shepherd's Rug Class
I did not have a photo of me braiding my three stripes of roving in the class but Letty the teacher sent me one from her collections of photos. You have three pieces of roving, which could be three different colors or any combination you would and they should all be a different length from one yard long to shorter. You take the three stripes of roving and by using a clamp attach the three pieces all different length to a table and start braiding like you would your own hair. When you get to the end of the first short stripe of roving take another long piece of roving approximately one yard long and add it to the short piece of roving and then continue to braid until you get your desired length of braid. Hope this helps a bit for you all that would like to give this a try.
This photo was taken at a Easter Market in Germany which was located in a Castle not far from where I lived. It was the first time I ever discovered a lady teaching needle felting wool. "The Wool Lady" had heaps of lovely things she was selling and she gave me my first needle felting spot right there at the Easter Market. I instantly fell in love with felting that day. The Wool Lady told me she dyed all her wool with things from nature, like onions, flowers, berries, and roots from plants too. I bought some beautiful wool from her in lovely blues, yellow, green, and orange. Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Blogaversary Give Away "Winners"
Hello Everyone, Today I had a bit of trouble uploading photos to bloggers, hence my late posting for the winners of my " 3rd Blogaversary. The very first thing I would like to say is a Huge Thank You to "Everyone" who was kind enough to visit my blog and leave their lovely messages for me to read. They "ALL" were greatly appreciated, and I wish I had a gift to give to everyone.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
3rd Blogaversary Pressie Giveaway!
August is the month I celebrate my "3rd Blogaversary" and 240 post. Blogging has been a wonderful experience that has enriched my life in so many ways. Besides the confidence to try new things with my camera and on my computer, I have made "connections with others around the world". They have taken the time to contact me with encouraging and kind comments and I have learnt a little about their world too, wherever they may be. I truly enjoy reading the feedback from my fellow bloggers. The most "Cherished Opportunities", though, have been simply, gaining wonderful friendships that will last a lifetime.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Chrissie Lovely Wool Felt Art, Blogaversary Postpone Until End of August
A month or so ago I discovered Chrissie lovely blog called, "Niminy Fingers" and her very lovely wool felted art. I fell in love with a lovely wee wool felted bag and had to have it. My gift was all wrapped up in the most lovely way with wee felted hearts attached to twine that gathered the pretty bag that Chrissie made to send out her art. It was all so beautifully done.
This is my very lovely wool felted bag with gauze handles.It is approximately 7 inches by 5 inches in size. Inside my lovely bag there was a wool felted ball in a lovely deep purple color with hand dyed gold wool winding through it. I love it. I am a very passionate stitcher so I think I will embroidery some sprigs of Lavender on it and place a Lavender Sachet Heart inside. I think it will smell and look very lovely placed on my bathroom shelve. Thank you Chrissie. I love all your wool felted art. I will treasure it always.










