donderdag 31 maart 2011

some progress

Slowly the spring felt / fabric is growing
First I cut a piece of batting to the right size
and put a thin cotton backing to it

so now I have an even thicknes everywhere

The cut-outs of the felt will become flowerbulbs with chrochet roots 

And here is a little ground elf who's watching the bulbs grow,
there will be more of them
and I must decide where to put my magic thread ) 

Today I had something else to do :
making a mandala for the daughter of friends, who is getting married tomorrow

... it went in the mail this afternoon !

What a day to get married :
the first of April !

We wish them a lot of sunshine
and many happy laughs
!

Have a good laugh, all of you tomorrow !

dinsdag 29 maart 2011

new beginnings

Although March is nearly over
I'm starting with a new felt / fabric
at last
I chose one of my felted pieces :
the green-brown one seemed appropriate to me
for spring

and .... yes
I cut some holes in it !

In the garden there are also
many new beginnings
with the warm weather of the last few days.

Alchemilla

Fritellaria meleagris

Hosta
....something new ....

and something old ...
( this reminds me very much of the dyed silk ribbons
Glennis makes )

zondag 27 maart 2011

lost .... and found

Last Friday daughter and I went to our special day out :
Textiel Plus dag
in Deventer,
a textile lovers Fair
organized by the Dutch magazine "Textiel-Plus"
That's where we always get a lot of inspiration and supplies.
We parked at the other side of the river
and took the little ferry-boat across to the city centre,
there we waited for another friend who lives
more in that neighbourhood.

All of a sudden I realized I had lost my newly made pendant :
only the string was left .... !
I walked back all the way to the ferry ...
but did not find it ... I truely hope that whoever
found it will enjoy wearing it
.......
( I learned one thing :
to attach the string better next time ! )

On the Fair we spoke with people we met before or did workshops with 
and we bought some lovely stuff !
hand dyed wool from "Moeder Aarde"

needle felt, and lots of cotton scrim and silk for dyeing

a bunch of old fabrics
and some Kaffe Fassett's
At last : "clouds" by Kaffe is just like
the Indonesian batik "clouds" Jude is often using !
I'm very happy with it.
After a cup of tea we said goodbye to our friend and drove home :
a day well spend !!!

maandag 21 maart 2011

spring !

On this first spring day it was really
spring

Beautiful sunshine and hardly any wind
it was so good in the garden !

the special narcissus "Rip van Winkle"
a tiny tulip

and mister swan grooming
waiting for his lady friend to arrive.

And in the afternoon :
there she was !
They "danced " in the water as if they were looking in the mirror

( They were very busy later on :
they might be making their nest right opposite to our garden )

zondag 20 maart 2011

an experience

Yesterday we went to the Spring fair
for which daughter and me worked so hard the last few weeks.


It really was a springy day with sunny weather
though still a bit cold
we had a table inside the building so we only saw sunshine.

But ...
there where very few people visiting
so we sold only a few items from our little "felt shop" 

Although we met and spoke to
some very nice people ! 
We gave our cards
and there might be some new customers
for a felt workshop.


( We had our table next the "chocolate" people
their son has a small company that makes
the most mmmmmmmmm delicious bonbons :
 well ..... ofcourse we tasted them ! )

Well we learned a great deal from this Spring fair experience.
You must be better prepared what kind of people you can expect
( stall holders and public )
before you "jump in"
Also the planning and preparing beforehand
takes a lot of time and thinking.
That doesn't mean we're sorry we did it : oh no !
Now we have a nice starting point for the next one ...
We are not supposed to earn a living selling our felt products
( only think of the time it takes, making these items )
but this way we might  extend, invest and grow in this
technique we both so love.

zondag 13 maart 2011

moon walk

Not exactly like Michael Jackson did it
but I liked this name
for my February felt / fabric
( maybe I stick to "musical" names for all of them !? )

moon walk
( you might have noticed the magic thread : 
thát will be in every piece of this year too ! )


... all the stitches on the back ...



zaterdag 12 maart 2011

back at last !

I'm back on the internet at last
I must tell you :
it was quiet, but it wasn't fun !

The computer went to the repair man
and had to be cleaned
of 4 viruses
And now all programs are júst a bit different
( that is not funny either !!! )

 So now I 've a lot of catching up to do,
but for this first day I'm giving some
"background information"

literally, I mean

This is my felt / fabric piece of last month
( I showed already a few bits and pieces )
To achieve the same thickness everywhere
I cut out the piece of the batting where the felt is,
then I put a very thin cotton layer to keep all things together.
I don't mind that in the end
you see all the stitches I made
I don't want to hide them under another backing fabric.

Because this piece is about the night sky
with stars and the moon
I suddenly thought it needed something else
like ....
"a black hole"
so I really made a neat hole !

 Although it finally became a "red dwarf"
( because on a white wall any hole becomes a "white" hole )
and please don't ask me the astrnomical explanation !

I found some funny bits that I altered with stitches
and added
lots and lots and lots
of tiny stars
......

woensdag 9 maart 2011

GRRRRRRR ........

The internet is fabulous
......
but
at the moment there is 
nothing
!
At first there were some minor problems
with our computer
and then :
all of the internet was
closed down !


So for the moment only an apology,
no pictures,
no stories,
no work. 
(of course everything goes on as normal here,
just not on my blog)

Hope to see you soon to do some catching up
with new work and pictures.