winding down

Summer may be coming to an end but my spirits are high. Next week we leave for France. Just a short holiday with me and my mister, back to one of the very first places we vacationed together; Sérignan Plage. I can't wait.

And I won't lie to you. I'm anxiously waiting for fall's return. It brings out the best in me. It's when I'm most productive. I love nothing more than to seal myself in my studio, working late, music in the background, and preferably a thick slice of home-baked apple pie close at hand.

Autumn, I can't wait for you either.

A new item just recently added in Etsy. I'm channelling apples with that red.

peacock

I've just completed one of the two larger pieces I was telling you about yesterday. This is a table centerpiece which has been wetfelted and then needlefelted. It was a tricky one to do simply because I found the soapy water would cool down too rapidly before I even got a chance to start felting. And if you're not careful (and quick,) you'd easily be left with a soggy mess. I'm quite pleased with the result though. I guess all that hair-pulling did have a positive effect.

What do you think about it?

new ideas

Even though I have lengthy lists of to-felt items in my notebook/computer/miscellaneous scraps of paper littered on my desk, it's not that often I take the plunge to make something daring. Is it the frugal part in me that dreads wasting precious art materials? Is the self-conscious part in me that fears the outcome? That the finished item may not turn out to be what I had envisioned? What does this say about me? That's I'm a nervous wreck, that I'm a perfectionist, that I'm normal? I've always kept other people's opinions and possible reactions in the back of my mind whenever I did something artistic, and it's only recently (a few years) that I've been consciously trying to break that habit. It's harder than it sounds, but I feel like I'm a good way ahead.
Today was one such day. I made two of my largest felted items to date, and I don't think I'll stop there.

My words to you; Shake it off, and take the plunge.

Signing off....

'smore

New pebbles! I know, I know, I have a problem, but it's just so hard to stop! Now in the shoppe!

three's

Now in the shop!

tree folk

I've been quite liking this view of the tree folk. It almost makes me feel like I'm in a helicopter overlooking the pine forests somewhere in British Columbia. Silly, I know.

I've got three sets of tree folk going up in Etsy soon. They still to be properly photographed, which I'm hoping to do today. I used the new shipment of natural rovings from Germany for this project. Shades of brown, caramel, chocolate, tan, off-white, which sounds almost as delicious as they look. It'll be a toughie combining these. All the colors complement each other so well.

good friday

I love Fridays like these. Warm Fridays. Productive Fridays. Ideas of felted sculptures have been sloshing around in my mind for weeks now. I made a few sketches here and there in my notebook, but nothing concrete had come of it. The rational side of me usually takes a moment or two to think about the project and any how-to's. There is nothing more discouraging than a new project that doesn't want to co-operate.


So today was a good day, a good Friday. Those felted sculptures from my moleskine actually took shape. Into little forms I've fondly started called tree folk. They're sweet and small, and already very dear to me. I hardly make any felted crafts for myself, but I do intend on making a little family of these for my living room sidetable. They were felted around a pebble which rests at the base of the sculpture, and I already foresee myself lifting and placing these beauties in different spots of my home whenever the moment seizes me. Their little tufts make them very mobile.

They'll be in the shop soon. First I'll need to iron....or should I say needlefelt, out the bumps.

Happy Weekend All!!