Faces

The Great Bell Chant

The Great Bell Chant from R Smittenaar on Vimeo.

*** Click HERE to go to the original site, where it plays much better
and can be watched in full screen mode.

Forget Not .....

"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet

and the winds long to play with your hair."

~Kahlil Gibran

A little something .....

Something I've been working on.

This is how it always is. It starts out as a sweater, maybe at a yard sale, or the Salvation Army. The sweater comes home with me and joins the piles of other sweaters, crowding me out of my studio. I sort them. I bag them. I sneak them into my husband's office. Anything to be rid of them. Anything, that is, except for what I am supposed to do with them - which is to wash them, over and over, until they become lovely, thick wool felt. And the colors ... the colors are so marvelous. A seemingly infinite variety or reds, or blues, or even whites. I'm amazed by how many different shades of  white there are.

Eventually, hubby grows weary of his office being my attic, and he brings them all back to me. Except now, instead of being in big, lumpy plastic garbage bags, they are all in big Rubbermaid bins. Big, ugly grey bins with orange lids. Why can't hubby be addicted to buying old wooden trunks at the flea market, instead of these hideous things from the hardware store?

I move the ugly bins into the bedroom. Surely they will be such a daily eyesore that I'll get to work and soon I'll have a lovely pile of felted and pressed pieces of wool to play with. And the bins can go back to the basement.

Um, do you know how handy four big bins can be? It's like another table on which to pile STUFF. I don't even see the bins anymore. They're still there, but they're well covered, and I'm used to them.

But I digress. What I'm really thinking about is how the lovely felted wool becomes a little piece of art, or maybe a big piece of art, but definitely something worth looking at. And touching. And feeling.  It always starts with those few scraps. And, when put together, they take on a new life. Then even more energy seems to just happen, when a little vintage button gets popped on top of the small collection of scraps. And, finally, the amazing transformation that happens when all those stitches get piled onto the mix. It's just wonderful.

And to think, a few miserable months ago, I wasn't sure I wanted to keep working with sweater wool at all.  :)

Every leaf .....

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree." ~ Emily Bronte

What is it?

I know what it is ... do you?

     

The original photo. 

I feel like such a fraud - when I said I know what it is, I merely meant that I know it is tree bark. Now I see that the type of tree is really key!

Does anyone know? Is it birch? Or a special type of birch?

Or something else altogether?

Whatever it is, it is beautiful.

Precious Days

“And the days dwindle down
To a precious few,
September, November -
And these few precious days
I'd spend with you,
These golden days
I'd spend with you”

~Maxwell Anderson
(American Playwright 1888-1959)

First Friday Flickr Favorites

My homage to the talent I find while wandering around Flickr.

Click on a title to see the full picture on the photographer's Flickr page:  1. out of time yet still we dream, 2. Ale, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. Blow hole Cove, 6. mademoiselle, 7. Decay, 8. Wool and lining fabric reverse applique spiral design, 9. Christmas brooch (pin)

Sacred ..... Life

ANNIE HAYES PRIMITIVE HOOKED RUGS ... click HERE

Have a Happy Halloween & a Super(natural) Samhain

Crazy Little Log Cabin Quilt

Finally, the finished quilt. I say it's crazy because of how it wends its way around the "hearths," no perfectly straight lines to be seen! And it's little: 13" x 17". I truly enjoyed doing all the stitching on this, so I hope to start a new piece soon. This one is going to be for sale at the traditionalfolkart website - the TFA Shop re-opens on November 1. You can click on the picture to get a much better view. :)

Weekend Deal In My Etsy Shop

¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨
 
WEEKEND DEAL: 20% refund on all purchases in my Etsy shop this weekend, October 23-25. Just enter "weekend deals" in Message to Seller when checking out. If payment is made with PayPal, refund will be made through PayPal.

Otherwise, please ask me for a revised invoice before paying. Thank you!

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Friday Flickr Favorites

My homage to the lovely talent I find while wandering around Flickr.

Click on a title to see the full picture on the photographer's Flickr page:  1. autumn - mixed media doll, 2. fern leaf, 3. Body bag - the effects of ageing, 4. Untitled, 5. Day 26, 6. Bridal cuff, 7. Felt faces, 8. Riverrun, 9. Valentine-to-Iraq- Quilt 

Mellow October Sunday

“Autumn's the mellow time.”

~ William Allingham (Irish man of Letters and Poet, 1824-1889)

Antique Baby Bonnet

I like its shape, and its touch, and its sepia tones. I like the tiny flowers, and the ruffle, and the little bit of gathered fabric at the back. And I really like that somebody made it. Click on the pictures to get a super view.

Treasury!

I'm thrilled! Etsy seller BurnedFurniture put me in her lovely Treasury! That is so nice of her. It will be available for viewing until Sunday, October 4, at 1 pm.

Meanwhile, you must go visit her Etsy Shop. She does the most phenomenal pyrography ... it is simply amazing.  Here is an example of the incredibly beautiful patterns she makes, by burning the surface of the wood. You can click on the picture to get a better look.

 
And here is the very cool salad set I just bought from her.

Progress Report

I sit and stitch while watching old episodes of Heroes.  Will this give special powers to my little Log Cabin quilt?

Thursday Thoughts

A damp, chilly day ... soon I'll be playing my annual game of how long can I wait before I turn on the furnace ... lovely fire in the family room fireplace ... cup of  Teavana tea at my side (a spiritually satisfying blend of White Ayurveda Chai and Samurai Chai White) ... sewing ... rows of tiny stitches taking shape, like newly planted rows in the spring garden ...  hills and valleys in the cloth, an occasional square of chicken scratches  ... I love that look.

Last Batch of Old Bag's Old Bags

Click on a title if you want to see the whole picture: 1. 1996, 2. 1997 cuff bag, 3. 1998, 4. 1998, 5. 1998 pink cuff bag, 6. 1998 purple with heart, 7. 1998, 8. 1998 teeny brown with penny, 9. 1998 tiny purple with heart, 10. 1999, 11. 1999, 12. 1999

This is pretty much the end of that old batch of bag photos which I came across recently. I hope you've enjoyed these strolls down Memory Lane. :)

Friday Flickr Favorites

My homage to the incredible talent I find while wandering around Flickr.

Click on a title to see the full picture on the photographer's Flickr page: 1. violet broach, 2. You looking at me?, 3. Echinachea, 4. Field Of Threads, 5. Lavender Moon, 6. corgarff, 7. blue sky, 8. artichoke, 9. purple sage