Just for fun ..... a pair of whimseys made from recycled sweaters and vintage buttons ...
Whimsical Wednesday
Just for fun ..... a pair of whimseys made from recycled sweaters and vintage buttons ...
Just for fun ..... a pair of whimseys made from recycled sweaters and vintage buttons ...
I Want an Embellisher!
I keep seeing such gorgeous examples of what can be made with an embellisher; I must have one! I want to experiment with it! I want to make new and exciting things with it. My poor muse has just been begging me to get some new T's - I just call them T's because I never can decide if they are Tools (because they are so necessary for getting the job done) or Toys (because, face it, they are so much fun to work/play with).
For this week's Friday Flickr Favorites, here are some examples of beautiful embellisher work. And not pictured here (I have trouble getting her images to copy) but definitely worth a look-see, is the work of Sara Lechner and also the gorgeous embellishments made by Beate Knappe.
Click on a title to see the full picture on the photographer's Flickr page: 1. Pinks and Greens embellisher play, 2. flowers on felt background, 3. purse 1, 4. summerembroidery 2, 5. Maureen's journal cover, 6. Cottage in a Meadow, 7. Untitled, 8. Star Garden, 9. felted spring flowers
UPDATE: Shame on me for just assuming everyone knows what an embellisher is. An embellisher is a machine, similar in appearance to a sewing machine, which uses special barbed needles to create a marriage of fibers. It is usually used to turn wool roving into wool felt; often there are additional embellishments in the form of other textiles added to the mix, such as silk or cheesecloth. The process is called needle felting and historically has been done by hand, using a needle felting tool, i.e. a knob of some sort in which the barbed needles are held securely. The user plunges the needle, repeatedly, in and out through the layers of fibers (hmmm, I could probably write this section like a semi-porny romance novel). The fibers get caught on the barbs and enmeshed with each other. The machines which are used for this purpose are called embellishers. They make the process much easier to complete. Among the companies which make embellishers are: Babylock, Janome, and Pfaff. Bernina makes an attachment that can be used as a needle felter. There is also an attachment that can convert a machine into an embellisher, recommended for use if you have an old machine that's been gathering dust ever since you got your new machine. :)
Here are some links where you can learn more:
For this week's Friday Flickr Favorites, here are some examples of beautiful embellisher work. And not pictured here (I have trouble getting her images to copy) but definitely worth a look-see, is the work of Sara Lechner and also the gorgeous embellishments made by Beate Knappe.
Click on a title to see the full picture on the photographer's Flickr page: 1. Pinks and Greens embellisher play, 2. flowers on felt background, 3. purse 1, 4. summerembroidery 2, 5. Maureen's journal cover, 6. Cottage in a Meadow, 7. Untitled, 8. Star Garden, 9. felted spring flowers
UPDATE: Shame on me for just assuming everyone knows what an embellisher is. An embellisher is a machine, similar in appearance to a sewing machine, which uses special barbed needles to create a marriage of fibers. It is usually used to turn wool roving into wool felt; often there are additional embellishments in the form of other textiles added to the mix, such as silk or cheesecloth. The process is called needle felting and historically has been done by hand, using a needle felting tool, i.e. a knob of some sort in which the barbed needles are held securely. The user plunges the needle, repeatedly, in and out through the layers of fibers (hmmm, I could probably write this section like a semi-porny romance novel). The fibers get caught on the barbs and enmeshed with each other. The machines which are used for this purpose are called embellishers. They make the process much easier to complete. Among the companies which make embellishers are: Babylock, Janome, and Pfaff. Bernina makes an attachment that can be used as a needle felter. There is also an attachment that can convert a machine into an embellisher, recommended for use if you have an old machine that's been gathering dust ever since you got your new machine. :)
Here are some links where you can learn more:
- Denise Spanos compares different embellishers
- A Flickr embellisher/discussion group
- An Embellisher Network ning
- A book by Sheila Smith
Echoes
Spent the last two hours sewing silks and laces, listening to Echoes, on NPR ... magical ... meditative ... perfect accompaniment for creation .....
Bag Lady
I am still sorting through old photos, and there are plenty more to post. I love looking at all the bags I used to make. Too bad the photos aren't better quality. But it is such a pleasure to remember making all these bags. I used to be able to remember who had bought each bag, but those memories are long gone. I still remember some of the buyers, but not all. Funny, I also remember a lot of the sweaters. That black and white one was fabulous. :)
The Horrible Truth
1. entering, 2. stuff, 3. drawers of felted wool, 4. sewing machine corner, 5. scarves and bags, 6. work table, 7. extra table, 8. bookshelf, 9. computer cornerAs you can see from the photos, my studio is REAL. Like The Velveteen Rabbit, it's been loved. But, truth be told, it goes way beyond that ... it's a hideous mess. Posting these pictures is a sort of challenge to myself to get it together, make it look good, and be able to post some much prettier pictures, in the not too distant future. But don't expect too much from me.
I love the pictures of studios I see in Blogland. I ooh and aah over the photos in Where Women Create. Some people have the most gorgeous work spaces ... like Sara Lechner and her beautiful barn ... or Lisa Kaus, with her whimsical studio decor, and marvelous makeover of her office ... not to mention her lush gardens. In fact, I could provide a long list of wonderful women who have spectacular studios ... decorated to the hilt, color coordinated, charming. And I think all the studio photos are lovely. They make me swoon with desire to be as wonderful, creative, arty, and well-organized as those other artists must be, but alas, it seems not to be in the stars for me.
Even after I do a major studio reorganization, it still must look crowded and messy to an observer. I simply have too much stuff. And I can never let anything go, as I'm sure is true for many of you ... it might be just what I need for a collage, or a piece of jewelry, or something. And if I'm in heavy duty work mode, especially with a deadline looming, things get really bad. If anyone dares to enter, they incur my wrath ... because I just know they will step on something, or knock something over, or otherwise disturb my mess!
Sometimes I worry that The Sublime Studio is going to become a yardstick by which I can make myself feel rotten ... like setting yet another female standard to follow and feel inadequate about: Am I rich enough? Skinny enough? Pretty enough? Wearing the right clothes? Have the right home decor? Do I cook gourmet food? Decorate like Martha Stewart? Heaven help me if I am still trapped in those hideous worry wombs. I like to think I've evolved. And heaven help me if I replace keeping up with the Joneses with keeping up with the Jones's studio!
I love those beautiful studios ... I really do ... and I want to keep on seeing them, and being inspired by them. But I want to be careful not to judge my studio, or compare mine to theirs. I still want arty to mean interesting, messy, creative, or WHATEVER. And I know it will be a long while before I truly have a handle on how to be creative without leaving behind a trail of disaster. But I will try to get more organized. And, I confess, I will probably also try to have a magazine-worthy studio. I'll let you know if that ever works out!
I love the pictures of studios I see in Blogland. I ooh and aah over the photos in Where Women Create. Some people have the most gorgeous work spaces ... like Sara Lechner and her beautiful barn ... or Lisa Kaus, with her whimsical studio decor, and marvelous makeover of her office ... not to mention her lush gardens. In fact, I could provide a long list of wonderful women who have spectacular studios ... decorated to the hilt, color coordinated, charming. And I think all the studio photos are lovely. They make me swoon with desire to be as wonderful, creative, arty, and well-organized as those other artists must be, but alas, it seems not to be in the stars for me.Even after I do a major studio reorganization, it still must look crowded and messy to an observer. I simply have too much stuff. And I can never let anything go, as I'm sure is true for many of you ... it might be just what I need for a collage, or a piece of jewelry, or something. And if I'm in heavy duty work mode, especially with a deadline looming, things get really bad. If anyone dares to enter, they incur my wrath ... because I just know they will step on something, or knock something over, or otherwise disturb my mess!
Sometimes I worry that The Sublime Studio is going to become a yardstick by which I can make myself feel rotten ... like setting yet another female standard to follow and feel inadequate about: Am I rich enough? Skinny enough? Pretty enough? Wearing the right clothes? Have the right home decor? Do I cook gourmet food? Decorate like Martha Stewart? Heaven help me if I am still trapped in those hideous worry wombs. I like to think I've evolved. And heaven help me if I replace keeping up with the Joneses with keeping up with the Jones's studio!
I love those beautiful studios ... I really do ... and I want to keep on seeing them, and being inspired by them. But I want to be careful not to judge my studio, or compare mine to theirs. I still want arty to mean interesting, messy, creative, or WHATEVER. And I know it will be a long while before I truly have a handle on how to be creative without leaving behind a trail of disaster. But I will try to get more organized. And, I confess, I will probably also try to have a magazine-worthy studio. I'll let you know if that ever works out!
The flowers you mean to send
Alabaster Boxes
Do not keep the alabaster boxes of your love and tenderness sealed up until your friends are dead. Fill their lives with sweetness, speak cheering words while their ears can hear, and while their hearts can be thrilled and made happier by them. The kind things you mean to say when they are gone, say them before they go. The flowers you mean to send - use them to brighten and sweeten their homes before they leave them. If my friends have alabaster boxes laid away, full of fragrant perfumes of sympathy and affection, I would rather they would bring them out in my weary and troubled hours and open them, that I may be refreshed and cheered when I need them. Let us learn to anoint our friends beforehand. Post-mortem kindnesses do not cheer the burdened spirit. Flowers cast no fragrance backward over the weary way.
-Author Unknown