stitching through two pots of coffee and a few cups of tea

Another pouch finished today.

Pink evenweave exterior stitched with silk thread. I dyed the lace with easter egg tablets, and the interior of the bag is a repurposed dinner napkin.  Drawstring made of recycled tapestry wool, and the felted beads are my first attempt at felting something other than flowers. I embellished these with glass seed beads. 

A little bigger than the other two I have made, and a bit more whimsical.

Quite a bit of progress also made on Tangled today too. My goal was to see this new design finished by the 18th. I might just make it!

weekend play

As I was waiting to see what the final outcome would be of the last files on my old laptop, (and my brother, bless, was trying so hard to make sure I got everything back!) I played around with some embroidery and slow cloth, and some felted bits that I found up in the studio at my mom's.  I had them stashed, knowing one day I would use them!

They were cut from a striped wool sweater that I felted in the washing machine. I still have quite a few pieces of this, and I might play a little more, but for now, this is what I put together.  A pendant and "beads" for a bracelet.  The buttons are metal and metal-toned, harvested from old clothing.

The new slow cloth is again made from vintage handkerchiefs, this time I have used a cotton quilting fabric as a foundation as the hankies were pretty thread bare. I used a few of the holes in them already as my direction, trying to capture the feel of a cobblestone pathway through a rose garden.

Now I think I will dig back into Ghoulie Parade for the remainder of the afternoon. First, I need coffee!

wishing for snow

We still do not have any!  The white, frozen stuff, that is. Yes, I am wishing for snow. Not just to "un-dirty" the landscape, but because I worry for the farmer's this spring. I welcome the sunshine, but a day's overcast with some of the flaky stuff falling would be just as welcomed.

I have been busy with work at the school, so my creative time at home has been limited, but I have been working on a few things off and on, and hope to complete a couple projects over the weekend. This morning has been delightful, and I have made significant progress stitching The Dryad's Tree, and should have it done this evening.

The tree itself is done with one of Kreinik's #4 braids, but the lighting for this picture didn't capture the marvelous shimmer this piece has. I'm very happy with the way it is coming together! This particular design was inspired by a dear friend of mine, Sam,  who has always left me dreaming of dryads and other ethereal beings.  She is recovering from an illness and has been in my thoughts.

I have also been finding ways to use up bits of wool that were too small for any large projects. This first "wallet" was made with wool that I hand dyed and smaller pieces of needlepoint wool that I first crocheted and then felted.  I haven't sewn it together yet at the side seams, and I've not decided just how to fasten it. (The wool flower is not felted, but just crocheted using some of the hand dyed wool). I will post another picture when I've finished it!

For now, I'm off to the coffee shop with my book and a bite to eat. Then back to the Q Snaps!

odds & ends

It has a busy, productive week.  In an effort to locate my dining room table again, I decided to finish up a few projects and make some progress on a few others.  The felted cover to the art journal I was making has been sitting on the table since finals week, so that was my first task.  With old sheet music gesso'd and some other recycled newsprint torn and ready, I finally put the thing together

 

I liked the end result so much that I think I am going to keep this one. I rarely create for myself, but this piece just really resonates with me. I needed something to take with me to the woods to keep my sketches and my thoughts sorted,  and I think I have found it!

I found a camel colored wool scarf with little flecks of cranberry and wedgewood blue speckled through it at the thrift shop last week.  In the spirit of slow clothing and giving new life to things set aside, I started working with the wool roving I had, needle felting multi-colored leaves along one edge. Where it will go from here, I am not quite certain, but this is where I am at so far.

There might be some embroidered stems added soon, or maybe some woolen threads woven in.

Yesterday I made a trip to Lakeville for a Watch Me Draw meeting.  Traffic cooperated, and there wasn't the road construction I anticipated so I arrived pretty early.  I found a coffee shop, and decided to get warm (the wind was a butt chiller yesterday!) and maybe do some sketching. Well, I got my coffee, sat down, and reached into my purse that  I always have a sketchbook tucked within. Hmm. No sketchbook. Next best thing?

Napkins!

I got to thinking about my previous blog entry. About metal and circles and translating all of that to cloth. Now to raid my stash and see if I have anything  to get started or if I have to (insert feigned sigh of disappointment here) go out and look through all the old clothing and fabrics, textiles and linens at our thrift shops!

Of Mice & Snowmen

*Finally*

Finished & Released

Of Mice & Snowmen 

Stitched over two threads on 28ct. hand-dyed Jobelan, watercress, from Wichelt Imports using DMC floss and Kreinik braids.  The finished size is 91w x 87h. Available on the website and also soon through 

Hoffman Distributing Company.

Of Mice & Snowmen CM Designs copyright 2011

I started working with the wool last night too, and thought that I might try my hand at making some unique art journals as I have a lot of ephemera paper, handmade papers and other bits that I think bound together would really be appealing.  I am very fascinated with trees, and this is what I have started to felt. I will be adding some needlework to it as well.

The next needlework project/design is a spin on this same concept. I hope to finish up the chart today so I can start stitching tomorrow! It will use a lot of buttons and more embroidery stitches than cross stitch. It should be a quick stitch. 

For now though, I am off to spend some time with a group of talented young artists with Watch Me Draw. Polar bears with chalk pastels! Such messy and delightful fun!

wool for felting & other randomness

So I have this image in my head combining my love of needle felting and needlework in general. I ordered some wool from a wonderful shop, Headley Grange , and it arrived today!

(Image from Headley Grange Etsy Shop)

It is just yummy and the colors are beautiful. It is going to work perfectly with what I have in mind. 

More to come as I get working! 

Almost finished up Of Mice & Snowmen , the next in the Snowballz Again series, and I finally got all the things beside my Stitching Chair sorted.  Feels much better, although I still need to get all my floss sorted so I know what I need to pick up besides the usual white, winter white, black and brown-black! 

There are also some new Kreinik threads that I simply need to order, and I have come to realize that my fabric stash has become seriously depleted! Time to trot off to the Wichelt site and put an order together!

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Of Mice & Snowmen

Of Mice & Snowmen, Snowballz CM Designs copyright 2011

Am just getting ready to sit down and start stitching the next in the Snowballz 2011 series, Of Mice and Snowmen. A few more flower embellishments finished late last night as well. 

I am finding that I really like working with cotton yarn. Perhaps it is because the feel of it is familiar, having worked with cotton embroidery floss for so long.  It just feels so ...right.  Wool does too, as I really dig the natural fibers, always have. But there is just something about cotton. The yellow flowers are made with cotton. The pink with felting wool. Both are equally soft. I think I am going to dig around for a cotton supplier.

I am also crocheting a few children and baby hats with the sugar and cream cotton yarn. 

Then maybe one for myself. ;D

crochet flowers

While I have put away most of the other bits of this and that to concentrate on my cross stitch designing, I do still have some time to crochet in between classes or while I am waiting for the kids to get ready in the morning to take off for school. Crochet flowers are the perfect pick-up and create thing for me, and easy to transport. Here are my latest. I need to sew in these pretty little beads that I found at a flea market and then they'll be finished.

I used this yummy bulky wool meant for felting.

After they were crocheted, I felted the whole works in hot water and soap.

They are really fuzzy and colorful and fun!

I also made a few larger flowers with cotton yarn. These three white blooms are going to be worked into a scarf, I *think* with some others I made that are a variegated daffodil yellow and white. OR, I might do a free form crochet purse. I'm not sure yet.  These I have just sat and worked on in those spare moments when there is not enough time to get out the cross stitch. 

felting flowers and a few more tiles

I came away from a recent trip to the thrift shop with a bag of yarn of various types, textures and colors. A partial skein of light turquoise wool was crocheted into flowers and then hand felted with hot water and soap. After rummaging around in my button stash for pretties to center them, this is what I ended up with!

I also finished up two more sets of the ephemera tile charms...

I purchased a new drill, and gave it a try on the grungy tiles!

I have a midterm take home test that I really need to get to this weekend, but I am struggling with putting down the stitching. I want to finish Buck & Gene!  I am so close to having it done. A compromise, perhaps. A morning of coffee and stitching, and then I will hit the books. 

There is always tomorrow too... :D

odds and ends

This weekend was spent finishing some projects, starting a couple of new ones, all in an attempt to keep myself busy and focused on something other than things I have no control over.  After finishing the blooms for a bouquet of crocheted flowers I am sending my friend,  (a picture will be coming once I get the stems on them) I worked for awhile on two pieces of hoop art.

I still need to finish the backs on both of them.  The first is an exploration in needle weaving and uses recycled needlepoint yarns and scraps of fabric for the background.  The floral is simply a crocheted circle centered with a vintage button. Leaves and stem done in satin stitch on a bit of hand-dyed jobelan that I had left from a cross stitch project.

I also wanted to see what I could crochet with a skein of my hand twisted fabric yarn.  I chose this skein...

And this is what I whipped up last night...

Very loose, mostly triple crochet stitches and lots of knots and texture. When my daughter gets home, she is going to wear it so I can get a picture of it.  I really enjoy crocheting. Almost as much as stitching (something that I need to get back to as soon as I finish this post!) I have another skein that I was quite drawn to when I had finished twisting it.  It is cotton muslin that I hand painted in grassy watercolored greens. There is a lot of natural taupe twisted in too, and a thin strand of metallic gold.

I had recently purchased some wool roving to make felted beads with, and so I made a few this morning...

I plan on embellishing them, most likely with little gold seed beads, and they (hopefully) will be worked into the next scarf I am going to make with the green fabric yarn. 

I participated in a craft show yesterday, and it was fairly successful, but I came away from it with something I had not expected beyond the sales. I talked at length with several other artisans there, and I realized that I really do like making the things to be used by others in what they do. But...

I really miss creating pieces myself. 

I guess maybe I am evolving in my work. I am not sure. I guess we will just see where I step from here.

Creative 365: Day 35 More Flowers

This morning I had a bit of time to  finish a few more blooms.  One group  is crochet, nine flowers total varying in size from 4-5 inches across. I did not center these with buttons or beads as I liked the feel of them without. The yarn is, as is usual with me, recycled and rescued bits, some harvested from old sweaters while the rest was wound up into balls in a basket of fibers I snurched from the thrift store.

I also finished up the felted wool blooms I had cut last night.  I used an old ivory wool sweater, felted it and then cut the layers of petals. Felting the wool one more time (washing machine felting), I layered the wool, four layers for each flower, and centered each of the five with one of the vintage mother of pearl buttons that were harvested from the sweater. Each of these average 4 inches across and are very full blooms.

I have a fair amount of stitching to do later today. I hope to make some progress on 

Bug Bungalow, and maybe even crochet some too.

 It is a gray day outside, perfect for some creative play inside!

new blooms

Here are some of the new blooms I have been working on and listed on Etsy this afternoon.

The red flowers are made from recycled wool that I took from a jacket and felted. Each is centered with a found button from my collection.

The purple flowers I crocheted with this fun pompom yarn I picked up while shopping with my niece. I centered these with a bunch of different beads, again from my stash. Some recycled from broken jewelry, others I picked up here and there over the years.

The blue blooms, again, recycled wool, this time from a sweater. I cut the flowers, felted them, and then stitched two layers together and centered this group with a metallic-finish button. 

I went today to try and find more goodies at the thrift stores to recycle, up-cycle, de-construct, reconstruct, and all that jazz, but only found a few skeins of yarn to rescue, a handful of silk ties and one small wool sweater that is really iffy in the color department. The blooms might come off really primitive with that one, unless they felt differently then I expect them to! 

Getting ready for another blizzard blast! 

Lots of time to play and create!

odd little flowers

I am pleased to announce that today I had my first sale on Etsy!  I have been trying very hard to create more pieces for my store, and one of my goals for November was to finally have a tally under sales.  The piece that sold was one of my favorite of the chiffon scarves I have been dyeing.

Another scarf added to the store today. It is the silk chiffon scarf only the colors that transfered from the ties with this were smoky grey, purple, fuschia and some really deep blues. I have a good collection of ties started. I think tomorrow will find me seeing what other magic can be created with the scarves I have remaining.

I also finished up a few recycled blooms. I had come across a wool scarf at the Thrift Store that I thought would cut apart really well and I could felt it. Well, I cut my flowers and gave them a spin in a hot washing machine and after they were finished, I went to toss them in the dryer. They never made it that far because the wool did this really funky fun thing that I did not want to disturb with a tumble in the dryer!

I doubled the layers, centered them with a found button (each different) and this is what I ended up with!

I double checked the tag of the scarf and yes, it did read 100% wool, so I am not sure what happened, but my end result, I find, is kind of fun!

A few found cotton threads and recycled wool yarn and I was able to fashion four blooms in harvest-y colors and dug through the bead box for beads that would work as pretty, shiny centers.

All in all it has been a delightfully creative (and productive) day! Now off to stitch. Have a snowman waiting for his grin!

Mixed Media Monday: Old Things (a few days late!)

The theme this week for MMM was 'Old Things' and I was at a loss for a time as to what to do. I got to thinking about all my vintage textiles and making new things out of old things, and once I got the itch to crochet yesterday, I decided to try and make an old hat.  It would give me a chance to try some more felting as well.

So here it is! It is made of wool that I recycled from a sweater, and the buttons were from my Great Aunt's sewing basket.

The felting didn't work as well as I  had hoped, but I think it is because the weave of the hat wasn't tight enough. Where I single crocheted, it felted. The double crochet areas, not as much. But I still am happy with the feel of it.

I had hoped for a little more shrinkage, and had even added a little more size to it to allow for it. Perhaps I should have given it one more washing and trip through the dryer!

(click on images to enlarge)