Cameron's Threads

Scarves, A Coat, and The Clay Ball

2011-12-05T10:08:00.001-08:00

Many thanks to my Blogger Buddies for all the support and kindnesses that you have extended to me during these difficult times. I really appreciate you!!!

You have probably guessed by now that I have given up on the idea of a contest for now. This is just too busy a time of year for most of us and I think that my idea was too "spur of the moment" and brought about by my grief. I will think of another contest after the holidays. It will be one that is a little more "sane" and a little easier to do. I do like to do participation types of contests.

Lately, I have been working on getting myself excited about projects again. I have started with
felting, making fabric for a dress for the next "Clay Ball." I have also made 9 scarves for my sister for her staff for Christmas presents. The 3 above are some of them. They are nuno, light weight, for evenings in LA. My sisters are some of my greatest supporters.

I have also been working on making a very red coat. It has been so fun. It reminds me of something that a flapper would wear during the 1920s. I usually make things by feel, not using a pattern, and that is how this was made. You might say, "Yes, that's how it looks." Oh well, I like it.

I made it with my vintage black lace (surprise) merino wool, and inlaid silk.

I want to go to the Clay Ball again this year, and I already have my donations ready. Now all I have to do is to have them accepted. Last year I got into the Live Auction, the first piece of wearable art to ever be accepted. This year I have to live up to that, we'll see. At any rate I am giving two pieces to the auction, a coat, not this one, a prettier one, and a jacket.

And then there is the garment that I am going to wear, I think. I have felted maroon felt over some black lace to make a top, a skirt and a cape. The top is to the left, and the detail of the cape is to the right. You are looking at a side view of the top, at the sleeve. It has lace over netting with beads sewn on, and a lace cuff and collar. The garment is vintage looking. I say I think that I will wear it because it is warm and I will have to see what the temperature is like the day of the Clay Ball.

Again thanks you lovely bloggers. Love and hugs to all. Love to hear from you. Sorry that it has taken so long to get back to you about the contest.

Mourning and Celebration

2011-10-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

My father went in for hip replacement surgery the Monday before the Thursday that I had my heart surgery. His surgery went very well, and from the hospital he went to rehabilitation. Being a stubborn 89 year old man, he decided to go home early. He did many things he was not supposed to, such as climbing upstairs to get into bed instead of sleeping in the bed that was set up for him downstairs. On about the third night that he had been home he fell down the stairs and could not be resuscitated for a long time. It turned out that he had had a very bad heard attack and a small stroke. Later testing showed that he had many health issues that we were not aware of and that quickly brought on his death. Needless to say my father's death has been a huge source of pain for all of us. However, his life is also a celebration. As much as I will miss him I am so glad that he did not suffer with illness for a long time. He lived to be 89 years old in very good health, his hip only bothering him for the last year. He had a life rich in love, belief, value and life experience. He was a very generous man. He will always be with me and I will always love him.

I've had an idea for a contest, but I want to hear from some of you whether you think I am crazy. I think that I have been writing about sadness so much lately, because that's what's been happening in my life. I want to turn things around a little.

In the late 1800s, early 1900s women wore mourning clothing in black. Many of them were quite beautiful. I thought that it would be fun to have a contest in which contestants would make up a "celebration shawl" instead of mourning clothes. It could be made of any kind of fiber material, fabric, felted cloth, paper mached, etc. It has to be life size, and it has to have a "life celebration" theme. As with the last contest, you would take 3 very good pictures of your shawl and send them to me.

There would be 2 rewards, 2 lace shawls that I have made. One shawl made of black lace, and one made with white lace.

Before starting this contest I want to hear what you think and I want some questions. Does this make sense? Am I crazy? Please be honest. If I don't hear anything I will get the point!
Love and Hugs, Cameron

A STRANGE CONTEST IS COMING WATCH FOR IT!!!

2011-10-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

Playing With Mixed Media

2011-10-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it has been 3 weeks since my surgery, but in this instance I am so happy that time has gone by quickly. Thank you for you positive thoughts, prayers, cards and gifts.

Prior to surgery I knew that I wouldn't be doing any felting for a while due to restrictions on pulling, twisting, weight carrying limitations, etc. So I decided that I would gather up a few old materials and get back into making a few journals- my old materials being some old papers I had made a while back, and some journal covers that I made last Christmas. I also went on line and started buying a few paints and inks and other this and that's. I decided that I "deserved" a few treats since I was going to suffer an operation.

I have many great materials that lend themselves to making mixed media collage journals, but I find that I am not very good at putting those together. I wish that I had the talent of my blogger buddy Sue, Heloise.

As soon as I got home I began trying to use my paints, but I was so weak that I could only stay out of bed for a short time. I pushed myself too hard many times and ended up exhausted. All I was trying to do was paint a piece of paper. I will never take my health for granted again! I did notice that each day my strength grew, and my endurance lengthened. This is still lengthening. The painting is fun and has turned out to be a good way to spend time while recuperating.

My paper

Journal cover

With this blog I mainly want to say hello. My painted papers aren't that much to see, just something to do until I can get back to felting, but I want to touch bases with my blogger buddies and say thanks for being there.

Love and Hugs, Cameron

Out of the Box and Scheduled

2011-09-11T09:10:00.000-07:00

1800s Womens' Vest

I have shared many of my treasures with my blogger buddies that I got from the lace auction, but this is one of the treats that I found. There were several beaded fabrics and this nestled among the black lace when I started going through all of it. The black lace was wonderful enough, but coming across this, WOW! Let me know what you think. Yes, it has quite a bit of damage, but given how I am going, I sure wouldn't look this good if I ever got to its age, whatever that is.

Back of Vest

More pictures:

Close up of bead work

This is my mannequin, not me. I never did look this good.

This vest is for sale on Ebay for anyone interested. Spread the word. So far it is not getting any interest. So sad.

My surgery is set for September 22. Please keep me in your prayers and positive thoughts.
Love and hugs to all, Cameron

Belated Thank Yous and Making Progress

2011-09-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

First of all and very important, let me say a belated thank you to all my blogger buddies for your wonderful support during what is a difficult time, my husband, Gary's unexpected heart surgery. Thank you Jan for the beautiful heart pin, it has cheered my spirits. It is a real work of art.

Gary is on the mend and doing well. It is hard to believe that he left the hospital two weeks ago. We start rehab. next week, 3 times a week.

While Gary was undergoing surgery, I escaped into my own world by beading my vintage flapper goodies onto a felt jacket that I was making for a woman for her son's wedding. This kept my mind off of worrying the whole time, which does no good at all (worrying.) I will take a picture of her with her jacket and necklace on once she is all decked out. I made her necklace also.

Garden Lady by Cindy
Jenkens

An elf riding a turtle

A teapot

Before Gary realized that his heart was at risk, he and my son Bryan had torn out part of our deck and we had great plans to make a courtyard out of our backyard. Since going to Paris I have loved courtyards. Well, one doesn't carry sand, gravel and pavers after having major heart surgery, and we weren't going to hire anyone to carry out our plans. So this will have to wait until next year. I am going to have heart surgery also, we have known that since early May. Gary's was the surprise. How many couples do you know who have both had major heart surgery within a couple of months of each other? Crazy life...

In the meantime, I am enjoying our flowers. I have gotten into my own form of "garden art." I have gotten lots of metal things, figures, antigues, candle holders, old pottery, etc. and put it in with the flowers and let them grow up around the stuff. Come winter it will probably look like a junk yard, so I will gather it in and replant it next spring. Next spring will bring a lot of new things,
THANK GOD!!!

A torn up deck

A garden path

Where the hostas grow

An old oil can

Old metal shoes

Much love and many hugs for all of you,
Cameron

"Life Happens When You Are Planning Other Things"

2011-08-20T17:43:00.000-07:00

I am finally getting around to showing you how wonderful Maggi looks in her new jackety-shawl. Sorry that it took me so long to show your wonderful picture, Maggi.

My life was interrupted big time when my husband developed chest pains which evolved into quadruple bypass surgery. I was reminded of the words to the song God Laughs by Delta Goodrem. The chorus is:

"We're all walking in quicksand,

When we're busy making our plans,

God Laughs."

The song is a bit cynical but often so true.

To keep myself marginally sane, I have been making jackets for the holidays, putting vintage lace and fun vintage appliques on them.

Love and hugs to all,

Cameron

Beautiful Artistry and a Fun Contest

2011-08-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

Audrey

Lorna

A little over a month ago I started a contest to make a shawl pin. I had several people express interest, and I mailed out small clamps from Home Depot. A few folks could not finish the pin due to health issues or vacation plans, but I did get back 7 entries, and they are fantastic!!! I asked artist friends of mine to do the judging, a very hard job. The judging criteria were creativity and wearability. The winner is Maggi. I have the artist's permission to show their work. You will see how difficult the decision was.

Maggi has won a jackety-shawl from me, but they have all won my admiration, thanks, and many, many hugs. Love, Cameron

Patty

Yvette

Maggi

The human mind and imagination are truly amazing.

Riet

Sue

Can't Wait

2011-07-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

As it draws closer to the end of this month I grow more excited to show the results of this more than month long contest to make a shawl pin/clamp. The results so far are fantastic. The artists have put this blogger to shame. What creativity!!!

I have decided to have 3 of my artist friends do the judging as "blind judges," and to pull myself out of that role. I will just be the one to give away the prize. If that sounds like a "cop out", I am doing it because I have blogged with some of the artists far longer than others and I don't want any feelings to get in the way. My friends will never know anything about anyone, just see the pin. Remember the criterion are creativity and wear-ability.

I have heard from many of the contestants that they have had a lot of fun with this. I have had a blast.

Love and hugs to all, and get those pictures in, right up to the last minute.
Many, many hugs, Cameron

Great Fair and New Friends

2011-07-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

Picture by Reathel Geary

I had so much fun at the Salem Art Fair, met wonderful people and sold several of my garments. I have no real comparison for whether or not I did "well" monetarily, but I am happy with the results. I learned a lot about what I would do the same to set up my tent space and what I would change, because we are going to do this again at several stops in Oregon.

Picture by Reathel Geary

My fellow emerging artist was next door, a photographer named Reathel Geary. He took many of the photos that I will show you here on my blog. The one in the left upper corner is his, and he got this result using his iPhone. The next two are also great shots of women in my garments, one the artist on the other side of me, the curly headed one, my niece. I think that Reathel is going to make a name for himself in the world of photography, as you can see. Marcia, on the left is a painter. I now have one of her paintings, what a beauty.

Good ol' Oregon. On Sunday it started raining seriously and my tent started dripping. Even the more expensive tents were having a few issues. Instead of that open, inviting look that you want to draw people in, everything was crammed into the tent to keep in out of the rain. Then the drips got it, I mean the rain drips, there were no people drips. I didn't need to worry about having enough room as there weren't any people around anyway. This picture shows how my tent looked for most of the morning.

A woman came in with her friend and her silly brother. The brother tried on one of my capes and said that I could take his picture for my blog. As you can see he was very dramatic. I think that he is destined for Hollywood. His sister came back 3 more time and on the fourth time purchased a jackety-shawl.

Also on the last day a woman came in who turned out to be a fellow felter. We started talking and she showed me some of the great characters that she creates out of felt and other media. Her name is Claudia Knous and she can be found on a site called wildwomenartists.com. She also makes scarves that are wonderful. As we talked I found out that she had just ridden in a bicycle race that my sister in law usually rides in, and yes out of all the people who ride in the race, she knew my sister in law and my brother. She had given my sister in law, Paula, a scarf tthat Paula had then given to me. This was the scarf that had gotten me started felting, and this was the woman who had made that scarf.dhamatic. R

How likely was it that this woman would come from a bicycle race in Portland, 45 miles away, on a rainy Sunday and visit my tent. She lives in Nevada. I can only think that "God, the universe, fate, etc." whatever you believe, has plans for all of us. I was thrilled to meet her, my inspiration, and I want to stay in touch.e

Enough for now about the fair.

I have 2 contest entries so far. I won't post anything until the end of the month. I hope that all is going well, let me know.

Thanks for all of your support. Love and hugs, Cameron

Art Fair a Few Days Away

2011-07-10T13:31:00.000-07:00

More Tips and More Lace

2011-07-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

I did it again, I went on line to an auction and bid on a lot of vintage lace and got it. This whole box that you see is full of vintage hand made white, off white and ecru lace trims of all widths. It is amazing. I can just picture the women who worked on these beauties. I have also taken a picture of an antique show advertisement where someone once sold some of them.

And now for a little contest information. I have sent off all of the pin/clamps but one. That will go out tomorrow. The ones to Europe should be arriving soon if not already. Please let me know.

I made a few smaller pins today and took a picture of the whole lot. I used a new glue which seemed to work pretty well, but I haven't tried to pull the jewelry off of the pin so who knows. The glue is Loctite Super Glue.

A friend told me about another glue called E 6000 which is supposed to be very good. The problem is that it smells awful, so if you use it, use it outside or in a well ventilated garage.

Patty, I couldn't find the glue that you recommended but I'll keep looking. That's it for now, stay in touch.

Hugs, Cameron

Contestants, Possible Helps, Possible Extension

2011-06-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

I am so pleased with the response I have had to this contest. What fun! And now, I want to share a few tips that I learned along the way while making these pins.

At first I used a paint that is used to cover outdoor metal furniture to protect it from rust and I also primed it. I sprayed both primer and the covering black paint on the clip and ended up with a mess. I used my sanding bit to try to clean them up and gummed it all up. Then I used a touch up paint to paint in the spots that were unpainted. They still looked a mess. I then added more misery to the situation by using a glue that dries and shows . The tube below is the first glue I tried, didn't work well for this project. Also, when using glass, I needed to rough up the glass back to get any glue to stick.

The second glue that I used didn't work either. By this time I was making the paint look better by using my rub and buff paints to add some metallic appeal. The process was frustrating but also fun experimentation as is all creativity. I also started using a better black paint. This one had better coverage and I didn't use a primer.

I hope that my sharing doesn't scare anyone away as it has been fun. I will share a few more of my pins/clamps with you.

As I have mentioned earlier this is a fun contest, designed for sharing ideas. Since most of the contestants live in Europe, I may have to extend the timeline. We will deal with that later, but be aware that I am willing if the need arises. I will be sharing more, and hope that once you get your pins you will share. I still have not found a glue that I like. If anyone out there has an idea please share.

Talk soon, Hugs, Cameron

The Contest Is On And More Are Invited

2011-06-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

The contest is a GO!! However, if you haven't entered there is still plenty of time. The deadline for the 3 pictures is July 31, midnight. (How is that for official.)

Remember, I need your address to send you the pin/clamp. If you haven't sent me your address on my email, I don't have it. (I would never share your address or use it for any other purpose, so please do not worry about that. I have no interest in selling anything.)

This is a strictly for fun contest to be enjoyed by all.
Many hugs, Cameron

Another Contest

2011-06-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

I spent a lot of time looking for shawl pins that would go through my "jackety-shawls" without snagging the silk. Most of the pins were made for knitted shawls and had blunt ends. While shopping at one of the big "box stores" I got an idea for making my own shawl clips. They won't work for every application but they are the answer that I had been looking for, and now I have decided to have a contest for anyone who wants to participate.

First let me show you what I am talking about. This is one of my jacket-shawls with my clip on it. The clip allows the wearer to adjust the shawl to be worn in many different ways, as a cowl neck, gathered in front, off to the side, etc.

Now for the contest.

If you are interested, just let me know on this blog. Those of you who check in please share this as I have to have at least 6 contestants to do this.

I will then mail you the bare clip and you will decorate it. You will take 3 pictures of it and post them to me. I will only have your pictures to judge by so make them good, only 3 pictures. The most creative and most wearable clip will be the winner. That is only one winner, creative and wearable. I will try each one on my shawls, assuming I get contestants.
Please share this information.

The prize will be a jackety-shawl and 10 clips that you can play with all you want. The 10 clips part is only if you want them.

Here are a few more examples.

I love contests and I hope that you do too. Hugs.

Silk, Wool, and Vintage Lace Combine As Wearable Art

2011-06-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

A preview of some wearable art for the Salem Art Fair.

A vintage lace and wool shawl
inlaid with silk.

A coat with wool laminated over black chiffon ,
inlaid with silk.

A silk and light weight wool scarf.

A small light weight top , silk and merino wool.

A light weight jacket made of
silk and wool and decorated with
vintage lace.

Mom and Dad

2011-03-31T08:37:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures of my parents that were taken by a wonderful photographer named Ben. They are not my property, so I don't sell them or commercialize them, I just play with them. I have used them to apply some of Kim's wonderful textures. I also applied the poster adjustment to the middle one. This is so much fun. If you get a chance, to take Kim's classes I would recommend it. Many hugs.

Some New Fabric and Some Leftover Pieces

2011-03-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

Light weight for summer evening.

While at the Clay Ball I met many wonderful people, and I met a very nice woman who asked me to make her a garment for a wedding. She gave me her card and I agreed to call her after the Ball. Since that time we have met and talked about the style of garment she would like and the colors. She has expanded her wishes to include an evening jacket of some kind also. This is wonderful because she has presented me with an opportunity to be creative and challenged at the same time. The fabric above is the first one that I made, the one right below is the second. They are, of course, very different, one heavy more for autumn, winter, the other for a summer evening. I have beautiful silks to add to both of them. The third one is much lighter again, for evenings during the summer.

I also made 2 fabrics using pieces that I had. We are meeting next week and she has invited a friend who likes different colors than she does. I thought that it would be fun to have a variety of different things to look at. I included a couple of pictures of layout and how I put the rovings around the silk and prefelt. The picture reminds me of a tide pool at the coast. Again I am having too much fun.

Hugs for all my "blogger buddies."

Heavy nuno for autumn or winter.

Lighter weight for summer evening.

Using up pieces.

Adding the roving

Layout

Time Goes By and More Shawls

2011-03-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

The Clay Ball has come and gone and it was so much fun. I finally found a group of people who really appreciate my wearable art. The city I live in is very conservative and people do not like to step out of the norm very much. That is fine, but it is a bit hard on folks like me who like to dress in bright colors and show off, and who like to make brightly colored clothing for others. People came to the event in all kinds of wonderful dress, some formal, some just dressy, some cocktail, a lot of great vintage. There was a silent auction and a live auction and I had a piece of wearable art in both. I modeled my "jackety-shawl" while it was bid on. Wow, was that intimidating! I wore the shawl in these pictures over my lace dress, very vintage. The pictures just don't do it justice-oh well...

I have had a lot of fun making scarves and shawls using my lace. I decided that using it was the best thing, that letting it sit in a drawer was not what it was meant for. I am careful to let the great designs and the delicacy of it show through.

This white one would be great for a winter wedding, or for a cool evening. It is so soft and the lace is so beautiful.

Now I just need to find someone who is getting married. Hugs

Felted Shawl On Old Lace Skirt

2011-03-02T10:39:00.000-08:00

My granddaughter came over to model my garments for my Etsy Shop. She makes everything look great. I asked her to show off the shawl that I made using the vintage black lace that had been an old skirt. I used the whole skirt as I couldn't stand to cut any of the lace. It felted beautifully since it was cotton, and I think that I left plenty of it untouched so that the beauty of the lace catches the eye. Now, where to wear it?

Snow, Shawls and the Clay Ball

2011-02-24T09:29:00.000-08:00

We woke up to an inch of snow this morning. There is such hype about snow in this area as we just don't get it that often. The local media goes crazy building the snow story, and the snow seems to always come up short. No matter, it is always pretty.

In the meantime, I am still getting ready for the Clay Ball. I have been experimenting with shawls. I will wear one and my friend might.

Jan, one of my blogger buddies, came to visit her father and was kind enough to model for me. We agreed that I would just show the shawl. I enjoyed her visit so much, knew that I would. Jan's blog:

http://laughingdogarts.blogspot.com/

I love the way that these turned out, but not for the Clay Ball, so I went back to experimenting. and came up with more. These are red wools and plum wools over metallic netting with silk laid in. So much fun. More to do.

Fun With Photos

2011-02-12T17:15:00.000-08:00

If you haven't yet taken Kim Klassen's classes on Photoshop Elements, Layering, Textures, etc, I highly recommend them. I read about them from another blogger friend and found them to be very inexpensive and highly informative. http://kimklassencafe.com Today I played around with a few of my pictures of my great niece and some old childhood pictures of my mother. I still have many things to review about layering, but I have learned so much from Kim. Before her classes I just couldn't get it.

In this picture I overlaid a picture of my mother on top of a current one of my great niece. The old one already had sepia tones so I didn't add any more texturing. I need to go back and relearn how to remove the bright dress from the babies face. That will come.

In the second picture you can see my mother's doll also, and again the sepia tones. Thanks to Kim, I am now using a photo program that I have had for several years. Thanks Kim.

One Generation To the Next

2011-02-09T18:40:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we celebrated my mother's 89 birthday. My two sisters came from LA, and we did our traditional shopping and lunch trip. We love getting Mom a nice present, though she fights us the whole time. This time we got her a nice down jacket and she looks great in it. As she is often chilly, this should keep her nice and warm when she goes out. Mom says that she loves it when she sees her girls together enjoying each other so much. These are moments that we treasure as Mom gets older.

Mom is now 89 and Dad is 88, just 7 months apart in age. They have been boyfriend and girlfriend since the fourth grade, and now married for 67 years. This kind of commitment doesn't seem to happen anymore. Their life raising 7 children hasn't been easy, but whose is?

We had a big party for Mom and fixed lasagna with all the trimmings. My sister's daughter came from Seattle with the youngest member of the family. She will be a year old in March. She is so beautiful, and is now crawling everywhere.

With my mother turning 89 and my great niece almost 1 year old, I am witnessing two ends of a wonderful generational spectrum in our family. How did I get so old?

More Organization and More Projects

2011-01-31T15:31:00.000-08:00

My husband and I shared the area that we called the shop for many years. He did picture framing and matting and I did my felting. I used his counter for my felting. As those of you who do felting know, wool goes everywhere, and it does not go well with the clean matting of pictures. You can probably see what is coming, or maybe not. We both love what we do, so what to do? We both had two rooms in the house in which to do "our thing." Yes, we are a bit spoiled, but our projects were not working together in the same area. At least his wasn't. The last picture that he framed as a gift for our grandson had lint under the glass, and my perfectionist husband was understandably not happy.

In the last couple of weeks we have reached a compromise. I gave up my cheerful little sunny yellow room, with a nice closet, for the two back rooms. The back rooms have No Storage, so again with IKea, and this time I built bookcases. I already had the plastic tubs for storage of all my valuable junk, so I am making them work for now. I got a table to work on as well as the counter, and the room is almost filled up. The table can be folded and put away. And now I am working on my felting again, and paring down the junk

And now the latest on the Clay Ball. My friend and I have been like a couple of little girls, ordering dresses, getting shoes, and oh yes, those lovely things that fit like a huge girdle that pull you in in every direction, Spanks. Getting the things on is a real adventure!!!

The brown-gold shawl below is one I made for my friend to go with her brown gown. It looks great on her. It is merino wool over yummy silk. It turned out so pretty. The poncho below is also made with merino over a great silk. For that one I took apart a couple of other things and remade them into this poncho. I am doing that with a few of my older garments.

The folks organizing the ball want me to model the jackety-shawl in the live auction. The other jacket will be in the silent auction. I have also volunteered to do some chores like set up and greeting people at the door. I love that kind of stuff.

I got a red mannequin to put the jacket on during the silent auction. I had been needing one anyway and decided that this would be a good time. Red was one of the choices, and I thought that she would go well with Big Red. They can keep each other company. Well, I have been rambling on, just wanted to catch up since I seem to only get to this rarely lately. Love and hugs to all my blogger buddies out there.

More From the Attic

2011-01-07T07:09:00.000-08:00

Such a great response to this lace, as excited about this treasure as I am. Many of you wanted to see more, so here goes. As far as I can tell with my limited knowledge, this lace is hand made, made using a bobbin, and machine made. It seems to be all cotton so far. A small amount is crocheted. I even got some patterns in with my laces. Here are more pictures, also more of the black.

A Dream Come True

2011-01-06T09:13:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you wander around in an attic finding all kinds of old and wonderful treasures? I have, and I have always awakened with a feeling of loss. I'm not sure what that means, but the treasure that I found recently reminded me of those dreams. I was looking at on line auctions and came across boxes of old lace. The lots were 2 and 3 boxes of lace at a time. I decided that I might as well try for some even though I thought that I never had a chance. I bid on a lot of 3 boxes of white and ecru lace and a lot of 3 boxes of black lace and I got both.

These beautiful laces were being stored in an attic, as they have that smell of old attic. I love the smell, it's antique. Each lace is different. I think that the person who originally owned them was a dress maker because she kept every bit of lace she could find. Many of the pieces that I have are old inserts from vintage dresses, the lace pieces that went up to the lace collar, and the lace collars and cuffs. These were made in the day when women wore a lot of fancy lace to decorate themselves.

Most of the black laces came on cards as shown so that the design shows. I could spend days just taking pictures of them.

I can't begin to show all of the designs. As you can tell I am excited about this find, what a treasure. Now I want to find out more about lace making. I am using a bit of it on a few vests just to show it off. These were pieces that were in the "scrap" bag. Hah! I am careful not to ruin the lace. What fun.

I hope that you enjoy my treasure. I will try to post more samples if you would like to see them. Hugs

Acceptance, I Go To the Ball

2010-12-29T12:53:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that it has been almost a month since my last post. I took a break from felting and blogging because when anything starts to feel like a "have to," it looses some of the fun element. During the time that I was away, my donation was accepted by the Clay Ball jury, and now I have a ticket to go to the ball, something I have never done before. I had already made my garment to wear, purchased jewelry to go with it, and gotten some vintage looking shoes. My latest venture was to go on ebay to find a black vintage ball gown that wasn't too expensive that I might fit into. Yes, I am getting carried away.

I also made two journals for my kids as Christmas presents. It was a nice change from felting, though I did use some of my felting bits and pieces on them. After gluing on the pieces, I put Mod Podge over them and then metallic Rub and Buff. I tried to use some of the ideas that I have gotten from Sue on her blog, Heloise for decorating the pages, but mine didn't have nearly the vintage appeal that hers do. My efforts were appreciated by my girls.

Also like some of my blogger buddies, I took the on line photo class from Kim Klassen and finally learned a little about how to use the layers part of Photoshop Elements. I say a "little bit" because I haven't practiced as much as I need to.
I added some texture to this old picture of my mother just for fun to see what it would look like. (The picture of the little girl with the doll is my mother.) I did the same, not the same texture, to an old picture of my great grandmother. Some of my play was successful and some not, all of it fun.

Well, I better get this posted before another month goes by.

Funny Experiments, Or Experiments Gone Wrong

2010-11-29T06:59:00.000-08:00

The last time I blogged I mentioned getting down on the floor to make a large piece of nuno felt. That piece of felt fills most of the back of this poncho. I got so tired after being on the floor that I became uninspired and decided to put the poncho together using what I had made and some leftover pieces that had similar colors. The poncho is for me to take to the mountains when it is cold, and as our little house gets pretty cold, this will make a nice cover to use before the house warms up. It is hanging on a door because I still have to do some work on it.

I made another experiment that I think turned out pretty funny. I call it my "turtle poncho." I tried to make this poncho from a picture, and it actually looked similar to the one in the picture, but my felt was way too heavy. That's part of the reason for the "turtle look", and the other reason is my weight. (This many extra pounds don't come off in a few weeks of Weight Watchers-oh I wish they did!)

I think that the poncho is so funny, and I think that it will get torn apart today and made into something else. (Don't we all have to laugh at ourselves, we are such funny critters, us humans.) The fabric in the poncho actually turned out quite pretty, one piece of good news, though it doesn't show up in this picture.

Remember the garment below, a long "jackety shawl" that I made out of nuno felt and burnout silk? I decided to donate it as an auction prize for our city Art Department, if they decide they want it. If they do want it, I will be able to attend an affair called the "Clay Ball." This is evidently an occasion during which artists dress up very "artistically" to attend and have a great time.

First, I have no idea whether my garment will be accepted as an auction prize, but I have already made most of my "artistic outfit" for the ball. Talk about being a little nutty. I just wanted to put something fun together out of all the great fabrics that I had. The colors in the garment for the ball are a lot like the colors in the garment that I am donating.

This is the "coat of many colors" that will be worn with black pants and a black blouse under it. I hope that I get to wear it. It is felted on top and has alternating reverse triangles of silk, black lace and felt on the bottom. The felt on the top has been over-stitched with black and patterned silk triangles. I know, hard to tell from the picture. It does look pretty good, though not finished yet. But I don't even know if I'll be going yet!!!

Sisterly Love and More Vests

2010-11-19T09:09:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I got together with my sister from Los Angeles and her daughter. They came to Portland to see my parents and our siblings. During the visit I gave my sister her frog skin designer purse (Fendi.) She enjoyed the whole story behind the purse, and plans to use it, but her daughter felt sorry for the frogs. I asked my niece to model one of my vests. She is so beautiful, as is her mother.

My sister and I went shopping for silk at my favorite place to get the best variety I have yet found. Fabric Depot has more beautiful silk fabrics than I have found in any store or on line. The problem is that I never have enough money to buy all that I want. This time they were 35% off, what a deal! I was looking for silk for a "holiday jacket." This is one of the jackets that I made. It also has a hood in the back.

I have also continued to make several of the vests with hoods. They are a great way to combine the wool with the beautiful silks I have found.

I am now working on a large poncho, but don't have the table or counter space to lay it out, so I was down on the floor with this large piece of nuno felt. I am too old for that. It is no way to felt. I am going to have to figure out something else for larger projects. More on this later.

Small Critters and Designer Purses

2010-11-11T18:26:00.000-08:00

Frog

My sister loves designer purses, but she never pays the full price for them. She lives in L.A. where she can access a great store that sells them for good prices. Every time I see her she has a great looking bag. So here's my story...

I love to watch "Live Auctions," especially when there are vintage things for sale. I couldn't believe it when I saw this Fendi purse for sale. It wasn't the name at all that attracted me. Sure it's a great brand name, but what I couldn't believe was that the purse was made of frog skin. What a perfect gift for my sister. Yes, it is a joke, and no, I am not mean. What a conversation piece for a woman who loves designer purses!

Snake

My husband doesn't believe that it is frog skin, but it is. You can see the
bumps of the frog, just look. Also, you can't lie about something like
this in an auction.

I also got a snake skin purse and a lizard purse. Normally, I don't buy things like this that are little animal hides, but I justified it to myself by saying that they were "vintage." I don't think that this made much difference to the critters, but they were long dead.

Lizard

I do plan on using the purses, so I guess that makes it a little better. I hope that my sister likes hers.

A Beautiful Boutique, And a Barbershop Quartet

2010-11-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a sale of my felted apparel at a beautiful little boutique, Ma Valise, owned by Janet. My friend Tass came to model my vests, jackets and scarves, and she did a fantastic job!!! She is very outgoing, and had purchased some great outfits from the store that Monday to wear with my apparel. She turned out to be my best customer.

Before the first customers came in we were serenaded by a barber shop quartet. They were very good, and sang a song for us that they sang to get into the Nationals.

Janet had set up a wonderful spot for me as her quest artist with two racks for clothing, a couch, and table. Her shop is charming, and already dressed up for the holidays.

My husband planned a real treat for me. He had called my daughter and granddaughter and told them about the event. I was so tickled when they walked into the store. They both have school and work the next day and live in another city down the freeway, so I didn't expect them. What a treat!!! And, of course, I had to take advantage of my granddaughter's presence by getting a picture of her in one of my garments.
Thank you girls and Hubby.

It was so wonderful of Janet to give me an opportunity to meet more people and to give my work more exposure. She is very supportive of local artists and has given me many good ideas. She is also a fun person to be with, a very quality person. Thank you Janet. And thank you Tass for modeling for me.

What a fun evening!!!

New Name, New Opportunity

2010-10-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

Green and rose cowl neck vest

Plum and orangy cowl neck vest

As you have probably noticed, I have changed the name of my blog. There are just too many businesses named Cameron's Creations, and when I had to pick a name for my little business, I couldn't use it. So my next choice is Cameron's Threads. It will take some getting used to, as I have used the other for so long informally. Oh well, life goes on.

After the show in Sisters, Oregon, my friend, Sandee went into a boutique carrying the purse I had given her. It happened to be one that I had made. The woman in the store wanted to know where it had come from and Sandee told her about me. (Nothing like having friends to brag about your work.) So the woman, Janet wanted to see more. Her wonderful store is called Ma Valise. She buys things outright from artists to sell in her store, and bought 2 purses and 3 scarves from me. I was quite pleased. (It is still hard for me to believe that people like my work. Is that a woman thing?) We began talking about First Wednesday, a time when stores downtown do special little things for customers, and provide entertainment and refreshments in order to get people to come down to shop. Janet asked me if I would like to be her artist for First Wednesday. I told her that yes I would love to do that.

Again I had a dilemma, as I had very few things left after the Sisters show, leaving things in the gallery, giving things to friends, etc. So I have been producing like mad. But pressure sometime helps the creative juices, we'll see. These are some of the vests and jackets I have made for First Wednesday. This one has striped black and gray crinkled silk lining, collar and hood. It looks better than the pictures show.

Have a fun Halloween.

New Vests For the Gallery

2010-10-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

Teri, who owns the Don Terra Artworks in Sisters, Oregon, asked me to make more vests for the gallery. I made three of them last week, putting a lot of yummy silk, yarn and fun wool embellishments into them. The pictures don't show the colors as well as I would like even though I hung them on my fence in the back yard giving the pictures natural light. They look really cute on, even on my overly chubby body. I had a lot of fun picking out the color and shape of the buttons for each one.

Wearable Art In Gallery

2010-10-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

While I was at the show this weekend, I met a woman who owns an art gallery in Sisters, Oregon. She asked me if I would like to have some of my garments in her gallery and I said yes.
They also have a website: http://donterra.com/home/about/don-terra-artworks/
I am still working on getting my pictures into the artist directory, but it is happening. There are many artists represented. Please visit.

And the Winners Are...

2010-10-15T17:57:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much to the 13 people who entered the drawing on my blog and to the wonderful women who mentioned it, Julie, Sue and Heather. You are all much appreciated. (Please do not forget to go to Heather's blog as she is also having a drawing. I won a fantastic clutch in her last drawing and I love it.)
My drawing was very fair though my husband did not draw the names, I did. I held the boxes way over my own head and drew out a name from one box and then an article from the other box. And the winners are... Drum roll please...

Julie has won the flapper dress. Congratulations Julie.
Fiona has won the pink lace dress with the big bow in the back. Fiona please email me your address. My email address will be at the bottom of this post.
Jan has won a scarf. Jan I have a couple of scarves put aside so tell me what colors you like. Do you tend toward purples or more autumn colors?

Lucretia has won a purse. I will also need your address.
And Barb has won a scarf. Barb, you also have a choice between purples or autumn colors. Please let me know.
I will be having another drawing some time soon as I really enjoy them. Please make sure that I have your address if you won this time. Thanks to all of you and I will be getting your goodies out to you as soon as possible. Hugs to all.
Cameron's email: camcove@msn.com

Pink lace dress

sample purse

Flapper dress

Fun Weekend At the Fair

2010-10-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

The dress for the day.

The weather forecast for Sisters, Oregon was rain and showers and we got them. My friends and I arrived Friday evening, checked into our motel and then waited like everyone else for the time to set up our awning. I have to say that we were an amazing team. The awning went up without a hitch, and set up was smoother than I would have imagined. However, come Saturday, the first day of the fair, the rain came in. We had small breaks in the downpour, but it never really stopped. By mid day Saturday we had a small creek and lake forming in our awning. But we had a great time playing dress up with everyone, and the day went very well.

Many people turned out despite the rain. If you are an Oregonian, you would never go anywhere if you let rain stop you.

Puddle of rain inside awning.

Saturday it never stopped
raining, but people came out.

She just got her hat and loved
the "jackety shawls."

A very satisfied customer.

Sunday was a real treat. The sun came out and dried off the pavement.

People were so complimentary about the garments that it was almost embarrassing. By the end of the day I was offered room in an artists gallery, which I accepted.

Now I have to get my act together, make more garments, and organize pictures for on line sales. What great fun, to make some money doing what I love.

Now I am ready for the drawing that I promised to have after the fair. I have two lace dresses and a couple of my articles for the drawing.

I want at least 10 people to sign up for the drawing. If you are interested, please blog.
Let your blogger friends know about this.
Love and Hugs to all of you who offered me such wonderful support for the fair. I had such a great time!!!

Pink lace dress

Here are the two dresses modeled by my sister and sister in law.
They might actually be worn or taken apart for the lace.

My felted articles will be a surprise.

White lace flapper style.

Playing With Fibers

2010-09-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

Playing with closures

Wool batting with silk lap and
more fun closures

Wool batting with burnout silk
on the sleeves

Turquoise silk lap

I have been playing with different styles of scarves and a few vests using odds and ends of materials that I have had on hand for a while. This is the first time that I have used a large amount of wool batting, and it's amazing how much faster the felting process goes. Silk fibers and wool locks seem to adhere and blend into it very nicely.

I have also just used some silk lap that I purchased some time ago. It was difficult to find a source, but I finally found a good one. Silk lap gives a garment a beautiful sheen and wonderful texture. The only drawback is that if your hands are rough the silk sticks to them like crazy.

The centipede looking scarves look funny in the pictures, but are actually quite attractive on. As can be seen,
some of my scarves would also make good table runners.

Centipede scarf

I should be finishing up all of the things that I am taking to the fair, but I just can't seem to stop making more new things. And now after talking about this fair so much, it will be very embarrassing if I don't sell anything. No matter what, this will be an adventure, lots of fun. The fair is only a week away now, I am excited.

Wool batting with silk
fibers

When the fair is over I am going to have another drawing. This time I will have some of my own things in the drawing as well as a couple of the lace dresses. Look for this the week of October 11. Hugs...

Buying Books and Taking Pictures

2010-09-08T14:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my granddaughter came over and we ordered her college texts from Amazon. After that I asked her to model for me again. She put on both the "plain" jacket and the "scrappy" jacket

and made both of them look great.

A few weeks ago two of my friends came over and told me about a vest pattern that they had seen on a woman. The vest had a long "V shape collar type, hood type thing" going down the back. One of my friends even drew a picture of it. I had some extra felt that I

didn't have plans for so I decided to try making a vest with this v shape collar hood type thing on it. Why not? So I made 3 of them.

The body of the vests was made of very soft merino wool that was multicolored in plums, pinks and blacks. The collars were made of whatever I had on hand that looked okay with the felt. Rachael made them look great.

She also modeled a couple of the purses that I had been playing with. They were the ones that had the silk metallic fabric in them. I used Heather's idea for purse handles, and felted over cotton cording. It made a great, secure handle.

Now, I have no idea what to charge people for my goods as a vendor at the fair. We are in a recession and I know that folks don't have as much money on hand as they did. Any ideas out there?

Scrappy Jacket and Messy Again

2010-09-05T08:37:00.000-07:00

Last time I showed you the scarves I had made using up the scraps of felt that I had on hand. Well, I decided to make a "Scrappy Jacket." As you can see, it's the green one with all the stuff on it. It looks much better in "real life." Some of you will still say, "Why did she ruin that jacket?"

The second jacket was going to be very plain. I have a hard time doing plain, I can't do plain. As I laid out the felt, I added one kind of silk, then another, and still another. Then when the jacket was finished, I needle felted pieces of silk chiffon into it. As I said, I don't seem to be able to do plain.

And then I come to what was once a wonderfully organized room. Remember when I first got "Big Red." I cleaned and organized my work room and it looked so much better. Well now I have been getting ready for this fair and everything has gone totally and messily downhill. Every surface is covered with unfinished projects. I need to stop creating and start finishing.

I have this whole suitcase full, and still have all these things to finish. As my timeline draws near I am getting more panicked. Help!!! I thought that I had all this time, and now I may have to rush. I have done it to myself. Wish me luck.

Scrappy Scarves

2010-08-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

I have built up quite a scrap pile with my felting and I am running out of space for them. A couple of days ago I decided to use some of them in scarves made completely of left over materials.

I laid out chiffon pieces that were different sizes, first sewing them together as best I could. The trick was to have no plan, to stay completely random. I am very good at random. Next I put down just one layer of red roving on the silk chiffon. The color was going to come from all my pieces. Then the fun began. All of the trimmings from felted garments that have felt on them are pre-felts, and mine have all kinds of sparkely ribbons and yarns in them. I also had some pieces of great silks that were too small to use in garments.

I began by trying to be artistic, and quickly threw that idea out. I needed to just play. So I added pieces wherever they seemed to want to go. When the pieces were all on, I went through the whole process I do for Nuno felting. Then I threw it in the dryer. I had lots of length, so I didn't care if it shrunk. I wanted to see what it would look like. When it came out, I liked it, but I wanted still more.
I needle felted more texture and color into the scarf.

I ended up making 3 scarves, and they were just what I was in the mood for. They used up some of my scraps-just what I wanted. They are random and whimsical and lots of fun.

Metallic Silk Purse

2010-08-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

When last I talked about my experiments with my new material, metallic silk, I was making wall hangings. Now I have made 4 purses. The felting process was the same as for the wall hangings except the purses should have a little bit more felt on them.

Once the felting process was completed I chose a fabric that was complimentary in color to the wool fibers that I had used. This one shown was for my purple purse. I put the fabric on the wrong side of the purse and then turned it over and sewed many strips of colored yarn up and down both sides of the purse. I used the yarn to pull the felt in so that it wouldn't be so inclined to catch on things. The felting still has quite a bit of texture and can possibly catch on things, so the purse will not hold up to rough treatment. The piece of fabric that is used to hold the yarn is not the purses interior as it becomes quite messy with all that sewing. However, I wanted fabric with the metallic silk to support the yarn and the inside of the purse. (I hope that this all makes sense.)

The next step was to cut another layer of the fabric, sew the pockets into it, and sew it into the inside of the purse. You, of course, do this inside out and then flip the purse.

The most difficult step so far is figuring out what kind of a handle to use. I went to a fabric shop and got expensive handles and some metal rings to slip through the handles-I thought. I got home and couldn't get the rings apart with two of my husbands pliers using all my might, and I am pretty strong. Who would have thought? So now I have opened two of the packages thinking that maybe the less shiny ones were made of weaker metal. Where did that reasoning come from? Duh... I ended up attaching the handle you see here with some nuno felt that is quite strong and in the right colors. I could have saved myself a bit of change. Oh well, live and learn, right? I have had a great time with this so no complaints. Any questions, just ask.

Beautiful Granddaughter, Biased Grandmother

2010-08-20T08:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my granddaughter, Rachael, friend, Kathy, and I got together for a photo shoot. How Hollywood does that sound? Rachael was modeling my nuno garments so that we could take pictures to show at the Harvest Faire I will be attending as a vendor. The idea, of course, is that when women see someone as darling and beautiful as Rachael in a garment looking splendid, they will want to buy it. That is the idea anyway. I guess we will see if, in fact, this bears out. I have picked out a few of the pictures to show my blogger buddies.

She looked so good in my clothes that after photographing her I might even decide to lose some weight so that I can at least look a little thinner in my own garments. She certainly gives me something to think about. The youth I can't go back to, nor do I want to.

After looking at these pictures again I have concluded that I am not biased, she is beautiful. She starts college soon, a whole new adventure in her young life. I am so proud of her.

Playing With Metallic Silk

2010-08-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

I have found a new material to play with. It is a metallic silk product that I purchased from a local business called, "Loose Ends." It comes in rolls and is a lot like a fabric. The folks at Loose Ends purchased it from a company in Indonesia. There were many applications for this shown in the store, the interesting thing about it being that when it gets wet the silk shrinks and the metal doesn't, causing it to wrinkle in interesting ways. I decided to try felting it. I lay it out just like I do when doing nuno felting and I add lots of fun pieces of silk, pre-felts, and yarns that will stick easily. I am making wall hangings, or whatever else I can think up.

The tricky part is to add the water and get the fibers to go through the metallic silk while keeping the corners from curling up. It can take more hands than I have. The result has been mysterious and fun. I have finished about five of these now, each very different, but all very alive and vibrant. I just wish that my pictures showed what they really looked like.

"And The Winner Is..."

2010-08-13T08:53:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to my blogger friends who entered my lace dress drawing. This morning my husband drew a name from a bowl, and that name was Barbara Strobel Lardon who has the post, Barbara Strobel Lardon, Quilt and Fiber Artist. She will be able to choose between a black or white lace dress. Those who entered the drawing will receive some lace. All I will need is an address to send it to. Again thanks, this has been fun, and sharing is always a joy.

Continued Quandary

2010-08-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend my sister came to visit. She lives in L.A. and I only get to see her about twice a year. When she comes we gather at my parents home and stay in one of our old childhood bedrooms. Right before I left for my visit with her, my lace dresses arrived on the doorstep. I put them in the car and headed off.

When I bid on these dresses in an online auction, I got them for a very good price, and I purchased them for the lace that is in them. I thought that they would be pretty torn and stained, and I knew that they would not be in my size. I was amazed when I took them out of the box to find that they are in great shape. I can't find tears in them, and there is just a little staining on some of the collars, not very much.

My sister and sister in law were just the right size for most of the dresses and agreed to model them for me. My sister in law came in from riding her bike and had her red top on under the dresses. My sister had a great time showing the dresses. Both of my models were very good sports about it and I thank them. And now I continue to be left in a real quandary as to what to do with the dresses. Should I be brutal and just rip them up for the lace, or save them for the great garments they are? Ugh!

Fun Fastenings

2010-08-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine suggested this patten and it has turned out to be another fun one. It is an easy pattern to make, and most fun part is making up the different ways to fasten the two pieces together at the top to form the garment. Adding a bit of extra silk or lace, either into the felt, or after the felting also adds excitement to the project. With this one I just played a lot. When I was younger, I used to worry about what other

people thought about what I did. Now I add what I like to my work and if I think that it looks okay it does. This piece looked like it needed a little something extra, so I added some purple silk and white lace. The contrasts in color and texture added an interesting touch. I am getting ready to go to an art fair in Sisters, Oregon. This will be a first for me. I am really powering on getting things made so that I some variety.

It is difficult to see in the pictures what I have done here. I made some extra fringe on my black silk chiffon, felted it as usual, then I cut it in a pattern that made a good fastener at the top of my garment. I sewed 4 of these on, one on each side of the shoulder, and then tied the fringes together. The tails of the fringes flop over the shoulders, and the sleeves are open, giving the garment a very fun look. (In the picture, my green t-shirt doesn't do much for the look.) I know that my explanation needs work, so if you want more just ask.

On my final garment I am showing, I used my beautiful Prism Galaxy ribbon. This is a favorite of mine. I probably use it too much. On this piece I used covered buttons and ribbons as fasteners, but I also sewed the shoulders and used the decorations mainly as just that. Again, I left the sleeve open.

I have a few more of these in the works, each one with its own character. They allow for a lot of creativity. Any questions, just ask.

A Lacy Dilemma

2010-07-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went online to an auction and purchased 7 beautiful vintage dresses. They cost $10 and $20, which was a steal for all that fabric. I bought them for their lace, each one is covered with it. This is vintage lace, hard to come by and quite expensive, as my fellow bloggers well know. The problem is that the dresses represent a part of history, and though they have a few rips and stains, they are in good shape. Now I am reluctant to take them apart. That is my dilemma. I will have to wait to see what they actually look like when they get here, as they haven't shipped yet.

Oh,The Fun of Creating

2010-07-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

A person shouldn't have this much fun, but I'll take it just the same. I am spending so much time felting, loving the feel of the wool and silk, the colors, trying new patterns. These are some of my latest fun jackety shawls.

This red and black jackety shawl was made from a beautiful burnout silk. It can be worn in several different ways, buttoned at the shoulder, allowing the shawl part to drape to the side, or with one side thrown over the shoulder. It is made to wear to a more formal event, something dressy.

I would love to share felting ideas together, so come sit in my little cafe and have a chat with me.

Finally Flowers

2010-07-18T15:26:00.000-07:00

This summer didn't start until the middle of July. Every time that I would start to get my flowers to plant in my lonely outdoor flower pots it would be very cold or it would be pouring rain. That happened over and over until I was almost ready to give up, almost... Then overnight, literally, no kidding, it went from 65 degrees to the mid 90s. It was unbelievable. Now it was way too hot to be outside doing any planting. The heat, 95 to 100, lasted for 5 days. No way was I going to plant flowers in that. Then last weekend the hot spell broke and I raced to my local nursery. I was almost ready to take anything that would grow I was so ready. I was so ready that I spent way over my budget, but had a wonderful time brightening up the gardens after waiting for so long.

While I was waiting to plant flowers I continued with my obsession, felting. No matter how pretty it is outside, I have to spend some time making something out of felt. I have xontinued on with my new pattern and made several more of what I am calling " Jackety Shawls." They are so easy and fun to wear. You can just slip them on and take off to run errands. The colors are tons of fun, and they can be dressed up with wonderful silks, or be more casual. The red one above has burnout silk in it. The blue one above that is made on black silk chiffon, and the last one below is made with an iridescent rust colored silk. They are all beautiful in their own ways.

A New Pattern and A New Tower

2010-07-12T08:07:00.000-07:00

My computer was getting very slow and also starting to get very cranky, so I decided to get a new tower for my PC. I did this without a lot of thought as to the ramifications and did I ever pay for my thoughtlessness. My new tower did not support my small, outdated wireless adapter that allows me to get internet. I had "upgraded" from Windows XP to Windows 7 and most of my software did not work. But now most of that is in the past and I am able to reorganize all of my computer stuff, if I take the time to do it.

In the meantime I got a new pattern from a friend and started making a new jackety shawl. I played with several different sizes, and varieties of color and decoration. Next I will play with the collar, removing it from the garment to change the neckline. What fun to play with such glorious colors, using the imagination, and just going with it with no constraints. I just wish that I had a thinner model to display them. My diet isn't!!!

"Old Friends"

2010-06-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

My husband and I are going to have a garage sale, and in preparation for this we decided to clean out our attic. We have talked about this for years, but for years have put it off. Today we actually got up there and brought down all of the boxes that have been stored for years and years. Six of these boxes held some old friends of mine. I would like to introduce some of them to you.

This is Farmer Lady. She loves all farm animals big and small.

Next, to the right, is Crazy Bug Lady. She loves to dress in bugs, live with bugs, never steps on them or kills them in any way.

And Bag Lady, on the left, with her always present kitty peeking out of one of her bags.

In contrast to Bag Lady is Jewelry Lady, who has rings on every finger, earrings, and necklaces. She is never without her furs, gowns, and dress hats.

And then there is Grandma, who was left with her daughter's children while her daughter went to run an errand 3 months ago. Grandma has gotten postcards!

These are just some of the twenty some personalities that I fantasized a few years back. I had such fun making these characters.

Sometimes Husbands Are "Keepers"

2010-06-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday as I was working in my well organized craft room, not doing laundry, or cleaning the house, or cooking dinner, or anything else that needed doing, my husband went out and picked me a bouquet of flowers and put them in a vase on the dining room table. Is he the best, or what? He did not like it when I bought "Big Red," said that she over- powered the room, etc., etc., etc. We argued, I put her together, as she is mine, and the room is my craft room, and she has made all the difference to me. The flowers are one of his little ways of saying that maybe, just maybe, he should have left my room up to me. Aren't husbands just the most interesting and wonderful people? Mine is.

So what have I accomplished in my now more organized room? Well recently I have made a jacket, two tunic type tops, a scarf and a ??? For the last one someone will have to tell me. I made the jacket out of some wonderful soft silks, a pattern on the arms and dark purple and plum in the body. The roving is so soft that I want to cuddle up in this jacket, and the colors are much prettier than the picture shows.

I made two tunic tops, but one sold before I could get a picture of it. It was the same pattern as the one pictured, but the colors were blues and coppers, my favorites. (One of my wishes is that I had a tall thin person to model my clothing so that it looked better in pictures. Oh well, I make my clothes for me, and thin passed me by a while ago. To get near thin takes so much work and will power. So far I haven't seemed to find either of those illusive, wonderful traits.)

I also made a deep purple and white scarf with white lace. It turned out pretty well, anyway I like it. The purple is a dark silk chiffon, and the contrast with the white is very nice.

Now the mystery garment. My husband, whom I was bragging about moments ago, said that it looked like something one would wear in the kitchen. What do you think? It is hanging on "Big Red." It isn't quite finished, but almost, and yes it is supposed to be higher in the front than in the back. No mistake. I wanted to make something with greens, something different, but something I could wear! Would you wear this?

Here's To "Big Red"

2010-06-10T22:25:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago I wrote about my workroom and posted one of these pictures on my blog. I told you about the mess I had and how little storage I had available other than the tubs that you can see in the background. Well I ordered a large glass doored piece of furniture from Ikea, and I put it together by myself. It came in three very heavy boxes which I had to shuffle around because my problem is, of course, space. It took me a while to figure out which little nails went where, and which holes were for the dowels. But the directions are pretty easy once you get the hang of them. Anyway you can now see "Big Red," my special name for my new wonderful storage cabinet.
It now amazes me that I was able to get anything done in my room the way it was. Having an organized space always feels so much better to me, even if I am just pretending to be organized, which I am. But my space does look and feel a whole lot nicer. Doesn't it???

A Common Malady and An Old Hobby

2010-05-31T17:54:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went over to Central Oregon to our little house in the mountains. The house sits at the base of a giant Ponderosa Pine Tree that is over 100 feet tall. If the tree ever decides to go over, the house is gone for sure, but the house has been there since 1938. We bought the little house 10 years ago, enjoyed it for many years, and now drive 3 hours one way to pick up pine cones, needles, mow the lawn, clean the house, etc. in order to turn around two days later and head back home. We still enjoy the little house, but not with the same fervor, and now have it up for sale.

This weekend I took a break from felting as I am suffering from a common felting malady, a very painful arm. The muscles needed a rest, so I decided to do some bead work, something that I hadn't done for quite some time. I have a number of fun beads left from when I used to sell jewelry. I just started putting favorite colors together, turquoise with coral, turquoise again with some amber, amber with some antique crystal beads, and everything together with a variety of different stone and glass beads. I made most of the pieces stretchy so that they would be easy and fun to wear. They are just to add color to any outfit that I decide to put on.

There is very little color from flowers as yet up in these mountains. This year has been very cold and wet. I did, however, find one little early bloomer. This brave little beauty

was all alone in the rock garden in the front of the house. I planted it several years

ago and can't remember its name. The weekend was restful and much needed. It was good to revisit an old hobby and a great old house.

Now, What To Do With It?

2010-05-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I went to Paris knowing that I would go to the textile area and pick out fabric for my living room curtains. We hadn't as yet painted the living room, but I just had the colors in mind that I wanted. I had no idea how much fabric I would need, because I had not made curtains like these before, so when I got there I just bought what I thought was a lot of fabric. As it turned out, I just squeaked by with enough material and a little bit left over. Two weeks ago as we were getting ready to have carpet put in and we were moving everything out of closets, I came across the bit of left over curtain fabric. I had loved the fabric since first seeing it in the textile district, then again hanging as curtains in my windows, but now I saw it's potential as a felted garment. I especially loved the beautiful design in the fabric, which of course I didn't mess with. I had such fun making myself a great shirt out of the remnants of that great fabric. Now if someone could just tell me how to felt a bunch of carpet remnants.
As to the title of my post. I am getting such a collection of these garments that I am running out of room for them. Am I at a point where I could sell them, and if so where? How do you establish yourself in something like that? That's what my title is all about.

A New Metalic Top

2010-05-17T07:13:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun making this shirt. It is made out of metallic silk and a beautiful green silk chiffon that I purchased at a sale on Mother's Day. I trimmed it with a few metallic yarns in just a few places where the silk was a little raw. Every experiment presents adventures for me.

Mother's Day and Little Charlie Rose

2010-05-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was Mother's Day. My 2 sisters and 3 of 4 brothers came together to celebrate with my 88 year old mother. There were 5 of their children at my mothers home, and even 4 of the children's children were represented. We got to see the very youngest, little 2 month old Charlie Rose. What a beautiful and loved little darling. She has moved into one of the best families in the world, and yes I am so very biased.

My sisters and I have a ritual with my mother, taking my mom to Nordstroms for shopping and lunch. And we always want to buy Mom something special. We stop, look and try on shoes, check out the purses, and then hit the Bobbi Brown makeup. This time we tried so hard to buy Mom a wallet, as hers is old and looks terrible to us, but she would have none of it.

She said that if we did buy it she wouldn't use it, she already has a new one she doesn't use, and she really likes the one she has- so we passed. Who can argue with all of that? When she says "no" with that look in her eyes, we know that she means it. She finally agreed to let us buy her a little makeup, and of course we had to have some too. The fun part is to have all of us standing around trying on different foundations, pencils, lotions, etc. while watching one of us have a makeover. This time it was Mom's turn. Her blue eyes look fantastic with just a touch of color. What fun for the three sisters, and for Mom.
When Charlie is old enough to shop for such things as makeup, shoes, purses, etc. she will carry on the tradition. She won't have the sisters, but she will be surrounded by cousins and aunts who will spoil her and want to do things with her. She has a beautiful mother and grandmothers who will love her, take her shopping, do the "girl things", and the "boy things", and teach her what relationship is all about. It's not just the buying of things, but hanging out with people that you love, laughing, and storing up all the memories that you possibly can, because life is just too darn short for all of us. I treasure every Mother's Day that I can have.

Okay, What Is It?

2010-05-07T11:32:00.000-07:00

This is the largest article of clothing that I have made so far, and I haven't yet decided what it should be called. Is it a duster, a bathrobe, a choir robe, a wild coat, or...? I haven't even decided whether or not to make any closures for it. There are things that I like about it and things that I do not. This is a real dilema.
I made the first piece of nuno felt for this some time ago, but didn't get back to it until last week. I wanted to make something spectacular, but I just don't have the sewing or design skills, let alone the experience with felt making. I do like the fabric, both the way that it looks and the feel of it. I have combined two looks, one with lace and one without. The one without the lace adds an etherial feel to the garment. It billows and flows. (Etherial has become my favorite word.) There is still far too much fabric in this piece of clothing, but I can't yet stand to cut any more out of it than I have already. I think that that is my biggest problem, it is far too big, too bulky, too much, and therefore, too hard to name. I'll have to come back to it after visiting my mother for Mother's Day and see if I have any enlightenment.

Jacket Frenzy

2010-05-01T16:13:00.000-07:00

This is the third nuno felted jacket I have made in three weeks time. I have been on a roll. I can't claim that they are professionally made, but each one gets better than the last.
I had such fun making this fabric, adding reds and purples with just a dash of pinks and then came the black lace-oh goodie. I don't care what it looks like on, I am going to wear it anyway. I am at that age, well maybe just a bit young, when a woman can wear purple, and red, etc. I took this picture of the fabric up close, trying to capture the great look of the lace with the wool, but all I get is reflection. Where does that come from, the wool isn't shiny? Oh well, hopefully you get what I am trying to show. All my best for now...

On the Way to Get Buttons

2010-04-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

Today I went to the fabric store with a friend to get buttons for my nuno felted jacket. I was so excited to finish it to see how it would look. However, something even more interesting and "symbolic" happened on the way to the store. Along the way is the state prison. And beside the prison runs a creek by which a large number of Canadian Geese have taken up residence. The geese have now lived through several generations and have become very comfortable living along "their creek" by the prison, right beside a very busy street. Traffic travels fast, but of course, the geese don't. There are signs along the street telling folks that the geese cross, but who reads signs when busy getting here and there so very quickly these days. And the geese cross the street very slowly and distractedly whenever things look better on the other side, or a buddy goose calls them over. Yesterday, as we were traveling along the street at a pretty good pace, I came upon the spot where the geese were located. At first I thought that there had been an accident, but on getting closer and hearing all the honking, I realized that all of the cars were stopped on the street to let at least five geese cross. The cars were honking to get the geese to cross faster, which had no effect, but also to get other cars like me to stop. This was a ritual that went on daily in order to keep the geese and their goslings safe. I also took up the honking, not blaring honking, but just a signal to fellow drivers to watch for the geese. The geese seemed to know what this meant, because as we sat there honking more geese decided to cross. Pretty soon another and then another goose decided to cross. I have to say that this small wonder, of all this traffic stopping for all of these geese, made my heart swell. It was so symbolic that this was happening right next to a prison that housed folks who had done some horrible crimes. The very goodness of people who go out of their way to save geese against those who have committed heinous crimes against humans and animals. The later are the things that we hear about day in and day out from the media. How many times do we hear about the small wonders of people developing signals to save geese. I think that our media has it so upside down about what we really want to hear. Let's hear it for the

geese and the people who keep them safe.

Playing With Paper

2010-04-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend I participated in the Paper Arts Festival in Newport, Oregon. This festival is an opportunity for people who enjoy working in paper arts to get together and learn from each other in a wonderful coastal setting. It is a fairly small gathering as these things go, and the people who come are ready to laugh and have a good time while they work on their projects. Over the weekend I learned how to make three new journals-journals which I will most likely never write in because so far I haven't written in one yet. They are far too pretty and too precious to mess up with print. I know, silly. Pictured at the top is the first journal that I made on Friday. It was fairly simple. We probably could have rushed and completed it in a half day, but we were more relaxed and took a full day to complete it. I put my own decorations on the cover and painted it with Mod Podge.

Saturday's journal demanded much more. There were so many steps. We glued several textures to the covers of the book, back and front, and then put Gesso over all of it. While this was drying, we cut and made pockets in pages, put Gesso on the pages, painted them and used the dry covers to stamp the pages with luminair paints. I felt like a kid playing in mud at times-what fun. When all the pages were finished we painted the covers. The final step was to bind the book. Writing about all this goes quickly, waiting for all this paint, glue and Gesso to dry took a lot of time. I felt like I was rushing to catch up all day long and I ended up taking this project back to my room to finish during the evening so that I could get it right. This will be a fun one to do several more times with friends so that I can think about it more. The finished product can be surprisingly beautiful, though it doesn't sound like it when I write about it.

On Sunday we made a wonderful leather journal. (Let me take a moment to clarify that there are more classes than just journal making classes. I just happen to like to make journals and gravitate toward those sessions. One could take classes in Coptic stitching, making jewelry applying many fun metalics to papers, fun decorative boxes, felt making, paper making, and much, much more.)

The leather journal was another all day task. We began by painting the outside pages for each signature with wonderful, colorful, water based paints. This gave our books some contrasting color. I designed my journal around a button that I had purchased in Sisters, Oregon the weekend before. So we painted, measured, made templates, punched holes in our leather, and stitched the leather together to make a pocket. We then folded the signatures together and sewed them into the journal, adding beads and decorations as we wanted. (It is always amazing to me that no matter how many people you have in a class, no one will produce anywhere near the same product. We are all so individual.) As I said, I decorated around my button, something I would not normally do. So I chose greens and reds, and put a lot of stuff on my journal. I happened to have some ribbon with greens and reds, so I decided to change the design of my journal and let the pocket show and put two buttons on it, one in front and one in back, why not??? All of the colors worked.
This was a great weekend! I ended up with three great journals that I will just look at and love. If I make more of them, which I have done, I will write in some of them, or give them as gifts. The main thing for me is that I have experienced again, " MORE GREAT FOOD FOR THE RIGHT BRAIN."

Beauty Is In the Eye

2010-04-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

I made some new nuno felt the other day out of rose and teal wools. This time I put some teal colored lace in between my layers of wool, and only put a light layer of wool over the lace. I love the way it turned out, however, my camera never takes a picture that does the colors justice. To me the piece looks very vintage, due to the colors and the lace, something you might find in an old attic, but not all bleached out. Some of the ends of the lace had come out of the wool so I just powered up my sewing machine and did one of my fancy embroidery stitches around all of the little lace spots so that it would look like I had planned it the whole time. I put rose colored stitches around the rose and teal around the teal. I didn't want to spoil the piece by making it look gaudy. I am going to make another piece just like it and then think of something to make out of it. It will have to be something small, like a vest.

A New Day

2010-04-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

A while back I shared that I made this lovely blue nuno felt fabric and wasn't sure what to do with it. I had 4 long pieces and I am no seamstress. However, I didn't let that stop me. During the last week I have been making it into a jacket or shirt or something. The problem is that it has unplanned holes as nuno does where the black silk chiffon shows through and this looks a little funny in a jacket. But, oh well, if you are going to wear nuno silk fabric, you are going to be a little out there anyway.

I was interrupted in my endeavors by going to this fabulous Italian lunch in this great old historic house with a friend of mine. I had shut myself in my home for so long that I had forgotten how to get out and smell the flowers, so to speak. The company at the lunch was so enjoyable that I forgot all the projects waiting for me at home, at least for a little while. There was a Japanese lady there who was a fruit grower from an area many miles away. She had come to town to learn about alternatives to chemicals for pest management for her fruit trees, and her daughter had treated her to the lunch. My friends adopted her as she had no one else there that she currently knew. Wouldn't you expect that she would sit next to a woman who had grown fruit trees. Another lady at the table came from the south of France. She told us a story about her grandmother and her pet pig. She intends to write a children's book about her pig. We all encouraged her. By the end of the lunch, we had all become friends. Life is so full of wonderful discoveries!
When I got home, I was recharged with energy for my own projects. I had stopped and enjoyed the flowers both literally, and the ones blooming at the table at which I sat.

Sisterly Support

2010-04-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

This is a table runner that my sister in-law purchased from me. As with many wonderful experiments in art, this project began as an accident. I threw the felt into the dryer to dry it faster and the end of it caught on itself, causing all kinds of interesting things to happen before I found it. I cut off the messiest parts and left the most interesting sculpture. I loved it. But if you try to do this on purpose, forget it, I tried, and the result looked nothing like the original. It was supposed to be a shawl, but my sister in-law purchased it as a table runner. I have to say that she had a great idea. It looks great as a table runner, much better than it would have as a shawl.

What would we do without the wonderful support of our families. My family applauds everything I do. Perhaps that spoils me, but I love it. I can't wait to show them my latest projects, and give them things that I have made. They also purchase items from me, allowing me to support my habits. After purchasing this table runner my sister in-law asked for another one and took me to several retailers pointing out the colors that she wanted in it. The colors that she chose are some of my favorites and it was hard to give this one to her, even for the agreed upon price. Oh well... She showed her table runners to a friend who got excited about them and wanted one made of greens, reds, and other earth tones. When I got back from my trip last Monday I started work on it. She is very excited to get it. I am hoping that when she sees it she will be equally excited. I think that it turned out well.

If I were making my living at this, I wouldn't be making my living. But happily I am retired and have the time to play, especially for family and friends. I make enough to pay for materials and that is all that I care about. I am finally getting to feed my right brain, and it has been starving for years.

A Non-sequential Journal

2010-03-31T08:51:00.000-07:00

The last time that I posted a blog I wrote about being a non-sequential teacher. Well now I have come to the conclusion that I have just plain lost the ability to follow directions. Or possibly lost the ability to follow a sequence of actions unless I really want to concentrate that hard, or it really means that much to me, or...At any rate, the whole time that I was in Egypt I had to struggle to listen to the information that the Egyptologist was giving us. Granted, there was a lot of information to absorb, so many kings and queens and gods and hieroglyphics, etc. But that is no excuse, I can take notes just like anyone else. I just enjoyed looking out the windows of the bus and day dreaming, letting my right brain go wandering. And where does this show up most? In my beautiful journal of course. The one that I talked about in my last blog. The one that I put the beautiful nuno silk on. I am now going to have to figure out how to deal with crossed out pages because I couldn't keep straight what we did from day to day. Every day was so filled with exciting adventures that when I wrote them down, usually a day late, I had forgotten and mixed up the sequence.
How is it possible to forget the adventures of yesterday when you have ridden a camel or gone up in a hot air balloon, or gone into a pyramid, or visited a temple, or gone into ancient tombs with fantastic hieroglyphics, etc., etc.... You get the point. At any rate, I will now have to fix my lovely journal with a well placed picture or three to make up for the cross outs here and there.

I bartered for some great cotton and silk which I will be using in my next projects. They are not exactly what I was looking for, but they will do for now. The spice market that we went to only had one small fabric shop. I had a great time meeting and dealing with the owner and his son. When bargaining they started very high in the price, and the game was to come in with a price that we could both live with. I got a good bargain and so did they.

How Many Plates Can You Spin?

2010-03-16T13:22:00.000-07:00

I now have 4 pieces of nuno felt and a very pretty nuno scarf. I want to make something larger out of my blue nuno, but I haven't decided what to make yet. Each piece is about 5 feet long. I am off to Egypt tomorrow, hopefully will come back with some ideas. (Sure wish the pictures did the fibers justice.)

A Nonsequential Teacher

2010-03-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend I participated in a daylong art project that my art group had decided to do as a retreat. However, since I am heading to Egypt, I didn' t make the purse they were making, I made myself a journal using some nuno felt that I had made the night before. I glued the nuno onto the cover of an old book that was scoured of its pages, and I reinforced the spine with some extra book board. After letting the nuno dry for a spell, I put a covering of mod podge over all of the nuno, which when dry gave it a hard and shiny covering. I didn't want the felt to catch on things as I was traveling around writing in the journal. I "snitched" an Egyptian picture off the internet figuring that I wasn't going to sell it or benefit from it other than enjoy it on my book. (I know rationalization.) Anyway, I stuck it on my journal and put some very pretty yarns around it. After the cover was all dry, I sewed in 5 signatures, 4 for writing on, and 1 very colorful one for scraps and pictures.

That was my project for the day, which I really didn't get finished until the evening. I spent my time teaching the class how to do a nuno felted scarf, which is really pretty funny since I have just started learning myself. I told them this before I started the process, and I also shared that though I used to be pretty sequential in the way that I did things, now I had a lot of trouble remembering all the steps, and asked them to interrupt me to ask questions.

I started the scarf and explained everything, the bubble wrap, the plastic, etc. and I put the fibers down perfectly. I had put down one layer of fibers and the questions began. I answered them well, I thought. I rolled everything up. Just as I had everything tied, I stopped myself. I hadn't put any pretty yarns into the scarf, no decorations at all, and only one little layer of fiber. I laughed at myself and told them that I had warned them. I said, "Why didn't you stop me?" And they said, "But you are the teacher, we didn't know what you were going to do." Point taken. We all had a good laugh. (I love it that I don't have to be so competent anymore. I used to have to be so perfect.) The scarf would have worked as it was but what a blah demontration it would have been, and what a blah scarf. We unrolled it and together cut up pretty yarns, anyone who wanted to got to add a touch of something. Then I put down a light covering of roving to hold the yarns and explained the process. And again I forgot the netting. I rolled it all up in the plastic and bubble wrap and began rolling. I finished the process with soap, hot water and rinsing. My time that day was taken up with rolling the nuno, checking it, and cutting it up to make sure that each lady got a piece of our beautiful fabric. And, yes, it did turn out beautifully, despite all of my efforts to make it otherwise. What fun!!!

Whether or not this is art is up for grabs, I just had a great time doing it. If I spend a lot of time worring about that, I won't enjoy anything I do. I will, however, be the envy of the journaling group on my journey.

An Identity Crisis

2010-03-12T08:03:00.000-08:00

The last time that I posted I had the idea that I would add to this guy in stages and make him look really cool. Well life doesn't work that way, and this guy didn't either. He is kind of like me, he is looking for an identity.

Before I could get back to my project I was called to a meeting with my brother about making my parent's home more safe for them. They are getting older, 87 and 88, and they live in a house with stairs everywhere. We worry about their safety, but they fight us at every step. We try to take care of them, but they don't want our care. So my brother builds more banisters, and the conversation about real planning gets put further to the back burner. This particular conversation with my parents went okay, but we really got nowhere, as we usually get nowhere.

I came back home ready to work on my project, but something had happened.

At first I thought the face was going to be an American Indian and needed all the trappings to make him look the part. So I tried out a felted headband, but the colors weren't right, and the decorations made it look like a crown of thorns. So I sewed in some feathers, twisting them into his felted hair. The whole thing ended up looking very "cheezy," so I took out the feathers and band and here he is with an "identity crisis", just like me.

A big part of my identify comes from my ability to do art, to make things, to make things look good. And my parents are some of my biggest fans and supporters. I am sure that somewhere in me the possibility of their loss weighs heavily. I also see myself as a problem solver, so why can't I solve things for my parents? And why can't I make this face look better? It is all wrong. My parents problems are for them to solve right now. They are still very capable. I can only make suggestions. As for my art...

Where to go next, what to do, what path to take??? "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood"...and I sat down in the middle of the road and cried...

Which Way to Go, Which Way to Go

2010-03-09T08:05:00.000-08:00

As an educator I worked with many children who struggled with attention problems, some very slight, some to the extent of being labeled "attention deficit." That seems to be a problem that I also have to some extent these days. I can't seem to settle on one thing at a time, I skitter from one thing to the next, becoming a "dabbler" rather than an artist. I have been working on nuno scarves, which I am still doing, but then I decided to incorporate felt into my fabric faces just to see what they would look like. I have not finished this one. It is only at the very first stage, but if anyone out there would like to give feedback, I would welcome it. I plan on working on it in stages and posting pictures. Tell me what you think, does it work? I will keep on with the scarves also as I have a long way to go. " Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and not knowing which was the better" I took both...later.

Little Successes

2010-03-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

It is nice to be able to say that your camera doesn't do your scarf justice, and this time it's true. The texture and color have both been lost in this picture.
In my last post I had just started to try nuno felting again and was slowly getting the feel of it. This is still happening, but I am feeling more successful. Since beginning I have watched many of the YouTube tutorials on nuno, and watching other felters has been great. Every person has their own special little idiosyncracies, but that's the great part. Even thought the approaches are different, the product still comes out very nice. That gives me hope that there is no one perfect style, because I never will be perfect. I love the process, the feel and the mystery of not knowing what you have until the very end when the scarf is unveiled. And even then there is still mystery, because the scarf when dried looks so much different than when it was still wet. What an exciting process.

A New Nuno Scarf Project

2010-03-02T10:46:00.000-08:00

So you ask, how do you work in such a messy disorganized work space? And I answer, it isn't easy. That's why I have moved next door into my husband's work area, and why I am using his counter. I can't find anything in my area anymore.

Today I started a new project, a nuno or laminated felt scarf. I had tried this before when I first began felting but I really wasn't ready for it because I didn't have any of the ground work for basic felting. (As mentioned in previous posts, I have learned what I know from reading and what little experience I have.) I was confusing the process for nuno with basic felting, and they are not the same. I would throw my several layers of regular felt in the sink and wonder why things weren't working as they should. And I layered the felt on a nuno scarf so thick that it had no chance at all of going through the silk. It took a while to get it all sorted out, but eventually I did- sort of. (You will see from my pictures that I have a long way to go.) I compensated by making scarves with lots of sewn on colorful felts, yarns and threads. They turned out quite thick and became table runners. Some of them were actually fairly pretty. Unfortunately, I gave them away before I took pictures of them and so I can only show this example, but you get the point.

After getting advise from several of you and reading Christine White's nuno felt process in Uniquely Felt, I decided to make a nuno scarf. The silk had already been dyed a sickly lavender, so I redyed it using a dying process that I found in Carol Huber Cypher's book, How We Felt, page 72. I've always made dying things so hard and this process was so easy. My problem was that I only had a few colors, in pretty much the same family of colors. So I used several of what I had, after all, this was a first not expected to be perfect right? I took pictures as I went along in order to know what to do or not to do next time.

I laid my silk out on the bubble wrap on towels in preparation for dying. I mixed my dyes using hot water and applied them as Carol does in her book. I was pleased with the process. After getting as much color on my scarf as I wanted my husband came home and took a nap. I was unable to put the little plastic bags in the microwave until his nap was over, 45 minutes later. (This might as well have been a year, as you folks know when working on a "new project.") When the nap was over I put the bags in the microwave for a minute, of course, they popped, because it was only supposed to be 15 seconds. (The nap blew my concentration!!!) Luckily, I didn't end up with dye all over the microwave as the bags blew open.

I proceeded with my scarf like a pro. I put a light amount of merino wool all around the edges of my silk, which was now dry. I put down a very thin layer of purples, corals, browns, and blues. Then I put a few sparkly yarns on top of that. I bound those with another very light layer of merino. Not having experienced success with this so far, I still wasn't sure how much was too much. For me, it was very light. I covered it all with nylon curtain fabric, sprayed it all wet using Christine White's method of spraying it on my hand and letting it drip onto the wool, and then rolled it up.

Now, how much do I roll it? I rolled and rolled until my arms ached. I guess that this is a matter of experience, which I don't have yet. After rolling for what seemed forever, I added some hand soap gradually to full my scarf and began adding hot water. I have to say that I loved the whole process. (Yes, I was missing"24"!!! But I will take "fulling" over blood and guts any day, especially when I can just turn on the local news and get all the fill of gore I would ever want-NOT!!!)

I continued fulling my scarf in the sink, lots of hot water, until I thought that it was ready. I rinsed it thoroughly and spread it out on the counter to dry.

The next day I asked my husband to put my scarf on for a picture since he had taken a nap in the middle of my project. However, I was nice enough to cut all of him but the scarf out of the picture. This is my nuno scarf. I love the play of color and texture. The texture of the silk touched by the soft and wonderful merino, touched again by the tough metalic fibers of yarns, and then more soft merino. It is a study in contrasts. I had so much fun making this, and it turned out okay. Thanks to those of you who have lent me support and suggestions. I appreciate you. Please continue. I will do as well.

Please make comments.

New Kid In School

2010-02-25T21:17:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been the new kid in the class after all of the other students have

known each other for a long time. It can be a very lonely experience. I

experienced this five times

during my own elementary school years, but this is small potatoes compared to what some kids go through today. Many foster kids have experienced starting a new school every month, though as educators become more aware of this, the trend is changing to meet the needs of the kids-I hope. I will never forget my eighth grade class. For one thing, we still meet about once a year. This class was in a parochial elementary school building, and the classroom housed about 45 children of all sizes. What a group we were, and how I felt for our poor teachers. I remember being the new girl arriving on the first day, unknown to all of the other students who had been together since the early grades. The girls were quite short and I had gained my 5'7" already, tall for the time. They made me feel welcome, unlike some of my other "new kid" experiences.

So what does this have to do with anything? Well blogging is a lot like being the new kid in school. And establishing yourself in a new area of art is a lot like being the new kid. It's hard to get people to notice you, to reach out and welcome you. We are all so busy. So imagine my surprise when I got a return email from a wonderful woman who got back to me with some answers to questions. I was asking questions about Nuno Felting, and had put some feelers out on a couple of blogs. I am new to blogging so I really didn't know what I was doing. I had also asked about available classes. I found out that Chrissie was the woman who was answering my questions, first helping

me with something as simple as my blog address. Next she gave me advice on the kind of silk to get for Nuno felting, and some little tips about getting onto flickr.com to become better known. She was absolutely full of encouragement. I know that she knew that she was talking to a rookie, but she was taking the time, and it was great. The next thing that Chrissie did was to suggest some good felting books and articles. This was all happening over a couple of days, back and forth. The next thing was even more amazing to me. She found a person who lives near me who teaches felting- Patricia Sparks. Patricia Sparks who has been working in the arts since 1970, written books, taught classes, won awards, I could go on and on, but go to her site(http://www.finefiberpress.com/) and read her resume.

And who is Chrissie. Why Chrissie is Chrissie Day, artist, author, teacher, etc., and she was writing to me from the U.K. (I live in Oregon.) She is author of Wire Jewelry: Crocheted, Knitted, Twisted and Beaded, Socks (Cozy), Felt Style, Hot-Water Bottle Covers (Cozy), and Quick Crochet: 35 Fast, Fun Projects to Make a Weekend. I went on Amazon and got the last copy of Felt Style that they had. Chrissie has taught classes, she has been all over the world, has been at her art, and been excellent at her arts for years. Why did she take the time to email me? I don't know, and I don't care, I'm just so happy that she did. Thank you, Chrissie for taking time for the new kid.

Knowing When to Stop

2010-02-23T15:19:00.001-08:00

I have two wonderful cats, Sissy and Boots, very original names. Sissy is very chubby because she doesn't know when to stop eating. She actually has psychological problems, an anxiety eating disorder. Evidently that's a problem when you are the sister of a dominant female sister and you are afraid you won't get enough to eat. (So what's my excuse? I am the older sister!) Anyway, Sissy is my buddy. She hangs out with me and thinks that she helps. Either that or I think that I am helping her. It all works out.

Sissy and I are a lot alike in that I don't know when to stop either. I find myself overeating, overspending, and where do you stop when putting yarn on a felted scarf or poncho or whatever??? What is the limit??? For example is this enough? I put the great reds and yellows together in the felts, and then added this great yarn and ribbon. But was that enough? Should I stop there when I still had so many other choices???

How about yarn/ribbon and some great design made by my sewing machine with beautiful embroidery thread? Does that do it, is that enough? When do I overdo it to the point that it isn't attractive anymore? Yes, I know to some folks the colors would be too garish to begin with, too bright, way too colorful, not tasteful. As I get older, I don't care, color is beautiful. But do I know when to stop?

I guess if we are talking about Sissy, it's time for her to stop the over eating now and for me to make an appointment with her vet. (Poor Sis.) As for me, not the vet., but same idea as far as the eating goes.

How about now? Have I gone too far? For some people, of course I have, but for those who like to be "out there" this is just right.Where do you stop when you are having the most fun you have ever had with felting? Maybe, when you run out of imbellishments, or someone says," I like it now the way it is, I'll take it."

Mom's Birthday

2010-02-21T13:30:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago we celebrated my mother's 88 birthday. My sisters came from LA as they have done for several years now, and we took my mother to the Lloyd Center in Portland, Oregon as we have done for, again, several years. We "girls" all stay with Mom and Dad, in the house that they have lived in since 1960. Does anyone do that anymore? Every year my mother says that she doesn't want us to buy her anything, that she doesn't need anything, that we spend too much money to get to Portland as it is, etc., etc.,etc... We ignore her, weasel out of her what she wants, get it for her, and buy a bunch of stuff for ourselves that we "catch and release." (For those of you who don't practice this, it means buy tons of stuff, suffer quilt for spending too much money and take it back. You have to shop in stores that will let you do this.) During this wonderful sister/mother time, there is catching up, laughter, upsets, old jealousies, making up, great meals, and that's just the morning.

As I get older, I so value the relationships that I have with my sisters and mother. They have riches that I can never begin to thank them for. My mother's birthday was a fun time, but as she gets older it is also a reminder that she is becoming more forgetful, and little more frail. And as my mother gets older, saddly I have to prepare myself for her eventual death. It will be very hard, but my sisters will be there to remember and to cry with me.

Fireworks

2010-02-19T17:28:00.000-08:00

I had a great movie of fireworks going off but I couldn't load it, so I did the next best thing and downloaded these great pictures that I took of fireworks. They have experienced a bit of play in Photoshop Elements, even though I haven't really gotten off the ground with the program. Well, enjoy anyway.
As I mentioned yesterday in my bit of a blog, I am looking for some felting help. Feel free to talk even if you are not a felter, I have many other interests. Enjoy the fireworks. I hope that your days bring such color and joy.

Cameron's Creations

2010-02-18T12:22:00.000-08:00

Venice and felting are a lot alike in that they are all about color, texture, smell, and agelessness.
I have never blogged before in my life, but it seems to me that there is no one purpose for it. I can either share thoughts with folks, actually communicate with someone (which seems fairly novel) or try to sell something. I think that I will probably do all of these things. What I will not do is bore you with negative rants at the universe.
I am interested in many arts and crafts, but my love is wet felting. It is a new form of fiber art for me, but I find that the colors and textures are what I have been looking for. Now I need to find people and classes to teach me more. That is why I have found this site, and decided to blog with you. I hope also that there are some things that I can offer. Please let me know about any classes or individual teachers who are willing to take on a wet felting student. Waiting to hear, and share. Cameron