As Time Goes By

Where has the year gone? It has been almost a year since my last post. A lot has happened since then! Lets see...

Last May, after 14 months of unemployment, my husband started working in Bessemer, Alabama as a foundry engineer. This was a difficult transition for us. I went to visit in August, and then again in November for our 24th wedding anniversary. We did something extra special. We drove to Destin, Florida to the Henderson Park Inn for a lovely weekend getaway. We had a beautiful room overlooking the water. When we arrived, it was late evening. Paul, having been landlocked for the last six months, just couldn't help himself. "Honey" he said. "I have to go to the beach, now!" Even though there was only a half moon, he went down to the water's edge for a late night walk. And yes, my husband came back with a pocket full of shells that he managed to find on the snow white sands in the dark!



Paul came home at Christmas, and of course, his "girls" were very glad to see him! And he was very glad to see his girls! (And even me!)




Last fall, my sister commissioned me to make her a felted handbag to be inspired by Georgia O'Keefe's iconic Poppy paintings. This was a dream project for me. The bag itself was knitted and fulled. Fulling is felting by way of shrinking in the washer. Remember when you accidentally shrunk your favorite wool sweater when it was put into the laundry hamper by mistake? This is a form a felting! The large poppy flower was made of wool roving, wool fibers before they are spun, felted with a barbed needle over a hat form. The petals were
then wet felted with an electric sander (covered in a plastic bag and well grounded!) for a firmer sculpted texture. The center of the flower had beaded fringe accented with Swarovski Crystals. The back of the bag featured a needle felted poppy garden "wool painting". The bag was lined in red silk with lots of pockets of course!






Another major felting project was a knitting tote that features my favorite flower, the iris.
This was also a knitted and fulled bag in two shades of green, with a garden of needle felted iris. The bag is lined in a purple batik print cotton.




I love knitting shawls. Especially lace. It is fascinating to watch the pattern of lace grow from the needles, transitioning from one row to the next. A friend of mine says that before a shawl is blocked it looks like "dryer lint". Afterword, the full effect of all those rows of pattern emerges into something wonderful!



No, I have not forgotten my brides. This year I have been exploring some new "old" techniques of manipulating ribbon that I read about in a reprint of a 1923 booklet about fashioning ribbon. I designed Roses, Pansies, Violets and Lilies to use in brooch, fascinator/headpiece and other jewelry design. I have enjoyed adding fabric elements into my jewelry design. Ombre Taffeta wired ribbon is a natural for these projects as it allows for natural looking shading with in the flowers.



















Last year, I was able to purchase some beautiful French silk tulle. I have been wanting to make silk tulle veils for a long time. Below are the first two of the new Silk line:





So, what's next? More veil designs with ribbon flowers. More silk tulle. New fascinators. Fulled handbags. And knitting. I am always, always knitting.

Summer Breezes

This summer is certainly going by very quickly.
I have participated in two more Etsy challenges.
The first, was our June Beach Themed Challenge.

This was my favorite! I was looking forward to
this one from the time we formed our team. And
this headpiece designed itself. With the guidance
of the spirit of my mother, too. I had shells that
Paul collected for me from Assateague Island, VA,
and beach glass from our own Presque Isle State
Park here in Erie, PA.



This is Assateague Island. This picture was taken during
the winter, our favorite time to be on the beach. The
shells seem to be the most plentiful then, and we can
drive in the Jeep all the way down hook at the southern
end of the island.



Paul has been taking a long early morning walk on
the beaches of our local Presque Isle, in Erie.
We are blessed that we have a beautiful beach less
than five minutes from home. Paul has been picking up
a lot of beach glass for me. It is a nice collection
of weathered pebbles, so different than the glass that
he finds on the New York beach that he also visits.
Some days, he comes home with just a few pieces. Other
days, his jeans pockets are bulging with pieces of glass
and mother of pearl shell.



Lake Erie is known for its jewel like sunsets. Erie has
a nickname..."The Gem City". The lake is our jewel.
And we are fighting to keep it this way, and to keep
the lake clean.



June's BridalDreamTeam Challenge was Beach Weddings.
As I mentioned earlier, I was really excited about this
theme, and it was a good re-entry for me back to the
world after my mother's passing. She loved the beach
so much. Assateague was her favorite place.


I named this headpiece "Sea Goddess". "She" is made from
Lake Erie beachglass, Freshwater Pearls, Swarovski Crystal,
and of course, shells from Assateague Island. The shells
are small welks and scallop shells.
It was very special to me that this headpiece won the
the June challenge.




The July Etsy BridalDreamTeam Challenge was
Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. A tale
of the delights of love, the pitfalls of little
jealousies, fools, fairies, pranks, merriment
and fantasy. This was another delightful theme
to work with. I immediately thought of my
dragonflies, and wanted to use them in the design of
the headpiece. I have made dragonfly hairpins before,
but have only made one other dragonfly headpiece.

My vision was of a garden wreath, with dragonflies
hovering in flight over the top. I have a delightful
book in my "library" called Fairie-ality
by David Ellwand. It is a book of whimsical illustrations
of "Fairy" fashion. Fairy fashion is made from flower
petals, leaves, grasses,feathers with seeds and other organic
materials for ornamentation. This book is a delight to
sit and enjoy for a few hours of inspiration.
I wanted the veil to be like dragonfly wings. I used
"sparkle" illusion and light cording, embellishing the
veil with smaller wired dragonflies.






"Midsummer Night's Garden" won first place in the
challenge too! Thank you everyone for your votes
of support. Its been a rough few months since
my mother passed. Working on the challenges has
been great therapy for me, and has given me something
positive to look forward to. Working through, and finding
ones way through grief is a challenge. It is a road that
is different for everyone. We all have a road travel,
and sometimes we get lost for awhile. I am so thankful
for the friends and family that have waited for me
to find my way back.

Its already time to work on the next challenge! The
materials have been gathered, and the research is progressing.
Shhhhh! I can't tell you what it is yet! It is a
secret!!!!