Classes,Classes and More Classes!

Teaching classes, making class samples, coming up with new class ideas and writing class descriptions is what my life has consisted of during the past few weeks.  Oh yes, I also had the pleasure of taking another class with Her Majesty Margo, Ms Margo Duke- this time it was Nuno felting!!
The word Nuno means "new" in Japanese and Nuno felting refers to the creation of a "NEW" fabric made by combining wool with another textile- ususally silk,  by forcing the wool fibers through the weave of the silk fabric in the felting process- hence Nuno Felting.

Margo brought along her baskets brimming with glorious samples and the hit of the show was her latest Blue Ribbon Award winning coat from the Maryland Sheep and Wool Show.  I think that she calls it her Butterfly Coat.  It is stunning and amazing and so inspiring to examine in person!!! no wonder it was awarded  Best in Show !!! Bravo Margo!!! What a Master with fibers!!
In these two shots you see my good friend and fellow fiber artist Ms Christine Vihn, modeling the glorious piece!

This vest won the Best In Show Award at last years Wool Festival.  It takes an awful lot of work and creativity to unseat the Queen!!!  How lucky we are to have her live so close to Artistic Artifacts so she can pop in for classes almost every month!!!!

Nuno felting is by no means an easy or quick process.  One must first gather supplies- wool, textiles, silk, lace etc, lay out the design with the wool fibers, assemble the felting sandwich of silk, wool fibers, plastic sheeting; all on bubble wrap and a towel, wet the fibers down and then begin to work the wool fibers through the textile of choice.  PHEW!!! NOT DONE YET!!!!  Once you see evidence that the fibers are getting through the textile, the rolling begins!!

Barbara spent a lot of time laying out her wool fibers on her piece of white lace.  the wool will work it's way through the weave of the lace and lock onto the lace fibers and then take the lace along with it when the wool is fulled (shrunk).

Lauren and Nga were rolling and rolling and rolling and unwrapping, re-wrapping and rolling some more. Margo came by to check the progress and the ladies were able to stop rolling and proceed to rinsing and throwing !  YES, this process takes lots of energy and one can work up quite a sweat. there is even a special stance that one must assume to avoid back strain!!!

Marji was quite pleased with her piece even though Margo had determined that the rolling was not quite done!!

I have not finished my piece yet and I have only just begun the rolling step. i spent a long time laying out my fibers and included some tussah silk along with the wool to add some sheen and jots of bright color. I will post pictures of the piece as soon as I get to finishing it!

The next time you see a felted garment I hope that you will understand some of the effort both physical and creative that went into the creation of each piece.  Whatever the asking price , if the piece is for sale, it is most likely TOO LOW!!!

Now I will leave you with a few shots of what is blooming in my garden!

 Japanese Painted Fern

 New Dawn Rose

Endless Summer Hydrangea

 Siberian Iris

 Siberian Iris with Hydrangea

More Endless Summer Hydrangea

Yes ,I do LOVE my Hydrangea!!

Roses In November!!

This morning I am picking roses!! Today's date is November 5 !!!! Sweet Belinda is just NOT ready to go to bed for the winter. Do you see the pile of fallen leaves on the drive behind this bloom? All of the leaves are pretty much off the trees thanks to the last rain and wind that blew through. Now we must rake and mulch and apply the chopped leaves to the garden beds ( no noisey obnoxious leaf blowers for me!!)

In my next post (probably tomoorow, the 6th) I will be announcing a Give Away to commemorate my 350th Post. I think that it is haigh time to thank you all for dropping by and leaving all of your wonderfully supportive and inspiring comments.!!

So be sure to drop by again to see hwhat I have cooked up for a giftie!!

Smiles to you all!

Raindrops on Roses......

whiskers on kittens: no kittens here unfortunately, too many allergy suffereers!! Raindrops on roses are some of my favorite things however! Today we have a drizzly rain, so I thought I would share some more spring flowers with you to brighten our day! The Iris are almost done now, but they were quite long lived once the weather cooled down a bit. I do LOVE my iris!

When we moved to this house 4 years ago we removed many ancient azalea bushes that were planted right next to the foundation on the west side of the house. Boring, boring, boring!!!!
We had to hire a crew with chains and a small dozer to come in and yank the bushes out. In their place we put up trellises and planted two climbing single petal roses to climb along the bare side of the house. They are doing beautifully and will rebloom profusely if I remove the spent blossoms. They remind of the wild beach roses that grow in the sand dunes on Cape Cod. I can almost smell the salt air!!

At the same time I planted this New Dawn rose and it is doing really really well climbing on one of the fences that borders the dogs yard. It thrives on banana peels and coffee ground infusions. (I don't use any sprays or chemicals on my roses or anywhere else in my garden and these are my results. Gardening simply and organicaly is not difficult and just look at the results!!)

We all have a huge responsibility to take care of our planet and to respect the ecosystems that we depend on for life. Whenever I see ads for killing pests or lawn grubs, I just cringe!! those same insecticides completely descimate the entire bug population and destroy all life within the soil. People do not realize that without earthworms and other decomposers our planet would cease to sustain life. These creatures are not immune to the chemicals used to kill lawn eating bugs!! Wake up PEOPLE!!!!

We live in the watershed for the Chesapeake Bay and so many are so determined to have lush green lawns- but the price is far too high and as far as I am concerned the use of lawn chemicals and insecticides should be banned. Every year people dump tons of bags of fertilizers and insecticides onto their lawns to achieve what they think are wonderful outdoor spaces. WHere do these chemicals end up?? In the creeks and streams and rivers that feedintot he marshes that empty intot he Bay. Does the environment survive- no way it becomes sterile and devoid of the necessary palnt and microscopic life that are vital to support eh minnows and brid life that cll these marshes home. All for green laws!!! It is really sickening what we are doing to our beautiful natural spaces. PLEASE!PLEASE !DO NOT use such chemicals - restore the balance of life within your soil by composting and building healthy palnts that are capable of warding off occasional munchings by so called Pest insects.! Just look at my plants to know that there is no need for such chemical warfare!!!!

CLIMBING DOWN OFF OF MY ORGANIC GARDENING SOAP BOX NOW!!

My catmint is just begining to bloom. I love the periwinkle blue color of the florets and so do the butterflies!

This rose is called Gertrude Jekyl after the famous English Gardener. It is wonderfuly fragrant, reblooms and has some really nasty thorns!!! The number of petals in each blossom is truely amazing!

Here again is Belinda's Dream in all of her cabbage rose luciousness!

Who ever said taht purple and orange can't work together??? Just look in the garden for answers to color questions.

The sun will return and the roses will continue to bloom and the next time that I share garden shots with you we will ahve a whole new crop of blooms to show off!!

I hope that everyone has a hppy, creative and internally sunny day- especially if the sun is not shining where you are living!!!