Creative at last....

My dear blogfriend Val wanted to see some of my wet feltings......had it been yesterday I wouldn`t have been able to oblige.....but today.....EUREKA! I have been creative! At last....

I have started to prepare my exhibition ( planed for March next year) and I have decided that I will not only show my photographs but some feltings as well. Maybe a few of my recycled items too. I wanted to do a really big felting and this is what it looks like so far.

The black wool is a sort of pre felted fabric that I buy from a supplier. It measure 150 x 150 cm. I had to use my kitchen table.....

The rest of the wool in place and the image is built up.....


Now I have to attach it to the black wool. You can`t imagine how much water I had on the floor! What we do for art eh?

All wet....and my socks too

I usually work the felt in my kitchen sink but this felting was way to large so I had to try something new. I rolled it in a cotton sheet, tied it up with strings and trew it in the spin dryer....

The finished result! Now it measures 60 X 90 centimeters so it shrank more than I thought.

I am going to work further on it with some embroidery and needle felting. A photograph of poppies inspired me. I am trying to chose between two alternatives:

1. Cut it into tiny inches and mount it on black wool again - something like this.

This a smaller version that I did last year and it measures 15 X 15 centimeters.

or

2. Keep it as big as it is with the added embroidery and needle felt of course.

What do you think?

Take care

Jeanette

PS Do pay Val a visit. She makes the most wonderfully creative stuff. One really creative lady that it!

Add some color into your life ….

Many years ago someone said to me that I was a colorful person. I don’t think it was due to the clothes I was wearing at the time but more because I tended to speak up for others, would eagerly debate and used to swear a lot! If you took a peek at my wardrobe back then it was mostly black. If you’ve always been on the chubby side, like me, that’s the natural color of choice since black is supposed to make you look thinner. Now that’s a big fat lie of course. It only makes you look like you work at the undertakers. Anyway. Up till a few years ago black was all I wore and then suddenly out of the blue color came in to my life. At first it was the odd scarf or two, then a blouse or a dress. And poof the undertaker had turned in to a butterfly!

Now where was I going with this…. Oh yes, I think this black goes color transformation thing is all about maturity! Come again? Well it all happened when I turned 40 and 40 + is when you get all mature right? When you discover your inner self and dare coming out of the chrysalis??? And it’s not just the clothes mind you. At 45 my heart suddenly beats faster over 70: ies print patterns, red polka dot ceramic mugs and pop art. Some of you might say that this is just the opposite of maturity. In fact it’s a huge midlife crisis. My black goes color is really a longing for those teenage days when the best you could wear was a dress from Mahjong in orange and brown! ( Yuck!)

Well I don’t now which it is but I lean towards the maturity thing. I dare a lot more now than I did say 10 years back. I don’t give a hoot about what people think about me anymore. Alright, alright that was another big fat lie. But I’m working on it okay. Just you wait until I turn 50! Then I am going to step out in the world and say
- Be afraid. Be very afraid!

Whenever I feel in doubt about the colors I tune in to Blogland and Anna, Maria or Anna Stilla. Three colorful ladies with blogs full of inspiration!

Take care
Jeanette

PS Yes I still speak up for others, debate and swear a lot. I just do it all dressed up in red!

A red linnen skirt I made inspired by Maria

Nothing sweet about me

I am basically a nice person and I always try to practice the art of being nice. I know that a “nice person” often is considered stupid, naïve or submissive but for me a nice person is someone who lives with empathy and ethics in his heart. A nice person is never stupid. No in fact he is very smart because he has understood that what we do for others we also do for ourselves. But……

……sometimes you meet persons that make practicing your art very hard. In fact they don’t deserve you being nice to them. Yesterday I met one of those. My cell phone broke down and I went to the shop were I bought it to have it mended. In the shop stands this guy and he is totally uninterested in serving me. Well not at first but after he understands that I don’t intend to buy anything but instead I want him to do something that probably will cost the company money and not only that HE will have to make and effort without having the satisfaction of selling me anything. So he starts taking down notes about what’s wrong with my cell but whenever a new costumer enters the shop (especially young female ones) he starts talking to them and then has to start all over again with me because he missed half of what I was saying. The third time I have to repeat my problems and I start looking annoyed he excuses himself with “Don’t talk so fast. I am a guy and I can only do one thing at a time. He,he”. Quite the charmer isn’t he? This is when it’s on the tip of my tongue to say “well if you didn’t have to ogle every woman that’s walks in you would do just nicely” but the art of being nice stops me just in time. I just grind my teeth. After half an hour of stupid remarks I am finally out of the shop. And I am so irritated and angry that I want to strangle someone preferably the guy in the shop…

This episode got me thinking. That maybe sometimes I should just skip the “art of being nice” part and go right to the “I will insult you right back an feel better afterwards” part instead because being nice isn’t the same thing as allowing people to walk all over you. To remind me of this I went home and wet felted me a purse/ shoulder bag with monsters on it. And a scary message - Nothing sweet about me!

And I will wear it whenever I need to be a bit "un-nice"

Front

Back

Take care!

Jeanette

Poppies

For several weeks now the weather has been very warm for the season. Way too warm to do anything creative until the late hours of the evening and then it’s time for bed…... One part of me have been longing for a felting frenzy and the a nother part of me didn’t. Just the thought of wool made me feel even warmer although the felting as such hasn’t anything to do with being warm at all. Anyway….yesterday my better self won.

I had been out all day photographing poppies and was so inspired that I made a wet felt with poppies on it. It`s going to be a present for another photographer Annika Christensen who specialize in garden photos. Do visit her blog and website.

On Wednesday the weather is going to be back to normal. That means rain and grey clouds and a lot colder. Guess I`ll be doing a lot more felting then.

Have a lovely week my friends!

Jeanette

How about some recycling fun?

Ever since I bought the book on metal craft I have a new passion. Metal is such an exciting material and it doesn’t matter if it’s shiny and new or very old and worn you can still make so many fun things out of it. I have started to build up a collection of tins and cans and my work room is getting way to small. Wool, yarn, fabric, beads, pearls, paint, brushes, tins, cans and a whole lot of other stuff that can come in handy is stowed away on a very tiny area. I am in desperate need of a new work room or a total makeover of the old one. That will definitely have to be one of my summer projects…….among many others!

Today I needed someplace new to store my vintage lace so I decided to make one. Do you want to know how I did it? Welcome to tag along!

I chose a tin can from my "collection"

I like this can as it is but sausages doesn`t go to well with vintage lace so I decide to redo it! I wanted it to be a bit more shabby chick and princess like in style...

I made a paper template ....

.....then I traced the template on the can using a permanent marker.

I cut out the crown using heavy-duty tin snips and I used a metal file to remove the sharp edges....

.....then I painted it white and added a few rosebuds, an old photo and the text princess on tiny scraps of paper with decoupage finish. I use Royal Coat because it`s acid free and fast drying.

This is the finished result! Soon to be filled with vintage lace !

Ta dah.......and the winners are:

1 prize

Wet and needle felted bag with red linen lining.
19 x 16 cm

goes to........Jane La Fazio in San Diego

2 prize

Recycled Guardian Angel

Goes to........Aina at Modern Country



Consolation prizes



Wirework heart with grey pearls goes to......... Lili M
Wirework heart with red pearls goes to ........ Annica

Wirework Angels goes to.......... Marlene and Annika

I want to thank all of you lovely people that wrote comments! I had so much fun reading them! In fact, so much fun that I just might have another contest one day......

Lots of love to you all

Jeanette

PS If you are one of the winners please e:mail me your adress at fotoblogg@hotmail.com and I will snailmail the gift to you!

New hobby

I have a new hobby. I have always been interested in recycling and especially art made of things thrown away. I was thrilled when I found this faboulus book about metal craft and saw all the great things you could do with just tin cans and canisters. Art dolls, kitschy keepsakes, journals, ATC:s, a tin can necklace and much more.




I was so inspired I wanted to get started right away. But where is a tin can when you need one? No where to be found. So I had to go buy a can of olives just to get my hand on some raw material. And I don’t mean the olives….

I wanted to do a good luck charm for one of my blog friends that I know is struggling with her driving lessons. I was thinking about a small metal car and an angel…sort of a guardian angel….. hanging over it. I had a plastic bag full of metal soda bottle caps from when my daughters collected them so I flatted one of them out with a hammer and used as the head. I removed the top and bottom of the can and then cut it open along the seam. I now had a piece of metal that was ready to be transform into art…… I made the car and the wings out of the can and polished it with metal files and sanding papers. I left it raw at the back because I think it ads character to the art piece when you can actually see that it’s made of items destined for the scrap heap! I found an old Christmas card with an angel on it and cut out the face and used decoupage to fit it on the bottle cap. I added some beads and pearls and the good luck charm was finished.

I had so much fun that I made another one and that one will be one of tomorrow’s prizes in the contest. Just one day left before the winners are revealed by the way........

But this one is for you Anna Stilla! Good luck with the driving lessons! Remember that goals are dreams with deadlines!

Guardian Angel

I sat looking at a picture of an angel the other day. And it got me thinking. How come they all look so young? Look the same even. I mean angels must age too surely. And what happens to the old angels since we never see any? Are they hidden away in some desolated spot in heaven or what? I sense some serious discrimination here! It must truly be much better with an old guardian angel full of wisdom of life than a young and inexperienced one? I am not religious but it’s sometimes comforting to think that maybe we all get a guardian angel when we are born and they age with us. I took my sketchbook out and made a few sketches of what I thought they would look like, got inspired and needle felted one. And when I sat there working with my needle my thoughts started to wander…..I thought about how we all need a guardian angel in times of worry and distress and how you yourself can be that angel to others by showing your concern or by giving someone a hug…. And then I thought about two dear, dear friends in great need of a guardian angel right now and whom I can’t hug on a daily basis since they live far away from me. So now my aged and wise angel has a new home with them and I know she will do a really good work!

Her wings are turning grey and she doesn`t fly as fast as she used to. But she can still sing beautiful songs.....

Let there be light

"Imagine a dark autumn night
lit up by innumerable candles and lights.Doesn't that sound fantastic?On November 3th 2007, Österlen will be lit up by local people putting up lights in their gardens and villages, by artists performing artworks of fire and much more.You are very welcome to share this experience with us! "

Organizers of "Österlen lyser"



.......I most certainly thought so. That it sounded fantastic I mean. So I went looking. And Yesterday I won second prize in a photo competition held at Österlen Lyser - the Light Festival .

I feel very happy, honored and proud.

Österlen is a region in the south of Sweden known for its beautiful landscape, small picturesque village and its very special light. Many artists are drawn to the region mostly to try and capture the “light” on canvas. Some compare Österlen to Toscana or Provence and it’s invaded by tourists in the summer. During winter however the cold wind blows in from the sea and Österlen is black like the inside of a sack of coal. And that is one of the reasons for the Light Festival. To bring light to the villages! Other reasons are to try to attract visitors to the region not only during the summer months but in the winter too in order to make the local merchants, artist and B&B owners survive.

The Light Festival is absolutely beautiful. To drive through the pitch black landscape and see the small villages with all kind of light installations. Candle lights, torches, fireworks, bonfires – and everything made by the villagers themselves. And that was what the competition was about - to try and capture the feeling of the festival on film. My photo was taken during a dance with fire at the town market of the small village Brösarp.

It was the first time my family and I visited the Light Festival but definitely not the last. And since my summerhouse is located in the outskirts of Österlen I just might try to convince the residents of my local village to participate next year.

Let there be light

Playing with colors

It has been a rough couple of weeks. Both my parents got seriously ill a few days apart and had to be hospitalized. They are home now and on the mend but suddenly I had to face the fact that my parents actually are deadly and it took a while getting used to. In fact I don’t think I’m there yet. I was in desperate need of some cheering up and to divert my thoughts away from all panicy feelings and fear of loosing loved ones. The remedy? Explosions of heartwarming colors and loud music. So I filled my house with tulips in bright colors, lit tons of candles , loaded the cd-player with old harp blues records ( the older the better), poured myself a glass of wine - red of course and got started.

Sketching in my journal.....

A red wet felted piece but what will I use it for?

Aha, a devilish week must of course result in a red devil cat……

Can I play with colors too ?

Did I mention that I am just crazy about tulips?

Just look at the beauty and the mix of colors !

Finished the day playing scrabble with my youngest daughter while the eldest went of to a disco. My daughters- the best heart warmers there is!

Hot lava

This amazing bowl is my favorite Christmas present. It was given to me by two dear friends and I look at it everyday thinking about hot lava….and passion. Passion can be a bit like hot lava don’t you think? When passion runs through your veins I think it`s a lot similar to lava pouring down a volcano. And you can be passionate about so many things......I haven’t really found the perfect spot for the bowl yet so I tend to move it around with me in the house. Yesterday it was a really grey winter day so I took it with me to my workroom drinking its warm, beautiful colors and dreaming of warmer days. Now that Christmas is gone I can’t wait for spring to begin. I really dislike this period between January and March when everything is grey, cold and rainy. Do you know what’s so special with rain in the south of Sweden? It rains horizontally! And therefore you always get wet whether or not you are using an umbrella.

Because of the cold weather I was planning to do a scarf or a shawl in wool and in doing so I was going to A) cheer me up and B) do a little trial and error. I used to be a real coward! I never wanted to try out anything new until I was absolutely certain that I could master it. Life isn’t much fun that way I can tell you! And you lose a lot of opportunities to learn something new. As I grew older I got more confident in myself and more adventurous and my life is much more fun now! Yeeez, I’m babbling on today. Lets get back to the felting. I had read about a wet felting technique that you could use on bigger objects that couldn’t be hand felted in the sink and I wanted to try it out. As I stood there looking at my bowl I suddenly noticed that I had wool in matching colors. And what could be better colors for a winter scarf than hot lava? What you do is that you place the wool on a big piece of polyester fabric, wet the wool with water and soap and role everything together. Then you work it all on a table like you are rolling cookie dough. I wanted the scarf to be like a woven net. As it was a trial and error thing I did a small piece first and this is the finished result.

The technique was easy to use (although I had water all over my kitchen floor) and the result turned out quite well so tomorrow I am doing it full size.

Brown paper packages....

My heart is beating and my fingers are trembling when I eagerly rip the package open. Suddenly my worktable is filled with sunshine, sky, flowers, bleeding hearts, green grass, lushness, dew drops, thunderstorms and rain. The lousy weather outside my window doesn`t matter. I`m in heaven and back in 10 seconds. A return ticket to paradise. This is the best moment. When a whole world of colors and opportunity’s lies ahead of you and the ideas in your head is spinning so fast that you can`t quite catch them.....Under the brown paper a rainbow was hidden ! Or a genie in a bottle. The smoothness, the softness, the colors! I can`t stop myself from smiling. Brown paper packages tied up with strings ..... theese are a few of my favourite things !

Oh my gosh.....

.....I`m speechless and honoured. The Craftgossip Blog Network has written an article about me. Linda Lanese the Craftgossip Felting editor wrote a comment on my blogg to say she`d written about my work and through that comment I found Craftgossip. And then I was hooked. I read and read and followed links to other artists ….. and suddenly two hours had passed. So what is the Craftgossip Blog Network? This is what it says on their homepage.

“About CraftGossip
Confused about everything crafty out there? Not sure where to go and what to buy for your latest craft idea? Can’t find that kitsch pattern that everyone else is talking about? Well worry no more!
CraftGossip is all the latest news from real craft people telling you about the real stuff. We scour the net looking for the best craft ideas and projects and review them for you. We have divided this blog into many sub-blogs, covering topics ranging from knitting, crochet, bath and body, candle making, jewelry making, scrapbooking, sewing crafts, paper crafts, recycled crafts, kids crafts, needlework, painting, edible crafts, indie crafts and felting. Each of these sub-blogs are managed by their own dedicated editor, so you know that you are getting personalized attention. You can meet the editors here.
So we are doing the hard work. So you don’t have to.
Happy Crafting! “

Do go and pay them a visit!

Jeanette

Finally some time to myself

With Christmas over and a few days off from work I finally had time to do some felting. I’d had a picture in the back of my head for along time inspired by a line in a book. It’s funny because I cant remember the rest of the book, it was probably just crap but that single line stuck like glue. In every corner of your heart let loves own flower grow. It made me think about the many different aspects of love. The love you feel for your children, your friends or the man in your life. How frail love is and how you must nourish and water the flower in order for it to grow. And I thought a lot about how there was a time in my life when my heart felt all dried up and how much I had to water it before a tiny little bulb developed, grew and finally blossomed. .

I wanted to use my long longed for creativity time well….The needle felting, the embroidery and the patch work can be done when ever I have a few moments over but the wet felting procedure has to be finished when begun so with time on my hands I decided to wet felt more than one piece. That way I could also have a few different projects to continue working on in the future. Boy am I smart!

Want to see how I spent my time?

Ready to go

Building the image

Pouring hot soap water over the wool


Gently felting the wool with cirkular movements

Working the wool in the zink . The harder you work it the thicker it will get. If you feel really adventourus you can throw it in the washing machine and then in the tumble dryer.....

The finished embryo.

When dry I can continue with needle felting and embroidery.

The rest of the felted pieces.

As you can all see I had a really happy afternoon. I think the wet felting part is the most challenging and therefore also the most fun. You never really know what the finished result will look like. I did four different pieces with a “heart theme” and on one I tried out a few silhouettes. I usually work best when I have a receiver for the piece that I’m working on so while I was working I decided that when finished one of the felted hearts is going to be a late Christmas present to a couple that are very dear to me. Their love is a constant source of joy, happiness and inspiration. I know they read my blog so I want tell you which one it is…..

And now the embryo is done I have needle felting and embroidery still to do. I hope to get started to night ….. Oh joy!

Lots of Love to you all!

Jeanette

Busy times in Santas workshop

My husband says my workroom looks like Santas workshop and always enters with a Hoo, hoo , hoo. He`s a funny guy my husband eh ? You can hardly see my computer for all the lace, wire, pearls, finished and unfinished objects lying about. And I spend long happy hours in there making presents and Christmas cards and decorations for my home.


Last week I had a “Teddy Bear period” and made Teddy bears out of moss for a friend to sell in her shop. We gave all of them names and hope they will be adopted by kind people.

Please, please adopt me and take good care of me!

Right know I’m in an “angel period” and I’m making angels by the dozen. In all kind of shapes and materials. I am not religious but for me angels is a symbol of peace and warmth and peace and warmth sort of sums up the holiday spirit too. For me Christmas is about family and friends. I can do without a lot of things ( probably not the tree though) but there will be absolutely no Christmas spirit if I don’t get lot of opportunities to sit down with family and friends drinking glögg, eating gingerbreads and chocolate, (lots of chocolate) and talk until the wee hours of the morning.

There is one other thing that I can`t do without or else it’s not Christmas – I have to watch Grinchen. I am no fan of Jim Carrey’s other movies ( Ace Ventura makes me itch and get nervous) but I adore Grinchen. The film is about what really matters at Christmas. So late at night when everyone else is asleep and the house is quiet I light lots of candles, make myself a tray full of goodies and sit down to enjoy Grinchen! I especially like the part with " Hate, hate, double hate". If you haven`t seen it - Do!

The Grinch, the Grinch.....he has stolen Christmas.....