Peace Felt

"I have learned silence from the talkative, tolerance from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strangely, I am ungrateful to these teachers"

Khalil Gibran

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing or rightdoing, there is a field.
I will meet you there"

Jalal Ad-Din Rumi



"We may have different religions, different languages, different coloured skin,
but we all belong to one human race"

Kofi Annan



"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics,which is the goal of all evolution.Until we stop harming all other living beings , we are still savages."

- Thomas A. Edison



"End each day with thoughts of peace. Begin each day with thoughts of peace. Continue thinking thoughts of peace throughout your precious day and happiness will be yours."

"A smile is the beginning of peace."

Mother Theresa


Peace Felt

Cobweb Shawl

Yesterday was the perfect day. The sun shone, the wind was out of town and I made felt in the garden before visiting Cemlyn Beach where the tide was in and people waded up to their waists in the sea.

I had intended the above piece to be nuno felted and then to dye it with blackberries ready to be made into a dress for my little girl, but I experimented with some silk like fabrics that I bought in a sari shop back in Birmingham. The fabric nuno felted just fine but felt so synthetic that I was not happy with it at all. I peeled off the silky layer which took a while but was worth it. I was left with a very thin felted shawl which I manipulated holes into the thinnest parts in a cobweb effect. I really like it so will leave it white for a while. Lets hope this Indian summer is here to stay and I get many more breeze free days ideal for setting up in the garden. I still want to make a dress for my little girl, and have ideas for nuno felted, solar dyed blind/curtains for the windows.

Going for Green

With this piece, I was aiming for texture. I am happy with the Nowegian curls and how they have bonded with the silk. I tried to dye this felt green using red onion skins and alum. I'm not sure about the shade. Maybe a little too mustardy? I am finding green a tricky shade to achieve, it seems that there is a need to over dye blue with yellow, or yellow with blue. I have some indigo seedlings on my window sill. We shall see what the summer has in store.

I hope that your summer is bringing you joy xJ

An Eco Dyed 'Slow Cloth'

This scarf is nuno felted and embroidered on both sides of the silk. The silk nuno gauze was pre-dyed with onion skins using the solar dyeing method. At each end of the scarf, you will find additional nuno silk which has been naturally coloured in a dye bath of daffodils.

In many ways, this scarf was experimental for me. I have not tried layering nuno gauze prior to nuno felting before. It is the first time that I have laid wool and fibres both beneath the silk and on top of the silk prior to nuno felting and it is also the first time that I have tried to embroider on both sides of the felt.

I really love the variation of tones given by the onion skin dyed materials. The silk, where exposed, looks very pinkish brown like the rich fertile clay of the earth. The lilac dyed wool looks like a pale antique gold when laid out against the onion dyed wool.

I loved the scarf as it was, but have been reading a new book called 'Embroidery Techniques from East & West' by Munni Srivastava, and was desperate to try some of the ideas out. If, like for me, stitching has been limited to added an occasional bead or following a cross stitch pattern, then this book is perfect for you. It gives step by step instructions for simple, yet beautiful Indian embroidery techniques that can be used to compliment our own sewing skills. The book also gives a fascinating history of some of the origins of the techniques. I have been feeling very inspired by the shisha mirror work.

Shisha became very popular with the rise of the glass industry in the 17th century. Initially, shisha mirror work was developed by Mumtaz Begum, wife of Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal in her memory. Mirrors and glass were auspicious and considered a protection against the 'evil eye'.

Today, shisha mirror work is very popular again both within and external to India. Cooperatives have formed which provide the women with the raw materials and design suggestions and buys the shisha work that the women are able to produce. This gives the women an economic freedom they have seldom had before and allows them to buy things for their kitchens and their daughters to make their lives less of a 'drudge'. Some of these cooperatives act as a support system for the women helping them with the costs of illness or debt.

It is really encouraging to know that if we buy good quality shisha mirror work, we are in some way helping improve the lives of women in India, allowing them to be the bread winners and take a little control of their own lives and destiny that they were previously unable to do.

I've thoroughly enjoyed this book and practicing the eastern embroidery techniques. Stitching onto felt is so gorgeous and gives me a great excuse to keep touching the softness of the fibres. I think I will continue further with this piece before listing it for sale.

Have a great week end xJ

My Magic Carpet Ride (Part 2)

I have been really busy this week making accessories, brooches, hair slides, earrings, scarfs, and experimenting with new ideas and fibres. The necklace you can see to the top left is a nuno felted bohemian shabby vintage style, if that style exists. It fastens with antique mother of pearl buttons dated from the 1930's, glass seed beads and swarovski crystals. The scarfette to the bottom right was nuno felted with linen noil, bamboo, angora, cashmere, vicuna, possum, merino and tussah silk. I wanted to try out all of the new fibres on one piece so that i could test how they work with nuno felting. It is a lovely scarfette. I will take better pictures in the morning and list the items in the Bazaar.

The rest of my One World One Heart prizes arrived. The felted cushion (which is much more beautiful than the photo shows) was made by Gabriella of Threadheads Anonymous. The cushion was Gabriella's first felt project and she has done a wonderful job. The art cards were a gift from Barbara at Barbs Garden, and the mushroom guide, heart brooch and paper doll were a gift from Emily of the Edge Gallery. Thank you all, I will be popping all of my thank you cards in the post tomorrow :)

My daughter really loved the doll and the brooch and has spent all week end making her own (with a little assistance from her grown up helpers).

I would like to quickly introduce you to some of the other wonderful blogs I that have encountered on my carpet ride. Click on the images to visit the blogs.

Shayna Prentice of Needle Woven Studio


Cheryl Dolby of Healing Woman

Julie Mitchell of When the Spirit Moves Me

Slow Cloth and Long Cloth

Today, I received a gift from friend Susan Sanford of Artspark Theatre. The little Prince long cloth that you see in the first picture was hand stitched and embroidered by Susan. Isn't gorgeous!

Susan was inspired to make this piece after reading the article 'undone' on Spirit Cloth. Jude's work is very inspiring. My own response to the slow cloths and hand stitching impetus kindled by Jude and other textile artists has been making these felt brooches. It has been a lovely project really, and very addictive. The felt is so tactile.

The natural coloured brooches that you can see are felt made from silk noil, merino, alpaca and silk. I only wish you could touch the felt, it is the softest I have ever made, pictures really don't do it any justice.

Thank you Susan. I am feeling so fortunate this week xxx

Cobweb Scarf

One world, one heart - Give Away has now ended

A wonderful blogging friend invited me to join in with the magic carpet ride, and to open my heart to new friends and faces.

I have encountered so many magical, beautiful souls in this blogging community, I'm happy to meet more!



And as a gesture of love to friends old or new I offer a felt and silk necklace that is so soft and luxurious. Feels just like a hug.

All you need to enter this give away is to leave a comment which links to you blog or email address.

The draw will be made on 15th February.

Until then, make yourself comfortable and have a good look around.

I look forward meeting you and returning the visit...

________________________________

Wow, I am amazed and very happy to have had so many responses to this give away. Out of appreciation for all of your time, and those new friends that have chosen to follow Natures Whispers I have decided to extend the give away to two necklaces. Winners get to choose the colours.

Thank you all xx

Seedlings

Felt Hat

The Way Through The Woods

(Markable Witches - Rewards & Fairies)

They shut the road through the woods
Seventy years ago,
Weather and rain have undone it again,
And now you would never know
There was once a road through the woods
Before they planted the trees.
It is underneath the coppice and heath
And the thin anemones.
Only the keeper sees
That, where the ring-dove broods,
And the badgers roll at ease,
There was once a road through the woods.

Yet if you enter the woods
Of a summer evening late,
When the night air cools on the trout ringed pools
Where the otter whistles his mate,
(They fear not men in the woods,
Because they see so few.)
You will hear the beat of a horses feet,
And the swish of a skirt in the dew,
Steadily cantering through
The misty solitudes,
As though they perfectly knew
The old lost road through the woods...
But there is no road through the woods.

Rudyard Kipling

Floating in a Moonlit Sky

Wool laid out

Silk gauze laid on top

Nuno felted

I recently signed up to be a contributor for 'Ideas of Inspiration'. Above you can see my first submission for the prompt 'Winter White'. A nuno felted scene from 'The Snowman'.

I made this yesterday for my daughter who is very poorly right now. I decided to make the child a little girl so that Naomi can imagine that she is flying with the snowman.

We bought the film for my daughter before Christmas. When I was a little girl this film was a really big deal and Aledd Jones was considered to have the most angelic voice. Watching the film with my daughter was the first time that I had heard the Mel Smith narration version which tells how naughty the little boy is, running away with an unknown snowman in the middle of the night, and stealing his fathers motorcycle too! It's quite amusing hearing the story in gravelly East End tones. Even funnier is the David Bowie intro. What was he thinking of in 1982? That hair!

This is my 3rd attempt at nuno felting. I made the wool layering as fine as possible. Some of the facial detail has been lost with the shrinkage, but I quite like the end results.

The Angel of the North

Nuno in snow

Nuno close up

Making the detail

The laying of wool on silk

Silk side up, in snow

For the winter Solstice I had a blog give away. Caio Fernandes of Mien Welt was one of the winners. I was pretty stumped as to what to make Caio that would suit his tastes and also his climate. I'm guessing there is not much need for a felted hat or scarf in Brazil during summertime!

Eventually I decided upon the iconic landmark 'The Angel of the North' by Antony Gormley. I am from the North East so it is a representation of modern art from my home land. It is a sculpture. I often see a sculpture waiting to be made when I look at Caio's work. Angels are symbolic of Christianity which is very important to Caio. To me, the Angel of the North feels like a different type of angel. An Angel devoid of any specific faith, instead, representing hope. This is reinforced by the sapling trees growing around the hillside. The Angel reminds me of Daedalus and Icarus from the Greek mythology.

Its funny how public modern art is received. When this was first erected, I hated it. I think many people perceived it as tasteless and a waste of money. In my minds eye, the angel was originally silver and rusted with time, which made it beautiful. Now I love it. The Angel of the North has become an institution. Happy couples get married at its feet. You can even download oragami or knitting patterns of the angel for free.

Another reason for choosing to make a nuno felt representation of one of Antony Gormley's pieces of work, was that Caio lived in London. Antony Gormley may be better known for 'The Fourth Plinth' project in Trafalgar Square. The project lasted 100 days and invited the public to take to the plinth for an hour each, thus the plinth would be occupied 24 hours a day for 100 days.

My first Nuno

Tomorrow I travel to London to visit my friend and newborn fairy god daughter, Mia. I wanted to make something bright and cheerful that could either be hung on a wall or used as a little cosy blanket to give as a gift. I had intended to make a picture with elves and toadstools with maybe a rainbow in it, but instead i found myself dreaming of bright suns, Mediterranean skies and beaches, so that's what I made.

Here you can see a pile of ten sheets of prefelt made from my lovely Christmas wools and fabulous washboard (everybody should have a washboard!)

The laying out on silk prior to nuno felting

I literally cut out pieces of prefelt like jigsaw pieces to fit the design I wanted.

The finished piece after nuno felting (wool side up)

And again (silk side up)

Its been quite an educational piece for me. I have not made nuno felt with silk gauze before. It behaves very differently than cotton gauze. For a start, the cotton nuno gauze is very similar to bandage lint, which is good for reinforcing large pieces of felt that you wish to keep thin, but in practice, the wool is felting with itself and not migrating through the gauze.

I made a couple of mistakes with this. I've been reading so much, and asking questions on the felting forum, but in the end you learn most through trying it out yourself. Only then does the advice given and techniques read make full sense.

With this piece, I wrung the reed mat I was rolling it in. Big mistake. I also used boiling water. I later read that this is a mistake too as using hot or boiling water causes the wool to felt with itself and not to migrate through the silk.

I managed to salvage the piece, and I can see the wool hairs poking through the silk when I hold it at eye level. All in all I am pretty pleased with this as a piece of felt. All of the rolling done to make the wool migrate through the silk produces very soft, compact felt. Much better than I usually make it.

I now also have an understanding on how to make my Tiffany designs work best, so all in all, a very productive day.

If you are considering making nuno felt, I found this very good online tutorial.

I would also like to thank Dorie for advising me on another method of nuno felting x