Colours in the Wind

Let me set the scene a little for you...trundling up Pacific Coast Highway yesterday morning, singing and laughing with Little Gandalf in tow, smiling our anticipation of a day in the woods with our friends. Accompanied by a stack of empty glass jars, one homemade quiche (a must from leftover blown easter eggs) a few plastic bins and some awesome dyes from Winterwood Toys.

We wove our way up and out of the foggy beach into the streaming sunshine of the smiling Topangan hills for two important reasons. First, to explore the pollywog phenomenon in the streams and possibly borrow a few to watch and secondly, to transform many pieces of silk both china and organza, into an array of rainbow colours for imaginative play purposes and fundraising for OCS. Children were in abundance from babe to teen, wanting to get inky in blue hues and orange stripes. Mission accomplished, we ate, drank lemonade and reluctantly returned to the murky depths of Playa cold Rey.
A return trip to gather said tadpoles (rude?) is imminent!

Craft, Art or food?

Who even minds, as long as it's fun right? I'm trying so hard not to churn and just 'produce' stuff for selling. However, the thrill of having other people like your stuff enough to actually buy it, is really quite addictive!

The collaborative effort of the Mama Made crafter guild was quite lovely at the Art is Smart, art auction last week and most successful for the Ocean Charter School! All but a few bowls with fruit were sold to admiring collectors, the actual art on the walls were quite fabulous (as was the vino) and thankfully the Hairy One didn't sign us up for a bidder number, last time that happened we bought a limited print Picasso sketch, but that's another story.....

So, "Still Life with Wood-pecker (great book btw)...is still and may be offered on Etsy or as Batty pointed out at adult stores near you soon or just lost in translation!

Goddess of Spring

With my favourite time of year literally budding all around me, the butterflies are showing up again already, my window tree has a lovely smattering of pale green leaves, the sun's warmth comes shining through the wind and clouds. Divine Happy Day!
I will be in my garden earth, planting and breathing!
I love the full moon and this one is so powerful and exciting, full of change and hope and inspiration. As the Hairy One and I celebrate our 11th year wed, we will make many coloured eggs to share with the littlest ones, feed a multitude with Jewish ham and dance and play Superstar on vinyl for Easter! Wearing green symbolises new growth within yourself and Nature, why not! If my eyes were not so tired, I'd post a picture of my green ones for you! Enjoy....

Goodbye Gnome Sweet Knoll

Whilst the busy business of making wet felted "fake wood" bowls with the Crafty Ones for use as centerpieces at an upcoming art auction, a lady from MD snuck up to Phoenix420 at Etsy and promptly bought the mini lovely from Etsy! I was surprisingly excited about the sale, but Little Gandalf was most confused as to why we have to send it off to a complete stranger this morning. We packed it up with a little girl gnome plus a special gifty (wooden toadstool) first prize thing for being my 1st customer this year! Today, I'm too achy, sniffly and grouchy to possibly make anything lovely - but still pretty happy about the sale....Luna Exquistita, Nyx Naze, and another She Fell lagoon coming soon....watch this space!

One...

One ..................

Two...

Two...............

Tree?!

Actually, her name is Terra Firma, some of you may have already met her in process. She's all grown up and finished and so much fun to felt! 'Earth' will become one of the set of Elementals I am making. Maybe I'll grow some other tree lady types, a redwood or possibly a birch.

Observing the many kinds of trees sprouting buds, flowers and an assortment of shaded leaves at this time of year, is a wonderful and magical thing to behold. Rebirth.

Madness

No.... not the UK band...just that March is here and onwards to the next project. Wet felted vessels that may ( or may not) resemble wood is a school project list for the Mama Made team. My first one is here...I don't like it much but it gives an idea of what wet felt by hand looks like. We will try a machine wash version this weekend and I'll post the results here!

They will be used as centerpieces for an art auction on March 21st (my 11th Wedding Anniversary!) hope there's something good to eat.......

Hippo Birdie 2 Ewe

For Batty,

Today is your birthday
I think I'll make a cake
Mix and stir, stir and mix
Then into the oven to bake.

Here's the cake so nice and round,
I'll put icing on so white.
I'll put on all the candles
To make your birthday bright!

anon.

Soggy

Rain, fall!

Water, flow!
Bring new life
That the plant may grow.
Soften the earth
That the root grow deep;
Moisten the air

That stem and leaf
Unfurl and unfold
In the shimmering light
And bring forth the flower
For our delight
Paul King

Happy Heart Day!

So, with the past few days being somewhat void of any inspiring notions, a few sketches and a trip to the Huntington Library Gardens soon put a halt on that. The Japanese gardens were extremely beautiful but with certainly not enough time to drink it all in, I was still late getting to Donovan Boy and Little Gandalf. However, it is winter (even though particularly sunny all around) and the goodies this place has to offer haven't even bloomed yet! Who's in for stroll? I'll probably take the wee ones there next time and needle felt in the children's garden while they play.

Happy Valentine's Day for any of you who care to celebrate another mediocre 'holiday'. The excuse to indulge in something outrageous to whet ones' sweet tooth is extreme. How about this for the ultimate choc...The most-expensive chocolate is a $250 dark chocolate truffle ($2600 lb) with a French black truffle inside--is available on a preorder-only basis. It's made of 70% Valrhona cacao, which is blended into a creamy ganache with truffle oil. The truffle is then hand-rolled with a dark truffle on the inside and dusted with cocoa powder. Outrageous and sublimely decadent! I wonder how many hungry mouths that would feed..?

Rainbow Skye

This new 'Skye' Doll reminds me of the Rainbow Bridge story from the Waldorf school of thought. On each child's birthday, the child's story of crossing the rainbow bridge at birth is told. Each story is unique to that child.

"The story is shared in kindergarten and follows the life of the child up to then, beginning in the heavens and waiting for their turn to begin a journey on earth. Each story is different and unique as it contains much thought, reflection, and the family’s intention. The story speaks of a spiritual being, or a “little angel” who finds their way to earth by choosing earthly parents and receiving gifts from the heavens before crossing over the rainbow bridge to join humanity. It then gives expression to the child, the child’s family and their life. The ending includes mention of the child’s present birthday." So if you are having a birthday soon or have had one recently, I wish you many happy returns to this special day!

Marmota monax

"If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the year."

"They'll be a Gigantic win for the little guys and I see my shadow again", So says Phil, ho hum. Don't worry about catching some skiing this winter, apparently it'll be here until Spring!

Here is the other 'whipped up' Queen Winter doll made for the wee ones to enjoy at home. They are drawn to her more Royal demeanor and stately gown adorned with pearly balls and lashings of sparkled snow. It felt only right on this blustery day to work-up a mini 5" doll that will eventually become a full blown Skye......made me smile to lay a rainbow, puffy clouds and sunshine halo-hair upon said lady with a view to blowing away the drizzle for a while. Going to Hunt down a big garden to drink tomorrow, will post pics soon....

A Cold Wind Doth Blow...

..and she shall have snow! Queen Winter!
Actually just a quickie fix-it on an old doll for school. Change of hair, boob job new dress and a couple of inches at the waist and presto! Donovan Boy sculpted a snowman too; but no Queen of Cold for our own! Will have to spend this eve whipping up another :-)

Rain Reigns!

What a perfect excuse to hole up in your cave, hunker down and turn up the heat! I love winter in La La Land! Perfectly angry skies can make way within minutes to exquisite rays of sun streaming through to create double rainbows. The soggy bog of wetlands are awash with activity and the burst of bellowing cloud formations are joyful to meditate on.

All that said, here I am, armed with a crazy sharp needle and felting like a mad woman. Upon the eve of finally deciding to go ahead and illustrate a children's book with a friend and my new found art form, I find myself making my own version of Kandinsky's, "Concentric Circles" just to see if I can. Funny to imagine it with depth, colour, movement and wool, but quite satisfying and hopefully a success! A dark and woolly "Starry Night" may follow just to be sure of technique.....

The Winter Queen is coming along and should be dressed to parade for the Kinders on Monday. The wellies are wet, garden veggies happy and the fine art brolly is winging it's way to me as I write. Enjoy the rain while it lasts, you may long for it when it is past and forgotten.

Art Heart

Something that is handcrafted with love, care and a little laughter will embody the makers spirit. This is shared with the child that plays with it, adding to the love. It is also an important lesson for a child to see that toys and dolls can be created. They understand the process and all the work that goes happily into every stitch. They see that it didn’t appear out of nowhere, or off a shelf from a store. When you give a child a doll whilst saying “I made this for you” it carries weight of meaning to the child and they will in turn create in their own world of imagination. What a gift!

I have always been an artist, I love to draw, paint, sculpt, dance, sing and play music (though not very accomplished at the latter). When I was introduced to working with fibre by a very talented friend I scoffed, “But I can’t even sew on a button!” It was true, I never had any interest to knit, crochet, embroider before, but then I’d never seen what could be done until I had my eyes opened to the Waldorf inspiration of soft dolls, natural elements to work with and the joy, beauty and warmth that characterizes each piece made.

I watched my Mum (also an artist at heart) marvel at my new found skills whilst making a doll for my son. I worked on the hair on my son’s doll the night she died, I could do nothing else and wanted it to be finished for her as well as for my son. She loved the feeling the warmth and softness of the doll and holding it to her heart.

I’m truly happy to work with my hands, I could spend hours listening to music provided mainly by the Hairy One, whilst sculpting wool (and sometimes do). Donovan Boy and Little Gandalf always enjoy the creations until they are ready for another home, which is usually something for school.

I spend my time dreaming up visions of three dimensional playscapes, cushion covers, bags, wall hangings and how to capture the perfect seasonal moment in a doll crafted with only a needle, wool and some art heart!

Magic Rocks

After watching a bunch of super cool land artists, we found this and wanted to share!

All about Art

With last Summer's creation of 'Waterfell', the want to share the art of painting and sculpting in wool and mixing mediums is so great, it led me here! Little Gandalf asked/inspired me to create this piece for his imaginary world and now I'm working on a series of Elementals, one of which is almost finished and a second is formed on paper. The Autumn fires in Los Angeles that sprung up near friends' homes and the hills drove fire inspired gnomes to cave dwellings with contained heat!
Felting with wool is one of those ancient art forms that requires more imagination than actual skills methinks. I'm sure those with a degree in fabric design or textile art would strongly disagree. To be sure, the forms are difficult to master but to each of the newbie felters who come to the weekly crafting circle, I'm glad I can convey with confidence that they will leave with a finished piece to share. Many toadstools and pumpkins have been grown in that yellow house and many more gnomes, fairies and various characters from stories will continue to be created among the happy few who love to poke, tease, stab and rub wool!
I hope you may enjoy it while I continue to share new pieces and ideas here at Something out of Nothing.

Peace out of mind

Just back from wet and snowy New York and already trying out a new lazy me...haven't unpacked or cleaned anything, just catching up with friends and making no real plans for New Years Eve with exception to one great shiny dropping ball!
Traditionally, this time of year is one for making resolutions, having high hopes for the future and taking the opportunity to try and extinguish the bad deeds, thoughts and people from the previous year...what's on your list I wonder?

• New Job? - hopefully not, I like being Mum, wifey and friend. "Could do better ", Rings in my ears, sometimes school's never out..
• New friends? - I could use a extraordinary friend who has a private jet and a place in New York City to share sometimes..anybody up for that job? Maybe that will be me...tee hee.
• New House? - One can only dream at this point. The kids are longing for a 'road house' i.e. one that is located on a road, instead of our tree house condo and I would gladly create an actual play-house in a tree in a new eco-friendly and greening abode ..we will see what 'O8 has in store..
• New Car? - Well, VW didn't come out with a new groovy bus and there's no green wagon on the market, so that's a no thanks yet!
• What to do differently in 08? - Dance more, laugh more, create more art, help more people and have a calmer mind set.
• What not to change in 08? - Husband, kids, friends, hair.
• Resolutions? - None that I'll be able to keep!
• Trips and Travel? Hopefully! Chicago, Ohio and NY in the Spring, California coast and Caribbean in the Summer!
• Weddings? Hopefully a friend who isn't yet or mine after 11 years!
• Major Calender Thing? My 40th birthday, yikes!
• Can't wait for? A cure for cancer.
• World View different? Ah yes. Though not entirely without previous thoughts along those lines.
• View yourself differently? A little, realizing the changing with age and hopefully for the better.
• Surprise of 07? Rubiks cube comeback and seeing Van Halen!
• Dress differently? Probably not. I like my funky styles.
• Start or quit something bad for you? Constantly trying to do both!
• Charity work? - Planning much more than usual.
• Nicer to Populus? - Yes definitely.
• Moving? - Probably not, but one may dream about building a home somewhere.
• Who to kiss at midnight? - Hairy Cricket Man
• One wish for 08? - A happily resolved writers strike so we can get back to our canned lives...