A UNIVERSE OF HANDMADE THINGS

A UNIVERSE OF HANDMADE THINGS
I'll be opening my Etsy store as soon as I build up an inventory. My user name is fiberphyl and the blog is titled Sr. Moments by fiberphyl......there will be a variety of goods to choose from.
Phyllis
fiberphyl

Mr. Squids Handmade Moment and announcement

Mr. Squid's Handmade Moment

In my Etsy Store....to continue on from the above blog, I'll have lots of dry felted wool created by hand and machine. There will be animals, birds, gnomes, a wizard,and other small critters. (note the picture at the top of the page...a small sampling of my
handywork in needle felting by hand.) I will also have good luck totems and da-das and be in all sizes and shapes and home made fabric beads for those embellishers out there. Just too much to mentions. It will depend which path my muse leads me down at the moment. Prices will be varied, to suit the budget when looking for a one of a kind hand made creation.
I'll have the Etsy store open in plenty of time for Christmas shopping (October) and will make the announcement on my blog.
Because of my interest in many kinds of fiber arts I'll be adding to my selection all the time. Such things as primitive landscapes
comes to mind. So much to do.....so little time.
Phyllis
User name on Etsy: fiberphyl

Welcome to my new knees!!!

Time for an update--where does the time go? I'm progressing faster than anyone expected through my double knee replacement surgery and have been driving now for a week! Oh-the joy!
I'm an independent cuss, and although my Son and Daughter were a huge help when
I needed them, I'm so happy to be tooling about on my own.
If there's anyone out there with two bad (bone on bone) knees like me.....get them both done.
You won't regret it. The healing for two is the same as for one and getting both done stops
you from depending on that bone on bone leg to do the work.
'Nuff of that boring talk.
I'm getting back into my class routine and will be teaching an art pin class this coming Tuesday.
I'm also going to be moving into my final and permanent address the end of this month.
Then this hectic year will be over. Holy Cow!......will I be happy :-)
I'll be posting some new photos of my work as soon as I can. I've spent a lot of time healing
in bed, then on my recliner and have been crocheting farmers market bags to keep busy.
Now I hope to get to working on lots of my unfinished projects after I move.
Cheers everyone!
Phyllis

2008--a year to remember!

Oh my gosh.....what a year!   Lost my condo and all contents to a fire in Jan.  Moved into an apartment in Feb.  and just got both knees replaced in August!   I think that's enough in one year for an old broad like me!.   I've got several weeks of physical therapy and can't drive until October, so am pretty much house bound until I can jump in my little Saturn and get back to teaching my classes at a local quilt shop.   In the mean time, I have 3 on line classes to take, several class samples to create for my new classes and a bunch of telephone work, getting ready to move to a manufactured home community before Halloween.  Then----after all the smoke has settled, I'll really welcome some sort of a stable routine...and will even welcome the quiet stillness that winter can bring.

My Son and Daughter have been helping me with my grocery shopping and hey!!!!  I have a perfect excuse to live in p.j's and a robe all day!  Eventually, I'll be adding some new pictures to 

my blog and will be all caught up by years end.  No time for the wailing and gnashing of teeth---I have new knees to look forward to......and walking like a "normal" human being.....pain free!

Thanks to all your encouraging messages.

Phyllis (aka Fiberphyl)

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SLOWLY GETTING MY LIFE BACK

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I think it's time for a new entry.  4 months have passed since the fire.  All 

the units were so badly destroyed that the association members voted not 

to  rebuild.  So far, State Farm has taken good care of me and I'm comfortably 

settled in an apartment until further action takes effect as to the mortgage 

payoff and more insurance claims, etc.

Every day I think of something I lost that was precious to me and impossible to 

replace.......then I have to remember my favorite Grandma Moses quote:

"Life is what you make it.  Always has been and always will be"..... or words to 

that effect.  

So, it's time to do just that.... make my life, starting at a new place and continuing 

on from there.

I'm teaching my classes at the local quilt shop and keep busy with my post card 

swap groups and enjoying my life's blessings of a wonderful family, good friends and great children and grand children.  After all, when it comes to the bottom 

line, these things matter the most.

 

UP IN SMOKE

On the evening of Jan. 20th, everything I owned was lost in a fire that took down all the units in both buildings of my condo complex, putting over 100 people out on the street. The fire started from a short in a bathroom ceiling fan in a unit in a seperate building from mine.

I was insured, and but for that would probably be totally at odds and not knowing my next step.  My insurance company stood by me...put me in the Marriott Residents Inn and cut a check so I could meet my immediate needs of food and clothing.

My Son and Daughter and Daughter in law were and have been of enourmous help to me and I've had my sisters for long distance support as well.

I've discovered that I'm a very fortunate person.  My former workplace collected quite a bit of money for me (I've been retired for 3 years now)...and I've received wonderful cards and packages from my post card groups.  A few nights ago my local art group held a "shower" where I received so much fabric and notions that it took me 3 trips with my car (which came to no harm in the fire)to get it all to my efficiency suite.  It's now filling a coat closet!...bags on bags of stash builders.  

I regret the loss of all my photos and some special gifts given to me by family and friends....but the rest, I've discovered is replaceable and rather fun to shop for.

I can't waste my time feeling all sorry for myself...it won't change the situation or bring things back.  As soon as I saw my condo unit on fire, with the windows blown out from the heat, I had to resign myself to the fact that things would be different for a while.

I've never been one for antiques or precious jewels and furs....

anyway, as you can see, I've already replaced my computer and am back up and running.

I'll move into an apartment while waiting to hear if the condos will be re-built and once settled, will be fine and dandy.

So...take a lesson from me. Be insured!..it's the only thing that's gotten me through the financial end of rebuilding a life.

A work in progress

I'm working on a piece of embellished wall art. It's hard to see the wrapped

pipe cleaners and Tyvek heat tortured pieces, so I'm showing this from a kind of side angle.

It's not complete so may still change. The fabric is from Kaufman's "the fire within" series which I love, love, love.

I used yarn to couch in a faux piping on the border.

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YOU CAN'T BEAT MOTHER NATURE

This was taken 2 nights ago from my 3d floor balcony of my condo. The smaller tree is a Ginko that I occasionally will pluck leaves from for my next sun dying experiment. Who could ever mix their paints more beautifully than this?
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An art doll

A UFO finished. That always feel good.
Several months ago I took a beginning art doll class with Beth Ann Williams and at the end of the class I took home a doll body on a wooden skewer.
She didn't tell me who she wanted to be so I put her with the rest of my UFO's and once in a while I'd run across her and still ....... nothing.
I spent 3 years living in Libya (before Kadaffi) and was evacuated out of there during the 6 day war in the 60's. We ended up going back there after 3 months in which my Sister Jean and her husband and family opened their already busy home to me and my 3 children. All of a sudden, while looking at an old newspaper picture of me and the kids arriving at the air port in New York, it dawned on me that Fatima was calling me from my UFO bin.
Starting at puberty the typical Libyan woman put on her baracan, allowing only one eye to be exposed whenever they were out of the home. They generally held it in their teeth, leaving their hands free to take care of their children or gather bundles of fire wood to carry on their heads or on the back of a donkey. Once in a while I'd catch a glimpse of them and what was under the baracan, especially when they would be on their way to a family wedding or other important event and I'd see a flash of their pretty clothes and jewelry or henna markings on their forheads when they passed. I used to give them aspirin for their occasional tooth aches and so they considered me a friend.
They would look around to make sure I was the only one who would see them and then release the baracan so that it opened and they would smile and wave and show off just a bit.
Such pretty, hard working women and girls that wore everything valuable to them under that simple covering.
So......meet Fatima. My art doll who finally spoke to me.

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Fun art pins

I love making these little cuties. They are a fun art pin that I've seen here and there in magazines/books....and just had to make some ----plus, I gave them a house to live in. Getting into that first house can be very difficult.

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Tyvek beads

I made these beads from Tyvek paper that had been colored using Shiva oil stiks....yes, stiks is how Shiva spells it.
Fun and easy to make for such a dramatic result. I'll be using them for future embellishments.

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My clothesline purse

I just completed a purse made by using cotton clothesline that I wrapped in 1" strips of cotton batik. I've also made some small bowls and coasters using the same thing. Guess it's kinda the "hot" thing and I wasn't going to be happy till I tried making the purse and lining it. What, after all, is a purse without a lining and several pockets to put our "things" in.

So, here's the result. I included a picture of the start of it for those who don't know what the heck I'm talking about.

BEING 70

The following are exerpts taken from an article written by author Barbara Holland, author of "When all the World was Young" (Bloomsbury, 2005). It has put into words better than I could ever do it.
"My 70th birthday didn't feel as breezy as my 60th, not half as cocky and capable. Face it, 70 is old. For a woman, the only plus side is that we can stop worrying about how we look: we look old, and suddenly there's not much use spending time, money and energy on our looks. Just try to make sure our clothes are buttoned and zipped and our hair is combed before we go out. Forget all those creams and colorings. It's a relief, in way.We accept limits. Limits are always nasty, but we hold our noses and swallow them anyway. Meeting challenges is said to be good for us, but how often must we meet the same challenges, overcome the same obstacles? How often do we have to climb Everest? Is it time to look for someplace easier to live? Admit limits?All of us, waking up in the morning, forget for a moment where we are and decide to paint the living room ceiling or go pony trekking in Iceland. By the time we've brushed our teeth we remember that we'll have to be content with ceilings already painted and treks already taken.They make good musing. I know we aren't supposed to dawdle around in the past, they tell us it's healthier to live for the moment, to look to the future. But the future shrinks:how will our great-grandchildren turn out, what will happen with global warming? We'll never know. One of these springs, and then for many more springs, the wild rhododendrons by the chimney will bloom and I won't see them. It's annoying. The past, though, expands, and what we've already done improves the view. It lifts us up a bit higher every year. Great granite building blocks under us, all those people and places, summers and winters, everything we've learned and the songs we remember, all solid to climb up and stand on for a grand view of our world. Our personal, hand-made world.
All happy people have self-protective memories, but if we'd rather be miserable, we can choose to haul along with us the tears and betrayals, missed chances, and lost loves. We can remember not the happy trip to Mexico with a friend and the margaritas we drank, but only that the friend is now dead and the margaritas now give us heartburn.We can do what we like with our past. It's ours, and we've earned it. We can stand on top of it, taller than most, and admire our view.

SPRUCING UP AN OLD THING--AND I DON'T MEAN ME!

This is an old black fleece vest that I needle felted a quick design on. I figured if I goofed up the vest it would be no great loss as the darned thing is getting nubby and picks up everything but men !!!! Trust me.....at my age.....that's not a problem.
I teach embellishing classes for beginners on needle felting and like to show them what's possible and within their reach with just a bit of yarn and roving.

"COMING HOME"-WALL ART QUILT

I've just finished this piece. I call it "Coming Home" and it will be my entry in my art group's showing in mid August. It's not complex or fancy, nor is it abstract. I like my pieces to tell a story. Coming home can mean many things to many people. The gulls come home in the evening, children seeking comfort or aid come home to their parents, we all end up coming home in the end (where ever home is for us).

So....anyway....this is it.....like my sister says, "kiss it up to God and send it out".

I tried to make the center glow out beyond the confines of the picture and into the border.

It measures 15x17".

This is all done with un altered fabric. The background fabric in the picture is hand dyed, but not by me. It was the inspiration for the piece.

Another Padfolio done on the Baby Lock embellisher

The cover for this padfolio was a "no sew" piece that was done on my Baby Lock embellisher. I used canvas as a base and co-ordinating fabric for the cut pieces and just punched the devil out of them so they'd hold tight to the canvas! So easy !

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the new DIVA cord maker

I've purchased the Diva cord maker from Joggles and here's my first cord. It's much prettier in real life. It's laying on some coffee stained fabric.
It was made on the medium size "maker" and used 3 yds. each of seven different yarns.
See them on the left side of the photo.
I'm totally hooked. It's addictive. I'll make a skinny cord next. You can even add beads.....I haven't reached that level of patience yet.

MY WINDOW BOX

I JUST FINISHED WORKING ON THIS PROJECT THAT I STARTED IN A CLASS LAST YEAR.
THE CLASS DESIGN CALLED FOR FLOWERS IN A WINDOWBOX, AND I WENT A BIT NUTS AND ADDED THE TALL LEAVES AND ALL THE BUGS AND MADE THE FLOWERS OVER FLOW THE BOX. I ALSO THREAD PAINTED EVERTHING WITH NEON THREAD FOR AN EXTRA "PUNCH". IT FEELS GOOD TO COMPLETE A PROJECT. I SHOULD DO IT MORE OFTEN !

FELTED FLOWERS ON SCARVES

I've been playing with my Baby Lock Embellisher more and more. This time I took a strip of 100% wool and using yarn, I free hand embellished flowers on the ends of the scarf, then loosely outlined them in free motion stitches, finally doing a decorative cut out and adding beads.

I included the backside photo to show the "water color" look that's on the reverse side.

The wool used for the scarf is smooth and soft and light weight.

ANGELINA EXPERIMENT CLOSE UP

Oh dear.....this posting is backwards.....but I decided that the first picture I took of my Angelina Fiber experiment (the picture you see below this one) didn't show much detail and I wanted to correct it. I should really think these things through before publishing them.
I applied rows of machine stitching to the surface in 4 patterns, and 4 colors.