Finally some pictures!

Yeah, now that I'm home I can download the pictures I took while I was in Belgium taking care of my mom.  Some pictures of her cats.  Pictures of the three figurines I made and pictures of the baby elephant toy I made.  The Elephant toy will be for sale in my Etsy shop in the next week sometime.  The little bunny I made for my niece's birthday.   I made a bunch of other things but I haven't taken pictures of those yet.  I was hoping to take some today but due to the rain I couldn't.  But at least here are some of the pictures I promised!

Three tired little dancers and a Christmas Bear

I finally finished these three figurines today. All three of these are sold but if you are interested in one please feel free to e-mail me with questions. I'm working on one more for my mom,that will be a violin player.

I also finished a needle felted polar bear pup, dressed for Christmas. He will be for sale as of next week.

Thanks for visiting.

More things to come

I've been working on all kinds of things these last couple of weeks keeping my mom company. Today I have to start working on 4 figurines that need Powertex. Three tired little girls and one violin player. I will be using the Powertex Lead for all of them. If you are interested in finding out more about Powertex here is the link to it : http://www.powertex.be/ There are so many options on what all you can do with it. Personally I like making art dolls and figurines with it but I have also used it for making jewelry. I'll be adding pictures of the figurines later this week.

I have knitted three baby hats so far. Needle felted two hedgehogs which can be used as pincushions or just for decoration and also a Christmas mouse. I haven't had the chance to take photos of these but will do so in the next couple of days so come back and visit again soon.

Rosie on her Sunday Best and Laura's Tired Ballerina

While I was visiting my family and friends in Belgium I wanted to show my mom how to needle felt so I made this little bird. I wasn't sure yet at that point what else I was going to do with her until I brought her home. She's now turned into a cute little pincushion wearing a hat and 3 heart pins I made of polymer clay. She's looking for a nice home so she can be put to work helping her new owner sew, quilt and/or craft or would be very happy to be used for decoration only! Would make for a unique mother's day gift that's for sure so go and check her out on my PurplePlatypus shop.

I also made the Tired Ballerina statue for my niece Laura. She is made of electrical wire, aluminum foil you use in the kitchen, painters tape, old T-shirts and other types of fabric. I used Powertex in lead color and a metallic paint to dry brush her with. Isn't she a doll?

It's been awhile ...

but I'm back. I've had a rough couple of weeks behind me. I had planned a trip home (to Belgium) to visit with my best friend (Erna) and my family and then things went wrong. See, my best friend Erna, whom I've been friends with for 40 yrs has been fighting breast cancer for 17 yrs. Can you imagine, non-stop on chemo for that many years! I don't know how she did it ... but she did ... strongest women I've ever met, never complained until about 4 weeks ago. She mentioned to me then that she didn't think she'd be around when I would arrive in Belgium. So we did what we thought was right ... we said goodbye to each other just in case she wasn't going to make it till then. The hardest thing I've ever had to do ... but I think when we did it, it made us both feel better about the situation. Then every evening and morning I texted her, she ended up in the hospital only 2 days before my arrival and the evening before my flight she wished me a good and safe trip and a happy face and that was it ... that was the last text message I received. When I arrived in Belgium she went into a comma and peacefully passed away shortly after my arrival. I didn't make it to the hospital in time so you can imagine how sad I was not have seen my friend before she passed away but I'm so glad we did say goodbye the week before and were still able to communicate up until the evening before she died. I'm so sad I lost my best friend, sad for her family and especially sad for her two wonderful daughters. She was a fantastic mom and I know that those 17 yrs she fought breast cancer she did it to see her kids grow up. It's hard to loose a loved one, 51 yrs old is just way too young to die but I do thank God for letting her be part of my life. I miss her e-mails, chats and messages but most of all I miss my best friend.

These are flowers from Erna's garden, purple lilacs are my favorite and since they were from her garden they are even more special!

Springy treasuries

I'm happy to share some more treasuries with you featuring my items together with lots of other beautiful things from many Etsy shops. Again, many thanks to all the curators of these treasuries for including my stuff! While I'm gone to Belgium I won't be able to blog much but when I get back I'll jump right back into blogging.

Here we go ...
This first one is called "Here comes the Easter bunny" featuring my needle felted bunny by http://www.etsy.com/shop/DaniCalve This is what she says about her shop "Nature and Color are my muses~they bring comfort and vibrance to my life as I hope they will do for you.
Let me bring you a conversational piece of art to grace your neck, for your lapel or even on your wall and into your world. Take a walk through my paintings, relax on a pillow and don't forget to wear a flower in your hair." The treasury she made has some lovely Easter bunnies and other Easter goodies listed. CLick on the items in the treasury to take you to the shop who made it and sells the item.



Next is a treasury called "Peace Love and Happiness" by http://www.etsy.com/shop/FIApdx featuring my hand painted wooden gift tag. In the curator shop you will find unique, not so ordinary, quirky things created mostly from Eco-Fi felt (100% vegan & recycled material), fleece and cotton fabric. She loves making plushes, pins, toys, buttons housewares, phone/mP3 cases & everyday life accessories composed of vivacious colors. All of the items are hand sewn, she doesn't use a sewing machine.



Next is a treasury called "Birds, bees, flower trees" by http://www.etsy.com/shop/eleuthera featuring my needle felted bird named Ernie! I love the paintings for sale in the shop of the curator, the shoe paintings are my favorite. Her shop announcement states: "shoes, cows and Swedish landscapes delivered worldwide". I love that!



Next up is a treasury called "Farm Fresh Fantasy" by http://www.etsy.com/shop/HangingTreasures featuring my striped knitted acorn baby hat. The curator shop you will find beautiful earring frames. This is her shop announcement: "Like many women, I've got more jewelery than I can practically store in my jewelery box. One day I got tired of fishing around for my favorite earrings and decided to try something new. I made my first earring frame and loved it so much I started making them for all the women that I love. The response was so overwhelming that I decided to start selling them so that more women would have a chance to display their jewelery in a beautiful and practical way." The treasury is part of the nonteamchallenge 25. She incorporated the inspiration item using all farm related items which makes me want to jump up and run to a farmers market!



Last one for today (but not least!) is a treasury called "Love comes in all shapes and sizes" by featuring my striped baby hat, which seems to be a popular item for people to use in their treasuries. In the curator's shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/inspiredbymckenna you will find some really pretty nogin wear and cool vintage items.

Needle Felting Machines and Art Dolls, figurines

I've been thinking about needle felting machines for some time now. Don't know if it would be worth getting one but I'm definitely all ears if any of you have one and what you like and don't like about it. I would love to hear it. Today I found this huge needle felting machine, they actually call it a Feltloom which is pretty amazing. Don't think I'll be getting one of those any time soon but it's worth checking it out so I've attached the link. Working on finishing a couple more hats and a scarf. Have another little white owl I still need to get pictures of but now that the days are so short and it being dark when I get home I have to try to take pictures on my days off so hopefully this Saturday I can take some ... as long as it doesn't rain! Here is the link to that felt loom: http://feltloom.com/home.html
I really need to get my act together and finish another figurine for somebody in Belgium. Here is one I made while I was living in Australia. She sold and I wonder sometimes where she's ended up!

New Violin Girl and The Farmers Market - Sunday April 26th, 2009 in The Plains, Virginia

Well I finally finished this violin girl. She will be on her way to Belgium late next week. I made her for one of my school teachers from way back when. Kinda strange how in one way it seems like only yesterday I was in her classroom and on the other hand it seemed so long ago I can barely remember what she looked like.

This Sunday, April 26th, 2009 will be the first Farmers Market at the Archwood Green Barns in The Plains, Virginia. The market runs from 10 a.m. till 3 p.m. I will have my stall in the main barn so if you need something to do this weekend please come by and visit me. I have lots more items for sale then what's listed in my on-line shops on Etsy and Art fire so come and check it out. There will be many local farmers and other artisans as well.

Look for the big green barn located at the intersection of I-66 (exit 31) & Rt. 245 in The Plains, Virginia.

Here she is - Reading Girl is back

Well it's been awhile since I created a Reading Girl but here she is ... ready to find a new home. I'm actually very excited about being able to make my girls again here in the US. The product I use (Powertex a textile hardener from Belgium) is now being imported into the US, so yeahhhhhhh for me! This little girl is for sale in my Etsy store, $60.00 and $15.00 for shipping and handling ... unless you want to come and pick her up personally. Let me know what you think.

Mother and Baby

Here a couple pictures of one of the Mother and Baby figurines I've made in the past. I've started making a violin player for a client in Belgium and I hope to get it finished soon. I'm debating to put this artist business on the side for a while. I just feel like I'm burned out on making things for the market, things I know will sell. I realized I haven't been making any art pieces, or what I consider art I guess. My fingers are itching to create something different and special just to make myself feel better. I did just finish a vest I knitted for myself. I started it while we were in CA and was hoping to get it finished while driving from California to Virginia. But, unfortunately that didn't happen since I got busy doing other things. Kinda glad it's all done hopefully I can still wear it a couple of times before the temperatures are starting to rise again.

Fauquier High School Craft Show

Oh my ... I was a bit in a panic earlier this week when I received an e-mail about the Fauquier HS Craft show. I had signed up for it and I must admit ... totally forgot about it! Needless to say I've been pretty busy the last couple of days getting everything ready. I haven't done a market since we left Alice Springs which was July 2008! Gosh I can't believe it's been that long. Anyway, I'm very excited and just about ready for the show which is this Saturday, the 21st of March from 8 till 3. I figure this will give me a practice run for starting the Farmers Market the end of this month and attending the Warrenton Spring Festival in May.

I've attached a couple of pictures of my Chime Girl I made and sold while living in Australia. I really need to get started on making these again .... if only I had more time.

A view of Violin Girl

Here are a couple more pictures of Violin Girl.

Violin Girl

Since I'm not sure where to start with my story I might as well just jump in and go with the flow. In case you're wondering about my violin girl ... I created her, I made her from wire, painters tape, foil, 2nd hand T-shirt, some other fabrics and a textile medium called Powertex. She's one of many girls I made while living in the Australian outback. I haven't made any for about a year since I got in a rut and wanted to experiment with other things, so I went back to felting, another one of my new found loves. Well, maybe not so new since I've been felting for about 4 yrs.

Back to violin girl. I was never sure of what to call my pieces ... statues, figurines, art dolls? Not sure where they really belong, or what category to put them in so I just called them my girls. I did make a boy one time, I will have to post the photo down the road of the little guy, he was part of a mother, daugther and son piece I made for a client of mine. After making and selling about 100 of these girls over a 2 yr period I realized I didn't want to go mass producing them, that just took all the fun out of creating them ... so I stopped.

But, for some reason ... today I made up my mind that I need to get back to work on making some more of these girls and share them. I know they will sell, I've had some people here in the US asking me when I start making them so I figured it's time. I will not go crazy and mass produce them but pick and choose which one to make and make them very special. I hope that all the ones I've made in the past have a good home, wherever that might be. I wonder sometimes where they are at, who purchased them and why. If you happen to be the owner of one of my girls ... I would love to hear from you. My business name in Australia was called Purple Platypus in case you are wondering about the name. I changed my name to Bits of Fiber since Purple Platypus was already taken here in the US.

Love to hear from you.