Wild and Precious Life

I decided to join the Hope Flag Project after reading a post on my sister's blog.


I uncovered some small woven fabric pieces that I previously created from one of Jude Hill's on-line classes. Having no planned purpose for them, I cut one in half and folded the top over to form the base for my flag. Using some red crushed velvet, I cut a heart shape for my focal point. I then cut a hole in the heart and a matching one in my flag base and sandwiched a transparency between the two. Free-motion machine stitching as well as hand stitching and embroidery complete the design. I felt compelled to add the "protrusions" that Jude Hill often stitches on her hearts, but having embroidered them in aqua blue, I'm unsure whether they represent tears or hopeful wings.




This is the back side. (I think I like it as well as the front.)

CreativeSwaps Prayer Flags

My return flags from Leanna's CreativeSwaps  arrived in a prompt manner. Unfortunately, my blog post is not as timely. But with a sense of autumn in the air and a possibility of rain, I was motivated to take the time to photograph my prayer flags outside before bringing them in to reside safely away from the elements.

Here are the flags that I received in exchanged.

Linda Kunsman made an iron-on transfer of her own delightful hand painted background and printed an invocation onto it.
               Like water, feel peaceful
               Like wood, keep growing
               Like fire, be alive,
               Like earth, experience balance
               Like metal, stay strong.

Vicki Page created a charming vignette of nature with a delightful butterfly and tiny bells to jingle in the wind.

This lovely fabric confection of hand dyed laces was created by Terri Heinz and bestows these wishes:  "May all experience JOY from within"













My first thought was to tie them to my side gate in order to get the best photograph of the flags.

 

But then I spied an empty trellis and thought they would complement this purple aster nicely.

Thank you ladies for your gifts of creativity and to Lenna for a superb job of hosting this thoughtful exchange.

My flag creations? .... you'll find in this post.

FORTUNATE, THANKFUL, AND GRATEFUL

There's nothing like a good swap to nudge the creativity that's been dormant for far too long. I blame it on the back-to-back moves we incurred 18 months apart. But in reality, I suppose it's only right to admit that oft times it takes a deadline to push my ass mojo into gear.

I consider myself FORTUNATE to have stumbled across this Prayer Flag Swap over at Lenna's CreativeSwaps blog. And THANKFUL that unknown 'first timers' were allowed to sign up. And furthermore, GRATEFUL to have secured the very last participant spot.

In hindsight, perhaps these 3 words should have appeared on my flags. But that is not the case. Nor are any of the page full of words I collected for several weeks. Nor did I follow any of my 'thought sketches'. When it came down to creating, I flew by the seat of my pants, so to speak.

Out came some vintage linens that were close at hand - those not buried by the aftermath of a move. Amongst them, an embroidered tea towel, a cheerful hankie, a delightful pieced section presumably intended for a quilt, and a couple of damask napkins.

 

 

The embroidered tea towel was cut to take best use of the embroidery. As it filled the 5"x8" area, I felt that it didn't really "need" anything to enhance it so only added the words Imagine The Possibilities printed onto muslin. On the back, I attached another piece of muslin with a quote I felt related to the words on front. Then I stitched on a vintage button and embroidered a stem as I felt I needed to add my own hand to it. The button gave me a place to hang a tag with my personal information. Do you suppose that the embroiderer would ever have imagined her work would become a Prayer Flag?

The damask napkins were cut to form the base for the next two flags. A corner of the hankie was cut,  wrapped around, and stitched onto one of the flag bases to form a pocket. Then I added the words Tend Your Garden Of  Dreams. The pocket allows the recipient to place their own dreams within. A leather flower tassel dangles freely at the bottom. Once again, I stitched a quote onto the back and added a vintage button to hang my information tag.

On the third flag, the pieced quilt section was stitched to a piece of the hankie and found a home on the other damask napkin base. I liked the pocket on the previous flag and decided that I would create this one in the same manner. Once stitched, it made me think of a rainbow. I'm sure the recipient will find their own "gold" if only they Seek. The quote on back is from a wistful song, sung by Kermit the Frog. Once again, a vintage button for the hang tag.

The fourth and final flag was created as a hostess gift for Lenna. I spied this "fun" scrap of cotton knit tangled within a scrap bag and it shouted "Lenna" to me. Now I don't really know Lenna but this bit of fabric kept nagging me. At first, I thought it to be fireworks but upon further reflection, I thought it could be palm fronds (even though I doubt there are red ones) and palms are certainly an icon of Florida. From reading her blog, I have a strong sense that Home is important to her. So the house, cut from a ragged old quilt, came to nestle beneath the palms. And then it hit me, the house is radiating with warmth.

On all the flags, I used my laser printer to print the words onto a piece of muslin leftover from another project.  I had "colored" it with watered down acrylic paints. Feeling that the pocket flags should contain something within, I added some sprigs of  lavender from my garden. These posies were wrapped with tulle in the event they might get crushed during the mailing. I'm hoping the recipients are not adverse to the scent of the lavender. If so, I duly apologize.

Thank you Lenna for this opportunity to share with other artists. And a huge Thank You to the other participants for the sharing of their time and talents. I am so looking forward to receiving my 3 flag swaps!

 

 

Fashion Statement

I feel the need to publicly acknowledge my dear sister's talents. Her name is Lorri Scott and she's a fiber artist who is currently furthering her skills with the art of dyeing and altered fashion couture.  By upcycling clothing from thrift finds, she gives a fresh and fashionable design look to comfortable clothing. On her blog lasfibers, you can read about her 'Wayward Threads' creations and find links to her etsy shops. Please go take a look and see if you don't agree. And if you happen to be in Petaluma, CA on Saturday, Sept. 22, go check out vendor night at Art Is You . You can see her garment creations first hand and even try them on. Perhaps you'll find one you just gotta have!!!

Vintage Art Pottery

Auction listings for these items are ending soon!

Mini-carafe with Franciscan Ware label

This 5 piece set of mixing/serving bowls are in excellent condition.

The beautiful glaze reminds me of Bauer pottery but here on the internet, I've seen them identified as Rapp Artcraft / Morton Pottery from Illinois. 

You can find all my auction listings under the seller name of dejavucreations

Vintage and Ethnic Fabrics

It's been 4 months since the BIG move and I'm still stumbling over stuff. It's amazing how many items I disposed of before the move and still ... it's evident that more needs to go. So I decided to start listing on ebay again. I've just listed some Vintage and Ethnic fabrics.

There are African Wax prints such as these. 

  

And Kanga - rectangles with delightful borders around bold and colorful designs.

 

My research enlightened me that these are popular in East Africa for both clothing and other uses. They typically have a proverb or interesting saying printed in Swahili. I attempted to translate these with on-line translators, but met without success.

Don't these fabrics look enticing stacked like this?

My vintage listings include these:

Blue roses printed on Seersucker

a large scale design of Red, Red roses on Cotton

(this reminds me of the Wilendur prints)

and one of my favorites

this 1930s/40s/50s Barkcloth with a vibrant Asian design.

I hope to get more fabrics listed this week as well as some vintage linens and possibly some art pottery. If you're interested, please check them out. I sell under the name of dejavucreations.