Pinktober trouble ...?

Though today is the last day of September
the start of my PINK  RIBBON Challenge is near.
I started making tiny felted pieces
that are the base for my Textile Jewels !

2020  has been a strange year !

The Corona virus (Covid-19) has made us,
all over the world, aware "how fragile we are"
Our "normal" society and "normal" behaviour have almost come to a halt.
So many things have stopped
visits, birthday parties, concerts, performances, markets, work . . .
And  so many unlucky people had to deal with this illness.

BUT : breast cancer hasn't stopped either !
So, although I hesitated a bit if I should do it again this year,
I decided to again make a Textile Jewel every day of October
and sell them to collect money for PINK RIBBON,
the organization  that needs funds for the research into
new and better breast cancer treatment methods and aftercare

BUT

there are problems with shipping abroad !!!

Since January this year
it is forbidden to send anything other than just paper in an envelope !
(new international mail arrangements !!!  Grrrrrrr !)
That means I have to send (however light the jewels weigh)
them as a package for customers abroad ,
which means of course, that it costs much more money :
€ 7.50 in Europe,  the US even € 11.-

HOWEVER : if my customers abroad buy
more than one Textile Jewel
I can easily send them all together    ;-) 

I hope all those lovely people
who helped me raise money for Pink Ribbon for six years now
won't abandon me this time 

I hope to see you tomorrow
for the first Textile Jewel !

equinox

 The sun is still nice and warm

but we have much more shadow on the terrace

and the lights go on a lot earlier

in short :

autumn !

For Clarissa Callesen's workshop

I made a lot more "potatoes and carrots"

in a colour range from whitish, through gold, to brown.

Then I got ideas about placement :

I wanted the long ones standing upright ...

and that's when the trouble started

(because they can't stand up on their own !)

so I just began pinning and stitching them.

I made a new piece : a thick curved one to hold my bunch of sticks

and that worked just fine  :-)

Nearly finished now

*

Still a few days to enjoy the summer sunshine

then the rain is coming ...

potatoes ?.

After the STITCH CLUB "faces" workshop of Ailish

came the next one by Clarissa Callesen

She is a sculptor and has used many different materials

Now she works with textile.

She demonstrated how to make "potatoes"

Hahaha :

just little (or big) ball-shaped forms of fabric stuffed with fiberfill

but : any other shape was right too !

Because I was busy with something else

it took a while before I could start

but my hands started to itch and I gave it a go

I mostly like to work rather small

so this first one is the size of a brooch (or pendant)

(12 x 5.5 cm)

Fabrics with a different colour scheme are ready for the next one

faces

This week's Stitch Club

was a bit of a problem for me.

The style in which Ailish Henderson works

"is definitely not me"

too loose

Luckily I was still busy with a "travel book"

for Anne Kelly

that took most of the week :

to find stuff

(old pictures, bits of paper, bits of fabric)

glue all of it on the background,

let it dry,

add more embellishments and hand stitch,

and finally stitch with the machine.

BUT

as it is a present for a faraway friend (and in the mail right now) 

there are no pictures !

After my travel-book was finished

I had no other option

than to leave the Ailish's workshop alone or give it a try 

Some of the results that came through in the group

were just lovely, and that helped !

The third sketch

(after a first try and a second that I ruined with pen and paint)

Adding less paint (water colour) than the first time ...

The end result

and finally happy I gave it a go and kept going ! 

Lots of tiny snippets of thin fabric (including tulle and mesh) 

on face and hair

and the pencil lines stitched with one strand of floss

in different colours

Definitely NOT as loose as Ailish

but I love what it finally turned into ...

Another one (daughter) is ready for stitching

Thank you STITCH CLUB

for some really challenging workshops

that certainly added to my skills !