day 21, number 11

There used to be a time
when there wasn't a single green item to be found
in my wardrobe, but that time is over.
My garden is also full of many different greens
(hardly any flowers left now)
I found a small half finished item
on which one of the grandchildren did their best with stitching
and that was just enough for a new felt heart !
(hmmm . . . my heart is beating too fast,
blood test tomorrow and waiting what the doctor says)

My PINK RIBBON Textile Jewel
number 11 :
 

a felt and fabric heart brooch, stitched with silk,
cotton, rayon and seed beads
(4,5 cm,  1.8")

For a donation of
(at least) 

 € 20,- 

this piece of garden greens can be yours,
as a present for someone dear
or to keep just for yourself !
You only need to send an email at
 fiberrainbow@gmail.com 
and we will arrange the next steps
Bank or PayPal

(+ postage)

ALL the money goes to Pink Ribbon !

 "BEING GREEN IS EASY" 

I hope to see you here in two days
with a new Pink Ribbon Textile Jewel !

day 19, number 10

We had such a lovely birthday party yesterday !
(though it is a lot of work to provide food and drink for so many people,
you have hardly time to really talk to someone )
But it WAS fun to see our loved ones !!!

In front of the window was the best support I could wish
for this "Pinktober month"
a nerine bowdenii
in the brightest PINK there is !

So for today I choose one of my "finds"
(for which I didn't needed to do any felting right now)
and was busy with the fiddly work of making wire legs
(and antennae !)

My PINK RIBBON Textile Jewel
number 10 : 

a wet felted beetle brooch with wire legs and some beads

(7 cm,  2.75")

For a donation of
(at least)

 € 20,- 

this bright critter can come your way
(though big he is quite civilized and doesn't bite !)
You just need to send me an email at
  fiberrainbow.blogspot.com  

and we'll arrange the next steps.
Bank or Paypal
(+ postage)

ALL the money you donate goes to Pink Ribbon !

 "FIRE BUG" 

*

I had three of those lovely Nerine bulbs
and put them in the ground early this summer.
BUT

it turned out that the snails / slugs were very fond of those greens :
before I could say "slug" the greens were nearly gone !
I tried to protect the poor plants
but they were all eaten in no time !
I the end I dug them up (found only one bulb left)
and put it in a pot in a safe place.
I was really happy that I noticed green leaves after a while
and a flower stalk end September which looks sooo pretty right now !!!

I hope to see you tomorrow
with a new Pink Ribbon Textile Jewel

hanging doll

Meet :

FLORA

The hanging doll that I've been working on
for the last two weeks is finished.

It wasn't an easy one,

a lot of choices had to be made,
things tried out and then left behind again.
But now I'm happy with how she looks.

I had some trouble with the wool I was using
because the best wool for needle felting
is NOT the fine Merino tops I have
(and normally use for my wet-felting projects)
I don't had many colours left
of the much more useful Bergschaf wool !!!
So it took a lot more effort to get the Merino ready
to use under my machine.

The extra fun part was making all the flowers.
I made the crochet flowers that I 
often use in the "Pinktober Jewels"
but I also found a new way I found on the net
using two long needles.
And last but not least, the wire-and-nailpolish flowers.

(a good look at the nailpolish flowers)

FLORA in her own domain !

wordless Wednesday

 

birthday and painting

Yesterday
I had a lovely birthday with friends
and there will be more celebrating this Sunday :
a dinner party for a special round-figure birthday !

80


Right now the garden is looking lush with blooming trees and new greenery
(haha, birthday beauty for me !)

Just some days ago I started a new gouache painting.
After the initial idea sketch I made a bigger one 
with more elaborate details,
one ready to move onto the heavy water colour paper.
(I often use a grid for that)

I work in layers, starting with the background.
Earlier on I made the whole background in one colour
but with gouache, unlike acrylic paint,
the pigment dissolves again when the next wet layer is added
(colours start mixing !)
So now I changed that and leave certain parts open.

This far I finished today.

 

a fresh start

April started with sunshine and a few showers
but rather cold and windy
so a perfect time to start a new painting.
I always make several small sketches
of ideas that come into my head
for the narrative gouache paintings I love to make.

People sometimes ask
if I shouldn't make illustrations for (children's) books
but then I always tell them
there is already a little story in it . . .

"helping a friend"

I love the visiting birds in our garden
so here's another painting with a great tit in it.
(I made one with them before and it was sold)

Because the Amelanchier (Juneberry) in the garden is in bloom
I thought it was just right to add that one too.
The fun part is, that this (still) small tree
was sown by some bird a few years back !!!

I start with the background when the sketch is on the paper
(300grams watercolour)

There are more sketches
but, tomorrow we have daughter and the children
looking for Easter eggs in the garden
(and it doesn't matter they don't have the egg-hunting age anymore !)

more colour . . .

The white start of my "Tabula Rasa"-project
has changed to a bit more colourful snippets.

I've thought about the gradual change in colour
and I've come up with a rough scheme now.
The white of the wintry start of the year will
be followed by yellow.

Why ?

THIS is why !!!
When most of the cold is over
the Aconites push their bright yellow heads
through the old Ginkgo leaves that cover the ground !
Yes, way before the Snowdrops, though they
come soon after.

 

And because the weather here in the southwest of the country
is very mild right now
even the first small crocuses are showing !
(the northeast had LOTS of ice, snow and even black ice last week !!!)

But    YELLOW  it is
for the next part of my 15 cm whide strip !

I found a bit of my "Magic Thread" for an extra swirl
(which will appear in the work from time to time
though there is only a small ball left)

*
(SOOOOO many other ideas are whirling in my head
and I've started a few backgrounds already
but
I can't seem to decide what to do next with them)

last day of January

 The first month of this year is nearly gone.
We had a bit of ice and also snow,
though much less than in the north of the country.
Birds are still coming to the garden

but the first Aconites are already above the ground since the 16th !

My mending basket was overflowing and I finally started
on the fingerless mittens daughter made for me last year :

I repaired some stitches and knitted the top again on thinner needles.

And oh my, I really needed those on the Sundays
that I was working on the big "slavery-project"
because it was COLD in the big hall !!!

This BIG project has finally come to an end !

Here they were still filming the last steps of this GIANT tapestry.

But tomorrow we will celebrate the completion of the 35 meters
 with a joint festive lunch !

In February this monumental tapestry is exhibited
in de Grote Kerk, Den Haag (13 - 22 February)
After that it will make a tour along the cities where the work was done :

Rotterdam, Delft, Dordrecht, Gouda, Leiden.

2026

A brand new year has started
so time for some new work to start too :
a 15 cm wide strip of cotton
that I randomly filled with white snippets
the "Tabula Rasa" of the new year 2026
Colour and stitching are my "plan"

Hmmmm
In fact I know that I'm not quite disciplined enough
to keep up a looong challenge
. . . . .
so what am I doing now ???

I started a "year long" circle embroidery
(and didn't even finish the first month)
I started on a pillow case with the TAST instructions
(and that is an UFO too)

Well, we'll see where it will lead me
(or where the ship runs aground)

In any case :

the white matched nicely !!!

(to be continued, I hope)

day 10

Tomorrow I will be away
which meant I had to work double today
otherwise there will be nothing to post tomorrow
and that is NOT how it should be !

While I was taking pictures of today's Textile Jewel
I found the last harvest
Mmmmm !

My PINK  RIBBON Textile Jewel
for day 10 :

a wet felted circle brooch with a crochet flower,
stitched with silk, wool and cotton,
and with many seed beads
(5,5 cm,  2.2")

For a donation of
(at least, because more is welcome too)

 € 20,- 

SOLD  !

these striking colours can be yours,
to keep or to give away to someone dear to you.
Just send me an email at
 fiberrainbow@gmail.com 

(or you can tell me in the comments below)
and the next steps are explained to you.
Bank or Paypal
is possible and easy

ALL  THE  MONEY you donate will be for Pink Ribbon !

 "WARM  GARDEN" 

So tomorrow
despite me being away
don't worry :
there WILL be a Pink Ribbon Textile Jewel here !!!