Eco Etsy: March Madness-Free and Green

I'm a member of the EcoEtsy Street Team (www.ecoetsy.com), a group of artists and crafters who create and sell in an eco-conscious manner on Etsy.

During the whole month of March our team is having a month long promotion, March madness-free and green. Anyone who buys from one of the participating shops and includes the promotion code at checkout will receive a freebie from that shop.

You can find all the information, as well as the links to the participating shops here:
http://www.ecoetsy.com/marchmadness.html

More sales

The pink felt art handbag "Find the Centre"has been sold yesterday. This lovely handbag will be sent to the UK today.

This nuno felted shawl, "Intense Love", was my februarychallenge for the Fibre Art Etsy Street Team. The monthly team was emotions.
The shawl will go to a lucky owner in California.

You can find more februarychallenges by going on www.etsy.com and search for februarychallenge.

Help support the Victorian Bushfire Appeal

The country side of Victoria has suffered loss of lives as well as loss of property and lots of land burnt out in the last weeks.
To support the victims of the bushfire, the Down Under Etsy Street Team (DUST team) has decided to open an etsy shop and all proceeds will be donated to the Australian Red Cross.

Many items have been donated and purchased by Australian and International etsians.
If you have an etsy shop and want to donate or if you want to support, go to:
http://ozbushfireappeal.etsy.com

Three beautiful felt art pieces found a new owner.

This 3 pieces, Maroon Silky Poncho, Green Royal Shawl and Romantic Neckpiece in old pinks and reds, will leave tomorrow on a journey to meet their new owner in Turkey.
I loved making them and am happy that someone is going to enjoy wearing them.

Longing for the ocean nomination.

I just got to know that I am one of the winners of the 'Longing for the ocean" nomination of the eco etsy street team. Knitstorm nominated me with my item Blue Ocean Shawl. Go and check out the other winners as well at http://ecoetsy.blogspot.com/2009/01/themed-nomination-winners-longing-for.html

Recycling fabric scraps

I like to keep all my scraps and don't like the idea of throwing them away. Often I come across my collection of forgotten treasures what someone else would probably throw out.
Being in a cleaning up mood, I found some bags with tiny leftover fabric bits and was wondering what to do with them.
We need some cushions, wow, great idea. I use them for cushion fillings, they are too small for anything else anyway. Everything goes in the cushion bag: cotton threads, silk bits, felt snippets.
Cleaning up can be fun after all.

My new blog about sustainability

Besides my love for textiles, I have a passion for a healthy, sustainable and natural lifestyle.

On my new blog, sustainable ways, I am going to share some of my experiences and creative ideas with you.

I welcome you to have a look at http://sustainableways.blogspot.com

A creative new year for everyone

Lots of creativity this year, for everyone . I have enjoyed writing last year and want to also bring some tutorials this year to give ideas for new creativity.
Difficult times can make people inventive and creative. There is always a positive side on every situation.
I am sure that we are all artists, we just need to let it flow.
Be aware though, it can become addictive!

Handy handbag gone

This handbag was sold in my etsy shop a few days ago and will be on her way to meet her new owner.

The handbag is made in hand felted wool on a background of recycled cotton fabric.

The cotton was a mustard yellow and has been overdyed with natural indigo dyeing.

New Shawls

After some serious struggling with internet access, I finally could add some pieces to my etsy shop.

I have been making some shawls that I'm really proud of.

OCEAN SHAWL.

I liked to picture the foaming waves in the ocean near the beach. I used silk chiffon and also some knitted white cotton to achieve that. I wanted the silk to ruffle so that there would me more life into it. This happened naturally during the felting process.

go to ocean scarf on etsy

COLOURS OF THE REEF.

This shawl was really playing at good luck and see what the outcome would be. I used silk for this nuno felted piece and 2 thin layers of wool, one on each side. I played with colours and added some fabrics and lace. This is the outcome.

This shawl has been sold.

ROYAL GRACE GREEN SHAWL.

This time I took my leftovers from other projects and felted them all together in this one shawl. It was very experiental and totally unpredictable, as every part reacted differently to the felting process.

go to royal grace shawl on etsy

Embossed Copper Flower

Marta had been doing a lot of artwork during her childhood and did rediscover art in her adult years. Now she is having a lovely time making paintings and drawings. She also loves playing with shapes and textures; the copper flower is a good example of both: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9797233

She makes a lot of Art Cards, Editions and Originals, in short called ACEO. These cards are the size of a trading card, 2.5" x 3.5". Art Cards have been traded among artists for some time. They have become more and more popular, and now ACEOs are available for sale to collectors who wish to buy them. Art Cards are highly collectable and affordable mini-masterpieces. They enable art collectors to own a large variety of art from around the world.

She loves to share her techniques with other people on her blog http://sebentamarta.blogspot.com

where she gives step by step instructions about techniques used in her work.

Her etsy shop: http://martaharvey.etsy.com

Magic Yellow Cosmos

The flowers of yellow cosmos are not only a beauty in the garden, they also yield a variety of vibrant colours.

I'll give a short overview of a few colours you can achieve with this wonderful flowers.

The yellow and orange flowers both give the same results. I haven't tried other cosmos.

The wool is first mordanted with alum. A mordant is needed to fix the dye to the fibers. I use the natural rock alum, I am lucky to have a supplier in this area.

After boiling the flowers in water, I put the wool in the dyebath and let it boil until desired colour intensity. This will give a yellow colour.

Now the fun starts. We can modify the yellow colour in many different ways:

-soak in water with vinegar: the colour will turn more into a lemon yellow.

-soak in water with soda: this yields a bright orange.

-soak in rusted nail water (this is obtained by putting rusted nails in water and vinegar for at least a few days): you'll get an olive green.

-soak in rested nail water, rinse and soak in soda water: the wool becomes rust brown to dark warm brown.

I only use natural and non toxic ingredients in my natural dye techniques. This keeps it safe for me and for the planet.

One of my result with yellow cosmos dyes:

brown and orange vest

Silence

This work is a sunset at the sea with a few coconut palms in the foreground.

I felted this wall panel to depict the silence and peace on a quiet evening on the beach with the only sound the waves and the wind in the palm leaves.

The wool has been dyed with onion skins and yellow cosmos flowers, both mordanted with alum and some have been treated afterwards with soda or iron water (rusted nails in water) or a combination of the 2 methods to give a range of different yellows, oranges and browns. The finishing touch was done with stitching.

silence detail

Seasonal Dilemma

It is getting hotter here, in the tropics of Far North Queensland and working with wool makes it even warmer.

Visitors at the market tell me that it is too hot to even look at wool.

So, I started to list winter items in my etsy shop, hoping they will find a new owner in a cold country, while focusing on other local projects.

Time for a change! I am ready to change direction with my business, so it's all fitting in perfectly.

I will still be making felt clothing and also extend my creativity in other areas, something I have been willing to do for years.

I will upload some photos of my wall hangings that I made in the past in a next post.

The challenge with clothing is often the sizes. And because I make mainly one off pieces, I need the right person with the right size who likes the right colour and in in the right season and possibly in the right mood!....

Sno Globe, the spirit of winter.

Isn't this piece amazing!

Hand crafted by Karina of The SecretNest it is definitely a one off sculpture, using mixed media.

It brings a warm feeling, right what you need if you're experiencing winter on the moment.

Karina likes making sculptures that invoke the spirit of different seasons and/or geographical locations. This one is of course all about winter. She is very drawn to color, but sometimes She just loves using an all-white palette.

Find out more about Sno Globe.