And so far not a lot is hanging around, but I hope never to forget the magic of looking up into the sky late yesterday afternoon, with snow all around me and see all the snow above waiting to fall. And the feeling of having real life snowflakes dancing all around and in my hair. So excited that I went running out in bare feet, and it wasn’t until an hour later when I came back inside and my feet began warming up that I realised how freakin cold it was and how numb my toes were.

…And I am back, I went back outside just now to experience what heavy snow felt like, because it is unlikely we will ever have heavy snow warnings again, and it feels like such a winter wonderland magical time. I almost feel guilty for sending the children to school, but the deal was that they could only stay home if there was snow on the ground, and this morning there was none…

But this post has gotten way laid. I actually intended to talk about wet felting. I took a class last year with Emily and Nicole and only got finished a brooch for my son’s teacher for Christmas. But in the interests of finishing up some unfinished projects, I took the supplies out determined to at least finish a cover for my phone. I left my phone on a bus last week, and it was really a beat up piece of junk, that could only hold a charge for about 4 hours, but it had all my contacts in and no one handed it in! I am still ever hopeful, just for the contacts, but it was a good reason to finally upgrade, and I got a bargain on a smart phone. Not the iphone of my hearts desire, but a smart phone none the less. And can I say what a new world has opened up to me. It is so incredibly time wasting, and a show of my true colours that I downloaded phone apps before I even learnt to drive the phone sufficiently enough to be able to answer it when it rang!

But, when I went to get a cover for my phone I found my options were limited to one case, as compared to the hundreds that seemed to exist for the iphone. And then I remembered one of the felting projects was for a pouch of some kind, and so I came home motivated to do some proper felting. And oh my goodness….LOVE! It is so much faster than knitting, and I love my pouch, there is a spot where it is a bit weaker, and I only know cause if the light comes on my phone it shines through a bit, but really, overall…it is perfect.

And I know my bead came out not wonderful, and I was going to do another one, and then I thought it looked kind of floral and I liked the imperfectness off it. And I love that I made the little tie, and I just love the whole case. It makes me happier than the phone!

And then after the phone case I was in the felting zone so I made a neck scarf or scarfette…I love the colours and the photos I took do it no justice at all. The back looks like the ocean, and the other is a brightly layered gorgeousness. I love the holes and how perfect they came out and the fabric is so strong from wispy wall…and the speed compared to knitting…perfect winter activity. And thankfully I got a couple of packs of wool, so I have plenty to make some more things with.

And while I was getting the packs of wool I got a nuno scarf set as well, and so I did that as well, and it is absolutely beautiful, though again photos do not do it justice. It needs an iron, and next time I would do longer tassels, I had plenty of wool left for them, but the colours and the drape of the fabric…I had such a good weekend and feel like I accomplished a lot, now having less to do projects to finish as well. And I just want to say how clear all the notes I took from the classes were, and the instructions…it was wonderful, I would completely recommend any classes they have in the future. And as for the supplies and products that Nicole sells at her etsy shop…glorious. The colours are divine, and she is truely lovely to deal with.

If only I could figure out how to join the class flickr group, I could share my little creations!

Added to the snow (which is still snowing by the way! ), I just really refilled my well this weekend. And with my beloved, sick as a dog with the flu, I was expecting a whole other kind of weekend, so my expectations were pleasantly completely wrong. In a place where I have been wondering whether I need to go back on anti-depressants (and hoping I can self care my way through this) it was really nice to be so blissed out for most of the weekend, free from outside worries.

A friend took their life and it was completely unexpected, and it gives pause to reflect.  I had other bad news as well, but really I have been a bit stopped in my tracks by this.

That is my problem I think, I think too much.  I went to the place of where was she that she though this was her only option, and then as I thought about where she must have been, I just got a bit lost there.  I aspire to live more in the present and be more aware and mindful.  The skill is in living that truth when life comes calling.

While all this was going on, I actually thought I hadn’t created much, but I have when looking back been quite busy, probably what has pulled me up and out of the stuckness.

I bought a sewing machine a couple of years ago, took it out once or twice, and it just scared me.  Visions of that young girl getting kicked out of sewing class and going into extra woodwork and metal work classes (which I was not unhappy about ) kept plaguing me and I would become paralysed.

And then a couple of months ago I bought a free form darning foot.  I stashed that with the unused sewing machine.

And then came the weekend.  A while ago I bought some canvas books for an online art class I was doing.  I had a vision for how they would end up, and the online teacher ended up losing her momentum, and so the journals were barely used.  And I didn’t use mine for that project at all.  It just didn’t call to me.

But I had a vision on the weekend, and decided to get them out.  The pages were all doubled over, so I cut the sides to make extra pages, as I want it to be art journal-ly.  I originally intended to pinking shear the outside edges to stop fraying, but my old second hand pinking shears are too blunt for that, and so I got the machine out to figure out how to zig zag the edges.  Thanks to the manual and google I had figured that out in no time.  And then I got hit by the sewing bug.

My first project

Look at those stitches!

And then I began playing with paper and I got out the darning foot and figured out how that worked.  All the time telling myself I was just playing.  I will be honest and two needles were broken during my play period, but I am no longer afraid of the machine.  I loved it.

Paper, material and even old balloons were sewn up...

I have so scraps of paper now sewn together.  Some will form journal pages, others like the one pictured above…I don’t know what I will do with them.  Maybe journal pages.  I just went on a sewing rampage.  And I am completely in love with what that machine can do.  And the free motion darning foot…oh my gosh.  I was like a child.

And then I remembered reading something a long time ago just after I got my sewing machine, and I had material stashed for that, and I had even bought the ribbons, so I went ahead and ran them up after doing a quick google search for the post…

And funnily enough these were just before dinner as well.  Note there is only one skirt pictured but there were two made, she is wearing one of them today!

I have to say it appeals greatly to my hippie sensibilities that my daughter was twirling around in a new skirt made from sheets I slept on as a child.  I had rescued them from my sister a while ago who had been given them to use as drop cloths and I am so glad I did.  The stitching isn’t perfect and my mother mentioned how the stitches weren’t very straight…but frankly…I love it.  I love that it is crooked stitching made with this mama’s love.