ULLABENULLA

Inspiring Me Today...

I love that this is called a 'Make Do' purse!  Now I want to get all my little bits and pieces out and 'Make Do A Purse'!

Link

 

 

Birds Of A Feather...

This amazing work is by Penny Leaver Green!  Her discovery of an old fan with birds on it, tattered and torn, has now become a delightful work of art!  Be sure and look deeper into her websight for more wonderful creations!!!  She also has an Etsy Shop - well worth exploring!

Via Kickcan & Conkers!

  

 

Swedish Folklore Textile Designs

My Husbands Grandparents came from Dalarna when they were young.  We have a large collection of wooden Dalarna Horses to prove it!  I have always been fond of Scandinavian folk art, and recently discovered the site for Jobs Handtryck.  These fabrics have been entirely printed by hand since 1944. Patterns created years ago are as modern today as they were yesterday!  Hand-printed means expensive, at around $140.00 a yard, but its hard to resist these patterns!  You can also buy their fabric made up into handbags, pillows and shoes among other goodies.  I just love the pumpkin print above, wouldn't it make a wonderful Autumn tablecloth? Or how about the beautiful chestnut print below, perfect for a woodland party!

Available statewide through Magdalena York Collection  

 

Beetle Wing Tea Cozy...

Truthfully I would rather wear this as a Hat then put it over my teapot - but thats just me...

Via Hampshire Museum.

Friends...

“I believe that friends are quiet angels who sit on our shoulders and lift our wings when we forget how to fly.”

—Unknown

Delightful WISPIES created by Shena Meadowcroft

Relic's Contained...

Isn't this French 17th century Reliquary Box wonderful?  I love how the embroidery so perfectly frames each relic, and how the softness of the flowers invites us in for a closer look.  Was this kept on a shelf or perhaps carried around when most in need?  A truly stunning treasure!!!  

Found via Le Curieux Petit Lieu. 

Swedish Lace and Simplicity...

Simple and stunning textile work by Pia Aaseby  a Swede living in Provence, above.  

And by Anna Fleberg, another Swedish artist - below.  Via the beautiful blog Hannas Form.

Feathered Tea...

I am enjoying the embroidery of Renie Breskin Adams, especially this one...  Wouldn't you love to have tea with the birds?

Birthing An Alligator - Part 1

When I think of Alligators I think:

*Big

*Powerful

*Frightening

*Primal (thank you Lea for reminding me of this!)

*And in the case of my 'Alligator Wall' - Fun!

So why work on an Alligator right now?  Well, partly once I assembled my 'Alligator Wall' I felt it needed something down in the lower left hand corner...  But I suddenly realized that there is Much Much more to this project then just creating a filler for my wall!  

I have been wanting to get back into TEXTILES for quite a while now.  Textiles is my background, I spent years learning about, playing with and creating with it in the form of wearable art.  I made dolls for many years and loved  'dressing them' the best.  Teaching at the CASTLE pushed my art much more towards PAPER.  I love paper!  But there is something really deep inside of ME that needs to work with fibers and textiles.

So I have started an Alligator...

Not just any alligator, but a BABY Alligator, and I thought you might enjoy hearing about my process as I take this leap back to my roots so to speak.

  

I spent some time looking for a nice Alligator silhouette, and decided I liked the one shown on top of this post the best.  After finding the image, I enlarged it 250%, so its more life-size.  In reality my enlarged version measures about 25 inches from nose to tail.  Feeling the need to stay 'sustainable and green' I also decided to only use fabrics and materials that I already have.  I first cut out the basic Alligator shape of a nice raw cotton batting.   Then I lay this on top of a shrunken wool sweater and traced the shape to re-cut.  But this time I cut the shape about a 1/4 of an inch smaller all the way around.  I'm totally in a grove now, not really thinking why - just doing...

My reasoning for using creamy whites here in the beginning has to do with my love of the 'White Alligator' that lives in San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences.  He is a real beauty and a true must see!

Next I stitched the two layers together with a darker thread, outlining the shape.  I worked fast, and left the loose threads.

At this point I truly wasn't quite sure how to proceed.  After letting it sit for a few hours, I decided to go back to one of my favorite techniques when I was in school - Reverse Applique.

"In reverse applique two layers of fabric are used and the top layer is cut away showing the fabric underneath."

As tempted as I might be to let it be finished now, I still feel it needs more.  I found THIS IMAGE while doing some computer browsing yesterday and something about it just struck a chord!  Partly it was the colors used, but also the simplicity of shapes.   I pulled out my box of Fabric Scraps and started digging - looking for colors that spoke to me.

After finding a few pieces that seem to say Alligator, I began cutting them into tiny squares and circles.  I also went through my button box and dug out a large handful of tiny mother of pearl buttons - harking back to the White Alligator who inspired the initial coloring.  

  

Now the fun part, how to use these little bits and pieces...  Here is what I have lain out so far.  I don't want the initial Applique cuts to disappear, yet I do want something NEW to happen.

I'm feeling inspired by how my embroidery threads happen to be arranged.  Haphazardly but in a definite color range.

Thats as far as I've come.  

I am finding it profound that I chose a 'Baby Alligator' to do this project.  I see this as a Baby Step towards going back to my fiber roots.  I hope you enjoy hearing about my process and following along on this new path...  

More Soon!  

Embroidered Garden...

An antique stumpwork masterpiece garden via Each Little World.

Rabbits and Cabbages - Oh my!

With Easter around the corner, I am loving this textile design by Thornback & Peel!

Circle Exchange in France...

How fun is this?  A 'CD' circle exchange, sponsored by Nathalie Locquen in France!  There is something so complete about a circle, and seeing the variety and scope here, makes me want to see an entire wall filled with these lovely little creations!!!  There appears to be a 'theme' each month, and if you are good with a Translator it seems as if you could join in the fun too!

(link via Histoires de boites a couture)

 

Mourning Hairwork Designs in honor of 'Day Of The Dead'

For 'Day of the Dead' I have found these amazing images of Hairwork Mourning Jewelry from the NY Public Library Digital Gallery.  I have always been amazed at how intricate the Victorians could weave human hair!   (link via Fed by Birds)  

Emerging Illusions Fashion Fantasies!

Once a year in the spring, San Francisco plays host to The Emerging Illusions Alternative Fashion show.  Designed to showcase up and coming fashion and costume designers from the Punk, Goth and Industrial scenes, its a tour de force of creative inspiration!  I love the grab-bag feel of these outfits.  Bits and pieces of fabrics, zippers, lace, and trims, deconstructed and then reconstructed into costumes any fashion Magpie would adore!!!  Link

One More ~ MONSIEUR REINAERT SCARF

Just because its so clever!!!  By MVOS, and for sale at Green Grass Design!

Medical Sampler or Art?

Sometimes we find beauty in the most unexpected places...  This is an amazing Surgical suture sampler, circa 18th century, from the Zurich Medical History Museum in Switzerland.  Just look at the variety of stitch techniques and detail, all appropriate for different anatomical regions and types of injury.  If you put aside the use, and look at it purely for design, it's quite stunning!  Link via Bioephemera. 

  

Fibers and Fairytales!

I am still stumbling over using different computers. Now I'm on Husbands laptop... No access to my photos yet, but at least I am not crashing everywhere I visit! Here are a couple of truly amazing handbags by Ema from Japan! I LOVE her sense of whimsy and eye for details! (link via We're All Mad Here!

A Beautiful Agony

In need of something different to wear? How about something by Reem Alasadi? I am loving her ripped and torn looks, and of course her use of gloves and doll heads! How does she describe her latest collection?

"Diaphanous and distressed, a short silhouette constructed with strict attention, ethereal soft sexy movements layered with dark edginess. Precious re-used lace and treasured metal trims liberated from a loved dress, convey a personal history. A fleeting glimpse from a romantic sepia-toned time, promised within the emotional savagery of aggressive street styling. Victorian forms in leather & wool, bustles and shoulders, drenched beads & lace. Why shout your message when you can retain some mystery, a whispered promise.............. this is our beautiful agony."

Surely one cannot get more romantic then this? 'Born in Iraq, raised in England... From her market stall on London's historic Portobello Road, she teaches others what English eccentricity is all about: her Arabic roots push the envelope of exotic mixes even further by using fur, lace, cotton knits, stained linen under-skirts, embroidered pantaloons, dolled-up camisoles, and curious mementos suspended from stiffly-starched shirting collars with ceramic wooden beads, protestant jet strings, and catholic streams of crystal with shreds of matte cotton haberdashery and macrame, to compose floral fragments of visionary jewelry...' (See more Here and Here)

A Pastoral Dollmakers Gift!

It was last October that dear Fine Pigg chose my name out of 'The Old Top Hat' for Christine Crocker's 20th Anniversarie Celebration! Then to top it off, (pun fully intended!) Christine asked me if she could make my PRIZE in colors of my own choosing! Of course I said YES! I told her I love old faded colors, roses and greens... So of course I was thrilled yesterday when a box arrived from Christine with my own personal 'Antique Worn Velvet Pinkeep' within!!! Beautifully handcrafted with rose printed bark-cloth, pink polka dotted tulle, and luscious antique velvet berries on top of a lovely hand-turned wood stand, I could barely wait to encrust it with my favorite pins! It now sits proudly on my dressing table, looking like a splendid dessert topped cake, delivered straight from a Fairy Bakery! THANK YOU CHRISTINE, for treating me with such BEAUTY!!!

Tea Towel Purse...

Hannah Lamb
Having always loved the textile work of Hannah Lamb, I picked up some purse frames Online a couple of years ago. I must have spent days trying to figure out how to sew a purse that not only would fit into the frames but also open up wider then a fingers width - with NO success. Well yesterday, my dear friend Judy and I decided we would put our heads together and 'figure it out'! After about two hours of feminine swearing and fiddling with patterns Judy went on line and found This LINK! We knew the solution would be easy, we just didn't know it would be that easy to find on line. I decided to use a wonderful PINK French Tea Towel that I bought from Quel Objet a while back to make my first purse. It went together with ease, once we had the pattern-drafted. The most difficult part of making the purse was attaching the fabric to the frame. Rather than gluing the fabric into the frame (didn't know what kind of glue to use?) I bought a small rubber mallet to gently pound it together. It slipped quite a bit and I had to re-pry it open a few times and re-hammer. I think this is something that one perfects over time - at least I hope so. I made a small stuffed handle but wanted the option to add a long strap later, so I attached the handle with buttons on either side of the frame. I'm quite happy with the outcome, and look forward to playing with lots of different shapes and fabrics in the near future!!!

Here is a photo of the purses made by Hannah Lamb that inspired me...