Various items I will have at the Contextural sale this year...

HANDMADE BOOKS

(with Resist-Clamped dyed Wool covers, 

6" square and  4.5" square and 5" by 7", 

all $50 each)

INDIGO DYED SILK DEVORE SCARVES

(various sizes averaging 14" by 70", 

with and without fringed ends, 

flat or raised velvet finishes, 

$70 each)

Indigo dyed Shibori silk scarf

KEEPSAKE POUCH necklaces 

( 2"x3" bags filled with semi-precious stones. 

Done in waxed Irish Linen, using a needle and thread and 2000 stitches, 

the technique is called "nalbinding", and ancient knotless looping stitch which predates knitting by centuries. Many different colours and decorations available. $70)

VASES

Pyrography and Watercolours on Watercolour papers

(Original artwork. 

6" square and 8" square, mounted on canvas frames, 

$60 and $70) 

NATURAL DYED SILK DEVORE SCARVES

with pomegranate, logwood, cutch, fustic and more

(average size 14" by 70", 

with and without fringed ends, 

flat or raised velvet finishes,

$70 each)

 NEWBORN AND INFANT SIZED COTTON TOQUES

(Hand dyed and illustrated, 

$25 each)

Keepsake Pouches

Using the oldest stitch known to man, called "nalbinding", these necklaces are made with a needle and waxed linen thread and 2000 stitches. They are then decorated with buttons and beads in corresponding colour schemes, and filled with semi-precious gems. A card with the spiritual properties of the stones is included. What can you add to yours?

More necklaces for Calyx

During my travels last fall I have been stitching the bodies of my KEEPSAKE POUCHES and their 2000 stitches done with needle and a waxed linen thread. I have now decorated them with buttons and beads in preparation for Calyx this weekend. Here are shots of them with the semi-precious stones that are contained within and the spiritual properties of each. What can you add to yours?

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Red Jasper

Red jasper is a stone of fairness and justice. It decreases unjustness and helps in unfair situations. It enhances responsibility, choice, and compassion. It can enhance dream recall and assist in protection and rescue from danger. It is also a stone that helps in all areas of survival, and is a very protective stone.

Quartz

Clear quartz crystal is a power stone that harmonizes and balances. It enhances energy and thoughts, and purifies the spiritual, mental, and physical. It is also a powerfully protective stone, bringing the purified energy in. Due to its ability to balance, quartz is excellent for harmonizing and balancing one's environment. Quartz is also good for energizing other crystals.

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Carnelian

Carnelian is a healing stone that counteracts feelings of apathy, fear and rage. It fosters a feeling of peace within and without. It also imparts self-confidence and inspired verbal and written communication.

Red Jasper

Red jasper is a stone of fairness and justice. It decreases unjustness and helps in unfair situations. It enhances responsibility, choice, and compassion. It can enhance dream recall and assist in protection and rescue from danger. It is also a stone that helps in all areas of survival, and is a very protective stone.

Leopardskin Jasper

Leopardskin is a stone that aids in service to others – it helps to discover and connect. It makes it easier for one to take responsibility properly and it helps with creative visualization. As with all jaspers, this is a protective stone.

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Blue Lace Agate
Blue Lace Agate is a great choice for self-expression; it makes it much easier to express oneself, it helps one to speak their truth and makes it easier to convey your thoughts while speaking. This stone also works directly with the nervous system to alleviate physical tension, it is very calming and people who are agitated are drawn to its energy.

Amethyst
Promotes inner calm & peace, initiates wisdom & understanding. It works in the emotional, spiritual, and physical planes to provide calm, balance, patience, and peace. It engenders courage and inner strength.

Amazonite
Amazonite is an extremely soothing stone. It calms the brain and nervous system. It is a stone that helps you to see both sides of a problem or different points of view. It soothes emotional trauma, alleviates worry and fear; it dispels negative energy and aggravation.

 

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Calyx 2

I was out of town for the month of September, first on the west coast with my art group Articulation for our annual study session; then to Ontario for family visiting to show I was (almost) back to normal after the holiday accident in May.

While away I worked on stitching lots of my keepsake bags - the body part is made of over 2000 stitches out of waxed Irish Linen thread and takes hours to produce. Then I came home and got to decorate them all... the fun begins! And I become quite attached to the different colourways I select for each.

Pulling out beads and buttons of all sorts and sizes and colours:

Here is the shot of new necklaces all ready for Calyx:
 
And some close ups of the finished ones:

And a sampling of what they contain. I select semi-precious stones and gems (and give a handout of their spiritual properties) to add to them based upon the colour scheme of each:

Keepsake Pouches

These are necklaces I make with a needle and thread (Irish linen that is waxed to hold the shape). The stitch is called "nalbinding" and is one of the oldest stitches used by mankind (it predates knitting by centuries). The actual bag is 2" x 3" and is made with over 2000 stitches. Then I decorate them with buttons, beads or charms, make an adjustable neck cord with either a leather thong, or braided linen, and then add semi-precious stones or gems inside them.

These are the ones I currently have in stock (they tend to disappear quickly, so I don't usually have time to even post them on Etsy.) They will be available at the Calyx sale on Sunday.

And here they are packed for the show...

Calyx art... 3

Matching the scarves by using some of the same plants for monoprints, I also have unframed prints available for the Saturday sale.

The mat size is 14" x 18", gelatin prints of plant material from Bergen in the Alberta foothills.

detail

detail

I will also have my necklaces, a 3" long pouch that I make with 2000 stitches then decorate with beads and charms, and fill with semi-precious stones.

Different Strokes Art Gallery

I just deliver a lot of my smaller pieces to my rep gallery in Olds, Alberta.

- brooches - the upcycled cashmere and merino wool, as well as the Clementine Design hat and lapel pins,
- Keepsake Pouch necklaces filled with semi-precious gems and stones,
- felted paperweights (beach stones carried across the mountains from the west coast of Vancouver Island and felted with merino wool),
- small framed textile pieces, some mounted on backgrounds of fibres like banana leaf yarn; and also flowers free machine embroidered onto copper metal,


Different Strokes is a lovely gallery on main street (50th Street) in downtown Olds, approximately 45 minutes north of Calgary on the Queen Elizabeth #2 highway, run by Debbie Ohlhausen who's philosophy is:

"Different Strokes Art Gallery is committed to broadening the confines of what individuals think of when they hear the term "Gallery". We believe that art is not necessarily meant to be quiet and passive - a gallery should have the same passion for its exhibited artworks that the artists have for their own work.

Different Strokes exhibits all forms of art by artists and artisans, mainly from Alberta, focusing on the artist and not just the art work. We welcome all art lovers to come in, be our guest, and appreciate the many different shapes, forms and sizes that art can take"

Her web site is here.

It is a lovely gallery full of Albertan artists that is worthy of a visit...

My ETSY shop

I opened an Etsy shop in the spring, doing it slowly, only listing a few items. With all the sales I've been involved with this fall, and now with small pieces in two galleries in the province... I have just updated my listings and will finally link it to my blog.

My Etsy name is "LovelyFibres".

Here is how it will be seen on my blog, and if you click on any part of it, it goes to my actual Etsy site. Enjoy perusing...

Keepsake Pouches

When I am not working on larger pieces for specific exhibitions, I continue to work on smaller things that I can sell at art sales through the year. One of these things are my Keepsake Pouches, a handmade pouch made out of waxed Irish Linen that can be used as a keeper of one's personal amulets and talisman.

The last group of these were made for the Women Rock study and were made in the colours of rock (black), ice (white) and blue Alberta skies (blue). After spending approximately 8 hours making one of these (all done with needle and thread) I then pick beads, buttons and charms to decorate them and then fill them with colour coordinated crystals and semi-precious stones. They are then hung on an adjustable leather thong.

The ones shown above are all sold, and the ones below are some I still have around at the moment.