You are never too old to learn Chemistry

You are never too old to learn Chemistry
I've discovered that it is actually possible to enjoy that dreaded school subject if you have a passionate and interesting teacher.  Irit Dulman is one of those. She perches on her stool surrounded by eager students ready to learn and experiment and play through her Natural Dyeing Workshop. To put it simply we are learning to dye silk and wool with plants.
With pots of bubbling water and vats of prepared Indigo dye, assorted scales for measuring, spoons, and spatulas and containers of interesting powders and thermometers we watch and assist in deep concentration.
Bye bye Harry Potter. Hello Irit Dulman. To add to the magic she even has a wand to be used to call attention to her budding wizards:-)
We learnt that Indigo leaves create remarkable blues through chemistry . Think of your favourite pair of denim jeans .:-)
We noted that Madder is a root for dyeing red and Weld is a whole plant for yellow dye.
For fabric to absorb strong and permanent colours from the plants, it needs the addition of a mordant. This is a substance to prepare the fabric beforehand. It is a technical and precise encounter with science , as different fabrics require different mordents . The results are fascinating as we compared the brilliant colour samples of  mordanted dyed fabrics with the insipid shades that were unmordanted .
I filled pages with notes, met some wonderful people, and spent two days marvelling at the splendour of natural dyeing.

Italian Inspiration

Arriving at Rome airport  I was delighted to see my sister  Phyllis Hoffman wearing a wide brimmed hat covered with  her colourful handmade felt flowers. Who could miss her sitting on her suitcase waiting patiently for my arrival.

And so began our Italian Inspiration 3 weeks of fun and laughter, sharing Hotel rooms just like the sisters we were  in our childhood when we shared a room.  Phyllis neat and organised  and me spread out all over every empty space and chair. Nothing had changed, only I kept her awake with my snoring, not like when we were kids and she kept me awake with her chatter about the children in her class. I would listen for hours, fall asleep and wake up and she was still talking.

Rome is  a beautiful city to  explore on foot. From the hotel Centro , close to the Termini Railway station we wandered around marvelling at everything  from the  delicious pasta that we ate to Churches we visited and the plentiful colourful scarves we saw flapping in the wind for sale.

It was raining on the first day  so we wisely carried our umbrellas and portable  plastic macks. They proved to be  very useful the next day.

Italian hotel breakfasts are short and sweet. Cheese slices, processed meat slices , bread, muesli and plenty of sweet cookies .

Our second day we were collected from the Hotel for  our pre booked tour of the Vatican.  My school years spent at a convent had not prepared me for the vast splendour of the Vatican.  Apparently it was not a busy day as it was raining, however there were about 30,000 people there that day. . It was worth the slow shuffle through the Sistine Chapel gazing up  at  the great works of art, architecture and sculpture,

Memories in a Suitcase

While visiting family in Melbourne recently I stumbled upon an old suitcase amongst my sister Phyllis’s possessions. I admired it from afar as she gave me a history of her childhood stamp collection, that she had carried around in the suitcase from Johannesburg South Africa to Rhodesia, back to Cape Town and then finally to Melbourne, Australia. So I wandered over to the suitcase and discovered it was my old school case. Memories came tumbling out and I wondered what happened to my class mates from 1960 FORM 111D Roosevelt Park, High School, Johannesburg. If anyone knows, hey please let me know.

Talking about memories:
I am reminded of a trip I took two years after the death of my daughter Hayley who was killed in a car crash at age 19. She had been on her way from Cape Town to Johannesburg with her boyfriend, who survived the crash.
In reality I needed some sort of closure and wanted to follow her trip through the Karoo and rest under the tree that she and her boyfriend had rested, minutes before that fateful accident. Normally very gregarious, I had been so silent since we set off from Cape Town.
Sid, my long time companion was driving and he slowed the car down every so often to just to check that I was still breathing and alive. We arrived at the spot where the big shady tree stood and Sid went off to fill the car with gas and he left me alone to honour Hayley’s memory and shed my tears. . After a time I returned to the car and we once again continued on our journey.
Ten minutes later there was a fork in the road, one road led to the Johannesburg where we were headed and one road let to Durban. As soon as I saw that sign I perked up.
“Sid, I want to take the Durban road and visit my old Boarding school”

My memories of Newcastle dated back some 40 odd years. It was a small town with few tarred roads, and a couple of motels and shops. At the one end of the main road was the Train station and at the other was a dirt road that led straight into St Dominics.
Sid and I arrived in the town when it was dark. I tried to get my bearings with 40 year old memories. To my shock I discovered that the Train station had been relocated out of the town years previously as the town prospered However, to my delight St Dominics was still a school, but no longer a Convent for Girls as it had been in my day.

The next day we located the school. I wandered around until I found some ladies working in the office. They showed me around, taking me into classrooms, and introducing me to the pupils and teachers. It was moving for me indeed to see not only boys and girls but a completely racially integrated school. In the 50’ the political buzz word was the Group Areas Act. There was talk of relocating different racial Groups and moving the few Indian families living close to the school into some isolated place.
Now it was a different time. Mandela was President and integration was the political buzz word. I marvelled at how far we had journeyed. But I digress.
As we walked along a passage leading to the Assembly Hall, I spotted a small door with a padlock beneath an adjoining building. Fascinated I stopped as memories came flooding back “The Box Room” I exploded.
“We have been trying for years to figure out what this door is for,” said the lady who was escorting me.
Nostalgia hit me as I reminisced about the assortment of labelled suitcases, trunks and luggage bags lined up outside the “box room “ for the pupils to collect and pack before going home for the holidays. Mine was special. It was made by my father in his Engineering factory: steel, sprayed light grey, rounded edges and must have weighed 50lbs, no mean feat for a 10 year old girl to carry.
Above picture is:
l-r Phyllis Hoffman,Elaine Sackson, Elizabeth Hertz taken at St Dominics 1955

Felted Vests. A Step-by-Step Guide

My sister Phyllis Hoffman has shrunk centimetres since we last met 2yrs ago. That is expected, as we are both in our senior years but her shrinkage has been sizable.
So what has her newly released book “Felted Vests” got to do with her body shrinkage? Strangely enough, a lot.

One day, when we were kids, our older sister Elizabeth who was 10 yrs old took her pocket money and decided to treat us to a bus ride to the Big City to go shopping without telling our parents. The next thing we were shipped off to St Dominics Academy, Newcastle, Natal, a Catholic boarding school for girls, far away from home.
I found friends, and caused havoc with midnight feasts and ghost stories. Elizabeth became a model student and played the violin, while 7 year old Phyllis was taken under the wing and nurtured by Sister Clare, the Dormitory nun. She taught Phyllis to knit and sew and created in her a lifelong creative passion for handiwork.

After 4 yrs we left the Convent, but the die was cast for Phyllis’s creative passion. As a teenager she suffered from severe back pain which ultimately turned out to be Scoliosis. Besides the pain, Phyllis couldn’t find clothes that fitted her unaligned body, so she started making her own clothes and, as commercial patterns didn’t fit, she started adjusting and making her own patterns, while bringing up children, studying, teaching, sewing and writing books.

Over the years, Phyllis relocated with her growing family from Rhodesia ( Zimbabwe) to South Africa and finally to Melbourne, Australia where all her creative skills have culminated in her latest book.

As a Felter, the book captured my attention. The cover is bright, and fresh and the title is exactly what it says “Felted Vests A Step-by-Step Guide.” I have read the book from cover to cover and will tell you why I like it, aside from her being my sister! 1. When she writes and gives descriptions it is as though she is speaking to her reader. 2. She gives the names of equipment required. Important especially for pattern making. 3. The layout is clear and concise and it is easy to navigate the book. 4. She shows graphically how to draft a basic pattern and take measurements. 5. She also shares how to make silk paper and illustrates decorative stitches. Although Phyllis's bones may have shrunk, her latest book will surely expand interest in sharing with her the art of making elegant felted clothes. Elaine

Zen of Wire

My life changed forever when I met Eli. Artist, Sculptor and Teacher, Eli's natural manner and gentleness guides and inspires his students of which I am part.
As a Felter I wanted to master fashioning wire skeletons onto which I would add layers and layers of merino wool and wet felt it into cats and dogs and people and whatever my mind could conjure.

Eli gave me a roll of wire and pliers and left me alone. He returned some time later to find me entangled in a mesh of wire . Oh dear, I was so clueless. And so my first lesson followed with a discussion of proportions ,diagrams, books were brought out and techniques were demonstrated. I loved that and then I was left alone while I internalised all I had learned and honed my new craft.

The weeks flew by as I cut and wound meters of wire morphing Adam into Eve , widening her hips and narrowing her shoulders until one day Eve emerged weighing close to a solid 1000g /2.2lbs of wire. She looked good, but what to do with her. Aha, it dawned on me that some years ago, my partner Faz had made a stand for jewelry. I stood her inside the tree shaped wire and she looked comfortable and at peace, but I sensed from the depths of her wired soul she yearned for company.

The idea of Adam was disgarded and over the next few weeks I fashioned four playful Wirelings to hover around her. I believe that she enjoys their company . I wanted to create a fun and interactive sculpture, something dynamic to play with, which I promise I do regularly as I pass my Wirelings every day on the way out the front door, I move them around and see that they are behaving themselves.

I felt so priveledged to have recently had Eve and her Wirelings on display at an exhibition in Israel.

Elaine

Jerusalem

The unrelenting humidity of the Ra'anana summer nudged me to take a daytrip to Jerusalem. I longed to chill out in the airconditioned bus travelling to the dryer heat of the hills of Jerusalem, passing shady forests, and finally catching the glow of the Jerusalem skyline. The tour was to the newly revamped Israel Museum, Sculpture Garden and Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem.

It is always fun to meet up with other expatriat South Africans . You can sit next to a total stranger on a bus and end up with a 2nd cousin twice removed . Well that is what Jewish geography is about...connections. But I digress.

The original Israel Museum , built atop the Hill of Tranquility was inaugurated in 1965. It was designed by Architect Alfred Mansfeld with the interior designer Dora Gad . Mansfeld's plan was inspired by the modernists of the time. His concept was for a modular system of spaces with potential for expansion. Over the years the Museum grew but there was always a disconnect and fragmentation between the Entrance and various Exhibition halls. The newly revamped Israel Museum at a cost of some $100,000 million somehow solidifies the architecture, ambience, art and exihibits into a truly memorable experience.
A very interesting enclosed walkway Route of Passage bridging the Museum entrance with the Gallery Entrance has been built. At the end of the route of passage is an amazing rainbow installation by Olafur Eliasson "Whenever the Rainbow Appears".
From afar, the rainbow appears to be painted on one flat surface. As you get closer you see the 300 hand painted canvases each measuring 5 x 240 cm. extending
15 mtres with the spectrum of light visible to the human eye.

I love meandering around Art galleries and Sculpture Gardens and Museums. It always inspires creativity. My latest felted bag with silk inlays reeminds me somewhat of textiles used long long ago.
I recently stumbled upon a Decorative Art exhibition and was fascinated by an interesting shaped chair covered with musical notes. A kind of " Musical chair" It was the work of Anat Nitzan, Artist and Art Curator.

To Family, Friends and Followers
L'Shona Tova
May you all be Blessed with Love, Light and Joy for the New Year.

Elaine

Fashion Fusion

In addition to FELT4U’s virtual store, we are excited that our nuno felted wraps are now available at the Julia milano boutique on Tel Aviv’s most upmarket shopping area, Kikar Hamedina. The Kikar (‘Square’) is the hotspot for those looking for their label fix - Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren and Gucci are all here.
Julia milano bills itself as a store for luxury basics. This is the flagship outlet in Israel for the Milan based leather goods manufacturers which started as a family business in 1950. We love the soft leather of the bags the craftsmanship and the innovative design – the straw effect Summer bag caught our eye as did the lightweight Bauletto bag in kidskin. Take a look at www.Juliamilano.com
We paired our Emerald Rags to Riches wrap with a stunning diamante studded evening dress, while a Purple Rags to Riches wrap draped beautifully over a floral cocktail dress both with the quintessential Italian flair.

Now I am hooked...

My older sister ( I have two sisters and a brother ) got an ipod for her last birthday. To be honest her daughter actually won it in a lottery and sold it to her mother and the family contributed so in the end her daughter had made some money on her lottery win to buy her twin sons their 3rd birthday presents. Money –go –round, but what the heck its all in the family. The reason I mention this is because with her ipod she subscribes to Amazons audio books and raves how wonderful it is to sit quietly, eyes closed, feet up and listen to a story being read. Almost like when you were a child and a grown up reads a story with accents and expressions.
So I went shopping and bought a SanDisk Sansa MP3 on which you can listen to stories and music. It is tiny and easily clips onto your clothes or bag without getting you too entangled. . Now I am hooked.

Today I decided to nuno felt a Rags to Riches scarf/shawl in black. . I designed it with an extra long panel of black merino wool and random pieces of flowing silk. When the scarf was complete I added a further piece to create a shawl and nuno felted them together.
The early morning sun rose as my hands beavered away at my craft. My whole being rapt with listening to The Shell Seekers on my MP3. And when the light had faded and the story had ended I marvelled at the lightness of a day of nuno felting a versatile garment.

Rags to Riches

NEWS FLASH...
Look like a million dollars wearing one of a kind handmade Rags to Riches nuno felted artwear by FELT 4U

Wouldn't you agree that Rags to Riches stories inspire and motivate us?.
You only have to think of Ophrah Winfrey and Bill Gates to name a few who have in recent times achieved their "American Dream"
By creating role models, who with hardwork, courage and detemination overcome the odds and become rich and famous , you can believe that somewhere in the universe opportunities exist waiting for takers to achieve their ultimate dreams. .

My most impressionable rags to riches story comes from the 1954 Gregory Peck movie called The Million Pound Note based on the short story "The £1,000,000 Bank-Note" by Mark Twain.

Two rich brothers, Oliver and Roderick Montpelier, wage a bet with each other whereby they get their bank to issue a million pound note . Oliver says that the mere possession of this symbol of wealth will enable anyone to have anything he wants, without having to cash the note, whilst Roderick maintains that to not cash the note will render it useless. Bear in mind this is London at the turn of the 20th Century where social status and snobbery is how society functions..

Along comes Henry Adams, a penniless sailor from America who is stranded in London with no money to return home . The brothers give him an envelope with a sum of money to be opened later. Starving, and freezing in the dead of winter Henry thinks that the envelope will likely contain sufficient money to cover a meal at a nice warm restaurant. Scruffily dressed he enters a restaurant and is warily eyed by the Restauranteur and his wife and banished to a back table where he eats his hearty meal.

When Henry gets the bill, he opens the envelope, given by the brothers Montpelier and to his utter surprise there is a clean crisp million pound note which he duly presents to the propreitor for his dinner. On confirmation that the note is genuine, and with a hint that this scruffy man is in all liklihood an eccentric millonnaire from Amererica, Henry's world changes. He is treated like royalty and viewed as a man of enormous means, given credit, doors and power are suddenly wide open to this simple impoverished sailor. And still he holds onto the intact million pound note, without having to cash it. At one stage the banknote is whipped out of his hand by a gust of wind and a battle ensues between Henry and the wind, to catch the banknote. Fortunatly the sailor prevails and holds tightly onto his million pound banknote.

Newspapers write articles about the American with the million pound notbanknote. Henry receives invitations to meet local society circles and during one of these events he meets Portia Lansdowne, who is the niece of the Duchess of Cromarty. While hobnobbing with societies elite he meets many characters, including an American investor Lloyd Hastings who is looking for capital for an investment in a gold mine. Hastings pursuades Henry to allow him to use, by now famous name in exchange for some gold stock. Very quickly the stock rises with Henry discovering that he has has in fact just gained sixteen thousand pounds from the stock that was bought in his name. Another character who crosses his path is the Duke of Frognal who has a bone to pick with our hero Henry. The wily Duke plots to have the banknote stolen and then spreads rumors that the note no longer exists. . Creditors descend on Henry while his new friends turn their backs on him and to be sure they regard him as an imposter. He promises to pay all his bills from the sale of his stock, but as you can imagine the rumors have caused the shares to become worthless. But honesty prevails and the Duke returns the banknote to Henry just as Portia rushes to his side telling him she loves him rich or poor. The shares stabalise with Henry earning a fortune selling his gold stock. Henry and Portia finally return the intact million pound banknote to the Montpeliers and our once penniless sailor drives off into the sunset with his lovely Portia .

May you all be blessed with health and prosperity for 2010
Elaine

American Holiday Bazaar

FELT4U had a great time at the annual American Holiday Bazaar held at the American International School recently in Even Yehuda, Israel. This event attracts many internationals who stock up on gifts prior to going abroad for their Xmas vacation. For The event was like a mini United Nations with a multitude of languages filling the air.
We were excited to sell our nuno-felted scarves and wraps to, among others, a Chinese woman who arrived just two months ago for a posting with her American husband, a beautiful filmmaker from Jaffa (she looked superb in our grey/green/blue cobweb wrap), and a local PR hotshot who bought two wraps – black on white and grey lattice.
Elaine and I also enjoyed sharing the day with other craft artists and seeing their creative output. A few special mentions: Anat Brim from LiLush ( knitted scarf coats and wraps in vibrant colors – www.lilush.etsy.com); fashion designer Rina Schechter who has branched into jewelry making (a trendy ethnic look – available at her store 10 rabi Pinchas Street, Jaffa Flea Market, Anat Sapir, a jewelry designer who makes exquisite glass beads (www.anatsapir.co.il), Sheyna Lot, a ceramicist from Kibbutz Shefayim whose vases and bowls come in tones of the desert sands and talented Israeli artist Yoram Gal whose large vibrant paintings of Israeli scenes are sold and exhibited worldwide.

Best wishes to all
Elana

ART TO WEAR

Wearable Art is often the way Elaine and I describe our nuno felted creations - the silk is our canvas and the multi-colored wool our palette. So, I was excited to read an article in Time Magazine recently about New Zealand's WOW Awards (World of Wearable Art) . This annual event is described as "equal parts couture, choreography and craziness." Entries are in several categories from children's garments to clothes that can be reflected under UV light to create exciting effects. Recycling is a common theme and there were items constructed from used neckties, old sofa parts and worn-out bicycle tires. A dress by Canadian designer, Angela Bright was inspired by 18th century French court excess but made with tea bags and coffee filters! No wonder they call it the WOW Awards!

Founder of WOW, Suzie Moncrieff calls the show "a glorious rebellion against the mundane".
This is exactly what makes me passionate about craft in general - in a world of globalization and mass production finding a unique, one-of-a-kind item which doesn't break the bank balance is a complete joy.
It's uplifting to meet the creator of the item you have purchased or in our case, meet the person who is going to wear a particular scarf or wrap. A very important point we have discovered selling through a virtual store is the connection and communication with the customer and the positive feedback we receive. It was exciting recently to make a sale in the USA to a gentleman who bought a wrap in his wife's favourite color as a surprise birthday present and she loved it. WOW, thats exactly how we feel when we receive such wonderful positive feedback from happy and satisfied customers.

What best sums up wearable art for FELT 4U is the collection of cobweb felted scarves and wraps made with with the softest merino woolroving interspersed with of hand dyed shibori silk creating a collage of texture and color. Really great for the free spirited individual who appreciates the organic flow of the item.
Elana

Rio Olympics

One can only imagine the sense of double achievement Rio feels in its win to host the 2016 Olympics. Not only is it a first for the country, but on a grand scale this will be the first Olympics on the Continent of South America. Kudos to Brazil.

I remember when South Africa bid for the Olympics in the 1990's. Apartheid was dead, buried in the annals of history. There was an exciting feeling of optimism, an invincibility that "we have overcome" together with a sense of entitlement that South Africa deserved the honor and prestige of hosting the Olympics which would be the first on the African Continent. As you know South Africa lost that bid and I am not even sure who won.

Like me, you probably feel that Rio evokes a fusion of colors, passions, rythms and diversity which has inspired me to create my nuno felted tunic wrap which I have aptly name Rio.

Elaine

Vintage Rust

Ambling through the neighbourhood recently I came across an amazing old rusty bedspring.
Not one to let an old bedfellow down, I took it home with me.
How could I resist? Who knows what secrets this rusted spring would yield?

Through an amazing process of dyeing the tissue silk, my vintage springs long hidden secrets are revealed in the wonderful shapes with circles and spirals and bleeding rust.
All that remains is for me to decide what to do with the silk. Should I nuno felt it and turn it into a tunic or wrap? Or should I leave it as it is?. Any ideas are welcome.

Zen of Tides

Photo taken Muizenberg Beach South Africa 1942



For twenty odd years during the 80's and 90's the rythmic sounds of crashing waves was music that lulled me to sleep. I lived with my children, a dog, a cat and my partner Sid, in a gabled cottage on a winding street in a quaint seaside resort that had seen better days, called Muizenberg.
Over the years, my early morning walks along the waters edge enriched my life and inspired me to be fully aware of the joy of each and every moment. I observed how on stormy days the wind worried the waves into broken segments, shoving from behind and tumbling them ceaselessly and finally leaving an outline of scummy foam which dried to a dirty grey green and left in its wake pieces of driftwood, shells and debris.
At other times days, it was different. If there was a light breeze off the ocean, and the green sea had some blue in it,the foam frill that swept up from time to time was creamy white and altogether more friendly and left behind amazing etchings in the wet sand.

So why am I telling you all this. Who or what is the inspiration that Elana and I get during the process of crafting our nuno felted garments. We basically start off with a piece of white silk and talk about hot and cold colors and combinations , and should we shibori dye some pieces, and we mix and match and then choose merino wool and other items for texture and pattern. . My latest nuno felted wrap for our shop FELT 4U is aptly named Tidel Foam and was inspired by simple walks on the beach long time ago.

Wish I were in New York...

It was great to read about the Fashioning Felt exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York – both Elaine and Iare so tempted to fly over there just to see it.
Although Israel is close geographically to Turkey where felting has a very old tradition, felting isn’t a well-known craft in Israel. The first reaction we often get to our work is “but HOW do you do it?” “Do you really make the fabric yourselves?”
Actually I enjoy it when visitors to the FELT 4U studio or those who see our wearable art want an explanation of the exciting nuno felting creative process. Yes, there’s a lot of water and soap to slosh around, each item we make is rolled more than 2000 times and at the end of it all we throw it forcefully down on the table about a dozen or so times. The reaction is usually wide eyed but with a little bit more understanding for this wonderful and versatile craft that was used by nomadic people 8000 years ago as a way to make their shelters and clothing.

Getting back to musing about the NY exhibition…it would be wonderful to be exposed to an exhibition that shows how felting is utilized in so many different mediums (architecture, fashion, industrial design, jewelry, soft furnishing etc)
At present I still feel passionate about using nuno felting for making scarves, wraps and tunics. There is enough to learn, evolve and experiment with in this small sphere… and Elaine and I come up with new ideas weekly. Such as the kimono wrap we devised. Different body shapes, heights, and the fact that many people feel intimidated to tie a scarf, caused us to look for alternatives to the traditional scarf. Summer is also round the corner and we wanted to make a garment that can be thrown over a bathing suit.

The exhibition is on at the Cooper Hewitt until September. Hold thumbs for us that we will make it there somehow!!!!

Free Spirit

Ein Gedi, the famous kibbutz at the Dead Sea in Israel is perfect way to relax and chill out after a hectic five day Felting Master Class presented by International Felting Teacher and my felting guru Phyllis Hoffman from Australia. www.phylstudio.com
This was organized by The Israel Designer and Craftmen's Association of Israel
www.designcrafts.org.il and their very efficient secretary Tali Talmor.

A year ago we started FELT 4U www.felt4u.etsy.com and I must say felting is really unique in that it is dynamic and an ongoing learning exeperience, something like my philosopy of Life itself.

When I was in my early thirties, I met a man who was 21 years older than me. I was in the process of a divorce with two children. He was ruggedly handsome, an artist and bohemian who had been briefly married. He was so different from anyone I had ever met before and I fell head over heals in love with him. He changed my life in many ways made me into the person I am today. He taught me to be a free spirit and that is how I think of nuno felting. www.felt4u.etsy.com
Free and floating with texture, color and simple versatile structure.

Lets Celebrate Fashion

The runway shows are now on in Europe and every morning it’s a treat to read Suzy Menkes’s coverage in the International Herald Tribune. It also helps Elaine and I get inspired for the
nuno felted silk and wool scarves and wraps that we make under the label FELT 4U.
According to fashion trendsetters, next autumn will see scarves almost touching the floor! And the cowl neck is also still a big fashion statement.
I also loved to see the way men are also wearing their scarves. David Beckham and Leonardo Di Caprio were wearing theirs in recent photo shoots (both gorgeous!). Perhaps it’s time for
FELT 4U to stop ignoring the male market – but somehow we are getting more and more involved in extending our line into women’s fashion (note our new wrap shirts on www.felt4u.etsy.com and soon to be marketed Kimono wraps!)
But this is a digression from what I really intended to write about. I’ve been thinking a lot about how lucky we are that fashion has becoming so relaxed. Think back to a few decades ago when you were tied to a certain length of skirt or width of trouser leg depending on the fashion of the season. Colors were also set – if red was out, you wouldn’t be seen dead in it!
Nowadays there is very little considered to be a fashion faux pas. Colors can be matched whichever way you choose and you can realize your most eccentric fashion fantasies. Retro style lets us become as nostalgic as we want, boho chic means bringing out the hippy in us and gothic is a trendy way of just letting black abound in our closets. I love it!!! The only constraint is probably age – but that’s a subject that deserves its own lengthy diatribe.

So, this posting is really to say to all of you out there, feel free, enjoy whatever style and image you dream of having. Let’s celebrate the age in which we are living.
Best wishes to all of you out there in blogland
Elana

Curious Conversation

My journey some years ago en route to Curious Conversation started with the idea of creating a merino wool wet felted sculpture, possibly a hollow vessel out of which would emerge a needle felted head. I liked the idea of creation, and birth and wanted to string them together somehow. That was before we started FELT 4U
Did I know how to wet felt a sculpture? No, but I was sure keen to learn. As a student of hands on learning through books, internet and experimenting, I checked out wet felting vessels and thought it looked easy. Oh dear how wrong I was!
After five layers of black and white wool tops over a large copper milk can, that I had bought at a Flea Market in South Africa in the 1980's, I wondered how on earth I was going to wet it down as it had turned into a kind of unwieldy monster.
I read somewhere about using pantyhose when wet felting. As luck would have it, my sister had given me a bag of her old ones. I found something that looked suitable and tried in vain to cover the monster by myself. I was really panting and sweating profusely, but to no avail.
So I invited a couple of friends and together we managed to tame the monster into a flesh colored pair of used pantyhose. .
I hosed it down with soap and water and rubbed for days on end, as it gradually morphed into a
floppy lopsided grey creation with unexplainable openings.
In the meantime I needle felted a head which evolved into a Sci fi bodiless alien from all the
pricking. Certainly not the newborn's head emerging from birthing as I had envisaged.
But I was not yet finished. My floppy lopsided creation needed some weights to ground as well
as to round it, so I felted a dozen balls and put eight inside.
Aha, now we were getting somewhere, the vessel, the head, the balls and me.
To elevate it to its rightful place I put the vessel on a iron thing that I had found somewhere
(I love collecting junk, but that is another story) and put four balls to resemble a baby pram.
Finally the head completed the ensemble or so I thought. But I was wrong. Something was missing. My eyes scanned the horizon of the mess in the workroom and there I found it.
My Egyptian Cat, just waiting to have his say.

Elaine

SPRING ......
2009 is flying.
"Stop the world I want to get off". Is that a song or a movie?. I'm not sure.
What I am sure of is that spring is in the air.
I can smell it in the scented blossoms of the almond trees.
I can hear it in the soft call of early migratory birds heading homeward.
I can sense it in the vibrancy of the fashion colors now dotting the shop displays.
But mainly I feel it in the yearning to be newly creative.
Like two busy bees, FELT 4U's Elaine and Elana are rocking and rolling as we craft our latest merino wool nuno felted garments for Spring/summer 2009.

Life Lessons from Craft

You could say that I am a serial craft addict. Ceramics, candle wicking, calligraphy, paper making, painting on wood and mosaic are just a few I've tackled. The only ones that I have been truly passionate about have been mosaic and for the last year,merino wool nuno felting for our own on-line store FELT 4U http://felt4u.etsy.com/

This is where you can see and purchase our shibori dyed merino wool nuno felted scarves, wraps and hip wraps. They are all handmade by nuno felting merino wool onto hand dyed tissue silk.
I’ve often asked myself why mosaic and merino wool nuno felting have been such life enhancing experiences with none of the embarrassment and frustration that came with my attempts at other forms of craft. To be honest, my battered psyche was only saved by my mother who beamed with joy when receiving a lopsided coil pot or a birthday card with the greeting written in shaky calligraphic letters.
From the beginning of learning mosaic it all felt different. There were no stars in theclass whose work we had to measure ourselves against. No piece was ever deemed a failure and all had there own intrinsic beauty and personal signature.So too in merino wool nuno felting, every creation has originality and beauty. And unlike mosaic, its easy to just keep working and changing a piece if you don’t like the outcome.After a year, every merino wool nuno felted scarf that I make for FELT 4U still seems like a fun experiment and there are countless ways in which to evolve. Mosaic and merino wool nuno felting let you play with color and liberate us from the expected color combinations.One of my favorite mosaic pieces is a mirror in orange and turquoise. Likewise, a fuschia pink and orange merino wool nuno felted scarf brightens up my day when Iwear it. I think from craft, as in life, we learn that we have to find what suits our personalities,interests (merino wool nuno felted scarves taps into my love of fashion) and talents. Usually when you find your craft you also find that like minded people surround you and beautiful friendships are built (like with my two friends Audrey and Natalie – both professional mosaic artists) and now with my partner, Elaine who sees every item we lovingly produce “as a journey in itself.”

One other tip…doing what you love with great music in the background also helps (nothing like Mozart when you are rolling your merino wool nuno felted item for the 2000th time.)
Best wishes to you
Elana
FELT 4U

Be My Valentine

Be my Valentine?
That is all I longed for during my teen years a few decades ago in the Swinging Sixties.
I hoped and silently prayed that I would get a Valentine card sent in the post with a real stamp, (which I could add to my stamp collection), from a secret admirer!

In those days, handmade/ homemade was not sought after unless you or your parents lived a kind of Hippie lifestyle.
Nobody would venture into the world of arts and crafts and actually take the time and effort to make you a card or gift.
Valentine Cards had to be bought from a store. Picked off a shelf from a Stationers Shop in an anonymous fashion. And then to top it all, the name of the sender could not be anywhere and a message had to be written in Braille!.

Anyway I never received a Valentines Card during the Swinging Sixties.
But all these years later as I mellow and grow wise, I am still hopeful!!
Who knows??

But I digress, why write a blog called FELT 4U?
www.felt4uart.blogspot.com.

So, let me introduce myself.
My name is Elaine.
Elana, the redhead is my fashion fundi felting friend and together we enjoy a creative and independent lifestyle incorporating the arts and crafts.
Our passion is felting, nuno felting in particular.
We would love to engage with you, and share our work, ideas and thoughts through
www.felt4uart.blogspot.com


With romance in the air we have created two special wraps for Valentine which are sold through our virtual store.
www.felt4u.etsy.com

My Valentine and Marshmallow ( see pix)

Perfume wafts away but a wrap will softly envelope you always with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

We will be happy to have your feedback..

Elaine and Elana
FELT 4U