resurrection fern

Pine Cones

This week we had good news for the forest of Canada, more specifically the boreal forest.. I decided in celebration of this news it was a wonderful opportunity to share with you some pine cone love. .

That is the basket of pine cones I have gathered from areas in my community where they would otherwise by swept up or turned into mulch by lawn and garden machinery. I don't gather them from the conservation areas or forests because they are an important part of the ecosystem there. I also remove the seeds and place them outdoors in the garden or park so they might have a chance to propagate. An easy way to do this and a little project you can do with your children is to place some fresh pine cones on a baking sheet, and place in a low oven ( 200 degrees works) for about 10 minutes. Then remove and cool. When they have cooled you can get your children to shake them and watch the pine seeds fall out. It would be fun to plant some in a little pot with rich well drained soil to see if you can grow a little pine tree.

Pine cones, like people come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. In general the rounder ones are from different types of pine trees and the elongated ones are from spruce trees but we don't call them spruce cones for some reason. Here is what I found.

The pattern in pine cones is a example of the fibonacci sequence I have spoken about previously.

They can be used to make beautiful patterns in clay.

I had wanted to make a crochet pine cone but I haven't had the chance this week. I have been so busy. I will share with you my softie that I made, the little boy that became a tree. I designed his little cap to look like a pine cone. He is very dear to my heart in so many ways. Have a great weekend!!!

Making Birch Bark Vases : a Simple Tutorial

It is no surprise that I love everything with a woodsy, forest theme. I wanted to have some small simple vases for some flowers I picked so I decided to dress up a few mason jars in my kitchen cupboard. All you need for this very quick craft is glass jars of any size of shape, scissors, a glue gun and some large strips of birch bark. Please never remove bark from a living tree . You can often found some fallen on the ground in the woods or you could strip a small piece off a fallen tree as long as no little creatures have already taken lodge there. If you don't have birch trees where you live I have a photograph of birch park that you can download , print and use for your faux birch vase.
All you need to do is cut your birch bark or tear it to size making sure to leave about a one inch overlap. With your glue gun firmly attach the bark rectangle to the jar. Okay so that took about 20 seconds and look your done already.

Now you can use this as a little container for treasures you have collected from your nature walks or you can fill it with water and place a few well chosen wild or not so wild flowers. The most important thing is to have fun creating your own little nature arrangements. Here are a few pictures of a few of mine.

Look who came out last night to spend some time on the day lilies.

How are you spending the lazy, hazy days of summer?

Is Lavender Blue Dilly Dilly?

In my garden mid july brings the fragrant scent of lavender to mind. As I was sitting in my favorite garden chair one day, enveloped in this scent I thought about that 17th century english folk song.. I grew up with the Burl Ives version on a record my parents owned. I got to thinking why isn't it lavender purple not blue because I definitely think of the lavender in my garden as a shades of purple. I decided to conduct a little experiment to find the answer to my question.

I gathered up some flower heads from the two bushes in the garden. I think I have both french and english lavender represented. I added a few ounces of vodka, only ethanol I could find that was colorless in my laboratory.

Sorry about the bad picture quality but sometimes experiments go well into the night. Now I had to heat the lavender infused vodka up a little to extract the pigments , then I filtered the solution into a clear jar with a lid and placed in it a strip of watercolor paper ( no chromatography paper in the kitchen :( ) and placed the lid on the jar. It took all night for the liquid to reach the top of the paper which was about 4 inches tall. I let the paper dry and observed it. What was definitely a light mauve colored liquid in the jar separated into 4 different pigments on the paper. Now I think you might need to take my word for it since photographing this was very difficult and it wouldn't be recognized by the scanner. The bottom was dark green, next a lighter shade of green, then BLUE, and the top layer was yellow. If there is a next time I will have to concentrate the extract first before the separation.

Every science experiment needs a little craft break while your chromatography is progressing . I made a little crochet sleeve with a loop for hanging for a test tube. Makes a great little vessel for a single flower and you can hang it just about anywhere, I might even put one in the car for natural air freshening.

So yes , lavender is blue. and I used to think dilly was someone's name like billy not an adjective . I guess that's why I am not an english major. The last picture of this post is the last item in my knitting with paper experiments and it just so happens to have the color lavender in it. Coincidence???

The Family is growing, The Mushroom family that is

In the beginning there was one, then two and now they are a small family.

Oh , but those aren't the mushrooms you were expecting to see. You want to see the ones that have been created with the materials contained in the magic red suitcase and brought to fruition on the porch.

Here they are all lined up ready to meet you.

Their names from left to right are Nat, Baby Rosie, Marigold, Bess and Aurora. They love to dance the mushroom dance when they get together.

I was thinking about fairy rings and wondered if no one has seen the fairies dancing in rings maybe it is actually the mushrooms themselves that are dancing and making those patterns in the grass and earth. Someone should conduct some experiments to clear up this misconception. I also read that the largest fairy circle in the world is somewhere in france and is 800 meters in diameter. That is a whole lot of mushrooms getting together. If anyone knows where in france this is I would love an email . I would love to see that for myself. A few more pictures and then I have to run to work. A few of these mushrooms are all grown up and leaving home soon so I wanted to make sure I had a nice family portrait before it was too late. Don't you hate when you make something, send it to someone and then say oh my, I forgot to take a picture of it.

Not so Scientific Experiments

I decided to try some little experiments on the weekend after being inspired by the artists on friday. I knew you could knit with a variety of materials but I never thought you could knit with tissue paper. I found some in my very cluttered storage area and proceeded to cut it into strips . I decided based on experience with other fibers and my basic spinning skills to pinch it together and add a little twist to increase the tensile strength of the fiber. It actually works!!!

I can picture a group of these hanging like small flags or bunting for a summer party . Not all tissue papers are created equal for this purpose. My best results were with the yellow one that had a more fabric like texture , I didn't have the original packaging but it may have some rice paper in it. The worst one and the only one that broke was the pale green on that is part of the martha stewart craft line ( sorry martha). I left that one out when I tried my next experiment. Crocheting with tissue paper. I really didn't think this would be possible since you put a lot more stress on the fiber hooking it and pulling it through but it worked as well. I only had a small amount of prepared material left so I made a small object, a paper crocheted ring.

My next experiment came from wanting to incorporate garden materials in a small crochet bowl. I picked some lavender and grass and chose a natural crochet cotton and away I went.

The smell of fresh grass and lavender made that little project a very pleasant experience. Here is my little experiment in trying to imitate nature by crafting a mushroom out of a dried gourd, a crochet cover and a wooden stalk.

That last one is a new species of mushroom called the giraffanita muscaria and it is often found on the porches of homes with a great number of wooden objects in them.

That last picture is to remind you that it is one of the most beautiful times of year to take a drive on a country road , appreciate the scenery and be thankful to the farmers for working so hard to feed us. It is also a bumper year for pinecones and this is the time of year to gather up a few for your home . Please don't take them from the forests , it is makes a lot more ecological sense to gather them from your parks and school yards where they will be destroyed by lawn cutting machinery and not be allowed to reach their potential.

The winner of the mushroom giveaway is Sharon. I have sent her an email and will post the little shroom after I receive your address Sharon. Thanks so much for all the comments especially from all the new readers. I really appreciate each and every one of them and there will be many more chances to win .

Curtains of Rain on a Saturday Afternoon

The purpose of this post was to show you the items I bought at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition on friday. I could have spent thousands of dollars on some incredible art but still have a few children to put through university and hope to have a few family trips in the next year so I had to put my cheque book under lock and key. Here is the vintage book purse I told you about made by the very talented Noelle Hamlyn and her sister helped with the sewing of the lining and zipper.

Because she doesn't waste any parts of the books she also sells these great pins with vintage illustrations and print. They were a steal at 2 for 5 dollars . She even through in a few freebies for my daughter.

I am smitten with this egg vessel I purchased from Courtney Chapman. It wasn't even for sale , she was holding her business cards in it but ask and you shall receive. She said it was from a series of eggs she did for her thesis in fine art at the Ontario College of Fine Art and Design. Thanks courtney and doesn't it look fantastic with some of my nature treasures tucked inside.

Finally a little ink and watercolor drawing of a british naval ship by Dan Rocco, an art student.

Some of you wondered how all this art eye candy would inspire me from the comments on yesterday's post . Well it didn't take long for me to be so inspired by Suzanne Carlsen's incredible embroidery that was so small and detailed to attempt to sketch my little friend with a needle and single thread.

It was tough going because my underpaid model kept wandering off exploring.

I did manage to finish my little snail embroidery. The fabric is from lara cameron.

I also worked on a few colorful mushrooms.

The rain was coming down so hard I had to move the table into the middle of the porch and edgar thought he was a mermaid cat again.

I did manage a short walk to the library to pick up a few books for planning our vacation and I found some beautiful nuts that had fallen off the tree with the rain.

I passed this sign and thought it the perfect end for this post. Have a peaceful day.

My Picks at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

There is nothing like seeing some fantastic art on a warm midsummer's eve to motivate and inspire the tiny little infant artist in you. That is how I felt after spending last evening at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. Now this is art shown outdoors not all season outdoor art just to clarify. I want to share with you my favorites and no surprise they weigh heavily in the fiber art category. I am going to show them in order of my seeing them because I collected their cards and kept them in the same order as my photos. I hope I get them all correct . First up a very colorful, imaginative ceramic artist Nicole De Brandandere a student from St. Mary's , Ontario.

Next another ceramic student artist from Toronto, Ontario Courtney Chapman. . I just loved the organic simplicity of her work and am very happy she sold me her little "egg" that she was holding her business cards in. I will get a picture of that later when the fog lifts.

Now I was especially smitten with the work of this next artist. Her name is Noelle Hamlyn and she is fiber artist from the Toronto area and studying in Chicago. I think she is someone to keep your eye on. She makes art , some of it functional out of vintage books using every last part of the book even the spines . Her sister explained this to us as how the aboriginal people kill an animal and then not wasting anything use all the parts of the animal to sustain themselves. I purchased one of her book purses and again I will try to photograph it later to show you. I loved her sculptures.

Next I want to show you some very imaginative ceramic vases and I really apologize because I can't seem to find a card for this artists name. If anyone recognizes them please email me so I can add the name.

These buildings were made out of paper , pigments, wax and other components . Bekki really liked them and again sorry but I can't recall the artists name. I guess my method of organizing pictures and business cards isn't working afterall.

Now for probably my very favorite canadian textile artist. I was so inspired by her work and dream of owning a piece one day. She has really motivated me to improve my embroidery skills and try to reduce the scale and work with single threads and smaller needles. I better go for an eye examination first. I almost forgot her name is Suzanne Carlsen.

Next up toronto textile artist arounna knounnoraj.

My daughters thought that last one looked like one of my snail friends. Next is another fantastic embroiderer Kate Jackson. I really loved her artists statement.

We really enjoyed chatting with art student dan rocca. I purchased a little drawing of a british ship he did. This photograph is of his large piece titled the minotaur's labyrinth .

And another art student jessica rode. I recognized the cellular structures in her art right away.

This next artist was so talented. Her name is Holly Farrell. Unfortunately her art was way out of my price range.

Aren't those books beautiful. If you live in the Toronto area the show is on today and tomorrow. If you are an artist you should submit an application for next year it is a fantastic venue , right downtown only a block from the Toronto Eaton's center and then maybe I will stop by and chat with you next year. Thanks to all the artists that gave me permission to photograph their work and took the time to talk with me. I also found out about another art show in Toronto that I will have to check out called Women's Work at the rebecca gallery .

Nymphaea odorata Blooms for Only a Few Hours a Day

A few years ago I had the great fortune to visit Monet's gardens in Giverney, France with my family. The above picture was taken there and you can see how he was inspired by the nature around him. Here is a couple of other pictures that I am sure you will recognize if you are at all familiar with his paintings.

Nymphaea Odorata is a hardy white water lily that is very common in ponds and small lakes in our area of Ontario. It is on of my favorite reason to be out in a canoe at this time of year. If you are canoeing down a stream in the middle of the day and a soft breeze is blowing in your direction you will often smell its beautiful scent long before you see the flowers around the next turn. I love paddling into the middle of a water lily garden and then just floating there amidst the beauty and fragrance. To grow in our cold climate they have adapted in a way to only bloom for a few hours a day. In tropical countries water lilies bloom day and night. I am feeling really worn out right now, my mom is very sick and has been in and out of the hospital in the last two weeks. I am taking a lesson from the nymphaea , when living in a harsh, stressful climate one has to adapt oneself to go all out for a few hours a day and then rest and rejuvenate yourself for the remainder of the day so that you can do it again tomorrow. I am going to try that and I will let you know if it works. I searched our local pond to see if I could take some pictures to show you but they aren't quite in bloom yet. I think they will open up in another week. The lily pads and buds looked very beautiful and very monet like.

Since I couldn't find a lily friend in bloom I decided to make one out of felt and knit and felt a lily pad for it to rest on.

Wishing you all a peaceful, restorative weekend. Don't forget to check out elsita's pin party, I almost fell off my chair when I saw how fantastic, creative and colorful they all are. If you are really quick you might even be able to purchase one in her shop but hurry when I last checked there were only 3 left. Honestly I don't know how she parted with any of them.

Making Berries : A very quick craft idea

I love berries but my absolute favorites are raspberries and blackberries. I had some berry colored felt balls lying around in a little bowl and I thought I have seen a great many textile strawberries being made but no raspberries. I took one of the felt balls, matching embroidery thread and proceeded to make french knots randomly placed over the surface. I added a tiny crochet stem loop so it could be hung from a necklace and a leaf. It is so simple but I love how it turned out. I made another purple one.

I picked a plate of black raspberries from the wild garden area on the west side of my home last night. They were delicious !!

Making a Fabric and Crochet Mushroom: A tutorial

Remember this tiny little mushroom I showed the other day and then turned it into a necklace. This is a tutorial about how to make one but I am going to make a larger version to give you a better idea of how it is done. I will apologize in advance for the quality of some of the photographs because I took them as night was falling on the porch.

Gather up your supplies. You will need some fabric circles in any size you want. This will become the cap of your mushroom. You will need to have some picot lace edging , crochet cotton and a suitable crochet hook. You will need either a sewing machine or a needle and thread to sew the picot edge onto your circle.

I have a thing for liberty tana lawn fabric so that is what I used. Now you need to decide whether you want the raw edge of the fabric facing up or down. I like the raw edges showing so mine is facing up. After you have decided you need to start to crochet two single crochet stitches in every hole of the picot edging.

Continue all around the circumference until you have completed the circle. Now continue to do rounds of single crochet until you have gone for at least three rounds.

On the next round start to decrease by making a single crochet in every second stitch and continue rounds of this until you have about 8 to 10 stitches in a round.

That completes the gills of the mushroom and now onto the stalk. Continue making rounds of single crochet until you have reached the height you want for your mushroom. My stalk was about 4 cm long.

Finish off the last stitch by cutting the thread and pulling it through the last loop. I like the threads showing so I just pulled it through to the start of the stalk with the other loose threads so it looks like tendrils. If you want you can finish it off and sew all your threads into the matrix and then trim the ends.

Now the biggest question of the night was to stuff or not to stuff. Such difficult soul searching questions I have to deal with on my porch at night. Well my answer was not to stuff. You might decide differently but my reasons were as follows. If I stuffed it in would not be light weight and airy, I would have to finish the botton and maybe even weigh it down with stones or grain, it would be so much easier to mail unstuffed if I wanted to sent it to a friend, but the most important reason for not stuffing it was that if it had been stuffed I wouldn't be able to do this with it.

I am in love with this little wooden mushroom headed guy. I want to make a gang of them and then put the little mushroom dance from fantasia on . If you don't happen to have little wooden dolls in your vintage suitcase the mushroom looks great on its own or it can also double as a finger puppet.

The light was so much better today that after work I kind of got obsessed with taking pictures of this. It just looked so awesome with some of the other things I have made recently and the flowers I picked on the side of the road yesterday. Here is what I mean.

While I was taking pictures my garden snail friends were trying to get my attention by sending me the snail version of a love note.

I want to welcome any new visitors to my blog this week. Please don't be shy, leave a comment . I love comments so much!!! So much that I think it is time for another give away. So if you leave a comment here I will get my little snail friends to help me draw a name on Monday and if you are chosen you can win either a snail ( the fabric kind) or a mushroom , your choice.