Queen Heron Creations: May 2009

Sunday, May 31, 2009

My flowers and I will be here!!

Photo Shoot

My gorgeous friends and I went to the arboretum and played with flowers! Both Kara and Lindsey are super creative ladies, and I had such a fun time with them, as always. I met these ladies at The Evergreen State College back in 2001. I am so glad we are still friends!

Kara sells her crocheted hats and earrings at her Etsy Shop. Check it out here

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Fantasy Flowers in Bridal Blog!

My blue flower and blue flower pin were featured in Cassandra Bromfield's Bridal Blog! Cassandra is a gifted dress designer in Brooklyn, NY. Her blog is a great resource for "exquisite ideas for the free spirited that want to go the aisle fashionably."

Thanks Cassandra! Check out some of her gorgeous custom wedding and social occasion dress designs on her website. I posted one of my favs below...........

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Community Crochet with Mandy Greer!

Today I finally went down to Ballard library and joined Mandy Greer and several community members in the creation of her latest crochet art project, Mater Matrix Mother. It was such a fun experience crocheting with different yarns, all in varying shades of blue. I was inspired by creating swirling waves of water using free form crochet in circles.

I was also inspired by all the people wanting to contribute to this project and learn how to crochet. Mandy is such a kind and patient crochet teacher! Curious people walked by and wandered in, asking if they could learn to crochet and help with the "river." Any piece, no matter how small, will be integrated into the full installation, which will begin mid-June at Camp Long in West Seattle.

Mater Matrix Mother is commissioned by Seattle Public Utilities and administered by Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, to honor Seattle’s urban creeks.

Check out Mandy's blog here, which also includes details about her amazing crochet costumes and installations
And look at the blog for the Mater Matrix Mother project here

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Needle Felt Art

Here is the website for the needle felted "paintings" made by Stacy Polson. I saw these while I was visiting Portland. They are displayed and for sale at Gossamer, and on her site. They are huge and so amazing to see in person!

The Indigo Belly Dance Company in Seattle

I have wanted to see this belly dance troupe for years now, and last night I finally got to the Tractor Tavern to see The Indigo perform "Le Serpent Rouge." It was so amazing to see the three dancers, their elegant, serpent-like moves and luxurious costumes. It gave me a lot of inspiration for the styling of my costume for my parade costume!

The Indigo are also performing this weekend at the NW Folklife Festival on Saturday night at 7pm with some great local tribal belly dance troupes.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Portland: Land of Many Pleasures

I adore Portland.

I have never had a bad visit when I venture south on I-5. I decided to spontaneously go to PDX on Sunday for a day trip. I planned to go see Mandy Greer's exhibit at The Museum of Contemporary Craft, but it was closed on Sundays! But I decided to go anyway, because I am never disappointed when I spend time there.

The drive down was brilliant. It was a sunny, warm morning, and there was no traffic on an early Sunday morning. I visited the Waldorf-inspired store Gossamer, which had some incredible large scale needle felted wall art for sale. I bought some cotton candy pink wool roving, a new needlefelting pad, and a small square of felt to experiment with.

Then I just enjoyed the warm, sunny day exploring shops and neighborhoods alone, and then with some friends I met up with. I love not having a "plan," because there is always something delightful just around the corner!

Two shops I adored during my visit:

Artemesia, an enchanting shop full of plants, succulents, fruit trees and magical terrariums
Noun, a lovely shop full of pretty art and home decor.

I also tried the cupcakes at Saint Cupcake, and loved the Toffee Cupcake. It was the perfect treat for a perfect day!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Have A Great Day!

The sun is out here in Seattle, and it's going to be a gorgeous day!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Found Handmade found my flower!

One of my flower pins was listed in the FoundHandmade blog today! It's under the post "Felted Lovlies," with some other wonderful felted items.

I also will be posting more pins and headbands this weekend on my etsy shop, so check them out!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef on TED Talks

Math+marine science+feminine art of crochet=Radical hyperbolic crochet coral reef!!

Listen to this inspiring TED Talk by Margaret Wertheim on her Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef.

My First Hyperbolic Crochet Experiment

I decided to try crocheting in spirals, and of course I love it! I wore this neck piece all day, since it went with my outfit. I plan to make more with layers and combine my favorite summer colors, turquoise and red, and maybe try more color combos. I like it because it is not a scarf, but more like a necklace with tons of texture, and it isn't heavy or warm around the neck.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Parade!

I am very excited to share that I will be dancing in the Fremont Solstice Parade this year! This parade has been happening for 21 years and is sponsored by the Fremont Arts Council. I will be shaking my hips with Delilah and many other bellydancers. This year's theme is water, and the colors of our costumes will be turquoise. I must admit that two of the reasons I decided to dance this year are that I am in love with the color turquoise and there will be a lot of veil work in the choreography.

I created this turquoise flower for myself, and I cannot wait to integrate my hand felted creations into my dance costume. I'm thinking a hair garland, or a turquoise lei, or maybe a hip scarf with some crocheted falls with small felted flowers. I'm excited to design my costume...I have 6 weeks until the parade! Here's a link to a video celebrating the history of belly dancers in the parade.

Monday, May 11, 2009

I Heart Rummage

I just registered to sell my flowers at I Heart Rummage on June 7th. I've shopped at Rummage before, and I am really excited to be a part of the June sale!

Experiment

This is a felting experiment. A pouch to keep my feathers in.

I have this urge to "paint" with the fiber. We'll see where this desire takes me!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project

Most people who know me know crochet is my first love in the craft world. During the past 2 years, it was rare to see me leave the house with a crochet hook and ziplock bag with some project wrapped inside! Although I am mostly felting now, I keep a list of crochet projects to tackle when I am ready to "hook it up" again. Like this Crochet Coral Reef at the Institute for Figuring. I would love to get an empty fish tank and fill it with a world of fiber fish and sea life. This article on how it was created is so inspiring!

My First Craft Sale

Yesterday I participated in the EtsyRain Spring Craft Sale. It was such a great experience! I met a wonderful, friendly group of vendors and organizers, and enjoyed meeting everyone and exploring a wide variety of handcrafted items. Since I worked retail at Pike Place Market for years, I was pleased to use those skills again with customers who approached my table, but this time I was talking about my own crafts and felting to many folks who were unfamiliar with the process of making fabric from fiber. Oh, and I also made some sales, and I really enjoy the live sale transaction of my flowers! I hope to participate in more craft sales in the future, and I will post them here on my blog.

Thanks Team EtsyRain organizers for making the day such a smooth success!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Tomorrow!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Where the Magic Happens

Here is my hand, wet felting a new flower. I am agitating the fibers in hot soapy water so the scales on each fiber can move along each other and attach and bind together to form a strong piece of fabric.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Another Treasury!

My pink flower was included in the Etsy Treasury called "Oh Baby, it never felt so good!" curated by valeriesgallery. Thanks Valerie!

My first felting related callous

Small, but meaningful :)

Monday, May 4, 2009

Etsy Found My Felt!

Check out the Spotlight article "Etsy Finds" on felt. It's called "Felt So Good," and my white/yellow flower was one of several really cool felted items featured!

Also, today my extra large yellow flower was also included in a beautiful Treasury of items curated by Semra at kirevi8. Thanks Semra!

Yikes!

I need to arrange my flowers for my table at the EtsyRain Spring Craft Show....eeek!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Earth Challenge

This is a piece I made last week. I was thinking about the creative challenge that EtsyRain presented to members this month.

The theme is"Earth." I thought these color were "earthy," like soil, red clay and clouds. It is actually the largest piece I have ever wet felted. I am really interested on felting on a larger scale, but for now, I can only felt as large as my bathtub.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Stuff around the apartment today.....

I made a flower place mat earlier today. And there is a group of flowers eagerly waiting to be completed!

I'm now using an old CD shelf to put my roving in. It's usually in bins, but when I am making alot of items, I like to have it out and accessible.