macrame baskets

now i've seen a few of these on etsy and theres one girl - new tribe textiles in particular who makes killer baskets and does some lovely original stuff with macrame. the only thing is i'm not very fond of the nylon thread, ok its indestructible and the ends can be burnt and there is some lovely colours too, but it don't feel so good on my eye, so i decided to make one from hemp that i waxed afterwards, the wax needs a bit of work...

and i need to finish the string, there is a stone and a wooden bead inside and it is about 5cm long. its also got half an antique indian bead on the bottom

sappho's lost letters

i made something with some old bits of cloth i found and really liked working with it, there is something about the texture of old cloth - the design is somewhat reminiscent of ancient greek jewelry methinks hence the title

well wishing everyone who might come by a happy winter solstice and feast, remember to leave some food for the long months ahead... its bloody freezing here after torrential rain so i promised steph a pic of the flooded plain between us and the sea - bit crappy though, the white bits in the blurred background is them floods

stone therapy

every few days i don't have a good day, its like my brains all over the place, won't focus and gets more desperate as the day evolves, so i either resort to tv [nothing to blog about there, except how good csi las vegas is getting] or to drilling stones with a frenzy, a lot more than in this photo but i like the colour of these

the chickens got in as a metaphor for my state of mind - on these days, but actually they are dead cute silkies, and very chill having a saw dust bath on the last sunny day eons ago

last couple of weeks

ive been very lucky cos i have a friend in belgium who has sent me a wonderful stash of stuff :) steph you are a trooper, and i am super grateful that i have so many new toys to play with. i should do them more justice but i've been having computer to blogger problems of late and its a bit disheartening having a freeze every time you upload a pic.

also been working on a pouch for the protection of people working with their hands:

i want to make a series of these, based on shamanistic pouches, indian medicine bags etc, the hand is an old vintage silver 'tama' a greek equivalent of a milagro, and is placed on icons of appropriate saints for various healing and protecting purposes. the leather is salvaged from an old suitcase i found and stripped of whatever was strippable. and the strap is felted wool, that another friend gave me a lesson on a coupla weeks back, now that was a laugh, thanks gabi

collaborating

Etymology
From Ancient Greek θέμα (théma).

Noun
thema (genitive thematis); n, third declension
1 - theme, topic
2 - the alignment of celestial bodies at a person's birth

the idea of this is a type of collaboration, the pouch is made to hold something that is to be cherished, in the case of this particular pouch the theme is - the child in us - i have not made the contents of the pouch yet, the person interested has to tell me 3 things/thoughts/feelings on the subject and i will make the contents accordingly - these contents will be unknown until they receive the pouch.
*
these bags that i found on etsy through steph are just beautiful