a collar of earth

A completed piece that had been in mind for a while, a collar of earth. Part of a larger project percolating in my brain. I'm feeling very proud of myself for finishing this and I'm  even more motivated to get the whole project rolling.

As modeled by my 11 year old.

More to come.

Day 3 stone

Day 3's stone, full of moss.

Started this morning after the kids got on the bus. Finished tonight before dinner.

Instead of launching into emails and getting sucked in by pinterest, I went directly to my stitching. It was a good choice.

reconnecting

I've been disconnected from nature. 

And that's not good for me.

So this morning, in the middle of a soft rain, I reconnected.

I went in search of textures and details and came back with some and a lightness in my chest.

Funny, I hadn't fully noticed the weight that had been there until it was gone.

I tried my hand at a selfie.  Clearly not my strong suit.

Foot shots are more my speed.

I'm preparing to start a large-scale project that I'll tell you more about when the time is right.  I feel good things ahead for me but right now I'm being a plotter.  

Plotting.

Reconnecting.

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday.

Quadrat piece completed

Yay!  It's completed!

This is the needle-felted piece I've been working on.  Inspired by a call for art at the resident's gallery in the Franklin Arts Center where I work.  The theme is work that is exactly 12" x 12", and since mine is not an exacting nature, I had to ponder how I might be able to fit that requirement.  It wasn't until I started poking at some wool that I decided that I wanted to do a piece reflecting a portion of the landscape in my mind.  Like a quadrat, a tool scientists use to isolate a standard unit for study.

Though this scene is plucked from my imagination, it definitely has its roots in reality.  For example, my fungus here is influenced by the orange peel fungus by the duck pond in my backyard.

A sprouting plant with downy leaves is similar to the mullein by the driveway.

Waxed thread becomes my take on sporophytes that dot our back woods.

Pebbles and sprouting grasses atop mounds of moss and earth.

And pebbles, plucked from lakeshores, naturally.

This was a really satisfying piece to work on, especially since it allowed me to conjure up images of greenness in this otherwise winter-white landscape.

The frame was made from some planks I had in my workshop.  This piece hangs on the wall and I could see myself doing a whole series of these.  Hmm...

'Quadrat'

2014

12" x 12"

needle-felted wool, cotton thread

by Lisa Jordan

a work in progress

I spent the better part of yesterday needling away at some wool.  Forming stones and coaxing curly locks into moss.  I had the music on and my littlest needle-felting companion with me, needling on her own creation while the cat sat in a wood bowl and watched us.  Even though we clearly bored him.

Today I'll add some other shapes and hopefully a few sewn accents.  It's a fun piece to work on.  When I make my mushroom terrariums, I always take special joy in adding all of the details to the scene so this is allowing me all of that fun on a larger scale.

But speaking of scale, check out the mini scene my little partner created.  Momma is proud.

Happy Sunday, everyone.

mold and moss brooch

 

I managed to finish up the brooch I was working on yesterday.  It's reminiscent of moss and mold, no?

 

I set it into a base I made out of a fallen poplar branch.  I left some traces of bark on the edge, and made the shape natural and organic-looking, but sanded smooth.  I try to make things that I would like to hold in my hand, and the combination of wool, stitches, and wood make it just that for me.

 

 I've put this in my shop already and hope to have a few more pieces on a more regular basis.  I'll be sure to blog about them here and mention them on facebook and twitter too.

We did get that freezing rain last night so we are hunkered down today.  The kids have a pile of clay on the counter and are making pizzas and bowls. (mmmm clay pizza... )

I have a cup of coffee and some pie.  (mmmm coffee and pie... )

I hope your weekend is cozy too.

Mushrooms and moss make me happy

You may remember a few weeks ago I made some hanging moss ball planters.  I liked them so much that I decided to hang them by the window above my sink so I could enjoy them all day.  Now, you may have noticed that I have a thing for mushrooms, so imagine my delight when I saw what was poking out of my moss ball last night.

    

I had stopped at the sink for a drink of water before bed and looking up thought "what did the kids stick in my moss ball?"  It looked as if they had jammed mini q-tips in one.  Upon closer inspection I realized they were teeny tiny mushrooms.  I was so excited I took the moss ball down and ran to the bedroom to show my huband.  He was of course just as excited as I was. (not)  I snapped a quick pic just in case they were gone in the morning.

As you can see they weren't gone but had sprouted up about a half an inch and the caps turned from white to dove grey.

Aren't they so tiny and delightful?  I love surprises like this.

Have a great Friday everybody! 

*UPDATE*

The mushrooms have opened even more in the few hours since I wrote this blog post.  Now they're like tiny parasols.  Aren't they fantastic?

Okay, carry on.

Great Balls Of Moss

We had a beautiful spring day yesterday.  It was warm, windy, and sunny, perfect for drying clothes on the line and for doing a little potting project.  Or un-potting maybe.  I had just seen this project on Design Sponge and knew I had to try it.  Balls of moss?  What's not to love? 

I've had a layer of moss on a table outside that I had gathered last fall and I have an assortment of "volunteer" plants in my houseplants.  This guy, and I don't know what he is exactly, drops a leaf and re-plants himself everywhere so I figured he wouldn't be too picky about his new home.

His roots are wrapped in dried moss, potting soil, and finally the gathered moss, and wrapped in twine.  I'm thinking I will make several of these, perhaps with different plants, or just moss, and hang them all from one of the trees out front sort of like those beaded dangly door covers from the 70s. (remember those?)

The best part?  Sporophytes.

How cool is that?  I can't wait to make more.

What spring projects have you been undertaking?

Oh, and I am so flattered to have been interviewed on Elizabeth Abernathy's very lovely blog yesterday.  I'd love it if you would stop by and have a look.

Elizabeth Abernathy - interview with Lisa of lil fish studios

Something new

I was working on an ornament project last night, something that had been in my head for some time now, when all of a sudden the project turned into something different. I love when that happens! (I believe in happy accidents) So what had started out as ornament has turned into brooches and I have to say I'm pretty excited about them. They're so..so..me. Ok, so anything with moss and nature is pretty much me, but nonetheless... It feels good to be excited about a new project.

What I've done is made a nest from a piece of felted sweater and sewn in some bead eggs and attached it to a bed of "moss" (wool locks) and sewn in some teeny tiny wool leaves that I made, also of felted sweater. I sewed the moss and nest onto a backing and added a pinback.

I hope to get these in my Etsy shop this week, but am quite certain I'll be making one for myself in the meantime. :D

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday