Top 10 Tuesday -- Autumn Splendor

The color palette of Autumn is thrilling to me, and perhaps you feel the same. I decided to find 10 inspirational fiber artists who have created gorgeous items in this blaze of fall colors: orange, gold, purple, and romantic reds. These are the colors that fill the Colorado landscape this time of year, and I love them! Are you ready to have your cozy socks knocked off by Autumn joy? Enjoy this Top 10 list and be sure to visit with these talented artists, as each one is a member of the exceptional Textile And Fiber Artist List (TAFA). I highly recommend this professional and vibrant fiber art community to everyone who knows and loves quality handmade craftsmanship and healthy independent entrepreneurship from around the world!

Fall Scarf Hand Woven by Loom On the Lake

This handwoven scarf is luxuriously supple with a sheen and graceful drape. Contents include a mixture of bamboo yarns, which is soft yet strong. 7 3/4" x 68", $175 USD, LoomOnTheLake in Lake George, New York.

Felt Pendant Necklace by LenteJulcsi

Fall days are a great time to adorn yourself with warm colors and textures, and I cannot imagine a softer way to add sparkle to your fashion! Decorated with playful freestyle machine stitching, this fun pendant includes a cotton cord with a metal clasp closure. $15 USD, LenteJulcsi in Hungary.

Indian Summer Embroidered Pouch by LaTouchables

When you carry this hand-crafted envelope-style purse, know that you will be enjoying a one-of-a-kind stunner that has the touch and heart of many hands! Created by LaTouchables in Germany, this beautiful item includes South Asian embroidered cotton, Indian Banjara, glass beads from Germany, two antique buttons from the maker's great-grandmother, and Italian cotton in bright fall colors! A real compilation of styles and places...a global work of art! $96.25 USD

Warm Your Floor with Stunning Fiber by Odpaam

This colorful rag rug is a one-of-a-kind treasure that brings color to your floor and warmth to your feet. Crocheted using t-shirt yarn and remnants hand cut by Odpaam in Jerusalem, Israel, this free-form rug is soft yet durable, with a simple machine wash and air dry, it will stay crisp and playful for years to come! 40" x 30", $160 USD.

Rich Coiled Rope Basket by Sally Manke

This cheerful basket would look great filled with bath or body lotions as a gift for an Autumn bridal shower or filled with burp clothes and baby wipes for a baby shower! Beautiful warm colors and embellishment with a bright glass bead, this clothesline basket by Sally Manke in Arcadia, Michigan is a great find! $38 USD.

Hand Dyed, Multi-Fiber Skein by The Rainbow Girl

Here's a fun way to add some sparkle to your Fall creativity! This multi-fiber selection of hand-dyed threads of coordinated colors and textures has been combined into a single, 118 inch (running length) skein. TheRainbowGirl in Bishop's Stortford, United Kingdom has combined cotton, silk and viscose yarns, which are perfect for embroidery, embellishing scrapbook pages or altered books, tassels, braids or any other project which comes to mind!! $4.94 USD.

Jewel Toned Beauty by Dianne Koppisch Hricko

This crinkled silk chiffon scarf is almost poetic, the way it gently folds and billows around the neck. Dyed multiple times using the ancient shibori method, DianneKoppischHricko in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, says it well when she tells us this scarf provides a sculptural beauty as it frames your face. You can see all of the jewel-tones in this gorgeous scarf in her online shop! $60 USD.

Autumn Free-Form Crocheted Handbag by Rensfibreart

I love a new handbag as the season's change, don't you? This one is colorful and just the perfect size, with two internal pockets (one that zips), and a secure zipper for top closure. Rensfibreart in Landsborough, Australia has included gum leaf motifs and bamboo handles in this 14" wide and 8 1/2" tall handbag. $231.59 USD.

Thread Painted Art Quilt by RubyWingsArt

The colors of Autumn just would not be complete here in Colorado without something created in a majestic royal blue! If you haven't seen our Colorado skies this time of year, you are missing a real treat. This lovely 12 1/4" square wall art quilt is a lovely tribute to your beautiful blue sky! Applique, satin stitch, hand embroidery, and bead work are among the fantastic techniques on show in this piece by RubyWingsArt in Saint Paul, Minnesota. $150 USD.

Ode to the Garden! Needle Case by LornaBateman22

My final choice for this top 10 list is a tribute to all the flowers and gardens we enjoyed this spring and summer. Do you walk around your garden spaces in the fall and give a little loving farewell to the blossoms as they start to fade? I know that I do! This luxurious needle art kit by LornaBateman22 in the United Kingdom will allow you to make a 5" x 6 1/2" needle case of your own. It is a family heirloom in the making! $89.95 USD

I hope you will let me know which of these master-crafted items is your favorite!
Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

Eco-Chic is on Trend, and that makes us Cool!

Fiber art is a labor of love.

Saying "Eco-Chic" or any other term for describing the environmentally-friendly fiber art objects I make, no longer causes folks to say, "Huh?" Deborah Rent in the Chronicle Herald says that Eco-Chic is definitely trendy, and may even enter the territory of being hip. "When you tell people you're decorating your home by choosing environmentally sustainable products, you feel good about yourself...you instantly up your cool quota."

So what is cool about choosing organic fabric to design my home decor pillows? Farmers who grow cotton, hemp, bamboo or linen fibers organically to manufacture fabric are easier on the soil, the people who handle that fabric, and the consumer. Many organic farmers are masters at crop rotation, which keeps the 80% of our planet's biodiversity in the soil healthy. No synthetic chemicals are used, and they skip the poisons like formaldehyde and heavy metals. Yuck! And decorating organic fabrics by hand, like I do in my designs, feels right. I invest a lot of time and care in my home decor items. They are a labor of love and they deserve a high-quality foundational fabric!

I am always on the lookout for certified organic products for my art. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) states that certifying organics is mutually beneficial for everyone involved in an organic cotton supply chain as it insures integrity in their processing and labeling. I am excited to grow my design business into a organization that can add to the cause of greening your home! Besides, I've always loved thinking of myself as hip and cool.

What kind of eco-chic items are you loving right now? I'd like to hear about it!

Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

Autumn Meadow and Time Savings

Daylight Saving Time is right around the corner, and I know plenty of people who are not excited about it. I have always wondered it we actually saved time with this practice. I think it is more of a time shift.

What are the reasons behind this Fall-back one hour habit? From what I can find, it comes down to booze, candy, oil, accidents, and train schedules...

"In the United States, Daylight Saving Time commences at 2:00 a.m. to minimize disruption. Did you know that many bars fought about the timing of our clock change? Many states restrict bars from serving alcohol between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. At 2:00 a.m. in the fall, however, the time switches back one hour. So, can bars serve alcohol for that additional hour?

Through 2006, Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. ended a few days before Halloween (October 31). Children’s pedestrian deaths are four times higher on Halloween than on any other night of the year. A new law to extend DST to the first Sunday in November took effect in 2007, with the purpose of providing trick-or-treaters more light and therefore more safety from traffic accidents.
Following the 1973 oil embargo, the U.S. Congress extended Daylight Saving Time to 8 months, rather than the normal six months. During that time, the U.S. Department of Transportation found that observing Daylight Saving Time in March and April saved the equivalent in energy of 10,000 barrels of oil each day - a total of 600,000 barrels in each of those two years.

In addition, some argue that there is a public health benefit to Daylight Saving Time, as it decreases traffic accidents. Several studies in the U.S. and Great Britain have found that the DST daylight shift reduces net traffic accidents and fatalities by close to one percent. An increase in accidents in the dark mornings is more than offset by the evening decrease in accidents.

Time zones were first used by the railroads in 1883 to standardize their schedules. Standard time was codified for the United States and Canada based on train schedules, and it is from this method that we base our time change requirements."

So, time shifting has a long history and plenty of pros and cons. I feel a little bit better now knowing some of the reasons and discussions behind the required task. Do I like it any better? No, I do not. I guess I will have to reconsider moving closer to the equator, where time shifting is not used. Wait, that will get me 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. I guess I am staying put...

Enjoy your daylight hours this week!
Georgianne

P.S. I also learned that it is not Daylight Savings Time", but "Saving" time. Guess that is my "something new" I needed to learn today ;)

Colorado Blue Sky Treasures

My mom loved the blue of the Colorado sky! I'm thinking a lot about how beautiful and varied our skies can be here at 5280 feet. I've found a few treasures from etsy artists that remind me of this blue sky theme. Enjoy!

Blue Scarf Link

Blue Sky Purse Link

Blue Sky Photo Link