 | Based on the word שלום (shalom means peace), incorporating the word Peace in American sign language and with a heart at it’s core for without Heart there is no Peace. Want more? Look here |
| For Juliann Blessings & Good Cheer B’shalom V’simcha Helen + ilana = Hi בשלום ושמחה אילנה |  |
Lisa sent me an absolutely stunning yellow scarf – Look!
I feel humbled by the intimacy of Lisa’s sharing about her process. With her permission I pass it forward to you all. But I’ll warn you first, you should have tissues at the ready:
I hope you like this scarf, which I think of as the Peace Ribbon scarf. I had originally planned a different project for my Peace Felt contribution, but it just wasn’t working for me. Then, in the first week of September I was strolling along Fifth Avenue and was yellow memorial ribbons fluttering from a fence around the Marble Collegiate Church at Twenty-ninth Street. Those fluttering ribbons brought me back to the painful weeks ten years ago, when “strolling” anywhere in Manhattan just no longer seemed possible. But in one of my walks after 9-11, as I tried to digest just what had happened in a city I love, trying to come to grips with the only true terror I had ever experienced, I looked up and saw a line of golden ribbons dancing in the breeze – they seemed to glow in the fall sunshine. And for a moment I felt at peace again, knowing that amidst true terror, true beauty can still exist.
To me, those ribbons, inscribed with the names of those lost that day, and now with the names of those lost in Iraq and Afghanistan, are bright spots of peace in a violent world. When I saw them again, I scratched my original idea, and on 9-11, as I listened to the reading of the names, I began this scarf. It just seemed fitting. I never expected to get as much from the Peace Felt project, but I am glad I went for it.
Nor I.
My sincerest thanks Lisa!
Blessings & Good Cheer
B’Shalom v’simcha
Helen + ilana = Hi
בשלום ושמחה
אילנה
I joined Marie Spaulding's PeaceFelt group this year. It’s an opportunity to reach out to others through art with an emphasis on felt.
Last year I looked at all the fabulous photos and wished I’d participated. This year I decided to get on board – but I didn’t count on the impact moving my elderly parents closer to me or getting a puppy would have on my already busy life! So the deadline, September 21, came and went with nothing sent.
Ok so excuses aside here’s how it’s gone for me.
I got started late but I knew that my next piece would be centred around the Jewish symbol of the hamsa. Here’s an excerpt from really good definition of the symbol I found online:
The word “hamsa” or “hamesh” means five. There are five digits on the hamsa hand & five books of the Torah. The fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, "Heh", represents one of God’s holy names. It has been used for centuries as a symbol of protection against evil and is known in Jewish lore as the “Hand of Miriam”. The Hamsa's positive energy draws happiness, riches and health. Many place the Hamsa hand in their homes and at their work place to ward off the "evil eye".
Then my giving partner Juliann wrote this:
My hands have special meaning to me
I communicate with my hands
I am a Certified Deaf Interpreter
I love to write
I love to art
I love to type
That really put me in the zone! Now to fit in the idea of peace – the Hebrew word Shalom is familiar to many. It looks like this:
שלום
So somewhere around Sept 21 when I should have been making the piece I was as far as drawing the concept.
From there I made a cartoon of the final design
Finally on Oct 15 I began the felt
Now I am embellishing the felt with embroidery.
Juliann hang in there - with luck the piece will be in the mail by Friday!
I added a magnetic closure, a beautiful button, lined the pockets for cell and keys and moved in today!
Got together with girlfriends to felt.
They both made baby slippers. We all used fibre from New England Felting Supply.
Geraldine made hers with c1/pelsul: 
Joanne made hers with short fibre merino:
I used both and made a complex bag with integrated handle and two pockets – one for my iphone and the other for my car keys – the two things I lose most often in the depths of my handbag.
The pockets were intended to be on the outside but after felting the bag knew I had it wrong so I acquiesced and turned the whole thing inside out – and Viola (sp intended!)
A place for everything.
The gussets I set in to give the bag a great shape from the outside look a bit odd from the inside. don’t they? But they will disappear once the bag is full believe me!
I used a fabric stiffener when I made these crowns
I’m thinking that I might use it on the bottom of this back and the gussets to really set them in permanently. I’ll see when the bag dries if it needs that.
Webring is owned by
DeeplyFelt Studios.
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