Sadly, I've had to slow down the production of my beautiful bedspread. I was so enthused about working on it that I sort of forgot my important motto of "anything in moderation." I overdid it and now I'm in pain. Who would've thought that something as relaxing as knitting could be considered strenuous exercise? Not me. My wrists, hands, fingers, and yes, even biceps are killing me! So this officially stinks. And I'd love to be working on other art projects instead, but they require the aforementioned body parts. Grrrrr! So until the pain subsides, I've taken to reading a novel, which I haven't done in way too long. Let this be a lesson to you, artists and crafters: enjoy what you do, but don't overdo it!
In honor of Earth Day and World Book Night, both of which took place this week, I thought I'd kill two birds with one (actually, three) stones and post pictures of some felted rock pots and mini-journals I made a few years back.
There's more to these rock pots than meets the eye. They hold some of my first attempts at art journaling.
I made tiny little journals to tell the story of my husband and his collection of pocket rocks. A while back, he started collecting little rocks...rocks that he would find on trips up north on Lake Superior, in nearby parks, road trips within Michigan and beyond, or treasured rocks given to him by his little dudes. He keeps these rocks in a little drawstring pouch in his pants pocket. Every morning when he gets dressed for work, I wake up to hear the clicking rattle of the rocks as he slips them in the pocket of his work pants. He says that when things get tough at work, he just reaches into his pocket and touches the rocks, and he's immediately transported from his corporate cubicle to some distant Great Lake shore or state park. This simple act helps get him through his work day.
 |
| Little rock journals |
He's one sentimental dude, huh? He's a man after my own heart! I had a lot of fun making these rock pots. I felted the pots around an actual rock, so the shapes are authentic. I layered different colors of wool roving around the rock, needle-felted it lightly to get the fibers in place, then wet-felted it with dish soap and hot water to shrink and smooth out the fibers. I carefully cut the top off of the felted form, removed the rock, and marveled at the layers of felt inside.
They sort of resemble geodes, don't they? I left the felt inside the pots soft and fuzzy, and brushed a few coats of clear varnish on the outside of the pots so that they would feel hard and look more rock- like. Man, I haven't done anything with my wool in a long time. I should do some more felting soon, once my hands stop hurting. This time, I'll be sure to take it easy!
