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still playing with the transfer glue. although it's made for transfer of photos to fabric, i found it worked much better to transfer to paper - the fabric ones didn't turn out at all. my plan is to stitch on this one, ala the techniques that anne brodersen showed a few weeks ago. so far, i've just brushed it with beeswax (from our very own hives) to give it a bit more body. husband thinks i should leave it as it is, but i haven't decided yet if it's done.

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in the spirit of experimentation, i decided also to try transferring onto a leaf. it's an old photo of little me! i'll have to see how it turns out tomorrow once it's dry.

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it may be that a leaf is too fragile, but i like the idea of it.  it's all an experiment at this stage.

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we made a bunch of felted stones last weekend and, using my fabulous friend lisa's tutorial, i've tried my hand at stitching on them, like she does (only she does it much, much better). it's fun, but difficult and gives me even more admiration for her amazing work. i love french knots and variegated thread, but on about every 5th knot i get a big tangle that looks really ugly, so i've got a long way to go on these. and besides, they're lisa's idea, so i would definitely not want to have any commercial gain with them, so they're just for me, unless i find my voice with them.

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lisa wrote recently about her process of stitching the stones. i had a bit the same feeling, that i had no real idea what was going to happen when i began and that something just comes out. for lisa, the stitches echo nature, i think for me (and for sabin), they might be more a reflection of a mood. and one of them REALLY didn't work (i snipped it all out before photographing it, so i'm sparing you the sight of it).

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this one was sabin's attempt - i love how bright and cheerful it is. i think it's the best one so far.

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i also played with bright and cheery after seing sabin's. after taking the photos, i decided this one needed more french knots. this one started to go more in a me kind of direction, but i'm not there yet.

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there's something about holding wool and the heaviness of the stone that's very appealing, soothing and meditative. and while i was working, an idea came to me, so i'm not quite done with these yet (stay tuned - it got dark and i couldn't execute the idea as of yet) - it involves sneaking into husband's workshop and using power tools!).

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the last one i worked on today, i decided to cut a little window into it. i think sometimes that cutting into something i've made is the hardest thing for me. i really had to force myself to do it. at first, i saw this little fabric birdhouse in the window, but as i worked with stitching the raw edge, that changed a bit. i'm not sure where this one's going yet either, but it's just really nice to be feeling inspired and making things again. who knows? maybe i'll end up with a few stocking stuffers.

when i wasn't stitching or entertaining guests or staying up late drinking wine and laughing, i was reading - i've got four books on the go right now. errol morris' believing is seeing (observations on the mysteries of photography), salman rushdie's joseph anton, david whyte's crossing the unknown sea, and nicole krauss's great house. so something for every mood.

what did you do with your weekend?