Love, Thanks and Inspiration

 

Our dear elinor peace bailey, who co-founded the Flying Phoebes with Bonnie Hoover 36 years ago this coming October, has recently entered Hospice in Washington state. These two women and the club they created have brought us so much joy, artistic enrichment, and a feeling of sisterhood these past decades. It is with great love, admiration and thankfulness that we wish elinor peace and comfort during her life journey. 

Also, our dear former member, Wanda Fudge, has moved to assisted living in Alameda after a recent stroke. During her membership she generously volunteered her time, energy, and amazing marketing and organizing skills to help the Phoebes display and sell their art and dolls in various venues such as Celebration of Craftswomen, S.F., East Bay Open Studios, Olive Hyde Art Guild, Fremont, Frank Bette Center for the Arts, Alameda, and others. Our hearts go out to her with wishes for a speedy recovery.

Calendar 

Note date change: May 20, (Saturday), 11:30 A.M. at Marcella's.  Drop-in Social Get-together will start at 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Business Meeting will start at 1:30 P.M. Guest artist Deb Shattil will be leading us in "Everything Sketchy." Your journals will be due this month. Please bring your completed purse necklaces, if you have not yet done so.

 
June 10, (Saturday), 11:30 A.M. at Marcella's. Drop-in Social Get-together will start at 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Business Meeting will start at 1:30 P.M. Harlene will be leading us in enrichment. Geri's buckle challenge is due at this meeting.

 

A Big Thank you to the Phoebes!

Rosie and her friend, Ann, proudly display a few of the numerous dresses their volunteer group in La Quinta has sewn for the international charity group Dress a Girl from Around the World. They were thrilled to receive a generous donation of fabric and trims from the Phoebe members and want to thank everyone who participated. If you have more items you would like to donate to them, or to any of the DGAW sewing groups around the Bay Area, your donations will be much appreciated. 

Above is a photo of the dresses and the recipients of a recent shipment of dresses the Moraga/Lafayette group assembled and delivered to Africa. 

Purse Challenge Results!

The two photos above are purse necklaces completed by Donna.

Barbara chose vintage white lace and an Eiffle Tower for her design.

Harlene also completed two lovely necklaces.

Geri's features a most interesting metal embellishment and numerous charms.

A beautiful array of glass and metal beads adorn Sue's blue velvet necklace.

Not Quit Kumihimo Braid

 

The highlight of the meeting was the enrichment session led by Jennifer on how to weave a fiber cord using a circular hand-held loom with slots for the fibers, which are wound on spools and woven together in a circular direction, one at a time. It is based on an ancient Japanese process of weaving called Kumihimo. In preparation for the presentation, Jennifer gathered a large assortment of colorful fibers and assembled a kit for each person participating. Above are samples of finished cords, which have the potential to be used in a variety of ways. 

Jennifer, second from the left, leads Anne, Harlene and Bonnie in the weaving process.

Marcella and Geri are seriously concentrating on their weaving. 

The careful concentration paid off when the participants admired the beautiful cords they had created.

Harlene displays a close-up which shows the completed cord in the center, and the spindles of fibers hanging around the outside edge of the cardboard "loom." Thank you, Jennifer, for such a wonderful enrichment session!

Show and Tell

In honor of elinor's artistic creations, Bonnie brought a doll made from one of her original patterns. She also displayed an interesting 1925 booklet about vintage LePages glue and craft ideas for its use. A blast from the past!

Decorated books and journals will be due at next month's meeting. Above are lovely books created by Sharon. The small book at the bottom incorporates lace, and ribbons and tulle are used to fasten it together.

The journal challenge will be due next month, but many of us have been enjoying making books and journals for a long time. Bonnie brought samples of some of hers to inspire us. 

Linda, along with an adorable rabbit she made, joined us on Zoom. She is obviously a master sculptress!

Sharon wowed us all with a very impressive number (7) of her abstract acrylic paintings on canvas. Her imagination and originality, as well as her talent at composition and design plus use of color and texture are amazing!

Geri purchased this collaged postcard from another artist. A mixture of paper, fabric and buttons, it is definitely a work of art!

Kelly, who resides in Washington, has been really busy with her embroidery. She has challenged herself to create every day and at last count had been working more than 60 consecutive days. She has experimented with new techniques using Photoshop, painting backgrounds with watercolors, printing on fabric as seen above, and using embroidery to define, outline, or fill in areas. The results are amazing and can be viewed on her Facebook and Instagram sites. 

The Beading Queen Shares Her Knowledge!

 

Our dear longtime Phoebe member, Rosie, was able to travel to the Bay Area and join us at the March meeting. She presented the highlight of the day, which was the enrichment session demonstrating how to bead the edges of the little purse necklaces which were shown in last month's blog post. Donna was planning to demonstrate how to make the bead and charm findings to further embellish the purses, but it was decided that perhaps adding how to bend wire, make loops and connections, etc, was too much information for one session.

Those participating in the purse project are advised to watch some YouTube videos to learn the basic techniques and practice a bit first. Then, if you need further instruction or have questions, bring your beading materials, tools, wire and metal findings to next month's meeting and Donna will provide assistance. 

Calendar 

 April 15, (Saturday), 11:30 A.M. at Marcella's. (Note the dates for April and May have changed!) Drop-in Social Get-together will start at 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Business Meeting will start at 1:30 P.M. Geri will be presenting a challenge using buckles, which will be due in June, and Jennifer and Caroline will demonstrate a braiding technique, "Not Quite Kumihimo." Bring your completed purses for show and tell, or your unfinished ones if you want some help with wire bending from Donna. 

May 20, (Saturday), 11:30 A.M. at Marcella's.  Drop-in Social Get-together will start at 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Business Meeting will start at 1:30 P.M. Guest artist Deb Shattil will be leading us in "Everything Sketchy." Your journals will be due this month.

Beading With Rosie Tutorial

Samples of completed purse necklaces Rosie brought to the meeting.

Members spread out to work on beading in Marcella's warm and cozy home.

Rosie helped Geri with her beading.

Sharon, Meg, Suzanne and Shawn at the table as Meg coaches Suzanne. 

Show and Tell

It was wonderful to see former Phoebe Suzanne at the meeting. An avid quilter, she displayed her beautiful star quilt and gave us hope that she will be rejoining our group. 

Caroline (#1 on right, #2, middle) had us smiling at her photos taken when she was young and "had all her hair." Very cute photos!

The May meeting will feature the well-known doll artist, Deb Shiatel. Both Marcella and Shawn are collectors of her work as seen above. 

Betts created another beautiful button card and a collage composed of various lovely pieces of ephemera, which represent a few of her favorite things. 

Sally shared her two recent collages that are created with fabric, and a combination of fabric and paper, with pieces that are both glued and sewn. 

Caroline and Jennifer gave Daisy this cute little bike and Daisy made a colorful elephant to ride on it. 

Daisy also shared this sweet little girl with Q-tip arms and hands.

Suzanne R created these lovely greeting cards to give to Rosie for Sunshine. All the more amazing since it was only a short time ago when she did not want to make cards, and now look how professional she has become. And, hooked on how fun it can be to make them!

And here is a sampling of the 20+ cards Donna also made to give to Rosie to send out in the coming year.