A 35th Anniversary Phoebe Celebration!

Did you know that gnomes are all the rage? If you visit the Etsy Web site, you will discover that dozens of people are making and selling them right now. 

Diasy, our resident art teacher, volunteered to lead enrichment this month and brought a big collection of socks in many sizes and colors to choose from. She then instructed us on how to turn them into lovable, whimsical gnomes. We are anxiously awaiting the appearance of the completed ones at the next meeting.

Calendar 

November 12, (Saturday), 11 A.M. at Marcella's. Betts will be bringing kits and part of her vast collection of fabulous buttons and will conduct a make-it-and-take-it enrichment session. Drop-in Social Get-together will be from 11:00 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Business Meeting will start at 1:30 P.M. Please bring your completed Gnomes from the last meeting.

 December 10, 11 A.M. (Saturday) Christmas Party at Barbara's Studio.  Barbara will lead us in celebrating the holiday season and also teach us to make a dainty paper shoe. Watch for details in the Phoebe Newsletter and the meeting minutes.

Show and Tell

 Shawn is shown beside the amazing memorial quilt she created in memory of the famous and much revered quilter and teacher, Roberta Horton. It will be displayed, along with 99 other Horton memorial quilts at the Pacific International Quilt Festival, then continue to travel around the country in the coming months.

Shawn is modeling this soft, warm "Teddy Bear Coat" made by Caroline from a piece of Geri's fabric. A great garment to cuddle up in during the coming cold winter months.

Sharon gathered up some of the many beautiful acrylic paintings she completed during the pandemic. Here are six examples that are painted on canvas. We hope she will continue to bring more to show us how she used those long days to create original works of art. 

Donna brought three small needle-sculpted cloth dolls she had previously made. The ones on either side are the results of a Christine Shively class she attended in Petaluma a few years ago. The highlight was learning from Christine how to make the felt flowers that adorn their hair. The center doll is a design Donna created to honor the Japanese Harajuku girls, who dress up as little "Lolita's" and capture attention on Tokyo streets by wearing lots of lace, ruffles, bows and pastels. 

We all miss you, Rosie, but we are glad you can join us on Zoom and also share some of the creative projects you have been working on. Above are beautiful dominos that Rosie has painted with alcohol inks. 

Rosie has recently joined a sewing group that is volunteering to "Dress a Girl Around the World." Not only are they making the dresses, but they are also sewing cloth dolls to accompany each dress. Here is a sample of the dolls Rosie has been making.

The most time-consuming part is sewing the hair on the doll heads.

She is also making baby dolls that are swaddled in little blankets. 

Caroline discovered some UFOs (unfinished objects) that she is now working on to complete. They are designed to carry cell phones or other items. She has been very successful in selling some of them. 

Sue always astounds us with her doll-making creativity. Her sculpted polymer clay heads are always terrific.

Kathy is already experienced in making gnomes. She has currently been busy making these cute tiny bear gnomes to give away as Christmas presents. 

Randy, Sue's husband, accompanied her on the long drive to our celebration. He is shown here working on one of the Hawaiian feather headdresses he has made over the years, many of which are currently residing in museums. To make them historically accurate, he uses the same materials used by his ancestors as much as possible. Some vines are not easily accessible these days and are now replaced by woven reeds. But the designs, the other materials and the techniques are centuries old. It is a very exacting and time-consuming process.

Show and Tell

The challenge for this month was to make a card that would celebrate Autumn, Halloween, or Thanksgiving holidays. They were to be hidden in brown bags and randomly exchanged. Here are samples of the wonderful results. 

September 2022 Meeting:Creating Fabric Pages with Sharon

 

The highlight of the meeting was Sharon's enrichment session. She generously supplied all the materials (beautiful fabrics including silks, as well as laces, trims, buttons, and glue) needed to create a one-of-a-kind fabric page. The challenge was to create a fabric collage and add one special personal embellishment we each brought from home. The results were beautiful. Some were finished (see photos below) and the others we hope to see and photograph at our next gathering in October. Thank you, Sharon, for a truly wonderful experience which everyone thoroughly enjoyed! 

Calendar 

October 8, (Saturday), 1 to 5 P.M, Phoebe's Annual Anniversary Potluck Celebration at Christ Episcopal Church, 1700 Santa Clara, Alameda, (parking entrance on Grand). Please bring a sweet or savory dish to share. Daisy will lead an enrichment session. Please bring a Fall or Thanksgiving-themed greeting card if you wish to participate in the card exchange. And don't forget to bring your fabric pages that you have completed since the September meeting so that they can be photographed for the next blog post.

November 12 (Saturday) at Marcella's. Drop-in Social Get-together 11:00 to 1:30, Business Meeting at 1:30 P.M.

 December 10, 11 A.M. (Saturday) Christmas Party at Barbara's Studio.  Barbara will teach us to make a dainty paper shoe. Watch for details in the Phoebe Newsletter and the meeting minutes.

Brown Bag Challenge

 We previously exchanged brown bags with at least 6 items from our stashes. The challenge was to choose a bag, take it home, and create anything by including at least 4 of the items in the bag, and then bringing the result to this meeting. 

This photo is the lovely doll Caroline made with some of the items from Sharon, which are also displayed. Caroline used one of the very popular and famous patterns designed by Tilda.

Daisy chose from her items and created a small cloth doll on a flying carpet. A very innovative idea!

Geri used her items to create a colorful flower embellishment. 

Another doll, this time a sweet flower doll on a flowerpot by Harlene, created with items from Donna's stash. 

Anne used the items in her bag to assemble this humorous little doll that will make you smile.

Sue is ready for Halloween decorating with this very happy Pumpkin Lady.  

Sharon was thinking even farther ahead and dreaming of an angel perfect for Christmas. She incorporated the items below, using the tassel for the angel's body plus the other items for adornment. 

Above are the items Jennifer used to create the amazing book cover below. 

Kudos to all our members who came up with such inventive ideas to meet the challenge! 

Enrichment

Pictured above are numerous book pages Sharon has created and which she brought to the meeting to offer inspirational ideas. Below are completed or almost completed fabric pages from the meeting. 

Anne

Daisy 

Above are the items from the bag challenge that Donna used to make the fabric page shown below.

Harlene

 

Suzanne

Show and Tell

Betts brought so many exquisite things she has made using items from her vast assortment of vintage treasures purchased here or on her many trips to France, and many creations are the result of challenges with other groups both here and abroad. 

She is especially talented at making beautiful tags. 

And a hand sewn and embellished fabric heart.

Plus, a hanger from a dried flower challenge. 

These lovely ladies are two more Tilda dolls made by Caroline. Wherever did she find those tiny vegetables? So cute!

We were so thrilled to have Colleen join us and share some of her latest amazing art created by pouring acrylic inks on glass, wood and ceramic tiles and sealing with resin. They are so colorful and beautiful. 

  

Geri displayed this adorable little cabinet containing clothing she made for her collection of Hitty dolls. 

Marcella is loving the alcohol ink experience and continuing to create beautiful paintings. 

As is Suzanne, who experimented with Ranger's alcohol ink paper and created this lovely painting that looks like a watercolor.

Sue made this young lady whose bodice is made from paperback spines, and who is standing on and holding books. A very original theme.

This clever accordion folded book of collaged paper embellishment was made by Sharon. Another great innovation. 

Donna has been making more cards—these incorporate pouring, spatter brush painting, and pigment lifting using a stencil and wet toothbrush.