Happy Felted Christmas!

and..I know my blog has been abandoned and I haven't showed you any of my felts lately. I just know that you know there's a link to my flickr account where you can always check for new updated :) don't you?...

But today I am saying you Happy Felted Christmas! and leaving you alone with some of my latest felt items:

Nuno felted top - Wild pigeon

Scarf - Food for the soul: Christmas pastry


Nuno felted hood scarf - Food for the soul: Nuts, wheat, poppy seeds and honey


Bracelet - Treasures


Nuno felted scarf - Wild bird

p.s. there's more on flickr

My Christmas gift from Etsy community

I received a wonderful gift from Etsy community - I won New Years Glitz & Glam vote contest on Etsy!

And I decided to issue gift certificates for my etsy shop:

Food for the soul - marking the start of the Christmas Season

Some shots from hanging our mini exhibition "Food for the soul [Christmas]". Unfortunately I was not there, but...
We are going to prepare a virtual exhibition "Food for the soul", meantime, here is a preview of it:

This is my scarf - traditional Lithuanian Christmas Eve pastry served with poppy seed milk

This is my dress - traditional Christmas Eve beverage - oat jelly

Another work by me, Vilte Kazlauskaite, - cape/hood/scarf - traditional Christmas Eve food made from wheet seeds, poppy seeds, nuts and honey

These are felt boots by Daiva Morozova - hot Christmas wine

And I am totally in love with this handbag by Ramune Toleikyte - smoke spiced herring

Another handbag by Jurgita Migoniene - traditional Christmas Eve pastry in poppy seed milk

Felt slippers by Inga Samusiene - traditional Christmas beverage - cranberry jelly

Felt collar by Aurelija Masiulionyte - Christmas bakery

Handbag by Donata Dumciuviene - freshly baked white Christmas bread

Felt slippers by Inga Samusiene - boiled potatoes served with hemp seeds and salt

Collar and accessories by Vaida Petreikiene - Christmas bread with dried fruits

Scarf and gloves by Aurelija Masiulionyte - cheese - a modern taste of Christmas

Another felt bag by Donata Dumciuviene - freshly baked black bread

Felt cape and shawl by Daiva Morozova - tangerines - its smell is in every home during Christmas Season here long ago since the times of Soviet Union

FOOD FOR THE SOUL. [CHRISTMAS]

FOOD FOR THE SOUL

[CHRISTMAS]

Felt exhibition

An exhibition of functional felt objects – as a collection of traces of traditional meanings in this modern world of globalization.

At first glance it is just a simple game of eight felt makers - Daiva Morozova, Viltė Kazlauskaitė, Ramunė Toleikytė, Inga Samušienė, Donata Dumčiuvienė, Aurelija Masiulionytė, Jurgita Migonienė, and Vaida Petreikienė. Felters, playing with felt surfaces and colours that remind you of a smoke spiced herring or “kūčiukai” – traditional Lithuanian pastry served with poppy seed milk, or cranberry jelly, or hemp salt with boiled potatoes… A subject of Christmas food and variations of common fashion accessories.

However, after getting deeper into every exhibited object and its story that underlie simple lines of felt, you realize the meaning of collating felt and Christmas food by the felt makers of this exhibition.

Christmas food symbolizes respect and consonance, it is food that unites all living family members and guests from the world beyond – souls of our ancestors. Authors of the exhibition refer to a belief that souls of the ancestors hold onto plants, hair and wool…

Drawing their inspiration from ancient traditional meanings of Christmas food, authors complement it with modern touch of this celebration, symbolically connecting wool as a sacred shelter of souls and blessed food for all living and dead, wind, cold, and bees. Authors of the exhibition, using modern felting techniques, invite us to “feast” and rediscover the meanings of this holly period of time even in such (at first glance) common and casual cosmopolitan fashion accessories – felt objects with special purport.

And a little preview of one of my works for this mini exhibition - eco friendly dress, dyed with plants. It is inspired by traditional Lithuanian Christmas Eve food - oat jelly.

“Kalėdzienė”

Funkcinių veltinio objektų paroda – senųjų prasmių pėdsakų kolekcija šiuolaikiniame globalėjančiame pasaulyje.

Iš pirmo žvilgsnio tai tik paprastas aštuonių veltinio meistrių - Daivos Morozovos, Viltės Kazlauskaitės, Ramunės Toleikytės, Ingos Samušienės, Donatos Dumčiuvienės, Aurelijos Masiulionytės, Jurgitos Migonienės, Vaidos Petreikienės žaidimas veltinio paviršiais ir spalvomis – čia primenančiais dūmų skonio silkę, čia kūčiukus, aplipusius aguonos grūdeliais, čia spanguolių kisielių ar kanapinę druską su bulvėmis. Kalėdinio stalo tematika bei įvairios kasdienių aksesuarų stiliaus variacijos.

Ir vis dėlto, įsiklausius į kiekvieną parodos objektą ir istorijas, slypinčias už paprastų veltinio kontūrų, galima suvokti, kodėl autorės parodoje gretina vilną ir Kalėdinį maistą.

Kūčių ir Kalėdų stalas, simbolizuojantis pagarbą ir santarvę, – tai vaišės, apjungiančios ne tik gyvuosius šeimos narius, bet ir svečius iš anapus – protėvių vėles. Autorės remiasi tikėjimu, jog protėvių vėlės linkusios prisilaikyti augaluose, plaukuose ir...vilnose...

Semdamosis įkvėpimo iš senųjų šventinio stalo prasmių, autorės įneša šiuolaikinio švenčių prieskonio, simboliškai apjungia vilną– sakralų vėlių prieglobstį ir šventas vaišes gyviesiems ir mirusiems, vėjui, šalčiui ir bitėms. Naudodamos modernias veltinio technikos galimybes, autorės parodos lankytojus kviečia „vaišintis“, iš naujo atrandant šventojo laikotarpio prasmes net ir tokiuose iš pirmo žvilgsnio kasdieniuose kosmopolitiško stliaus atributuose - savaip įprasmintuose veltinio objektuose.

Felt United exhibition gallery is online!

Remember International day of felt and Felt United project? Well, finally its gallery is online and you can look at the photos of felt events all over the world here.

Is felt fashionable?

Felt felt felt...we see and hear this word pretty often right now as felt is living its renaisance to my subjective opinion on these days. But weird enough, some still think that felt is an old fashioned textile or suited only for village people or Russian nation...

Looking for a proof of felt as fashionable in fashion field, one could look at the runways of world famous designers and definetly find felt there:

Calvin Klein, RTW Autumn 2009:


Yohji Yamamoto, RTW Autumn 2009:


Fendi, RTW Autumn 2009:


Stella McCartney, RTW Autumn 2008:

photos via style.com

And if you look even further, you can find such designers as John Galliano , Donna Karan, and Christian Lacroix using felt in their collections long time ago. So perhaps felt is not something that we could call fashionable today - doubted tomorrow. Perhaps felt is permanent - like classics.

Some more example of use of felt in fashion by Dutch designer Alexander van Slobbe in collaboration with Dutch felter Claudy Jongstra:

photos via orson-bodil.com

Gourmandis series

Texture texture again. Sometimes felt texture resembles food so much that you just make a break while felting and go to check your fridge. When I was editing these photos, I must confess I had my mouth watering...

Book cozy "Chocolate sin cake with cookie crumb"

Book cozy "Vanilla & caramel Dobos Torte"


Cowl "Chocolate Angel Food"