It Is The Art In Each Piece That I Love So Much!

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on ARTFIRE

Artful Gifts

  Curated By: RSSDesignsInFiber

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

I, as RSS Designs In Fiber on Artfire, curated this Collection "Artful Gifts".

Everything in it is Handmade.  As I saw these, what I saw was the ART and CREATIVITY in each piece!!

And I decided to share them with the world through an Artfire Collection!

Here are all the Creators - including whose pieces that you can only see HERE (at the bottom).

Designs in Stained Glass
RSS Designs In Fiber
Lise Winne
Uniquely Jen Quilt Creations
Quilt Tops
Art By Sunfire
Shadow Dog Designs
Wyvern Designs
Crafts Of The Past
Covergirlbeads
Umeboshi
Blue Morning Expressions
Jazz It Up With Designs By Nancy
Specialtivity
Sew Amazin
Daisy Doodle Embroidery

Presenting Handmade Celebrating Wildlife

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on ARTFIRE

Handmade Celebrating Wildlife

  Curated By: RSSDesignsInF...

ArtFire.com

Fine Art Paintings

I have always loved WILDLIFE - ever since I was a little girl!

From the Birds and Squirrels I saw walking to and from School daily - to seeing some in the Zoo - to seeing some on hikes - and later, when an older child, seeing them when we vacationed in Forests!

I've gone hiking in Forests in various different parts of the USA - been feet away from Deer, Foxes, Raccoons, Skunks, Cottontail Rabbits, Kangaroo Rats (in the Carrizo Plain - they look like very big hopping Rabbits) - across a Valley from a Bear family in the Forest on the North Peninsula of Michigan - and many kinds of Birds - including the Ravens that rule the sky where I live now in the Antelope Valley and sometimes swoosh by not too far from me as I walk through the Gardens here!

They make me Smile!  They are an inescapable part of our lives - the "web of life" on Earth - and they add something special to the experience of Life!

Above is a Collection I made of Handmade items I found on Artfire - all of them somehow depict some Wildlife!

They would make wonderful Gifts I think - either for the person who is already a Wildlife-lover - or some are even educational.

These are the Artisans represented in this Collection:

Azure Dandelion
Quilling by Sandra White
RSS Designs In Fiber
Crafts of the Past
Blue Morning Expressions
Designs In Stained Glass
luvncrafts
Umeboshi
Shadow Dog Designs
Walk In The Woods LLC
Sew Amazin
Quilt Tops

My Lace Thread Crochet White and Silver Bag in "On Fire For Handmade" Great Finds!

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on ETSY

Hand-Crocheted White and Silver Pouch

Thank You to Anne Hopfer of the On Fire For Handmade site for putting together a "Great Finds" Event for the Holiday Season!

These "Great Finds" Events always contain a variety of Handmade items!!

** DECOR **

** JEWELRY **

** HAT **

** PERSONAL ACCESSORIES **

** TOYS **

Decorating For This Fall or Autumn Season Consider Handmade Decor Accents

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on ARTFIRE

Decorating in the Fall or Autumn - Tables, Rooms for various get-togethers, Offices, School rooms - including Bulletin Boards - can be Fun!

Fall is such a colorful season - at least in many parts of North America where the leaves on the trees turn all kinds of colors - from Yellow to Orange to Rust or Maple or Dark Brown!

In making the Handmade I do, I tend to think Seasonally!

And Fall is one of my favorite Seasons - with its lovely, and very often, bright colors!

The Collage above is all my Handmade - listed in the "Fall Colors Designs" Section of my Artfire Studio.

Made with a variety of Threads and Yarns - in different designs - and on somewhat different themes!

Many of these Decor pieces could be used in Fall Table Settings - or as Decorations around Rooms - or on Walls.  

In Home Decor or Interior Design, they would be called "Decor Accents"!!

What would fit in your Decorating Theme this Fall????

A Selection of Cotton Potholders For Your Kitchen - In A Choice of Colors

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber
-- Get My Handmade Designs in my Bonanza Booth - or Etsy Shop or Privately

Emerald Green Mix Hanging Potholder Set - Handmade by RSS Designs In Fiber

Here is a Selection of Handmade Hanging Potholders that I decided to make in different colors!!

Some people like to buy things for the Kitchens - Home or Office - that actually match or at least go with the color theme in their Kitchens.

Some like to buy in different colors - just for some Colorful Accessories in their Homes.

So-o-o - I came up with the idea of making sets of Hanging Potholders in a selection of Colors - all in Peaches and Creme 100% Cotton Worsted Yarn, which I had in quite a few colors already and had used for years - and I knew would make good Housewares!

Navy and Denim Hanging Potholder Set - Handmade by RSS Designs In Fiber

Red and White Hanging Potholder Set with Small Basket

Shaded Yellows and White Hanging Potholder Set by RSS Designs In Fiber

"Fall Leaves" - A Hanging Pot Holder Set in Shaded Browns and Burnt Orange

Emerald Green and Burgundy Red Hanging Pot Holder Set - Winter Nature and Holiday Decor

Berry Colored Hanging Potholder Set - Handmade by RSS Designs In Fiber

 I really have been making these - in different designs - for years!  Here's my Pinterest Board for "Pot Holders, Baskets and Cloths" - all crocheted in strong Peaches & Creme Cotton Worsted Yarns!  (Including some that already sold!)

If you would prefer to purchase one of my Handmade products PRIVATELY and not through any venue - please contact me at the EMAIL ADDRESS HERE !

Follow Ruth Sandra Sperling's board Pot Holders, Cloths and Baskets For The Kitchen on Pinterest.

"From Our Hands to Yours" ezine - Genuine Handmade Offered for the 2014 Holiday Season

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on Bonanza or Etsy

A Big Thank You to Julie Cleveland of Blue Morning Expressions for putting together this ezine:
"From Our Hands to Yours - 2014 Holiday Gift Guide"

"From Our Hands to Yours" means just what it says - those of us participating in this ezine are offering a selection of items that are Only Handmade by Us as Gift Ideas for the 2014 Holiday Season through the end of the year (all kinds of Holiday celebrations)!!

Julie also included some Recipes for Homemade Goodies - from Us!

Below are pictured the 3 items I submitted (they are on Page 2 of the ezine):

Stars In The Sky - Thread Crochet Art Round

Crocheted Lace 21 Inch Round for Winter Holiday or Nature-themed Decor Accent

Red and Green Handmade Basket in Geometric Spike Stitch - with Hanging Ornament included

The Recipe I submitted, which is on Page 3 is a new (and for me healthier) version of a childhood favorite - "Chocolate Chip Coffee Squares".  But I tend to get a little creative with it these days - I just made a batch of muffins in that Recipe and I left out the Chocolate Chips (too sweet for me) and put in some chopped up Fresh "Adriatic Figs" I recently bought!

Have a great time this upcoming Holiday season!! -- Do you want to get creative with some of your own Handmade - or buy something "Handmade with care" - for Gifts or for yourself???

Going Public - Sharing News That I Think Is Good About Medical Care Available

Ruth Sandra Sperling
- Also RSS Designs In Fiber

Ah-h-h!  LIFE!

Different People use different ideas or symbols to express LIFE!  For me, whatever the reasoning - it is TREES - so The Image above of a Tapestry I Crocheted of A TREE in a Landscape has a lot to do with LIFE, for me!!!!!

For many in our world, a key part of our LIFE is getting the Medical Care right for us.

I do not usually discuss Medical Care here on my blog - mine - others - or generally in the world.  I feel it is an incredibly personal matter - not often something I write about publicly.

But I feel it is time to Share something broadly and publicly - and, for me, this is my place to do it - My Blog - Sort of My Own Online, Public Journal, where I discuss things I think should be PUBLIC.

Out of respect for others - and to strive for total accuracy - I will keep this relatively simple - A Quote from a Linked Reference - with a couple of other Links.  If you want to know more - you will have to go to the Links, Websites, Make Phone Calls, etc. to find out more.

When the following article was published on the ucla.edu website, I was thrilled.  I shared it in a number of places!!  The full significance of it in the world of medical care is yet to be seen, but based on knowledge I have - I cannot keep quiet about it!

"FDA APPROVES GAME-CHANGING MELANOMA DRUG THAT TURNS ON IMMUNE SYSTEM TO FIGHT DEADLY CANCERS"

It is "Immunotherapy" to fight Cancer - a whole different Game.

But there is something more I want to say - and it is about UCLA Health System - and I think the world should know.  Your response to it will be your own - well I know there will always be differences amongst people - but I, personally, think the following quote is important - it is from Page 1 of the SUMMER 2014 ISSUE OF THE MAGAZINE OF "UCLA HEALTH - DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE" (you can get a PDF of it at the link)

"Community engagement is hardly new to the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (DGSOM) and UCLA Health System.  Whether by overseeing the residency programs at two of Los Angeles County's major public hospitals, supporting student-directed mobile clinics and health fairs, providing staff for the Venice Family Clinic - the largest free clinic in the United States - or spearheading research projects under our Clinical and Translational Science Institute with the aim of erasing healthcare disparities in one of this nation's most demographically diverse urban areas, UCLA Health Sciences has been an essential part of the fabric of Greater Los Angeles for decades.  But in 2011, as we developed our strategic plan, we determined that community engagement needed to be elevated to one of our core missions along with education, research and clinical care.

"For UCLA Health Sciences, community engagement means improving health through solutions that address social, cultural and biological determinants, developing a comprehensive and diverse healthcare workforce and creating innovative healthcare-delivery models that maintain financial stability while serving all members of our community. ...." A. Eugene Washington, MD, MSc

[Note;  the emphasis in red of certain sections in the Quote is that of me, Ruth Sandra Sperling - and has nothing to do with the Magazine.]

For Info here are links for UCLA HEALTH SYSTEM and the 2 Los Angeles County Major Public Hospitals:

UCLA HEALTH

OLIVE VIEW-UCLA MEDICAL CENTER

HARBOR-UCLA MEDICAL CENTER

One of My 3D Rose Doilies Chosen for On Fire For Handmade Sangria Great Finds

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on ARTFIRE and ETSY

Red and Pink 3D Roses Doily with 8 Pearl Cotton Multi-layer Roses

On Fire for Handmade promotes Handmade - and one of the Events they do each week is called "Great Finds".

I've been in some of these Events earlier - this time Anne Hopfer just decided to put the above Handmade Doily of mine in it - which, of course I appreciate!  Thank You, Anne!!

If you like it - you can VOTE FOR IT HERE through Thursday!  VOTE for RSS DESIGNS IN FIBER!

This week, ending Thursday, August 28th, 2014 - the theme is:

"Sangria Great Finds"

Sangria (Color) is "a dark slightly purplish red"(named after the wine - Ha!)

If you like Sangria - the Color - take a look!

Or maybe you just support Handmade - and like to see what is being made - lots of places to look on the Internet - On Fire For Handmade, the website, is a place on the Internet to see what is going on in that Handmade Community!

I make my Handmade - from Small to Large - a certain way - paying close attention to Materials, Designs and Customer Service ... this Doily is made with Very High Quality materials - the basic pink Doily is crocheted with DMC Cordonnet Special and DMC Pearl Cotton Threads which are both extremely high quality colorfast Cotton Threads.  Wonderful to work with - and Beautiful!! (The Photos just cannot do the sheen of these threads justice!)

Holiday Red Flower Thread Crochet Centerpiece Completed to 21 Inches!

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on ARTFIRE and ETSY

Holiday Red Flower Thread Crochet Centerpiece

Well - it has been a bit of a project for me - I originally blogged about my project to "Make It Bigger" - I took a finely crocheted 12 Inch piece, tripled the number of flowers in it and added more outer rounds - with a finished piece of 21 Inches in diameter!!

Made 100% with lustrous DMC Pearl Cotton Thread - and I used very fine Size 12 Pearl Cotton - with a small steel crochet hook to get a finely detailed, tightly crocheted piece with rounds arranged in contrasting colors, as well as different stitches, to bring out a beautiful design!!

I did complete the ring of 32 flowers on the outer ring (which I had added and figured out) - bringing the total number of flowers in this piece to 48!

With other Handmade projects to do - and I always have more ideas or designs or projects in my head than I have time for it seems - and complete - it has been a bit of a journey to complete this and get it up for all to see!

I love the way the design is with different rounds - or sections of rounds - in the contrasting Red, Green and White!

Enjoy!!

Fond Summer Memories -- "Let It Shine!" - Sharing "Greetings From The West" Dan Fogelberg Live

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on: ARTFIRE and ETSY

Other than times spent in the Wild or Nature Parks or Under Trees, some of my fondest Summer Memories are of the Music Concerts I went to - and some of my favorites were of Solo Artists I liked, like DAN FOGELBERG.

Why focus on DAN FOGELBERG?  Well, if DAN FOGELBERG's music is the kind you like, then you might think I am somewhat a lucky one.  It was the night before classes started our Freshman year (yes -our - he and I were both Freshman Sept. 1969) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign that I first heard him sing at the Red Herring Coffee House with a friend of his - it was lots of fun and very funny and I never forgot it for some reason - I guess it was the vocals, his and his friend's voices - and their camaraderie between them and the folks there - little did I know that it was the very start of wonderful times to last until -- well, even now in some ways!

It was a year later - September 1970 - that the Red Herring Coffee House became the "heart" of my social life at the U of I - where I made friendships that have lasted to this day.

Part of those days at the Red Herring was listening to the live music of the variety of musicians who played and sang there - some were songwriters and sang their own songs - some sang various different songs.  I loved it - it was a time of exploration in different way for many of us - and watching some of the musicians write and figure out their songs and music was special.

And one of those musicians starting to write - and sing their own songs - was, yes, DAN FOGELBERG.  (He mentions those days in Interviews - and they are mentioned in his FULL BIOGRAPHY.)

So-o-o, I've been listening to his music since those days when he first started writing - and I have to say - it is his own music and his own singing that I enjoyed - then - and in a number of the Summer Concerts that he did over the years and I went to - and still enjoy now!

One of the Concerts I went to was the Concert that was recorded for his Live DVD, "Greetings From The West" - though I went to the one in Los Angeles, CA (The Greek Theatre - outdoors - and I still remember it!).

Maybe you have some of DAN FOGELBERG's albums?  Or you heard songs of his that you liked on the radio - or somewhere?  But if you want to really hear DAN FOGELBERG - and also hear what he himself has to say about some things in life - and how he felt - watch:

DAN FOGELBERG LIVE

"GREETINGS FROM THE WEST"

He ends this Concert on the DVD (which he himself was involved in producing) - with his song, "There's A Place In The World For a Gambler" from his second album, "Souvenirs".

Like he sings:

"There's a light in the depths of your darkness 
There's a calm at the eye of every storm 
There's a light in the depths of your darkness 
Let it shine...oh, let it shine 
Let it shine...oh, let it shine 
Let it shine...oh, let it shine 
Let it shine ...."

Quoting DAN FOGELBERG from the DVD Album Cover:

"Every song that I write comes from my own personal experience.  I believe the role of an artist is to interpret reality through a system of beliefs and a long-term seeking of truth, in your own life and in the world at large.  To be entertaining and continue to write good music over a lifetime and sustain an audience that still comes to hear not just the old but the new ... that's what keeps me going."

.... And I, for one, kept listening!!

Well --  Have a great summer!  Find some things to Enjoy .....  Maybe some Music??!!

New Design for Handmade Hanging Pot Holder - with Tunisian Crochet

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber
- Get My Handmade Designs on Bonanza - or on Etsy - or Privately

Kitchen Hanging Potholders in Berry Colors

I learned how to do the Basic Tunisian Crochet - and when I did it with an Ombre (or Variegated) Yarn, I found out the beautiful look that resulted - Abstract, but I loved it!

So-o-o, I decided to use it to make some Centers for Pot Holders and other Decor - and the set above was my first project that I did and listed online.

Below is a Closeup of the Tunisian Crochet Center for the Pot Holder on the right in the Above Photo!

Closeup of Tunisian Crochet Center for Hanging Pot Holder in Berry Colors

Around the Tunisian Crochet Center are rounds in Colors that fit:  Mauve Purple and the Winterberry Ombre and White.

Tunisian Crochet Basic, done tightly, with an Afghan Crochet Hook that makes tight stitches with the Yarn or Thread you are working with, results in a rather dense, tight Solid Fabric.  I crocheted it that way intentionally - I wanted a Tight, Dense fabric that would result in a fabric thick enough to be Protective for picking up Hot Pots or Dishes!

I moved on to my next project using Tunisian Crochet to make Pot Holders with a Yarn in different shades of one Color - Yellow - mixed in with White -- it is called "Daisy Ombre" by Peaches and Creme (though it is a discontinued Color now).

Yellow Hanging Pot Holder Set with Tunisian Crochet Center

It is a little different with this kind of Colored Ombre Yarn, as the Colors are really Analogous, making a more Monochromatic Color Theme - but enough of a difference from the White to the Darker Yellow to create a design.  I really like this one, too!

Here is the Closeup of the Tunisian Crochet Center for this Pot Holder design:

Closeup of Tunisian Crochet Center of Yellow Daisy Ombre Yarn Hanging Pot Holder

I thought that these Yellow "Daisy Ombre" Pot Holders would fit well in a Kitchen where Yellow is either a Main Color in the decorating theme - or an Accent Color.  From what I have heard from different people - Yellow is often a color in Kitchens (I think)!

A New Crochet Technique incorporated into making my Handmade Decor to add more variety to what I make - I like the "Abstract Design" that results!

There is one thing, though - Tunisian Crochet does not look the same on the back - so I've included a picture below of the BACK of the Yellow Daisy Ombre Pot Holders - the back of the Closeup above, so you can see how it looks - which I also like!

Back of Yellow Daisy Ombre Pot Holder with Tunisian Crochet Center