Another Treasury from Etsy Thread Artists - the Colors of Valentines/Hearts/Romance

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - Internet Shop of Handmade Items
RSS Designs Wearable - Internet Shop of Wearable Items



I managed to get another Treasury on ETSY tonight.

It was for my Etsy Thread Artists Team - in the spirit of Valentine's Day!!

Here is the link: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=34447

And this is the screen shot of it, but for a good look at it and the items in it, go to the link and click on the pictures you would like to see up close!!

Ruth

Seasonal Creative Crochet - The Making of "LOVEBIRD IN A HEART"

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - Internet Shop of Handmade Items
RSS Designs Wearable - Internet Shop of Wearable Items



I do various types of crochet because I enjoy doing the craft.

But some of the most fun crochet to do is for the different seasons, including different holidays.

Something I made for Valentine's Day, which is "just around the corner" was a lot of fun and an exercise in creativity.

I call it "LOVEBIRD IN A HEART".

This is based on a pattern by the crochet designer, Elizabeth Hiddleson, but I made a few changes to it.

It is so very lovely with the bird in flight and the butterfly and the curlycues.

The inside and major part of this piece is done in Filet Crochet, which is creating designs or images with solid blocks of crochet and open spaces.

But this design is also shaped - in the shape of a heart - and the bird in flight and the butterfly are arranged with curlycues around them that mirror each other exactly on both sides.

So, all the rows with blocks and open spaces have to be done perfectly for the whole design to come out.

Here is a closeup of the inside design:

And another closeup of the curlycues:

When you are actually crocheting it, you have to figure which size of thread you will use for the project - thicker threads will look thicker and the finished project will come out bigger than if you used thinner threads - and which size of stitch you want to use, because it will all affect the look of the finished project.

Once you have decided that, you can determinehow many chain stitches you need for the foundation chain to start the project.

Mathematics is definitely a part of doing crochet!!

I really liked this pattern - I found it in the back of a 1979 book by Elizabeth Hiddleson of her own crochet designs - it was actually not a pattern in this book, but the picture of it was in the back of the book and it was good enough for me to create my own chart from, so I could do it.

So, I planned it all out, followed the chart precisely - and had a heart shape with all designs in it.

To give the piece texture and to outline and bring out the image of the bird in flight and the butterfly below it, I added an outline of both figures in single crochet in the same thread that I had crocheted it in.

Then I added a border in garnet red thread in the same size as the white thread.

It was an enjoyable project and one that gave me a lot of artistic satisfaction to actually have completed it so that the design was so clear!!

It is for sale in my RSS Designs In Fiber etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19037323.

It is also featured on the Etsy Thread Artists blog, where some Valentine-themed thread crochet is shown: http://etsythreadartists.blogspot.com/ .

Ruth

On the Way to protecting More Wilderness - the healthiest land on the planet!!

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - Internet Shop of Handmade Items
RSS Designs Wearable - Internet Shop of Wearable Items


At 8:14 PM this evening, the Press-Enterprise Riverside County published an article - the Senate has approved a new bill for protecting as Wilderness about 2 million acres nationwide and about 190,000 acres in Riverside County.

Article: http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_S_wilderness16.1.3fb1ea6.html

Quoting the article:
"Although the legislation still needs House of Representatives approval and the president's signature, backers were optimistic because the House approved a version of the bill last year and Obama ran on a pro-environment platform."

Looks good.

We need what Wilderness we have left protected.

Just a few days ago I quoted Aldo Leopold on Wilderness from his book, A Sand County Almanac and I am going to reiterate one of the quotes from "Wilderness For Science":

"One cannot study the physiology of Montana in the Amazon; each biotic province needs its own wilderness for comparative studies of used and unused land."

So, for planet-wide health, we need the healthy Wilderness lands protected, but they also serve to help us in their own biotic provinces in restoring other lands to a healthy condition as these Wilderness lands are examples/samples of healthy land in their biotic provinces.

Another quote from the same writing by Aldo Leopold:

"In many cases we literally do not know how good a performance to expect of healthy land unless we have a wild area for comparison with sick ones. .... In short all available wild areas, large or small, are likely to have value as norms for land science. Recreation is not their only, or even their principal, utility."

Though I think recreation in wild lands such as hiking, climbing, snow-shoeing and river-rafting is important for people to do, I am really concerned about the land health on our planet and protecting more Wilderness gives me hope for improving land health as well as protecting it!

From the above-referenced article, I understand that this bill incorporates many bills - about 160 - with support from California Congressional legislators Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative Mary Bono Mack.

Also, from the article, I understand that some of the Wilderness protected will be in the Sierra Nevada - a globally significant Biodiversity Hotspot.

Thank You to them -- and all the supporters who will make it happen!!

Ruth

Logged/Slashed Rainforests Are Regrowing, but Still Have Issues

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - Internet Shop of Handmade Items
RSS Designs Wearable - Internet Shop of Wearable Items


I read 2 articles today concerning the conference/symposium at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. about the rainforests.

I don't really have all the data that was discussed or presented, but the 2 articles have slightly different perspectives.

Article from "Times Online": Apocalypse delayed: tropical forests fight back as farmers flee

Article from "globeandmail.com/science": Regrowing rain forests still have issues

Also interesting that both are from non-U.S. sources on the Internet, but the Smithsonian is in the United States. The "Times Online" is from London; the "globeandmail.com" is from Canada.

In the first article about "Apocalypse delayed", a Professor Laurance is quoted: “We are still having a devastating loss of forests. It’s just that there’s some suggestion now that it is partly offset by the regeneration of secondary forest.”

In the second article, other statements by the same Professor are given:

"But these young forests cannot support what the old-growth forests did, said William Laurence, also of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Center." - and

“There's just no way that secondary forests are going to capture a lot of the biodiversity and critical ecosystem,” he said. “They're also much more vulnerable to fire.”

I find this discussion all very interesting. It made me think almost immediately of a chapter in Aldo Leopold's book, A Sand County Almanac, Part IV The Upshot, "Wilderness for Science" - where he discusses the value of wilderness for science. Here are 3 of my favorite quotes from this section on this subject in the order they are in this section of his book.

1. "Many forest plantations are producing one-log or two-log trees on soil which originally grew three-log or four-log trees. Why? Thinking foresters know that the cause probably lies not in the tree, but in the micro-flora of the soil, and that it may take more years to restore the flora than it took to destroy it."

....

2. "Palentology offers abundant evidence that wilderness maintained itself for immensely long periods; that its component species were rarely lost, neither did they get out of hand; that weather and water built soil as fast or faster than it was carried away. Wilderness, then, assumes unexpected importance as a laboratory for the study of land-health."

....

3. "One cannot study the physiology of Montana in the Amazon; each biotic province needs its own wilderness for comparative studies of used and unused land."

Also, it should be pointed out that they are discussing the first logging/slashing of the rainforest and the regrowth is secondary forest and seems to be natural regeneration, which is relatively good.

Referring to what Aldo Leopold stated about forest plantations with smaller trees (one-log is smaller than three-log or four-log) - quote #1 above - and what this Professor Laurance is quoted as saying, it is fairly obvious that the deforestation affected the micro-flora of the rainforest soil and that even though there is regrowth, the regrowth is not as strong as the original old growth that was in the rainforest.

But hopefully there is some native original rainforest in the same biotic province that can be studied for restoring more fully the regrowth, if some scientists will follow through with it!

I find it very interesting to apply what I have read in books to what is going on today in the world!!

Restoration can be done - and it is significant in the high biodiversity rainforests, even if the restored areas are not quite as good as the original forests.

If you are interested in the land health of this planet, I strongly encourage you to read Aldo Leopold's books, which you can find listed here: http://www.aldoleopold.org.

And if you are interested, you might want to take a look at my other posts under the Label "forest" here on my blog!

By the way, Aldo Leopold restored forest!!


Ruth

A FEW FAVORITES FROM DESIGN STYLE GUIDE (AKA INTERIORDESIGNTEAM)

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - Internet Shop of Handmade Items
RSS Designs Wearable - Internet Shop of Wearable Items


As one of the several hundred members of Design Style Guide - a Team on ETSY, I periodically am looking at Treasuries and seeing work of the members, they become part of my Favorites on ETSY.

I like to share a few of them with readers, so here are a few who make some really artistic home decor.

1. Fabric Wall Art - painting and stitching on fabric then quilted - closeup of a Tulip by lizplummer -- http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9404840

2. A pillow with Blue Florals by FloraDoraInc -- http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14603880

3. A stained glass star "Rainforest" by Pamela Angus -- http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19232774

4. Hand-blown glass vase -- "All of the colors and decorations are encased within the gathers of crystal clear glass." by Art Glass Sinks -- http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=18401648

5. A wooden display bowl showing the wood grain by Aussie Woodcraft -- http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7869870

Enjoy looking at some of the artistic decor you can find on ETSY!!


Ruth

IT'S A NEW YEAR!!

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - Internet Shop of Handmade Items
RSS Designs Wearable - Internet Shop of Wearable Items


It is a New Year - I was still up last night at midnight when it became 2009 and I thought - so now it is the new year and I am looking forward to some new things!!

One of the subjects frequently mentioned this time of year is New Year Resolutions.

Well, I am all too often making resolutions about different things and I live by some resolutions all the time and it doesn't have to be a New Year to make them!!

Actually, for some reason or reasons, this New Year I am hopeful of some good changes in some areas of life that I care a great deal about.

And one of the things I am grateful for is, of all things, that I found and got on Twitter!!

I am http://twitter.com/rssdesigns on Twitter.

I have found that Twitter is a great place to find out information and to communicate and make fast originations about things I want to make known publicly.

I have found some good connections through Twitter - and have found some people who are doing some really good things!!

The world and the Internet are vast -- I have found that checking the Profiles of people/groups on Twitter, I can find people with common interests and goals and connect up!!

You can do fast, quick posts, Direct Message, Reply, Follow -- and do it whenever you want or can! If you haven't tried it, you might want to!!

I am expecting some changes in our world in this New Year -- some facing up to realities and one of those is that this planet can physically only handle so much and we need to re-organize and restructure life on this planet so we can live here.

I put this on Twitter and I am going to say it again:

We all need to live within our means and do our very best to have an ecological footprint for one person.

Well, I am not sure - but the last time I took a "test" for my ecological footprint, it was pretty close to 1 person.

But I don't drive and primarily use public transportation, I do my best to buy "local" foods (within a 200 mile radius -- like I told someone at a local grocery store where they had cherries from Chile -- I don't buy food from overseas), I grow my own herbs and at times some veggies and, during the months when it is available, I get my fruit from a local orchard where I can pick it if I have time.

Now I am going to be concentrating on make children's clothes and other "wearables" in natural cotton yarns (Peaches and Creme worsted cotton in white and ecru). Watch for these in my shop, http://www.rssdesignswearables.etsy.com/ .

If you want to make some New Year Resolutions, go right ahead!!

But I believe in making them all year round -- as needed!!


Ruth