Tag Archives: #zefiart

its that time…

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You know. Before a trip, when you’re almost entirely ready, almost everything but the last minute things are packed, you have nothing to do really but wait till its time to go to bed and get up in the morning, do the last minute things, and go.

You can’t start anything new. Almost everything has been finished and put away, or thrown or given away. You can’t pack up the charger, the laptop, your toothbrush or Vincent’s toothbrush cause you’ll need them tonight and/or in the morning.

Its that wasting time time when you have time to think and maybe bore people.

So here I am, writing a post just cause I can’t think of anything else to do.

Its a nothing post and to be honest, I do wonder why I’m even bothering to keep posting in general. Its not like I have a ton of followers or I promote my Etsy shop enough to make it worthwhile.

I post for a few reasons. One reason is that recently a good friend told me that I have a style that’s obvious in my posts and that I need to keep that ‘voice’ when I write fiction.

So I need the practice.

Sometimes its to share stuff that might interest my friends, in one place, cause I’m too lazy to send out emails or, heaven forbid!, make a phone call. Gone are the days when I’d sit on the phone with friends for hours. Now when the phone rings I pick up in case its work, but I almost always groan inwardly thinking “leave me alone, I really don’t feel like talking to anyone now”.

(Except for you, you know who you are.)

How awful is that? Its not like back when I worked at the travel agency and spent 6 hours a day talking, talking, talking to everyone who walked in the door who wanted to buy a ferry ticket, or ask about activities on the island or where the closest public toilet was. Now, most of the day I talk to mom (and that can be so wearing, hearing the same stories over and over, and yes, I appreciate her and I know that one day I’d be giving anything to hear her stories one more time) or to a dog I might be grooming – which is very fulfilling in so many ways.

But I’m still too tired/bored/lazy to actually talk to someone on the phone.

How life has changed.

Years ago, when I first got Scooter and then Billybear, my ‘toyboys’ – two toy poodle pups, and moved into a house with Simon (the then boyfriend) we’d go out for a movie or dinner and all we wanted to do was get back home to the dogs!

I think that’s where I am right now. I’d rather be home with my Vincent. He and my art is all the company I need. Plus Netflix and audio books. I am content.

People say “aren’t you lonely?” “isn’t Paros too quiet in winter?” “how will you ever meet a man if you don’t go out and do things?”…

To them I say:

I am never lonely. I have Vincent. I have my craft and DIY projects. I have my computer and all the social life that lives in there. I have my art. It never crosses my mind to be lonely. And if I ever feel the need for company, I have good friends I can call or meet.

No, its not too quiet in winter. There is so much to do on Paros. In fact, sometimes there is TOO MUCH to do. If you have friends and have any modicum of a social circle, there is always something to do. In fact there have been times in winter when I’ve made excuses to NOT go out.

Well, I’m not that sure I want to meet a man. I’ve been alone too long now. I don’t know if a man will fit in my life. I tried the whole visualize and manifesting the man of my dreams, but I’m so ambivalent about it, its never going to work.

I love cooking what I want, when I want it. Snuggling on the couch with a hot chocolate on cold nights, with a warm blanket, woolly socks, comfy pants and a little poodle. I watch soppy Christmas movies or serial killer series and all sorts of things in between.

Saw this on Facebook the other day and its almost totally true.

I turn on my fairy lights and sometimes even sip a Baileys on ice. I love my quiet evenings at home, after a day spent painting or creating.

I also love Christmas, but living alone, I feel its silly to do the full on Christmas decorating thing. I would love to go all out one day, but for now, its the fairy lights inside and sometimes out, other times just in the window, which is a waste cause my window isn’t really visible to passersby, and a tiny table top Christmas tree… that’s about it. Kinda sad, but its home and its cozy. I think the fairy lights make it all better.

What is this post about?

I have no idea. I’m just writing things as they come to me. I’ve had dinner. Vincent and mom are fed. Mom is watching some crappy Greek TV and I’m at the kitchen table, watercolour pencils and brushes laid out next to me tempting me to start something new and I keep saying “No. there’s no time”…

I might go check on our bags. Make sure they are ready. Then again, I’ll be up early and I’ll have time to do that then. As well.

Ok. I’ll leave you be and see if the watercolours win out.

z

christmas is driving him to drink

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I started needle felting again about a year ago, and I have to confess I’m hooked. I love it. Its such a zen feeling to sit quietly at the kitchen table stabbing wool and shaping it into anything I want. Often with the clashing sounds of an audio book on my mobile phone and mom’s tv programs… sigh…

I especially love creating little creatures with personalities, giving them more character by adding accessories to tell a story. This little bunny, for instance, started his gift wrapping full of Christmas spirit, but found he needed a big glass of red wine to get through it.

This little guy is the first in a series I planned to make for my Etsy shop this Christmas… the idea is to make little critters who represent different parts of the season. Including the snowmen in my last post, but these critters are all needle felted by hand, not made based on felted dryer balls I’d bought as an experiment.

Of course, the whole tariff thing in the USA has not done my shop any good, cause I sold quite a few of my creations to people in the US. And right now, I have a box waiting to be shipped to Canada but can’t send it due to the postal strike… Its hard enough to sell online without all this.

I’m not very good at promoting my work…

Anyway, I figured that since I’ve been absent for so long, I may as well share some of the things I’m made over the last few months.

One thing that’s helped heaps in making these small creations, is the light I bought on Temu. This thing is amazing. Its made for nail professionals and has enough space under it for me to work my wool comfortably. Its USB powered, and since I don’t have easy access to a power point at the kitchen table (cords are not user friendly to old women (mom) who are unsteady on their feet) I use a fantastic strong and fast charger I also got on Temu.

Needless to say I’m addicted to Temu.

I’m not proud of myself… but I can get so many good and useful things there. And of course some totally useless things, but I won’t mention that here… Unless you’d like me to share the failures…

Anyway, later.

z

OMG where have you been???

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Yes, yes, yes. I know. I’ve been busy, I was abducted by aliens, the internet was playing up, the beach called, my suit didn’t get back from the cleaners, I was having an existential crisis and wondering whether I even wanted to keep blogging. Other things seemed more important.

Then for some strange reason, tonight, I had the urge to post again. Not that I have much of importance to say… just the usual rubbish I write about.

But for anyone out there in cyberland who may have been missing me, I am still here. Still alive. Mostly. Ok, I’m fine, I’m just being dramatic. Mom is fine. She’s been getting better all the time. I tell you, I’ve never met anyone as stubborn as my mom. In the best way. The doctors brought her back from the brink after she lost 2 of her sisters within a month of eachother (the youngest who dropped dead of a stroke without warning and the oldest who’d faded away over 6 years with dementia in a nursing home). The doctor and the physio visit to check up on mom regularly and she does whatever they tell her – she gets up every morning and does her exercises.

*I* don’t do exercises. Mom, at almost 94, does.

Ok, so I have been exercising. Before summer I finally decided that joining the gym (and actually attending) would be a good idea so I began pilates. Then soon as aqua aerobics started I switched to that. Let me tell you, nothing is as good as working out in the sea. No matter how awful or painful something might be, its better in the water.

Once aqua stopped mid September, a friend and I continue doing our own workouts. We meet at a convenient and protected beach and swim and work out with our leg and hand held ‘weights’ (of course they’re foam, not metal, we’re not suicidal!) So I’m keeping fit(ish).

I’ll be taking mom back to Athens soon, she insists, she’s getting better, I can’t refuse to let her go to her own home. And once I get back I’ll reinstate my gym membership and start doing some weights as well as pilates. And the plan is to keep swimming through winter. Its meant to be great for your immune system. Not to mention your skin.

I tell myself I’m going to swim in winter every year and soon as it gets cold I bundle up and pack away my swimmers. But with a partner in crime who actually swims in winter, I think I might be able to do it this year…

I have ordered a neoprene swim jacket. And a microbre hooded poncho I can wear and change under. That might help.

Stay tuned.

We’ve had a very busy summer. The entire family from Australia came to Greece this year. Everyone except for my brother and his partner. But my niece and nephew came, heaps of cousins came, my niece brought her partner and kids, my brother’s ex wife and her new partner. The place was hopping.

Its one reason mom bounced back. All those people to see. Especially the great grandchildren. So gorgeous. So cute. So loud…

On other fronts, work has been okay. Grooming dogs and doing workshops. All good.

Very little creative time. Too much happening to concentrate on creativity. But I have begun needle felting again, plenty of painting stones, some smaller stuff. You know… I have to do something or I go crazy.

I leave you with a photo of the most recent needle felted creations for Christmas… made by upcycling felt dryer balls by needle felting and adding accessories (bought and made).

Hopefully I’ll be back again soon, with catch up posts.

Till then,

z xxx

Shared at Funky Junk Interiors Upcycle Ideas Party

needle felting like crazy

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Lately it seems like all I want to do is curl up on the couch with my ‘work tray’ and coffee table and stab wool with sharp implements.

Maybe it’s because it’s been really cold and windy and not at all inviting out there…

Maybe its cause needle felting is a more immediate way to create sculptures – for instance, it’s so much quicker than papier mâché which needs to be done in stages with long periods of drying in between.

Plus, working with needle felting gives me the opportunity to make miniature stuff – something I’ve always had a passion for.

Whatever the reason, I’ve been working on these little figures most afternoons and evenings and listing them in my Etsy shop.

Here is baby boy mouse with his bunny and milk bottle.

And the baker mouse with her fresh loaves of bread and her baker’s cap.

A middle aged couple on the way to the beach with towels and soft drinks in hand.

A little gardening mouse in her ladybug boots.

A homeboy mouse with a hoodie, untied sneakers and snacks.

A ladylike mouse whipping up cream to top a pie.

And last but not least, the best Elvis impersonator of the mouse world, Elvis Mousely.

These little guys are so much fun to make. They’re done in a couple of days mostly, depending on the time I have to spend on them and the bits I need to make – like the shoes and any props I can’t buy. Sometimes I make my own clothes (like Elvis’ jacket and the aprons on the cook and gardener), or footwear which means I have to let the air dry clay I use in most cases dry. And any painting I need to do… But they’re quicker to make than the papier mâché dogs I had been making in the past. Not to say I won’t be making more of those!

My needle felting workshops are doing ok as well. Given this is a small island and a lot of people leave over winter and are too busy to do any crafts in summer, I never expected these workshops to take off, but they are great fun for those who do join in.

But I have to get back to painting and not spending all my time stabbing wool. I have 2 commissions and the series I’m working on waiting for me!

z

painting #3 in a series

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I finished the 3rd painting yesterday finally. It had only been sitting on my easel since before Christmas and I’d barely touched it.

Feels good to have it done finally.

Now a new canvas is sitting on my easel, in the living room (ie my studio) starting at me accusingly as I sit and felt, or do nothing.

I have some ideas of what will go on it, but so far all I’ve done is prepared the canvas. Better get my paints out again as I also have a cat commission to finish by next week.

For now the newest painting is hanging in my bedroom and I love it there.

I have no idea where I’ll hang the next paintings I plan on doing will do… I am fast running out of wall space. Not that I had a lot to start with…

I’ll have to think of something.

Meanwhile I continue to work on STUFF.

The felting workshop I did this week went great. We all had fun and got something to show for it at the end. It might only be a needle felted BALL, but hey, its the start of something great! You gotta learn the basic technique first and that’s what the first beginners session was about.

Next week we’ll add colours and attach parts to make the ball into something more interesting.

Then I have to plan my second beginners workshop series and add in an advanced one for those wanting to take it further.

Such fun.

z

busy with my etsy shop

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Etsy sale for the month of January 2025.

I have been absent but that seems to be the way I roll lately.

I roll out of bed, walk Vincent, have coffee, get online, do minimal housework, walk Vincent, do some errands, roll onto the couch…

However, despite my seemingly endless nothingness, I have been busy needle felting. The couch has become my new workstation. As you saw in my last post, I have been infected with the needle felting bug again.

I have been spending almost every single evening with a pointy weapon in hand, stabbing at innocent balls of wool with wild abandon.

And experimenting.

So far, here is the first lot which I have managed to put up for sale in my store:

They look so cute in a group.
Bird lover and bird watcher fox.
A fisherman Jack Russell terrier.
Shy, tea drinking hedgehog.
A rabbit with his morning coffee and newspaper.
Shy teddy bear with his bunny rabbit.
And of course you’ve already met the little rat with his heart in his hands.

You can see more pics and details of each of these guys in my store.

My store has been very quiet lately, so it was time to put selected items on sale and promote it more, so please visit and share it with friends. I offer commissioned work – paintings, remade dolls – wall art for a nursery, felted and papier mache sculptures… all kinds of things.

This is a hard but wonderful time of year. I have the time to create, but no regular income. I’m loving the time at home and being able to experiment and play, but having to juggle bills sucks. Luckily, I have tons of art and craft materials on hand thanks to my inability to stop buying it! I think I have enough to keep me busy for MONTHS.

z

needle felting once more

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Its been years since I picked up a felting needle and wool, but recently I’d been seeing a ton of posts on FB of needle felted animals created by some talented people and it brought back the memory and joy of needle felting. You can see some of my past projects here, here, here and here.

I had the supplies in the basement, so soon as I returned from my trip to Athens to visit mom I went down and brought up two boxes of wool and tools.

Unfortunately, most of my felting needles had rusted and/or broken, but I still had 5 that worked, so I began to think about what I’d create. I wanted to make something with a wire armature so it would be moveable unlike anything I’d ever done before, and I knew I didn’t want it to be realistic. I wanted to make anthropomorphic critters cause I think they’re so cute.

The first one I made was this little mouse. He’s about 15cm high (about 6inches). I began by sketching the shape and making an armature out of some (probably too thick) aluminium wire I had on hand, making sure to curve the ends so as to not have wires sticking out of the ends.

The coarsest wool I had was a dark burgundy colour (why on earth would I have bought dark burgundy???) so I began by felting the body with that, then adding the coloured layer on top.

Once i made the head, I joined it to the body (sorry no pics of the process) and decided to make him a heart to hold. I added whiskers (bristles off a house painting brush) and eyes. I had some small and tiny eyes in my collection of ‘stuff I will use one day’.

Here he is before I stitched on the nose and mouth.

I decided his feet needed something and I was about to make him slippers when a voice suggested bunny slippers. Perfect!

I also made him a colourful vest cause he seemed incomplete without a stitch of clothing. I made it using a pair of socks I had and never wore. It seems I’m always cutting up my clothing items when I need to make something… hm… What does that say about me?

I used a small bead as a button to keep the vest in place. I liked the curling edges so left that as it was, opting not to iron the vest.

His tail was made by wet felting – using hot water and soap to felt onto a piece of wire so he could be balanced and stand.

And here he is, finished.

For now he’s sitting on my bookcase watching me work. He’s for sale, but for now I’m not sure where I’ll put him up for sale – Facebook, Etsy, Tedooo? I just joined Tedooo and haven’t quite worked it out. I’m really not so good at all the social media stuff…

But there he is. Ready for his new home!!

In the new year I’ll be organising some needle felting workshops. I really am looking forward to that!

z

new sweaters for vincent

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‘These are MY sweaters’, says Vincent.

Well, after buying 3 different sweaters on Temu and not a single one of them fitting Vincent, despite me having measured and double checked the measurements… I finally decided to make him a sweater myself from a couple of polar fleece throws I had at home.

I generally buy these thin throws to make cat bed covers, filling them with old pillow stuffing, or making covers for dog beds which are removable and washable. I’ve done this for years since I’ve always had multiple dogs with dirty feet, using any sort of fabric I can find – old sheets, old doona covers, throws, scarves etc.

I had two throws this time. One I’d bought to make a cushion for Vincent’s crate and one I bought to put over my white bed linen in summer to protect it from dirty feet coming in from outside and jumping straight onto the bed (not just Vincent, but almost all grooming customers since they have to go through my bedroom to the grooming area. Nope. My setup is not ideal.)

I made two sweaters (you know, one to wear and one to wash…) I used the blue throw for the outside and lined the inside with the pale striped one to give it a bit of extra warmth and contrast.

Vincent modelling the longer one… a bit too long…

This is one of the two I made. One is smaller than the other, both were made the way I usually make stuff – without a proper pattern, just sketching a shape out on paper, what I think the shape should be, measuring using my fingers, hand sewing cause I couldn’t be bothered moving furniture to get to my sewing machine.

The difference in back length.

I love blanket stitch!

The baby doll version of his sweater.

I used velcro on one side for the tummy flap so its adjustable, and used bottons on one to decorate the sweater.

The added bib in front makes this sweater much longer so it hangs out over his tail.

The other simply has stitches, but I though the neck needed more room so I extended it with a contrasting bib in front.

Despite my woeful sewing skill, they worked out pretty well. Not perfectly… one is a bit longer than necessary. The other one is a bit shorter than necessary.

I belong to the school of ‘close enough is good enough’.

As I always say, ‘do as I say, dont do as I do’.

z

christmas stones

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So, there I was, sitting at the kitchen table, a mess of art and craft stuff all around me, wondering what on earth I should do. I didn’t feel like putting the last strokes on the large painting… Afraid to finish it? Afraid to start a new one? No idea why, but there I was…

I had a pile of stones remaining from the project I made for a hotel this summer among the things I needed to sort, pack up or get rid of, and thought ‘why not make some Christmas stones?’… I had the gift bags, so why not?

I made two types – some with Christmas designs and colours, and some with silver and gold foil.

I’ve been going a little crazy with the foil lately. I’d never worked with it before so it’s been fun to experiment. Stones aren’t the ideal items to foil as they aren’t at all absorbent and the glue takes forever to dry… however, I’m really pleased with the way they look.

I even tried the foil on one of my little air-dry clay bowls and it came up nicely.

For the little bags, I created a stamp for the foil stone bags, stamped them and added a touch of gold foil which makes them really pop. For the more Christmas themed stones I used stencils to decorate the bags.

I think the presentation of these stones is really up there. I hope they sell as stocking fillers or small gifts this Christmas.

z

stitches and driftwood

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I have always loved stitches where you don’t expect them – in wood, on paper, etc. When I found this bit of wood on the beach, with the big crack down the middle, I thought it would make a great project to ‘stitch up’.

After giving it a thorough clean, I drilled tiny holes for the wire as well as using some of the old nail holes to create the stitches. I added some raffia, a rusty heart and some dried lavender. It might not be a statement piece, but its sweet and I love it.

I love making something out of things I find on my walks and using bits and pieces I collect, finally giving them a purpose.

This was one of those quick and easy, ‘don’t think, just do’ projects I love cause they come out of the blue and are finished in no time at all, yet still give me that feeling of having achieved something special.

z