La, La, La, La, La or I Can't Hear You Valentine's Day....

Book cover: resist felted and ready for stitching...

I really dislike Valentine's Day.  I think I always have.  Not because I don't have a boyfriend/husband, but because I don't believe in one day to tell people that you love them; you have to do it all year round.  I used to have a roommate when I lived in Boston who taught English to male prison inmates.  She was an attorney by trade and she told me once that inmates hate Valentine's Day and that they would do anything to avoid it, often getting put back in jail.  She used to force them to write out letters to their wives/girlfriends/children to atone for bad behavior, but it got me thinking: how bad is a holiday if it forces men to commit crimes to avoid it???  No patience for it really or the artificial, saccharine sweetness of it.  Why does an expensive gift or an engagement ring prove they love you, when surely the handmade card or dinner shows more thoughtfulness? 

So, on that note, I thought I would PRETEND it wasn't nearly Valentine's Day and felt my way through it.  Since I have books on the brain, I decided to make a cover for my really horrible looking diary that I bought to organize myself.  I like to write in books and I like to read books, so don't try and convert me into using a Blackberry or a Kindle; won't work.  Kindles don't smell like aged paper and there is no pleasure in eagerly turning it's pages.  I imagine it also doesn't relax you as much looking at a screen as reading a proper book would.  I know it's probably convenient to put 40 books into one Kindle, but I am really not a convenient person.

Front cover with a bit of quick machine stitching and a few beads

I measured my diary and cut out a piece of foam underlay to suit and went gathering my fibres.  Since I would be using the cover for the year, I wanted something nice and girly and fun.  Purple!  Found some nice dyed silk pieces from last September and flipped some on there, as well.  Felted in the usual way and I ended up with the above photo.  I then machine stitched a quick design and sewed a few beads in the centre for a flower design.

I will be more specific with the next book cover in terms of design.  This one I wanted to work on the actual felting process.  I need to play with another size and perhaps some bamboo fibres....

I did felt two small pieces on Thursday.  One will be for two matching cuffs in natural tones.  I used natural merino and some black alpaca and silk mix that has a lovely silvery glint to it.  I buried some silk cocoon pods into it to give it textures.  And I felted some more pieces that can be cut up and resist dyed with the soy wax again.  Love playing with my dyes!  I can't wait until the weather is warmer and I can do dye days and really hang everything out on the line again...

Meanwhile, the only good thing about Valentine's Day is the selection of good chocolate...