Red

made from wool from sheep in Brownstown, PA that I dyed, carded, and felted.
green felt for leaf was made by atomicblue. yellow hand spun in center by knittydirtygirl that I needle felted.

My BIG felt flowers!

I'm "fascinated" that I made the felt for these fascinators. RM helped me create some seriously great batts. (leaves are AtomicBlue's felt) Handspun is KnittyDirtyGirl's and AtomicBlues...

this is my own design. when left to my own devices I am ... a bit dreamy.

wool school with RM:-)

tonite I went to RM's and she taught me the following!:

how to wash wool that has been sheared from a sheep, and that's nice and dirty.

how to die wool once it's been cleaned. (here's what I dyed!)

how to braid roving

and I had my second lesson in drum carding. RM helped me make two batts and then she whipped up a third from me.

Re-Styling....

I have been pretty busy over the last week or so. We went away to the cottage in the woods for Memorial Day weekend. Had lots of fun and I found vintage hankies and vintage buttons and vintage trims at great prices...although...sad to say "antiquing" with a 3.5 year old boy didn't quit work out. (50 year old toys only entice for so long)

Each day I worked on my new art- hair barrettes and clips made from handmade felt and Indie yarn. I came home with a nice display of large flower pieces which I'll offer to a store soon (see last post for an example). Today I dropped off a stash of small hair clips at the Lancaster Yarn Shop, downtown. they are on the counter in a milk glass bowl:-) and they are sporting the new vintage buttons from the aforementioned trip.

I am beginning to feel older but I like it. it's a change for me. for so long I looked very young. and now over the last couple years I've had some wonderful experiences becoming an artist here...some of the experiences were really hard (heat stroke at art shows, etc)...so maybe I've had just enough experiences now that I can reflect on them, and change it up for the better. Yada yada...but it's strange that most of the clothes in my closet look very strange or inappropriate suddenly. I'm seeking an easier and elegant life now in lots of aspects.

Here's a pic from www.dottieangel.etsy.com. She sells LOVELY vintage stuff, including this cool custom fabric bunting.



This is like something I'd do. Take a modern IKEA bed, and pair it with vintage stuff that's colorful. and I love the colors....

but she's cooler than me. look at this pic...and in the background see the white chair? you see? the same chair I painted for the yarn shop!!! the one that says, "SHHHH I'm counting."
OH crap. it looks better white! (please like my hair decor everyone...maybe I can take a break from painting!)

....i had to redo my pink studio table yesterday to accommodate the new things I'm making. my new supplies are: Felt, Yarn, Sewing Stuff, Scisscors...

I'm also on another freecyle/craigslist tangent this week. that feels good. I think I like simple things and small houses with not much in them. and just nice food each day:-)...and color, always.
I can't stop looking at that white chair. White is nice.

My First Felt...

Rachel-Marie and I got together Sunday for her birthday...and she taught me how to make wool batts with her drum carder!!!!

These are the fruits of our efforts...well, all the loveliness she put into it, and my hand felting efforts today (tiring!)... good use for my tree stumps...a nice drying rack...


and my first barrette using felt I made...I made the felt ball in the center, and needle felted the yarn onto it.

Maggie, as a cartoon:

"animate yourself at AWomansWorld.com"

Good-Bye Sweet Gum Trees...

we have a lovely backyard...with lovely trees. But they are Sweet Gum trees, which grow very high and provide great shade...however...they are on the evil side. Truly. They emit these horrific spike balls. All the time. It never ends. And they make you fall down, which happened to me two or three times this past year.
This garden picture above represents about 2 truck loads of cleanup. In late winter, the view from my kitchen window is of a yard with six inches of sweet gum spike balls, and leaves, and snow, and ice, and mud.
So when I should be building a snowman, I am clearing a path through the snow to sled on....and I am shoveling spike balls, and snow.
I then spend the next THREE months cleaning up balls, and slipping down the incline of the yard on them. While others in homes around me plant little flowers and enjoy themselves.
I've known over the last seven years, that I could not keep these trees into old age. It's too much for me now.
So this week they were cut down. The sky is huge. The soil is ravaged, and the grass too. The house looks larger. It might look like when it was first built with a bare yard. The sunlight is streaming into the house in new ways.
I am so glad this was taken care of now...and not when I'm old. It's pretty intense. The trees were eighty feet tall. The workers were repelling down the trees with chain saws. Additionally, the yard will take a while to renew itself. So it's really just the start of a new garden and new things to come. We may have a VERY sunny backyard now, but it will be usable. for years it was such a burden, and a worry and an aggravation. I am trying to get my head around not ever raking up another spike ball. what will I do with myself now?!

April 25,2011 update:
This particular blog post gets so many hits. Many people out there must have the spike ball problem!
I thought I would update everyone with some photos of our yard now- two years after we had the trees removed. We LOVE not having those darn balls all over our grass. Our yard is still lumpy from the tree removal equipment tearing it up. However, everything looks so much better now. We've been able to concentrate our efforts on other things. We removed the trees along the back property line, when our elderly neighbor announced she was installing a fence. We also added plantings to the side of the yard. It's SO much nicer. Still very sunny, but becoming a new yard for sure. Here's some photos:

Sweet Mother's Day

filled with kisses and berries and a croissant, and all kinds of sweetness.

Making mailers with Rachel-Marie...

I spent the last few days making a very very special order...and shipped it out today. Yesterday RM taught me how to make fused bag mailers!!! they turn out so lovely. It was WONDERFUL to use one of them for the shipment tonight.
and yes, yes, yes, RM's KnittyDirtyGirl's studio is glorious. better than you could imagine. I am grateful for her friendship and knowledge.

Thank you Vickie Howell and Craft Corps!

For including me on the Craft Corps website!

http://vickiehowell.com/craftcorps/2009/04/maggie-french/

Look what's HATCHed!

Bethany Hissong's new Art School/Gallery/Studio opened last night....Hooray! Bethany just brought Indie art to suburbia in a very chic way...She's offering classes and summer camps for kids. To enroll or find your way there check out her website: www.hatchstudioandgallery.com
(she's not far from Penn Cinema)

Max in the reading area..

Max and Occy at the coloring table...

RM!

Bethany wrapping up the first sale...
and lovely lovely lovely things...

Win my Lancaster City Bird Chair 2-nite! at First Friday, Lancaster!

Hi everyone!

My Lancaster City Bird chair will be raffled off tonight in the Art Garden, at the LancasterARTS kiosk (corner of Prince and Chestnut, across from the Art College.) Stop by during First Friday while you're checking out all the events.
Donate $10 and you'll get one entry form. A $20 donation gets you THREE entries!
Drawing is at 8:30!

Support the Arts downtown, and take home my favorite chair!!!!

this chair is extra special to me. it was found abandoned on Lemon Street, in major disrepair...but my Dad rebuilt it, and now it's cooler than ever! check out the original wavy ladder back...speaking of backs...the back of this chair says, "So Much to See and Do"
where did the red paint come from?
it's leftover from painting my front door red!